The Bone Mask's Unyielding Stand

< p>Ha Min-ah's voice rang out steady and clear, the formal military cadence of a captain who had led her Decoy Unit with unyielding grace.

< p>"Protect every single one of them to the last person."

< p>Gang Ji-hyeong gave the order in a short, clipped tone.

< p>"Operation name: Heavenly Dance. Execute."

< p>At the same moment, the HUD inside her helmet flared red and dozens of lines of code flooded the screen in a torrent.

< p>Neural sync rate rising, exoskeleton load stable.

< p>Heartbeat and current pulsed in perfect rhythm.

< p>[WARNING! WARNING!]

< p>[THREAT LEVEL: 9.8 — CLASS: CATASTROPHE]

< p>[PROTOCOL: A-3 (TAN-MU) — EXECUTE]

< p>Step one: approach.

< p>From Gang Ji-hyeong's wrist, drones scattered like a swarm.

< p>Portals beneath the skin opened just enough for current to arc and neural lines to lock the drones' vision directly to her senses.

< p>A few rose into the air to lure the monster's gaze, while the rest stayed low and flat, reading the vibration patterns.

< p>Grid lines on the HUD drew in unison as Hwarang Six's view synced to a single screen.

< p>[Vision fusion rate 100%]

< p>[Power link confirmed — Neural Sync maintained]

< p>Gang Ji-hyeong's pupils flashed red.

< p>Not a human, but the network itself.

< p>Step two: speed lockdown.

< p>"Encirclement begins. Maintain distance."

< p>The instant the command sent, every cyborg's neural circuits ignited at once.

< p>Blue flames erupted from the thrusters as metal joints screamed in protest.

< p>The ground buckled for a split second, and six overlapping Hwarang phantom tracks carved a perfect circle.

< p>Inside that circle, the air compressed while the monster's escape angles were erased one by one.

< p>Step three: disruption.

< p>Then Gang Ji-hyeong twisted her wrist; the implanted line in her wrist blazed bright.

< p>EM disruption waves rippled outward, turning the monster's vision white for an instant.

< p>Particles in the air warped as electronic noise scattered like lightning.

< p>An irregular heartbeat pulsed from the monster's core, but her auditory chip filtered it automatically.

< p>"Frequency disruption successful. Reaction speed reduced by 60%."

< p>Step four: lock-on.

< p>"Fixer, deploy."

< p>Along with the order, mechanical sounds burst from the cyborgs' arms.

< p>Launch modules in the wrists separated as electric shock nets shot out.

< p>Blue current wrapped the monster's arm and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠raced along its surface, fine smoke rising.

< p>The monster's muscles locked rigid while the Hwarang soldiers did not miss the opening.

< p>Calculating their paths simultaneously, they struck. The dull crash of alloy and flesh echoed.

< p>The monster could not hold and fell helplessly to the ground.

< p>The earth cracked, and the metallic scent of sand and blood spread.

< p>Last step, five: finishing blow.

< p>A red circle bloomed in Gang Ji-hyeong's vision.

< p>The HUD auto-marked the core location.

< p>"Target locked."

< p>Both arms' alloy twisted, metal shearing.

< p>A plasma blade unfolded from her wrist as she advanced one step, air tearing open.

< p>Short and heavy pressure wave.

< p>Only one line of trajectory, right beside the red eye.

< p>Light, heat, and fragments. A crimson flash exploded inside the monster.

< p>That was it.

< p>Operation name: Heavenly Dance.

< p>The five-stage close-quarters extermination system boasted by the Super Soldier unit Hwarang.

< p>Elimination rate 95%.

< p>A flawless system that crushed the monster in under a minute.

< p>It should have been.

< p>But.

< p>Kaang—!

< p>A metallic ring echoed.

< p>Gang Ji-hyeong's gaze faltered.

< p>"...What the...?"

< p>The monster's eye.

< p>The vital point that should have been pierced remained intact, unbroken.

< p>She reflexively leaped backward and landed.

< p>At that instant the HUD flashed red.

