Chapter 303 : The Secret Behind the Endless Battle
Chapter 303: The Secret Behind the Endless Battle
There was one thing I noticed while fighting those Ninja bastards.
'Their energy isn't decreasing.'
At first, I thought it was simply one of their deception tactics.
After all, in battles between Adaptees, estimating an opponent's internal energy reserves and Replacement Rate was an important basis for making tactical decisions.
It was just like checking an opponent's MP bar in a PvP game.
By estimating how much strength the enemy had left, you could adopt strategies such as deliberately luring them into using powerful attacks to drain their energy.
Because of that, once Adaptees had finished all of their basic body modifications and armaments, they would usually use their remaining Replacement Rate on Modules that interfered with enemy scans or concealed their energy reserves.
Aaron was no different.
That was why someone whose internal energy exceeded that of most power plants could casually stroll through crowded streets without anyone noticing.
However...
No matter how thoroughly someone concealed such things, they could never hide the information revealed through indirect evidence.
For example, by analyzing an opponent's physical activity, the amount of energy observed when an Arcane Module was activated, or the electrical charge lingering in the air immediately after using an Active-Type Module, it was possible to roughly estimate the size of their MP pool.
Furthermore, the more energy-intensive a technique was, the more overload raised the user's body temperature, causing the Adaptee to become exhausted at an accelerating rate.
Therefore, the longer a battle continued, the more data accumulated.
Eventually, you could roughly determine the opponent's internal energy reserves, Replacement Rate, and even their Module configuration.
Aaron likewise observed his opponents closely throughout the battle to gather information.
However, the more combat data he accumulated...
The less any of it made sense.
'Do they have infinite energy or something?'
No matter that they were monsters whose Replacement Rates exceeded the legal seventy-percent limit...
That amount of energy was simply impossible.
They continuously unleashed high-output weapons and created unbelievable phenomena through their Arcane Modules, yet they showed absolutely no signs of consuming any energy.
'And the fact that they keep coming back to life is strange too.'
He had unquestionably killed them.
Yet they casually returned as though nothing had happened.
It was no longer merely surprising.
It was horrifying.
Unless every single one of them possessed a Lv.5 Arcane Module related to regeneration...
It simply made no sense.
Some unknown force was at work.
That was all he had managed to determine for now.
If Miyu had been here, she might have uncovered the secret the moment she saw it.
Unfortunately, communications appeared to have been completely jammed.
A Wizard was probably controlling the area from somewhere out of sight.
But...
'Even if I don't know, there's still a way to confirm it.'
It was still only a hypothesis.
But there was one possibility that seemed extremely suspicious.
Aaron decided he couldn't afford to waste any more time.
He immediately put it to the test.
"Module Offline, [Techblade]."
"Module Online, [Black Out]."
He deactivated the energy-hungry Techblade and activated another Game-Breaker-Class Module.
A black curtain rapidly spread outward from Aaron like flowing ink.
All fifty Ninjas entered his hacking range.
The moment they noticed it, the Ninjas instantly dug into the ground with their weapons and escaped the curtain.
It wasn't because they understood the abilities of [Black Out].
More likely, they were simply being cautious.
But it didn't matter.
To begin with, [Black Out] possessed no offensive capabilities whatsoever.
It specialized exclusively in controlling machines.
Once the connection to the black curtain was severed, its power could no longer reach the target.
There was no way to affect moving opponents.
Especially high-Replacement-Rate Adaptees, who could escape the hacking range with nothing more than a light push of their feet.
In other words...
His target wasn't the living.
"I'm about to uncover your little secret."
While deploying [Black Out], Aaron himself couldn't move freely either.
Instead of attempting evasive maneuvers, he wove countless threads together, creating a gigantic curtain surrounding himself.
For the Ninjas...
It was the perfect opportunity.
Because of Aaron's overwhelming speed and strength, enhanced by his Pure Spec, even landing a long-range attack against him had been nearly impossible.
That was why they had continuously risked themselves in close combat despite the danger.
Now that he had stopped moving...
They couldn't have asked for a better chance.
"……!!"
Convinced this was their opening, the Ninjas surrounded Aaron from every direction and simultaneously unleashed their Kunai.
Hundreds of Kunai flew toward him faster than ordinary bullets, producing sonic booms as they sliced through the air.
Click.
Aaron casually snapped his fingers.
Thousands of fine threads instantly shifted shape and sliced every Kunai apart.
At the same moment, the high-explosive charges hidden inside the Kunai detonated, producing a massive pillar of fire over twenty meters high.
KABOOOOOM—!
A scorching blast swept outward.
Countless razor-sharp fragments scattered through the air.
But the Ninjas already knew someone like Aaron wouldn't be defeated by something on that level.
An explosion powerful enough to erase most Adaptees without leaving a trace...
Against Aaron...
It served only as a distraction.
While the pillar of fire temporarily disabled Aaron's observation equipment...
The Ninjas immediately prepared their next move.
Shhhhhhk!
All fifty Ninjas formed identical hand seals in perfect synchronization, as though they were a single person.
Fine threads shot from their fingertips.
The threads intertwined with those of their comrades, forming an enormous spider web.
"[Thousand Life Threads]."
An inferior version of [Cloud Spider].
