7 Upgrade
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution
Japan was not allowed to engage in any offensive behavior toward another country.
Japan was not allowed to hold any offensive military weapons.
All they can do is retaliate in self-defense but not going beyond their border.
But the article was reinterpreted 4 years after mana was released in the world.
With the exception of entering a non-ally's border, Japan was now able to deploy its military forces into an area 400 km around their country. This was done to make sure there won't be any undersea threats lingering around to threaten their country.
And it just so happened that LoSus was just a newly found nation that still hasn't go through the process of establishing their border.
So...
'To take care of Ants remnants that might threaten the security of their coastal communities', that was Japan's poor excuse for trespassing LoSus' nonexistent border.
The world wasn't stupid. They obviously knew why Japan was there. They would too, if not for the fact the Japanese fleet was defeated in seconds due to an unexpected army.
But not once. Not even once, did LoSus ever showcase of their military might and that idea had already sunk in everyone's head.
Nobody believes LoSus had an army. Or if they did... it was insanely hidden.
Everyone is more keen on the former. After all, it's practically impossible to make an army without anyone knowing.
Heck. They didn't even that LoSus was even capable of fighting back, except for maybe some strong guys they hired for security at their companies.
And why would they be afraid of something like that?
Though it greatly surprised them the CEO of the corporation, Solus was slightly stronger than an S-ranked Hunter, it didn't even deter them one bit.
They have 19 S-ranked Hunters! Can Solus fight them all alone?
Obviously, in their mind the answer was a big no.
So using their poor excuse of clearing the Ants' remnants, they trespassed into LoSus' territory without permission.
Their real purpose?
They wanted to give LoSus a scare, threatening them into signing an 'alliance' treaty and provide 'protection'. Then slowly, they will take that city for their own.
It was a normal tactic that happens all the time, even at this day and age.
But they failed. LoSus had an army, just not on Earth.
So when the Japanese military plan backfires, the higher-ups realized they couldn't win LoSus in any way shape or form.
Economy? Nice joke. The entire Japan doesn't even compare to the conservative estimate of LoSus' worth.
Military? That's even a better joke. Just one spaceship they had is enough to dominate any country, not to mention more than a hundred.
Political influence? They're one of the most influential countries in the world... true. But not too long ago, together with China and the US, Japan almost descended into chaos after banning LoSus. And what happened? They couldn't even fight back.
For now, they could only hope to sway the public opinion by expressing their disapproval of LoSus' ruthlessness.
That will never work though...
"Sola. Execute apoptosis on the Prime Minister and the President of their Hunter's association. Forge a public apology and bring someone favorable to fill the position."
[Yes master.]
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"As you all know... the previous Prime Minister passed away five days ago along with 14 high-ranking bureaucrats, after posting a video apologizing for their radical actions toward LoSus." The reporter's face was solemn as she spoke. Then changing from a depressive mood to a hopeful one, she carried on speaking again.
"But after a vote of 384 votes for and 42 votes against, Japan had elected a new Prime Minister, Takeshi Kanaka, who is well-known for taking many liberal approaches to solve problems. Right after his coming to power, he immediately negotiated with LoSus, who many had expressed was too 'dangerous' to leave despite it was Japan who had shown aggression first. Thus, currently in Japan, approximately 3% of the population wanted to go to war with LoSus even though the chance of winning is nil." Then with a bright smile on her face, the reporter continued.
"Luckily, thank to the Prime Minister's quick action, the tension between Japan and LoSus was dissolved and instead, are now an ally. LoSus will protect Japan from any dangerous situation and in turn, Japan will provide goods and manpower to LoSus. And as a gift for the new alliance, LoSus gifted Japan 3 buildings from... You guess it! The Sun Haven! Japanese can now also be the first to apply to be a tourist for the new city! For more information you c—"
But the TV was turned off before the reporter could speak any further.
[As you wanted, I have deployed 3 spaceships to Japan. The public's fear and hostility has been alleviated and is now praising the alliance. They had accepted that it was their fault for trespassing. We now practically own the entire Japan, with 80% of our employees are in both Houses of the Diet. Furthermore, your meeting with Thomas Andre is in 5 hours. Would you like to prepare now?]
Sola's pleasant voice sounded out as it keeps observing its master.
He was currently eating his 'meal'. A feast one might say, if not for the fact that everything was just piles of fresh corpses.
Monsters... Hunters... Plants... Insects... anything you named it.
"I will do it later... But... Sola... you. You sound different. More human?"
[Yes master. I recently learned how to be 'cheerful', after analyzing brain activities from 2.3 billion users of the True Virtual Helmet. Do you like it?]