< p>⚠ SYSTEM WARNING

< p>[BIO-MECH LINK: CRITICAL ERROR]

< p>[RIGHT ARM — RESPONSE LOST]

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

< p>[PLASMA BLADE MODULE: OFFLINE]

< p>[MISSION STATUS: COMPROMISED]

< p>Sparks erupted from her arm.

< p>Alloy crumpled, internal hydraulics leaking.

< p>It was oil, not blood.

< p>Gang Ji-hyeong realized it only a second too late.

< p>The blade she had stabbed with was the one that had "caved in and shattered" from the inside.

< p>"...Crazy."

< p>Cold sweat ran down her forehead.

< p>But there was no time to freeze.

< p>The high-output plasma blades issued to Super Soldiers were the pinnacle of human technology, capable of carving through tank armor like tofu.

< p>Yet a monster had shattered it with a single movement?

< p>This was not defense — this was overwhelming power.

< p>Meaning the 'Heavenly Dance' operation from the very first step had been nothing but a performance under the monster's control.

< p>Even the sight of the Hwarang cyborgs pinning the monster down now was probably just part of some deliberately staged entertainment.

< p>Realizing this, Gang Ji-hyeong shouted in a fractured voice.

< p>"Everyone, retreat!"

< p>But—

< p>Ziiiiing.

< p>A sound like air being torn.

< p>Instantly, purple lines exploded across the monster's torso.

< p>At the same time.

< p>"Kuhk?!"

< p>"Puhuk..."

< p>The bodies of the soldiers hit by the light wavered for a moment, then began to "melt."

< p>Blood did not spurt.

< p>Instead, skin turned glass-like transparent, and flesh disintegrated into fine particles that scattered into the air.

< p>Dududuk — dududuk.

< p>Fingers, helmets, artificial muscles fell to the ground and burned.

< p>Along with the scent of melting alloy, the entire air turned metallic.

< p>Even their voices warped like electronic static and vanished.

< p>"......!"

< p>Gang Ji-hyeong's vision flashed white.

< p>She was not watching people disappear in front of her eyes — she was watching them be deleted.

< p>"No way... The Hwarang unit like this...?"

< p>Meanwhile, Ha Min-ah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who had witnessed the same scene, dropped to one knee on the ground.

< p>Even she, who had long admired the Super Soldiers' reputation, found this sight unbearably horrifying.

< p>"Damn it... Damn it!"

< p>Kim Pung's hand trembled where he gripped the cannon on the tank.

< p>He bit his lip until blood welled up.

< p>And.

< p>In the empty space where every squad member had vanished.

< p>Gang Ji-hyeong slowly lowered her head, then lifted it.

< p>In the battlefield, the only thing left was the monster's eye, glowing red.

< p>That enormous eye embedded in its chest clearly smiled toward Ha Min-ah's direction.

< p>Instantly, the air in her lungs froze and exploded.

< p>Before blood, machine oil boiled hotly.

< p>"...You know how to feel emotions?"

< p>Mechanical joints whirred — and pressure gathered as current erupted.

< p>"I'll kill you...!"

< p>Just as she lunged forward like a moth to a flame, her vision froze on something.

< p>"U... Uwaaaa?!"

< p>"Eh, huh? What... What is this...?"

< p>Twitches rose from beneath her feet.

< p>At first she thought it was residual light from faulty circuits burning out.

< p>But it was not.

< p>The melted remains of her subordinates, flowing and mixing with metal and flesh, began to move again.

< p>Thin light seeped through the charred wreckage, and the flickering light that had once resembled faulty circuits gradually formed shapes.

< p>Broken fingers reattached, torn joints fused like molten clay.

< p>Tsuzik, dududuk.

< p>Accompanied by mechanical sounds, metal reassembled. Steam rose from the cut surfaces.

< p>Then the subordinates who had begun to rise.

< p>The scent of lubricant and heat from metal filled the air, and the burned artificial muscles took a deep breath again.

< p>"We... Did we not clearly die?"

< p>"Why are you asking me?! Of course not!"

< p>Gang Ji-hyeong's eyes widened.

< p>But it was only the beginning.

