Chapter 100
Chapter 100
14. Sky Hole, Tearing Out the Roots -3
The Gate's thin membrane burst open, and a countless host of plants revealed itself. Tangled roots, green leaves, and a phytoncide scent so thick it made my head ache, spreading far into the distance.
But all of it plummeted, unable to defy Earth's gravity.
Swish— swish, swish!
The plants stretched their roots in every direction as if panicked. Some drove their roots into neighboring plants as though clutching them in an embrace. But it was futile flailing.
Creatures that live rooted to the ground—what could they possibly do in this situation? There was no ground.
Thudududududuk——!!
"It's working! The pit strategy is working!"
"Look at that, they're all falling! Wahahaha!"
Cheers rang out from all sides. Yeah, how long had it been since we'd pushed back the plants this decisively? Not since the concept of a nation had faded, at least. The battles we'd fought until now had been little more than desperate struggles for survival.
But after an unbearably long time, we were finally mounting a proper counterattack against those plant bastards!
I enjoyed the cheers, but I didn't let myself get swept up in them. I glared at the Gate without even blinking. They wouldn't just keep taking it like idiots. Surely, at some point——
Crack—
There it was.
A 『Bamboo』 that had just emerged from the Gate swelled its root section and readied itself to fire its own body. Thwoong—! It exploded, and the bamboo launched.
Exactly the same as Joero's attack method. The difference being that this one was single-use.
Since it had fired mid-fall, its trajectory was a mess. It merely flew into an innocent pit wall and embedded itself there. But that attempt wouldn't be a one-off. Fire thousands of shots, and even a blind bullet kills someone.
And to me, even that one person was too precious to lose. I raised my hand to signal.
"Sniper, stand by."
"The one and only— A-rank Hunter Kim Minsik, sniper standing by."
"Cut the pointless modifiers. We're in the middle of an operation."
"Hey, Noah Won. You think A-rank is a joke? Show some respect. I'm not B-rank Hunter 『Bullseye』 Kim Minsik anymore—I'm A-rank Hunter Kim Minsik, who handles Bullseye plus multi-attribute abilities!"
He was fired up.
But as he said, there's a big difference between B-rank and A-rank. Especially in Kim Minsik's case. Because the one thing he'd lacked was exactly one thing: attack power.
"Far left, two of them."
"Confirmed!"
Bang—! Baang—!
Gunshots rang out in quick succession. The two rounds Minsik fired drew eerily curved trajectories and buried themselves near the bases of two 『Bamboo』.
Before, that would have been the end of it. Monster bastards generally had tough lives, so without high-caliber rounds, all you'd do was punch holes like that. But.
Boom—! Craaack!
A sudden explosion erupted from the bamboo's base, blowing out the root section. The compressed 『Wind』 imbued in the rounds had released all at once and detonated.
The bamboo, having lost its launch power source, wobbled and soon toppled into the pit below.
"How's that, huh?! How's it taste!"
"More coming. You need to cut down every monster capable of ranged attacks. Focus!"
"Just give me proper briefings, dumbass. Have you ever seen me miss?!"
I read the positions of threatening enemies with my own eyes and relayed them. Then Minsik immediately opened fire, killing them or rendering them combat-incapable. Now that his lack of attack power was solved, Kim Minsik was no different from an auto-turret that never missed.
One that could keep performing until the mountain of stockpiled ammunition ran dry.
Thududuk——!
Bang—! Bang—!
The sounds of plants falling and gunfire came one after another.
High-risk enemies that slipped past the anti-air net Minsik and I formed were dealt with immediately by hunters stationed on the defensive line, at their team leaders' discretion. It was no different from a weeding factory running with the precision of interlocking gears.
We'd already wiped out roughly twice the volume an ordinary Gate would pour out. The wide, deep concrete pit was now carpeted in writhing green.
The piled-up bodies below were starting to act as cushioning, so a few were surviving the fall. It was time to change the board. I switched radio channels and made contact.
"Lee Hyejin, prepare for incineration."
