Transcendent Gene
Chapter 50: Early Reunion [4]

Chapter 50: Early Reunion [4]

Gio watched the entire fight from when he arrived in the control room to the point when Namadra lost its leg and even further to its end. It may have been a Tier 5 beast, but Namadra certainly wasn’t weak.

The previous moment took place over five minutes into the battle. It took around five minutes for the three human fighters to gain any sort of advantage at all, but they used their opportunities to the fullest to end the battle as soon as possible.

Not all Sequences could be used for long durations, after all.

For those first five minutes, Namadra dominated.

When it slammed its leg down on the ground, it sent shockwaves of energy in all directions. They were so powerful that they almost turned the sand solid, and if they were allowed to make direct contact with any of those human bodies, it wouldn’t have ended in a few broken bones.

Its claws were laced with glowing blue Aether. It felt like they were cutting through the air itself when they pushed through the air. It had breath like a dragon’s that burned sinkholes into the sand when they struck. Certainly, it was impossible to call the beast weak.

But it had a few fatal weaknesses that led to its demise.

The first was its speed.

Its massive size made it slow. If it was a higher tier beast at the same size, it would have means to circumvent this weakness, but it hadn’t gained those yet. As long as one could see it move, one could avoid its movements.

The second was its mental ability.

Some beasts –and monsters– were incredibly smart even without real sentience. Some even had sentience.

Namadra fit into neither of those categories. It lived a largely unchallenged life, which stunted its development and caused it to grow to the worst of its potential.

It was a situation caused by humans, but the situation nonetheless.

The final primary weakness that led to its demise was related. Humans had an expanse of knowledge about it, while it knew nothing of them.

It was too young to remember when its mother was slaughtered, when it was dropped in the Wilds by none other than humans.

The weaknesses of its scales, its flesh, and its internal body were already known. Its mother’s corpse had been thoroughly dissected and studied.

When that man struck its leg and that flash of light blinded the screen, a wave of lightning as sharp as a blade and as volatile as hydrogen was sent through Namadra’s flesh and muscle. It cut through its bones and severed its nerves. The layer of scales on the exterior of the beast’s leg remained intact, but there was no connection within.

When Namadra collapsed on that single inch separating its newborn stump from the remains of its leg, the structural integrity of its scales was shattered.

They rained to the ground alongside the blood, and in the end, an entire leg was left still standing on the ground.

Namadra itself collapsed backward, roaring as it tried to stabilize itself or flip its body.

It sent wild blasts of Aether in any direction its head could reach, trying to push its enemies as far away as it could.

Only, they were too close for those kinds of attacks to have any significance.

Natalia and the lightning user barraged the fallen beast, using all their power to cause more cracks, this time in its chest and arms.

The other man also moved close enough to help, playing his part perfectly.

They were a well-oiled machine.

Namadra didn’t lose its fighting spirit with its legs. It swept its claws desperately trying to kill its assailants. It used its breath attacks and sent pulses of Aether out of its body to force anyone or anything away.

Still, Natalia’s team persevered and continued their attack.

They broke a hole in its arm first, and as he’d done before, the lightning user took the chance to cut that arm away from its body.

No longer did Namadra have a way to stop them from breaking one final hole in the left side of its body.

Nor could it stop the lightning user who approached for one final strike.

The screens went white again, accompanied by the bang of the explosion and the death cries of the beast.

When everything became clear again, the rightmost display showed the sight of a tunnel into Namadra’s heart.

And the sight of a beast that was no longer moving.

"Looks like it’s over," Raymond said with a smile.

"They did better than expected."

He gave a slight nod of approval as he watched Natalia and the other two unceremoniously burn the beast’s corpse after taking several pictures to verify its death.

"Its mother’s diluted blood is still circulating the market, so its blood means nothing since it’s weaker than even that. As for the rest of its body parts, they’re only valuable to people who lack money."

Namadra was a beast that outlived its use, which meant it no longer carried with it any sort of benefit. As such, it was marked as a target that could be freely hunted recently.

Raymond received that information before anyone else could reach the Wasteland and capitalized on it. He could have left the body for Scavengers to collect, but he chose to burn it instead.

If beasts found it first, it would become food for their growth instead. Why would he risk that for others’ benefit?

"Well, now that everything’s wrapped up, you can focus back on what’s happening now, right?" Raymond suddenly asked, breaking Gio’s attention away from the screens.

"Is there something happening now?" Gio asked with a raised brow.

"I wouldn’t bring you to the zephyr for no reason, would I? I even sent someone to tell your guardian you were with us."

"Seb?"

"So that was his name. Some of the spies who were following you split off to inform him and informed me about their actions as well."

Gio’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

’I guess that’s why he never showed up. I thought it was odd that there was no sign of him.’

Raymond really did clear everything away so that Gio could exist in the zephyr without other obligations.

"Then...?"

Gio prodded, expecting Raymond to tell him what was so important, but he wasn’t so lucky.

"Ah, I only brought it up now because your expression was strange and I wanted to pull you out of the screens. I actually can’t talk about it quite yet," Raymond said, smiling wryly.

"Before that, we have to wait for Natalia to return."

Raymond wasn’t joking. For almost half an hour, they sat around waiting. Gio aimlessly looked around the control room trying to understand what the data being displayed meant. Meanwhile, Raymond watched his actions, waiting to see if he would truly figure anything out.

He wasn’t left in such a sensitive location carelessly.

’I’ve arranged these screens into something of a puzzle. If you can figure it out by the time Natalia arrives...’

Gio’s eyes narrowed.

’He’s testing me.’

The moment he recognized that there was a pattern to the information on the first set of screens in the back left corner of the room, he realized that they led him towards a single letter.

’Just a single J...?’

Why else would that be the case if this wasn’t a test?

Gio’s curiosity got the best of him. The time that was passing slowly became a nonissue. He forgot about it entirely as he became enwrapped in the message on the screens.

The letters weren’t arranged in sequential order, so it wasn’t the easiest it could be, but it also wasn’t impossible.

If Gio searched hard enough, he could find hints in some of the screens that alluded to the shape of each word.

He digested all of the information, putting it together in the [Memory Book] and organizing it. As that half hour went by, the lower doors of the zephyr opened again, welcoming another aircraft similar to the one that brought Gio.

Three people stepped out and officially entered the zephyr. Not long after, the door to the control room was opened.

Natalia walked in with the other two. They had several cuts on their bodies and were disheveled from the battle, looking much worse for wear than they did through the video feeds.

Gio was broken from his trance instantly. Though he knew he was close to solving the puzzle, he looked away from the screens and stood up. He wanted to express his gratitude as soon as possible, but she had other plans.

"I approve."

She spoke before he could say anything with her eyes on Raymond.

"Oh? So fast?" Raymond responded.

"Do explain your reasoning."

Natalia nodded easily.

"Good judgement and combat sense. Actual skill level is low and recklessness is a problem, but that can be fixed."

Gio’s ears perked up as he listened to her. In the back of his mind, the letters he discovered came together, forming into words that formed into a question.

He’d solved the puzzle.

With what Natalia said as well...

His head spun back to Raymond who was already looking at him with a grin on his face.

"You figured it out?" He asked.

And Gio responded with a question of his own.

"You..." he said.

"...want me to join you?"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.