Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 146

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

146
When Douglas wielded blades of vengeance and sacrificed people, he cloaked his actions in the noble cause of universal welfare. Yet if everything was destined to crumble anyway, what purpose had their deaths served?
No. It couldn’t be that way.
Douglas could not accept that all his struggles until now had been meaningless sacrifice.
The moment he acknowledged that truth and lost his justification, Douglas would become nothing but a demon who murdered and offered people as sacrifices.
That was why he had to stop the invading forces pouring from the Gate, the Darkness consuming Telus—no matter what.
To do that, he had to unify Telus. At any cost.
He had ground countless lives into his body to extend his lifespan, but there were limits. Douglas’s form grew increasingly aged and withered.
To make matters worse, Douglas could no longer see any future ahead.
All that remained to him was obsession.
* * *
I had nearly reached the Imperial Capital of the Exbrian Empire, but I had not encountered Bae Na-young.
I had assumed she would naturally head toward the capital, yet given the Eastern Continent’s vast expanse, it was inevitable our paths had diverged.
I continued toward the capital, intending to gather information about Bae Na-young from the Empire’s military or command headquarters.
The city walls of Derham, the capital of the Exbrian Empire, came into view. Endless fortifications stretched before me, their interiors packed densely with buildings. Roads crisscrossed through them, radiating outward from the Imperial Palace at the center. The great cities I had seen thus far in Telus had chaotic, haphazard layouts, but this one appeared to have been planned from its inception with full knowledge of its eventual scale.
Though I hovered impossibly high in the sky, I felt a tremendous presence emanating from within the Imperial Palace building at the center.
It was more than merely vast vitality. I sensed a different caliber entirely—a rank equal to my own after my ascension. No, slightly higher still.
He, too, had sensed my presence. I had intended merely to interrogate a low-ranking soldier for intelligence, never expecting such a being to reside in the capital rather than on the front lines.
Then he drew his blade and swung it.
My keen senses screamed warning. I kicked through empty air and launched myself upward in desperation.
The Imperial Palace roof remained intact, but the space where I had stood moments before was completely severed. My right leg was cleanly severed just above the knee.
The detached limb regenerated instantly, yet the sheer power to sever me in such a manner was staggering.
Helen’s spatial vibrations operated on an entirely different scale. Her vibrations didn’t merely damage—they completely severed space itself in an instant.
He swung his blade in rapid succession, and space around me fractured.
I kicked through the air in a zigzag pattern, descending rapidly before smashing through the Imperial Palace roof and plunging inside.
Behind the knight who had unleashed the blade strikes, an emperor sat upon his throne. He bore no majesty—merely a decrepit old man who could expire at any moment without surprise.
Behind the knight who unleashed the sword strike, the emperor sat upon his throne. He was an elderly man without dignity, so frail that it would be no surprise if he died at any moment.

“Another capable one has emerged from the Western Continent. Yet nothing will change. Joshua, grant him a painless end.”
Before I could even speak, Joshua, the Empire’s Grand Master, swung his blade at the emperor’s command.
A single strike created hundreds of spatial severances that surrounded me.
Even from a distance, his ability had been absurdly overpowered. Up close, it was utterly unreasonable.
Even from a distance it was an absurd ability, but up close it was even more ridiculous.