"Incineration squad detached unit Lee Hyejin, on station. Anyway, Minsik sure is excited⋯⋯ Well, he must've been so frustrated losing out to me all this time. Bullets just aren't cost-effective against monsters, you know. So he couldn't even go out into the field and was stuck managing hunters, right?"
"Hyejin, Minsik can hear you. You want to fight all day again?"
"What I meant was⋯⋯ it's a relief. I still can't put out as much damage as him, but! 『Azure Goat Flame』!"
Whoorrrr—!!
Blue flames in the shape of a goat raced across the ground and leaped into the pit. And soon, using the monster corpses as kindling, the fire began to burn fiercely. Flutter, it went. The plants writhed, screaming silent screams.
Chwaaak—!
Some of the plant bastards tried to spray their bodily fluids in all directions to extinguish the flames. But of course we'd prepared for that. We'd been fighting these fuckers for years—did they think we'd miss that?
We'd already thrown all sorts of fire starters into the pit. Oil, cotton, any garbage that looked like it would burn well—we crammed it all in without discrimination. And on top of that.
"Deploy gasoline!"
"Telekinetics, stand by—calculate your angles and launch! Fire!"
We added plenty of primer. Oil drums flew in parabolic arcs with a thunk, scattering black liquid in all directions mid-air. I layered 『Azure Wind Wanderer』 on top of it. A downdraft supplied ample oxygen.
Then.
Whoooosh——!!
Blinding flames roared to life in an instant, and acrid black smoke began billowing up. Crackle, cracklecracklecrackle! The sound of sparks flying in every direction rang out continuously.
It was literally a pit of fire.
The fallen plants turned to ash and shrank in volume, and the space freed up was filled by new plants falling to their deaths. Nature was cycling in the name of fire and smoke.
『Erect Violet』, 『Multiflora Rose』, 『Monstera』, 『Bamboo』.
Every monster type we'd seen so far fell indiscriminately and became kindling. Maybe their learning was finally kicking in—a few tried to use their own bodies to build a kind of staircase. But that resistance was blocked by projecting firepower from the hunter reserve units.
It was deeply satisfying. These sons of bitches.
It must have felt great invading Earth. Now let those freakish brains understand clearly: this is not a place the likes of you can trifle with.
Twenty minutes passed, then thirty. We were still holding them off with ease.
The plant bastards tried various ways to escape the pit. Like firing 『Bamboo』 into the pit walls like spears to create platforms the plants could climb.
That proactive behavior gave me a brief chill. But it soon stopped.
Whether they'd lost even the will to resist, they stopped even the minimal efforts like firing projectiles or trying to climb the pit. The plant fuckers emerged from the Gate and dropped dead without resistance.
"Captain Noah! I think we've already handled about five Gates' worth! It's a total victory!"
Thudududududuk——
"At this rate, we could handle twenty Gates' worth⋯⋯ probably. Haha⋯⋯."
"⋯⋯⋯⋯."
Expressions slowly hardened. The excited hunters, the cheering citizens, too.
Right. It was still far too early to celebrate.
Thududududududududuk——
One hour passed.
"Th-the pit is filling up fast!"
"There's too much volume! The Gate is pouring out more and more—now it's almost like a waterfall⋯⋯!!"
"Captain! We're burning them, but they're piling up faster!"
The atmosphere shifted little by little. At first it was very subtle. A few fewer jokes, the corners of lips dipping slightly. But you could feel it on your skin. The clear downward trend in morale.
The 30-meter pit was about one-third full.
"There's still plenty of space left, so it should be fine⋯⋯? And besides, we haven't even used all our remaining cards. Right?"
Over the direct channel, Hyejin's muttering came through the radio with a hint of anxiety. It seemed like time to play a card, if only to maintain morale. I raised my hand and gave the order.
"⋯⋯Let's prepare the high explosives."
"B-bombs, preparing⋯⋯! Confirmed!"
When they pile up, we blow them up. Our advantage was still clear. As long as we could maintain that pit, we could project firepower one-sidedly and kill the plant bastards.
We began using the explosives airlifted from Sohye's world, one by one.
