"Rank? What does that mean? Does he mean their awakening rank? No... he said their, in plural. Does he mean the awakening rank of all of them combined? What does that even mean?" John kept questioning internally.He knew that Edward didn't have an answer to these questions — otherwise, he wouldn't have said he didn't know what those words truly meant.
Edward interrupted John's thoughts, saying, "Even though the king back then didn't understand what those words meant, his descendants spoke about the importance of constantly developing the kingdom and their strength to raise their ranks. The people thought he meant improving their way of life and strengthening Atlantis' cities. But the later kings believed the 'rank' the old king mentioned was the same rank the mysterious man spoke of."
"So even Atlantis faced disasters in its own world despite its incredible advancement... then there's no doubt — we're facing seven disasters while being far less advanced and weaker than they ever were," John said with a tone of sadness.
"That's not even the worst part," Edward continued grimly. "When Atlantis faced the disaster in its world, they managed to withstand the first wave of disasters. But that's all — just the first wave. After defeating the first set of catastrophic beasts, another wave came later."
"What?! Then... we might face more disasters like these even after defeating the current ones!" John's face was drenched in sweat.
Edward nodded silently.
"I've retreated several times, and all I've managed to do is defeat two disasters — the North American Disaster and the South American Disaster. The African Disaster is being handled by Silver, and the European Disaster is under the control of the Awakened Alliance. That still leaves the Antarctic, Australian, and Asian Disasters. Even if I destroy all of them, I'll be exhausted and need rest," John thought deeply.
He was already tired — he had fought two disasters already, and in the worst case, he would have to face five more. He wanted just one day of rest, but even that simple wish was hard to grant himself.
"Maybe this is just bad luck... bad luck or not, I'll destroy all the current and future disasters. I'll stand against every single one of them!" Determination burned in John's eyes as he thought that.
"It seems he's made up his mind," Edward smiled faintly to himself.
"Atlantis will support you in facing the disasters — not just the current ones but also the ones to come. We'll either survive together or fall together," Edward declared with a king's resolve.
John smiled when he heard that. Even though Atlantis' power wasn't what it once was, he was no longer alone — he finally had an ally who would stand with him against the disasters.
"Then I'll be counting on you to take down the Australian Disaster," John said proudly.
"Count on us. What about you? What will you do next?" Edward asked.
"I've already decided my next destination — I'm heading to the Asian Disaster," John answered firmly.
"Then I wish you good luck," Edward said, as the two of them exchanged their farewells.
John left Edward with a small orb similar to the one he had given to Nika, telling him to use it if things became dangerous. Then he immediately set off toward his next destination.
He ascended high into the sky, rising above the ocean's surface, then headed toward South America first.
"I need to figure out what the Copy Skill I just obtained actually does," John said, examining the skill he had gained after repairing and upgrading the Spear of Atlantis.
Skill Information:Copy Skill – Allows you to create an exact duplicate of yourself, but its strength depends on your skill mastery level.Current Number of Copies: 1
"So, at level 1, if I create a copy, it'll only have 1% of my strength. Seems pretty useless for now, but once my mastery reaches 100, I'll have a clone with the same strength as me," John thought to himself.
He activated Copy Skill, then activated Appraisal Skill to check its details.
Personal Information:Name: John 2Level: 5Unique Skill: RegressionStats:Strength: 6Agility: 6Endurance: 6Mana: 6Intelligence: 6Luck: -9,835,607
Skills:Elemental Magic (Max Level)Weapon Mastery (Max Level)Pain Resistance (Max Level)Enhanced Regeneration (Max Level)Atomic Speed (Max Level)Body Enhancement (Max Level)(Increases physical stats by 100x)Resistance (Max Level)Weapon Creation (Max Level)Meditation (Max Level)(Evolved into Infinite Mana Circuit)Memory Search (Level 50)Asura Transformation (Max Level)(Asura Division Skill – Level 60)Flight (Max Level)Perception (Level 30)(Copyable Skills: 3 / Copied Skills: HellFlame, Thunder God, Empty)Space Magic (Level 1)Body Refinement (Level 30)
"Oh, it looks like my bad luck decreased since the stats dropped... and all the skills are the same as mine!" John was surprised as he examined the data.
