Chapter 348

A neutron beam was not something that usually occurred in nature.
And so it was not something that Beretta knew about. And so ‘Multiple Barrier’ had allowed the attack to go through.
Beretta was lucky that his body had liquified, saving him from a fatal wound.
But now that he knew, it was possible to use Multiple Barrier to defend himself, but he had considered that it would cause a great explosion, and so he has opted to use Space Manipulation instead.
It was easy enough for Beretta to predict the point that the neutron beam would fire from the angle of Karman’s arms.
While there wasn’t much point in considering other possibilities—If Karman had used the Neutron Launcher as his opening attack instead of Hyper Impact, Beretta’s body would have likely turned into plasma and been destroyed.
And even if he didn’t die, it would have taken a while for him to completely regenerate.
The reason that his head hadn’t been blown off was that it had evolved into the Ultimate Metal, Hihirokane.
Hihirokane was not only unalterable in nature, but it could not be destroyed from such half-baked outside influences.
And of course, its nature could not be changed.
But now he knew how to deal with it all.
As for the thermal plasma, it was something Beretta was very familiar with.
So there was no problem.
While there were limits depending on the amount of energy stored, Beretta’s ‘Natural Elements Immunity’ could nullify normal high-temperature attacks.
That being said, there was no energy in this world, so he wasn’t in the best condition.
And so while it wasn’t much, Beretta had taken a little damage earlier.
But that was then.
As he was now, Beretta could not be affected by their thermal plasma weapons.
Because–

Bastard…what is happening with you…? How are you immune to the plasma…!?

Karman’s last man saw that Beretta was unharmed after the attack–and he was thrown into a state of fear.
This brought Karman back out of his trance.
Karman could not blame him for his confusion.
What they were seeing was so far from what was considered normal, that it was hard to maintain your sanity.
The plasma that was directed at Beretta had been blocked by barriers all around him and was being sent up through the large hole in the ceiling.
It dispersed in the sky and disappeared.
That had been a feature of the Beam Barrier, which the Powered Suits had been equipped with…
And then Karman realized it.
Beretta had been disassembling the Powered Suits with his tentacles.

You were…incorporating it…?
—Yes.
He had been disassembling the Powered Suits and analyzing their features.
And then he had incorporated it as his own power, allowing for him to use all of those abilities.
Not only that, but they had been altered to be more efficient and powerful.
The new function of The Ultimate Gift, ‘Deus Ex Machina,’ ‘Machine Domination’…

Uh, captain? What did you just…

With those last words, the fourth man fell.
Beretta’s tentacles had slammed into him, scraping away his consciousness.
Now only Karman remained.
And there, for the first time, Karman looked at Beretta’s–true face.
The thin eyes and lips.
His nose had a high bridge that brought his features together and enhanced their beauty.
His face was pale like porcelain, though there were patches of pink that surfaced because of his rage–He did not look like something that was made.
And yet it was clear—
(—Yes, this thing…is not human. However, how…)

Beautiful.

That was the word that spilled from Karman’s lips.
It had to be artificial, but it was beautiful in a way that conquered the uncanny valley.
Karman could not imagine what materials had to be used in order to create such detailed features.
His praise was completely from the heart—
He was not aware for a moment that Beretta’s tentacles had been unleashed. They came down on him like rain, sending his consciousness into darkness…
◇◇◇
Karman was a survivor of that city that had fallen.
That day, along with the news of the refugee uprising, Karman, who had only just graduated from the military academy, received the order from his superior.

…We have decided to ask for help from the other cities. Our lives our in your hands. I’m counting on you.

His superior had been like a father to him. And he said this with gentle eyes.
Karman could still remember it clearly.
And now, he understood how he must have felt to a painful degree.
With the technology the cities had, it was possible to correspond.
After all, back then they had communication devices that worked in spite of the high-density electromagnetic storm.
But there were a number of reasons that Karman and the others had been chosen.
There were universal strategic reconnaissance aircrafts that could fly through the electromagnetic storm, but most of them had been destroyed during the great war. And so they could not afford to lose them now. That was the order from headquarters.
Special research was being conducted in the city, and they could not afford to lose the incredible amount of research data.
They did not want such valuable resources to be taken by the mob.
 
Etcetera.
And it so happened that Karman, who was the youngest lieutenant, was the only one who could pilot a universal strategic reconnaissance aircraft.
But more than anything–
The senior officer had lost his own children during the war, and so Karman was like a son to him.
He had allowed Karman to escape.
Karman and the other four who were still young…
On the airfield that was high above the city, they took what they could on the aircraft and prepared for transmission.
Karman was too young to understand what the officer’s intention was, and so he accepted the mission without saying anything.
He believed that they were on a mission to request assistance and that they would return.
He had no doubts about it.
The result was that he would lose his beloved mother, younger sister and the senior officer he saw as a father, forever.
Even Charles, who he had been seeing at the time…
Regret, sadness, hate.
With so much intense emotion, Karman knew he could never forgive,