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Last Embryo Volume 6 Chapter 5 Part 4

You was definitely happy and impressed to see that even when he was far away from his old friends, he still managed to find himself some reliable companions who would be there to help him in his hour od need.

「That being said. . .  CHOP! ! ! ! !」

*D O B W H A M. . . .! ! ! ! !*

「Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Hurts, it hurts! And what wass that for anyway, huh? Did you not say that the previous chop was just an interest, and the rest will have to wait until later?!」

「I did, but that previous one was on behalf of just myself, and the one just now was for everyone else from the rest of the 『No Name』. By the way, you are getting your ass whopped for each and every member individually, and the interest rate, that is how hard I am going to beat the crap out of you increases at the ratio of ten percent per second, so you better prepare yourself, okay~~?」

「What a horrible business strategy!」

「Fufu. . . . it would seem that the current leader of 『No Name』 has not changed at all in those two years.」

Pest commented on the reunion of the two while approaching them from behind, and then she smiled while her trademark polka-dotted black leather combat uniform continued to flap due to the currents of black wind that were still present on the battlefield. After acknowledging her presence You smiled at her for a brief moment and then she turned back to Jin.

「. . . Aaand chop!」

*B O N K!*

「OW, OW, OW! H-Hey, wait a minute, miss You! What was that supposed to be for?!」

「Punishment for finding yourself a polka-dotted rental loli maid. And if she thinks that I am just going to allow her to get away with kidnapping and claiming our Community’s shared property just so that she could be all lovey-dovey with it, then she is dead wrong, and she is going to get what is coming to her as well.」

「L-Lovey dovey? W-What are you talking about, Miss You?!」

「My oh my, so you were actually your Community’s shared property?」

「No I was not! I have no knowledge of that ever being a thing!」
Jin denied everything quite vehemently, causing Pest to laugh while covering her mouth with her sleeve. Witnessing that, You decided that she had enough fooling around and switched back to her serious mode, asking Jin:

「So. . . . . any idea what is up with this guy over there and what his deal is? Is he one of the monsters from the Labyrinth? Or perhaps another one of the Players?」

「Most likely one of the participating Players, although I have no way to be absolutely sure about that. Whatever you do from now on, please, do be careful. His fighting ability is not on an average level by any means. He attacked us while not even trying to conceal his murderous intentions, so we had no choice but to respond with our full power as well.」

You glanced back at their enemy while maintaining the stance and position that would allow her to immediately respond to anything that he might have tried to pull off. Height-wise, that man was about the same height or slightly taller than Heracles, which is to say, pretty darn big, and as for the double-edged battle axe, or perhaps it would be better to call that thing a Labrys, that he was using, well, they all saw what that thing was apparently capable of. The horns that were growing out of his forehead were also boasting a dignity and regal appearance, and it would be quite suitable to call them a symbol of that man’s power. Also. . . . . . . . . . . . .

(The mask of a cow-headed monster . . .  huh? And this smell. . . . . I feel loke I have smelled it somewhere before.)

Pure white hair and bronze skin that looked like it was turned that color by the rays of the sun across many days of bathing its light were also strangely familiar, not to mention that You notice that the contours of this mans face also felt as if You looked at them before but she could not pinpoint where exactly that was. And this smell. . . . . . this was starting to truly bug her, because that man’s smell, while not reminding he of much of anything else was really giving off that 「I know you from somewhere」 vibe.

Because You was staring at the man’s face intently for a while now, it was natural for their eyes to meet one another sooner or later, and when it finally happened, he also seemed to be staring back at her as if he was thinking if he has not seen her somewhere before, which was admittedly quite unusual.

「People like you are quite a rare breed nowadays. The Gift that allows you to imitate the powers of even Divine Beasts. . .  no, at this point, maybe it would be better to not call it a Gift, but an Authority instead? Anyway, what I wanted to say is that this power of your sis very similar to the Star Authority possessed by my mother.」

The enemy giant of a man then laughed invincibly, in the same manner as when he received the Divine Spear and its Divine Lightning head on without suffering as much as a single injury. Or to be more precise, the Caramel’s spear’s piercing power did manage to draw blood from him, but the lightning proved to be utterly ineffective instead. However, while Jin and You looked like they were equally confused and did not know what the man was talking about, but Heracles who was standing between them and the man while glaring at him with clear hostility, adressed You with the following question:

「Koumei’s daughter. . .  how much can you use your 『Genome Tree』?」

「Huh? What. . . .what are you talking about?」
「Are you not using only its exterior now? Surely you can delve deeper into it to draw out its true potential?」

You was both shocked and surprised upon hearing Heracles’ words. After all, she did not tell anyone about her trump card. The only one from her friends who was aware of it was Sharol, a fellow 「Floor Master」 just like her.

「Do not be surprised, girl. I was the one who trained Koumei until he was able to completely master the 『Genome Tree』, so I am more or less aware of all of its functions and how they work.」

Prompted by his words, You was reminded about the talk that she had with Orpheus yesterday, which caused her to inadvertently blush with embarrassement.

「Ah. . . . . . . . y-yes, I. . . . .I see. Were you also the one who met me when I was still just a baby?」

「Oh, so you already know about that? Where did you hear about that, or rather, who did you hear that from?」

「I heard about it from Mr. Orpheus just yesterday.」

「. . . .I see. Well, allow me to confirm his words then, although I think that there is no need for that. Everything that he told you about was true, just as it is true that I do share a connection with both of your parents, and especially your father, who I was taking good care of, just as he was taking good care of me. If we are going to have time after this battle is over, then I will gladly talk about those times with you.」

Heracles then laughed softly, but that laugh and smile that bloomed on his face only lasted for about a moment. He took a step forward and then turned over his shoulder, asking her with a stern look on his face:

「Let me ask you again, just so that I can be sure: to what extent can you use your 『Genome Tree』? Are you capable of using 『Genome Crown』?」