Alchemist Reborn: Ruler of the Immortal Legion

5

"We’re going to do what? You want to drive a military transport through the front gates of the Richard Estate in broad daylight?"

Valerie’s voice was borderline hysterical. She was standing in the hospital’s underground garage, watching Tigor effortlessly toss a massive crate of medical supplies into the back of an armored personnel carrier (APC). The ten men of the Eternal Guard stood around the vehicle like statues carved from shadow, their presence making the reinforced concrete of the garage feel cramped.

Han Chen leaned against the side of the APC, casually checking the edge of a combat knife he had "borrowed" from the armory. "Not broad daylight, Valerie. The sun hasn't come up yet. Besides, Richard was kind enough to invite me via video call. It would be rude not to show up."

"It’s a fortress!" Valerie insisted, stepping into his line of sight. "He has automated turrets, a private security force of over a hundred men, and God knows what other biological nightmares he’s cooked up in those labs. You’re not just declaring war on a man; you’re declaring war on the city's infrastructure."

Han Chen looked up, his golden eyes reflecting the harsh overhead LED lights. "Infrastructure can be rebuilt. Souls, however, are a bit more fragile. Tigor, are we ready?"

"The men have been fed the catalyst, Tuan," Tigor rumbled, his voice sounding like two tectonic plates grinding together. "Their spirits are high. Their hunger is... significant."

"Good. Get in."

Han Chen climbed into the front seat, gesturing for Valerie to join him. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, looking back at the hospital where General Arlan was still recovering, before cursing under her breath and climbing into the driver’s seat.

"If we die, I'm haunting you first," she muttered, slamming the engine into gear.

The heavy APC roared to life, its tires screeching as it tore out of the garage and onto the deserted streets of Arkas City.

---

The Richard Estate sat on a hill overlooking the harbor, a sprawling monolith of glass, steel, and arrogance. As the APC crested the final rise, the estate’s security systems didn't wait for a greeting.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!

Two automated gatling guns mounted on the perimeter wall opened fire. Tracers lit up the pre-dawn sky, chewing into the APC’s armored plating.

"Hold steady!" Han Chen commanded, his hands moving in a blur. He wasn't reaching for a weapon. He was drawing symbols in the air with his own blood, which glowed with a faint, crimson light.

"Alchemy Array: Iron-Curtain Displacement!"

He slammed his palms against the dashboard. A wave of golden energy rippled out from the vehicle, forming a shimmering dome. The bullets didn't just bounce off; they seemed to lose their kinetic energy the moment they touched the barrier, falling to the pavement like harmless pebbles.

Valerie stared, her foot heavy on the gas. "What... what did you just do?"

"I changed the local density of the air," Han Chen said calmly. "To those bullets, we’re currently moving through deep water. Now, break the gate."

Valerie didn't need to be told twice. She floored it. The APC slammed into the reinforced titanium gates at eighty miles per hour. With a deafening screech of rending metal, the gates buckled and snapped, and the vehicle skidded onto the pristine white gravel of Richard’s driveway.

"Eternal Guard! Disembark!" Han Chen roared.

The rear doors of the APC flew open. Tigor and the nine others surged out like a black tide.

Richard’s private security force—men in high-tech body armor wielding tactical shotguns—poured out of the main villa. They were professionals, the best money could buy. But they weren't prepared for this.

Tigor took a shotgun blast directly to the chest. The force should have laid him out. Instead, he simply looked down at the smoldering holes in his vest, grabbed the barrel of the gun, and snapped it like a twig. With a backhand blow that carried the weight of a sledgehammer, he sent the guard flying thirty feet into a decorative fountain.

"Don't kill the humans unless necessary!" Han Chen shouted over the din of battle. "I need witnesses to tell the world what happens when you hunt a Sovereign."

He stepped out of the vehicle, his gaze fixed on the top floor of the villa. He could feel it—a concentration of dark, stagnant energy. Richard wasn't alone up there.

Suddenly, the ground groaned. The manicured lawn in front of the villa began to heave, the grass being pushed aside by massive, pale shapes emerging from the earth.

