Chapter 139: The Savior, Mercenary Tao
Kaito knew from the start that Kalpa's trump card was not his ability to possess Starlight's body. The logic was simple: if a Reincarnator's ultimate ability was to possess the body of a plot character, then all of their actions would revolve around that. Among the powerful female superheroes in this world, Starlight was clearly not the strongest in terms of raw physical stats. Both Queen Maeve and Stormfront, and even the regenerating Kimiko, were better choices. But Kalpa hadn't been particularly interested in them. Therefore, his true trump card had to be something else.
Kaito stood behind Kalpa, the light at his fingertip so hot it was already curling the hair on the back of the monk's head. Under the tattered remains of his own robe, a crumpled page of poetry slowly fell, igniting on its own before it even hit the ground.
Kaito had originally planned to kill Kalpa before he could use his ultimate move. But the plot characters' counter-attack had exceeded his expectations. Queen Maeve and A-Train... they weren't focused on killing Homelander. From the very beginning, they had been targeting him. Instead of using Cate's mind-control to help kill Homelander, they had used it to free Kalpa and grievously wound him.
But Kaito had planned for the worst. His greatest fear had been the appearance of [Soldier Boy], whose chest-beam that could nullify other Supes' powers was one of the few things in this world that could truly kill Homelander. That was why he had torn out a page of [Thou Shalt Not Die] and hidden it under his clothes from the start. He was willing to sacrifice a precious use of a purple-grade item for the sake of his ambition.
Kalpa felt the scorching ki on the back of his head. Even though his Constitution was 18, even though his Crown Chakra was open, he didn't want to test the power of a Dodon Ray with his own skull.
BOOM!
The black light of the falling sun swept past them, a destructive tide that washed over everything. Kaito saw the modern skyscrapers instantly turn black and decay, as if they had aged hundreds of years in a second. That fire was not just "burning"; it was filled with a strange, twisting quality that didn't just destroy, but corroded.
Hiss~
The Dodon Ray was condensed to its absolute limit. Kalpa held up his hands. Two blue drop cards appeared in front of him, but he didn't dare touch them.
"Mercenary Tao. Do you know what this ability represents?"
"Do you know why I, a Reincarnator who has not even entered the second stage, am classified by every nation as a [Dangerous-Class] target?"
His voice was still filled with that strange, carefree tone, as if everything was under his control.
Fzzt!
The next moment, Kalpa's pupils contracted. He snapped his head to the side. A chunk of his ear and the flesh around it was instantly vaporized. A golden beam of light shot past his head and disappeared into the air. He could feel that his skull had been grazed. If that hand had been just one centimeter to the left, his brain would have been destroyed.
"You were saying?" Kaito's voice was full of amusement, as if he were mocking a fool who was still posturing in the face of death.
Kalpa's expression finally changed. He tried to turn his head, but a massive hand was already clamped on the back of his neck. The force was so great that the blood flow to his head was cut off, and he began to feel the dizzying effects of oxygen deprivation.
"Don't you know the legend of the [Peerless]?" Kalpa gasped, his voice changing. He was trying to see Kaito's expression, trying to find a way out. He wasn't completely powerless, but he knew that at this close range, his chances of winning were slim. He had to talk, to create an opening. Unlike the amateur [Heartless], he kept his vitals perfectly calm.
But behind him, Kaito was not listening. His left hand was clamped on Kalpa's neck. His body was still in its two-meter-tall, muscle-bound state. And his right hand... his right hand was changing shape, over and over, as his mind tried to recall that strange feeling, that rhythm.
[Death-Taint of the Myriad Gods]. The description said it was a "chance-based" ability. But how could something so fundamental to his very being be left to random chance? The only reason it was probabilistic now was because his constitution was not yet fully refined. But like any other skill, he was sure he could practice it, familiarize himself with it, and eventually, master it. Every time it had triggered, he had seared that special feeling, that unique rhythm, into his memory—the icy coldness that bloomed in his heart and flowed to his fist. It was intoxicating.
Now, he was seemingly just threatening Kalpa, but in reality, he was chasing that feeling.
Kalpa, getting no response, began to secretly tense his muscles. "The [Peerless] are the top-tier Reincarnators who have broken through the fourth rank. They are the great figures who have left these derivative worlds behind to chase the true treasures in the 'source worlds.' And every [Peerless] has 3 to 7 [Follower] slots. They can grant a portion of their power to their followers, allowing their influence and name to spread throughout all the sectors of the Nexus."
Kaito just said, "Oh." He was getting annoyed. As Kalpa's prattling disturbed his concentration, he squeezed. The sound of tearing muscle made him feel like he was getting closer to the [Death-Taint].
Kalpa felt the muscles in his neck shredding. He frowned. He could tell Kaito wasn't reacting to his words at all. He abandoned the pretense, and the desperate negotiation tactics, and said frankly, "Mercenary Tao, I am one of the followers of the East Sector's Peerless of the Mind, the [Final Sun]. I can give you all of my harvest from this world, and even a B-rank Singularity as compensation. How about it?"
Kaito frowned, finding Kalpa incredibly noisy. He suddenly tightened his grip. Kalpa's face changed, and he instantly fought back. The golden chakra light that had been surrounding him vanished. The black sunlight now beat down on both of them, no longer warm, but bone-chillingly cold. His muscles swelled.
Kaito ripped, and a chunk of muscle came away in his hand. Kalpa gritted his teeth, chanting a mantra. A golden light appeared, and two more arms sprouted from his body. His now four arms each formed a different mudra.
