Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 222

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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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222
No single faction could hunt the giant’s heart alone, but when the elite warriors of three factions converged, the situation transformed entirely.
Even those who despised the sight of each other became remarkably trustworthy when fighting side by side.
The waves emanating from the heart and their resulting shockwaves were manageable with shields and healing magic, and everyone fought with their utmost strength, determined to secure dominance in the inevitable dispute over the essence afterward.
What they failed to notice was that as the waves overlapped, the blood throughout their bodies began to boil.
Everyone dismissed it as the exhilaration of battle, and by the time the nearby warriors sensed something amiss, it was already too late.
“Gasp… What is this?!”
Gramadin, whose physical abilities were the weakest, was the first to realize his blood was boiling. The heart’s waves had pierced through the iron golem’s armor.
“Retreat!”
Gramadin commanded a withdrawal, but they had already endured far too many waves at dangerously close range to the heart.
Mac, an S-rank Hunter, Skalanis, a Master-class Elf, and Gramadin, piloting the iron golem, could barely move, but the other warriors and Hunters were already incapacitated.
The essence was no longer the concern. If the elite Hunters were slaughtered, all the essence they’d accumulated so far wouldn’t be worth the loss.
“Fall back!”
Mac hoisted several fallen comrades onto his shoulders and ordered a retreat.
The Elves and Dwarves also began gathering their allies and fleeing.
Though the heart had no face or mouth, the veins covering its surface writhed violently, expressing its rage.
“Damn this thing! Why does it only chase me?!”
The Dwarf warrior who had initially drawn the heart’s aggro cursed as he fled, paying dearly for being the first to strike it.
The US soldiers and Elf warriors had fled in different directions, far away.
Gramadin lacked the strength to fell the heart alone, and he couldn’t bear to watch the Dwarf warrior die before his eyes.
“South! Change direction toward the Rigen Advance Base!”
Gramadin squeezed his eyes shut and shouted at the fleeing Dwarf. If Rigen discovered what had transpired, it could cause problems later, but it was better than letting his subordinate die pointlessly.
The fleeing Dwarf, trusting that Rigen would handle the situation somehow, immediately changed direction.
However, contrary to his hopes, his body had taken too many waves and was on the verge of collapse.
“Here! Over here!”
Gramadin attacked to draw the heart’s attention, but the tough leather of the heart’s surface easily deflected his axe.
At that moment, a golden object was launched from the Rigen Advance Base toward the heart.
The golden mass flew at high speed without being pushed back or slowed by the waves the heart unleashed, colliding directly with it.
Crash!
The giant’s heart, which hadn’t budged no matter how many times it was attacked, was knocked back and fell to the ground.
“Ridi!”
The golden mass called out. It was Ban Adamant, the King of Metalim. Being bloodless, Metalim could withstand wave attacks.
Ridi, who arrived a moment later in the form of a horse galloping through the sky, transformed into human form, shielded herself with a barrier, and thrust her spear forward.
The heart couldn’t block an Adamant weapon either, and finally the heart’s muscle tore under Ridi’s assault.
From the torn wound, the heart poured forth an intense torrent of flames.
No matter how much Metalim could endure, direct exposure to the lava-like inferno would cause it to melt and vanish.
Ridi retreated while blocking with her shield, but the lava-like flames spurted beneath it, and her legs were scorched.
“Are you just going to watch?!”
At Ban’s cry, the Dwarves finally joined the battle, and the Elves and US soldiers who had fled also rushed back to lend their strength.
Though the flames intensified, the blood-boiling waves had weakened, so the three factions unleashed their accumulated fury upon the heart in a coordinated assault.
Hammers and axes, rain of frost, and buffs poured down from all directions as the heart’s pulse grew ever weaker.
The battered heart transformed into particles of flame, leaving behind a massive essence before vanishing completely.
“This is….”
Ridi approached the fire essence.
“I’ll retrieve it.”
Mac quickly extended his hand toward the essence.
“Stop right there. What do you think you’re doing?”
Gramadin, descending from the iron golem, placed his axe against Mac’s wrist.
“That’s right, human. Back off. And you—the one who fled—step back as well.”
As Skalanis approached, the three stood in confrontation, though Ridi paid them no mind.
“Well then. Since everyone else has fled, this essence belongs to Ban and Ridi, wouldn’t you say?”
At the sudden sound of a young girl’s voice, all three heads snapped toward her.
“Would anyone care to explain what’s happening here?”
Alice’s lips curved in a smile, but her eyes gleamed with razor-sharp intensity.
“…”
All three clamped their mouths shut and averted their gaze from those piercing eyes.
“We’ll uncover the truth through investigation. We’ll be conducting inspections at all three outposts, so please report to your representatives and wait. Ridi, would you collect this for me?”
“Yes.”
The warriors from all three factions could only watch as Ridi picked up the basketball-sized fire essence with her bare hands.
* * *
“Damn it! Not only did we let the biggest one slip away, but Rigen found out about it?!”
“…I apologize. It was beyond our capabilities to capture.”
“You should have at least kept it hidden! That brat Alice has been sharpening her blade all along!”
As Sam barked orders from the safety of his position while delegating everything to Mac, frustration boiled up inside him.
“Are you defying orders?”
The perceptive Commander caught the look in Mac’s eyes.
“N-No, sir!”
