Planet Master

170- Confrontation (2)

Inside the Equalizer Barrier.The Chief was being beaten to a pulp. His helmet was cracking at the visor which hindered his vision. But it did not hinder his transcendent sense of the woman in front of him.

Blood was flowing from his head to his body. His body armor was also cracking and showing signs of being severely damaged. But worst of all, his transcendent energy was running low.

‘What should I do now?’ the Chief asked himself and could not find the answer he needed.

“What’s your name? I assumed that you are proud to be one of the best at helping your civilization and I can see that. But from the start, you don’t mention your name. Is it because you don’t care about your name or is it because it is beneath you to even announce your name?” the woman spoke with curiosity while standing still, her weapon changing form as if reacting to his movement.

The Chief did not respond. Actually, he knew who he was but he deliberately did not mention it. What was the point of giving others his name when it did not matter?

Then he felt something strange. The transcendent energy, which was already almost depleted, was suddenly filled to the brim. He was sure that his already at the peak of Rank 1 transcendent energy storage was almost depleted but this phenomenon stunned him.

The woman narrowed her eyes and murmured, “So this is the exclusive move of a Star Child.”

Not only that but his bottleneck from breaking through to the Rank 2 was suddenly loosened so much that he could do it. But the Equalizer prevented him from accessing those higher powers.

‘Since I can’t increase my Rank, might as well increase my body power.’ The Chief could only think about this.

Then he just went like that, letting the transcendent energy flow to his body, passively refining it. He could feel his fragile body slowly becoming stronger.

While he took care of his body refining process, he also heard what the human woman had said.

‘Should I give her my name?’ That was the doubt inside his heart.

Although now that he looked at the woman, she did not stop him from whatever he was doing. But her eyes were so focused on him as if she realized what he was doing and do nothing but watch.

But so far there was no killing intent, nor was there any hostility coming from her despite her cold tone.

To know more about the reason why exactly as well as moving the conversation forward, he decided to tell.

“Some people call me the Child, others call me the Chief. But I am just an individual who wanted to do my best for myself and for the truth about my situation.

“But my parents gave me a name. I am Bore.”

The Chief of the Marine Corps, no, an individual transcendent called Bore clenched his tiny hands and a creaking sound could be heard.

“Oh? Finally decided to speak.” The woman paused for a moment, looking at Bore as if scrutinizing him.

“So who are you people to make this entire spaceship into your own personal arena?” Bore asked, though his breath was still unstable, panting through the process.

Although the barrier prevented those outside from intervening, but the situation inside and outside could be felt through transcendent sense and sight. Bore detected another individual who kept the Marine Corps by himself.

“Heh, aren’t you the one who deployed the Equalizer first? Why blame me for something you did yourself?” the woman sneered and questioned back.

“This is one huge trap designed for me.” Bore said as his physical body had reached his current limit of being refined and strengthened. His eyes now became ferocious but he did not know that in the eyes of the woman, his strength was still insufficient to threaten her but she did not even underestimate him.

“Not false. This entire thing is for you to be here in the first place.” The woman changed her weapon form into a blade. She also wanted to try something and went along with Bore.

“But then why do you ask for my name? What makes you think I am special?” Bore asked.

“As a Star Child of your own civilization, you don’t even know your significance?” The woman did not expect that Bore would not know about this.

“What is a Star Child anyway?” Bore asked as he tried to gather all his strength into a singular movement that could decide everything.

“Before that, let me tell you my name.” The woman closed her eyes for a moment as if this moment decided what the next move would be.

She opened her eyes, and Bore could see that his own reflection was on it.

“In my civilization, I am known as Mikazuki Ame. I am the third Star Child of the Federation. Are you satisfied with this reply?” Ame asked.

Bore could not have known the significance of that name since most of his current life revolved around fighting at the frontline against the Gling’s fleets.

But one thing was for sure: the woman in front of him was formidable. Even with his body enhanced, he felt the difference between him and the woman.

When he felt that, he gritted his long teeth, screeching before he made a move. He still held his assault rifle, aiming it at Ame. Ame just sidestepped a bit before she swung her blade, aiming at Bore’s waist.

Bore twisted his body, changing his body direction. Instead of his waist, he was slashed at his shoulder. But Bore then extended his hand in a claw. Sadly, Ame predicted this move and grabbed his free hand before throwing him to the edge of the barrier.

Bore once again coughed up blood. Even with his enhanced body, he still could not defeat the enemy’s Star Child.

‘Star Child is the individual who can represent the fortune of the planet as well as the civilization’s destiny.’ Bore suddenly gained this knowledge from deep within him, as if it were slowly being revealed.

