D.I.O

/I shall liberate you from this place./

It wasn’t just the conference hall where the man’s voice buzzed in everyone’s ears.

“Mom! My teddy bear is making strange noises!”

“Why is the connector making weird sounds all of a sudden?”

“Honey. Don’t you hear a sound coming from the TV? It’s not even turned on, right?”

“What’s wrong with my radio?”

People from all over the world were having similar experiences. The man’s voice rang out from the DIO connector, TVs, radios, PCs, electronic clocks, and even mechanical dolls—basically any electronic device that was capable of making sounds. Right after the man finished speaking, the world fell into silence.

Except for a very small number of people who lived deep in the mountains with no electronic devices nearby, almost the entire population of humanity was forcibly connected to DIO.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“My God! I was in the middle of driving!”

“I was on a plane! Is it okay for me to be here?”

“No, wait… Why can’t I log out!?”

Upon arriving at Starting, Merlin ignored the panic-stricken noises the users were making and headed straight for the Guardian Tower at the center of Starting’s central square.

“Dang, it’s crazy in here. The number of concurrently logged-on users is 4.27 billion. Are there even a billion people left on Earth who haven’t logged in?”

As people entered DIO after suffering a forced login, they found that they couldn’t log out. With such an abrupt login, it was difficult to estimate how many casualties would have occurred in reality.

If a person who was driving suddenly connected to DIO, a traffic accident would have occurred in real life, and if someone who was cooking at home suddenly connected, a house fire would probably occur due to the unattended stove.

That wasn’t all. Employees working in factories, soldiers on the frontlines, and pilots operating airplanes… Once these people were forcibly connected, all the systems that these people operated would have spiraled into chaos.

“But why are they doing this? Do the Noblesse benefit by forcibly logging users into DIO?” Quiet Heaven asked as it landed on Merlin’s shoulder.

Once Merlin realized what had happened on Earth, he had hurriedly logged on to DIO. However, Quiet Heaven, who was always logged into DIO, didn’t quite understand what had happened or what this emergency meant.

“You can take care of these people, right?”

“Take care of these people? What do you mean take care of these people… Wait, are you planning to…?”

“Yeah. These Noblesse guys seem determined to go rogue. I guess they’re planning on ignoring Union Law.”

In an instant, Merlin reached the central square and approached the Guardian Tower.

All kinds of defensive barriers were installed around the Guardian Tower, but they were irrelevant to Merlin, who possessed Level 1 system access authorization.

“Immediately activate the protection system…”

Boom!

However, the ground shook before Merlin could enter the Guardian Tower. No, to be precise, it wasn’t actually the ground that shook. What was shaking was Dynamic Island Online—the entire world of DIO.

Crack!

A crack formed in the sky, and Starting’s blue sky started to glow red. The sky reproduction system, which had always performed its role without fail up to this point, was now malfunctioning.

Crack!

Once more, the world of DIO shook, and the cracks in the sky became clearer. One could now start to see the pitch-black darkness of outer space beyond the sky.

Quiet Heaven growled and shouted, “Taking such drastic action without considering the repercussions… What kind of irresponsible act of bullying is this? This is no different than taking a crap on the Noblesse’s honor!”

Just like Merlin, Quiet Heaven noticed the Noblesse’s drastic decision and unthinkable course of action. The Noblesse had ultimately given up on Earth.

The reason why most humans on Earth were forcibly connected was so that the Noblesse could steal their souls through DIO. After confining most of the users in DIO, the Noblesse were now attempting to move DIO, which had been installed on the back side of Earth’s moon, to another location.

“Are they planning on treating us the same as DIO’s other NPCs and monsters?”

“This is completely different from that sort of exchange! This is a criminal act! They’re enslaving everyone without a contract or an agreement! They’re committing a crime for profit! Are they not concerned about the political aftermath and fallout?” Quiet Heaven screamed.

Merlin looked up at the sky once more. Through the cracks in the fractured sky, he could see blazing heat waves flowing around. The aura that those heat waves exuded was very familiar to him.

Merlin paused. “No wait! Maybe this…”

“Huh? What’s the matter?”

Merlin, who was lost in thought for a moment, soon answered Quiet Heaven’s question, “Hey, Quiet Heaven. What happens if the guy who’s currently attacking DIO doesn’t get full control over DIO’s system? Will another guy come to replace him?”

“No way. What the Noblesse are doing right now is a serious crime. Of course, it wouldn’t matter as long as they keep what happens here under wraps and don’t get caught, but that sort of outcome is virtually impossible to actualize. Currently, various forces throughout the universe are paying close attention to DIO.”

However, the problem was that the Elohim and the other Union forces couldn’t intervene and prevent the situation since they didn’t have the authorization to access or control DIO’s system.

Moreover, if a Noblesse transcendent could steal DIO away before the other Union forces could react or do anything, the entire situation boiled down to a battle of speed to see who could take control over DIO the quickest. Although the other Union forces might criticize the Noblesse later on and gain political favors and power, this eventual result would be useless for the earthlings.

“Then what if this overtaking attempt fails? What if the transcendent Noblesse that’s entering the world of DIO right now fails to gain control over the system?”

