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Chapter 39 - THE POWER FROM WITHIN

Basil continues using his data to fight against Oasis's firewalls when he suddenly spots a nearby drone.

"Shit, we've been figured out this early?!" he shouts. "Hurry, Duckworm! I won't be able to defend myself and hold back these firewalls at the same time for long!"

Duckworm's voice crackles through the comms.

"I'm going as fast as I can! Hold on a bit longer! We're going to need as many Nova Crystals as we can get if we even want a chance against Oasis!"

Meanwhile, aboard Zion's spaceship, Sunny watches Basil through a digital screen. He quickly speaks into the comms.

"Commander Zion, I found Basil! He's on the outer layer wall of Oasis—looks like he's made a hole! Should I notify the Gem Council?"

He turns to another screen, only to see that Zion isn't even listening—his focus is entirely on the chance to fight Wade, eyes gleaming with excitement.

Zion and Wade clash fists, their data auras exploding against each other with immense intensity. The shockwave forces Yunbam to stumble back as he raises his arms to shield himself from the pressure.

"What?!" he gasps. "Oasis's forces are still this strong even without their main army… But Boa predicted this. He said this power alone wouldn't be enough to win—that all of this is part of the bigger picture."

High above Oasis, Basil's third robotic arm fires lasers at an enemy drone. But the sheer impact of Zion and Wade's clash halts the skirmish midair, causing both drone and Basil to freeze.

Basil's eyes widen.

"What the?! I knew it was going to be devastating—but this is out of the picture!"

Back on Zion's ship, Sunny shouts into the comms.

"Commander! If you keep this up, Pawn City and the commoner city are going to be completely destroyed!"

He stares at the digital screen as it flickers in and out, revealing that Zion is still fully immersed in the battle—laughing, wild-eyed, and ignoring every warning.

The collision of Zion and Wade's auras begins to expand outward, causing overwhelming digital fields to become even more unstable. Noble soldiers, noble robots, commoners, Boas, Battle robots, both Beacons, Pawns, airships, and even digital hands all burst into scattered digital data pieces.

Sunny lets out one final scream as the ship itself disintegrates into data.

Yunbam is thrown even farther back.

"This level of power… it's going to destroy everything. I have to stop them—somehow."

Then, he notices something—both sides' beacons is barely intact, glowing amid the debris, still holding their light. He narrows his eyes and focuses.

"We underestimated the strength of Oasis, even in its weakened state… but I'm ending this now!"

Suddenly, lightning sparks from Yunbam's chest as his spiritual body begins to expand. A chain of lightning blasts out, striking both beacons and surging through every Anti-V ship and robot.

A final bolt arcs into Wade and Zion, stunning them both. Their clashing digital fields collapse instantly—restoring everything and everyone back to normal.

Wade and Zion crash through multiple buildings, lightning still crackling around them.

Hank slowly rises, glancing at his hands and body, now fully restored. He grabs his comms and speaks urgently.

"What happened?! Is everyone alright?!"

Zion's spaceship and Sunny return to normal. Sunny quickly turns to the screen and exclaims,

"Commander, are you alright?! Wait… what is that?!"

His eyes lock onto a glowing spirit phasing in and out of reality, lightning sparking wildly around it. He leans closer, squinting, then gasps.

"There's no way… Commander! Somehow the boy—he's conjured his spirit outside of his body!"

Zion rises from the rubble of a broken building, brushing dust from his mecha suit. A smile tugs at his lips as he watches the phenomenon.

"Ahh… just like Boa's power from the Star Games. I didn't expect him to be this impressive. Hm… the boy is much stronger than I thought. What's the status report?"

Sunny's voice comes through the comms.

"It seems Oasis's corrupted digital conversion field has vanished—along with our own. Both beacons are down. All Anti-V are offline."

Before Zion can respond, a wing lashes out toward him. He raises an armored arm just in time to block Wade's attack, and the two immediately engage, exchanging furious combos of punches, kicks, and blade strikes.

"Let my son go!" Wade shouts, fury in his voice as metal clashes against metal.

Zion summons a laser blade from his arm and slashes, severing one of Wade's wings. His mecha form pulses with energy, thrusters flaring from his back as he rockets forward, laser blade aimed straight at Wade.

But just as he closes in—he's stopped cold.

Zion glances down in confusion. His blade arm trembles… then cracks.

A flickering spirit hand clutches the laser blade—and crushes it into pieces.

His eyes go wide as Yunbam's spiritual form materializes before him. The spirit surges forward and throws a punch straight into Zion's chest—phasing clean through the armor.

Lightning flares, and the impact sends Zion flying through a nearby building. He crashes hard but lands on his feet, skidding across the street.

"That punch wasn't even that strong…" he mutters, coughing up blood. "But something feels… off."

His eyes narrow as realization hits.

"I get it now… he's attacking my soul. Clever boy. There's no way for me to block those kinds of attacks. Then there's only one thing I can do!"

