The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player - Chapter 390
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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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The Maxed-Out Player’s 100th Return – Side Story, Episode 14
14. Lucainu
“Who is it? Arkizar?”
At Black Scythe’s question, Voluark had no choice but to stare in alarm.
‘H-how did he know?’
He hadn’t anticipated that Ryu Min would eavesdrop on their telepathic conversation.
Ryu Min looked down at Voluark with an arrogant tilt of his chin.
“Did you really think the God of Time himself couldn’t hear telepathy?”
“Ah….”
“Arkizar contacted you first, didn’t he? Asked if you were hurt anywhere.”
“Y-yes, that’s correct.”
“He was checking whether you were dead or alive. Since you sensed that, you must have answered curtly, right?”
“Yes….”
“See? Didn’t I tell you? That Arkizar is trying to kill you. I received a call too, but I deliberately didn’t answer. That’s why he contacted you instead.”
“Ah….”
Every word was a lie from start to finish, yet Voluark swallowed it whole.
It was difficult to imagine that with the Rune of Inner Truth, I could discern all information in meticulous detail.
“What should we do now, my Lord?”
“What else? We must hunt down all the Hosts on this land so Arkizar can’t grow. First, let’s deal with that Host.”
“Ah, understood.”
Before Voluark’s eyes lay the charred corpse of a human.
Its true form was the Host from Mexico that had been attempting to slaughter humans.
It was an unfortunate Host that couldn’t absorb any bioenergy because Ryu Min had incinerated it in a single strike with the Rune of Lightning.
Splurch—
Black liquid seeping from the corpse was absorbed into Voluark’s palm.
“Without the bioenergy, the absorption tastes bland, but I still feel myself growing.”
“Right. If you absorb all the Hosts on Earth, you can check Arkizar and gain the strength to oppose him.”
“Yes. I should find the other Hosts quickly.”
“If you know, find them fast. We don’t have time to waste.”
“Yes.”
Despite the rebuke, Voluark showed no displeasure as he closed his eyes.
“The nearest location is approximately 1,400 kilometers to the southeast.”
“Lead the way.”
“Yes.”
Voluark took flight first, and Ryu Min unfurled his wings behind him.
* * *
The Host elimination operation that began with Voluark proceeded smoothly.
We had already captured around fifty of them.
“How many are left now?”
“I’m not entirely certain, but there should be approximately two hundred fifty remaining.”
According to Voluark, roughly three hundred Hosts had been dispatched to this land.
All of them descended on the same day and hour to collapse the world line.
‘I read his true thoughts, but he doesn’t seem to know Deorant’s location.’
The Seeds were Deorant’s proxy and the linchpin of the world line’s collapse, yet they didn’t even know where their boss was.
As for the Hosts without self-awareness, there was nothing more to say.
‘For now, I’ll completely annihilate all the Hosts. I’ll think about what comes after.’
If I continued to deceive Voluark and use him as a Host navigator like this, eradication was merely a matter of time.
“Where’s the next Host?”
“Not far from here.”
After absorbing the Host from Nigeria, Voluark flew four hundred kilometers and arrived at a nation called Cameroon.
“Grraaahhh!”
“P-please, save us!”
“Hehehehe! All of you shall become my bioenergy!”
The moment I spotted the Host, bloated like a balloon and raining black poison while indulging in slaughter.
Crackle, crackle—
I sparked electricity across my body.
‘Amplification.’
A lightning rune technique that channels electrical current through the body, increasing both attack speed and movement speed by one hundred percent.
The moment I activated it, the distance of several thousand meters collapsed in an instant.
“Gasp! You, what are you!?”
“Discharge.”
The Host barely had time to register shock at the sudden appearance of a human figure.
“Arrrrggghhhh!”
The Host’s body struck by the electrical current turned pitch black and plummeted to the ground.
Voluark, who arrived moments later, inwardly clicked his tongue at the sight of me.
‘Powerful… Perhaps because he’s a god, he operates on a different level.’
I had witnessed him kill Hosts in a single strike dozens of times, but this was my first time seeing such rapid spatial movement technique.
‘If he were to face Deorant, the Dimensional God, who would be stronger?’
As I entertained such pointless thoughts.
“What are you doing? Hurry and absorb it.”
“Ah, yes!”
Voluark received unwarranted criticism.
Watching him extend his hand to absorb the Host, I inwardly sighed.
‘Using someone slower than me as a guide is frustrating.’
We had captured around fifty, but there was still a long way to go.
There were countless Hosts to be captured in this world, and even now, at this very moment, they might be slaughtering humans.
‘If only I possessed the ability to sense Hosts, I could have caught them far more quickly.’
In three hours, I had eliminated fifty Hosts.
Though the timeframe was relatively short, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was too slow.
I was capable of moving faster than this.
‘There’s no helping it. When will they finally show themselves?’
Ryu Min had no doubt that the Seeds would eventually appear.
With so many Hosts eliminated, there was no way they could remain unaware.
Especially since they possessed the ability to sense the Hosts’ signals.
‘I’d prefer if that creature Arkizar showed up.’
Perhaps they were struggling to keep up because we were moving too quickly.
Or maybe they couldn’t even grasp where we were headed.
‘If I could predict our movement radius, I’d have the answer.’