"More Proyek X?" Valerie asked, her pistol shaking in her hand.

"No," Han Chen said, his eyes narrowing. "Something older. Something Richard didn't build, but found."

Three figures rose from the dirt. They weren't giants like the monsters in the hospital. They were human-sized, draped in tattered, ancient bandages, their skin looking like parched parchment. They carried bronze swords that pulsed with a sickly green light.

"Grave-Guardians," Han Chen whispered, a spark of genuine interest in his eyes. "So, Richard found an ancient tomb during his excavations. He’s been trying to combine modern biology with ancient necromancy."

The three guardians moved with a stuttering, supernatural speed. One of them lunged at Han Chen, the bronze sword whistling through the air.

Han Chen didn't dodge. He raised his bare hand, catching the blade between two fingers. The green energy hissed against his skin, trying to rot his flesh, but his golden Qi was like sunfire, burning the corruption away.

"You’re a long way from home, little ghost," Han Chen said.

He twisted his wrist. The bronze blade shattered into a thousand shards. With a thrust of his palm, he sent a burst of pure Alchemical Fire into the guardian’s chest. The creature didn't scream; it simply dissolved into a pile of gray ash and bone dust.

The other two guardians were intercepted by the Eternal Guard. It was a clash of two different eras of death—the reborn veterans against the undying dead.

Han Chen didn't stay to watch. He walked toward the main entrance of the villa, the glass doors shattering outward before he even touched them.

Inside, the opulence was sickening. Gold-leafed statues, priceless paintings, and the smell of expensive wine. Richard was standing at the top of the grand marble staircase, his face no longer calm. He was holding a remote detonator, his knuckles white.

"Stay back!" Richard screamed, his voice cracking. "I’ve rigged the entire sub-basement with thermobaric charges! If I die, this entire hill goes up! Arkas City will have a new crater!"

Han Chen continued to walk up the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the cavernous hall. "You still don't get it, do you, Richard? You’re threatening a man who has seen worlds burn and be reborn. Your 'bombs' are just toys."

"I'll do it! I swear!"

"Then do it," Han Chen said, stopping ten feet away. "Press the button. Let's see if your sparks can fly in my presence."

Richard roared and slammed his thumb down on the trigger.

Silence.

He pressed it again. And again. The detonator clicked uselessly in his hand.

"I took the liberty of neutralizing the chemical primers the moment I stepped onto your property," Han Chen said, his voice cold and flat. "To me, your explosives are just a collection of unstable molecules. I simply told them... to stay still."

Richard dropped the remote, his face turning a ghostly shade of white. He backed away, stumbling into his study. "What... what are you?"

"I am the consequence of your greed," Han Chen said, stepping into the study.

He didn't kill Richard. Not yet. He walked over to the desk and picked up a heavy, leather-bound ledger. He flipped through the pages—names, dates, bribe amounts, and coordinates for something called "The Void Mine."

"You were looking for the Naga Surgawi," Han Chen said, looking at a map pinned to the wall. "But you found something else. Something that scared even a shark like you."

"You don't know what's out there," Richard whimpered, cowering in the corner. "The things we woke up... they're not just monsters. They're... they're the original owners of this world."

Han Chen closed the ledger. He looked out the window at the rising sun. The sky was turning a bruised purple, the same color as the General’s poisoned skin.

"They can try to reclaim it," Han Chen said, his voice carrying a promise of violence that made the air in the room vibrate. "But they’ll find that I’ve already moved in. And I don't like roommates."

He turned back to Richard. "Tigor! Take our host to Sektor 7. I want him kept alive. He has a lot more stories to tell."

As Tigor dragged the screaming billionaire out of the room, Han Chen looked at Valerie, who was standing in the doorway, her face pale.

"The war just started, didn't it?" she asked.

Han Chen looked at his hands, which were glowing with the faint, residual light of the alchemy he had just performed.

"No, Valerie," he said. "The war ended the moment I woke up. Now, it’s just a cleanup operation."