Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: The Skilled Ones Will Survive
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When you lower the diaphragm, the lungs expand downward, and your inhalation becomes very deep.
It's known as abdominal breathing.
Kang Geohan calmly regulated his breathing, releasing his tension.
‘Gotta keep my head straight.’
Once all the upgrades and fine-tuning on Kang Geohan's new Gigant, Diaphragm, were complete, the Count announced a new strategy.
Operation Watershed.
True to its name, it was the pivotal operation that would decide the fate of the war—and ridiculously dangerous.
-Huu... Huu... I can do this. I can do it.
The muttering voice of Roen White came through the comms.
“Roen. Comms are open.”
-Oh? Ah, sorry. Hoo... I'm just so tense. Ah, of all places, we have to run this op in the Mad Moon Zone... It's driving me insane. Totally.
A grumble followed, then the comms cut out, and silence returned.
Kang Geohan stood in Diaphragm's cockpit with his eyes closed, steadying his mind.
The operation's objective was simple enough.
The enemy was transporting a Forge of Origins to build a Gigant factory. Destroy the Forge of Origins or its essential components.
‘The Void Hemisphere. Pedestal of All Creation, Bellows of Infinite Forms, Infinite Ember...’
These were the vital parts that made up the Forge of Origins—treasures that required the full might of a nation to produce even one.
‘Transporting something like that means their defenses will be top-notch.’
In truth, this battle was far too large-scale to call a guerrilla op.
The Count had squeezed out every last bit of their remaining forces: 41 Gigants and 117 Golems. Not a single unit left behind to guard the outpost—everything mobilized.
But even that wasn't enough.
The enemy was estimated at a minimum of 50 Gigants, possibly up to 100.
Could they break through the enemy's superior numbers and destroy the Forge of Origins?
And could they survive and retreat afterward?
Nothing was guaranteed.
That's why the Count was playing a gamble with this operation.
-...Signal!
The Mad Moon Zone.
The place where, in the past, the Count had been saved from crisis.
The domain ruled by the Wolf Queen.
Beneath this sky, where the moon that incites human madness loomed especially large, red fireworks burst overhead.
Rumble!
Screeech!
Forty Gigants took to the air at the signal. Camouflaged with grass and rocks on their outer armor to blend with nature, they spewed steam and rose from hiding spots everywhere.
At the same time,
Awooooooo!!!
A howl filled with rage pierced the Mad Moon Zone.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Count's machine, Fenrir, charged at full speed from beyond the horizon.
Drawing his bloodstained greatsword, the Count shouted.
-All units, charge!
According to the Count, the wolves of the Mad Moon Zone were the most dangerous beasts along the entire eastern border. Even Kali Stehold, one of the kingdom's top Counts, had avoided direct confrontation with the Wolf Queen, leaving the land untouched for over a decade.
But the Rogot Kingdom didn't know that. Which was why their vital convoy transporting the Forge of Origins was passing right by the Mad Moon Zone.
The Count exploited that fact.
-Charge! Charge! Run! Full speed!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Gigants ran. Indiscriminately, like buffaloes with their tails on fire—fierce and reckless.
The Count latched onto the convoy's rear, then accelerated in a flash to surge ahead.
The horizon rushed forward, and beyond it, 83 enemy Gigants appeared clearly in the SPU's senses.
The enemies had detected their mad charge as well.
They formed a massive wall of shields, spears extended sharp and heavy, bracing for impact. They looked unbreakable—if they collided, Linekar's side would shatter.
But leading the charge was none other than Kali Stehold, the king's third blade, the hero called the kingdom's pioneering sword.
The Count sheathed his greatsword in the main weapon mount and drew a single hilt. A special weapon consisting only of a long, thick hilt without a blade.
Annihilation Beam—Burst.
-Get out of the way, you bastards!
Not the light of dawn (因), but the light of annihilation (殲). And explosion (爆).
The moment the Count swung the hilt, a blinding flash erupted along it, and countless steel balls laced with explosion spells burst shotgun-like from the thick hilt.
KABOOOOOM!
A deafening roar assaulted the ears, a blast of hot wind followed, and with shattering cracks and explosions, hundreds of steel balls hammered into the Rogot Gigants' shields.
The ground shook. Shattered shield fragments rained like glass, and Gigants unable to withstand the impact tumbled across the earth. In a single blow, the enemy's ironclad formation scattered.
-Break through!
The Count bellowed.
His goal in this operation: a chaotic melee where friend and foe were indistinguishable.
-Follow the Count! Don't fall behind! Charge!
Viscount Ruk Heyend's custom machine Mirr and five top-tier Nephilims stuck tight to the Count's rear, plunging into the enemy lines.
Kang Geohan was right behind them.
‘Here we go...!’
Kang Geohan gritted his teeth.
If he could break through the enemy lines, great.
If not, he had to penetrate as deep as possible.
Kang Geohan pushed his abilities to the max.
‘Overheat.’
Switching to Yotun had expanded the space for cooling systems.
Oil-cooling wrapped the core, water-cooling with chilled flames extended like veins through the body.
Add the air-cooling that sucked in and expelled far more air than Cyclops, and
Ssssss!
Steam blasted out noisily,
The core's rampage at 1.5 times normal output was effortlessly controlled.
‘Photon Warrior Pack!’
Photon Warrior Packs at each joint spewed flames. Speed and power doubled in an instant. But Yotun's sturdy joints followed Kang Geohan's controls without a tremor.
‘Giant's Stride, Power Chain.’
