Only I Can Adapt: Genetic Evolution System-Chapter 49: The Burner of Worlds

[Temporary Adaptation: Atomic Rescale]

In his hand, the weapon he wielded had its internal structure reformed, atom-by-atom, rapidly shifting over tenfold its original size. The weight of it meant nothing to him, swinging it upward as it carved through the asphalt like hot steel through butter.

In the same motion, the colossal weapon cut up, cleaving through the gooey giant without any trouble.

"Gruuuueh...!" The green figure let out an agonized cry as its fork was split in two, from its core organ. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

[EXP: +550]

Any space for triumphant feelings were washed over by the presence of more threats. He could only exhale, granting himself a slight recovery from his fatigue.

There were multiple threats; too many to count in the moment as he simply responded to the danger.

"Kill the human!"

"Graataaa!"

"Eliminate him!"

—The aliens approached, some carrying weapons, some possessing lethal bodies. With the safety of his comrade resting on him, he met the invading force halfway.

He stomped his foot against the asphalt, crushing it with a quake. From the pebbles that jumped up, he grabbed a handful, using the fleeting evolution to alter their size—

"Hfff!" An exhale escaped his lips as he threw the rocks like a professional pitcher.

The moment they left his hand, their tiny size expanded into full-fledged boulders.

In the face of the sudden barrage, the aliens could only look on in a mixture of horror and awe.

"Wha—?!" One yelled, clinging to the side of a building.

"Enemy attack...!" A feathered alien screamed from the street.

Like meteors tearing through the cityscape, the enlarged stones blew through the forces. All he could see ahead was a bloody mist left of his enemies as their screams were silenced.

[EXP: +200] [EXP: +550] [EXP: +700] [EXP: +350]

’Was that all of them?’ He questioned with a breath.

That thought was immediately answered as he felt the air flex. It felt as though the temperature had suddenly risen twenty degrees as he began to sweat. Just as he noticed the peculiar sensation—something descended.

"Interesting—so, there is a human capable of fighting," the remark came from the smooth, but chasmic voice of the stranger.

[Fulminare registered.]

[Classification: Godly Superhuman, Stage Ten | Threat Level: Disaster Magnitude 11.0]

The golden-skinned figure possessed hair of living fire, burning bright and orange. Unlike the slender Fulminare he’d encountered prior, the man before him possessed an imposing build, perhaps from decades or even centuries of physical training.

He didn’t have any words, merely the instinct to keep his guard raised. The animalistic buried in his brain analyzed the stranger, registering him as something beyond the pale—

["This guy is something different. Different than anything else I’ve faced."]

The man of flaming hair raised a single hand, commanding the sky to turn from the shade of night to a burning crimson, "—As this region has been deemed a threat to the safety of the universe, I will proceed to turn it to ash."

A tangible threat, one that wasn’t empty; he knew that much.

In his ear, the voice of Haoyu beeped in, "//Seven! I’m getting readings of a massive heat source in the area! What’s going on out there?!"

"Evacuate!" Seven hurriedly warned into his communicator. "A Fulminare is here—the city is going to be wiped out!"

"//Hold on—a Fulminare?//"

"Just get everybody out! Now!" Seven shouted desperately, at any cost to his vocal chords.

The message was received loud and clear by the following silence in the comms.

"//Got it. We’ll clear out. You do the same, alright?//," Haoyu agreed.

"Right behind you. Just send me a Proto-Reaper, just need it for a second," he requested.

It wasn’t a moment later that he found one of the humanoid weapons arriving beside him.

He pointed towards the crashed truck at the east side of the block, "Shin is over there—get him and clear out of the city. Hurry!"

The Proto-Reaper wordlessly accepted its orders, leaping with terrific power across the street. He watched the robot retrieve the unconscious soldier from the truck before scaling the building, soon vanishing from sight.

It was a breath of relief for him, though reality settled in as he felt fire invade his lungs with an inhale. Despite everything, the imposing figure remained in the same spot.

’He doesn’t even care about me. He’s that confident that I can’t stop him. Maybe I can’t—not as I am. But, this is what I was chosen to do—to evolve,’ he readied himself.

The air had become thin, like the inside of an oven as the night sky was turned into a flaming hellscape. All of it was woven by the hand of the Fulminare, who stood there in silence.

Beneath his boots, the asphalt sizzled beneath the increasing heat. He knew he had to move—he had to stop whatever it was that the fiery-haired being was conjuring.

