Chapter 124

Ultra Instinct

Combination skills and super-combination skills.

They were not merely combinations or amalgamations of abilities. They were abilities developed through a perfect understanding of each component's mechanisms, realizing the potential of the genetic material involved while compensating for its limitations.

But the Memorier lacked Predation[S+]. It had copied those abilities without understanding them. Thus, it could only use what I had already created. It could only transcend skills I had already made.

Which meant...

"The fighting style you copied from me isn't complete."

The Memorier was incomplete.

My fighting style, otherwise known as The Predator’s Way, was an incomplete combat system. And that wasn't merely because there were biological evolutionary abilities I had yet to acquire through Predation[S+].

It was because I had yet to "understand" a certain "someone's" fighting style.

That was a memory the Memorier had been unable to copy.

When had it been? Ian had once said to me:

["Adrian, why don't you try learning my swordsmanship?"]

He had asked if I wanted to learn his swordsmanship.

* * *

As always, I was training that day. My fighting style was built around biological evolutionary abilities: The Predator’s Way.

A style that meant not fighting like a human.

That was easy to say, but damned hard to do. How did it make any sense to tell someone born human not to fight like one?

Still, what else could I do? I sought out plenty of advice from Iliana.

["Evolution isn't perfect. It's a clumsy tinkerer. So, to compensate for its clumsiness—"]

She earnestly shared a wealth of knowledge with me. But understanding something and putting it into practice were two entirely different matters.

I gained practical experience by sparring with Isolde.

["I have no intention of going easy on you."]

... She beat the hell out of me. As expected, she didn't like me.

From Rielin, I learned to make use of my surroundings and nature.

["What a pain."]

She grumbled and complained every time. Still, when she taught me, she put real effort into it.

From Brumbar, I learned to temper my body into iron.

["Gwahahaha! Arms harder than metal are the mark of a true Blacksmith!"]

... That was the hardest part. What else could I expect from a man who hammered metal with his fists and forearms instead of a hammer?

Little by little, I learned how to fight unlike a human. Only after all that effort did I finally create The Predator’s Way.

And now, out of nowhere, what?

["Ian, you want me to learn your swordsmanship?"]

["Yes."]

["Didn't you say you wouldn't teach me?"]

["I think it'll be fine now."]

Why the sudden change?

["Didn't you tell me not to fight like a human?"]

["That still stands."]

["Then why?"]

["I'm not telling you to use my swordsmanship."]

["...?"]

["I mean exactly what I said. Try 'learning' it."]

Wasn't that the same thing?

["Ian, I can't manipulate mana. I can't even sense it."]

["I know."]

["And you still want me to learn your swordsmanship? No, do you think I even can?"]

["It has nothing to do with mana."]

["Don't bullshit me."]

["I'm not bullshitting you."]

He was serious.

["Even so, do I really need to learn it?"]

["Adrian, you need to reach 'the pinnacle of all life.'"]

["What do you mean?"]

["I mean you have to surpass humanity to become the Ultimate Lifeform."]

The pinnacle of all living things, surpassing even dragons. The Ultimate Lifeform.

Naturally, that meant surpassing the human species.

["So let me show you. The pinnacle of humanity."]

The pinnacle of humanity. That was what Ian called himself.

How arrogant.

But I was soon forced to change my mind.

What I saw through Ian—what he showed me—was not the pinnacle of humanity—

* * *

... I couldn't remember.

No, I had erased it from my memory.

What Ian had shown me that day was a wall I could never overcome. A perfect "wall" that would not even permit understanding.

No matter how hard I tried, no matter how desperately I struggled, I could never reach Ian.

Unwilling to accept that truth, I had erased those memories from my mind, as if it were a defense mechanism.

I had now surpassed the Predator of my previous life. I had gained the abilities of rare monsters I had never consumed with Predation[S+] back then. I had gained the Authorities of legion commanders I had never consumed with Predation[S+] back then. I had even gained Ian's abilities, which I hadn't possessed in my previous life.

