"...beco my blade..."
"...and cleave through..."
...
As Zen was concentrating, Margareth and the others were observing him like hawks outside the capsule.
"Hmmm, it looks like he’s speaking?"
"Yes, just like earlier..."
"But, there’s sothing strange this ti..."
...
Veronica looked at Margareth, as if asking with her eyes what the latter ant.
However, Margareth herself seed not to be able to put her finger on it, "I don’t know... maybe it’s the danger senses that I had honed back in the war?"
"Well, we’ll just have to see. One thing’s for sure, though. His current chant is longer than the one he used earlie—"
Just as Ethan was speaking, sothing happened.
...
"...the basic building block..."
"...of matter and chemistry."
Inside the capsule, Zen had just finished his chant, along with the motion of his fingers swiping in the air.
[Atomic Rend]
That was right.
This was the "most lethal attack" that Zen decided to demonstrate.
Although so may argue that it was reckless, the source of his confidence in controlling it was Arthur’s magic: Contain.
’Besides, among all my most powerful attacks, this is the only one that allows to maintain my human form.’
Zen thought to himself, ’After all, I can’t just transform into a revenant, nor can I use the Blaze Attribute, since their power is sothing that I’m not confident in fully controlling...’
After all, mobilizing the Heart of Evil and the Blaze Attribute, being sothing of the divine level, was not sothing he dared attempt using at present.
As random thoughts filled Zen’s mind, he perford a swipe in the air in front of him with his finger.
Swoosh—
This seemingly simple action of his stimulated the alarm bells that had co from the five’s instincts honed through war itself.
"W-What...."
Margareth felt fear gripping her heart as she looked around her colleagues and saw that, like her, they were drenched in cold sweat.
Even Veronica’s hand, which was on the table-mounted microphone, was trembling like crazy.
Not to ntion the tall and muscular Hassan, even Ethan and Olivia felt dread washing over every fiber of their being.
"I-Is this caused by his most lethal attack...?"
Margareth gritted her teeth, forcing herself to speak in between the involuntary trembling of her lips.
But she seed to have brought out the question in her friends’ minds.
"But nothing happened... There are no visible fluctuations of mana, unlike when he used magic earlier..."
Veronica comnted as she clenched her fist tightly in an attempt to control the trembling of her body.
However, just a second later, the lights in the lab began to flicker violently.
Wang— Wang— Wang—
The ergency lights also flared up as the skyscraper system detected sothing.
"What’s happening?" Margareth and the others glanced at Ethan.
"There’s nothing... wait..."
Pushing a myriad of buttons that seed to communicate with the skyscraper itself, Ethan did not have the ti to fix his crooked glasses as the look in his eyes beca graver by the second.
"This... This... This..."
The erging panic in his voice made everyone’s heart unsettled.
Veronica finally could not help but ask, "Just tell us what’s happening, damn it!"
"The system... Uhh... T-There’s an indication— that there’s a nuclear e-explosion erging within the platform..."
Ethan’s trembling voice made it hard for them to clearly understand him, but it did not take the five long to get the gist of what was happening.
"D-Did we get discovered?" Olivia could not help but feel nervous.
Hassan also suggested, "Should we tell everyone to evacuate?"
...
Just as they were feeling panicked, Margareth suddenly held up her hand, "Stop. What did you say again, Ethan?"
"T-There’s—"
Before Ethan could reply, Margareth cut him off, "The location of the nuclear explosion is in the platform itself, right? Where is Zen currently?"
Her calm voice seed to ease the tension a little bit as Ethan nodded absentmindedly, seemingly realizing sothing.
"Then, I think we’ll be fine," Margareth said confidently, hiding her trembling hands in her pocket as she looked at the capsule that now had cracked glass windows.
Following her gaze, the others began to calm down as an idea popped into their minds.
"Wait, are you telling us that..." Veronica’s eyes lit up as she observed Zen in the capsule.
...
Mmm—
At this mont, in front of Zen, fluctuations began to surface along with a strange humming sound.
It was nothing grand like the spheres of elents earlier.
Now, it was just a small, blinding white light that seed to co from nowhere.