[Increasing muscle density in calves. Elevating explosive movement.]

With everything, he dashed forward, shattering the ground at his feet as he brought the blade above his head.

Every fiber of muscle in his body flexed to its utmost, springing in unison as he brought the edge down—

Shatter.

There wasn’t a scratch left on the golden skin he stared at. No, the damage was done only to his weapon as the blade was snapped in half.

The figure in pale robes worn loosely, towering twice his height, simply stared down at him with immaculate, diamond irises, "That is insufficient. If you do not interrupt me within the next thirty seconds, this land will be incinerated, along with your people."

Without a word, he tossed the broken weapon aside, pulling his fist back as he relied on the genetic adaptation instilled in his cells. As his muscles tightened and squeezed, summoning an abundance of power, he brought it forward with an impact that roared through the air–

[Mjolnir Impact]

–A devastating blow, yet it felt as though his knuckles simply knocked right off of a titanium husk. It defied logic as he pulled his fist back, finding the figure not having budged an inch from his position, yet staring at him with the very same look absent of any reaction.

"Insufficient," the Fulminare repeated.

The futility of his attempts to harm the man stunned Seven as he stood there, huffing as he looked up at the towering figure of golden skin. Any doubt in his mind was pushed to the back as he took action without hesitation, slapping his own chest rapidly, harshly, without having any mercy on himself.

Each strike built the kinetic energy like electricity fueling a battery, sparking and hissing as his muscles vibrated.

[Surpassing maximum energy capacity...Going over the limit could result in recoil.]

He ignored the internal warnings while hitting his chest, feeling the temperature rise as the asphalt bubbled and peeled. As the energy filled his body, it brimmed with such abundance it felt like razor wire through his flesh.

This time, he pushed his fist forward with tenfold the strength as before, multiplying the impact directly upon the Fulminare’s chest. At the very moment his knuckles collided with the golden body, the air compressed and howled as a shock wave whipped through the block.

It gave; ever so slightly, but it gave–the imposing figure slid back just a few inches, though it felt like a mile.

"Sufficient," the Fulminare admitted with his unmoving expression.

While the benchmark was budging the fire-bringing otherworlder, it didn’t seem as if any actual damage was dealt. All he had earned was perhaps a slight delay of the entire city being burned away, and now the undivided attention of the Fulminare.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man of burning hair stood tall, flexing his golden body inscribed with glowing inscriptions. "I am Ignatius, Second Commander of the Fulminare Legion."

It was a name he was familiar with from the database, though knowing it did little to reassure him–quite the opposite. He held his ground, readying himself in the now desolate streets of the city.

"Seven," he returned the introduction. "I don’t have any special titles."

"Titles are not needed; only strength," Ignatius claimed. "In respect to your strength and will as this world’s defender, I will turn you to ash alongside the land you protect."

"How thoughtful–" he sarcastically muttered.

In that same breath, his entire body tensed as he witnessed the imposing figure vanish, emerging directly in front of him in the very same moment. An impact thundered against his chest, splitting into his sternum with such force that the very concept of breathing was torn away.

His mind only reacted once he was flung back, being thrown hundreds of feet away by the sheer force of it as he struggled to breathe. All he could see was the black slate of the street quickly passing as he flew backwards at hundreds of miles per hour.

’Can’t...breathe,’ he thought.

There was no control of his body as he rotated in the air, tensing again as he crashed into a building, watching the mess of brick scatter in his vision. Another wall, another, and another, until finally–he stopped.

It was with his back slamming harshly into the concrete wall of a small antique shop, leaving it a mess of shattered glass, that he found himself free from his forced departure.

[Significant damage received | Internal organs ruptured | Skeletal integrity fractured | Rebuilding, strengthening...]

Any attempt at breathing was met with pain as his fractured sternum and ribs poked into his lungs. He could only gasp the dust out as he sat there against the crumbled wall, peering through the front of the building.

Beneath his skin, the fragments of his broken skeleton reconnected, rebuilding itself as he could only sit there and gasp out.

["In my entire life, I’ve never been useful. Not a single talent, nothing that made me stand out–until the Origin chose me. I only have one purpose. My purpose–my one purpose is to evolve, and push humanity forward.

If adapting is all I’m good for, then right now, I have to evolve–even if it’s against the burning sun."]