“Destroy all evidence of the essences we’ve collected so far, and prepare to transport the essences to Earth.”
“Commander, if we hide this any longer and get caught, the consequences will be….”
“Will you handle those consequences?! Or will I?!”
Sam had never truly taken responsibility for anything in his life, and Mac’s frustration burned, but he exercised patience and swallowed his anger once more.
Not for Sam’s sake. For his country.
Mac was an S-rank Hunter who had chosen to remain in the military. His loyalty to his nation surpassed that of anyone else.
He quietly left the Commander’s office, placed the fire essence into a heat-sealed briefcase, and called for Sam.
“We’re moving immediately. Open the Gate.”
Sam, holding the fire essence, stood before the Gate generator and silently pressured it by checking his watch.
“Opening it now!”
The mage injected mana into the Gate generator, and space rippled.
Kwaaaaaaa!!!!
A crimson beam incinerated the space where the Gate was about to form.
Sam sensed the danger and dodged backward, clutching the briefcase.
“It’s a head! The head has emerged!”
A colossal head floated suspended in the sky.
Powerful beams of fire erupted from its eyes, streaking toward Sam.
“Roooaaarrr!!!”
Mac thrust his hammer forward to deflect the beam, but the backlash scorched his body.
Had he taken even a moment longer, his flesh would have been completely incinerated, but the beam shifted its focus back to the Commander after striking Mac.
“Damn it all!”
With his precognitive ability, Sam weaved expertly through the incoming beams.
“Mars One! What are you doing?! Get down here!”
Mars One, which had been hovering at high altitude above the outpost to avoid the typhoon, descended rapidly.
Mars One descended while destroying the buildings of the US Military Base, absorbing the beams with its body.
While the heavily shielded Mars One protected Sam, he boarded the vessel.
“Show that damned head the pinnacle of American magical science!”
“Commander! We’re channeling all our energy into the shields right now! We don’t have enough power for an attack!”
“Move aside!”
Sam shoved the crew member aside and rushed to the control panel, opening the briefcase containing the Essence of Fire.
Using the gripper attached to the briefcase, he seized the Essence of Fire and inserted it into Mars One’s control panel.
“Taste the power that came from your own body!”
The Essence of Fire’s power surged through Mars One’s circuits and channeled to the main cannon.
“Fire the main cannon as soon as it’s ready!”
“Main cannon firing!”
A violent torrent of flames erupted from the cannon, and the head struck by it ceased emitting beams, gradually being pushed back.
“Excellent! The Hunters on the ground should also attack….”
“Commander! It’s absorbing our power!”
“What?”
The giant head seemed to falter momentarily, but it absorbed the unleashed flames and advanced further forward.
“The Essence of Fire’s output is dropping rapidly!”
“If one isn’t enough, add more!”
Sam inserted additional essences into the control panel to boost the output.
“Commander! Mars One’s output has reached its limit! If you push it any further, it will explode!”
“Shut up! Limits exist to be overcome!”
Sam ignored the warning and fed more essences into the panel, their energy crackling as it flowed to the main cannon.
The giant head gradually retreated under the intensified firepower of Mars One’s main cannon.
“Look at that! It works, doesn’t it?! Behold! American technological prowess!”
Bzzzzzzt!!!
“Circuit overload! Cannon overheating! Shield integrity failing! Commander! Your orders!”
“What?”
Excessive energy flooded through the circuits, and Mars One’s powerful shield gradually became translucent.
“Retreat….”
Sam’s foresight revealed what would happen next. Mars One exploded and erupted into flames.
An event that would occur in merely one second. There was nowhere to escape.
“Damn it!!!”
Sam screamed, knowing his death in advance yet powerless to evade it.
From the giant’s eyes, now infused with the essence of fire, two beams of light—twice as powerful as before—shot forth, cleaving Mars One from top to bottom.
Mars One, split in two, detonated catastrophically, and five essences soared into the sky.
The giant’s head gaped wide, and the spheres were drawn into its maw.
From the giant’s head, which had swallowed the fire essence, a ruddy, translucent form materialized, and where the fire essence acquired by the US Military was consumed, flesh took on vivid definition.
“Hmm!”
Next, ancient Greek armor and a helm materialized upon the giant’s transparent form, and a spear materialized in its grasp.
“How could we possibly overcome such a thing.”
“It’s all over….”
Mac, the US Military’s supreme force, fell in a single blow, and the Commander was incinerated. The US Military lost all will to fight.
Mac, who had been on death’s door, received healing and recovered somewhat, but lacked the courage to face battle again.
The giant’s rigid face swept across the tense US Military once, then its mouth split wide in a deranged smile.
“Non-combatants, evacuate. The rest, follow me!”
Mac, knowing the opponent was unbeatable, raised his hammer nonetheless to allow even one more person to escape. Seeing his back, his teammates followed with solemn resolve.
* * *
“Move the fire essence at once!”
Phillarion received a distress call from the US Military Base. However, upon obtaining information about the giant, Phillarion prioritized extracting the essence rather than dispatching a rescue team.
An Elf Warrior held an item crafted from woven vines. It was a container for the fire essence, created through magic cast upon the World Tree.
At last, the Gate to the Elf Kingdom Weholo opened.
“Cross through now! Hurry!”
From the crimson Martian horizon, the armored giant wielding a spear descended. Its speed defied the laws of physics.

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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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