Extra's Re-awakening: System Errors Made Me Too OP-Chapter 38: Betrayal

"Answer me Livinus." Hiro’s voice became colder, and his demeanor changed.

Livinus chuckled softly, before he turned around and faced them with a wide and evil grin that stretched across his lips.

"You caught me."

"Livinus, what’s the meaning of this!? Explain yourself now!" Hiro couldn’t believe it, no, he refused to believe it. After all, Livinus’s temporal Soul-Technique allowed him to manipulate the transdimensional energy of their world and open a portal to literally anywhere.

"You’re too hot blooded, Captain Hiro." Livinus smirked, picking the stone off the podium.

"Vice captain Livinus! What’s going on!? What are you doing!?" Elene found it hard to believe that a vice captain of the most prestigious military force in the kingdom would stoop this low.

Now it all made sense to Hiro, when he was tasked with informing Rai about his qualifications for the second selection. Livinus found out and persuaded him to bring him along, not long after, he immediately dropped a load of questions on Rai. Questions about the gate, and the Soul-Beast that emerged from it.

"Why?" Hiro asked, his fist squeezed tightly. He knew Livinus for years ever since he became his vice. They were the dynamic captain and vice captain built on a foundation of trust and painstaking missions, he refused to believe that he’d betray the 14 Soul-Squads just for power.

"Why you say?" Livinus tossed the stone from his right hand to his left. "For power?" He tossed it back to his right hand. "Or do I have a different agenda?"

He held the stone in his hands, then sighed softly as he stared at the three Soul-Hunters. "Although I suppose if you really want an answer. The Inner Souls."

"The Inner Souls? What the hell is that?"

"I see." Xander’s brows furrowed as he recalled Livinus previous statement. "The lost objects of the Soul King we’ve been searching for dozen of years, I suppose that’s the Inner Souls you’re talking about?"

"How perceptive of you, however, it doesn’t matter at this point. I guess I won’t be needing this anymore." He touched the "11" tattooed on his shoulder, and tore it off, revealing it to be nothing more than a sticker.

"Livinus..." Hiro gritted his teeth, squeezing his fingers tightly that it almost dug into his skin. The insignia of a Soul-Squad tattoed on a Soul-Hunter represented the bond, the oath between a Soul-Hunter and his Soul-Squad, and Livinus ripped it apart like that bond was some sort of joke.

"I must admit, none of these factored into my plans at all, especially the appearance of that Soul-Beast the first time I opened a portal to the Soul-King’s domain."

They all gasped as their eyes widened in shock.

"What?"

Livinus’s plans were simple, in order to locate the Soul Stone, he needed access to the secret and hidden information about the Soul-King. And the only place that harbored such data was the Soul-Hunter’s association. So he infiltrated the association, and over the years worked his way up to the ranks of the vice captain.

From there, it became easier to extract the location of the Soul Stone, and once he did, he waited for the perfect opportunity to retrieve it. And that opportunity presented itself at the Soul-Hunter’s examination.

The Soul Stone was located in an entirely different realm known as the "King’s Domain" created by the Soul-King’s energy, accessing that realm required manipulating a high level of trans-dimensional energy as dictated by the Soul-Association’s database, resulting in the orange gate.

However, what he didn’t anticipate was that there were other forces who seeked to obtain the stone, so by creating a portal to that domain with his Soul-Technique, he unwittingly created a pathway for these beasts that twarted his plans the first time he opened up the gates.

"Well, It doesn’t matter anymore, what matters right now is destroying you all." Livinus said, taking several steps backwards like he was planning to run away without fighting.

"You’re not going anywhere with that stone you bastard!" Xander tried to rush forward, but with a simple sideways flick of his finger, Livinus stopped him before he could even move a step forward.

"Are you sure it’s wise to come after me? You could do that, but we’re in a temple where the previous Soul-King took several measures to ensure the Stone’s safety. What do you think would happen once the stone is taken from the altar?"

As he spoke, the ground beneath their feet trembled sending chills down their spine.