I had worked tirelessly, and I would keep doing so.

And yet, no matter how I imagined it, no matter how I tried to picture it in my mind, I couldn't envision myself approaching Ian's strength. I couldn't imagine myself standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

And so, even now, I was still "afraid" to recall that memory. Afraid to face the painful truth that I was nothing compared to Ian.

If effort could have brought me there, it would not have been so hopeless.

Ever since returning to the past, I had kept wondering: Why had Ian tried to leave everything to me?

I Alone Level Up[EX].

Successor's Will[EX].

I wasn't strong enough to wield Ian's abilities. I couldn't do what he had done.

Supreme Commander of the allied army.

Chief of Covert Operations of the special warfare unit.

Now that I had shouldered even a little of that burden, I understood just how different the weight of those two positions had been. And that even you, Ian, had struggled under that weight.

But Ian...

["Adrian, sometimes... I just wish the world would give me a little break."]

["Where's this coming from?"]

["Instead of telling me nothing will work. Instead of telling me to try harder and harder and harder. I wish it would give me just a little break. I'll do my best, after all."]

Even so, you endured. You neither ran nor looked away. You bore that weight in silence.

So I would face it, too. I would look straight at it without turning away. Even if it was a wall I could never overcome, I would remember.

Back then...

["The name of my swordsmanship is Ultima Veritas."]

What I had seen through Ian—what he had shown me—was not the pinnacle of humanity—

["It consists of six basic sword forms. Each form embodies six martial principles."]

It was Martial Ultra Instinct.

["Don't let the term 'martial principles' make it sound complicated."]

Swiftness meant speed. But long before Ian understood and codified the principle of Swiftness, the concept of speed had already existed in this world.

He had merely given it a name and embodied it in the "sword."

The first language had not been born from writing.

Which meant...

["Adrian, you can embody them in your biological evolutionary abilities, too."]

The scattered memories began to fit together, little by little. Things I had not understood began taking shape.

["Flow means flowing. Picture water."]

Water neither suppressed force nor broke it. Instead, it naturally accepted it and let it pass.

Fluid motion without interruption. Nothing more than a flow connecting everything as one—

◆Skill, Slime Cell[B-] is evolving!!

◆You have acquired the evolved skill, Slime Fluid[U]!

["Stiffness means steadfastness. Picture a rock."]

A rock neither wavered nor bent. It yielded to no impact.

This was not mere stubbornness. It was steadfastness that nothing could shake.

Even when the wind blew, even when the waves crashed over it, a rock would never waver—

◆Skill, Toughened Skin[B] is evolving!!

◆You have acquired the evolved skill, Rigid Body Transformation[U]!

["See? Easy, isn't it?"]

* * *

Adrian had countered with something incomprehensible. Nothing about it was visible, as though it lay somewhere far beyond reach.

Adrian (Memorier) clenched his teeth.

"It's still an ability that hasn't transcended!!"

In the end, it was only an ordinary biological ability. One Adrian (Memorier) possessed as well—

"An ability with clear limits!!!"

SHRIIIP!!

Slashes followed in every direction Adrian (Memorier) moved.

Adrian changed his movements and boldly plunged into the storm of blades.

Was he relying on Slime Cell?

Eyes gleaming, the Memorier read Adrian's movements.

'Here he comes!'

Adrian (Memorier)'s eyes flashed. Adrian drew one foot back, creating distance.

Yes, you must have read my move, too.

"Not a chance!"

RIP!

The Bone Blade tore through the space ahead. But Adrian had not fully retreated. The foot he had drawn back came forward again.

With his Dragon's Claw poised to strike, he surged forward, broke off, slowed—then accelerated explosively once more.

BOOM! RRRUMBLE!!

"What!!"

The shocked cry escaped him unbidden.

This... this made no sense. What on earth had that movement been...?

Dragon's Claw came down again, from above.

