Re:Awakening with Ultimate Power as a Cosmic God
Chapter 61: Ch 61: A Hint of Trouble - Part 2

Chapter 61: Ch 61: A Hint of Trouble - Part 2

Nova crouched beneath the canopy, feeling the change in the aether as the monsters entered the perimeter.

Their presence wasn’t subtle—the air distorted around them, thick with bloodlust and unbalanced aggression. Still, Nova made no move.

He waited, silent and watchful, until he saw movement in the brush behind him. A footstep, a shifted breath.

Then—swift, precise—he struck.

His blade sliced through the throat of the first stalker, and blood sprayed across the leaves. The man barely had time to choke before crumpling to the ground.

Nova stood over the body, bloody dagger in hand, as the other two turned in horror.

"Where’s Kiril—"

One began, but his words died as his gaze landed on Nova, whose eyes glinted with cold amusement.

The second stalker reached for his weapon, but Nova lunged forward and drove the dagger into his gut, twisting hard before yanking it free.

The third man bolted, panic overtaking his sense. Nova flicked his blade to clean it and vanished into the trees.

Seconds later, he tackled the fleeing man to the ground and slammed him into a tree trunk.

"You’ve got five seconds to tell me who sent you." NovelFire

Nova said calmly, pressing the blood-slick blade to the man’s throat.

The man trembled, but to Nova’s annoyance, his lips curled into a bitter smile.

"You think... I’ll say anything?"

A sharp motion—Nova pressed harder, but before he could go further, the man bit down on something between his molars.

Poison.

His body went limp in seconds.

Nova sighed and muttered.

"Coward."

He stepped back, wiped his blade again, and let aether shimmer around him. With a flick of his fingers, the bodies disintegrated into glimmering dust, vanishing without a trace.

The aether of the planet rippled in response—an echo of the Core of Reason feeling Nova’s signature.

It shivered, almost in protest, then settled into eerie calm, as if acknowledging his presence.

Nova turned back toward the path.

"Now for the fun part."

He made his way through the trees, eventually catching the faint pulse of Malrik’s aether trail. But just as he stepped forward—

A deafening screech ripped through the air.

Three monsters lunged out of the woods in unison, their twisted bodies warped with overgrown limbs and jagged bone.

These weren’t ordinary beasts. Something—or someone—had corrupted their cores.

Their eyes were white. Sightless.

And yet they hunted with disturbing precision.

Nova leapt back, narrowly dodging the snapping jaws of one. His gun was already drawn, and he fired a shot clean through the creature’s shoulder. It didn’t slow.

"Aether-drunk freaks."

He muttered, ducking beneath a claw swipe and jamming a blast of condensed energy into the creature’s side.

It exploded into smoke and ash.

But two remained.

Nova flicked his knife back into its sheath and formed an aether blade instead—clean, sharp, and tinted slightly violet under this planet’s distorted sky.

The second monster charged, and Nova met it head-on.

His blade tore through its legs, and with a twist, he severed its spine. The thing shrieked, thrashing violently, but Nova ended it with a clean stab through the head.

The third hesitated.

Nova grinned.

"What, you figured it out already?"

It lunged.

He sidestepped.

Then, with a burst of aether, he vaulted above it, slashing down as he flipped over. The blade split the creature from shoulder to gut, and it collapsed with a final, rattling growl.

Nova exhaled slowly and let his weapon dissipate into thin air.

Whoever had sent these beasts wasn’t trying to scare him.

They were trying to kill him.

He glanced toward where Malrik should be. Time to regroup.

He made his way deeper into the forest, every step calculated. He’d cleaned up the "unwanted parts" of the hunt already—now it was time to see what else was coming.

This game, whatever it was, had just started.

Nova stepped out of the blood-drenched trees and into the last ring of underbrush. The forest had gone quiet, save for the occasional rustle of leaves swaying in the breeze.

But his instincts screamed at him.

He spun on his heel—just in time.

A sharp wind grazed the back of his coat, and something blurred past his shoulder.

Claws.

Nova’s eyes snapped to the movement. The monster had already pulled back, crouched low like a predator preparing to lunge again.

It was grotesque—gaunt, bone-thin, with limbs too long and a mouth too wide. But the worst part wasn’t how it looked.

It was how it felt.

Or rather, how it didn’t.

No aether. No presence. No heat signature.

That explained why he hadn’t noticed it before. It was like a walking corpse, void of life but still deadly.

Now that he’d seen it, though, it was over.

The beast pounced again—

—and Nova’s blade met it mid-air.

A single, clean slash.

The monster was cleaved into three uneven pieces before it even landed. Its body hit the ground with a wet thud, twitching once before going still.

Nova didn’t linger. He flicked his blade clean and continued forward.

Something else was off.

He sensed dozens of aether signatures up ahead—fading, flickering, dying.

Soldiers.

But not just that. Monsters, too. He walked faster, ignoring the ache in his shoulders. The trees thinned as he neared the clearing, and what he saw forced him to pause.

Bodies.

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Half-crushed soldiers and shredded monsters littered the battlefield like discarded dolls. Steam rose from the warm blood soaking the grass. And in the middle of it all—

Malrik.

The commander stood with his back to Nova, twirling a blood-soaked spear with a grin on his face. His white armor was scratched and stained, but his movements remained precise, fluid.

Another monster lunged at him—Malrik pivoted and drove the butt of his spear into its jaw, dislocating it in a sickening crunch.

Without pause, he turned and sliced through the creature’s neck with a flourish.

The head hit the dirt.

The body collapsed after it.

Malrik exhaled and stood tall, the tip of his spear digging lightly into the ground as he surveyed the clearing.

"You’re late."

He called without turning around.

Nova approached slowly, eyes scanning the carnage.

"You looked like you were having fun."

Malrik chuckled.

"It was a bit hectic at first. But then the real challenge never came, so I got bored."

"You were surrounded."

"I had it under control."

Nova kicked aside a twitching limb.

"I can see that."

Malrik finally turned, his expression bright despite the exhaustion simmering underneath.

"What about you?"

Nova gestured back toward the forest.

"Cleaned up a few messes."

Malrik tilted his head.

"The kind that walk on two legs?"

Nova didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The look in his eyes was enough.

Malrik sighed, then grinned.

"Well, I guess we’re both cleaning house today."

Nova’s eyes drifted across the battlefield.

"These monsters... they weren’t acting normal."

"No. They were berserk. No reason left in them."

Nova tensed at the word.

Malrik noticed.

"You think it’s connected to the temple?"

Nova stayed silent for a beat too long. Then:

"It’s possible."

"Well, whatever the case, they’re dead now. We’ll need to burn the bodies before nightfall. Don’t want the rot attracting anything worse. It would be terrible if the village gets in trouble because of this."