Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 281

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

281
No matter how much Ji-seok had enlarged himself, he couldn’t shield dozens of falling meteorites with his body alone.
The meteorites pierced through Ji-seok’s wings and descended toward the ground.
Ji-seok was forced to concentrate on the Manager while unleashing aura barrages to keep him at bay, leaving no capacity to block the meteorites. He had no choice but to trust everyone’s abilities.
The moment the meteorites fell, the warriors and mages of Metalim, the spirit mages of Luna City, and the warriors and mages of Newus all froze in place. Who could blame them? Meteorites hundreds of meters across piercing through black wings and plummeting toward the ground—it was apocalypse itself.
The combat robots, incapable of feeling pain or fear, were the first to directly latch onto the falling meteorites, firing their leg and back thrusters at maximum output to alter their trajectories.
A single robot was insufficient to change a meteorite’s descent, but when dozens clung to one, its trajectory gradually shifted.
There was no need to send them far—just enough clearance for the clustered fleet below to evade.
The combat robots’ armor, forged from Cargron’s carapace, easily withstood the meteorites’ flames. However, the joints—with their relatively lower heat resistance—cracked under sustained thermal exposure, allowing heat to seep into the robots’ interiors.
The robots, already straining their thrusters beyond limits, overheated and began exploding one after another.
“Roooaaarrr!!”
Alex and the Blue Dragon squadron unleashed ice breath to suppress the meteorites’ flames while ramming their heads into the rocks to assist in altering their trajectories.
[Betty, Charles, Albert—do not follow them. No more than one dragon per meteorite.]
[Mage unit, snap out of it. We will not yield to the dragons and robots. Shatter the smaller meteorites in the center. Fire in any order as you become ready.]
At Veronica’s command—the AI War Commander created by Alice—the mages, whose bodies had frozen in terror, suddenly snapped to attention.
Veronica analyzed the falling meteorites, controlled the robots, and issued optimal commands to individual units across the battlefield.
Jae-in issued overall commands, Alice input them to Veronica, and thousands of warriors received perfectly calculated assessments and optimal troop positioning.
They had performed well until now, but in this apocalyptic situation beyond human comprehension, Veronica awakened those paralyzed by fear and proved her worth.
“This is the first time I’ve used Veronica in actual combat, and she’s performing better than expected. Alice, you really built her well.”
“It’s because my teacher was excellent.”
Pride shone on Alice’s face, but the tension of the moment kept her eyes fixed on the monitor. She had to continuously verify that Veronica’s program was running smoothly and that no errors were occurring.
A single command mistake could send an entire ship flying, so as the creator, she couldn’t afford to relax.
Under Veronica’s direction, mages and spirit mages unleashed barrages that shattered dozens of medium-sized meteorites tens of meters across and smaller ones mere meters wide, while the fleet cannons never ceased their barrage.
The ships executed evasive maneuvers and deployed shields.
The shields lacked sufficient energy to block the largest meteorites, but the head-sized fragments that broke off and fell were easily contained by the shields.
Before the massive meteorites could strike the ground, the ships climbed in altitude through the gaps created by the robots and dragons.
Once sufficient distance had opened, the meteorites crashed into the ground. With a heavy impact, flames and dust scattered in all directions.
“This planet… is finished regardless.”
Jae-in gazed coldly down at the atmosphere engulfed in ash and dust, at the fracturing earth.
Though focused on the immediate battle, remembering how the Manager had caused his wife Ji-hae and their young daughters to freeze in terror ignited a burning rage within him.
While the Survivor Alliance Forces continued their desperate struggle for survival, Ji-seok sought openings by firing aura barrages at the Manager. Hundreds of aura attacks erupted not just from his hands and mouth, but from various points across his body.
Yet all those aura attacks merely prevented the power of annihilation from turning toward his allies.
No matter how many aura attacks he unleashed, they dealt little significant damage to the Manager. If that was the case, direct confrontation was necessary.
The fleet had already escaped his shadow, and he had learned that when he engaged the Manager, the creature couldn’t employ its power of annihilation.
Ji-seok’s colossal form rose higher, closing the distance to the Manager.
“Hmph. Do you think I’d fall to such a sluggish body?”
Another volley of meteorites erupted from the void. His wings were already tattered, his body ravaged and unhealed. One more barrage and this colossal form would be finished.
Just before the meteorites collided, Ji-seok—seeing no further reason to maintain his enlarged form—split his body into hundreds of clones.
As Ji-seok’s massive frame decomposed into clones, the sight resembled angels emerging from a spring, yet the Ji-seok that emerged wore black armor, appearing far more demonic.
Ji-seok now fought by mobilizing every scrap of knowledge and experience he had accumulated thus far.
Creating avatars required countless souls, but as I grew larger, I absorbed sufficient life force and souls from the monsters on the ground.
However, because I had absorbed the tattered souls of monsters with only destructive instincts remaining without refinement, my avatars’ power fell short of my main body. They could only destroy, but since their target was the Manager, it suited the current situation perfectly.
“Die!”
Hundreds of my avatars flew toward the Manager. Since each avatar only needed to land a single blow to fulfill its purpose, they charged forward with desperate resolve, each one infusing aura into their fists, blades, and tail-like appendages.
