Chapter 960 Being Human
“Everyone, move out!”
That was the order he received from his commander.
However, this time he did something that he would never do usually.
He plan to disobey the order given
At the moment, the half-machine acolyte had his gaze fixed on the thousands of Abyss creatures that had filled the entirety of the underground cave. Even though the interior of the cave was dimly lit, a certain resolve could be seen flashing across his eyes.
In that instant, a flash of memory in the depths of his mind suddenly appeared and played in his mind. It was a particular memory, of a time roughly five month ago, right after a defeat from a certain person that forced him to return to his home planet and be extensively repaired.
“How can you be defeated!? Worse, by a nobody from a shitty lower realm!”
A bespectacled man in a white robe stood in front of his body. Derision could clearly be seen in his eyes.
“You are an embarrassment to our project and an embarrassment to the faction!”
Then, a young man came and spoke to the bespectacled man.
“Professor, the damage he sustained was extensive. Even the core reactor was broken.”
The bespectacled man called the Professor snorted mockingly before calmly saying, “Huh! If that’s the case, then there’s no other way. We shall use the new Ion Reactor to replace the broken core.”
A surprised expression appeared on the young man’s face. “But Professor, it’s not ready yet. It might kill him instead.”
“I know that, but the faction wanted results right away. So success or failure, at least it will give us some answer and explanation to give to the faction.”
Atlas clearly heard and understood all the words those people spoke while his damaged body was lying in the repair chamber. However, he was neither offended nor angry with them.
At that moment, his mind was replaying a battle that allowed him to feel a particular feeling that he hadn’t felt for a while.
Excitement.
Ever since the disaster that happened to his family and was forced to be put under the faction’s experiments, all his emotions had been suppressed to abnormal levels, and thus he hadn’t been feeling much. Everything in the world felt plain to him. It’s just one and zero; do or don’t.
However, in that particular fight, he once again felt emotions that had been buried for a long time. Anger, fear, and desire; at that time, he desperately wanted to win.
Thus he came to a conclusion and believed that these feelings would finally be the way for him to regain his old self, and maybe once again be able to compete with that person – the Nephilim’s brightest young star.
With that thought in mind, Atlas fell into slumber as his body underwent a thorough repairs as well as a risky upgrade. Against all odds, the upgrade was successful and he was once again reborn.
After that moment, Atlas aimed to do one thing – to prove to himself that he was actually alive, not just a machine waiting to be used or scrapped by the faction.
For the first time in a long time, he wanted to feel human again.
Unexpectedly, fate brought him to be on the same team as that lower realm who defeated him.
His interest and curiosity with the other party then led him to know him more deeply, to the point that he eventually believed that following him would bring him closer to achieving his set goal.
Soon enough, the mid-test of where they would be as a team began. As expected, that particular person began to do things that others didn’t even bother to consider in the first place.
Seeing those hundreds of thousands of helpless survivors, the apparent fear and hope they had once again lit something within him. And, he was brimmed with emotion.
He felt alive.
…
[Seismic Scan completed]
With the state-of-the-art sensors that have been installed in him, Atlas was able to map the topography of the surrounding area clearly and completely. To put it simply, he had a complete map as well as structural details of an entire network of underground cave spanning miles.
Hence he knew very well that there were many more Abyss creatures that had yet to come out of the holes on the cave walls.
Now that the situation had turned for the worst, Atlas planned to carry out an idea, which if successful would surely deal a crushing blow to the Abyss creatures and completely eliminate the threat they faced.
The amount of spirit energy he currently possessed was still abundant, as he had only cast low-tier spells ever since the Abyss creatures appeared. With it, Atlas proceeded to charge his new Ion Reactor until it reached its maximum limit.
But before he went on with his plan, he accessed his device and checked his current point.
[Atlas III]
[Personal Points Ranking]
[Rank 5 – 991,662 Points]
Looking at the total number of points he had, Atlas inwardly nodded his head. He had earned enough points that allowed him not to worry about not passing the test.
On the other hand, while still at risk, the total control he had over his bodily functions led him to believe that he could trigger the teleportation feature of the combat armor and allow him to escape safely after executing his plan.
[Calculate probability of success – 53%]
Such a number would normally not be sufficient for Atlas to continue with the plan, but not at this time.
Today, he didn’t make a decision with the cold, rational machine-like part of himself, but with the emotional human part of him. He did so, because he wanted to contribute to the team and kill as many Abyss creatures as possible for the safety of those who were helpless.
[Initiating Reactor Efflux…]
[Danger – Ion Reactor overheated]
[Danger – Meltdown in 60 seconds]
[60… 59… 58… 57…]
There was a heightened whirring sound from his chest, followed by energy that boosted his overall battle power but came with extreme pains.
But Atlas was not worried, it was all under his calculation.
“Atlas, what are you doing?!!”
That certain person’s voice once again called out to him.
Detecting the emotions contained within those words, Atlas decided to turn his head around to look at him and said, “Leave this to me.”
Without waiting for a response, Atlas immediately dashed towards the horde of Abyss creatures swarming the cave. He used his enhanced agility and precise calculation to dodge all the attacks thrown by the creatures that blocked his way as he entered one of the caves according to his calculations.
Swihhhh!
His figure continued to move forward, crushing dozens of Abyss creatures in front of him until he finally arrived at the designated spot. The one he calculated would complete his goal of producing the maximum amount of destruction.
[5… 4… 3… 2…]
[Danger – Reactor energy efflux imminent – Meltdown in progress]
At the last second, Atlas alternated the surge of power to his spirit core and cast the strongest spell in his repertoire.
[Flare Tempest]
The energy that had accumulated within his body immediately surged towards his two outstretched hands. It was so powerful and violent that both his hands couldn’t stand it and started to break apart.
The result, however, was that his [Flare Tempest] became five times stronger than its original strength.
KABOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!
A huge storm of fire and lightning swept across the underground cave. It engulfed the cave’s interior and the Abyss creatures within, annihilating everything in its path until only ashes remained. It was so powerful that the entire underground cavern collapsed, crushing the remaining Abyss creatures with the weight of the earth.
[Atlas III]
[Personal Points Ranking]
[Rank 2 – 1,382,190 Points]