'…I can see recognition in his eyes…'
Arthur's Concealnt Ring was active, and his mask was on. Only Jamie, a Cosmic Being, had ever seen through the Concealnt Ring.
Yet, this man, clearly not a Cosmic Being, seed to be seeing Arthur's Status Board.
The man's voice was weak and strained beneath the overwhelming gravity, his words escaping in ragged, broken gasps.
"R…Rec…ruit… 659... Arth—
The mont the man began speaking, Evan quickly used basic wind magic to contain the sound, rembering that Arthur's na was still a secret to the Aramisians.
"—… Arthur... V…Vaughn?"
Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly behind his mask at the na, but the man continued, his voice growing more fragnted with each word.
"H…how? Y-you… were… in D-Duskhand? You… disguised… yourself... B-but… the Divinity… no… y-you're... n-not a... demon!"
While Evan had question marks hovering over his head as he spoke, Arthur's thoughts were clicking into place.
Duskhand Bastille—the fortress he had infiltrated months ago under the guise of a recruit. This man had been there.
It was from there that he had seen Arthur and known his na. And since Arthur had displayed his ability to use divinity—an ability the Aramisians valued greatly—the man rembered Arthur, who had not bothered using a fake na during his infiltration.
Among Arthur's many titles, a few stood out—titles that, if selectively displayed, would tell a vastly different story of his past.
He would appear as a forr Aramisian Army recruit, one who served briefly before leaving and resurfacing as a high-ranking rcenary.
Notably, he held the titles 'Recruit Number 659 of Duskhand Bastille' and 'SS Tier rcenary'.
When the man had seen these alongside the na Arthur, he recalled a boy who had vanished the day Duskhand Bastille was destroyed—the only recruit who had "died" that day.
The na, the gravity powers, the confird divinity—everything aligned too perfectly to be a coincidence.
Realising the reason for the man's shock, Arthur chuckled.
"Oh, you're from Duskhand. The fact that you're not dead ans you must have been in the outer city. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure you would've died when I nuked the place."
The man's face paled further as Arthur's words confird his worst fears.
Arthur had already abandoned any real effort to conceal his identity from the Aramisians. The only reason he still wore the mask was for his own amusent—and because they remained oblivious to what had transpired at last month's Annual Gozonian Summit.
Thanks to the Aramisian god Kings, the Aramisians remained oblivious to events on the Interstellar Stage—including Arthur's na, which was already spreading across the Galaxy.
Unlike Evan, Arthur had no reason to keep wearing a mask. He was doing it purely for amusent, with the intent to reveal his na and face later, just to spite Duskhand and the rest of the Aramisians.
Evan had quickly cast sound magic to mute the mont the man called out Arthur's na, ensuring no one else heard it. Still, the real question remained.
"…How did he find out your na?" Evan asked, curious.
Arthur stepped forward, his tone casual as he replied.
"I'm not one to brag, but I'm pretty good at concealing stuff.
So, for this guy to see my status even now, he'd at least need sothing on this level…"
Crouching, Arthur reached for the man's visor, pulling it off and holding it up for Evan to see.
"A Cosmic Artifact."
Even though it only radiated a weak cosmic energy signature, Arthur had recognized it instantly.
"What a fascinating little trinket," he muttered, turning it over in his hands.
The visor had a transparent lens, a jet-black fra, and a thin silver edge running along its sides, designed to fit comfortably over the wearer's eyes.
Curious, Arthur used Appraisal, and what he saw made his eyes widen.
Noticing Arthur's expression, Evan activated Full Appraisal and his reaction instantly mirrored Arthur's.
|Defective Cosmic Lens Replica.
Type; Defective Low Grade Cosmic Artifact.
This is a failed attempt at replicating an Ancient Cosmic Artifact with the power of 'Truth' and 'Knowledge'.
In a certain Primary Universe, there existed a certain Witch known as the Witch of Chaos.
It is unknown how she accomplished this feat; however, this Witch succeeded in stealing a portion of the Cosmic Authority of The Eternal of Wisdom and Knowledge.
Using the stolen Authority, she forged a pair of glasses that granted her the ability to see the Truth of all of existence.
