Chapter 99: Nano (1)

“How long does the replication take?” the Tower Master asked Nano after a brief silence.

“Preparation is required. Right now, we are in the process of preparing for replication. But it won’t be long. We will perfect you and eliminate the irrationalities of this world,” Nano replied.

“So, it’s not possible yet. That’s a small relief,” the Tower Master muttered.

“Are your questions now answered?” Nano asked the crowd.

Ketal had suggested that if Nano revealed its purpose, Elene might consider joining them. Nano had done just that—it explained its reasons for wanting Elene and its ultimate goal. Now, it fixed its gaze on her.

“You have no reason to refuse. Become one with us and help correct this world,” Nano said.

“Elene, what do you think?” Ketal asked her.

Elene didn’t hesitate. “Of course, I refuse. I have no intention of joining them.”

“Well, that settles it. Unfortunately, even after hearing your purpose, she is not interested in joining you. That’s too bad,” Ketal said in a voice laced with mock regret.

Nano wavered for a moment before speaking. “You deceived me.”

“Oh? You figured that out? I guess you’re not entirely naive,” Ketal mused.

“Fools who reject their own fortune. Why deny the gift we offer you?” Nano asked him. Nano’s voice carried genuine confusion. It was as if it truly couldn’t comprehend why anyone would refuse the chance to become

perfect

. It saw them as nothing more than idiots throwing away a golden opportunity. “I do not understand you. But I am merciful. So, I will replace you.”

The moment those words were spoken, the shadowy form of Nano dispersed like mist. The particles, now microscopic, surged toward the royal palace, attempting to consume everything in their path. However, they were stopped.

An invisible barrier repelled them, and a bewildered voice echoed from within. “What is this...?”

“Did you really think I would summon you here without any preparations?” The Tower Master chuckled.

Realizing the obstruction, Nano rapidly condensed itself. Tiny particles swirled together, forming a sandstorm that violently pounded against the barrier. Yet, the barrier didn’t budge.

Barbosa pressed his fingers against his temple. “This is giving me a headache.”

“This is the worst-case scenario we anticipated,” the Tower Master replied.

While others deliberated, Ketal calmly observed Nano as it continued striking the barrier.

“I have a question, Tower Master,” Ketal said.

“What is it?”

“Is there no way to counter the replacement process?”

“It’s not impossible. They can’t replace just anyone at will. They need to analyze their target’s information beforehand, which means they must first subdue their target.” The Tower Master had already gathered information about Nano through Parman.

Elene’s eyes widened. “What? But I don’t recall anything like that happening to me.”

“They must have erased those memories, deeming them unnecessary,” the Tower Master replied.

“I see...,” Elene agreed.

Nano had the ability to make people forget. If they could erase the very memory of death, removing a few select recollections would be trivial.

“As long as you aren’t subdued, you don’t need to worry about being replaced,” the Tower Master continued his explanation.

“That’s how it works...,” Ketal muttered. Determining that there was no immediate danger, he stepped inside the barrier.

Elene gasped and tried to stop him, but he was already standing in the same space as Nano.

“You...!” Nano shouted. Recognizing Ketal, Nano surged forward in fury, forming a raging sandstorm.

Ketal clenched his fist.

Crack!

The storm exploded outward as the barrier trembled from the force. The Tower Master frowned, reinforcing the barrier. “Try not to break it.”

“Don’t worry. I’m just testing something. Even when Nano is not in a replaced form, it can still be affected by physical force,” Ketal remarked.

“And what are you going to do with that information?!” Nano reassembled itself. It was a mass of countless tiny particles. Even if it shattered, it simply reformed and attacked again.

Ketal lunged forward. This time, as the particles surged toward him, he reached out and caught a handful.

Nano halted. “Wait...!”

Ketal clenched his fist. A small ripple spread through the barrier. Then, he opened his palm. A shimmering, iridescent particle remained in his grasp.

The Tower Master let out a quiet chuckle. “You can kill them just by clenching your fist...?”

“Now I know how much force I need to use to crush them,” Ketal said.

“You... you... YOU!!!” For the first time, Nano expressed raw emotion. A twisted mixture of rage and hatred stabbed at Ketal’s senses.

Unbothered, Ketal tucked the particle away. “If you can die like this, you’re not as perfect as you claim to be.”

