Chapter 295: Opening the Dawn
Chapter 295: Opening the Dawn
Isn't that my hammer?
I was watching the battle from a distance, far removed from the front lines.
Suddenly, Yumil did something inexplicable and pulled out my hammer.
…Hmm.
Just in case, I gave my hand a little shake, and a hammer popped out into my grip without any issues.
I looked back up, wondering if she had somehow taken mine.
But The Hammer in Yumil’s hand was clearly doing its own job in its own right.
Common sense dictated they were different hammers, but…
A cry echoed from deep within me.
That was The Hammer I knew.
It was my hammer, no different from the one I currently held.
The Queen had said it, hadn't she?
That the versions of me in other worlds were connected by The Hammer.
If so, I suppose it wasn't strange for the same hammer to exist in two places at once, but still…
“Hammer, do you know anything about this?”
I had no clues, so I asked The Hammer a question like a madman.
Vrooooooom.
The Hammer merely let out its usual engine drone.
…I feel like my headaches are just piling up.
My mind grew cluttered, and I began to scratch my head vigorously as it suddenly felt itchy.
“Um… Excuse me, Teacher?”
An unfamiliar voice spoke up from beside me.
“What is it?”
“Shouldn't you… shouldn't you go over there?”
The Hero stared at me, her eyes finally leaving the mechanical sights of her weapon.
Because she was a sniper, she had avoided the catastrophe and remained unharmed.
It was Danger Rifle who asked.
I turned my gaze back toward the distance.
Let’s see.
Seini: on the verge of death.
Elder Li: split in half.
Yumil: doing something strange.
Heavenly Sword: twisted here and there, but still holding on.
Synthesizing this information to understand the current situation…
“It looks like they’re still okay?”
“Pardon?”
Perhaps because it was a completely unexpected answer, Chong So-rim let out a high-pitched yelp—a sound a sniper should never make.
I could understand why she’d react that way.
If I had encountered that situation without any information on those people, I would have reacted the same.
However, I knew them well.
While it was true that Seini and Elder Li were seconds away from death, Heavenly Sword wasn't the type to let them die.
And Mutants were more resilient than one might think.
So, it wasn't time for me to step in yet.
My turn would come once the situation became a bit more complicated.
“If it gets truly dangerous, I’ll fly over there immediately, so don’t worry. Worry about your own safety first. You used something that expensive; there’s bound to be an investigation.”
Since a Pseudo-Black Hole Shell had been fired, the Management Bureau would likely grill the buyers.
How she handled that would be up to her.
Of course, it would be solved if Heavenly Sword kept his mouth shut.
But that wasn't something I could ask of him.
“Ugh… I didn't want to use it…”
Chong So-rim let out a long groan, seemingly regretting her actions.
The situation earlier had been unavoidable.
She had no other way to stall Heavenly Sword, even for a moment.
The only disappointing thing was…
This girl needed to get stronger too.
If she knew how to imbue her bullets with power like Meteor, she’d have many options besides using such expensive ammunition.
The problem was, while I wanted to set her up with a mentor now that I thought about it, no suitable candidate came to mind.
That man, Meteor, was out of the question—he was someone who had survived being riddled with bullets by Happiness Drop, grabbed by the neck by Al’shel, pierced through the heart by Quilp, burned to death by the Phoenix, and crushed by a Colossus battleship's cannon, all without any regeneration or resurrection abilities.
Prohibition was technically a firearm user.
But what that crazed woman used could hardly be called a gun.
It was a bit much to call something a gun when it fired grenades, mortars, and even weird beams from a minigun.
Not to mention the phenomenon where tank shells or exploding slug rounds were fired from a musket.
Come to think of it, that villain who used heavy weapons at Nanjido was quite skilled, but I couldn't exactly pair her with someone like that.
I pondered for a moment, but since no sane firearm user came to mind, I pushed the matter aside.
If all else failed, I could leave her to a Martial Artist who handled ranged weapons so she could learn Bestowal Techniques. The fundamental principles were the same.
But that wasn't what was important right now.
“…How is she using that?”
The Hammer in Yumil’s hand transformed into a shape even I rarely saw.
The outer armor peeled away, and it began to vent steam incessantly.
