The King Chooses

The Mad King stared blankly at the slender monster before him. He could truly feel the coldness of its body through his own flesh, along with that frenzied, sickly, sinister greed and craving.

The Mad King reached out and touched the hollow in the monster’s chest. That unfillable sense of emptiness was like a black hole poised to devour someone.

"Is this your true nature, Mercenary Tao…?"

The Mad King slashed his sword into Mercenary Tao’s neck, cutting through the terrifyingly resilient Hierro, the white keratin layer beneath it, and then the bones and flesh inside.

But at the same time, Mercenary Tao, having discarded that pitch-black Claymore, tore open the Mad King’s chest with a claw and ripped out the silver-white heart from his back.

Roar!

The terrifying howl shook the soul.

Reincarnator ZX30336603, your Ability · King's Authority (S-) has been destroyed

Reincarnator ZX30336603, your Authority · Power of the King (Tier 5, adaptability 93%) has been affected by ?, exemption failed

Silver Authority · Immutable has been lost

You have suffered a powerful soul attack. Based on your Spirit attribute, you have obtained...

Notification after notification streamed past like a waterfall. With just one attack, the Mad King realized he had undergone an enormous number of checks.

Mercenary Tao concealed an unidentifiable power within his body.

Within the Infinite Dimensional Space, Abilities, Authorities, Tiers, and even Traits labeled with ? did appear from time to time.

But most of them were simply unclear, possessing traits that matched multiple Abilities, so the Space required further observation to anchor them.

Yet the Mad King was certain that the monster Mercenary Tao had become was not like that.

It was an icy, chaotic, unknown essence.

Pfft!

The space before the Mad King suddenly emptied. There was nothing ahead of the King’s Sword. Monster Mercenary Tao’s speed was simply too terrifying. Was that Ninth Tier Instant?

He was not entirely sure.

The Heart Light of All Things Re-emerge had not managed to seize all of Mercenary Tao’s power at once. He could not perfectly contain so many power essences.

The Mad King’s vision blurred slightly. Only an instant later did he once more catch sight of the monster standing in midair ten thousand meters away.

It held that silver heart high, slowly pressing it into the hollow in its chest.

At that moment, an illusory black-and-white staircase emerged with unparalleled clarity beneath monster Mercenary Tao.

The phantom staircase pierced through the void, as though it led straight into the heavens.

An unprecedented height, an unprecedented length.

The Mad King froze in place. Looking at the black crown of thorns above Mercenary Tao’s head, then at the black card in his own hand—EX00? · God King—he suddenly revealed a strange smile.

"So that’s how it is… So that’s how it is. Ha~ Hahaha… Hahahahaha!"

He laughed hysterically. At that moment, that peak Reincarnator who had touched the edge of Mad-tier solely through his Staircase and Heart Light Pulse, without relying on a Title Ability, cast aside every trace of composure.

He seemed to become that madman from the Space once more—the Reincarnator everyone had looked down upon, yet who had contained all manner of thoughts and intentions from everyone around him.

Pfft!

A red fish emerged from his illusory silver body, then burrowed into the void.

Then came a golden one.

Specks of light in every color continuously broke free from the Heart Light of All Things Re-emerge.

This disturbance indeed caught the monster’s attention. The next moment, a black flash and white Ripples collided violently, and a terrifying shockwave exploded over Tokyo once again.

"Breaking news: following the November 13 incident in which all of Japan was attacked by Calamity-level Ability Users, East Xia, the Free Federation, the European Union, and others have announced the formation of the World United Organization to address the threat posed by Calamity-level Ability Users."

"Here, we also issue an appeal to Ability Users across the world. The world belongs to everyone. We hope Ability Users can join the World United Organization and work together to preserve global stability…"

"White Bear Federation special report: the Ability User nation, the Finality Empire, which previously reclaimed land in Australian waters to establish a mysterious country, has announced its accession to the World United Organization. These Ability Users claim they will jointly safeguard the stability of the oceans and continents."

"East Xia Federation news: Paradise, the independent Ability User city located in Myanmar, has yet to respond to the World United Organization’s invitation. The Free Federation has announced that it considers Paradise an unwelcome Ability User organization and is considering marking the Ability Users within Paradise."

"Emergency report, early morning of November 17: East Xia, the Free Federation, the European Union, the White Bear Federation, and other nations have released information on their respective Calamity-level, high-risk Ability Users. The following codenamed Ability Users will now be monitored worldwide: Mercenary Tao, Hongye, Ye…"

"Follow-up report, November 18: Korea’s March Consortium announced that it had completed nationwide registration of Ability Users. Korea is currently the only country to have met this condition. East Xia, the White Bear Federation, and many other nations have announced they will adopt The Agency system and incorporate Ability Users into the social order…"

One news report after another refreshed across the screens. From the first to the third underground levels of Paradise’s Black Tower, displays and server equipment were everywhere, along with many fantastical devices beyond the technological level currently available in the real world.

Here, news from all over the world, public and secret alike, refreshed at an incomparably rapid rate.

Heavenly Feast had an energy bar in his mouth as he continuously tapped at the keyboard. Behind him stood Li Qingzi, who in the news reports was still supposedly far away in Korea.

This strong woman radiated a biting presence from head to toe. Her entire bearing resembled a demonic beast waiting to devour its prey.

"Miss Li, should we temporarily close Paradise’s applications? A lot of Reincarnators have entered Paradise lately. Quite a few of them are probably here to gather intelligence for other gatherings or nations. I’ve already marked four Information Brokers."

Heavenly Feast tapped the keyboard a few times, and four figures appeared on the screen. They were dressed differently. Some had adopted local customs and wore loose floral shirts, while others were clad in formal suits.

They were currently wandering through different corners of Paradise, occasionally speaking with other Reincarnators. If not for Heavenly Feast, it would probably have been difficult to confirm their identities.

After all, three of them had changed Avatars. Heavenly Feast’s identification relied on biotechnology, while these people had probably only guarded against mystical Abilities such as divination and foresight.

Of course, Heavenly Feast did not deny the possibility that higher-ranking Information Brokers with more thorough defenses had already entered Paradise without his notice.

Paradise now had over five hundred Reincarnators, already an extremely terrifying scale.

In the Space, it surpassed the vast majority of gatherings.

Demonic Qi surged fiercely around Li Qingzi. The global situation had changed because of that terrifying battle no one had foreseen.

Although they had all believed that a new era had begun, Mercenary Tao and the Mad King’s battle in Japan—one that had nearly destroyed the island nation—had completely demonstrated the Reincarnators’ terrifying power to interfere with the real world.

And thus, the world had been forcibly pushed into change. The new era had undeniably arrived.

From now on, Reincarnators would directly intervene in the world.

That was apparent from the fact that the World United Organization formed jointly by various nations had deliberately reserved seats for powerful Ability Users.

The rulers who held order in their grasp had already made concessions.

Of course, more Reincarnators believed those concessions were actually meant for the many Supreme Experts, as well as the top-tier Reincarnators like Mercenary Tao and the Mad King.

After all, these people had now proven that they were the most terrifying individual weapons of war, nearly impossible to withstand with current scientific capabilities.

Countless think tanks, advisory groups, and secret response departments were probably racking their brains over how to deal with these Calamity-level Ability Users.

Among all that… the most urgent matter was likely confirming whether both sides of the battle that had caused Japan’s collapse were still alive.

Many reports now confirmed that the Ability User codenamed Mad King had died.

But there was no information whatsoever on the Ability User codenamed Mercenary Tao, leaving many people restless and eager to make a move.