D.I.O

Chapter 238

“Oh, my god! How could a human get hit by a railgun yet still…?!”

“Your ability to understand and learn is really quite low,” Arthur said with a sigh.

The railgun was undoubtedly a high-tech weapon that was extremely difficult to reproduce with modern technology. Like Korea, Japan had also succeeded in manufacturing the cutting-edge weapon by acquiring parts and attaining knowledge from the defeated Legion forces.

However, there was no way that such an attack would work on Arthur, who had entered the transcendent realm.

Soon, several people approached and attacked Arthur from the front.

/I am Darian’s Glorious Sword!/

The heavy spiritual words spread like light across the battlefield, and powerful divine power surged from the body of the man at the front of the group. His huge Tower Shield—the armor covering his entire body—and his sword were filled and emanating with divine power.

“I protect the weak and act according to my convictions! Always be humble, and never lose courage!”

Projecting great strength, the man moved forward. He was a person Arthur knew all too well.

“Give me the courage and power to not fall while facing what’s before me now!”

The sight of Adol advancing with his large shield in front of him was a powerful sight to behold. He rushed forward toward Arthur like a locomotive train that couldn’t be stopped. The aura Adol exuded was so majestic that everyone observing him could barely stand properly.

Indeed, it was an intense momentum and aura, but Arthur just watched as things unfolded. Adol quickly reached Arthur and activated his Master Skill.

“Oath of Chivalry.”

Adol’s Master Skill, which required almost a minute of preparation time to activate and consumed an enormous amount of divine power, was truly a mighty skill.

The Oath of Chivalry—which activated more like a buff than an attack-based skill—increased all of Adol’s stats, giving him enormous magic resistance and defensive power. Furthermore, his Master Skill greatly increased the maximum capacity of his divine power and internal energy for a moment.

However…

Clank.

“Eh?”

Bam! Crack!

“Ack?!”

“Ugh?!”

Prime Minister Noda’s face turned ash gray after seeing Adol, who had been spreading his mighty aura just moments ago, and several other Japanese Masters suffer fatal blows and fall helplessly onto the ground.

“How…”

“How, you ask… I understand.”

“You understand? What do you mean…?”

Crack.

Prime Minister Noda’s head was suspended in the air before falling to the ground and then rolling around. Adol’s expression hardened like a stone as he was trying to recover from the blowback he received when his Master Skill was broken.

“Seyoung… you… you have changed.”

“I no longer have any reason to live. However, if I can punish and seek vengeance against those who killed my mother, I might return to being Arthur—a knight of justice.”

Arthur’s tone was light, but Adol felt Arthur’s deep sadness in it. Even so, Adol couldn’t sympathize with Arthur as Arthur’s actions went against his beliefs.

“Even if council member Nobuyuki is the real mastermind behind your mother’s death, his crime should be pursued and punished according to the law! No one gave you the authority to punish him.”

“Is that so? But Adol, who gave them permission to kill my mother?”

“…”

A painful silence fell across the space.

When Adol was unable to retort, another Master next to him stepped forward. “Don’t put the blame on us! Even if all your claims are true, it was only done by a few right-wing extremists! Why should all of Japan suffer this much damage?”

“That’s because you, as a country, neglected to take responsibility and allowed them to exist amongst you.”

Nobuyuki Suzuki had publicly denied the historical fact of past Japanese aggression and said that Japanese forces had never massacred any people. He had terrorized and torn down various statues of comfort women and constantly poured out divisive words that fueled territorial disputes with Japan’s neighbors. The funny thing was that every time he did something like that, he got re-elected with almost all the available votes. Since this was the case, could his actions truly be considered the opinions of only a few?

“That’s…!”

“Why… Am I wrong?” Arthur’s smiling eyes projected a sense of emptiness and rage.

The emotion in Arthur’s eyes was far off from the kindness and goodness Adol had previously seen and was familiar with seeing in Arthur’s eyes. Currently, Arthur was filled with a sense of madness.

“I, Arthur, feel that I’ve been wronged.”

Flash!

Except for Adol, the bodies of all the other gathered Masters fell lifelessly to the ground like string puppets that had their strings cut off. When Arthur returned his draconic sword, Dustin, to its Fantasy World and turned around, a dragon with black scales, Toothless, appeared beside him.

“I found him, master.”

“Good. He’s the last person that I seek in Japan.”

“In Japan?” Adol, who had been sitting on the ground with a blank expression, spoke aloud at this moment.

There were many other politicians and bodyguards nearby, but Adol was the only one who could open his mouth properly because he was the only one who could contend against Arthur’s overwhelming pressure.

“Of course. I am one of the Heaven above the Heavens, and my mother was an important figure who needed to be protected. Did you think Japan had the power to bring my mother here and kill her?”

“That means…”

“I will punish all who were involved in my mother’s death.” Arthur laughed as he repeated what he said on live television that one fateful day.

Then…

Poof!

His figure, along with the light surrounding him, could no longer be seen.

***

Tan received the information from Earth and nodded. Many of his plans had gone awry recently, but Arthur was acting and progressing perfectly as Tan had expected.

“But for such a benevolent being, he sure is running wild, much more intensely than I originally thought he would. Well, Irregulars are all beings with several severe mental illnesses after all.”

