Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 210

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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210
“The Sanctuary’s magic is a shackle that prevents unauthorized Metalim from leaving, but it doesn’t stop them from entering. Therefore, I can get in. However, even if I sneak inside and rally all my comrades from the Mine Tunnel, we still can’t defeat even a handful of Imperial Noble soldiers. The power gap between Imperial Nobles and commoners is overwhelming.”
“Pascal, would you like to try eating this?”
While everyone pondered their options, Jae-in held out a metal fragment to Pascal.
“This… isn’t this palladium? It’s not just any metal—I can’t eat metal from an Imperial Noble house!”
“Why not?”
“Why not?! Does anyone eat poison?”
“Has anyone died from eating this? You’ve never even tried it before, have you?”
“You don’t need to eat something to know it’s dangerous!”
“I don’t think it’ll kill you…”
“Jae-in, this is too risky. Please stop.”
I stepped in to stop her.
“But Bourbon had it mixed in.”
“What?”
“When I analyzed it last time, there were other metals mixed in.”
Jae-in tapped her monocle thoughtfully.
“Imperial Nobles don’t die from eating it, but commoners do?”
“That… that can’t be… Imperial Nobles also die if they eat other metals… or do they not?”
Pascal was bewildered by this unbelievable information.
“Give it to me.”
Paren stretched his body toward the metal fragment.
“Paren! You’ll die doing that!”
Because it was something he’d believed his entire life, he couldn’t accept it all at once, even coming from Jae-in, who seemed friendly to them.
“You seem like an intelligent person among humans. I’m ignorant, so I don’t understand what you’re saying. But if I can just land one blow on Elchai and Bourbon’s faces, I’d swallow poison itself.”
“Paren…”
“If Paren is going to eat it, this isn’t ideal. Nickel would be better. Let’s just try a very small amount first.”
Paren stared intently at the nickel fragment Jae-in offered, then took a deep breath and absorbed it into his body.
The nickel fragment slowly dissolved within Paren.
“Ugh…”
“Paren! Are you okay?! I knew it! I told you it was poison?!”
“Pascal, I’m fine.”
Paren’s zinc-red hue subtly faded, and a silvery sheen began to shimmer across his form.
“Try eating mana stone too.”
Paren consumed the mana stone and transformed into human form.
“Pascal, look at this! I’ve become even stronger!”
“That can’t be…”
Even though Pascal understood that becoming stronger was a good thing, the shock of a lifetime’s common sense crumbling was too great for him to accept immediately.
Jae-in asked Paren various questions to ensure he was unharmed. Finding nothing wrong, she gradually increased the dosage over time, raising the ratio.
“Power… I’m overflowing with power! I’ve never felt like this before!”
Not only had he become harder, but with sufficient mana stone provided, his movements had also become more nimble.
“You’re serious?”
Pascal’s expression turned flustered at Paren’s reaction.
“You can’t just eat anything indiscriminately. The ratios and combinations matter.”
“Give me more!”
An excited Paren and an even more excited Jae-in mixed various metals together, modifying Paren’s body.
“If this was possible all along, why have we been suffering until now….”
Pascal looked utterly deflated.
“It was probably to maintain control through fear. If commoners gain strength, their status becomes threatened, doesn’t it?”
“Damn those nobles…. Me too! Give me some too!”
Pascal demanded metals in anger.
An elated Jae-in fed various metals to both Paren and Pascal.
“If you increase your hardness too much, you lose flexibility. And over time, metals that aren’t originally part of your body are slowly expelled, so it’s not permanent—more like a temporary boost.”
“Damn it…. So it’s not permanent….”
“But you’ve become strong enough. Pascal, now you can fight those nobles!”
“By the way, is it okay to destroy the Sanctuary? Isn’t that an important place for Metalim?”
“Those damn nobles treasure it, so I really want to smash it.”
Paren spoke while grinding his teeth with satisfaction, and Pascal nodded in agreement.
“If that’s what you both want.”
Since even Metalim could be detected by noble soldiers if we approached through the main entrance, we took a wide detour and approached from the lower levels of the mine.
“Once you arrive and disable the Sanctuary’s magic, press this. Then I’ll launch our assault from this side.”
Jae-in handed over a small signal device, and Pascal and Paren each inserted one into their bodies. Then, just like when I had escaped before, they made their bodies thin and burrowed into the earth.
* * *
The King of Adamant walked alone through the dark mine tunnel.
The workers’ quarters weren’t houses but small lairs, and because they were hook-shaped, the interiors weren’t visible.
King Ban approached one of them.
“Ridi!”
Ban’s expression brightened as he found his destination correctly.
“Your Majesty…. It’s dangerous if you come here. Didn’t I tell you?”
However, Ridi showed neither surprise nor welcome, as if this wasn’t the first time the king had visited her quarters.
“I’m sorry. Don’t be angry.”
Ban’s shoulders sagged.
“…I’m not angry. I’m just worried.”
Ridi’s tone softened slightly as she stroked Ban’s head. If the noble faction learned that a commoner had placed her hand on the King of Metallanet’s head, they would never let it slide, but the relationship between these two stretched back to a very distant past.
“I think war is coming….”
Worry settled across Ban’s face.
“The King of Metallanet cannot show weakness.”
“How did it come to this…. It’s all my fault that you’re here, Ridi. I shouldn’t have sent you to the Ground.”