“HUMAN!” Nano swelled in size, surging toward him in fury.

The Tower Master waved his hand. The barrier reacted instantly. What had once been a room-sized shield compressed in an instant, shrinking to the size of a pouch.

“Try not to kill too many of them. I need to study them,” the Tower Master instructed.

“I need to confirm something too,” Ketal replied.

“How dare you!” Nano shouted.

“You’re too loud,” The Tower Master snapped his fingers, not wanting to hear another word from Nano. The interior of the barrier went silent. “Well, this conversation was worthwhile.”

“Indeed,” Barbosa said, smirking bitterly. “They aren’t exactly hostile toward humans.”

Nano held no malice. In fact, it was filled with nothing but goodwill. Yet, to humans, that very good will was indistinguishable from cruelty.

“What are the chances they were lying?” Barbosa asked.

“Highly unlikely. To them, humans aren’t worth deceiving,” the Tower Master replied.

To Nano, humans were nothing more than a temporary material—something that would eventually be replaced. There was no reason to deceive something so insignificant.

Barbosa sighed and pressed his fingers to his temple. “We’ll need to prepare.

“And we will need to study Nano further,” the Tower Master added. He waved his hand, and the compressed Nano floated beside him. “I can experiment without hesitation. Stay here for a moment, I will examine the properties of Nano and return.”

***

A few hours later, the Tower Master returned. “I have completed the examination.”

“That was fast,” Barbosa remarked, surprised. It was an unbelievable feat to analyze an entirely unknown entity in just a few hours.

However, the Tower Master seemed unimpressed. “With a sample of that size, it wasn’t particularly difficult. But I must admit, it was remarkable. Those things have an incredibly high resistance to most forms of damage.”

He paused before correcting himself. “No, rather than resistance, it would be more accurate to call it adaptability.”

“What’s the difference?” Barbosa asked him.

“Resistance means it fights against the external force. Adaptability means it doesn’t resist—it simply changes to endure it,” the Tower Master explained.

For example, if exposed to extreme heat capable of melting sand, it wouldn’t burn or resist the heat. Instead, it would alter itself to withstand it. The same applied to extreme cold. In short, Nano possessed an almost universal adaptability.

“And that’s not all. The amount of energy they require to function is absurdly small. I have no idea how such a thing even exists.” The Tower Master let out a dry laugh.

Barbosa’s expression darkened. “Are you saying we have no way to counter them?”

“Not necessarily,” the Tower Master replied, shaking his head. “They can adapt to most conditions, but I found a singular weakness.”

“What is it?” Barbosa asked him immediately.

“It’s physical force.” The Tower Master snapped his fingers, and a pouch filled with iridescent particles materialized in the air before falling into his hand. “They’re weak to physical impact and compression. That’s how I was able to destroy them.”

Barbosa’s face brightened. “Then... that means we can fight them with brute force.”

However, the Tower Master immediately crushed that hope. “It’s all relative. Unless you possess a level of physical strength that ranks among the highest of the Transcendents, you won’t be able to kill them.”

This realization made the Tower Master glance at Ketal once again, amazed. Ketal had achieved that level of power just by clenching his fist.

Ketal studied the pouch in the Tower Master’s hand with an unreadable expression. “Is that all you managed to extract from them?”

The pouch was small—barely the size of a fingertip. That meant even after killing enough Nano to replace a human body, this tiny amount was all that remained.

“Surprisingly, it wasn’t much. Even if we considered the entire royal palace of the Lutein Kingdom, it might amount to just a single building’s worth. Maybe even less,” the Tower Master replied.

“I see,” Ketal muttered.

“So, only the strongest Transcendents stand a chance against them,” Barbosa muttered grimly.

There were not many Transcendents to begin with, but they needed to be the top-tier among them to have a fighting chance against Nano. That level of power was rare and difficult to find.

“Would you be able to handle them on your own, Tower Master?” Barbosa asked him.

“I could, but it would take time. My magic isn’t specialized for brute force, and there are too many unpredictable variables.”

“Then we need to work together,” Barbosa said, deep in thought.

Ketal also remained silent, lost in his own thoughts.

That’s too little.

To be able to wield Myst, he needed more of the iridescent particles. According to Arkemis, he would need at least a mass the size of a human torso. Yet, even after compressing a full-body replacement of Nano, all that remained was a fraction of that.