Kwaaang——! Kwang——!!
The blast force tore the plant bastards' limbs off and scattered them into the air. Green debris and translucent bodily fluids burst like celebratory fireworks. Since the bombardment was hitting the ones piled thick in the pit, its efficiency was unmatched.
Each explosion freed up space. Countless plants were still pouring from the Gate, but they no longer piled past the one-third mark. We were burning, blasting, searing, and erasing them.
"⋯⋯The battle's likely to drag on, so we should rotate firepower projection in two shifts. Team Leader Park, let's handle resupply now while we have the chance. And the retreat plan is⋯⋯ no, never mind. Forget it. It's premature."
"Agreed, Countess Yeon Arang. I'll organize personnel and distribute supplies."
The rear lines began moving too. Slowly, without urgency. Preparing for what might come next. One by one, bloodshot eyes appeared.
Baang—! Bang—!
Minsik was pulling the trigger in rapid succession as if he'd forgotten to breathe. Hyejin was pouring power into the pit too, to the point that the hem of her school uniform was getting singed.
Everyone was straining desperately to keep that one-third line from being breached. There wasn't any particular strategic judgment behind it, nor was there an operational plan saying to pour everything in if the line was reached.
But a vague anxiety hung in the air. I understood.
If the pit started filling past that point⋯⋯ they were desperate because they couldn't help imagining ominous scenarios. Maybe this offensive would never end—— that kind of thought.
It wasn't time to break yet. I used Synthesis while maintaining my condition. I combined Lightning Wick and Azure Wind Wanderer to fire 『Wind-Cloud Lightning (風雲雷)』.
Flash—!!
A beam of light streaked through and split the monsters in a straight line. A deep, straight scar was left in the strata formed by layer upon layer of plant corpses.
Even if it didn't kill many, it was at least a performance. I encouraged them over the radio.
"There's meaning in whittling them down. Everyone, hold steady and endure!"
"⋯⋯Yessir!"
"Understood!"
I clenched my fist and glared at the Gate.
It was a C-rank Gate. The System had called that anomaly Gate a C-rank. Only one step above D-rank. There was no way we couldn't overcome a single letter's difference.
Those bastards weren't infinite either. There had to be an end.
"We're almost there, so don't waver—fight! We're going to burn every last one of those goddamn bastards and survive!"
But.
I didn't think that pit alone would end it. If it could be resolved with just that, it wouldn't have been given the name C-rank. And my luck wasn't that good either. So I⋯⋯ was looking a little further ahead.
The fight would drag on. I'd prepared for that.
So I didn't think we couldn't win.
Three hours elapsed.
"⋯⋯I-it won't stop. The pit's already half full."
"We're almost out of bombs! What?! Conserve them? Just a little more and it'll be over! Isn't this the time to throw everything in and push them back?!"
Considerable agitation spread among our forces. It really didn't seem like this would end easily. But incinerating that volume was meaningfully helpful. If we'd tried to handle it in a head-on fight, we'd have been wiped out long ago.
So a little more.
Four hours elapsed.
"Retreat, the plan. Y-yes⋯⋯ preparations⋯⋯."
"⋯⋯Start quietly. Don't let the hunters notice. This is just in case. Don't get the wrong idea."
"Y-yes, ma'am. Countess Yeon Arang⋯⋯."
The pit was still functioning as a killing zone. We'd milk it thoroughly to the very end. Think of it as a kind of bonus time. While we bought time like that.
We prepared the next move. A little more.
Five hours elapsed.
"The pit. It's blocked⋯⋯ filled."
At last.
At last, that green garbage had filled the 30-meter-deep pit completely with its own corpses. Around the four-hour mark, their volume had seemed to run low too, and the amount pouring out had repeatedly decreased.
But our stamina was being consumed just the same, and as a result, the firepower we could project had also decreased. In the end, the outpost battle was won by the plant bastards who'd mindlessly thrown themselves in. The moat had been taken.
You goddamn sons of bitches.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. I'd secretly hoped we could coast through with this pit. But it seemed my fate wasn't so easy.
Click—!