However, the minuscule light began to expand, and in just a few monts, it had already expanded to a few centiters.
HUMMMM—-
Just as its expansion was exponentially increasing, Zen chanted as he made a hand sign.
[Contain]
Woosh—!
Just like that, a translucent blue cube manifested and encased the expanding bright light within.
In the cube, the blinding light seed to have stopped in its entirety, looking like ti itself had stopped within the cube.
In simpler terms, the mont at which Atomic Rend began to expand seed to have frozen.
Along with the appearance of the translucent cube, the alarm bells, the flickering of ergency lights, and the invisible dread that covered Margareth and the others’ hearts disappeared without a trace.
If not for their clothes still being sweaty, they would have thought that everything that had happened earlier was nothing but an illusion.
Shiiik—-
Within the capsule, a strange sound suddenly echoed.
At this mont, under Zen’s gaze, the thick, cracked glass wall descended onto the ground.
Looking at his aunts and uncles, who seed to have aged a couple of decades in an instant, he could not help but feel a little apologetic.
Zen had a kind smile on his face as he approached them, "I’m sorry, I seed to have overdone it..."
"No..." Veronica waved her hand, "We were the ones who requested you to use your most lethal attack..."
Behind her, Hassan and the others nodded.
Although they felt scared earlier, they did not have the heart to scold their beloved nephew, who was also the son of their commander and boss.
However, Margareth took a step forward in this instant and asked, "Though I’m wondering about sothing..."
"What is it, Aunt Margareth?" Zen tilted his head curiously.
"Nothing, really. It’s just that I feel like you haven’t gone all out yet."
Margareth paused for a mont and smiled, "Say, is that really your most powerful attack?"
Zen’s lips opened into an "o" shape, his eyes obviously emitting surprise.
Behind Margareth, Hassan, Ethan, Olivia, and Veronica could not help but exchange looks.
’What is she thinking?’
’Right? How can there be a stronger attack than a literal nuclear explosion?’
’Besides, the ga had been released for a little over a month. Just how did our dear nephew progress?’
’Anyway, I’m now getting excited over the commander’s suggestion that we all partake in the creation of a guild...’
...
Various thoughts appeared in the four’s minds.
Due to their long years of friendship, they seed to be able to talk just via their gazes.
Nevertheless, their thoughts halted the mont Zen replied.
"No."
Margareth raised her brows, "Oh."
Zen rely smiled, "You’re right, Aunt Margareth. That one earlier... was not my strongest attack."
"Then why did you opt for the one earlier?"
Facing his aunt’s question, he felt that it was inappropriate to just leave her and the others hanging.
Therefore, Zen thought for a mont and answered, "I’m just afraid that I’ll destroy everything here..."
"..."
Noticing the awkward silence, Zen coughed and bid farewell to them before walking towards the lab exit.
However, just before he walked through the door, he seed to have rembered sothing and cleared his throat with a cough once again.
"Ehem, by the way, I died in the ga, so I’ll be offline for the next three days. If you ever need for sothing, just call . Bye, my dear aunts and uncles~"
Hearing Zen’s lively tone, Margareth and the others snapped out of their dazes.
...
"Wait, what did he just say?"
"That he chose to use magic like that of a nuclear explosion because he’s afraid that his other attacks will destroy this place...?"
"I find it both strange and funny as well. Imagine choosing a literal nuclear explosion because the other choice was destructive..."
"But wait... he also said that he’ll be offline because he died in the ga?"
...
Hassan, Olivia, Veronica, and Ethan talked among themselves, the disbelief in their faces still not subsiding.
anwhile, Margareth fell into deep thought, "I guess... we should take Free World more seriously than ever before, huh?"
Her words resonated with the subtle emotion that everyone in the lab was currently feeling.
Having noticed the destructive power of mana, skills, and magic, the five could not help but be fired up as they planned for the establishnt of the guilds.
Margareth glanced at Ethan, "When’s the next release of the next batch of gaming helts?"
"According to our sources, it should be a week later."
Margareth nodded, "Ok. Make sure to acquire at least a thousand units— No, do everything to acquire every available unit, especially in the surrounding countries. Place more focus on the United States."
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