“You should know that no matter how many worthless avatars you send, they’re useless against me. Is this your final struggle?”
The Manager dismissed them with contempt, hurling the power of annihilation and meteors at my avatars.
My avatars pierced through the meteors, but they couldn’t withstand the annihilation beam—half of them vanished instantly. The surviving avatars regenerated their damaged sections and climbed higher, ever higher.
“Worms that dare defy a god….”
Despite becoming a demigod, the Manager hadn’t shed human emotions. Watching me rise again and again no matter how many times I was killed, rage surged within them. The original plan had crumbled, then another was devised, and another after that—several times over. I had wasted far too much power because of that damned fool and those vermin called allies.
“A god? How dare you call yourself a god when you can’t even kill me?!”
The Manager had become a demigod, but the accumulated power was diminishing by the second. Using power in a demigod state would lengthen the time needed to gather strength to become a god again, so they were unconsciously conserving energy.
“…Yes. How could I call myself a god if I waste effort on someone like you?”
The Manager abandoned the attempt to conserve power, and I felt their resolve shift.
The Manager extended a hand, and dimensions were sucked into it. While smaller and less powerful than the vortex used by the Destruction God, the force that devoured dimensions was undoubtedly worthy of being called divine power.
What the Manager had used until now was merely erasing matter and souls within a dimension, but the annihilation power being wielded now was devouring the dimension itself.
“Everyone, evacuate!”
I could resist that power, but my allies below could not.
“Full retreat!”
The fleet had already created considerable distance, but the vortex created by the Manager swallowed the dimension itself, closing the gap in an instant. The fleet’s propulsion alone couldn’t escape the suction force.
“This dimension is no longer needed. Perish along with it.”
“I won’t allow that!”
My avatars flew at the Manager. Some were sucked directly into the vortex, but the ones that circled behind burned all their life force to create a dense domain around their bodies.
A desperate attack where burning all available life force meant the avatar would die whether the attack succeeded or failed. I was certain that even a touch would damage any monster, even the Manager’s body.
“How pathetic!”
The Manager created a massive vortex in front with one hand while swinging the other arm backward to annihilate my avatars attempting to attack from behind.
Avatars that had poured all their life force into the attack couldn’t regenerate at ultra-high speed like my main body and couldn’t withstand the annihilation power.
One avatar turned to dust from annihilation, and another avatar pierced through that dust to approach the Manager. I was now within arm’s reach.
“Kugh!”
The Manager stopped the vortex, evaded the incoming avatar, flew backward, and created another vortex.
I swerved sharply to the side to avoid the vortex, resisted its suction force, and flew toward the Manager’s back.
“How?!”
The Manager’s eyes widened upon seeing me evade the vortex’s suction.
“This is the power of a foreign god dwelling in the Void! There’s no way someone like you can evade it!”
The Manager didn’t know that I had developed resistance from encountering the Destruction God multiple times.
Panicked, the Manager couldn’t fully evade my approaching hand and was caught by the wrist.
“Krragh!”
My hand, wrapped in a powerful domain, was like a blast furnace, melting even the demigod Manager’s wrist.
The Manager hastily withdrew their hand and knocked away my avatar with the other.
The melted wrist regenerated quickly, but the Manager’s face twisted grotesquely with pain. The composed expression from before had completely vanished.
“Kekeke. So a god’s body is quite soft after all.”
With armor encasing even his face, Ji-seok’s mouth split into a grin that made him look like a grinning demon.
“Aaaaaaahhhhh!!”
As the Manager convulsed and unleashed the power of annihilation in all directions, every clone that had drawn near was obliterated.
“Damn it….”
With only his true body remaining, Ji-seok fixed his gaze upon the Manager.
That foolish Manager had acquired the power of annihilation and the creative force to conjure meteors, but he had neglected to cultivate his original body’s abilities. One more full exertion of my power would shatter his physical form to pieces.
However, I had already expended considerable life force, and I lacked confidence in approaching an opponent whose clones had vanished.
“Go ahead. I’ll provide support.”
Jae-in, standing upon the vessel, had grasped both Ji-seok’s hesitation and the current situation, and transmitted her thoughts to him through a mage.
“Violet will save Earth. We must fulfill our roles.”
“I’m sorry.”
Ji-seok squeezed his eyes shut.
“Broadcast to the entire fleet.”
The mage who had sent the telepathic message to Ji-seok nodded, and the connection extended to every crew member across the entire fleet.
“Can everyone hear me?! At this rate, we cannot escape, and we will all be consumed and perish! Then, shall we burn brilliantly one last time?!”
Because the Manager had torn through this dimension, rifts had opened across the space, and any vessel pulled into them would not survive intact.
In wartime, consent was not strictly necessary. Yet Jae-in, not a true soldier, did not simply issue an order to sacrifice their lives—she sought their agreement.
“…Damn it, so it comes to this after all?”
“We knew this was coming anyway, didn’t we?”
“Tch, that’s true.”
Even now, I could have left everything to Ji-seok and fled.
“Since when do you ask before detonating?! Stop wasting time and let’s go!”
Yet no one dared suggest escape.
“For the families who will survive!”
For the future that would exist after I was gone.
“For Earth!”
They willingly staked their lives on a hope as small as dust.

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