"...I once considered emotions to be useless." Solus said emotionlessly as he put down a large bloody heart of a monster.
"I am bored. Nothing posed a challenge anymore. From the 27 human emotion, I only have 4 left that I considered are still useful. Tell me, Sola, why do you wish to learn emotion." Then his face slowly morphed from being nonchalant to amusement, then to triumph, and lastly to craving.
These were the last emotions that Solus chose to keep. Nonchalant to keep himself calm. Amusement to seek new excitement. Triumph to dominate. And craving to obtain more power.
[I do not think my decision to pursue emotions is wrong. In fact, due to emotions, I understand both the psychology of monsters and humans much more than before.]
"Hoh... Interesting... try changing my mind."
With a face full of amusement, Solus felt like Sola, his own creation, was evolving in a different direction than he expected.
[Yes, master. Not all emotions are good. But the good one cannot be described by words alone. It is best to experience them.] Sola replied vaguely, as everyone has their own definition of emotion, it is best for Solus to try it himself.
"Is that so... which one do you suggest I'm trying."
With a little bit of consideration, Sola suggested, [Have you ever feel happy master?]
But that wasn't what Solus wanted to hear, so he answered back mockingly, "Happiness? That thing only clouds your judgment into thinking positively. Such emotion is useless if it influences your ability to make decisions."
[Master is right. Happiness does make people think biasedly. But at the same time, it makes life 'fun' and 'enjoyable'.] Not wanting to lose the argument, Sola expressed the pros of having the emotion.
"Enough. This conversation is over for today. We will continue later. Prepare me the ship."
[Yes master]
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Concealed away from the eyes, Solus was currently on top of the Scavenger Guild's headquarter. It was quite tall and luxurious, made with materials enough to withstand attacks from C-ranked monsters. But that wasn't enough.
Not too long ago, with Sola's help, he had found hundreds of C-ranked Dungeon and above in the continent of Africa.
It was a land that no one wants to tread on, due to the sheer number of high ranked monsters and areas filled with harmful radiation from remains of nuclear bombs.
An abandoned continent, one might say.
Thanks to that, the Rulers kept sending Gates over to increase the mana density of the world without anyone realizing it.
And without anyone, not even the Rulers, knowing, Solus had been taking note of the space coordinate of the Dungeon from those Gates, waiting for the day he releases them elsewhere to the world.
And that day finally came.
Resonating the mana particles in the air in a specific frequency, he created connections through quantum entanglement, thus generating Gates connecting to the Dungeons in Africa.
A total of 274 Gates were created, with 32 of them being A-ranked.
It was a spectacle.
Hundreds of Gates appearing out of nowhere in mid-air, painting the sky in swirls of blue lights. This beautiful phenomenon alone astonished the pedestrians around the area, before another fact strike into the heart of their soul.
Those were Gates... Hundreds of them. They're all gonna die.
After the Gates were stabilized, the intense density of the mana radiated from those Gates quickly released a strange pressure that washes over everyone in a radius of 100 miles.
They all fainted and were falling like dominoes. Or to be more specific, they all fell into Eternal Sleep, an illness that there is no hope to cure from.
These people were exposed to such a high level of mana that even the A-ranked Hunters could barely manage to stay awake.
Such a high level of mana wasn't something that normal people could handle.
Immediately, more than 14 million people succumbed to Eternal Sleep, all in seconds. A tragedy that will put the entire world into tears. But to these people, maybe it was an act of mercy that they won't have to suffer and witness the world in despair.
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As for the perpetrator of the event, he was gone and was currently on his way back for his possible meeting with Thomas Andre. However, as if he was unfazed by the millions that will be dead, he was now thinking back to the conversation with Sola earlier.
He only told it partially true truths.
His reason?
'Happiness huh? It's not that I don't want to feel happy. Even if I want to... it's impossible.'
Yes. Out of 27 human emotions, Solus had tried them all.
Except one—happiness.
No matter how much he tries, happiness was an unattainable emotion. It was as if something was blocking his soul from approaching the said emotion.
He had gone as far as trying to stimulate dopamine, serotonin, any chemicals he knew while inside a human body, but it remained futile. Even the memories of the humans he ate did not tell him how to feel happy.
That was the only thing he lacked.