From all corners of the room, several metallic hands bursted out of the ground, different shades and colors of armored knight arose from the ground and circled Hiro, Elene and Xander. The armored parts of the merged knights he blew to pieces came back together into a whole being.

They were all trapped, including Livinus.

"They are all over the place.." Elene pointed out. With every passing second, more knights kept rising from the ground, until finally there was no space left within the room.

"Damn... We need to get the stone and leave, fighting those things head on is pointless. They would just reconfigure and come back for us." Xander suggested, now that they accidentally got Livinus what they wanted, they had to get back the stone.

"We need to clear the pathway. Xander go after the stone, I will clear a pathway through these knights. And finally, Captain Hiro, use your strength and create an opening through those walls for us to escape." Elene declared, quickly forming a plan of action by piecing together the facts they already knew.

They both stared at her, slightly amused by her leadership skills.

"What?" She asked. The way they stared at her made her a bit uncomfortable.

Hiro smiled as he bent his right knee forward along with his upper body. "As expected of the Castelle bloodline, your leadership skills are commendable, you got it." He said as he sprang upward, reaching a favorable height in the air to gather momentum.

Almost immediately, Elene stretched her palms towards the hoarde of knights approaching them.

"Zen Soul-Technique: Psychic Wave!"

From her palms, she unleashed a swirling wave of energy that tore apart most of the knights rushing toward them.

The energy sent ripples through the temple walls, and soon the entire structure began to crumble down.

"Okay!"

Hiro spun forward, flipping through the air at great speed. His body soon became like a spinning vortex, descending toward the center of the knights from above.

"Storm Bringer!" He shouted, driving his right leg down and smashing one of the knights into the ground. The force of his spinning body amplified the strike, making it faster and more devastating.

The ground split apart with a thunderous roar, shockwaves tearing through the air. The floor crumbled into chaos, swallowing most of the knights that stood upon it.

"H-h-he’s a monster..." Elene whispered, finally admitting it as she witnessed the Souless Hunter’s overwhelming power firsthand.

As Hiro landed on his feet, he looked at Livinus, who gave him a smile before dashing through the hole in the wall to escape the temple.

"Wait! Livinus!"

They all chased after him, but before they could catch him, he immediately opened a portal and slipped through it.

"Damn it! He’s gone!"

"No, the Soul-King’s domain exists in a realm beyond space and time, the condition to Livinu’s teleportation is that he can’t travel at long distances while a portal is active. He knows closing the portal would only mean he’d be stuck here without a definite way home for a while because it’s constantly twisting and shifting. So while he could open a portal from outside the realm." Hiro explained.

"He can’t open one that leads out of the domain from within, he’s still in the temple!" Elene exclaimed.

They rushed out of the room through the hole in the wall and made their way toward the temple’s exit. But the path before them was no longer the same as the one they had taken when they first entered. "I-it changed!?" Elene stuttered in disbelief.

"No matter!" Hiro shouted and tore through every wall that stood in their way. At last, they broke through the outer walls of the temple and saw Livinus sprinting toward the orange gate deep within the forest ahead.

Livinus glanced over his shoulders as he ran, and he saw the three Soul-Hunters racing towards him. "Tch, persistent lot." He stretched out his hand, and used his Soul-Technique to open up another portal that would transport him closer to the orange gate.

"Flame Soul-Technique..." Blue flames burst from the soles of Xander’s feet as he shot forward with blinding speed. In an instant, he appeared right in front of Livinus just before he could enter the portal.

His eyes widened in shock as Xander’s fist came rushing toward his face.

’H—He’s incredibly fast!’

Xander’s right fist, wrapped in blue flames, crashed into Livinus’s face. The blow sent him flying back, and the Soul Stone slipped from his hands.

Right after Xander struck down Livinus, the ground beneath their feet trembled, and several hands burst out of the grounds. In an instant, they were suddenly surrounded by countless knights and earth creatures formed from solid rock.

"W-what the hell is going..."Elene muttered as everything that was happening was unrealistic in a sense.