He activated Giant's Stride, which exploded on push-off for overwhelming propulsion, and Power Chain, which circulated power from limbs to use every ounce without waste.
Power Chain was spoils from the Beast Plains: a part from the enemy Titan that had overwhelmed Harkruk's mobility.
It synergized with Giant's Stride, accelerating and sustaining the explosive thrust even longer.
Whumm. Whumm. Whumm.
And powering all these parts was the core.
The pinnacle of 2-core 4-thread cores, "Frozen Heart of the Frost Giant," blazed with heat that made the oil-cooling bubble furiously.
But no matter how top-tier the parts, without a rider to harmonize and endure them, they were useless.
Kang Geohan's face flushed red as he squeezed every muscle, breathing hard.
It was an odd-sounding breath.
“Hng! Ha! Hng! Hah!”
The L1 breathing technique used by fighter pilots. A method to resist immense G-forces on the body.
Fail to use it right, and oxygen to the brain cuts off—blackout, unconsciousness.
Thus, as output rose and vision darkened, Kang Geohan desperately used L1 breathing to brighten it bit by bit, pressing forward.
When dizzying acceleration crushed his body, he summoned more power and thrust the Giant Slayer in his hands forward.
KRAKABOOM!
The axe blade broke the sound barrier, white steam bursting from both sides.
Rogot Titans and Bayabas in tight formation scattered left and right under the momentum.
Boom! Kaboom!
Some blocked with large shields, but Giant Slayer cleaved them in half.
Heavy Gigants tumbled. Kang Geohan ignored the fallen and burrowed deeper.
“Ha! Hah! Hng! Ah!”
He wrung out his mana essence, pulling up more mana.
Kang Geohan could currently draw about 80 points of mana at once. With total mana at 373, that was around 4.5RM. Compared to average riders hitting 5RM, Kang Geohan's past advantage of pulling 2RM seemed faded.
But reality differed.
Balrog's core had changed the quality of his mana essence.
Even with the same muscle mass, two people produce vastly different strength.
Differences in motor neuron quantity/quality and muscle usage technique lead to huge performance gaps.
Bodybuilder vs. powerlifter.
Bodybuilders, specialized in hypertrophy, have bigger, more muscle than powerlifters.
Yet the powerlifter with less muscle lifts far heavier barbells.
That was Kang Geohan. He could momentarily leverage 3,678 Pindem mana essence to output mana matching or exceeding those with over 5,000 Pindem.
“Ha!”
Kang Geohan squeezed deep breaths from his gut, compressing and twisting his mana essence.
[Mana: 373 / 373]
[Mana: 470 / 373]
Mana ballooned beyond essence limits.
“Hah! Hng!”
In that state, he snapped his mana essence three, four, five times—and finally detonated it.
[Mana: 470 / 373]
[Mana: 557 / 373]
[Mana: 694 / 373]
Mana spiked nearly double normal.
Channeling 4.5RM there produced a whopping 154 points of mana output.
Matching a Gold Knight at full power.
Fully upgraded Yotun + Gold Knight-level mana output.
Regular Titans couldn't withstand it.
Thud!
Kaboom!
Titans charging to block Kang Geohan flew every which way, and he delved deeper into enemy ranks.
Breakthrough after breakthrough!
“Hng! Ha! Urgh! Hah!”
Screaming breaths fueled more acceleration. More output.
Like an F1 racer surging from last to first, Kang Geohan raced in another world entirely.
But that lasted only until the Rogot aces stepped up.
KRAKABOOM!
Relentless Giant Slayer halted.
-Hey. Know your place?
Blocking him: a black-painted Titan. Right hand gripped a 6-meter sword, left a 3-meter sword, blades crossed in an X to parry Giant Slayer.
Blocking Giant Slayer head-on meant its performance and rider matched or exceeded Kang Geohan's.
Hot steam from it washed over Diaphragm.
-Charging in like you wanna die. Crazy? You didn't break our formation. You got trapped in it. Can't read the situation?
The enemy chided.
Not wrong.
Most casualties happen in formationless melees—and inferior Linekar inducing one was insane.
Perfect setup to get surrounded and wiped.
-You're all dead.
But he didn't know.
‘If this weren't the Mad Moon Zone, you'd be right.’
Monsters lived in the Mad Moon Zone.
Kang Geohan smirked at the Titan, sensing wolves crowding his SPU senses.
“Dunno. Feels like we're all just headed to hell together?”
With those words,
Awooooooo!
Wolf howls soared to the sky.
Rumble rumble—the ground shook.
Wolves 4.5 meters at the shoulder, 7 meters nose-to-tail—over a hundred emerged from the horizon.
In their midst, a colossal Wolf Queen: 8 meters shoulder height, 14 meters long, eyes gleaming with bloodlust.
“We didn't come alone.”
The blood on Kali Stehold's greatsword earlier? From wolves she'd slain.
The Wolf Queen never ignores her pack's deaths.
As the Count intended, the enraged wolves gathered their pack.
But before them: Rogot and Linekar Gigants tangled indistinguishably. To the wolves, all Gigants looked the same.
-W-What are these wolves?!
-Kraaak!
Wolves struck like lightning at the flanks; Rogot Gigants screamed.
Thud! Thud!
Gigants toppled and shattered. Wolf flesh and blood splattered atop.
One vs. one vs. one.
The three-way battle of Rogot, Linekar, and wolves began.
Kang Geohan bared his teeth in a grin.
“Let's fight. The skilled ones will survive.”