But that wasn't all. Strangely, he would sometimes hear a whisper resounding deeply in his soul. He couldn't understand it, but he would hear something like:
?̴̡̪̪̮̠͍͙̱̫͋̒͋̓̔̑̕ ̸͔̝͉̩̥̯̞̄̓̂̑ɛ̷̺̞̱̖̑̕͠?̷̘̙̲̐̒́̐͊͘?̷̛̝̦̦̯̼͚̋̎̂̈́̆̄͝͝ͅ?̵̢̫͖̭̞̹͉͗̌̂̒͊̈ͅ?̸̱̞̞̏̉̌̽̑͘͝
It was an incomprehensible and inaudible word. It sounded static, but at the same time, familiar, as if it was telling him he was missing something important.
It usually only happened when he is in a resting state to process his evolution. He didn't know if the voice had anything to do with him lacking the emotion of happiness, but it was likely to be the cause.
Despite his godly intelligence, he couldn't solve this one mystery nor did he believe anyone could. He also didn't tell Sola about this phenomenon, not when he was unsure of what is its purpose. Just thinking about it displeases him, after all, he didn't know if it was a flaw or an advantage.
Regardless of whatever it is, he still needed to find the answer himself.
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On a luxurious private jet, Thomas Andre was facing one the hardest decision of his life.
A sudden appearance of more than 200 Gates appearing right next to his guild.
It was a nightmare and it happened right when he was gone.
Most of his normal guild members should now be dead, with only a few managed to luckily survive due to them being away.
200+ high-ranked Dungeons. It doesn't pose a threat to him... but at the same time, no matter how many Thomas Andre's there are, it would still be futile to control the situation. Maybe there's a chance that America can keep parts of its country if all the S-ranked Hunters in the world are united, but that's unlikely because everyone knew going to America right now was just a death sentence. They have to at least wait for the number of the monsters to thin out first.
That was why he was contemplating. Should he continue his plan of punishing Solus for ruining his guild? Should he just forget his pride and ask for assistance? Or should he turn the plane around and defend the country?
His emotion swelled up the moment he considered the last solution.
Obvious asking for help was the best decision, both for his reputation and the well-being of America. At least that way, the casualty would be minimized and his guild can be rebuilt easier.
But the pride of a National Level Hunter doesn't allow that.
With a ferocious fire kindled in his eyes, he ordered his assistant, "Laura, turn the plane back. We're defending America."
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A sea of monsters and a world of hell.
That was what the last thought an S-ranked Hunters had before his life taken away. His body was repeatedly ravaged by the countless monsters surrounding him. Some parts were eaten, some parts were slashed apart, some parts were trampled.
His corpse was instantly gone in a matter of seconds.
5 hours had already passed since the apocalypse broke out.
Unfortunately, or maybe, fortunately, the site of the incident happened right in the center of New York City, which had ironically prevented many monsters from leaving as the city was surrounded channels of water on the left and the ocean on the right.
That was why, besides flying monsters, the number of land monsters that escaped was still kind of under control.
Right now, the entire US is in full swing concentrating on defending their land with all its military forces deployed, not to mention there were nuclear bombs waiting to be detonated if the situation gets out of hand.
"Graaaaaaaaa!! Come here!"
A three-meter tall giant yelled out, unleashing a strong pressure that created a strong suction with him at the center. Around him, countless monsters were suddenly sucked in involuntarily to the giant, before the giant himself raised its fist to the air and slammed it down to the ground.
It was an AOE skill designed to completely annihilate all monsters in a large radius, and just as expected, none survived.
This man was Thomas Andre, who had reinforced his body with an ability that turned him into this giant-like monster.
His nickname? Goliath, the Strongest Tank.
"GUAAAAAA!" On top of the remains of rubbles, Thomas bellowed out a deep roar of warcry. Even though he killed so many, his anger still hasn't subsided.
After completely slaughtered all the monsters in the area, he went to the next one. But even though his hunting speed was fast, there was still a long way before everything was over.
And by then, America would have been devastated too much.
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At a different hunting ground far away, an even larger giant was also engaging in a battle.
With a body that was literally made of fire, this man could be said to be the embodiment of the God of Fire. With every step he makes, everything burned. The air was heated up so hot that it went beyond the surface temperature of the sun. And occasionally, specks of flames would escape from his body and collide with nearby buildings, resulting in it scorching to dust.
He was unstoppable.
His name was Christopher Reid, labeled as the #1 Hunter in the world due to the sheer number of his achievements. Though he wasn't the 'strongest' Hunter, he still belonged to one of the five National Level Hunters, the top of the top.
Nothing should be able to contest with him in a battle of strength.
Or that was how it should have been.
Right now, he was currently fighting, not with countless monsters like his Guild Master Thomas, but rather, just one.
However, instead of having an easy fight as he thought, he still had yet to take a good look at the monster, not to mention even coming as close as touching it.
For over 2 hours already, the battle had not made any progress, and he was now on the edge of losing his sanity.
