[Trait Triggered!]
[Congratulations, Host, you have acquired a Red Trait: Divine Essence of the God of War!]
[Divine Essence of the God of War: Provoke war. Revel in war. Conquer war! When caught in battle, your power becomes the absolute strongest in the conflict!]
A red trait!
The first red trait had finally appeared!
After a brief daze, Kuzeha was overwhelmed with joy.
If he remembered correctly, this God of War should refer to Artosh from the world of No Game No Life—a conceptual deity formed from war and supremacy, a being who embodied the composite ideal of ultimate battle.
The ability's effect was brutally straightforward: as long as one was in a battle, one would be the strongest.
Even if a being stronger than oneself appeared, this trait would forcibly raise one's strength to exceed it.
It was conceptually similar to what happened when Saitama broke his limiter—a cheat-like, unreasonable form of power scaling.
Of course, even the most powerful war god Artosh in No Game No Life had ultimately been defeated.
Defeated not by strength, but by his own arrogance as the strongest.
Kuzeha even suspected Artosh had exposed his weakness on purpose, choosing death.
A god of war who pursued strength to the end, defeated not by combat but by the weariness of invincibility.
"I wonder what heights this trait could reach in this world…"
Kuzeha pondered.
After all, there were plenty of entities in this world who could be considered gods.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, Red Trait successfully unlocked!]
[Trait Fusion and Advancement system has now been activated!]
[You may now fuse five traits of the same color to advance them into a higher-tier trait!]
The system's follow-up message made Kuzeha momentarily stunned.
In the ten years since he acquired the trait system, this was the first time a new function had been unlocked!
As expected of a red trait!
Kuzeha quickly scanned through the information on the fusion system.
Even among gold traits, there were varying levels.
Just like being the top or bottom student in an elite school—technically both were "top-tier," but the gap between them might be greater than that between a top student and an average one.
Now, with this fusion system, he could dispose of weaker, less useful traits and combine them into something far better!
Then a thought struck him.
"What happens if I fuse five red traits?"
[Result: Crimson Trait!]
The system instantly replied in his mind.
Clearly, crimson traits ranked roughly half a tier above red ones.
But after ten years of waiting just to get one red trait, collecting five sounded like a fantasy.
Still grinning, Kuzeha pinched Ayumi's cheek, this lucky little goddess of his.
He exchanged a glance with Tomori Nao, who responded with a firm nod and gently took Ayumi's hand.
Until Kuzeha returned, she would protect Ayumi as her older sister.
Dark shadows rippled and consumed Kuzeha's form.
In the next moment, he vanished from the shelter.
Only then did the girls from Haneoka begin to process what had happened.
Upon seeing the beheaded corpse of the mole monster, many screamed and ran to vomit in the corner.
Takamatsu Akari clutched her mouth, forcing herself to breathe and look away.
But her thoughts lingered on the boy's silhouette.
Her heart thudded uncontrollably.
She glanced toward Tomori and Ayumi, wondering who that boy truly was...
...
Outside Haneoka Academy.
The Fubuki Group had been completely defeated.
The only one left standing was Fubuki herself, barely upright by leaning on a tree.
She didn't even have the strength to move, let alone use psychic powers.
In front of her stood a swordsman with a drill-like blade—its shaft lined with circular saw-like edges.
A-Class Rank 4 Hero: Bushidrill.
He had already clashed with the Armored Gorilla several times.
The black iron armor that had shrugged off Fubuki's strongest attacks now bore faint white scratch marks.
"Not bad for tickling."
The gorilla's cold mechanical voice taunted.
Bushidrill spat to the side.
"I'll use this drill to shut that scrap metal mouth of yours."
He joked, but one hand trembled as it rested on his sword's hilt.
"This armor... how is it so tough…"
His sword—capable of slicing Tiger-level monsters like tofu—already had several chips in it.
"If you're not coming, I'm going to you."
The gorilla's clunky voice was slow—but its movements were lightning fast!
In an instant, it launched a furious assault.
Iron fists smashed down with terrifying power, leaving shattered concrete and cratered pavement in their wake.
Bushidrill couldn't counter head-on.
He could only retreat, parrying with his blade and waiting for an opening.
Clang!
Sparks exploded from the clash.
The impact numbed his entire arm and nearly disarmed him.
Another iron punch came sweeping in—he ducked just in time.
He was running out of stamina.
A solo fight against a Demon-level monster… was too much.
"Where the hell are Iaiand Okamaitachi…"
If he were fighting alongside his senior brothers—A-Class Rank 2 Iaiand Rank 3 Okamaitachi—they could at least stall until an S-Class arrived.
"So arrogant. Still distracted in a fight with me?"
The gorilla caught an opening.
A brutal kick landed square on Bushidrill's chest.
He coughed up blood and flew back ten meters, crashing through a tree.
His unique drill-sword fell from his grip.
"So weak. Let me end this quickly."
The gorilla strode forward, voice cold and unfeeling.
"Hey, B-rank… got any strength left?"
Bushidrill wiped blood from his mouth, bracing himself on a cracked stone pillar.
"Barely… one last strike."
After a pause, Fubuki answered.
"Then let's go all in—though it probably won't help…"
Bushidrill was about to retrieve his sword when Fubuki suddenly gasped.
"Wait… what is that?"
She squinted as a black silhouette distorted the air, like a glitch in space-time.
In an instant, it stood before them.
The shadow faded.
A boy holding a sword stood calmly in its place.
"A sword?"
Fubuki instinctively looked to Bushidrill.
As a disciple of Atomic Samurai, he had connections in the sword world.
But Bushidrill looked just as confused.
He'd never seen this boy before.
And yet—just standing there, the boy exuded a sword aura that pierced the clouds.
"Am I imagining things…"
Bushidrill couldn't tell.
The Armored Gorilla burst out laughing.
"Another swordsman? Looks like—"
It didn't get to finish.
"Where is Dr. Genus of the House of Evolution?"
The boy's calm words cut through the air.
The gorilla's expression changed.
It instinctively looked toward Haneoka's direction.
"No need to check. The mole's already dead."
The gorilla's eyes gleamed.
"Then you must be eliminated—"
Shiiing!
Sword unsheathed.
A silver arc split the air.
The gorilla's arm was severed at the root.
The sword energy didn't stop there—cleaving a trench dozens of meters deep and over a hundred meters long into the earth behind it.
Clang!
Its half-metal, half-biological arm clattered to the ground—blood dripping from the wound.
The gorilla froze.
The armor it prided itself on… had been sliced through like tofu.
A single, casual strike from the boy had left behind a scar that defied logic.
Had that been aimed at its head...
"One last time—where is Dr. Genus?"
The boy asked again, still cold and calm.
The gorilla was frozen in fear.
Then, realizing another strike could come at any moment, it blurted everything out in a panic.
"There's a resort two hundred kilometers north! Beneath the mountain five hundred meters behind it!"
Gone was the electronic posturing—it was just raw survival instinct now.
Then, nervously, it asked,
"Can I go now…?"
"Sure. To hell."
Thud.
Its head flew.
Kuzeha sheathed his blade with a calm breath.
For anything that threatened his sister's life, he had only one response—death.
"So the mountain, huh… definitely not the same location as the original."
His figure vanished again into shadow.
Leaving behind a dumbfounded Bushidrill and Fubuki.
Read advance chapters on: patre on.com/Bored_Mortal