There was no time to be flustered. He raised his Bone Blade. Its edge was made from a new material created through Nutrient Creation. Not even Dragon's Claw could break through it.

That was how it should have been.

CLAAANG!

His defense tore apart. The tremendous impact left his mind reeling as though he had been struck with a hammer.

Should he keep fighting like this? Could the transcendent abilities granted by Berserk give him the upper hand?

A sense of foreboding rose within him. Adrian (Memorier) ground his teeth.

"Ridiculous!!!"

... He couldn't accept it.

Adrian darted in like lightning. He was close.

SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!!

The Bone Blade swung in every direction, cutting through all the space around him.

Adrian didn't dodge. He couldn't.

Just as expected.

Adrian (Memorier) smiled.

CLAAANG!

A deafening crash erupted. Adrian had taken the attack head-on.

But what enveloped him wasn't Dragon’s Skin.

'Toughened Skin?'

An ability Adrian (Memorier) also possessed. A biological evolutionary ability with clear limits.

Yet the Bone Blade couldn't cut deep.

'It surpassed a transcendent ability?'

That was... impossible.

That was a memory he could not copy, a wall he could not overcome, a world beyond... that he could never reach.

* * *

"Impossible!! I refuse to accept it!!!"

The Memorier howled, its eyes wavering.

"I! You!! Your very existence!!"

RRRROOOAR!!

An immense force raged like a vortex. A distortion spread, as though its very existence was about to transform—

"I've surpassed it all!!!"

Perhaps you have.

No, you have certainly surpassed me.

But Memorier, you are the limit I could have reached in my previous life—without Ian's abilities, without ever shouldering his burden.

Me in the past. Perhaps me in another future.

And so, you—no, even I—might never reach that distant realm of Martial Ultra Instinct.

["Adrian, in your own way."]

But I would do it my own way.

◆You acquire the Ultra Instinct skill, Predator[M]!!

I would surpass the me before my eyes. The me from my previous life. The limit that was myself.

◆Predator[M]

: When this skill is used, the player's Predation[S+] instincts reach [Ultra Instinct], causing the player to [evolve] into a [Predator] completely governed by instinct.

For the skill's duration, the player executes optimal combat responses [instinctively], even [without conscious judgment]. By entirely [bypassing] the [judgment process] based on [sensory information from the five senses], the player can engage in immediate, efficient combat at the [biological maximum].

And someday...

["Try surpassing me, Adrian."]

Ian, I would try to reach you, too.

"Here I come."

◆You use the Ultra Instinct skill, Predator[M]!!

* * *

He couldn't... understand.

Adrian (Memorier) took a few steps back. He couldn't feel his heartbeat.

... What?

He lowered his gaze to his chest. But the heart that should have been there was nowhere to be seen.

His chest had been savagely torn open. Beyond the gaping wound lay an empty space.

It wasn't regenerating. The power of Berserk scattered and vanished in an instant.

SPURT!

Only after blood sprayed into the air did Adrian (Memorier) realize.

You finally... surpassed yourself.

But I... couldn't surpass myself.

Though I tried to draw ever closer—though I struggled to reach the end—I ultimately failed to reach it.

This is... my complete defeat.

"Ghaah!!"

He vomited the blood welling up inside him again and again. Even when he bit his lips tight to hold it back, fresh red blood streamed between them.

With trembling eyes, he looked at Adrian.

It was only for an instant... but I think I saw it. That distant place you seek, that place you want to reach.

The road will probably be harsh and difficult. I dare say it is impossible. Just as I could never reach my goal, I am certain you will never reach yours—

And yet.

"It may be strange... for me to say this to you..."

As someone who was once me, too—

"May your dream..."

And my dream—

"Reach its end..."

That is my deepest wish.

* * *

THUD.

The Memorier collapsed limply, its chest torn open. There was no heart inside that ruined chest.

Its heart was beating in my hand.

It wasn't completely dead yet. But once I lost my heart, I could no longer use Regeneration[B+].