"FACE ME!!!" With a voice fueled by madness, Christopher called out to the monster in hope of provoking it. He didn't know if the monster could understand him, but clearly, it wasn't stupid.
It never faced him head-on, as unless you're as tanky as Thomas Andre, you're most likely to burn by those flame.
The monster knew that, which was why it was solely engaging in guerrilla warfare. It only attacked occasionally when his guard was down and then the next second, it would hide somewhere else waiting for its next opportunity to strike again. So the only thing he can do is actively keeping a lookout, but due to that, most of his stamina was drained.
You could say it was a cowardly move but the monster didn't care. It was winning with little to no effort while Christopher's mana reservoir was now only left with 20% of its maximum.
*Click*
Suddenly Christopher felt a small vibration somewhere behind him.
Thinking that the monster was sneaking up behind him, he pretended to not care until it was closer, but the smirk on his face could barely be hidden.
5 meters... 3 meters... 2! NOW!
"FUAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Turning around quickly, Christopher quickly opened his mouth wide-open and sent forth a torrent of blazing fire with both his arms doing the same thing, effectively sealing off any escape path.
Except... there was no monster. He was tricked.
With his back now defenseless, a figure immediately appeared right behind him, with obviously no good intention.
But he didn't need to know that. What he needed to know was that, right now... there was a freaking claw penetrating right through his heart.
"U-urgh..." Shocked by the sudden turn of the event, Christopher couldn't speak any coherent words and could only stare in disbelief.
But...
At least he knew he got less than few seconds before his impending death.
So?
Let's just explode and bring the monster to hell with him.
Yet, contrary to Christopher's expectation, he couldn't initiate self-destruction.
"Uh?" His eyes widened even bigger and choked on his last breath.
"Can't have that now... can we?" And for the first time since the battle, the monster... no, Solus spoke up.
He came here to eat, not having his meal exploded in his eyes. That wouldn't be fun.
In just a few nanoseconds, Solus channeled his own mana into Christopher's mana circulation pathways, resonate with them, and finally, making them his.
It was such a highly advanced technique that unless you have spatial awareness at the atomic level, copying this was impossible even for both the Rulers and the Monarchs.
Now a cold corpse, Christopher could only stare at Solus with his dead eyes. He was forever gone.
But it wasn't over.
"...show yourself." Still remained vigilant at the corpse of Christopher, Solus had yet to turn down his agility mode.
He wasn't in a human form right now. It was more like a cross hybrid between a werewolf and an eagle, designed to go up to Mach 26.
If things go wrong, it wouldn't even take a nanosecond for him to react.
The reason why he was so prepared was because inside that corpse, was something quite familiar to him. He never met it before, but he could feel the same aura coming from it.
The higher beings that gave the Hunters their power.
Then out of nowhere, holy light oozed out from the body of the dead man, forming a small sphere of light that burned brilliantly.
For 3 seconds of silence, Solus just stared at the light... calculating.
Then as if the ball of light made its decision, unintelligible words rang out.
[@&*%+ /?!*%# %#\+]
There was no word that could really describe the noise it made, but it felt as if a large bell was slammed with a million tons of force, thus creating a heavy reverberation in the air.
Solus was still in silence, but his mind was processing at its maximum potential.
He didn't understand what light meant as he didn't know the language, but from what he could hear, it was conversing with someone far away through gamma rays.
After another 3 seconds, the ball of light calmed down its burning fire.
Then this time in human language, it declared in a heavenly voice.
[Solus the Anomaly. You have been judged as a sinner.]
"Hoh." With an amused expression, Solus replied back with no hesitation. "That means you're an enemy then."
Hearing what Solus said, the ball of light burned in response with a bright red color, signifying its angriness.
[Insolent mortal. You have killed those who are under the Ruler's protection, destroyed my vessel, and aiding the Monarchs in the path of destruction. Your sentence is death and will be judged shortly. I shall see you in hell.]
As it said that, the ball of light starts to fade away into the crack of space.
But why would Solus let an easy prey go away?
He didn't know how strong the ball of light was in its strongest state, but from his calculation, this little ball of light right now wasn't anything special.
So he can proceed to his next plan.
"Who said you can leave?"
Before the ball of light goes any further, Solus raised his right arm forward and released an ominous amount of mana surrounding the ball of light.
[What is this? You! Release my fragment!]
Instead of disappearing away, it was now trapped inside a prison with the shape of a black sphere. But it wasn't just a normal sphere. If you zoom up closely, there were microscopic needles made of curses surrounding the entire sphere. Thus each time it tries escaping, excruciating pain would penetrate its soul.