This 'Cosmic Lens' is one of many defective replicas that have been created in an attempt to replicate the Cosmic Artifact that the Witch of Chaos created.
As a Defective Replica, its uses are Limited and it also carries hidden drawbacks upon use. |
"What in the Nine Thousand Circles of Hell is this bullshit?!"
Arthur's exclamation echoed his sheer disbelief.
'To think it was a Cosmic Artifact. What's more, it's defective.'
Evan recalled the Book of Truth replica that the Angels on Toverus had used, and he couldn't help but ask, "Are Cosmic Artifacts supposed to be this common?"
"Of course not!
Or rather, is that your main concern right now?! Are you not seeing the insane shit I just saw? Who the hell is this Witch, and how did she manage to steal an Eternal's Authority?!"
Evan simply placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder, his gaze distant.
"Young padawan, you have yet to master the art of ignoring bullshit you cannot explain or understand without getting a headache."
It was clear Evan had decided to ntally check out from trying to process the Artifact's description.
"But leaving that aside," Evan continued, shifting focus, "there's a surefire way to get an answer."
He pointed at the title of the mysterious Witch, then pulled up a section of Jamie's Status Board.
With Full Appraisal, Evan could retrieve past appraisal results from people he had scanned before—even if they weren't physically present.
| Titles: THE Alpha Hybrid, Irregular, Leader of the Hybrids, 'Azure Void Paragon', Myth of Estea, Marked by the Witch of Chaos, Loved By Mana, Loved by the Night, Envoy of Balance, Ancestor of the Westley Clan, Founding mber of the Crimson Court, […] |
Seeing the highlighted words, Arthur's eyes widened slightly.
"Guess we're gonna have to ask Jamie about this," he muttered, tossing the Cosmic Lens into his subspace. He had no intention of trying it out after noting its 'hidden drawbacks.'
Before Evan could respond, a sudden burst of power erupted from above.
Arthur's gaze snapped skyward just as a Transcendent ca crashing down, his body sent hurtling by a powerful blow.
McEnda III followed, his silhouette briefly outlined against the rising sun as he descended.
The fallen Transcendent crashed behind Arthur, the impact unleashing a shockwave that scattered the remaining Aramisians.
McEnda's energy blast followed, powered by his Pseudo-Authority, striking the Transcendent and exploding outward. The force disrupted Arthur's gravitational field, breaking the downforce he'd been using to pin the Aramisians down.
"Dude?!"
Arthur shouted, blowing away the dust and smoke, and McEnda, finally noticing him, blinked in surprise.
"Huh? Oh! Arthur! Sorry about that!" He pointed at the barely conscious Transcendent. "You can take him as compensation."
Arthur glanced at the twitching body in the crater as he muttered.
"But I don't need any more divine sparks for now…"
Too bad, McEnda was already gone before Arthur's words could reach him.
Arthur sighed, turning his attention back to the Aramisians scrambling to their feet, jumping back to gain distance from him, believing his gravity powers had a limited range.
The man who had worn the Cosmic Lens tried to slip away with the crowd, but Arthur paid him no mind—until Evan spoke.
"Have you told that Rachel girl who you are?"
"?!"
Arthur spun around instantly, a beam of destruction energy surging from his palm toward the fleeing man.
Seeing this, Evan muttered to himself, "Though so."
He recalled Arthur was quite close to her, and considering that they'd been going out together every day over the past week, he doubted she knew Arthur was the 'Silver Summoner' the Aramisians detested.
Therefore, this man who had just uncovered the truth needed to die.
Arthur's destruction beam tore through the air, but one of the Divine Human Transcendents leapt into its path, taking the full force of the blast. Even so, the attack punched through them, striking the real target's chest and shredding through his body.
He gasped in agony, destruction energy ravaging his body, but it wasn't enough to kill him. Before Arthur could finish the job, another Divine Human dashed in, grabbing the wounded man and dragging him away.
A third Transcendent lunged at Arthur, attempting to keep him occupied.
'This could be dangerous.'
Evan imdiately teleported away to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, sitting back from a distance as he watched the Aramisians throw themselves at Arthur.