“But Tan, are you okay with this? That guy, no matter how you look at it… he’s lost control and fallen into madness. How are you going to control him when you’re already in a limited state where you can’t influence the material world? The Reaper Organization is currently up in arms. They can’t do anything unless Arthur reconnects to the system.”

Arthur had fulfilled all the Noblesse’s requests because they had helped cure his mother, Hye-ran, of her illness. However, now that Hye-ran—who had been the link between Arthur and the Noblesse—was dead, would he still be willing to cooperate with the Noblesse and carry out their requests?

Nevertheless, Tan replied with a relaxed expression, “You don’t have to worry about that. It will be the same as before.”

After saying this, Tan lifted his right hand, and a white spiritual qi arose.

Seeing this, Melton’s expression hardened. “This soul… it can’t be…”

“That’s right. But it won’t be easy to bring her back. Because she died as an outsider, she can’t be resurrected as an NPC.”

Tan spoke with a calm demeanor, yet Melton fell into a state of shock.

“Wait… Wait, Tan. That’s dangerous. Also, if the Reaper Organization finds out, there’ll be an uproar.”

Unexpectedly, what Tan was holding was the soul of Seyoung’s mother, Hye-ran. In other words, just like how Tan had used Merlin in return for resurrecting Miho from the dead, Tan was stating that he was going to use Hye-ran to control Arthur.

However, that was a crazy idea. Reviving Miho, who died as an NPC in the DIO system, and reviving Hye-ran, who died on Earth while living a life as a normal mortal being, were two completely different issues.

In the first place, reviving a mortal being was an illegal action that was strictly prohibited by the Nether World. Tan was a Noblesse, but this did not make him an exception to that law. If news were to get out that he had revived a mortal being in the material world, the Noblesse would probably have to go to war with the Nether World because of him.

Melton was alarmed and shocked, but Tan just smiled calmly and continued speaking.

“There’s no need to worry. It’s not a resurrection. Her soul will possess a body, so it’s more like she’ll be possessing another being. Moreover, I’ve already prepared a physical body.”

“What? But there’s no way that there’s a body that can be possessed on a planet where spiritual pathways don’t exist. Though Merlin and his bizarre research were able to produce an artificial spiritual pathway, there’s no other way to…” Melton suddenly stopped speaking mid-sentence. It was because someone suddenly popped into his mind. “Tan. Wait, are you planning on using the six-tailed fox…”

“That’s correct. In addition, this would be quite the ordeal for Merlin. I would greatly appreciate it if he reacted the same way as Arthur right now.”

“…”

Due to the intensive checks from the Reaper Organization and Elohim, who were the most active powers in the Nether World, the restrictions that were placed on the Noblesse were much harsher than what Merlin had expected.

The Noblesse had been able to send Miho to the real world because Merlin, a mortal on Earth, had paid a huge amount of gem points. Otherwise, the Noblesse would not have been able to send an NPC to Earth.

Currently, the Noblesse had to pay mission rewards according to Union Law, and they had limited control over the reward amounts. Moreover, the Noblesse were not allowed to deceive people with lies, so they had to come out and honestly release their identities.

Nonetheless, even if it was impossible to lie, [not telling the truth] was still possible. Even if one didn’t lie, one could still deceive others.

‘This is nonsense. This isn’t the Noblesse way. It’s the way of demons who do not know shame.’

Demons also could not lie while making [contracts], but those who were not wise were often deceived by demons who used various methods to cause them to misconstrue things. Without lying, one could still induce misunderstandings by telling irrelevant truths or not telling the truth at all. It seemed like Tan was using these sorts of subversive methods.

“Hmm, don’t you like my plan? Does it seem too mean?”

“Well… the thing is… uhm…” Melton stuttered.

Whatever the case may be, Tan was the one who controlled whether Melton lived or died. Even if Melton had complaints, he could not properly express them.

“Just watch. Even if I use dirty tactics… in the end, I will return Noblesse to its original place… to the time when beings throughout the universe respected and feared us.”

Tan sent Hye-ran’s soul into a subspace. It was time for him to start plotting his next plan. Arthur was the only transcendent being on Earth, so if Tan put the reins on him properly, Tan would be able to control Earth as he pleased. Everything was going according to his plan.

However, while his subversive conspiracy proceeded in this fashion… something completely unexpected was unfolding in DIO.

***

“Excellent. It’s better made than I thought.” Merlin stood with a shimmering golden dagger in his hand.josei

Remarkably, the jewel-bladed dagger shone brilliantly after being heated in Aidelin’s furnace and molded by his expert hands.

“It was surprisingly easy, actually. It’s some sort of ore that has a free-changing nature.”

Although embarrassed that he didn’t know what type of ore he was working with, Aidelin didn’t pursue the issue of the Anyform Stone any further. Of course, he was curious, but he was also a very discerning person. He wouldn’t pursue and ask for information if the other person didn’t want to reveal it.

“Alright. Since it’s finished, there’s no need to hesitate.”

“Huh? What the hell are you talking about?”

As Merlin held the newly forged dagger and mumbled to himself, Quiet Heaven expressed its confusion.

However, Merlin just smiled and teleported through space.

Poof!

At once, Merlin crossed a considerable distance and moved to the central square located in the very center of Starting.

As always, countless people were wandering around the central square, and in the middle of the square was a huge tower made of stone.