Location: ???
The surroundings were completely silent. It was so empty that anyone who entered this place would easily believe it had been abandoned. Normally, the wooden crates, storage boxes, metal containers, and other objects scattered around shouldn't have been visible in the darkness. This place was actually a storage area, and it was currently locked. It also should have been pitch dark.
Yet there was light.
On top of several boxes, the glow of flames could be seen. Someone had lit a small area. Those flames came from candles.
The candles were placed at the tips of something that looked like a ritual circle shaped like a five-pointed star. Each candle stood at the end of one of the star's points.
At the center of the star were two eyes.
They were known as the God-Cursing Eyes.
Near the ritual circle, surrounded by stacks of crates, two people were sitting far apart from each other as if they were waiting for someone.
Revenant: At least I could have joined the fight…
While Revenant was lost in his own thoughts, Hana who normally kept one eye closed now had both eyes closed. Every now and then her head twitched slightly, as if someone were repeatedly punching her in the face.
Revenant (In his mind): These two are like some kind of hidden bandit group… Are they trying to bring Liberty back? After all, they're collecting all the relic fragments… Or maybe…
Before Revenant could sink deeper into his thoughts, a cracking sound echoed.
Hana remained in the same state with both eyes closed.
At that moment, one of the tattoos on Revenant's arm began glowing jade green. While it glowed, it felt to Revenant as if someone had fired a gun directly into his arm from the pain.
A revolver appeared in his right hand, shining with the same jade-green glow.
Revenant immediately gripped the weapon properly and aimed toward the direction where the cracking sound had come from.
Slowly, he began hearing footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
There was one step every second, and with each passing second the sound grew louder because the person was getting closer to the ritual site.
Eventually the person became visible.
At first, only a pair of black shoes could be seen emerging from behind one of the crates.
Then the figure stepped fully out from behind the box.
Revenant quickly lowered his gun and smirked.
Revenant: Dawn will break soon, Lucifer.
All the sounds from earlier had belonged to Lucifer.
Lucifer: How's the ritual going?
Revenant began turning the revolver back into its tattoo form, enduring the same pain again as he spoke.
Revenant: As you can see, the horse is waiting for its rider.
Lucifer immediately understood the Wild West reference and began thinking.
Lucifer (In his mind): So the relic is waiting for me… How long was I fighting that kid…? Whatever. Even though he was weaker than me, fighting someone who slowly caught up to me was incredibly fun…
While Lucifer was thinking, a small piece of ice fell from his cheek and shattered with a faint cracking sound.
Revenant looked at where the ice had come from and then spoke.
Revenant: You have an ice wound on your cheek.
Lucifer immediately touched the wound and realized it.
The attack had actually managed to injure him.
Normally, Zach and Lucifer had clashed using Super Techniques, and Lucifer had won by a crushing margin. Zach should have died from that battle, but Lucifer had spared him because it had been the first time in a long time that he had enjoyed a fight so much.
Lucifer had believed he returned without injuries.
Someone who thought themselves invincible might react with anger or frustration after being wounded.
But Lucifer wasn't that kind of man.
Instead of anger, there was a smile on his face.
It was the smile of a child who had just become even more excited.
Revenant, on the other hand, remained expressionless.
The only thing he was thinking was-
Revenant (In his mind): What kind of group did I get myself involved with? If they weren't paying me, I would've left this place immediately…
Revenant sighed slightly and raised his index finger toward Lucifer.
Not as if pointing more like he was drawing a gun.
Revenant: What will you do after you absorb this relic?
Lucifer looked directly at Revenant and answered calmly.
Lucifer: We'll go to the massive city behind Deadland.
Revenant's eyes widened.
But it wasn't excitement or surprise.
They were the eyes of someone experiencing trauma.
Revenant's tattoos were actually a weapon storage technique. He could turn any weapon into a tattoo and carry it with zero weight.
However, those tattoos were also a curse placed on his body.
Every time he stored or summoned a weapon, he felt unbearable pain.
The more weapons he stored, the more his arm felt as if it were burning continuously.
And that enormous city…
That was where he had obtained this curse.
Worse than that, he had lost someone extremely important to him there.
After gaining the curse and losing that person, he swore never to step into that city again.
Because the moment he entered it, countless horrifying memories resurfaced in his mind.