Long ago, there had been an attempt to make [Cloud Spider], which could perfectly adapt to every conceivable battlefield, the standard equipment of the Ninja Unit.
However, setting aside the difficulty of reproducing the [Cloud Spider] Module itself...
There was no one besides Aaron capable of freely controlling tens of thousands of threads.
As a result, while preserving the strength of the threads themselves, the number that could be manipulated was drastically reduced.
That downgraded Module became the Ninja Unit's standard equipment.
Because the number of threads had been reduced, achieving performance comparable to [Cloud Spider] required perfect coordination with fellow comrades.
Naturally, that somewhat limited the situations in which it could be used.
On the other hand...
As long as the necessary conditions were met...
Its performance rivaled the Game-Breaker-Class Module [Cloud Spider].
It couldn't reach the realm of the Lv.6 version upgraded through Tickets.
But it could faithfully reproduce everything before that point.
Shrrrrrrk—!
The web of threads pierced through the towering flames toward Aaron at the center.
The wind generated by the threads instantly extinguished the fire.
Aaron's figure emerged from within.
As expected...
Even after an explosion of that magnitude...
He was completely unharmed.
Only his suit had suffered a few minor tears.
"[Sever]!"
The Ninjas pulled on their threads with all their might.
The web tightened around Aaron's body like a gigantic snare.
Just before it could bind him, Aaron drew his own threads from the ground.
He intercepted theirs and deliberately tangled the two together.
KAAAAANG—!
An unbelievable metallic shriek echoed through the battlefield.
Craaack!
Violent sparks erupted wherever thread collided with thread.
Alone...
Aaron endured the combined pulling force of all fifty Ninjas.
It became an enormous tug-of-war.
But an inferior version would always remain an inferior version.
It simply couldn't withstand the power of the original Lv.6 [Cloud Spider].
One after another...
The threads of [Thousand Life Threads] began snapping apart.
Having won the contest of strength...
Aaron immediately turned the enemy's own threads against them.
As he clenched his fist and raised it...
Several Ninjas were violently dragged toward him.
"……!"
Even while being helplessly pulled in by Aaron's overwhelming strength...
The Ninjas refused to give up.
Instead, they converted that pulling force into acceleration.
Just before reaching him, they drew their daggers and thrust them toward Aaron's vital points.
Clang!
Aaron succeeded in knocking away nearly every blade.
But one dagger barely grazed the tip of his chin.
Sparks flew as the blade scraped against his Reinforced Tungsten Skin Armor.
"Tch."
Frowning, Aaron crushed the Ninja responsible beneath his foot.
Its skull burst apart.
Its brain matter splattered across the dirt.
Then—
An attack came from another direction, obstructing Aaron's vision.
After deflecting the incoming blade once more, Aaron looked down at the Ninja he had just stomped to death.
But...
It had disappeared.
"As I thought."
Aaron let out a faint chuckle.
The secret had finally been revealed.
After instantly slicing apart the surrounding Ninjas with his threads, he slowly turned his head toward one figure.
"So you were the culprit after all."
The one he stared at...
Was none other than the Fox Mask.
Naturally, nothing beneath the mask could be seen.
"You possess teleportation."
"You've been using it to retrieve your subordinates every time they fell, repair them as quickly as possible, then send them back into battle."
"That's why, whenever someone urgently needed repairs, you desperately tried to divert my attention elsewhere."
In this world...
Losing an arm was treated as little more than a child tripping while playing.
With Replacement Rates as high as theirs...
As long as replacement parts had already been prepared...
It wouldn't be difficult to finish repairs almost instantly and return to battle.
"Your Replacement Rates are so absurdly high that I judged you dead when you actually weren't."
"The concept of death works differently for Cyborgs whose bodies are mostly machinery than it does for ordinary people."
"Isn't that right?"
"[…….]"
The Fox Mask remained silent.
Aaron hadn't been trying to provoke him.
Still...
When the other side refused to react at all, it did make things rather dull.
Clicking his tongue once, Aaron continued.
"Teleportation is an extremely difficult technique."
"It consumes an astronomical amount of energy."
"No matter how miraculous the power reproduced through a Lv.5 Arcane Module may be, without sufficient energy, using it more than once or twice should be impossible."
Aaron recalled Miyu.
Before they had departed for the Dwarf Village...
She had complained about just how difficult teleportation truly was.
Theoretically...
It was nearly impossible.
And even if it could be achieved...
It would require an utterly ridiculous amount of energy.
"But you've been throwing that power around without the slightest hesitation."
"The scanners couldn't detect it, but by now you've probably consumed energy equivalent to more than a dozen nuclear fusion power plants."
"Isn't that right?"
"[…….]"
"Then where is that energy coming from?"
"Even if your heart were replaced with a nuclear fusion reactor, it couldn't possibly sustain that level of consumption."
"There's only one answer."
A being possessing virtually limitless energy.
A being capable of traversing dimensions.
A being that freely wielded magic without ever exhausting its mana.
An utterly broken existence.
"A Dragon."
The only logical conclusion...
Was that they were using a captured Dragon as a giant charging station.
Most likely, they possessed a Module similar to [Mana Battery], converting mana into usable energy for Adaptees.
"The meaningless stalling ends here."
If everything depended on the Fox Mask's Module...
Then all he had to do...
Was make sure it could no longer be used.