NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11 - Fragment 2
Chapter 11 – Fragment 2
“Kee-ak! Kee-ak!”
While everyone was momentarily stunned, the leader Lyka screeched loudly.
The Lykas who had jumped from the trees hesitated, but then bared their teeth and turned towards the group again.
“[They’re coming!]”
Urged on by the leader, four Lykas looked at each other and charged simultaneously.
Head-on.
Instead of charging towards them, Luther fired the Energy Gun.
*Pew pew pew!*
“Kee-ak?!”
“Kak!”
Three of the charging Lykas collapsed, hit in the head or chest by energy projectiles.
The remaining one managed to reach the group, but Max’s sharp sword awaited it.
“Luther… sir?”
“Max?”
Max and Luther, having defeated the Lykas in an instant, looked at each other in surprise.
Max was surprised to see the Energy Gun for the first time, while Luther was surprised by Max’s unexpectedly sharp swordsmanship.
‘He seems quite skilled.’
“[Master! More are coming!]”
It wasn’t the time to be distracted.
Luther quickly turned forward and fired the Energy Gun again.
He had equipped the Nanosuit and upgraded the axe, but that was a separate matter!
‘This is why I chose the Energy Gun!’
After taking down two more Lykas with his uncanny rapid fire, Luther swept the leg of a low-charging Lyka, sending it flying.
Max also stepped forward, wielding his sword with remarkable skill.
With each swing, a spray of blood erupted, making the Lykas hesitate to approach.
And Karen.
She was no less formidable.
She caught a Lyka that jumped down from directly above, aiming for an opening, with her telekinesis, and then sliced its chest open with her sword.
“Kee… Kee-eek!”
“Kkik!”
With nearly ten of them taken down in an instant, the remaining Lykas started to retreat in fear.
But it wasn’t time to let their guard down yet.
“Kyaaaak!”
The leader Lyka roared again and charged, leaping from the branch.
Its momentum was so fierce that Luther didn’t think he could stop it with the Energy Gun.
So he swung his axe.
He swung it horizontally with a wide arc, and the leader Lyka leaped high, not only avoiding the attack but jumping over Luther entirely.
“[It’s coming right behind you!]”
Just as Integra warned,
The leader landed and turned around, charging towards Luther again.
But Luther wasn’t just standing still.
Using the momentum from his missed swing, he rolled on the ground and quickly stood up.
The distance was short.
The leader Lyka was already right in front of him, its fist pulled back and about to strike.
He had lost the distance.
He had also lost the initiative.
Swinging the axe now would only result in him being hit by the fist first.
But Luther raised his axe anyway.
The leader Lyka also threw its punch.
And at that very moment, as if seizing the fleeting moment, Integra shouted,
“[Boosters!]”
*Rumble!*
The thrusters attached to the axe blade ignited simultaneously, generating immense thrust.
And that power was completely converted into destructive force.
*Crack!*
It was like a lightning strike.
The instantly accelerated axe blade struck the leader Lyka, creating a truly dramatic result.
*Thud!*
The leader’s body, split in two, collapsed to either side.
It was less of a cut and more of a shattering.
One strike.
A single axe swing, as fast and powerful as lightning.
No one could speak at the sight that unfolded before them.
Max and Karen, as well as the Lykas, just stared blankly at the scene.
But not everyone was speechless.
“[Combat data acquired.]”
“[Deactivating equipment.]”
Following Integra’s slightly more cheerful than usual voice, the blue lines that had climbed up the axe handle disappeared.
And a few seconds later,
Luther exhaled slowly, pulled the giant axe embedded deep in the ground, and lowered it.
He didn’t need to do anything more.
“Kee! Kee-eek!”
“Kee-eek!”
“Kee-ak!”
The remaining Lykas screamed and scattered in all directions.
Like rats scattering at the sight of a cat.
“[The monkey-like alien lifeforms have lost their will to fight.]”
“[Master’s victory!]”
Luther smiled at Integra’s gentle voice, but his smile quickly turned into a wry one.
The price of unleashing that monstrous attack wasn’t insignificant.
His arms, shoulders, back, and entire body ached as if screaming in protest.
“[Master, in your current state, you cannot use the booster-enhanced attack consecutively.]”
“[Due to the thrusters’ energy consumption, the maximum number of times you can use it in a single battle is currently limited to three.]”
“[Please keep this in mind. Okay?]”
“Okay.”
Luther replied softly and looked alternately at the axe in his hand and the remains of the leader Lyka scattered on the ground.
It was truly monstrous power.
The limitations Integra mentioned felt only natural.
But Luther didn’t just stand there in awe.
This monstrous power belonged to him, and him alone.
‘I can do this.’
He could do this.
Moreover, he could become even stronger than he was now.
Taking a deep breath with a deep sense of exhilaration, Luther looked around again.
The Lykas had long since fled, but there were still others present.
“[Max and Karen both seem very surprised.]”
“[I sense respect for Master from Max.]”
Integra’s words weren’t an exaggeration.
Max’s eyes were shining like bright stars as he looked at Luther, and Karen, still stunned, was just blinking with her small mouth agape.