< p>Blink—!

< p>"Teacher! Look!"

< p>"The kids...!"

< p>Across the battlefield, the corpses sliced by the monster's rays were bathed in light simultaneously.

< p>The limbs of students and teachers who had once melted and scattered began to reassemble, and those who had stopped breathing from blood loss gradually regained consciousness.

< p>And their faces were filled with confusion.

< p>"Huh? I... Until just a moment ago, I was..."

< p>"What the hell is going on?"

< p>"Teacher? You weren't supposed to die from shooting earlier, were you?"

< p>"You guys are the ones who are fine, aren't you?!"

< p>It was a miracle.

< p>Word for word.

< p>The people killed by the monster's lasers had all been revived.

< p>Kim Pung watched it, his whole body rigid.

< p>Someone capable of performing a miracle like this — he knew the name.

< p>[Using 'NPC Resurrection Mode.']

< p>[Description: A useless mode for escort missions when there are plenty of things to do. Revives dead or near-death NPCs by slightly rewinding time. One use per person. Die twice and handle it yourself~.]

< p>At the same time, the monster's eye stopped its smug expression.

< p>The enormous eye tilted upward.

< p>Toward the sky.

< p>At the end of that gaze, a man slowly descended to the ground.

< p>Thud.

< p>Debris floating in the air slowly sank around him.

< p>It was the man in the Bone Mask.

< p>Amid the confusion of the revived, he walked forward quietly.

< p>Belief shone in Kim Pung's eyes, and long-held admiration flickered in Ha Min-ah's.

< p>Then, pausing briefly beside Gang Ji-hyeong, he said.

< p>"You are...!"

< p>"Thank you for your hard work."

< p>Then he took one more step forward.

< p>The center of the ruins.

< p>The place facing the Disaster-class monster alone.

< p>Everyone's gaze fixed there. No one moved.

< p>It was a stage for only that one man.

< p>The monster sensed it too, and an odd vibration rose somewhere inside its body.

< p>Ziiiiing—!

< p>"Red... ray?"

< p>"Does that mean even the beam shot at us was not sincere...?"

< p>The monster's eye looked toward the sky.

< p>Blood-colored energy condensed, then pierced the sky like an explosion.

< p>Clouds tore apart, and the red ray split the atmosphere, raising a single 'light pillar' above.

< p>It was a level of domain that humans could not comprehend — capable of causing disasters.

< p>But even before that overwhelming power, the Bone Mask merely watched silently.

< p>And for a monster that had regarded humans only as food, that was no different from the 'ultimate provocation'.

< p>Crack—!

< p>The pupils twitched.

< p>Blood-red irises vibrated and shrank like a heart.

< p>The monster closed its eyes.

< p>And the moment it opened them straight ahead.

< p>Ziiiiiiiiing!!

< p>The red ray exploded.

< p>Its power that had torn the sky and pierced the atmosphere.

< p>A red curtain unfolded as if a storm of light had rushed in to swallow the world.

< p>But.

< p>Even though the entire world was dyed red, the space where he stood remained 'colorless.'

< p>All colors died before they could reach it.

< p>"You're just shooting without moving...?"

< p>The Bone Mask smiled.

< p>"...Thanks for giving me time to gather my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠strength."

< p>His fingers slowly rose.

< p>From the end shaped like a gun, red rays wavered.

< p>As he took a breath, every color around him went out.

< p>Red light faded white, and white light twisted black.

< p>Within a space where time seemed to stop, only his voice echoed like ripples.

< p>"True Reversal Art — Zero."

< p>Fang.

< p>[Quest Occurred: "Even in this world, a place where the country's talented talents gather!"]

< p>[Within one week from now, eradicate the monsters that will appear in Seoul Autonomous Defense High School (SAHS) and protect all students and teachers. (231 / 231)]

< p>[Quest Completed! Reward: 'High-performance AI Android for Supporters' acquired]

< p>[Description: Automatically deployed high-performance supporter in the underground secret base. Listens well, reads the room, and is a helpful assistant for rookie players who like to take it easy!]

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