It was an S-Rank Technique of mine that required Brigadier General Un-ho’s authorization—one that infinitely amplified its own weight.
If that was properly activated, the situation would become so dire that even I might not be able to stop it.
And most importantly…
…Wait. If she uses that without Otherworld Erosion, won't the Earth be destroyed?
I immediately regretted stuffing Un-ho into the lodging.
If I had known this would happen, I would have badgered him to use a Forced Hole Opening Device or whatever price was necessary to clash with that.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue as the situation took a strange turn.
I kicked off the ground and lunged toward the battlefield.
“Kyaak!”
I heard Chong So-rim’s scream from behind.
But I had no choice.
That hammer was just that dangerous.
How Yumil had managed to release it.
Whether she even knew what would happen if she used it.
Everything was a mystery.
I was also overwhelmed by the sense of crisis that my identity might be revealed if I kept charging like this.
But that wasn't what mattered right now.
If my identity was revealed, I’d just be designated for elimination and that would be it.
The bigger problem was that hammer being swung without any control mechanism.
Therefore, I didn't even switch to my Black Marauder form.
In my original appearance, I sprinted across the long distance.
It was a dash that completely ignored my surroundings.
As a result, buildings were damaged and several landmarks were blown away.
But I reached the target area in just a few seconds.
I came face-to-face with Yumil, who was howling with The Hammer in hand.
Her pupils were hollow.
Her right arm was bubbling with froth, unable to withstand the heat radiating from The Hammer.
Her face was cracking and crumbling like lifeless porcelain, as if all her energy had been sucked out.
And Heavenly Sword stood against such a being.
He didn't notice my arrival.
He was likely focusing all his senses on Yumil, knowing exactly how dangerous that hammer was.
The only saving grace was…
The charge time… was about one second.
Yumil’s mana capacity must have been severely lacking.
And that technique had the characteristic of increasing in power exponentially based on the charge time.
Mana increases the weight, and that increased weight acts on The Hammer again, creating a virtuous cycle that builds power.
So even if it was one second, compared to twenty or ten seconds, the power wouldn't even be 1%, let alone 5% or 10%.
However.
One second was still nothing to scoff at.
So, I released my limiters and poured strength into my hammer.
I prepared myself for a major injury, or perhaps even death.
Maybe the Black Marauder form would have been better.
The newly acquired ability, power absorption.
I had tested it in various ways, but it was only usable in the Black Marauder state.
Perhaps polluting and absorbing the power filling the space would have been a more moderate way to settle the situation.
But there was a possibility, however slim.
If that Yumil, who had exhausted all her strength and was barely holding The Hammer…
If she could swing it.
Even if it was only a one-second charge.
If it was swung, a Pry Bar couldn't stop it.
There was a chance to block that attack with a hammer.
But protecting those two would be impossible.
Even the consciousness they were barely clinging to.
The two Mutants had lost consciousness, swept away by the heat radiating from The Hammer.
Seini and Elder Li.
I’m glad I looked out for them.
Thinking that, I threw a charm shaped like a rat's tail toward them.
It was the spare escape charm Elder Li had given me.
As soon as it touched them, the two beings were rapidly teleported somewhere else.
Only I, Heavenly Sword, and Yumil remained.
Heavenly Sword held his Hwando, focusing entirely on Yumil.
Ready to block that force the moment The Hammer was swung.
Yumil was unable to do anything.
She had likely withered from the inside out.
It would be better if she just stopped like that.
If The Hammer just forcibly deactivated without being swung.
I prayed for that.
Whoosh.
The Hammer was swung.
Even as her body collapsed and crumbled.
Yumil swung The Hammer.
Click.
That became the trigger, and The Hammer began to open.
Power surged out.
A brilliant light that pierced the darkness.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and immediately took a stance.
An immense weight settled on The Hammer.
But since I had released my limiters, it didn't feel that heavy.
Immediately, I struck the air.
Crack.
With a sound like breaking glass.
A rift in space opened in the air.
Because the force I struck with was great, the rift was massive.
But it wasn't wide enough to protect Heavenly Sword as well.
It was only large enough to block the force heading directly forward from where The Hammer opened.
That technique had to be blocked this way.
What was contained within it wasn't mere strength.
It was a torrent of immense power, containing the purest energy.
