Back to Present.
Near the Border of the Orc Empire.
"I only went away for a bit and so many rats started jumping up and down as if I were dead... what a mess..."
"Also, I just woke up a while ago... you are making me irritated with that ugly face of yours..."
*Crack* *Crack*
The pressure and aura radiating from Ashtel’s body were so strong that the space-time fabric was cracking beside him, as it could not tolerate his anger.
Aside from Gradba, who was caught, the two SS-rankers looked at each other and decided to flee instantly!
They both knew that it was pointless to try and fight Ashtel; as long as they can make it out of the human empire’s border, Ashtel will have no valid reason to pursue them.
He will be bound by international laws and won’t be able to hunt them down if they somehow manage to run.
That was the final hope of their survival.
"Did I allow you lot to leave?"
While holding Gradba down with one arm, Ashtel raised his other arm and pointed a finger towards the two trying to escape.
[World Authority: Shockwave!]
[Sage Art: Shattered Fabric: Broken Cosmic Null!]
*Crack!* *Shatter!*
The moment Ashtel used his power, the space-time fabric shattered like fragile glass and broke apart.
The two poor SS-rankers were not even able to react, and the space-time fabric shattered into nothingness along with them.
Their existence was erased on the spot with just a single attack.
The scene was so horrific and intimidating that Gradba shivered in fear; his friends were slaughtered without the slightest resistance, and he could do nothing to stop it.
"Y-you stop!"
[World Authority: Particle Acceleration!]
Gradba could not sit still after seeing his friends die such a miserable death; he suppressed his fears and used all of his strength to punch Ashtel.
All the particles, in his hand or in the environment, were controlled by him to bombard Ashtel with immense force in a fraction of a second.
But Ashtel didn’t even bother dodging the attack.
[Sage Art: Repulsion: Broken Vessel!]
A powerful shockwave passed through the space-time fabric and repelled all particles trying to hit him, blocked all those particles, and repelled them all back onto Gradba instead.
Gradba’s attack, which was created with his entire might, was fired with even more strength right back at him, and his entire body was pierced by millions of particles!
*BOOOM!*
Gradba’s entire body burst apart like a watermelon being hit by thousands of bullets at the same time.
His blood scattered all over, but Ashtel stood spotless as his powers repelled even the blood away.
Within just a few seconds of his appearance, Ashtel slaughtered three SS-rankers without batting an eye; that spectacle was so shocking that even Raji felt chills run down her spine.
The same thought appeared in everyone’s mind at the same exact time.
’So that’s what it means to be called the strongest...’
After Ashtel stopped using his world authority, the cracks in the space started closing and healing on their own.
*SHOOOM!* *SHOOOM!*
Dozens of powerful auras appeared one by one, each one more powerful than the other; leading them all was the elven king.
"Ohh!! And here I thought some idiot was messing with the planet... Didn’t expect that it was you, Ashtel! So you finally woke up!"
Ashtel wasn’t surprised that so many SS-rankers appeared one after another just when the battle finished.
He had just used his world authority to shatter the space-time fabric, and the mana of the entire world felt the disruption due to that.
It was easy for everyone to notice such a big disruption and figure out that SS-rankers were fighting on the planet, and thus many SS-rankers rushed over to handle the situation.
In fact, it was done intentionally, as Ashtel wanted to tell the world that he was back.
"Who are you calling an idiot? Whatever, I just took a small nap, that’s all. Oh! Before I forget, I just sent three little fellows to the afterlife. Announce a statement in the world association that I am back..."
"I don’t want more little fellows to appear and pester me... After all, reducing the number of SS-rankers in the world on a whim is not my hobby... I don’t want them to die such meaningless deaths..."
The elf king was taken aback by Ashtel’s words, and he almost blurted out, ’Of course it is your hobby! Don’t pretend to be innocent!’.
"Hmm, well, I am also kind of busy; the demons have been moving strange lately. come to think of it, now that you are back, I can relax a bit..."
He waved his hand and started leaving with the SS-rankers.
"Seems like there’s nothing important going on here, so I will go back. My wife’s making food today wanna join?"
Ashtel shook his head.
"Forget it, I will come over some other day; I have a lot of work piled up over here, I have to deal with that first..."
"Send me a report about the strange demon activities later through the association’s secure channels..."
After chatting a bit, the elven king left with the other SS-rankers, who also greeted Ashtel and congratulated him on his swift recovery.
With the big shots gone, Ashtel flew over to Raji and Rio’s side.
"Phew~ The work is finally done! I can now rest!"
Ashtel smirked a bit at Raji’s words and replied,
"I have been doing this for decades, and you got exhausted in just half a year. You are still too lacking; try looking for fellow SS-rankers for ’friendly spars’... it will give you more combat experience..."
Raji rolled her eyes at those words and replied,
"Forget it, I am not a battle freak; I prefer peace instead of violence. Also I don’t really want to shoulder the responsibilities of the nation; once Link grows up, I will dump it all on him..."
"Wait, Riya might also become a good principal, in fact..."
Raji yawned lazily and waved her hand to open a teleportation portal.
"I am tired; you take care of the rest. I’m going to head back and sleep!"
With that said, Raji escaped immediately before Ashtel could even say anything.
"After her family reunited, she’s become more lazier than before..."
Ashtel shook his head, glanced at Rio, and suddenly felt an urge to pat him on the head.
*Pat* *Pat*
"Uh... what... what are you doing... We need to transport these people back."
Rio was taken aback by that sudden gesture, and a bewildered look appeared on his face.
"How about I adopt you as my son? Link is a more reckless type; having a calm and intelligent type of kid is not a bad idea..."
"Oh, yeah, we need to transport these people back to their homes... Sigh, sleeping for too long has jumbled up my memories..."
[Sage Art: Shattered Space: Wormhole Creation!]
*Shatter!* *Crack*
Ashtel raised his hand, punched it into the spacetime fabric, and opened a wormhole with his own power.
Then he pulled his hand back from the wormhole and dragged out a man who had a shocked and baffled look on his face.
"Oi, arrange healers and people to find these people’s family; if they don’t have any family arrange proper houses or orphanage facilities for them..."
"Also pay them a lot of compensation; they have all suffered a lot... I need the work done in just half an hour; any delay will not be tolerated..."
With that said, Ashtel stuffed the man back into the wormhole and closed it.
Throughout the entire process, the man had a shocked and baffled look, as if he could not process what had happened.
"Er.. wasn’t that one of the important folks of the association headquarters... by the way, what is that skill..."
Ashtel smirked at that question and said,
"Wanna learn it? Become my adopted son, and I will teach you all of my skills!"
Rio rolled his eyes at those words.
"Stop pestering me or I will complain to Riya about you..."
Hearing Rio’s overpowered threat, Ashtel stopped teasing him.
"Cough... that’s kind of unfair..."
"Talking about unfair... that bastard Link! If only he were as calm and collected as you, I wouldn’t have to worry about him as much! I will whoop his lazy a*s and make him reach the next realm!"
A new fire of purpose burned in Ashtel’s eyes once again!