Chapter 231
Chapter 231
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 231
Chapter Title: Fragment of the War God (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Swish, swish!
The past.
I stepped on the shadows using the "Silent Step" I'd learned from the Shadow Shepherd.
A true Silent Step shouldn't produce even a swishing sound.
But it seemed I hadn't reached that level yet.
"Sun!"
"Yes, my lord! Leave it to me!"
Whoosh!
Sun, who had been running at the same speed as me, swung his spear.
It was to shake off the monsters that were relentlessly targeting only me.
Crunch!
The shoulder of one monster clinging to my left tore away.
"Arin, the side too!"
"Yes, Professor!"
I ducked my head to dodge the fist coming from the right.
Screeech!
Boom!
The ground beside me was shredded with the sound of air tearing.
An attack of truly immense power.
And atop that black monster.
['Arin' uses the skill, Fireball (Lv. Max).]
Fwoosh!
A fireball of brilliant flames fell—not like basic magic at all, despite being one.
Boom!
The stream of fire ravaged the black monster's insides.
The monster's flesh tore apart and charred.
But.
Squelch, squelch.
It regenerated with a sound.
It had already been three hours since we'd been locked in this standoff.
After fighting this long, I'd grown familiar with their attack patterns.
'They may look like battle-crazed ghosts, but they're methodical in their own way.'
It was as if they knew the skeletons were my summoned beasts.
Or perhaps they knew I could easily revive them.
They rarely targeted Sun or Arin.
Their sole goal was me, running in the center.
"Sun, Arin. You two don't need to focus so much on defense!"
"Yes, my lord!"
"Got it, Professor!"
Their attacks grew even fiercer.
Bolder.
'These monsters.'
Truth be told, they shared traits similar to my skeletons.
My subordinates were cheat-like beings who fully recovered with 100,000 vitality upon death.
These monsters were cheat-like too, regenerating no matter how badly torn apart.
'And.'
Roar!
Flames flickered around my arm as I ran.
['Sealed Spirit of the Seven Essences (4/7)' activates.]
[You obtain the effect of the Fire Essence.]
[Your fire energy strengthens.]
'I'm no slouch in the cheat department myself?'
Grrrr!
The air heated up as the flames rippled through the empty air, compressing.
- Grr...?
- Gruk?
The eyes of the oncoming monsters registered panic.
'Those things.'
They always made that face whenever I used the power of the essences.
Of course, it didn't change the fact that they revived even after being beaten nearly to death.
They seemed to feel an instinctive fear toward the very existence of the "essences."
"Fall back!"
Whoosh!
At my gesture.
Boom boom boom!
The flames coiling around my arm surged toward them and exploded.
"Professor! That magic looks so cool every time!"
"I know."
The two black monsters were shredded into more than ten chunks.
But even like that, they'd revive.
Invincible.
A recovery ability so absurd that even the power of the essences couldn't eliminate them.
However.
"Phew, now I can breathe easy for a bit."
After an attack like that, I could focus on running peacefully for about a minute.
I had to put as much distance as possible while their severed flesh squirmed on the ground.
Swish!
I stepped on the shadows again.
Surprisingly, my subordinates' speed was incredible.
'Especially Caden.'
He was charging ahead with Dana riding on his shield.
As expected of an absolute being?
Rumble rumble!
His speed evoked the image of a runaway train.
Sun and Arin on either side of me kept up effortlessly.
"Professor!"
"Yeah."
"Over there! We're almost there!"
The direction we were heading was a place where massive energy swirled.
The predicted location of the "gray monster" from the footage.
'But.'
I turned my head while running.
'......It's not in the city?'
I sensed it had moved to the city outskirts.
Whoosh whoosh.
With the rapid speed, buildings gradually vanished from the surroundings with each shift in view.
"Hmm."
A foul smell began to waft in.
Before long.
We arrived at a vast clearing amid dense thickets.
Squelch.
A slightly translucent gray monster.
I encountered a gray monster roughly 2 meters larger than the black ones.
And that gray monster.
- Roooaaar!
['Fragment of the War God' (SS Grade) roars.]
'Fragment of the... War God...?'
It was exactly what I'd been searching for.
* * *
Thud thud thud...!
Budapest outskirts, high in the sky.
"Hello. This is David from HNN! Viewers, you're watching live coverage of the Hungary disaster!"
David thrust the camera downward from the helicopter that had halted its flight.
As expected of a reporter handpicked by HNN.
He captured the scene below from an artistic angle.
"Can you see it, everyone? This is presumed to be Hungary's security zone! The place where the fleeing Skeleton Emperor has stopped!"
Soon, David narrowed his eyes.
A hazy monster came into view for the first time.
The gray monster!
He focused his gaze and instinctively began the broadcast.
"Uh! Did the Skeleton Emperor predict this situation? A monster different from those reported so far has been spotted!"
David shouted fervently.
"It's a bit larger than the black monsters—could a stronger specimen have appeared? Oh, what a tense moment!"
A peculiar tension flowed across the screen.
The five figures who had stopped, the two black monsters following behind.
And even the gray monster tilting its head.
