Chapter 678
Chapter 678
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 678
Chapter Title: Vanguard - Alien Invasion
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"Alright, Cloud! Let's see whose life gets wrecked worse!"
I shouted boldly. Then, a cornstalk taller than me shook.
Both her head and mine turned toward the cornfield at the same time. There wasn't even a hint of wind right now. Something moving was inside the cornfield.
"Get over here!"
Cloud yelled urgently. I smirked.
"You think I don't see through your little scheme? Pretending it's urgent so I'll come closer, then snatch my smartphone and beat me with it. I'm not falling for cheap tricks like that."
"That's not it! My instincts are screaming it's bad! This situation is dangerous! Hurry up and come to my side!"
Cloud gestured frantically toward me. Her expression was so genuine that I almost fell for it.
"Not buying it."
"Ugh, you're so frustrating! Fine! I'll come to you, so stay right there and don't move!"
The moment she started moving toward me, something pitch-black lunged at her from the cornfield. It was so fast even I struggled to react.
"Kyaaack!"
Cloud screamed as she swung her fists and feet at the black thing.
'A dog? A lizard?'
I narrowed my eyes at the creature attacking Cloud. Its entire body was covered in chitinous armor. Its head resembled a ferocious dog's, and its tail was long like a lizard's.
"Get lost!"
Boom!
A shockwave erupted, sending the black dog creature flying far away. It landed in the cornfield and vanished quickly into the dense stalks. The field was too vast to chase it down.
I cautiously approached Cloud, who had collapsed to the ground.
"You okay?"
"Does this look okay to you?!"
I'd asked out of concern, but all I got back was hysteria. I got it. Getting ambushed out of nowhere would piss anyone off. Especially since the black dog had bitten and trampled her, turning her cape into rags and ripping her bodysuit to expose patches of pale skin.
Blood trickled from the wounded skin. If it could injure her like that, the black dog wasn't ordinary. Though it was just scratches, at worst.
"...Looks like you're mostly fine. Good. But that bodysuit of yours rips every time. No durability, so why do you keep wearing it?"
"It's made of cutting-edge material! And stop calling it a bodysuit."
I offered my hand. But she ignored it completely and stood up on her own.
"That black dog is dangerous. It got to me like that. A normal person would be dead before they could fight back. We need to take it out here."
"Agreed, but it's hiding in the cornfield. Without a way to find it or lure it out, it's tough. Better to call for backup from HQ."
"No way. That monster hurt me. Even a special forces team would get wiped out in seconds. To catch it without casualties, it has to be us."
"Us? Did you say something wrong there?"
"You're not a normal human. Your physical abilities have already surpassed human limits. You think I don't know that?"
"Compared to you, I'm just a normal human."
We headed toward the buildings.
Our mission—more precisely, my mission—was to destroy the planetary coordinate transmitter hidden somewhere on this farm. The device gathered energy from the atmosphere and broadcast coordinates to the planet Braktasia. Once it received the signal back from Braktasia, it would turn into a warp gate connecting to that planet.
We opened the door to the farmhouse and were met with a gruesome scene.
Four mutilated corpses were scattered everywhere. Blood had congealed, and maggots writhed in the rotting entrails. Arms, legs, and heads were smashed in places. At least their faces were intact enough to tell they were a family of four.
"Urk."
Cloud dry-heaved. Even as a hero, she apparently hadn't seen many scenes this horrific.
"If you're gonna puke, do it outside."
"I'm not. How are you so calm?"
"This isn't enough to faze me."
"......"
She gave me a strange look. No hostility. If anything, it was pity. This immature hero was clearly misunderstanding something. But explaining it was too much hassle, so I let it slide.
We rummaged through the house.
"Ugh, what's all this?"
Cloud forcibly pried open a steel safe hidden in the corner and pulled out its contents. A desiccated lizard, a black book etched with red magic circles, a goat's horn, and more. Instead of money, it was stuffed with bizarre objects.
"That's a demon summoning book... and the rest are probably occult stuff."
"...Demon summoning? Are they insane?"
She said gravely. Demons existed in this world. With superhumans and aliens around, there was no reason demons wouldn't.
"Guess this family were devil worshippers. Not unusual. This world's full of crazies."
"And hunting down those crazies is your job?"
"Pretty much. OPL's a secret agency for sniffing out and eliminating national threats. No planetary transmitter here, so let's check the next building."
The next structure was a barn. Full of trucks and farming equipment. And there, on a table, we found the planetary coordinate transmitter.
It looked like a small steel castle about a meter tall. Tiny red lights blinked slowly across it.
"This it?"
"Yeah. Matches the description from HQ. Smash this, and mission accomplished."
"We still need to kill that black dog."
"Yes, yes, I know. Let's wreck this first."