"Damn... Isn’t too much?" Hiro said almost in disbelief, almost as if he was trying to communicate with the deceased.

"Everyone take cover.." Xander said softly as he stepped forward, his eyes cold as ice.

"What? Why?" Elene questioned.

"I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but that temple and stone is the source of all this.I’m going to destroy it." He replied.

"What!?" They both should in sync.

As the earth beasts and knights rushed at them, Xander picked up the Soul Stone immediately.

"W—Wait! Think about this! There’s no need to destroy the temple!" Elene pleaded, she didn’t see any reason in him blowing up the history of Soul-Hunters.

"I’m sorry, but there’s no other option, let’s see how these Inner Souls can fufill their agenda now." He made this decision for one reason only, the goddess of fate.

He came to the conclusion that this was the apocalypse she told them about. These Inner Souls, he figured that with this stone which is said to grant Immeasurable quantity of Soul-Energy, obtaining it will become the seed that breeded the apocalypse, so he decided to destroy it.

He hurled the stone into the hole in the temple’s walls, and like a magnet, the earth beasts and knights all rushed into the hole. Their creation was based on one purpose, protect the Soul Stone, no matter the cost.

Xander faced the temple and placed his palms against each other. "Soul-Technique..."

A massive magic circle appeared above the temple’s roof, forcing everyone to fall back as a blinding light spread across the temple.

Livinus, lying on the ground, slowly lifted his head and looked at the temple now glowing with a bright, blue light. The swarm of knights and beasts rushing inside made it clear that the Soul Stone was within the temple, and the light had been cast upon it.

"No..." He realized what they were trying to do, and he rose to his feet immediately. "NOO!"

He dashed toward the temple, desperate to reclaim the stone. For years he had planned, calculating every step to draw closer to the Soul Stone for the Inner Soul’s sake. Now that it was finally within his grasp, he refused to let some unstable kid destroy everything, he refused to let his years of effort be wasted.

"Super Nova."

In an instant, a concentrated blue beam of energy crashed down onto the temple with a thunderous thud, like a roaring clap of lightning. Hiro shoved Livinus aside with a spear just before the impact, and the temple was reduced to nothing but ashes, leaving a massive crater in the temple’s place.

"NOO!" Livinus screamed at the top of his voice like he had lost the person he loved the most.

"It’s over." Xander said as he took a step forward.

"YOU BASTARD! I’LL KILL YOU!!" As Livinus stood to his feet.

"I’LL KILL YOU IF IT’S THE LAST THING I’LL-"

Almost immediately, a massive vibration from beneath the ground stopped him from moving.

"An earthquake!?" Elene yelled as they all tried to gain their balance. From the crater Xander created, a giant elephant whose body seemed to be made out of leaves and the earth arose from it. It was up to fifty feet in height and extremely large, it possessed huge trunks and tusks.

The elephant blew it’s trunk and created a deep, resonant trumpet sound or rumble. A powerful, low-frequency noise that traveled over long distances, echoing through the air like a reverberating thunderclap. Given it’s size, the low frequency noise created an undescribable wind pressure which uprooted countless trees and the earth itself. It blew the five individuals as well and they all crashed into the already uprooted trees and broke it.

"A-argh." Elene groaned slightly as she struggled to get to her feet while the other’s stared from the ground in terror of what emerged in front of them.

"W-what the hell is that thing?" She asked with a wavering voice as she set her sights on the beast that stood in front of them.

They could all feel the tremendous amount of Soul-Energy that leaked from the beast, as if it was trying to hide it but just couldn’t. "It’s...unending.." Elene stammered as she sensed its Soul-Energy, it was beyond anything she had ever sensed.

"T-there’s no way we’d ever be able to beat that thing.." Hiro said realizing the painful truth. The only plausible options that was available to them was to accept their fate, attempting to escape would lead to casualties given the range of the elephant’s noise alone.

"What’s this? Humans?" A loud and thunderous voice bellowed from above them.