I unleashed my keen senses to their fullest, dodging the incoming attacks while firing Aura Rays from my hands.
His attacks, arriving at close range, did more than merely sever space—they absorbed everything nearby. The Aura Rays I released curved and were sucked into the spatial rift Joshua had torn open.
While my attacks proved ineffective, my body suffered countless wounds across dozens of locations, each one regenerating in an endless cycle. I curled into a protective position, guarding my heart and head.
“Regeneration surpassing even that of a troll.”
The moment the Emperor spoke, Joshua ceased his assault.
“If I extract and replicate his blood, I could create far more Masters.”
“So you’re already scheming to steal another’s blood for your own purposes?”
“My apologies. But it would be for the world’s sake, and I hope that brings you some comfort. However, that someone like you exists means history has twisted once again.”
“History? You speak as though you’ve glimpsed the future itself.”
“I have seen it. A nightmarish future. The sight of this world ceasing to exist….”
“You’ve seen the Destruction God. Then you must know this isn’t the time to fight?”
“Ha! Don’t you dare flap your ignorant mouth so freely! I tried! Dozens, hundreds of times! Every nation! Both continents! I attempted to unite them! I gave them everything they desired—money, technology, power! To build a better world! But those consumed by greed always seek greater profit! They reignite ancient grudges to wage war!”
The Emperor’s voice cracked with anguish, his words torn from depths of bitterness.
“So is this the ideal you’ve created? The massacre of other races? Your own citizens starving to death?”
“…There is no choice. Unification through force is the only path. If we don’t stop the Destruction God, Telus itself will vanish. But before we can properly fight the invading forces, internal conflicts drain our strength every time. Without unification, there is no future.”
“And you’re certain this self-destruction can actually stop it?”
…
The Emperor fell silent, as though he had never foreseen such a future.
“I see. I suspect the chances improve somewhat once a senile emperor is dead.”
“Your Majesty.”
Joshua’s face contorted, his grip tightening on his sword’s hilt. His eyes were asking the Emperor for permission to kill me.
“Yes. Let us end this. It’s nearly complete. Just a bit more and the realm will be unified.”
As the Emperor’s words concluded, Joshua’s blade swung once more.
The sword struck dozens of times with blinding speed, space itself fracturing and splintering under the assault.
Unable to approach directly, I circled Joshua while launching Aura Rays, but once again they were consumed by the countless spatial rifts and vanished.
This wouldn’t work. I changed direction and charged toward the Emperor.
Joshua halted his rapid strikes and withdrew his blade to his waist.
He gripped the sword with both hands, twisted his torso, and unleashed his full power in a single swing.
I stopped abruptly and threw myself flat against the ground, evading the attack.
Dozens of meters of space tore open above my head, and through the fissure poured absolute darkness devoid of light. The thin yet extensive spatial rift consumed even the surrounding illumination. I pressed both hands against the space itself, fighting to avoid being pulled in.
Before I could even rise to my feet, Joshua had already reclaimed his blade. As I attempted to escape by burrowing through the ground, Joshua withdrew his descending strike and hurled himself toward the Emperor.
A small Gate opened above the Emperor’s head, and arrows of light erupted forth, streaking toward his skull.
In that instant, Joshua threw himself between us, his blade flashing to deflect the projectiles.
“Damn traitorous bitch….”
Joshua’s teeth clenched.
“Nella never knows when to give up. Joshua, leave me and go. I’ve done all I can. If you take the field, far fewer lives will be lost to meaningless death….”
“Your Majesty, my place is at your side.”
“That stubbornness of yours never changes, does it?”
“Your Majesty need not worry. I will kill this creature and end the war.”
Joshua unleashed another barrage of sword strikes before the Emperor.
Continuing to evade endlessly would lead nowhere. I needed to shift the momentum.
I sensed with acute perception the space severing aimed at my waist. I slipped my body backward and threw a punch.
Clang!
The space shattered before it could sever completely. If I could destroy the space rupturing across several meters beforehand, the gaps to exploit would only widen.
“…You blocked it?”
“When you telegraph that much, it becomes blockable.”
Truth be told, I wasn’t certain I could block it, but I’d attempted it with the resolve to have my waist severed.
My gamble had paid off—the theory that space-rending attacks could be blocked if struck before the severance completed, even in void space, had worked.
I truly had no training outside of actual combat.
“Now things are getting interesting, aren’t they?”
“Let’s see if you can block this too.”
Joshua gripped his sword with both hands again and twisted his body. The aura I felt was several times more potent than before.
Could I block that? No—could I even evade it?
There was only one way to know. I tensed my legs, ready to flee at any moment.
But Joshua never launched his attack at me.
“Damn it!”
A hole tore open above the Emperor’s head again, and a beam of white light streaked down. Joshua redirected his prepared assault toward the light beam instead.
In that opening, I pivoted my tensed legs forward and charged at Joshua.
Joshua swung his sword left to block the arrow of light, then rapidly reversed it rightward, severing the space before me.
Blocking or evading would only widen the distance I’d narrowed. To gain an advantage, I charged through the space rupture without destroying it.
My waist and left arm were severed, my lower body falling away, but I drew a blade from the back of my right hand and aimed for Joshua’s heart.
Joshua hadn’t anticipated that I would charge straight through without evading or blocking. Yet even his hasty retreat was inhumanly swift.
To catch him as he fled, I extended the blade from my right hand further while my regenerated left hand seized the space itself, violently pulling my upper body forward.
The blade pierced the center of his chest.
As Joshua looked down at my sword embedded in him, my body had already regenerated completely.
“Cough….”
Blood gushed from Joshua’s mouth.
“Argh!”
True to his transcendent nature, Joshua still drew his sword despite the heart wound. But the overwhelming force from moments before had already vanished.
“Haaah!”
I blocked his weakened sword with my arm and exhaled a wave of freezing cold across his face.
I wrenched the embedded blade through his chest, tearing it open, then drew it out to the left and swung again, severing his neck.
Joshua’s head, frozen solid and blue, crashed to the ground with a sickening crack.
“…This can’t be. This can’t be happening! Joshua is dead?!”
At Joshua’s death, the Emperor rose from his throne and descended.
“Why doesn’t the future you saw play out this way?”
“You…. Who are you?! There was never a single future where someone like you appeared!”
“Perhaps it’s because I returned from the future.”
“Can…. Can you really go back to the past?! How! How do I go back to the past?!”
The Emperor had forgotten he’d come to kill me, extending both hands toward me as he approached.
“I can’t go back as I please either. And I have no intention of returning.”
“What? Why…. Why not?! Don’t you want to change the present! The future!”
“Going back won’t save everyone anyway, will it? Someone will still die. There’s no such thing as a perfect future. But we can avoid the worst-case scenario. That’s what we’re fighting for.”
“…No. I cannot give up! For Telus! Divine One! Show me the future once more! Divine One! Once more!”
He cried out toward the heavens, his voice hoarse.
And a swirling vortex of black clouds descended upon the sky.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————