Chapter 330: Divergence

Chapter 330: Divergence

Early Evening - Late Summer : Off the Coast of the Western Sirathan Mountains

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-What is he...- Using my aura to see what exactly he was doing, my eyes shot open. "IS THAT CUBANE?!"

Glancing up at me while carving one of the countless runes on the newly created artifact, he looked puzzled. "Cubane?"

"That chemical you're making! Where did you learn about that?!" It was essentially octanitrocubane, an unbelievably explosive chemical I knew from Earth and something I had made a modified version of in the past. -But I never taught him, let alone anyone else about it... There is no way he just..-

"I made it myself."

-WHAT?!-

"When you were talking about displacement, the first thing I thought about was an explosion, and I wondered if I could use that idea to create an explosive chemical." He spoke like he created it on a whim. "Like you've hinted at when teaching Zachari, Krystallo, and Madam Monachikós, I used carbon as the base, and in order to make it all combustible, I tacked on some nitrogen and oxygen... I'm not sure it will work, but-"

"IT WILL! Now be gentle with it, or it'll blow your hands off." Taking it with my aura, I held it just in front of him. "This chemical is insanely volatile to temperature because of how tense the carbon's bonds between each other are." Giving a small helping hand, I quickly applied a few additional runes before handing it back to him.

The artifact was simple but, in all honesty, quite vicious, taking advantage of mana's innate ability to stabilize and strengthen unstable molecules with countless mana accumulation runes on the outside of the mythril sphere to temporarily lessen the strain on the carbon atoms before detonating the cubane with some heat, and forcing the cubic atomic structures to jolt into a more relaxed state.

-And with the nitrogen and oxygen, it'll just add fuel to the fire... Literally...- But I was there for it. Although it was an odd feeling, I was pretty excited to see how it would perform.

And then, before I knew it, he finished. "Alright. This should be good."

Having slowed down significantly, I tilted my paw and dropped him so he could change to his draconic form. By then, we were essentially straight over the Mole at the center of the fleet, but with several layers of light magic and with me keeping the regular mana part of my aura over a kilometer off the ground, we stayed undetected. -I'm curious how much damage this artifact will do...-

If it were something I had made, I would certainly call it weak since I knew it couldn't contend with antimatter, but Father was not a monster like I was. At least not then.

*fwoosh-fwoosh-fwoosh* Hovering just beneath me, Father quickly made a few final adjustments to the artifact before finally looking down.

The Mole was colossal, but from over a dozen kilometers in the air, it was quite far. "Do you want to fly a bit lower?"

But Father's serious expression didn't waver for an instant. "No, this height is fine." Finally lifting his gaze off the ship, he glanced to his left before casually tossing the artifact, using a tiny bit of aura to make a tiny adjustment as it fell. "You see that tall knight? The one with the big hammer?" An eager look slowly crept onto his face as he spoke. "I'm gonna hit him in the head."

"Pfffft-" I almost burst out laughing instantly.

"What are you laughing for? You think I won't?" He spoke confidently.

Holding back laughter, I tried to wave him off. "No, no. It's not that I don't think you could." Looking down at his target only made me want to laugh more. "I just think you could have chosen a better target."

"Huh?" Looking back down, he didn't seem to understand, but after a moment, the knight looked up and casually set his gaze on the falling artifact

"Hmph." He let out a scoff as he pulled his hammer off his back. "We have company! Everyone get to your positions!" His voice was heavy and coarse.

But even though Father couldn't hear him, he knew exactly what happened. "He saw it?!"

"PFt-Hahaha!" My laughter finally escaped seeing Father finally get flustered. "Of course he did. Any ancient would be able to feel that thing's mana signature when it entered their aura. Did you see how many mana accumulation runes you put?!" Seeing him getting a little embarrassed, I eased up my pestering a bit. "But don't worry, it'll just make it more enjoyable to watch."

He tilted his head slightly as everyone below frantically ran around, trying to prepare for enemies. "What do you mean?"

My smile widened as I finally looked down. "Well, what do you think will happen when that big ole' hammer of his hits it?"

Following my gaze downward, we both fell silent.

But eventually, the artifact neared the ground.

But after a moment of awe, I casually tossed the massive shell to the side, aending it hurtling through a nearby ship before reaching for my sword.

But the knight never let me grab it. *FWOOSH* Darting at me at full speed, he pulled his hammer back before Slamming it forward with every fiber of muscle in his body.

He knew it was his best shot at beating me, but unfortunately for him, it was far from enough.

*CLING-WHAAMMM* Catching the head of the hammer with one hand, an immense shockwave ripped through the water behind me, and my fingers sank into the mythril like it was soft clay.

"And here I thought you at least had some survival instincts."

He immediately tried to pull back his hammer, now with a bent shaft and the imprint of a hand on its head, but it didn't budge.

"Give me that." *pat* Casually ripping it from his hands, I tossed it into the air and grabbed its handle before creating a network of mana to spread the impact I would make with the hammer, over the ship that shot at me. -Ignorant bastards.- "Hyup!"

Putting my weight into it, I slammed the hammer down on the network of mana with enough force to shatter the mythril. *crackle*

And in an instant, the ship simply.. disappeared... *WHAAAAMMMM* The debris-filled plume of water that followed stretched hundreds of meters into the air as if a nuke was detonated, spreading shards of metal, wood, and fragments of bone over the surrounding ships like a scene from hell.

The Ancient I stole the hammer from instantly turned a ghastly pale, finally realizing the kind of being that stood in front of him.

I simply wasn't a being in his league.

But thankfully for him, he didn't need to be. *crackle-BOOOM* As a massive explosion erupted from the cargo ships behind us, I slowly turned around to him. "So, why don't you get to explaining what you guys are doing here."

But the moment he went to speak, I felt a tinge of a god's presence appear behind me, and heard a young man's voice boom outward. "Gentlemen! Fear not!" He was a young man who could have only been in his early 20s, wearing noble white and gold clothes with an extravagant white and gold sword. "As a grand priest of Lord Baldurs Church of Light, I shall-" *THWAAACK*

With a wave of my hand, I sent him flying through his ship, slamming through several deck levels before punching through the bottom. "Who is that dumbass?" -A grand priest? He's dressed like some noble brat...-

"H-He is the leader of this expedition!" The Ancient yelled out immediately, as if trying to suck up to me. "He was assigned to watch over us until we arrived at our destination!"

-Hm?- "Which is?"

"S-Siratha's western mythril mine! The one on the Grand Mythril Vein!"

-Huh? Why on earth...- "You aren't headed toward The Dungeon of the Colossus?"

He immediately shook his head. "Another fleet was assigned to head there! They should have already arrived!"

-Huh?!- My gaze instantly turned to the southern horizon. -That.. is really bad...-

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