“Uhm… Merlin? The Noblesse aren’t idiots, so there’s no way they’re taking this action with a chance of failure. The being that’s entering is probably leaps and bounds more powerful than Mary, who was guarding the system control room. It’s true that you have the non-destructive setting placed on you, but system settings mean nothing to [external] beings…”

Merlin cut off Quiet Heaven mid-sentence and said, “Don’t give me your take on the situation; just answer my question. What happens if the transcendent fails?”

“… Then, that’s it. If the Noblesse attempt such a serious crime and fail in successfully committing it, they will have to give up DIO. Even though the Noblesse are the greatest force in the Union, they will not be able to avoid a quarantine ruling.”

“Good.”

After hearing this, Merlin disappeared.

“Eh? Merlin?”

Quiet Heaven, who was left alone, looked around with a confused expression. Quiet Heaven could not find any trace of Merlin’s whereabouts.

***

Whoosh!

A rectangular golden object measuring three thousand by one thousand kilometers and over one hundred kilometers tall could be seen hovering above the surface of the moon. Above this golden object and above the world of DIO, a red giant dragon was spewing out a blast of heat.

The world of DIO, which emitted golden light like a gold bar being neatly cut, resisted the external being’s heatwave by exuding intense defensive energy.

Nonetheless, the defense only lasted for a short period, and the space that was exposed to the heat wave gradually distorted.

[It’s quite strong. If I had to rely solely on my physical strength, it would have taken me more than a month to break through this thing.]

Three pairs of wings could be seen behind Igniz, who was muttering under its breath. They were Igniz’s original wings and two additional pairs of wings.

However, what was unusual was that the wings were not physical wings; they were made of blazing heat waves.

Igniz smiled as it closed its eyes and felt tremendous power coursing through its body.

[Hahaha. Of course, it’s annoying that I’ve been sentenced to three hundred years of imprisonment and isolation, but… it’s a different story if I can get my hands on a Numbering.]

Transcendent Weapon Number 734, Muspelheim—this was the Transcendent Weapon that Igniz obtained in return for being Tan’s [throwaway knight].

Muspelheim was an item with a [number] attached to it—a number that could only be given out to the top one thousand of all Transcendent Weapons that existed in the entire universe. That’s why it was called a Numbering.

Crack!

At that moment, the world of DIO’s ceiling cracked as it was unable to withstand the heat Igniz was emitting. A gap was soon revealed.

It wasn’t a very big gap, and the defensive layers started to regenerate as soon as the crack appeared. Nevertheless, Igniz had already changed into a human form and passed through the momentary gap.

Whoosh!

Muspelheim had taken the form of flaming wings earlier, but it now took on the shape of a long staff, which was in line with Igniz’s transformation into a human.

Having been made by refining ancient flames, Muspelheim had no fixed shape, so it could be used as a weapon, armor, or even a part of one’s body. In other words, it could change seamlessly based on the needs and desires of the weapon’s user.

“Okay. Now all I have to do is go to the system control room or whatever and then… Huh?”

Yet, Igniz realized at that moment that something was wrong.

Its chest was blazing hot as if it had been burned by something.

“What?”

Igniz looked down at its chest with a dumbfounded expression on its face.

On its chest was a handprint so clear that there was no room to deny its imprint.

However, what was even more shocking for Igniz was that the imprinted part of his torso had been torn off and blown clean away.

“Thank you so much for coming in human form. The moment you came into DIO, I knew you’d show an opening, but I was worried you’d be able to survive my attack with your tremendous HP bar… Thank goodness you came in human form. Anyway, thanks for making it easy.”

Dressed in a red robe, Merlin appeared in front of Igniz.

When Igniz saw Merlin’s eyes looking down at it as if looking at an insignificant thing, Igniz instantly exuded a murderous intent.

Yet, Igniz was surprisingly unable to output any power from its body.

“This… this… Ah? What’s going on?”

It was only then that Igniz realized it had completely lost control of its body.

Igniz could not even sustain floating in the air with its own power.

The aura within Igniz’s body had completely collapsed.

Then right at that moment…

Rumble!

A shockwave exploded behind Igniz, shattering the blue sky behind it. The powerful force instantly pierced a huge hole in the world of DIO’s outer wall, revealing the outer space beyond the world of DIO’s outer wall.

Whoosh!

The air that filled Dynamic Island was sucked out, causing a turbulent strong wind to whip through the world of DIO.

Nevertheless, the turbulent situation didn’t affect Merlin, Igniz, or their immediate surroundings.

Igniz felt its senses return slowly.

However, the problem for Igniz was that the information that its returned senses gave it was unbelievably dire.

“This… No way… I’ve succumbed? So easily? Really?”

As Merlin watched Igniz stutter in disbelief, he brought out his jeweled sword—the Editor Blade.

“Thank you for being a participant in this very special day. And thank you for attending today’s celebration.”

“Special day… What the hell are you saying? What are you talking about?”

While looking at the puzzled Igniz, Merlin replied, “It’s Independence Day, asshole.”

Merlin’s jeweled sword pierced through Igniz’s chest.

That was the last thing that Igniz saw before dying.