"Feels amazing!"
Muria laughed as he continuously devoured the energy from the Glory battleship's main cannon. Faint white energy light leaked from his eyes, nostrils, and ears—a sign of the excessive energy building up in his body. He had "eaten" too much. Constructing an array and converting such vast energy for his own absorption was a trivial task for him.
The problem, however, was that his current reincarnated body had limited capacity. According to both the world's consciousness and his own instincts, the power of this single cannon blast could have completely erased his reincarnated form from this world. Even after conversion, his body was still not able to contain all of it.
"Hah! Excess energy that I can't process right away? That's a problem I can solve easily!"
Standing motionless, Muria formed a glowing halo of divine patterns behind him. This halo now had a secondary outer ring with thirty-six empty slots. The white energy radiating from Muria's body surged toward these empty slots, filling them with faint, pure-white crystal shadows. As they settled into place, the halo became more complete and harmonious.
Gradually, the thirty-six crystals began to solidify, and the once-ethereal halo took on a tangible quality, as if forged from silvery-white metal inlaid with golden filigree. This transformation fed back into Muria himself; his aura intensified, and his body began to expand and grow stronger.
---
"What is that creature doing?"
In the command center of the Glory flagship, everyone eagerly awaited the result of the cannon blast. They had expected the superpowered creature's body to be blown apart by the attack, with the main cannon continuing on to decimate Pandora's landscape below.
However, after descending a certain distance, the cannon's beam simply stopped as if blocked by an unseen force. This outcome was completely unexpected.
"Scanning: the main cannon has hit the target. Warning: target entity's power level is still rising. Recommendation: cease firing immediately; target is absorbing the main cannon's energy to strengthen itself!"
The AI's voice echoed in the tense silence of the command center, causing jaws to drop.
"The creature is absorbing the energy from our main cannon? This is madness!" General William's face twisted in anger, mixed with disbelief. The main cannon of the Glory was one of his deepest sources of faith, and now, that faith was crumbling.
"But it's a fact. The target has consumed the attack. Our efforts have had no effect," the AI replied, its tone sympathetically neutral.
"If even the main cannon can't stop it, what other way do we have to kill this thing?" General William's face grew bleak. He recalled his confident assurances to the council members before the mission. Now he imagined returning—if he even survived this battle—and becoming a laughingstock, likely losing his position.
"General, now is the time to issue orders..." His beautiful adjutant stepped forward to remind him. She was far from a mere ornament.
"I know. Send an emergency retreat command to all our ships," General William took a deep breath, issuing an order that would likely be recorded as a disgrace in Earth Star's history. It wasn't that he'd come to terms with it; he simply had no way to contend with Muria. Without an effective method to counter this superpowered interference, all he could do was retreat. Otherwise, the battle would continue to waste the lives of his soldiers.
"Cease the main cannon attack. Initiate emergency hover and deploy all carrier-based fighters to distract the superpowered entity and cover our troops' retreat." Then, the general issued a second order. With defeat inevitable, he aimed to salvage at least some semblance of a positive reputation.
---
"Why'd they stop?" Muria looked up, slightly puzzled, after the beam linking him to the ship abruptly ceased. The overwhelming pressure from the main cannon's energy dissipated, leaving him feeling oddly unfulfilled.
Behind him, his halo had reached a nearly solid state, appearing as though cast from gleaming silver-white metal, embedded with golden threads. Around its perimeter, thirty-six pure-white crystals emitted an energy so intense it subtly distorted the space around them.
"Hmm?" Muria's spiritual senses expanded, revealing that all nearby battleships were racing skyward, attempting to escape.
"After killing so many of my kin, they think they can just leave? Not so easily." Watching the ships' frenzied retreat, Muria chuckled, the halo behind him rotating gently. The thirty-six white crystals sparkled, and beams of white light shot from the halo.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sky exploded in a dazzling display as battleships shattered, their remains trailing black smoke as they plummeted toward the ground.
Whirr! Whirr!
As Muria continued to unleash terrifying rays from the halo, striking down ship after ship, drones launched from the Glory battleship flew toward him, controlled by the ship's AI.
These drones aimed to encircle and distract Muria, buying time for the larger fleet's escape.
"Such pointless toys!" Muria extended his hand and pressed down. Golden light poured from his palm, spreading in all directions, forming a massive field several kilometers in diameter. Any drone that entered this field was instantly struck by lightning and destroyed.
"Hm!" Muria looked skyward and noticed that after covering the retreat of other ships, the Glory battleship was also beginning to rise, seemingly intent on leaving the world.
"Other ships might escape, but not you! Now that you've come, you're staying here!" Watching the Glory prepare to leave, Muria launched himself into the sky like a brilliant white streak.
"Warning: superpowered entity is approaching this vessel. Estimated impact in five minutes!" The AI's cool, human-like voice rang out in the command center.
"Deploy all the Glory's weaponry to stop him!" General William's forehead was beaded with sweat, his back drenched in an instant. At his command, all cannons, laser turrets, and pulse guns activated and fired at Muria.
However, the attacks were futile. The halo in front of Muria absorbed every energy attack directed at him.
"Next time, we'll need solid rounds; energy weapons are useless against him!" General William glared downward, his face darkening as Muria continued his ascent.
"General, what now?" a panicked officer asked.
"Fire the main cannon and hold him off! As long as we leave this world, he won't be able to pursue!" William hoped to escape into space, where he believed the creature couldn't survive without atmosphere.
Boom!
The Glory's main cannon fired again, its terrifying energy blast shooting toward Muria.
This time, Muria didn't stop. He pressed on against the beam, determined to keep the flagship here and show the arrogant humans from Earth Star that this world wasn't theirs to desecrate.
The main cannon slowed his approach, but he maintained a steady distance behind the massive ship.
"How long can you keep this up?" Muria muttered, devouring the cannon's energy. Behind him, his halo shone even brighter, and a second halo began to form. This second ring had seventy-two empty slots around its perimeter.
"Notice: the Glory has exited Pandora's upper atmosphere."
"Engines to maximum power! Discontinue main cannon in three minutes!" General William glanced at the ship's energy reserves, his face contorting as he issued the command. He felt as though he'd finally escaped danger.
"Why so naive?" Muria's lips curled into a slight smile as he watched the Glory retreating. Standing at the world's boundary, the world's suppression on his true form lessened to its minimum.
Muria extended his hand, and the two halos behind him shifted to hover directly in front of his palm. His hand passed through both rings, and a colossal, unfathomable hand of light manifested in the dark void, reaching for the fleeing battleship…
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]