Chapter 38: Final Cleansing [1]

{Legacy Skill: Personal Assassin}

{Target: Cassian StarHold}

{The power gap between the targets is significant, success chance: 100%}

{Activating…}

{0%}

{25%}

{59%}

{100%}

{Activation complete…}

{Modifying user's body…}

***

In the once luxurious and now utterly destroyed hall, only three humans remained alive, all on the brink of death. Killian leaned against the massive door, watching the transformation of Jin with his own eyes.

After initially merging with the puppet, his hair turned white, and his eyes became red. He grew much taller, and his attractiveness stats likely increased exponentially, but that was unimportant now.

The atmosphere around him changed drastically, as if he had become an entirely different person. As if he had ceased to be human long ago.

Much like Vantos and Sebastian after sacrificing their limbs, he seemed to have transformed into something else entirely. And after Sebastian's final strike pierced his heart before dying, Jin activated a strange technique, and his body shrank, only to reappear minutes later.

"What?!"

Killian felt an unparalleled terror, his limbs trembling involuntarily. The once calm aura around Jin now felt like an uncontrollable, raging beast. The mana around him, just like his hair, was as white as snow, but the feeling it emitted was malevolent.

There was no hint of purity in it! His appearance hadn't changed much, but he had now reached rank S! He skipped past rank S- as if it didn't exist and settled dominantly at rank S!

What a development; things would have been much easier if he had done this before… if only. Jin walked slowly towards Cassian, extending his hand strangely.

"I hope you are worth it."

He held Sebastian's storage ring, taking out high-ranked healing materials and feeding them to Cassian immediately. He then moved towards the remnants of Gilbert's body, the Morning Star that had shone its light on this Hell for the first time.

Since the mechanical arm wasn't considered part of his body, it didn't transform with him into that strange star and remained here with his ashes. As Jin was about to grab it, it exploded unexpectedly.

Without Gilbert's power, the arm couldn't store the item inside anymore. All the things he had carried scattered everywhere, the most prominent being a large sword.

It looked more like a cleaver than a sword, heavy and massive, which Jin recognized well. It was the legendary sword that had chosen Cassian…

The sword flew towards Cassian as if eager to reunite with him, and Jin didn't try to stop it. Instead, he began collecting Gilbert's items and arranging them in Sebastian's space ring.

He then approached Killian, who was almost trembling. He couldn't predict what would happen next due to his extreme exhaustion.

Feeling this unfamiliar helplessness, he began to show a side he had never revealed before. But fortunately for him, Jin did not fulfill his worst expectations - that his mind would change in a strange way.

On the contrary, it seemed this body completely yielded to him and didn't try to influence his thoughts. The reason for Jinn's current change in mood was the death of two comrades he loved and using the skill that represented his life's trauma.

Using it was like liberating his soul, but remembering Lyra's body that had turned into a bloody pulp…

Of course, he didn't forget to take her body from Gilbert's stash; he would bury all who died here in the human nation. he took Vantos' space ring and handed it to Killian.

"Huh?!" He was genuinely surprised to still be alive, and getting a reward on top of that exceeded his expectations.

"This is the least I can offer you; I took out the toxic fruit and left the rest for you. The resources in it could ruin your talent, but it's fine if you use them moderately."

Jin then opened the door, making sure to carry Cassian carefully as he left the hall. He never wanted to return here...

"Wait!" Killian shouted from a distance, starting to follow Jin. He still had something to say.

Jin didn't care much; after finishing things outside and leaving, he knew what he would do. Surprisingly, all the contracts he had signed had mysteriously disappeared and no longer affected him.

He didn't know if it was due to merging with the puppet's father or his Legacy skill.

He didn't care about the reason at all; all he thought of was the face of one woman and an unknown intention...

—

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Elara collapsed over the massive body of a familiar person, his indifferent demeanor long gone, revealing a completely new appearance.

He trembled and cried like a child, tears streaming from his eyes without stopping. He shook Asher's body continuously, repeating the same words over and over, but to no avail.

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Puppets of rank B formed a barrier around him, fighting off the overwhelmingly numerous enemies. If the original plan had gone right, things should have ended long ago, but they didn't...

And remembering the Morning Star that still burned above, indicating the death of their leader, Elara's cries intensified. A significant part of his neck was already crushed due to overuse of his ability; things were already over, and the battle's main warrior had died.

"Asher!"

Elara screamed one last time, hearing a strange sound from behind.

{Stop}

As if time had stopped, everyone in the place was immobilized, allies and enemies alike. Even Elara's tears stopped falling, such a powerful ability.

It was like an advanced application of his skill, but the original form of his skill, more accurately.

A person with an unknown appearance cleared space for himself to appear, climbing atop a bus for all to see. Another puppet panted beside him (Killian), and he carefully carried a teenage boy on his back.

"I declare this war over; all those here are free and can leave at any time!"

Everyone regained their ability to speak but still couldn't move.

"Don't mock us! What about the oil? How will we live without it?!"

Without any expression, the person responded immediately.

"I am a member of the resistance group, Jin. We completed the mission after countless sacrifices, and we have already broken the curse placed on everyone!

I'll leave the choice to remove the mechanical arm or not to you, but I pledge my soul that I will never make you slaves again."

Transparent chains suddenly appeared around Jinn's body, binding him for a second before disappearing. This was a soul contract; his body would be torn apart if he broke it.

With his skills <Transformation > and <Crafting >, Jin could remotely control anything created with this skill, and that was just a small part of what he could do.

Everyone's reaction varied then, from crying to screaming… but they all felt one common thing: salvation. It was like living your whole life as a slave, then becoming free without any preamble or notification.

They didn't even have time to process their feelings.

Jin immediately freed them from the immobilization and pointed his finger to the sky. A lightning bolt of mana shot up like a streak of light, striking a part of the barrier.

That barrier was also a remnant of the <Crafting > skill; he could deactivate it as he wished with the preset gesture.

"Gather at the northern part of the city near the barrier; I'll come within three hours to safely bring everyone down!"

Jin's knees bent slightly at that moment, and he leaped upwards with all his strength.

"There's still one more guardian up there… it won't end until I finish them all..."

Wings made of mist suddenly emerged from his back, which he used to fly at high speed, ensuring Cassian wasn't hit. He couldn't control the fog to take a physical form for long before, but the one-time-use <Personal Assassin> skill could achieve much.

All of Jin's skills, in addition to those gained from the puppet's father… all reached their maximum potential.

Of course, there was a price for all this, but paying it wasn't today's concern.

"Hmm...? What are you doing?"

Jin's expression changed for the first time in a long while when he looked down and screamed loudly.

Killian was clinging to the edge of his foot, flying along with him.

"I still haven't finished talking to you!" he shouted loudly, his voice broken by the resistance of the wind.

Jin nodded strangely and continued flying.

"I'll listen to you when we get to the top!"

"Okay!"

Killian nodded, feeling relieved, but then he noticed something odd.

"Can't you carry me like him!" he pointed to Cassian as he spoke.

However, for some strange reason, Jinn, with his enhanced senses, didn't seem to hear him this time.

"Hello!! Can you hear me?! I know you can, don't ignore me!"