Seeing this, Kaito just stomped his foot. A strange force shot through the ground and erupted under Kalpa, shattering the pavement and his balance.
At the same time, Kaito spread his arms, one in front, one in back. He suddenly felt it. His breathing changed. His body moved as if in a dance. He had captured that sliver of a rhythm. He was beginning to use his own body to adapt to the cold aura of death in his heart.
Kalpa, his balance lost, was shocked. He knew Kaito was a terrifying martial artist and expected a storm of blows. But when he regained his footing, nothing had happened. Kaito was standing in front of him, just… moving in a strange, dance-like pattern. He didn't understand, but he didn't have time to think. His four hands reacted at once. The upper two clapped together. A massive shockwave of golden chakra exploded. The lower two formed a "flower-picking" gesture and thrust forward.
Kaito felt the cold intent from his heart completely captured. He followed its flow, and his body instantly vanished. He threw a punch, and was already in front of Kalpa.
BAP!
A crisp sound of a fist hitting a palm. There was no explosion, no strange noise. The majestic, powerful Buddha's Palm had been annihilated before it was even formed. Kaito's own fist seemed to have no force behind it; it was just resting in Kalpa's palm.
But Kalpa's eyes widened. An icy power had instantly dismantled him. His flowing muscles, the power in his chakras, his open spiritual centers, the Black Sun tattooed on his palm—all of it began to dissipate.
[You have been affected by Death-Taint of the Myriad Gods. Performing Instant-Death check.]
[Check Failed.]
All of Kalpa's strength and consciousness vanished in an instant. He collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud.
Kaito, however, felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. It was like practicing a basketball shot hundreds of times, and then, finally, there is one where you know, before you even release the ball, that it is going in.
[Bloodline Trait: Death-Taint of the Myriad Gods (Exceedingly Rare) has changed.]
[Death-Taint of the Myriad Gods (Exceedingly Rare - Extreme): Your bloodline contains the power of the Underworld. Every attack you make now has a small chance to inflict an [Instant Death] check... Each attack that does not trigger the effect will increase the probability of the next one triggering.]
The description now had a "pity-timer" mechanic. Kaito guessed this was because he could now consciously feel and guide the flow of the Death-Taint in his own bloodline. He threw a few more punches at the empty air, trying to feel that flow again, but the effect wasn't as strong. This meant the ability couldn't be "charged" on its own. The probability only increased when fighting an actual enemy.
Perhaps, he thought, I should find an ability or trait that grants a high attack speed. Then I would become the most feared killer in close combat.
[You have killed Reincarnator TS33662144 in a Team Arena world.]
[Karma Point +1. Current Total: 7]
[The private space of Reincarnator TS33662144 has been merged with your private space.]
[You have obtained 1 Crimson Drop Card.]
A crimson glow appeared. Kalpa's body slowly vanished. At the same time, the two blue drop cards he had been holding fell to the ground. Kaito reached out and touched them.
[You have obtained Drop Card (Blue) x2.]
It seemed that, in the Nexus's judgment, a dead Reincarnator's loot did not immediately disappear. It became "un-owned," and could be picked up by others. Another setting that encouraged players to kill each other.
Kaito's body slowly shrank. He looked around. The entire area had been transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. He walked through the black, scorched earth. The blackened corpses of the people caught in the blast disintegrated into dust at the slightest vibration. Normal people had stood no chance. In his opinion, the destructive power of Kalpa's ability was no less than that of a nuclear bomb. It lacked the high temperature, but it had an added mystical, corrosive effect.
Kaito stomped his foot. The ground cracked open. He saw water still flowing in the sewer several meters below and understood the ability's weakness. If he had just hidden underground, he would have likely survived. And considering Kalpa's master was the "Peerless of the Mind," this ability likely wasn't an energy attack at all, but a psychic one. The heat and the cold were just the mental projections of the victims.
As he was thinking, he walked past the endless black statues. Police, soldiers, gangsters, Homelander's fanatics—all of them were now frozen in time. This unprecedented chaos had ended in an unprecedentedly cruel way.
Kaito crossed two kilometers and finally found who he was looking for.
Queen Maeve's corpse was still looking up peacefully. Butcher was still staring in Homelander's direction, as if he needed to see him die with his own eyes. A-Train was gone, either having escaped or having been completely vaporized.
And Homelander… he was standing in the center of the blackened earth. His head was bowed, his back hunched. His clothes were gone, his skin was peeling, and his hair had been completely burned away. He looked like a flayed man, covered in soot. He was gasping for breath, his life force at its absolute lowest.
Kaito could see it clearly. Homelander's body had been aged to its absolute limit. The nuke-level power had not killed him, but the mystical erosion had aged him to the brink of death.
He looked up, his eyes blurry, his super-vision gone. "Who… is it…?"
Kaito watched him from a distance. He calmly held up his left hand and whispered, "Boom."
The giant fox appeared from nothing and bit down.
[You have killed Homelander. You have gained 3000 Dimensional Points.]
[Your actions have caused a massive divergence in this world. You have obtained 2 B-rank Singularities.]
[Heartless] watched the drone footage, his heart pounding with shock. He kept his gun aimed at Auro White and Ashley. "Quick! Contact the White House! Tell them... Homelander started a massacre, and Mr. Tao has successfully eliminated him."
"He… saved America…"
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Guys We cross the 600 power stone goal and as promise here the bonus chapter
Next goal 700 power stone,come on guys you'll can do it, good luck.
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