Without another word, Zion rockets into the sky.

Meanwhile, Hank reaches Owlbear, who lies groaning amid the rubble. He helps him up.

"Owlbear, what happened?"

Owl groans and points to the sky.

"Yunbam… he saved us all. He took out both beacons… and the Anti-V systems. The digital conversion field… it's gone."

Suddenly, Basil's voice cuts in through the comms.

"All units that can still fight—keep pushing forward! We're on equal ground with the enemy now!"

Inside the crumbled remains of a broken building, the spirit form of Yunbam turns to his father, Wade.

"Beyond this point," Yunbam says, his voice calm but firm, "we'll have to improvise the plan."

Wade slowly rises to his feet, dusting himself off as he replies,

"Yeah… we were supposed to have won by now. With our counter data conversion field and your gifted powers, it should've been over. But we underestimated how strong they are—even while they're distracted with the Star Games."

Yunbam nods.

"It'll be fine. The original plan never accounted for me leveling up Boa's powers this early. I'm going to win this war—for all of us."

As his spirit form begins to fade, Wade watches him go with pride in his eyes.

"I'm so proud of you, son… You carry great honor in the name of Boa."

Meanwhile, high in the sky, Zion flies toward the massive digital sphere in his mecha form. Suddenly, he halts mid-air as the sphere explodes in a flash of lightning.

From the heart of the blast, Yunbam reappears—his magical weapon gripped tightly in his hand.

Zion narrows his eyes.

"I see… A spirit returning to its body is faster than anything I simulated. I thought this war would be an easy victory… but it seems my confidence was my weakness. Show me everything you've got!"

Suddenly, massive spiritual arms erupt from Yunbam's back. He releases his weapon, letting it float upward toward the glowing hands. The weapon begins to morph, shifting into a massive, burning yellow spiritual sword pulsing with magical energy.

Yunbam grins.

"I told you before—I don't want to hear your excuses when I slam your face into the dirt!"

Yunbam's magical and spiritual aura surges, intensifying until it radiates like a storm. Sparks dance across his body as the ruined city and the nearby water trembles around them.

Zion summons dual laser blade arms as the thrusters on his back erupt with tremendous energy. He rockets forward, closing the distance toward Yunbam—but immediately begins to slow down, struggling against the overwhelming pressure radiating from Yunbam's aura.

In his mind, he speaks.

"It doesn't matter how small of a brain he has… His powers have surpassed most of the high nobles of Oasis. I came into this fight too unprepared—blinded by pride! This is what I'm talking about, Lars… Emotions are such a weakness. Even a high noble like us will struggle against these non-simulated situations!"

Zion lets out a furious roar, pushing forward despite the pressure. His mecha armor begins to crack under the spiritual force pressing down on him.

Yunbam raises his arm and swings it downward. At the same time, the massive spiritual arms behind him follow the motion, bringing down the giant glowing sword of lightning and soul energy.

The sword crashes into Zion with a thunderous impact.

A cataclysmic lightning explosion tears across the sky, blinding everyone nearby. The shockwave alone stuns countless people across Pawn city.

Zion is hurled from the sky like a meteor, smashing through streets and tearing into the cement, finally crashing deep into the city's sewers. A massive crater marks the spot of his fall.

Meanwhile, high in the sky above Oasis, Basil raises his mechanical arm and fires a concentrated laser shot, taking down the nearby enemy drone with precision. But his attention quickly shifts to the electrifying explosion in the distance. His eyes widen as he watches Yunbam's overwhelming display of power.

"The kid's more impressive than I thought," Basil mutters. "Boa was right to select him… as the new Boa."

But his awe turns to alarm as a wave of Oasis's firewall data suddenly surges from it's barrier, brushing against him.

"Ah, shit!" he shouts, jerking back as digital red pixels smashes across his body. He quickly redirects his data streams, barely holding the firewall at bay.

"I can't believe I let myself get distracted! This is bad!"

He becomes stress and shouts through the comms,

"Duckworm! You should've collected enough Nova Crystals by now—come back, right now! Or else-"

Meanwhile, in the storage room beneath Platinumgrey skyscapper...

Duckworm stands surrounded by stacks of glowing Nova Crystals, his mechanical body pulsing with unstable energy as he continues to absorb them. His voice cuts sharply through Basil's comms.

"I seek a future where at least a city is protected from the nobles!" Duck shouts. "And for that—I need more time! Basil, you're a noble! You can fix your mistakes with ease! So I'm going to use every second that matters in this second life of mine!"

Back in the skies above Oasis...

Basil hovers mid-air, lasers at the ready, trying to hold the tear in the digital barrier open.

"You don't understand!" he yells into the comms. "I'm just one ex-high noble—I can't take on the entire city of Oasis by myself! Duckworm, come back now!"

Silence.

He checks the signal, only to find the line dead.

