262. Oka's Depression

Multiple explosions occurred.

Even Izumi, who was the mastermind behind the explosion, didn't think the explosion was too great.

Ever since he found out that his Devil Fruit power is a gas model, he quite understands that he can change elements that can easily create explosions.

Because he couldn't create an inflammable element, he could only use a photon laser to trigger the explosion. However, he didn't think that the impact of the explosion was too big.

Luckily for everyone, Izumi had pulled them all behind him, and they weren't affected by the explosion thanks to Izumi and Tabane putting up their barriers in time.

Only Potimas had bad luck since he caught the explosion. His robotic body was destroyed immediately.

The sound of a siren sounded along with a warning that the underground laboratory was in critical condition.

Izumi approached the spot where the Potimas' robotic body was destroyed. Of course, he released the explosion for a reason. And that reason, of course…

"Heh. He hid this location pretty well. But not enough."

It was a secret chamber.

Due to an explosion earlier, the secret chamber was exposed.

Izumi could see many capsules lined up with Potimas' bodies inside. Of course, they are just bodies without content or souls. They are made of machines that use MA energy as a battery.

Izumi and the others dove into the secret chamber. However, they were met with a welcome from another robot created by Potimas.

They could clearly see how desperate Potimas' face was right now when his plan didn't go according to plan. Even the robots that were believed to be able to wipe out an empire easily were warless before Izumi and the others.

But, the current robot was so different. Its speed was too fast. If Izumi didn't teleport right away, he would be blown away by the robot.

In that instant, Tabane and Izumi activated their ISs. Only by then could the two of them keep up with the robot's speed.

"Tabane-chan, end it real quick!"

"Sure!"

While piloting the IS, Izumi flew toward the robot, then locked its movement because he felt that thanks to the abundant MA energy, the robot seemed to be anti-physical.

After Izumi locked its movement, Tabane reached out her hand and touched the robot. All of a sudden, the overflowing MA energy from the robot went out of control before the robot short-circuited and died down.

Potimas could only open his mouth agape in disbelief.

And having taken care of the most powerful robot, which just might be his trump card, Izumi thinks there's nothing to worry about. He just let Rori take care of Potimas since the soul manipulation was her mastery.

With Potimas so skilled at soul control, Izumi purposely let Rori handle him in order to neutralize his ability.

On the other hand, Tabane didn't care about them at all. He instead inspected Potimas' artificial bodies inside the capsules.

With her ability to disassemble anything related to the tech, Tabane can know and understand the components inside the artificial body instantly.

"What a disappointment." Tabane complained about the results.

"What is it?" Izumi asked. Ariel also didn't understand why Tabane seemed not satisfied after inspecting the artificial body.

"The components of this body are too low level. In my opinion, the homunculus in the shop is way better than this. Although the price is a little bit expensive. Also, the previous robot is way better than these dolls."

Hearing Tabane's opinion, Izumi asked.

"Did you buy the homunculus in the Dimensional Shop?"

Tabane nodded

"Yup. It's amazing, you know. There are two kinds. One of them is using elemental magic crystals, which are limited in terms of strength. And the other one is using pure energy crystals. It can completely imitate one's abilities and strength with just a drop of blood into the energy crystal."

"Wait, what? Completely imitated? Isn't that one level higher than Edo Tensei?"

"Not really. Edo Tensei is a jutsu that binds the soul of a deceased person to a living vessel, restoring them as they were in the last moments of their lives in order to do their summoner's bidding. However, a homunculus cannot be like Edo Tensei due to the lack of a soul that can be bound in a vessel. On the other hand, the homunculus can be programmed manually, so it can meet the owner's demand."

After she explained, Kuroneko commented.

"Does that mean, Edo Tensei is still way better?"

"I think you're wrong, Kuroneko. Tabane said that the homunculus can completely imitate any person by just using a drop of blood. Think about it! If I buy 5 of them I can have 5 clones with the same power and strength as mine. Then with Tabane's skill, she can program the five clones so they can be used as weapons."

"That sounds amazing, yet creepy at the same time." Kuroneko shuddered when she thought about it.

"Although what Izumi said was right, the action of the homunculus might be limited without a soul. I already bought one and tried to experiment with it. And as I expect, the homunculus can be said to be a substitute for your real body. Or a living vessel to let you live longer." Tabane explained.

Izumi lit his eyes upon hearing Tabane's explanation. But then, he sighed after knowing how expensive the homunculus was.

The low leveled homunculus just cost 10k. But, the pure energy homunculus is frickin 150k. What bullshit was that? There was no way he could save so many coins for a homunculus he might only use as a mirroring game.

Suddenly, the ground shook as if a tectonic earthquake had occurred due to plate shifts.

"You, asshole! You really want to be tortured, huh?"

Everyone could hear clearly that Rori threw a curse at someone.

"What happened, Rori-chan?" Tabane asked.

Rori just glanced at them while saying.

"All of you prepare to get out of here! No, just get out of the village at once! This bastard wanted to blow up the laboratory. And the village might have caught up with it."

Izumi narrowed his eyes.

"Then, grab him. Never let him escape, not even his soul!" Then, he turned to Tabane. "What do you think? Do you think there is anything useful in this laboratory?"

Tabane shook her head.

"Except for the energy source, nothing is useful."

Since Tabane said so, there was no need to prevent Potimas from blowing up his laboratory. Or, it might be even better if Izumi decided to wipe out the village completely from existence.

With Izumi's order, all of them, including Ariel's minions, teleported outside the elven village before the village was blown up. Creating a mushroom-shaped flammagenitus cloud, resulting from a large explosion.

"The babies are safe, and the elves are no more." Izumi muttered after seeing the result of the raid.

— — — —

"Do you think sacrificing me is enough? Even if you sacrifice the demon lord, it isn't enough to restore the planetary energy."

With just a wisp of soul, Potimas mocked Izumi for being naive.

The crisis caused by the elves may have disappeared. But the lack of planetary energy still couldn't be made up for by just sacrificing the souls of the elves to the system.

"Like I care!"

"Huh?" Potimas was flabbergasted at Izumi's response.

"Do you think I care about this world? This world has no value at all. Why should I try to preserve this world when this world is about to reach its end?" Izumi sneered. "And then, why do you keep talking? Even if you beg for mercy, do you think I would let you live? Hehehe, for now, you're just a tool for my experiment. So be glad I let you live longer."

It was a few days after the raid. At that moment, Izumi was playing around with Potimas' soul. It was like what he said, he used the soul to experiment. Even though it sounded cruel, it was a well-deserved payback for Potimas who nearly drained the planet's energy and caused countless lives to be lost in the span of a millennium.

On the other hand, Oka, the little elf or Kumoko's teacher, is still contemplating the mistake she made that caused one of her students to be killed by Potimas' men.

At first, Oka couldn't believe that Potimas had done that, before Sophia nearly attacked her with a magic that happened to awaken due to Sophia's hatred of elves.

Kumoko also explained the reason for the outburst which was caused when Potimas almost killed her. If it wasn't for Izumi, Kumoko, and Ariel, she'd be a corpse by now.

And when hearing everything from Kumoko. Oka is getting depressed.

How come it's not? She thought that she had saved her students from death. Turns out her expectations were wrong.

When Potimas felt a threat from a skill owned by one of Oka's students, he decided to kill him and reported that her student was killed tragically. Another cheap trick to keep Oka's students in the elven village is to find a way to prevent the student's parents from paying off their debt so that their children can be sold. If Potimas had no other choice, he would have carried out the kidnapping.

Kumoko's explanation to Oka was a death blow that was hard to take. She didn't even feel like she could show her face in front of her students after what she did.