Because it spread like light and scattered in all directions.
It couldn't be blocked by conventional defensive means.
So, I chose this method—to collapse space as a makeshift measure and send that power to some unknown void.
And Heavenly Sword showed a completely different method.
Countless versions of Heavenly Sword filled my vision.
Each taking a different stance, each holding the sword in a different way.
Innumerable Heavenly Swords overlapping in one place.
“…One-Sword Style Secret Art.”
A voice drifted out.
A voice filled with confidence.
“Infinite Sword (無限劍).”
Along with the voice of Heavenly Sword, who insisted on striking a pose and shouting his technique's name even in this emergency.
Whoosh.
A sound was heard.
A single sound.
However, that didn't signify a single strike.
It was countless strikes.
In my fight with Heavenly Sword not long ago.
I had said that a line cannot create a plane.
But if the number of lines becomes infinite.
Could one still say it isn't a plane?
An infinite number of lines create a plane.
And planes stacked infinitely create a space.
At first glance, it looked like an unremarkable technique.
The sound rang out only once.
All that could be seen was the area in front of Heavenly Sword glowing silver for a moment.
The ignorant would think Heavenly Sword had simply slashed once.
However, for about two meters in front of Heavenly Sword.
Everything within that space was annihilated.
One of Heavenly Sword’s S-Rank Techniques.
It couldn't break space like I could.
But unless it was space itself, a technique that annihilated everything within its range briefly took place before Heavenly Sword.
With that, he blocked the force fired toward him.
…Or so I hoped.
Heavenly Sword failed to block all the attacks.
There were likely several reasons.
Because he couldn't use his left hand.
Because he had been caught in the Pseudo-Black Hole Shell.
Because he had used his strength to force his way back after being forcibly ejected by Seini.
His physical condition was likely far from normal.
Infinite Sword failed to manifest its perfect ability.
It remained finite.
As a result, a portion of the energy was not lost and struck Heavenly Sword’s body.
Heavenly Sword collapsed.
He probably wasn't dead.
But he’d likely end up in the Intensive Care Unit, just like I did after the Gray Eater incident.
Now, all that was left.
Was my turn.
If I succeeded in this, everything would end well.
Though everyone had suffered great injuries.
No one would die.
I could move on with a bitter smile.
So, in that split second.
I swung my hammer countless times.
I tore through countless spaces.
It was likely a period of concentration that would rank among the highest in my life.
Destroying only space.
Ensuring no useless energy overflowed.
Solely to block that attack.
To block the remnants of that one second.
That Heavenly Sword had thinned out.
And bought time for.
So, I poured all my strength into creating numerous spatial rifts.
And waited for the result.
Light surged.
Its trajectory twisted sharply right in front of the broken space I had created.
Up into the sky. Into the far-off void.
And the remaining power.
Flashed one last time, brightly coloring the night sky.
With that, all the power of that one second vanished.
The night sky glowed brightly.
I stared blankly at the untimely fireworks.
The beautiful light.
Which had targeted and crushed only Heavenly Sword—Yumil’s enemy—before sending the remaining energy into the sky.
“Haha, right. There was that too.”
A smile spread across my face.
I couldn't tell without a mirror, but it was likely a truly joyful smile.
“I don’t know how she did it, but there’s Otherworld Erosion too.”
Yumil hadn't swung The Hammer because she had lost her mind.
She swung it because she knew everything.
Even if The Hammer had been swung.
Seini and Elder Li wouldn't have been caught in it.
That power was like that.
A power imbued with will, targeting only The Enemy.
Then, another pleasant thought occurred to me.
Heavenly Sword should have died.
If that wasted power surging into the sky had turned its trajectory and slammed into him.
But that didn't happen.
Though he’d be hospitalized, only enough force to knock him down had struck him.
The rest had lit up the darkness of the night.
“I was a fool to worry.”
Yumil hadn't been consumed by the impulse within her.
She had moved toward the path she believed was right.
And she hadn't killed anyone out of rage.
So, after the brief but beautiful fireworks ended.
I slowly approached the fallen Yumil.
I stroked her parched hair.
“You did well.”
And, I’m sorry.
It’s my fault you ended up like this.
Carrying the soundly sleeping Yumil on my back, I ran through the darkness of the night.