└ Whoa, scary just looking at it.
└ That thing gives me chills on sight? Looks insanely strong.
└ Hard to see, so dodging must be tough too? Like a dark templar or something.
└ If it's stronger than the black ones, isn't Skeleton Emperor in danger?
└ Imagine one of those popping up around us....... Horrifying.
Those watching the live broadcast posted comments in real time.
"Ahh, it looks like they're about to clash! And breaking news! Other black monsters from Budapest airspace are gathering toward the forest! Eight confirmed so far! Check the screen!"
Static! Static!
A different scene briefly aired on the live broadcast.
Monsters that had been wrecking cities now uniformly charging in one direction.
└ ;;;
└ I'm screwed.
└ Two already look tough, but all together that's not ten? Plus fighting the gray one too?
└ At this point, shouldn't other rankers come support? Humanity could go extinct if this goes wrong!
└ Nah, probably not that bad?
And then.
"Uh? The gray monster is moving! It... fi, it's going to fight! Incredible aura. The air churning is felt even up here by me...!"
Before David's broadcast could finish.
Boom!
An explosion rocked the clearing inside the thickets.
"Guh!"
The shockwave hit the helicopter too, sending the camera shaking wildly.
* * *
At that moment.
"Damn, damn, damn."
Romania's President Klaus muttered while watching HNN's live coverage.
"Thought it'd croak quick, but it's dragging on longer than expected?"
He was currently rooting for Hungary's monsters.
The Defense Minister across from him replied.
"Still, it seems like it'll end soon, doesn't it?"
"No idea."
Grind.
Klaus gritted his teeth and continued.
"And that's not the important part right now."
He stared at the screen.
The screen showed the clean standoff captured by David.
The problem was.
That it had been filmed from too far away.
"Look there. You see that building?"
A factory-like structure faintly visible at the edge of the screen.
That was the illegal lab jointly built by executives from Hungary and Romania.
"Damn it, you know what? The world's full of nosy bastards! Now that it's been shown on mass media, there'll definitely be curious types sniffing around!"
Whether the monster won.
Or Joo Dong-hoon won.
That wasn't what mattered to Klaus.
Once the situation concluded, someone would head there to investigate.
And his misdeeds would be laid bare for all the world to see.
'It was for the sake of national power.'
Klaus thought, clenching his fist.
'But that doesn't mean I want to go down in history as a global villain.'
That was why.
Klaus wanted to obliterate that zone.
With a nuke.
In secret.
Of course, Romania wasn't a nuclear power recognized under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
They had no nukes, but a U.S. military base instead.
However.
Klaus had succeeded in placing a nuclear warhead in a location unknown even to the U.S. military and his own citizens.
'Not just us—other countries too.'
Thirteen years ago, when the world turned into this mess.
Even the U.S. couldn't handle the monsters exploding everywhere.
With all defense budgets shifted to hunter training, slipping through surveillance nets wasn't hard.
It was an era when attention was constantly drawn to daily dungeon breaks.
"Defense Minister."
Klaus opened his mouth.
"Yes, Mr. President."
"If we fire a nuke there, what's the chance we'll get caught?"
"Hmm, hard to say for sure, but since it's in Hungary's Szeged region...... If we're really lucky, we might get away with it."
Hungary's Szeged.
A rural area situated on the border with Romania and Serbia.
"But...... There's the Skeleton Emperor there. You sure that's okay? If we're caught......"
"Hey, Defense Minister."
Klaus furrowed his brow.
"That's not the answer I'm looking for."
"But."
The Defense Minister hesitated.
He understood what Klaus meant, but it was far too risky.
To the public, high rankers were practically gods.
If caught, it wouldn't just cost lives—the nation might not survive.
"You know what?"
Klaus took another swig of the brandy in his hand.
His cheeks flushed red, as if nicely buzzed.
"Yes?"
"If that zone gets exposed, we're fucked either way."
"......"
The Defense Minister squeezed his eyes shut.
'No, you fool......'
If that lab got exposed, the ones fucked would be the president, his aides, and those involved.
At least the clueless citizens would be safe.
'But.'
If they fired a nuke there?
That would be cause for war.
War with the world's superpowers, no less.
The Defense Minister lacked confidence.
War, my ass.
Just Haseera from Korea alone would tear down Romania's flag.
Romania's 2,000-year history, rooted in the Dacian Kingdom of 82 BC, would vanish in an instant.
"Mr. President, please reconsider......"
"No!"
Bang!
Klaus slammed the desk as if he'd made his decision.
"Defense Minister. That's an order. Fire two nukes at Budapest immediately."
"......"
"I know exactly what you're worried about, but just make sure we fire without getting caught."
He was already prepared anyway.
The nuclear technicians were all hires from abroad.
They'd been thoroughly trained in absolute secrecy.
The rocket launchers for firing the nukes had been developed in utmost secrecy too.
Therefore.
"I'll follow your orders, Defense Minister."
"......"
After a brief silence.
The hesitant Defense Minister let out a sigh and nodded.
On second thought, if that factory got exposed, he'd be just as screwed.
"Yes, I will obey."