‘Then my relationship with her should be like a mortal enemy. But why did she not kill me straight?’ Bore realized a big issue. Despite him attacking her, Ame only retaliated and let him live.

He then sat on the cold floor of the corridor. He also realized that no matter how much he improved, he could not defeat the woman named Mikazuki Ame, even with all sorts of enhancements, as if this were the barrier between him and her.

And he grabbed his slashed shoulder. It was slightly bleeding since the armor was slashed along with his physical body.

So he knew exactly what was going on.

“What do you want from me?” Bore asked as he was still sitting cross-legged.

“Finally willing to talk after some beatings. As expected from a brute who doesn’t understand himself.” Ame did not even care about her words and directly used a direct insult.

“Ha, what can I do when my opponent is too strong and cannot even let me die with honor?” Bore sighed before he deactivated the Equalizer. Since the Equalizer was useless even after activation, might as well deactivate it. It would not change his situation either way.

The moment the Equalizer barrier was disappearing, both the Marine Corps and the man with the sheathed blade came in.

The Marine Corps stood behind Bore while the man stood behind Ame.

“So you finally realized that. This is going to be fast. We are here to inform you that your civilization’s method of fighting is quite good so we fight you with the same method but better.” Ame said.

The first thing Bore did after lifting the Equalizer Barrier was to contact the command.

“Can you hear me? Sir, what is that woman talking about?” Bore asked. He needed to know why they came to him for a certain purpose.

“The communication has been established. Chief, do you hear this?”

Bore was glad that the communication was able to get through.

“I hear. Please explain what’s going on!” Bore asked, almost pleading.

“I think I know what they wanted.” This time, the voice was that of someone familiar to Bore.

Bore kept listening as the voice revealed something that the human race had done to them. It was a counterattack but it was not only as sinister as their method but also more ruthless.

“To sum it up, the Neurax Worms that the Federation develops are more sinister in nature and now the entire frontline has been suspected of being infected. It is just a matter of time before the infestation spreads to the entire fleet.” The voice said.

“Do you mean, we should surrender or be infected by the Mega Neurax Worms?” Bore realized the main issue of the matter.

He also realized that his civilization used the Neurax Worms to affect the enemies but now that backfired, and now they were going to get the treatment of their enemies.

“Well, our virus actually almost wiped out the Neurax Worms when a mutation occurred and changed the surviving Neurax Worms. The result of that is the Mega Neurax Worms, which are infecting the frontline now.” The man with a blade at his waist said.

If Ame radiated an oppressive aura, then this man made Bore felt deep fear as if he had seen his natural predator and his body stiffened for a few seconds, which showed how dangerous the man was.

“Chief, do not be swayed by what they said! We still have a chance to fight.” The communicator let out a voice. But it was ruthlessly cut.

“You mean the normal treatment of Neurax Worms? Sorry, but we are the one who tested it first on the Mega Neurax Worms and it was ineffective.” Ame said.

She had heard this information from Ivana and Charlene so the information was reliable. If the Rodents’ treatment of the Neurax Worms became ineffective, how should the Rodents deal with the infected?

Hearing that caused Bore and the marine corps to be shocked. Their usual medicine for treating Neurax Worms became ineffective?

“That is…” Bore wanted to say something but his instinct told him that the people in front of him would not lie about this matter.

‘But why did they throw this problem to us? No, I think I know.’ Bore, who was questioning himself about the matter, had a realization.

“You…want me to persuade the civilization I represented to surrender if we want the Mega Neurax Worms to be treated. Is that it!?” Bore said, his voice increased an octave.

“Yes. Either surrender or be infested by the Mega Neurax Worms that you used on the Federation before. We are here to tell you that this time, we are racing against time. If you are late, there won’t be even a single individual who is not infested by the Mega Neurax Worms.” The man said.

Bore saw that the one called Ame deferred to this human male in front of him.

Bore was knowledgeable and knew that the usual Neurax Worms were already quite deadly and could control the brain of its host. What about the so-called Mega Neurax Worms then?

“Command, I think you all have heard what our adversaries have said. What will you do?” Bore said to the communicator that connected him to the command.

“Hold the line. Our Great Rat God will personally act! Our victory or defeat will be determined by not us anymore, it seems.”

Bore was confused by the statement.

Both Ame and the man widened their eyes as if they received some news that was truly shocking. But soon they nodded and looked at each other; the surprise they received was apparently real.

“I see. So this is what it means to be the showdown. We’d better prepare a defense in case the battle aftershock reaches us in this spaceship.” The man said after that and looked at the ceiling as if he could see past the structure of the spaceship and sense things outside.