Revenant: Why that city…? Why are we going specifically to that damned Cursed City?!
Lucifer stared at him without any expression.
Lucifer: Because the next relic is there. And that place will be our battlefield… or rather, mine.
Revenant: What?
Lucifer: It's filled with inactive traps. I haven't used them for nearly six hundred years.
The next destination for Lucifer and Revenant was the Cursed City, where another relic of Liberty was located.
While they were talking there, we should also learn why Hana had both eyes closed and why her head was moving involuntarily.
Location: Deadland City, Inside the Massive Ruined Football Stadium
Various sounds echoed around the stadium things falling, bending, and collapsing. It was as if the entire stadium had begun to crumble.
But the strangest thing was the energy being released by three individuals.
One person's energy was weaker than the others, and it wasn't even coming from his body.
Instead, it was coming from the arm armor he was wearing. The wearer himself seemed to emit almost no energy at all.
Another person was a dwarf holding a hammer, wearing a half-bandaged samurai helmet and black sunglasses. His face had turned completely red.
That redness practically screamed: I'm drunk.
Yet among the three of them, he was the one emitting the strongest energy.
The final person stood with both hands together, gathering energy.
She possessed even more energy than the other two.
That person was Hana.
She pressed her hands together completely and shouted.
Hana: Super Technique: The Form of the Priceless Soul!
From Hana's position, a white glowing barrier began forming across a fifteen-meter radius.
The hammer wielder was outside the radius, but half of his hammer was trapped inside the barrier.
The man wearing the arm armor, however, had already entered the barrier.
He hadn't jumped backward in time to escape, so he became trapped inside.
Behind Hana, statues resembling human corpses began emerging.
They were arranged together in the shape of a sun, and countless human screams echoed from them.
They were the souls Hana had captured, now imprisoned within the barrier.
The armored man was still standing alive inside it.
Hana smiled.
There was a little blood in her mouth.
Hana: You endured quite well… but this is the end of the road, little key.
Jack (In his mind): Damn it! So this is what it feels like to be trapped inside a Super Technique! Arthur told me about this before he entrusted me to Bob!
Location: Sacred Temple, Bob's Blacksmith Workshop
A long time ago.
Bob was busy forging Jack's weapon, while Jack stood nearby doing nothing.
But Jack was thinking while listening to Arthur's out-loud thoughts.
Arthur (thinking aloud): How can I perfect my Super Technique…? Think… think…
Jack placed his left hand on Arthur's shoulder and grinned.
Jack: Uh… what exactly is a Super Technique?
Arthur immediately grinned as well and grabbed Jack's left hand.
Arthur: A Super Technique is an extremely powerful level that certain technique users can reach.
Jack asked curiously.
Jack: For example?
Arthur: If you want to reach the level where you can possess a Super Technique, you need three things.
First, imagination.
Second, a massive amount of energy. The first time you use it especially consumes a lot, but as you get used to it, the energy cost decreases.
And third… complete mastery of your technique.
Jack: What do you mean by mastery?
Arthur: You need to know your technique completely. You must understand it as well as you know your own name.
Obtaining a Super Technique was not easy.
Some people were extremely powerful yet never obtained one.
The reason was simple.
They never truly understood their techniques.
They used them without knowing their limits or possibilities.
Because of that, the doors to Super Techniques remained completely locked.
Even if they learned later, the doors could still open but the later they opened, the slower their growth became.
There was a limit.
If you never learned a Super Technique, that limit would never break, and you would never become stronger.
Arthur: A Super Technique is basically something created from human imagination. But once you possess a technique, your Super Technique type is determined. If it's an attack type, you'll use it offensively. If it's a strengthening type, you'll use it to power yourself up.
Jack asked excitedly.
Jack: So what's my type?
Arthur grinned.
Arthur: You're the Idiot Type.
Jack's forehead twitched with visible irritation.
Jack: Come on!
Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly.
Arthur (In his mind): This kid will become terrifying one day… He'll definitely become the best close-combat guardian.
Suddenly Arthur remembered something and lightly hit Jack on the head.
Jack: Hey! What was that for?!
Arthur: I've got something really important to do, so I won't be around for a while. Hey dwarf, take good care of Jack. And don't let him leave the Sacred Temple!
The sound of a hammer striking metal echoed.
Then the dwarf shouted.
Bob: ###### git! (#### off!)