Read Novel Full Chapter 526: Obtaining Memory Fragments and Face to Face with VV
Chapter 526: Obtaining Memory Fragments and Face to Face with VV
Torin’s doubt did not last long before another truth settled in his mind.
That was why the sponsor had been willing to hand over such powerful treasures and resources without blinking. He already knew the target was dangerously powerful, and he knew ordinary methods would not be enough.
Gabriel looked down at the kneeling man and kept his sword steady. Blood ran from the blade and dripped onto the scorched floor, but the heat in the chamber pressed from every side, drying it almost instantly.
He had more to ask. He needed to know how Torin met that sponsor, how contact had even been made, and more importantly, how that man had entered and left this world. If Gabriel could learn that, even a little, there was a chance he could one day return to Earth and look for his loved ones.
"Tell me how you met him," Gabriel said. "Tell me how he entered this world and how he leaves it."
Torin heard the change in his tone and understood immediately that this mattered. A weak smile appeared on his bloodstained face, and for the first time since losing both arms, a trace of control returned to his eyes.
"So that is what you want," he said hoarsely.
Gabriel did not answer. He stood there calmly, but the pressure around him grew colder.
Torin judged the situation quickly. He had already lost. His base was ruined. His men were dead. Even if he gave up everything he knew, he did not believe the man in front of him would spare him in the end.
His smile deepened slightly as he muttered,
"In that case, I will give you nothing."
Before Gabriel could react, flames erupted from Torin’s body.
The fire burst out from his chest, shoulders, and spine at the same time. It wrapped around him hungrily, climbed over his neck, and swallowed his face while the heat in the room spiked even higher.
Gabriel’s expression hardened with anger.
"You insane bastard."
Torin made no reply. The fire kept rising, and in only moments his flesh blackened, shrank, and broke apart while the flames devoured everything with terrifying speed.
The burning lasted less than a minute.
When it ended, nothing remained of Torin Black Star except a small pile of ash and the stench of burned flesh.
Gabriel looked at the ashes in silence, and for once, real irritation crossed his face. The chance to get what he wanted had vanished in front of him, and the path back to Earth felt farther away again.
Rumble! Tumble!
Just then, a rumble came from above.
The ceiling cracked, and a huge rock broke free and crashed downward. Gabriel lifted one arm and caught it before it could crush him, the impact driving his boots half an inch into the floor.
With a twist of his shoulders, he threw the stone, five times his size, aside.
Crack! Crack!
That was only the beginning. More cracks spread across the chamber, and chunks of rock started falling from every side while the walls shook hard enough to make the torches flicker out one by one.
"The whole place is collapsing," Gabriel realized.
His eyes swept the chamber once, and a plan formed immediately. Losing Torin was one thing, but he still had another option before the base came down completely.
Gabriel moved toward the corpse.
There were still a few bones left, and even in death, the pressure around the remains had not fully faded. Gabriel placed a hand over the corpse at once and called on his Talent.
A faint system screen appeared before his eyes.
[Do you wish to extract the Level 108 corpse? Cost: 80 EP]
"Yes," he said without hesitation.
The chamber shook again as the options flashed up. Gabriel’s gaze locked onto one of them immediately, and without wasting another second, he chose the reward.
...
Far above, ChaosCleric and the nervous player were already being forced back by the rising heat and the tremors running through the base. Dust poured through the tunnel, stones kept breaking loose overhead, and the sound of the collapsing levels below made even Vv stop resisting.
Vv did not move at first, but the tunnel itself gave them no choice. The floor cracked under their feet, forcing Vv to retreat upward. Catching up with ChaosCleric, both of them were driven back toward the ruined entrance as the base gave way behind them.
Boom! Boom!
They stumbled out into the open just as the old building and everything beneath it finally collapsed. Stone, wood, and packed earth caved inward together, and a huge cloud of dust burst into the street, rolling outward in every direction.
Several long moments passed while the dust hung over the ruins and blocked the view. ChaosCleric stood there breathing hard, his face pale from the heat, while Vv remained still beside him, watching the shifting dust without speaking.
Even after stopping, Vv did not retreat. The armored player stood with hands at their sides, face hidden, as if measuring the danger below rather than fearing it.
The nervous player swallowed and finally asked, "Do you think they’re still alive?"
ChaosCleric frowned and kept his eyes on the wreckage.
"Buried under that, with that kind of heat? Anyone should be dead."
At that moment, the dust shifted again, and a figure appeared within it.
At first, it was only a dark outline, but with each step it became clearer until Gabriel finally emerged from the wreckage, broken stone at his feet and dust covering his clothes. In one hand, he held a glowing orb.
Gabriel tightened his grasp on it.
[Memory Fragments]
This was what he had chosen at the last possible moment. Even in the middle of the collapse, he had still taken what he could from the dead. Though it pained him that he was not able to extract the full corpse, this was still worth it.
If it was not useless, he might finally find a way back to Earth.
Placing the orb into his inventory, he took a few steps forward.
Only then did he notice the other presences waiting outside.
His gaze lifted and settled first on ChaosCleric, then on the armored figure standing beside him.
For the first time, Gabriel and Vv looked directly at each other.