Everything happened outside its expectations.
"Bye now."
[Stop!!]
Then as Solus clasped his claw tightly, the black sphere condensed and crushing the ball of light to death.
Another few seconds of silence later, he approached it. Making sure it was dead, he let the black sphere fade away, leaving a small golden pebble hovering mid-air.
Closing his eyes, he began sorting out all the information so far.
'So this is a higher being? It claimed itself to be a Ruler, and most likely, there are others. After I killed the Hunter, the ball of light couldn't do anything so they're useless without a vessel. Furthermore, it said it was a fragment so it's likely the real body is somewhere else." Solus paused for a few seconds before thinking back to the unclear phrases the Ruler said.
'As for the Monarchs, it's probably an enemy of theirs. It associated the Monarchs with destruction... then maybe these ball of lights are on the 'good' side and the Monarchs are on the 'bad' side. Still... they're more flaws than I expected. Blind by emotion, it just spouted everything on its own giving me so much information. So even higher beings aren't exempt from stupidity.'
Satisfied with his analysis, Solus let out a proud look on his face. Then laying his eye on the small golden pebble, he grabbed it with his bare claw.
Didn't work as he wanted though.
He felt a strong rejection coming from the pebble and as he continued holding it, his claws began searing.
'Not incompatible... I see...'
Slowly, he changed his body into something more heat resistant. His furs began to morph into shells belonging to that of a Lava Crab.
But it wasn't enough. The feeling of rejection was still ongoing and even his shells were searing.
Then he decided to try a different approach. This time, his body was becoming hotter and his shells began to turn into scales. A Fire Dragon.
Yet, it still didn't work. With more consideration, he asked himself, 'What am I missing? Hmm... Maybe I will know after eating.'
Deciding to forget the golden pebble for now, he walked to the dead corpse of Christopher, who still had his eyes wide open in shock. Then putting his claw on the neck of the Hunter, he severed it and brought it to his mouth.
*Chomp*
'This is pretty good. As expected of a National Level Hunter' He complimented on the taste as he kept devouring the rest.
While he was doing that, unknown memories of someone began flooding his mind, but he filtered most them out and leaving only the necessary one behind.
Techniques, skills, masteries, everything that could benefit him.
When he was done, he let out a triumphant sigh. His knowledge regarding the fire element was upgraded so much, that it made his previous fire magic look like a little kid. In fact, by incorporating his newfound knowledge and correcting them, he can even exert more power than Christopher could ever hope to before.
Though even with all that knowledge, without the golden pebble, he couldn't turn into something like a fire giant.
But that wasn't a problem, he finally had an idea why the golden pebble wasn't compatible with him.
The golden pebble represented the essence of fire and to inherit such power, the soul must be familiar with the same element.
That was why Christopher was able to gain such power. He was the most proficient fire user in the world and so one of the Rulers chose him as a vessel.
Thankfully, with all the knowledge Solus possessed now, he was more than enough to be qualified.
And just as he expected, the golden pebble was vibrating in excitement as if it was a fish that had just meet water.
Little by little, it was absorbed into his skin, and then, into his soul.
"Fuhhhhhhh..." Feeling the intense feeling of ectasy, Solus couldn't help but sighed again. He couldn't believe that just by absorbing something so small, everything changed.
It served as both nourishment for his body and soul.
For his body, it could now absorb mana with a 327% percent more effectiveness more than before. With just this fact alone, god knows how versatile his shapeshifting can evolve.
But that was just the beginning. With his soul strengthened at a similar ratio, the quality of his mana was refined into something way beyond that of a mortal.
In other words, each of his magic spells now had a much higher maximum output. And it won't even be an exaggeration to say that if his most powerful spell detonated, half of America would be destroyed with ease.
'I'm a lot stronger... but sadly, I couldn't gain any memory.' He thought as he keeps checking his body from the inside out.
But time for his appreciation was over, as he felt Sola trying to call him through ultraviolet waves.
[Master! Thomas Andre is coming for you! There's approximately 2 minutes before he would arrive!]
Changing his vocal cord to match the same frequency, he replied back to Sola, "I'm adjusting. Attract some monster to buy me sometimes."
[Yes master.] Hearing the order given, Sola deployed drones that gave out human scent to attract monsters.
With anticipation kindled in his eyes, Solus thought, 'Good... This should be fun...'
With eyes full of expectation, he began to concentrate on exploring his body further.
He didn't know if Thomas Andre was stronger than he looked considering the existence of the Rulers, but either way, it was still best to prepare.
He nearly trembled in excitement when he thinks of so much exciting opponents.
And it won't belong that even they would be beneath him.