I can’t afford to miss this chance,

Ketal thought. An opportunity to wield Myst was rare. If he let this slip, there was no telling how long it would take for another chance to appear.

Ketal made his decision. “I will help too.”

“What?” Both Elene and Barbosa stared at him in shock.

Even the Tower Master looked mildly surprised. “Are you sure?”

Frankly, the Tower Master hadn’t expected Ketal to get involved. After all, Ketal was a barbarian from the White Snowfield—a man whose existence had little to do with human affairs.

Though he had shown goodwill toward them before, the Tower Master had assumed he had his limits. Whether Ketal viewed Nano as a threat or not was uncertain, but he had seemed disinterested in taking action.

Yet, Ketal nodded. “You need help, don’t you? Besides, I am not a stranger to Elene. I can consider this an extension of the previous request.”

“Your life could be at risk,” the Tower Master said.

“That doesn’t concern me,” Ketal replied.

It’s not like Nano is much of a threat,

he thought. Based on what Ketal had seen so far, Nano wasn’t something that posed a danger to him.

I’ll just go to the Lutein Kingdom and take what I need myself.

There were likely plenty of Nano inside the royal palace—enough for him to gather what he needed to acquire the power of Myst.

And there’s also that Quest.

Ketal’s Quest simply required him to

prepare for the Anomaly.

The method of preparation wasn’t specified. As long as eliminating Nano counted as a

preparation

, there wouldn’t be an issue.

For Ketal, this was purely a personal decision.

“K-Ketal...” Elene’s voice trembled slightly. To Barbosa and Elene, his actions looked completely different.

To them, it seemed as if a barbarian—one with no strong ties to Elene—was risking his life for her sake. Barbosa looked dumbfounded, while Elene was visibly touched. Her eyes brimmed with emotion.

“Very well.” The Tower Master finally nodded. With Ketal’s help, things would be much easier. “Then, let’s not waste time. There’s no benefit in giving them more time to prepare. We move now.”

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

***

The Tower Master briefly explained the plan. He and Ketal would travel to the Lutein Kingdom alone to assess the situation.

“That’s a pretty reckless approach,” Ketal remarked.

“We have no idea how long their replacement process takes, so we don’t have a choice. Our first priority is gathering information,” the Tower Master replied.

Before taking action, they needed to confirm what Nano was doing inside the Lutein Kingdom’s domain.

Ketal nodded in agreement. “But it’s quite a distance from here, isn’t it? How do you plan on getting there?”

“Have you forgotten who I am?” The Tower Master was one of the most powerful mages in the world. Covering such a vast distance was nothing to him.

The only issue was that Ketal could not wield Myst—meaning standard teleportation magic wouldn’t work on him. However, the Tower Master had already accounted for that.

“We will fold space itself and leap through it. It requires some preparation, but the distance won’t be a problem.”

“Oh, wow!” Ketal’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

Long-distance teleportation was a true fantasy classic. He never thought he’d get to experience it firsthand.

“I’ll be counting on you, then,” Ketal said.

“No problem,” the Tower Master replied.

At that moment, Elene cautiously approached them. “Ketal...”

“Don’t worry about me, but are you okay with this?” Ketal asked her.

From a certain perspective, he was about to destroy the Lutein Kingdom. Elene had grown up there—her home, her people, all the familiar faces of her past. Yet, she simply nodded.

“They all died long ago. What’s left now are just monsters pretending to be them. It doesn’t matter anymore,” she said. To her, the Lutein Kingdom and its people no longer held any meaning. The only thing that mattered was what lay ahead. “Ketal, please be careful.”

“Don’t worry about me.” Ketal dismissed her concerns with a lighthearted tone.

The Tower Master raised a hand. Intricate magical patterns swirled through the air. “If you don’t want to get dragged along, please step back, Elene.”

Light enveloped them, bending space itself.

“Oh my.” Ketal let out a sound of admiration. The mana rippled widely before converging to a single point.

And then, the world shifted. In the blink of an eye, they were somewhere else. The air smelled different. This was no longer the Denian Kingdom.

Before them, shrouded in the darkness of night, stood a massive fortress.

“So, this is it,” the Tower Master remarked.

They had arrived at the Lutein Kingdom—the nest of the Anomalies