Feeling a little embarrassed, Luther coughed softly and approached them, asking,
“Are you both alright?”
“Huh? Oh, yes! W… we’re fine!”
Karen hurriedly replied, snapping out of her daze, and Luther smiled again. Her flustered, blushing face was quite cute.
“[Master, you definitely seem to have a preference for pretty faces.]”
Where did she even learn such a phrase?
Luther chuckled wryly and looked at Max.
Max gulped and said,
“I’m also fine. But… that thing on your arm, Luther… sir… is that… the ‘Heavenly Armor’?”
Heavenly Armor.
The angelic armor worn by the Sword Saint Clausewitz, who founded the Holy Empire of Yustia.
Of course, it wasn’t.
What was equipped on Luther’s right arm was the Nanosuit, a product of super-science.
But since both Max and Karen were looking at him with sparkling eyes, waiting for an answer, Luther simply nodded instead of explaining.
“As expected…”
“You really are an angel…”
Max and Max’s faces lit up like children’s.
The ‘Heavenly Armor’ held significant meaning for the people of this era.
As the armor of the Sword Saint Clausewitz, the Saint Emperor who protected humanity from the threat of monsters and founded the first nation, it was a legend in itself. Moreover, since it was an item from the ‘Heavens,’ its status was truly immense.
Of course, Max and Karen didn’t think Luther’s armor was the same Heavenly Armor worn by Clausewitz.
They simply thought it was a similar type of armor worn by angels, an item from the Heavens, but that was enough to elicit such a reaction.
“Anyway, let’s hurry. Before other monsters are drawn here.”
Karen and Max, snapping out of it at Luther’s words, sheathed their weapons and approached the crater.
Luther also wiped the blood off his axe and headed towards the crater.
“[Master, a special energy is emanating from the fragment.]”
“[It could be harmful to humans, so it would be best to prevent Karen and Max from approaching.]”
Luther flinched at Integra’s words and asked,
“Could it be harmful to me too?”
“[Master is not a human, but a combat homunculus.]”
“[Moreover, that fragment was originally with Master, so it will not be harmful to you.]”
It was a reasonable explanation, so Luther stopped Karen and Max, who were about to enter the crater.
“Both of you, wait here for a moment. I’ll check it out first.”
If this were an ordinary treasure hunt, Luther’s actions would have been met with resistance, but the situation was different now.
To Karen and Max, Luther was an angel, and the meteorite was an item from the Heavens.
“Understood.”
“We’ll wait.”
Max and Karen obediently replied and actually crouched down near the crater and waited.
Luther couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, but he suppressed it and entered the crater.
“It doesn’t… look like a spaceship.”
A cylindrical object, half-buried in the center of the crater.
It was covered in white metal, like his Nanosuit, but it was too small to be a spaceship.
Even considering the buried portion, it seemed too small for an adult male to fit inside.
Perhaps a four or five-year-old child could barely squeeze in?
“[It’s still worth investigating.]”
“[Even if it’s not a spaceship, but an escape pod, it could be of great help to Master.]”
Luther agreed.
Moreover, it might have an expansion function like the Nanosuit.
“I’ll take a closer look.”
Luther muttered and approached the fragment, examining it closely.
Its basic shape was cylindrical, and up close, he could see that the top was severely damaged, revealing the inside.
Black metal.
Blue lines running through it and a white cube in the center.
“[Master, it would be best to remove the main body of the fragment from the crater.]”
Agreeing with Integra, Luther grabbed the fragment with both hands and pulled.
Perhaps because the Lykas had already tried to dig it out, it came out more easily than he expected.
A slightly dented cylindrical object, as expected.
Since he was already standing, Luther placed the fragment outside the crater and climbed out himself.
“[Master, a signal is emanating from the cube.]”
“[Please make contact with the cube.]”
A cube that appeared to be about 10cm on each side.
A green gem emitting a faint light was embedded in the center of each face.
‘Energy Cube.’
He had seen similar objects a few times in Star Savior.
A repository of energy and a miniature computer capable of processing a considerable amount of information.
Luther, crouching down and looking at the cube, slowly reached out his hand.
Karen and Max also stood up, watching Luther and the fragment.
But at that very moment,
*Thump!*
A loud noise echoed from afar.
Luther flinched and raised his head, and Karen and Max also looked back.
*Thump! Thump! Thump!*
It wasn’t just one.
The sound came repeatedly.
Moreover, it was getting closer.
*Thump!*
The ground trembled again.
Karen quickly turned towards Luther, and Max shouted urgently.
But his voice didn’t reach anyone.
The sound of the trembling earth was swallowed by a single, overwhelming roar.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaa-!”
It was like an explosion.
The heavens and earth shook, and the entire forest fell silent before the roar.
Luther knew what that sound was.
His breath caught in his throat.
*Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!*
The tremors started again.
The being that had caused all this was charging towards them.
A giant monster.
The one he had encountered before.
“[Master.]”
Instead of answering Integra’s call, Luther swallowed hard.
The Jogress, the powerful dragon.
Its roar shook the heavens and earth once more.
–CROW–