The Seeds were a race that boasted about being superior beings and such, so they possessed at least that level of intellect.
“The absorption is complete. Let’s move.”
“Understood.”
I was soaring through the sky, following Voluark who led the way, when it happened.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, the creature that had been flying smoothly came to an abrupt halt.
Looking ahead, I saw someone blocking Voluark’s path.
Though they appeared human on the surface, the fact that they were floating in the sky indicated they were far from ordinary.
I immediately recognized their identity.
‘A Seed.’
Their name was Lucainu.
As expected, they had encountered us while investigating the circumstances of the Hosts’ massacre.
“You are…”
“My name is Lucainu. State your name.”
“I am Voluark.”
Lucainu’s eyebrows twitched—they recognized the name.
“So you were Voluark.”
“You know me?”
“I was present during Arkizar’s telepathic conversations.”
At the mention of Arkizar’s name, Voluark’s brow naturally furrowed.
Arkizar was a target for vengeance.
Learning that this creature had been in contact with such a being, Voluark’s gaze could not help but turn cold.
“What brings you here?”
“I was investigating the death of the Hosts. But…”
Lucainu’s gaze shifted beyond Voluark’s shoulder.
“Why are you traveling with a human?”
It was immediately apparent that we were not of the same species.
Seeds are beings that emit a unique wavelength so they can recognize each other.
Yet the existence behind Voluark emitted no such wavelength whatsoever.
Which meant it was an ordinary human.
“Why is he traveling with a human?”
Lucainu’s eyes flickered with caution, a stark contrast to moments before.
“Surely that human isn’t Black Scythe, is he?”
“Want to find out?”
The one who answered the question wasn’t Voluark.
Fluttering—
Black wings spread wide as Ryu Min stepped forward.
“Would an ordinary human possess wings like these?”
“Black Scythe…?”
Lucainu’s eyes, once filled with caution, now flickered with fury.
“So you’re the hunter who’s been slaughtering our Hosts?”
“Yeah, that’s right. What about it? Got a problem?”
“I’ll tear your limbs apart right here and now!”
Lucainu’s bold declaration was his signal to move.
In the blink of an eye, his form vanished.
When I turned my head, he was already above me.
And then came the cascade of black liquid.
Splatter, splatter, splatter!
Even a single drop touching my body would drain my bioenergy.
But I wasn’t one to simply take it.
“Over here.”
“…!?”
The moment he thought he’d landed a hit, my voice came from behind him.
Even accounting for being a Player, the speed was astounding.
Lucainu tried to react hastily, but it was already too late.
Crackling electricity—
“Gaaahhh!”
Lucainu, struck directly by the electrical current, plummeted toward the ground.
I descended after him, my feet touching the earth.
Thud—
“Ugh…”
“Impressive that you’re still breathing. Usually one jolt like that finishes them off. So Hosts really are different from the rest, huh?”
Lucainu was still clinging to life.
I was about to finish him in one strike when—
—Arkizar. Be careful of Black Scythe. He’s already killed the Host, and now he’s coming for me…—
He sent a telepathic message to Arkizar.
There was no way to block it.
Crackle!
I hastily sent a surge of electricity to completely sever its life force.
‘But the message has already been sent.’
There was a high probability that Arkizar had received the telepathic transmission.
‘If that’s the case, he’ll be devising countermeasures against me….’
Originally, my plan was to eliminate the Hosts as quickly as possible, then gradually dispose of the Seeds that would come investigating.
But I hadn’t expected him to contact the commander right before dying.
‘It doesn’t matter. No matter what countermeasures he devises, I can block them.’
Just then, Voluark, who had been chasing behind, confirmed Lucainu’s corpse.
“Is he dead?”
“Yeah. We can’t absorb Seeds, right?”
“Correct. We are only able to harvest Hosts.”
“Then let’s go. We need to continue capturing Hosts.”
I deliberately didn’t mention to Voluark that the creature had sent a telepathic message before dying.
There was no point in doing so anyway.
Flutter!
The two hunters took to the sky once more to hunt for Hosts.
* * *
‘This is… Lucainu’s voice?’
Arkizar had just received an urgent telepathic message.
It was a warning to beware of Black Scythe.
‘It’s definitely Lucainu’s voice.’
I quickly adjusted the frequency and sent a telepathic response, but no answer came back.
‘Was he defeated? Lucainu, by Black Scythe?’
The urgent tone and the content about killing Hosts and even himself.
Synthesizing all the information, it appeared that Lucainu had been sacrificed to Black Scythe.
‘He didn’t even have the leisure to communicate properly via telepathy. That means Black Scythe’s power overwhelms us Seeds.’
This wouldn’t do.
If I ignored the situation, the Hosts would be exterminated by him, and the Seeds would face total annihilation.
‘Is his goal to prevent the collapse of the world line? Why is he doing this?’
The reason was unknown, but I needed to devise countermeasures against Black Scythe quickly.
After prolonged deliberation, Arkizar managed to conceive of one clever stratagem.
‘If I cannot win through force, then coercion should work.’
Arkizar recalled.
Humans commonly use family as a tool for coercion.
‘Black Scythe. That creature must have family too.’
Player or not, he is human.
Arkizar was well aware that family was the weakness of humans.
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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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