-

Planet Master Space.

Dian was surprised to see that the opponent decided to use Personal Manifestation. It was because the situation was actually more in his favor and the enemy should have used this move a long time ago.

Dian did not know the exact reason but since the opponent wanted to do it, he needed to put a check on the balance of the battlefield.

On the void where darkness prevailed, and the flickers of the stars in the distance were just a mere speck of decoration, there were numerous spaceships from both civilizations, shooting their plasma cannons, defending using the shield, and boarding the spaceship that got close.

Bore felt that the spacescape was shifting in ways that he could not imagine. The spaceship where he and the others were on shook as something formed at one end of the battlefield.

“Husband, will the Father God truly manifest here?” Ame let out a question to the man.

Bore was surprised to hear that the man was Ame’s husband. But more importantly, the Father God.

The Father God was the figure the humans held in high regard, although he found it strange that they did not have faith in him, unlike his civilization toward the Great Rat God.

But still, the appearance of the Father God meant this place would soon become one they should leave.

“Yes. That’s why we need to handle the spaceship to get out of the supposed affected area. Go to the bridge now!” the man ordered Ame to go to the bridge to gain access to the spaceship system.

“Wait, what about us?” Bore asked the man.

The man turned around and gasped. He looked like he totally forgot about them. He looked at each of them, including Bore, before he said.

“Oh, you better go back to where you come from. Hush!” the man shooshed them away before he went to chase after Ame.

“What’s your name!?” Bore’s curiosity got the better of him after meeting this man, and he could not help but ask loudly.

“Haha, you asked me that now!?” the man laughed out loud before he continued, “I am Tatsumi. Remember that name because you will hear that often.”

Then Bore ordered his men to run for their lives to their own spaceship.

While this was happening, two oppressive auras were appearing on each part of the battlefield.

One of them appeared to be in the form of the rodent, with a large pustules on his back and from behind there were dozens of smaller rodents in smaller size, as big as a quarter of the manifested body. The fog covered the outer manifestation of the Great Rat God as he carried with him a staff that looked brownish and ancient.

On the other side, the appearance of a human male in a black suit and long black pants was covered by fog. He carried with him a spear, and his body was quite robust for a manifestation. His eyes were filled with some lights, the lights of insight. He carried with him the spear of luck, which was golden in color.

The Great Rat God was covered by the many offspring he had produced due to his own Auxiliary Card ability, and so was The Father God.

Bore, Tatsumi and Ame knew that the confrontation between the two civilizations had reached a new climax.

The confrontation between them unknowingly became the trigger for the two Planet Masters to try their Personal Manifestation.

“You pushed things too far, you new race bastards!” The voice of the Great Rat God was heard throughout the battlefield even though sound could not travel in a vacuum. No, this was mental since this was directly received through their mind.

“You’re the one who used the Neurax Worms first, so don’t blame my race for turning things around with their Bio Weapon. If you’re not convinced, shall we dance?” The Father God's voice reverberated and was heard to be relaxed.

Then the Great Rat God used his offspring to overwhelm the Father God with numbers. The spear of luck then slashed and spun around. The Father God eliminated a dozen of offspring, which caused aftershocks in the surroundings.

The Father God used his knowledge of martial arts and spearmanship to a degree to test his Personal Manifestation.

Dian thought to himself while eliminating the offspring.

Eliminating the offspring was just a test on his part. He knew that to deal with anything, you need to deal with the brain of the opponent.

Dian then flicked the shaft of the luck spear. Its golden glow followed suit as Dian changed stance from slashing to thrust. The thrust was so impeccable and impressive that it penetrated dozens of the offspring produced by the Great Rat God.

The Great Rat God then slammed down his staff, and the offspring suddenly, as if on cue, gathered around the Great Rat God.

Then it formed a wall, not just any wall but a wall of flesh and blood. Dian’s luck spear penetrated even this wall.

All of this happened in the time it takes one to blink their eyes. It was fast enough that the ordinary individual would only see a blur but for transcendents, this was a big move that could be used as an inspiration.

Then the Great Rat God instinctively held the staff horizontally, and the tip of the luck spear hit it right in the middle.

He was pushed back several hundred thousand meters, but finally stopped. Dian then flipped the spear and vertically slashed at the Great Rat God.

“Your power seems to be in numbers.” The Father God voice reverberated throughout the entire battlefield.

“Ha, now you are here.” The Great Rat God snickered and the staff suddenly let out a bright brown but it felt sinister and dirty.