"Why's this here? They looked human, not alien..."
"Even aliens can collaborate with us, and humans can want Earth gone. Maybe they hated the world, or got it as a gift from aliens."
"......Step back."
I did. She clenched her fist and swung it powerfully at the transmitter.
Flash!
A transparent energy barrier protected it. Her punch didn't even dent the device.
"It's too tough!"
"Its energy isn't infinite. Keep hitting it, and it'll break."
Boom! Bang!
Her fists hammered the barrier. Crack. A fissure appeared on the third hit.
'Brute.'
HQ had actually told me how to destroy it: pour water on it and send electricity through to short it out.
"......!"
I felt killing intent.
A chill raced down my spine, every hair standing on end.
Cloud sensed it too and froze, scanning around.
'Not all around. Above...!'
Crash!
The ceiling shattered as the black dog dropped toward Cloud, like it was guarding the transmitter.
'So the black dog really is an alien sentinel.'
I backed away and drew my gun. Knowing it wouldn't help much, I still fired at the creature gnawing Cloud's arm. The bullets bounced off its hide.
"You picked the wrong fight! This time's different!"
Cloud grabbed the black dog's leg and hurled it. Her technique was sloppy, but her strength was insane.
"Krrraaang!"
The black dog howled in pain but charged again without falling. Cloud, pride stung, met it with raw physical power—no abilities.
It was a fine dogfight.
"Go, Cloud! Fight!"
"Shut up!"
Cloud snapped irritably, her body covered in scratches. Did she know her bodysuit was torn by its claws, exposing her left breast and butt crack?
'Probably not. Too focused on the fight.'
It was a nice view. I hoped the black dog shredded the rest of that suit.
"You're too dangerous!"
Cloud grabbed the black dog, spun, and threw it—at the transmitter. Planning to take both out at once.
Kaboom!
The barrier shattered, and the transmitter crumpled.
Vrrrrooom.
The air grew heavy. I barely stayed upright. Cloud collapsed, unable to move.
Weeeen! Weeeen! Weeeen!
The transmitter glowed brightly, flashing. Something was wrong.
Space in front of it warped, opening a new area—but unstable, shaking. Leaving it like this felt like it would explode.
'Hack.'
'Stop the warp gate now.'
The transmitter obeyed. The exploding warp space shrank and stabilized.
Then 4 seconds passed. Hacking ended. The distortion hadn't fully vanished, but it was enough, I thought.
Arrogance.
The warp space suddenly detonated, swallowing me and Cloud.
'...Was I wrong?'
I was fine. Cloud got up from the floor too. I had no injuries, but her bodysuit was torn all over. The second she stood, she covered her chest and crotch with both hands and shrieked.
"Don't look! Turn away! Give me your clothes!"
"Jeez..."
I sighed and handed her my jacket. Then I glanced at the black dog's corpse and the transmitter—and paused.
Something felt off.
The black dog was definitely dead. Head caved in, no breathing.
The transmitter was the weird part. Its slow red blinking continued nonstop. And the world around me felt... different.
"Cloud. Something's wrong, right?"
She frowned at my words while putting on the jacket, then gasped.
"...Yeah. Something's off. I haven't felt the wind since earlier."
And it felt claustrophobic. We were outside, but it was like being trapped in a cell.
I punched the transmitter hard. No barrier, so my strength should've smashed it. But it just slid back a bit—no cracks, nothing. Only my hand hurt.
"What are you doing? Can't even break that?"
"...You try."
"Haa."
She sighed and swung her fist.
It slid away unbroken and hit the floor. No change.
"...Weird. What's going on?"
I looked around and tried to head outside. The stuffiness was unbearable. I pushed the door. It was stuck.
'Wasn't this tight before...'
I shoved harder, and it opened. Outside, I couldn't believe my eyes. The cornfield was frozen. Leaves mid-sway in the wind that wasn't blowing. Clouds in the sky motionless.
'Time's stopped...?'
That was the only conclusion.
"My powers aren't working! You! Did you do something again?!"
Cloud stormed up behind me, furious.
"Powers not working?"
"Yeah! Spill it! What did you do?!"
"I didn't do anything. Look outside. Time seems stopped."
"Quit joking..."
She saw my face, realized it wasn't a joke, and rushed out. She stared at the frozen cornfield and up at the sky.
"My God..."
I checked my smartphone. It worked, but no signal, and the clock was frozen. Time had definitely stopped.
'Only one suspect... the transmitter. Damn. Not gonna be stuck in a timeless world forever, right? Is this quest fucked?'
I sighed. There went my random skill ticket.
'Maybe check this out in the Vampire Detective world.'
As I pondered, I spotted Cloud standing there, dazed.
'...This might actually be a good opportunity.'
I licked my lips.