“You did it thinking of me, didn’t you? Your Majesty has done nothing wrong.”
“If I only had strength like Abamama, I wouldn’t have been swayed by Elchai….”
“Shh!”
Ridi quickly covered Ban’s mouth and peeked her head out of the cave, surveying the surroundings.
“Be careful. Ban is Metalim’s future. For now, you must endure. And don’t forget—Adamant is Metalim’s true king.”
“But I can’t even access the kingdom’s treasury….”
Ridi’s heart ached seeing Ban so despondent.
“Your Highness.”
She embraced him, calling him prince—a name she’d used since raising him as a child. Ban didn’t mind it.
“Should we run away together? With what we’ve saved, we could easily escape to another dimension.”
When Ridi called him prince for the first time in so long, Ban’s resolve weakened further.
“Your Majesty! Don’t ever speak of abandoning your people in their hour of war! You are the sole heir of the great Royal Family!”
“…I’m sorry.”
“You must steel your heart.”
Ridi helped Adamant to his feet and brushed the dust from his clothes, though her own soiled hands only smeared more dirt onto him.
Ridi gazed at her filthy hands with a bitter smile. These were once the hands that had drawn a blade for the Royal Family.
“You should return now. I fear your health will suffer if you remain here.”
“I’ll be strong. Promise me you’ll come back too.”
“…I promise.”
After Ban departed, Celsi entered Ridi’s cave.
“Ban came again?”
“Yes…. It’s dangerous, though.”
Before her old friend, Ridi dropped her rigid facade.
“He’d come anywhere if you’re there.”
“I can’t be by his side anymore.”
“Isn’t that all because of Elchai?”
“Celsi! Watch your tongue!”
“Hmph! If this is how we’re meant to live, death would be better.”
“Don’t say such things….”
Ridi gripped Celsi’s hand tightly.
“I’m sorry. It was thoughtless of me, knowing you’ve lost family…. But this is too much. When the late King Adamant was alive, things weren’t like this. We both served the Royal Family, and now we’re treated like this….”
“It’s all in the past now.”
I’m bitter. If that traitor Elchai hadn’t laid his hands on the royal treasury, none of this would have happened.”
Gloom filled Ridi’s small cave as the two sat in silence.
“Hm?”
Something trembled beneath the earth.
“Who’s coming?”
“The Gyeongbin clan?”
“But the direction….”
What burst through the ground was Pascal and Paren.
“Ridi! Paren, see? I told you this was the right way!”
“Pascal? Paren? Bourbon said you were captured and killed by surface humans?”
“Killed? We’re alive and well, as you can see!”
“Ridi, there’s no time. Lend me your strength.”
“Strength?”
“I’m going to the Sanctuary. It’s time we gave those Imperial Nobles a taste of our power.”
“What? You’re going to betray the Royal Family?”
“What good is a Royal Family that won’t protect me? You’ve worked for them for centuries, and look at the state you’re in now. You still want to stand by them?”
“But….”
“But don’t worry. We’re only excluding the Imperial Nobles. Ban will be fine. The real problem is the Imperial Nobles and Elchai…. That one.”
“Pascal, have you forgotten the power Elchai possesses?”
Celsi asked.
“I’ve made a pact with the surface dwellers.”
“The surface dwellers can’t enter Metallanet.”
“There are ways. If we destroy the magic of the Sanctuary, the surface dwellers will come in and help us capture the Imperial Nobles. You’ve met them, haven’t you? They’re good people.”
“Hmm….”
“Ridi! If they help us, there’s hope. You told me to endure for Ban’s sake, but Ban is in danger now too!”
At those words, Ridi, who had been deliberating, nodded her head.
“All right! Let’s gather everyone from the Mine.”
“Pascal, why are you taking the sick people with you?”
“Celsi, do I look sick to you?”
Pascal honed his hand to a sharp edge. His hand, infused with blue energy, looked chillingly radiant.
“…. What happened to you?”
“It’s a method the Imperial Nobles monopolized. If you mix in other metals, you don’t die—you become stronger.”
Pascal and Paren gritted their teeth.
“Then, can I become like that too?”
Celsi couldn’t tear her eyes away from the prospect of such transformation.
“It’s temporary, but yes. You can become stronger too. So hurry and wake everyone. Once we destroy the magic of the Sanctuary, the surface dwellers will come and turn us into warriors.”
Celsi took the lead in waking the Metalim. Most of them were in poor condition and moved slowly.
“Everyone’s gathered!”
The Metalim looked at Pascal standing before them.
“Fellow Metalim! I do not stand here to complain. I stand here to demonstrate my resolve to no longer endure the unjust treatment of the Imperial Nobles!”
The Metalim, who had followed without understanding, murmured at Pascal’s words.
“We labor all day without rest in increasingly dangerous workplaces! The Imperial Nobles treat us—precious citizens of Metallanet—like machines, and throw us scraps of food as if bestowing charity. The Royal Family of old was not like this!”
“But…. The Imperial Nobles are strong…. How could we lowly Metalim possibly dare to….”
The Metalim in the Mine Tunnel murmured among themselves. They had grown accustomed to the hierarchy the Imperial Nobles had created through long domination, and showed no will to fight.
Ridi and Celsi looked at Pascal and Paren with worried eyes, but they showed no anxiety whatsoever, as if they possessed some hidden certainty.
Pascal straightened his chest and raised his fist.

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