"Wait a minute — can I increase the clone's stats using Body Refinement?" A new idea struck John's mind.
He immediately ordered his clone to activate Body Refinement.
After an hour, the clone's Strength, Agility, and Endurance increased by 30 points each.
"It seems Body Refinement affects both me and the clone!" John checked his own status window and found his Strength had increased from 655 to 685, and his endurance rose from 250,000 to 300,000 in just one hour.
"It looks like I've found another way to increase my stats and endurance," John thought with excitement. This was exactly the kind of method he needed to grow stronger before facing the remaining disasters.
He ordered his clone to stay in place and keep training Body Refinement, only moving to eat or drink when necessary.
The clone had the same basic needs as him — eating, drinking, and sleeping — but unlike Asura Division, the Copy Skill didn't have the same overwhelming strain or side effects that tore at his body.
"In my next battle, I'll finally be able to use 100% of my physical strength," John thought. The last time he did so was against Silver, when his base Strength was only 100 — and 100,000 after enhancement. Now, before enhancement, it was 685, and with Body Enhancement, it reached 685,000.
He had to limit his enhancement to what his body could endure; otherwise, he'd destroy himself with his own power.
"My next destination... China, in Southeast Asia," John said as his eyes shone with resolve.
China had the largest number of awakened individuals — a third of Earth's population — but not many in the S-rank tier. To compensate, they developed a Rank Promotion System, allowing lower-ranked awakeneds to ascend. It succeeded — they had even promoted their strongest awakener, Xiao Long, from F-rank to S-rank.
Xiao Long had reached Level 400, which allowed him to partially suppress the Asian Disaster. John had planned to make it his last, but now it was the only one left, so he set his course there.
Xiao Long had been John's idol before he himself awakened — now, being stronger than him, John was filled with curiosity.
Less than two hours later, John arrived in China.Using Speed, Body Enhancement, and Body Refinement, his agility reached an unprecedented level, allowing him to cross the distance almost instantly.
"It seems Body Refinement greatly boosts my body's endurance," John thought, checking his body with Appraisal Skill.He found his bones had grown denser, his muscles compressed, and faint bronze marks appeared across his skeleton.
"My bones are changing... becoming like bronze steel," John analyzed the transformation in his body.
"It seems Xiao Long is fighting ahead — I should go greet him." John smiled and dashed toward Xiao Long.
At that moment, Xiao Long was fighting S-rank serpents at Level 100. He was in his early thirties — tall, lean, muscular, with black hair and eyes, and the bearing of a warrior. With a single strike, he killed multiple S-rank and A-rank serpents.
"As expected from the Sword King, Xiao Long," John muttered in admiration as he silently approached.
"To come this close without me noticing… his power must be extraordinary," Xiao Long thought.
"Don't worry, I came to help, not to fight you," John said calmly to avoid misunderstanding.
His Atomic Speed skill combined the speed of lightning and sound — and by merging them, it erased all sound generated by movement.
John drew his Susanoo Sword and in one strike annihilated all the serpents.
"What is this power?! And that sword… isn't that the lost Sword of Susanoo?!" Xiao Long was stunned.
He wasn't weak — in fact, he had developed a countermeasure for Yamata no Orochi, divided into two parts.
First, to raise his level as much as possible — he had been slaying all beasts since the Asian Disaster began and had reached Level 410, an incredible feat for an S-rank hunter.Second, to forge a sword designed to strike Yamata no Orochi's weak points automatically.
"If I had that sword, killing Yamata no Orochi would've been so much easier," Xiao Long said bitterly.
"It seems you're thinking about the Sword of Susanoo. It's not impossible to obtain," John said frankly.
"What?!... What do you want in exchange?" Xiao Long was shocked but quickly composed himself — this was a chance to gain not just any weapon, but a Mystic Weapon — the very one he desired most.
"Join the organization I'm about to create," John said, tossing the Sword of Susanoo toward Xiao Long.