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Merba (2)

-Myuuuu!

-Oooh!

The blue cow resonated with Onyx’s playful voice. Should someone translate the conversation between the two into human words, they would be saying things like, ‘I hate sand because I can’t eat it!’ or, ‘It’s dry and it’s making my skin crack!’

“Skin?! Isn’t it metal?”

“Isn’t it likely to wear out regardless?”

“It’s a really wide world. Witchcraft…”

“Isn’t it okay because it’s not necessary to rush? The time ratio is also relaxed.”

“That’s also true. I’m welcome to spend more time with Anvil.”

“Huh, I mean.”

Claire now maintained a bold attitude towards Shu and Tsukuyo. Specifically, she was dealing with them, similar to how she dealt with Lee Na-hee and Eleanor.

“It’s difficult to have a handsome boyfriend.”

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay; the sense of superiority is also difficult.”

Kang Shin-hyuk smiled at her honesty and held onto the steering wheel. He didn’t have to, as the blue cow could move on its own, and even Onyx was helping. However, its performance increased greatly if he directly contacted it and imbued it with his spiritual power. Plus, it felt good to drive, even though all he could see through the window were plains of endless sand. Sometimes, sand pillars rising from the ground could be found too.

“It’s a planet of sand.”

How far was this desert originally? Had it widened because all vegetation had lost its vitality? However, whenever he performed a dimensional movement in the past, he was usually immediately tossed into the deep end, so why did they end up in the middle of the desert?

“It’s been a while since I’ve done a dimensional quest like this.”

“Isn’t it because it’s not a quest? If I have to say… It’s like a homecoming instead.”

Claire laughed at his sentimentality, but he did feel like he had come home. Indeed, he was glad he could return home with Claire. For the past half-year, Kang Shin-hyuk took care of Shinyoung’s work and did dimensional quests with Claire in his spare time. Because the time ratio with Earth was different, it had been at least as long as five years.

Since he had been with Claire all the while, they must’ve seemed a bit unusual to the people around them on Earth. Their amazingly strong relationship had developed over that length of time they spent together, but to those on Earth, they had only been together for a year or so. It was a bit embarrassing for him to admit, but it was just an extension of what Claire had been saying before about a child. Others might ask if she were crazy, but to Claire, it was already to the point of, ‘I’ve waited long enough.’

“…”

“…Hee.”

When Kang Shin-hyuk thought that and quietly moved his hand towards the passenger seat, Claire took it gently as if she was thinking of the same thing.

“Yep.”

“Then me too.”

Immediately after, two more hands reached out from the back seat and were placed on top of theirs. The two in the back seat reacted as if it were natural.

“Huh? You don’t mean to fight, grandpa?”

“Don’t look at me with those eyes, Anvil. Bullying is bad.”

“…Honey, are these two really VIPs? Have they lived for hundreds of years more than we do?”

“Oh, Claire. Please don’t talk about age. Because if these people get angry, they’re really scary.”

He felt like he saw a few black tails waving menacingly behind Tsukuyo, so he quickly quieted Claire. But when he thought about it, it was ridiculous to think of the age difference between the two and Kang Shin-hyuk, especially when they thought his age difference with Claire was a big deal. He decided to keep his mouth shut for the time being.

“By the way, Anvil, I noticed something.”

“Yes? What is it, Tsukuyo?”

“I’m relieved, Anvil. For your unpleasant thoughts, I’ll give you my own reward when we’re alone.”

“I’m not sure what you mean?!”

“You won’t be left alone.”

“This sand…”

Tsukuyo, lighting disregarding Claire, pointed to the plains of sand.

“I thought it was strange, so I was examining it, but this is artificially created.”

“It’s artificial? The whole desert?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Rather, the whole planet is covered in sand.”

Even searching with two transcendental beings, they had found nothing, so the thought had occurred to them before. But he had ignored it, as if it were true, it would be too large.

“No, then, did we even need to move in the first place?”

“Well, it would’ve been more difficult to detect the flow of energy had we not. Besides, maybe… No, I will tell you again when I actually see it.”

Kang Shin-hyuk stopped the car. However, when Tsukuyo said it would be better for the car to be floating in the air in case of an emergency, the nervous Shin-hyuk brought the blue cow about a kilometer up.

“Tsukuyo, are you going to do what I think?”

“Yes, that’s right… I’m excited.”