The lunging Transcendent was sent flying by Arthur's gravity-powered punch, only to be sucked into a Gravitational Maelstrom that Arthur compressed into a crushing mass.
Yet more Aramisians threw themselves between him and his target, Kalon, using their bodies as shields. They barely lasted a mont as Arthur effortlessly sent them flying with his Anti-Divinity and Anti-Gravity powers.
Just then, a massive Tier 6 magic circle appeared overhead, and a radiant beam descended, aid directly at Arthur.
Evan, eager to see how Arthur would handle it, was distracted when his Danger Sense activated, prompting a sigh as he summoned the Unforged and muttered.
"Why're you disrupting my show? He's the one trying to kill that machine guy, not ."
"DIE!!!"
The Rogue Hero's words were t with nothing but hate-filled screams from his Aramisian attackers.
Unbothered, he imbued his sword with prismatic flas, spinning an unleashing 'Hell' on them in the form of a wide arcing slash of fire.
He then dove through the flas, and using the combo of Pierce Guard and Adamantine Might, sent his flaming sword through the heads of his attackers, dispatching them one by one.
"This gu-guk!—BOOOM!!
One attempted to scream, but Evan impaled him through the mouth and detonated his flas, blowing his head to bits.
For the last one, he unleashed a simple Aura Slash capable of cleaving mountains in two, but they used a water magic barrier to block his fla-infused aura.
"Oh? Try blocking this."
Evan casually released another slash, this ti activating his Frozen Inferno skill, turning his flas into Frostfire that froze the water barrier whilst setting the conjurer ablaze.
Before they even had a chance to scream, Evan's sword tore through the frozen barrier and pierced their skull, ending their life instantly.
With his attackers defeated, Evan hurried over to Arthur, concern in his voice as he wiped the sweat from his brow and asked, "Did you get the guy?"
"Nahh…" Arthur replied casually.
Evan's eyes widened at his nonchalant response.
"Then he's going to expose your identity!"
Arthur only shrugged and responded. "Not if I can help it."
Evan looked at him in confusion, curious about the source of Arthur's confidence. He also noticed that Kalon, their main target, had also vanished, yet, Arthur didn't seem concerned.
Instead, he floated into the air, energy surging from his body as he spoke in his Faux True Voice.
|¬Resident Hybrid.¬|
Unlike usual, It didn't echo far, but Arthur knew the right ears would hear it.
|¬I know you're listening in. I need you to clear out all the demons. I'm nuking this island. ¬|
Evan's breath hitched as Arthur's voice bood across the battlefield.
'This guy is serious!'
Unable to find his target, Arthur decided to destroy the entire island. The man was nearly dead, and Arthur could still sense from the residual energy of his earlier successful attack that he was still on the island.
His overwhelming energy surged, painting the sky crimson-blue as the island trembled. Demons, gods, humans, and elves all looked up to see him hovering above, his voice booming once more.
|¬Demon army, clear the area.¬|
The demons instantly obeyed, abandoning their battles and fleeing in panic. The slower ones saw Arthur gathering an enormous orb of Ti Law energy in his palm, a glowing blue-silver mass visible from anywhere on the island, so large it resembled a second sun.
Suddenly, a cosmic energy wave swept across the island, forcibly teleporting all demons, dragons, and dark elves away.
Arthur's aura spiked as he noticed this, and he swung his arm downward.
|¬Ti Bomb!¬|
The massive orb of Ti Law energy descended, crashing into the island with a deafening noise.
Ti shattered, space distorted, and in an instant, the island was erased from existence, leaving only broken debris and skeletal remains floating in the ocean—remnants that would soon dissolve into nothingness.
Arthur glanced at the cracks running through his arm, sighed, and then turned to Evan.
"I'm going to space for a bit to call down so teors."
Without another word, he opened a Cosmic Gate and vanished, leaving Evan alone in the now quiet skies.
Left behind, Evan chuckled and shook his head before flying off to the next island in the Archipelago.
'I should be able to add a few more Aramisians to the kill count... and maybe level up a bit. Who knew genocide could be such a grind?'
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