I tapped the radio and broadcast.
"All personnel. You seem to be misunderstanding something—the operation was a success."
But let's be clear about this. This alone was a major achievement. It wasn't something to be disappointed about—it was something to celebrate.
"Look, we swept away all those plants in less than half of half a day. That's a volume that would've overrun us long ago in a head-on fight, and we beat it through thorough preparation! So why are you all hanging your heads like that, all damp and gloomy, like something's gone terribly wrong?!"
From the very beginning. The pit had been dug for this purpose. The Elf would appear eventually, after all—— and to deal with it smoothly, we'd needed to exclude the plants as much as possible.
"And the S-rank hunters, including me, haven't even deployed yet. You all fought comfortably and still have energy to spare! I'd like to ask if you still think we're losing. What do you think?"
As if answering those words.
Ding!
[Elijah : All ready, Noah! ]
A message came in. The last puzzle piece had fallen into place. With this, I could shake off even the last trace of hesitation lingering in a corner of my mind.
I put conviction into my voice. I shouted clearly.
We hadn't lost. We were winning. I believed that, so you believe it too. If you nodded just now—— then do what needs to be done!
"⋯⋯Battle stations! Mind your fields of fire and stand by—attack when they enter effective range! The high ground is right in front of us. So get your heads straight and grit your teeth!!"
I sprang to my feet and grabbed my shield. It was time for Plan B, close-quarters combat.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The anomaly Gate pulsed. It was a reaction I'd never seen before.
It was a movement like a body convulsing, trying to vomit up something it couldn't handle. People steadied their exhausted bodies and glared at it. I could feel it instinctively. That was⋯⋯ the main force.
Crack, craaack——!!
The sound of splitting fissures rang out in succession. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The monsters began crossing over. But unlike the chaotic falls before, they emerged maintaining formation. Thud. Thud. Thud. The plants moved in step.
That made it a march.
"⋯⋯Fuck."
Someone beside me spat it out. Maybe it was a curse I'd let slip myself. The sight of reasonless monsters advancing like a human army was violently rattling my survival instincts.
"F-fire! Open fire—!!"
One of the hunter teams on site gave the attack order as if in desperation. Lightning and fireballs shot toward the plant army, and the 『Erect Violets』 in the front rank died and toppled.
Then they should have thrashed. They were plants, weren't they? They should have gone wild for their own survival, charging in to kill humans. But they didn't.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Even with their allies dying, the green army's formation didn't waver. They trampled lightly over the corpses of the dead plants and advanced. They arrayed themselves in perfectly controlled movements.
And then—— the anomaly Gate heaved violently and, at last, spat out a throne.
It was a moving throne formed from several species of plants intertwined. It was built in three tiers, and it advanced slowly, moving dozens of roots. And at the top of the tiers sat a single Elf, lounging as if reclining.
He was a young man wearing a long robe embroidered with patterns that seemed to depict leaves. He held a fan in one hand, and the light flickering in his eyes was supremely arrogant. He exuded an exotic air.
That's the bastard. That bastard was binding the disorderly monsters into an army.
Snap—
He folded his fan and extended it forward. It seemed to point at all of us. The gesture carried an archaic elegance. Since his eyes were looking down on us, that ceremony must have been solely for his own sake.
The Elf opened his mouth in the silence.
"I am a settled dweller of the Northeast Branch, a faithful leaf who reverently serves the exalted 『King of Plants』. And I am one who shall admonish you toward the proper path."
At his voice alone, the plants trembled, their leaves quivering.
"My former name was Sodang, but I cast it away long ago along with the fallen chivalry. Could a name bestowed by the beast whelps who persecuted and scorned me hold even a speck of worth? No. Decidedly not. Therefore——"
Throb—
At that moment, a single phrase slammed into my mind as if driven down like a stake. His revealing his name and my recalling his name happened simultaneously.
Scientific name, 『Astragalus sinicus elfs』.
"——You shall call me Chinese Milk Vetch."
That bastard was the final trial blocking my C-rank promotion, and the first settled Elf I had finally come face-to-face with.