He couldn’t understand why she was excited, but he decided to quit while he was ahead. Tsukuyo opened the car door and stepped into the air as if the ground was right under her feet. Of course, Kang Shin-hyuk could do that himself, but in the case of Tsukuyo, she naturally exceeded his skill proficiency by doing so naturally as walking on the ground. He couldn’t feel any energy moving around her.

‘Tsukuyo’s ability to appear and disappear suddenly is because she has such a horrifyingly perfect control of her energy.’

When he met her before, Kang Shin-hyuk wasn’t aware since he lacked in ability, but now it was different. He could read her ability in each movement and even learn from them. From energy control to body movement, it was possible since his trait had evolved thus far.

“Now then, let’s test my idea.”

Tsukuyo breathed out a sigh and stretched her fan into the air. Dark red flames gathered into an elaborate orb at a point in the air. Shu began to tremble at the sight.

“Ooh, you control bloody energy like that.”

“It’s okay, Shu.”

“I’m just overwhelmed with controlling causality, grandfather. It’s just the nature of our people.”

“I don’t know your kind, but I understand roughly.”

Maybe he could understand something from Shu as well… No, it was impossible since she omitted causality. Wait, if so, couldn’t he learn that? Previously, he thought it would be impossible, but now that he had grown in so many ways, Kang Shin-hyuk thought of a very good way, but the moment he tried to say it out loud, he forgot himself.

“Go.”

Tsukuyo whispered quietly and let the flame drop, like milk into a cup of coffee. It fell down and touched the ground. A moment later, a tsunami of sand rose up from the ground, covering the flame orb. The next moment there was a terrible explosion, but no changes could be detected outside the sand.

“Of course, I was right.”

Tsukuyo laughed happily and looked back at Shin-hyuk.

“Did you see the sand move right before the explosion, Anvil? It obviously moved to stop it, right?”

“…Yes, I saw.”

“It’s clear now that the sand was artificially made. Perhaps it’s on the lookout for magic… Huh, or is it violence or change?”

While Tsukuyo was thinking about it, a column of glass-like material began to rise from the center. It was probably the result of the explosion that was prevented. It was a glass column at least ten meters in diameter and 1 kilometer in height.

“Oh my.”

Tsukuyo herself was surprised, her eyes widening at sight.

“The purpose is to protect the ground beneath the sand and to retaliate against outside intruders who try to harm it. Then, I wonder what happened to what was under it.”

“I should’ve analyzed it right away. I’ll try it now.”

“Anvil, isn’t that difficult?”

It really was. He tried to explore the glass column that was slowly approaching them with his spiritual power, but it seemed to be blocked by something. Perhaps it was the spiritual power of the person who created the sand, or energy equivalent to it, but now Kang Shin-hyuk wouldn’t retreat just because his ability wasn’t working.

‘Breaking boundaries with soul poison.’

The soul poison he had obtained from a skill stone with the absurd rarity of SSS+. As he he reached an X-rank proficiency that went beyond its rarity. It was unlikely for the skill level to surpass rarity, but it happened very rarely, and the members of the Hero Universe called it ‘enlightenment.’ Perhaps it was influenced by his traits that constantly grew everything. His own growth was accelerating more than those who were under his influence.

‘Okay, I can. I erased some of the intentions of others left on it with soul poison and pushed my spiritual power…’

“It’s annoying, so I should remove that as well.”

While looking at the glass pillar that was gradually closing in, Tsukuyo formed a ball of dark energy in her palm.

“Wait a minute!”

“Anvil, you don’t need to analyze it. If we take out all the sand, what was under it will come out.”

As Kang Shin-hyuk tried to stop her, Tsukuyo smiled.

“Are you stupid? Don’t you know why the sand is covering the ground? It means what’s underneath is dangerous.”

“What’s wrong with what’s down there? I’ll protect you. Moreover, this is a relatively safe place.”

Tsukuyo’s thoughts were surprisingly optimistic. While Tsukuyo argued with Shu, Kang Shin-hyuk infused the pillar with spiritual power and acquired control over the sand in the area.

“Ah, I’m out of spiritual power.”

“Shin-hyuk?”

“I need a potion, ah.”

“Oops, the sandy desert…”

The energy of Kang Shin-hyuk spread throughout the whole area. Despite his intentions, his energy caused a change. Specifically, the distant years they were sleeping in the sand… No.

The weapons that were forced to sleep by the mass of sand felt their creator’s energy and had awakened.