"Shit… they're already onto us!" he mutters, panic creeping in. "I've lost communication with the battle bots inside Oasis. All I can do now... is hold this hole open as long as I can!"

Meanwhile, within Oasis itself...

Across the luxurious city—inside shimmering tower rooms, on hover streets, in flying cars, digital arcades, and glowing corporate offices—noble citizens watch the Star Games unfold on countless digital screens.

Suddenly, a warning flashes across every display:

INTRUDER! OASIS IN DANGER!

Confusion ripples through the noble population. Murmurs rise, eyes dart between screens, but none of them know what to do.

Inside a hidden dark-digital world...

The Gem Council of Oasis sits encircling two massive, floating digital planets. The digital world glows dimly, and each of the six nobles remains cloaked in shadow—only their glowing outlines and distinct-colored auras give a hint of their identities.

The lower digital planet, lit from within, displaying countless live feeds from Planet Isha.

The upper digital planet shows the raging battles and live feeds of the Star Games from Doom Planet.

Suddenly, the lower planet pulses red.

The Gem council members silently turn toward it.

A single screen enlarges, rising from the planet's surface. Their floating seats move forward as the display sharpens—revealing Basil, holding open the torn digital barrier of Oasis with all his strength.

The noble cloaked in a white shadow speaks first.

"Interesting. This… has never happened before. Not in the entire history of our planet Isha. Who is that?"

The one in a brown shadow adds,

"How could this happen? We've already assigned the powerful head of the Platinumgrey family to respond to any disturbances during the Star Games."

The dark red shadow gestures, bringing up another screen showing both Zion and Lars.

"The Platinumgrey family is one of Oasis's top ten noble families. Even his son is ranked second in the noble academy. Ah I get it now! No wonder, he was able to surpass the barrier, it's Basil Platinumgrey, the ex-noble."

A voice from the black-shadowed noble echoes with disappointment.

"It would be… quite disgraceful if this were the first time we, as nobles, have failed to keep Oasis perfect. And it's been perfect for hundreds of years. Let's eliminate this traitor quickly!"

The noble shrouded in maroon waves a hand, opening another screen—this one showing the war in Pawn City. They all watch to see Yunbam's massive spiritual energy.

"I see now, we have another problem at hand. But this is still considered a low-level threat," he states coldly. "We can deal with it quickly."

Finally, the noble cloaked in a dark green shadow speaks.

"Allow me to handle this personally. I know the Platinumgrey family well. I'll take care of the traitor, the empowered slummer… and discipline Zion myself."

The rest of the Gem Council nods silently in agreement.

Back in Oasis…

A swirling digital portal rips open above the skyline. From it, a towering floating chair descends—sleek, ornate, and pulsing with green light. Seated atop it is a Gem Noble, his entire form cloaked in elegant green jade fashion. As the chair settles midair, he rises from his platform. Data streams beam directly into his head, and his piercing green-golden eyes flicker with thousands of lines of code scrolling across his irises.

Meanwhile, deep in the flooded sewers of Pawn City…

Zion groans, rising from a shattered crater as water cascades down from broken pipes above. His mecha armor is in ruins. Blood trickles down his face, and bruises cover his body. He stumbles forward, then hears a crackled, distorted voice from his comms.

"Reports… confirm…" Sunny's voice cuts in. "A Gem Noble has arrived in Oasis!"

Zion wipes blood from his lips.

"Shit… out of the six, it's probably him."

Back in Oasis…

The noble citizens stare in awe as the massive floating chair glides through the city. Airships and luxury cars circle the skies, and some nobles even arrive in sleek digital projections, eager to witness the rare appearance.

"A Gem Noble!" someone gasps.

"That's Kairo Everjade!"

As the crowd watches, Kairo finishes absorbing the information. His eyes stop flickering. He turns sharply toward the direction of the breach.

"I'm surprised Basil survived after that showdown years ago," Kairo mutters. "And Zion… still soft-hearted. If you can't finish the job, Zion—"

His voice sharpens.

"—then I will."

A brilliant green digital spear forms in Kairo's hand—crackling with compressed code and data. He hurls it with divine precision.

The spear rips through the sky, glowing like a comet, and strikes Basil square in the stomach just as he hovers near the barrier. The impact is explosive—blood bursts from his body as he's hurled backward, away from the breach.

The torn barrier instantly begins to repair itself, sealing shut as if it had never been damaged.

Basil gasps, coughing blood as he looks down at the spear lodged in him.

"This… this is the power of a Gem Noble?! Damn it all… I can't believe… this is how I die…"

From afar, in Pawn City…

Yunbam, still glowing with spiritual power, turns instinctively toward the distant sky.

His eyes widen.

He sees Basil's body—impaled midair, flickering like a dying signal.

Then—BOOM!

The green spear explodes inside Basil's torso, obliterating him in a violent blast of light and code.

Yunbam stares, frozen in shock.

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