Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Bounding Mines in Action
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The pumpkin beast's reaction was quick.
It successfully spotted something leaping up from the spot it had just stepped on.
But it couldn't respond.
-Kurruk?
Because it had no idea what it was.
That metal lump had clearly launched itself into the air on its own.
Yet it felt far too cold and metallic to be alive.
No one could have anticipated that countless fragments would explode outward from something so small.
The pumpkin beast had even deployed a mana shield just in case, but it was utterly useless against raw physical force.
"Oh my god..."
"It flew all the way here..."
Tiny fragments shot out in every direction.
Even elven eyesight couldn't track them.
The shards discovered far away were more than enough to send shivers down the elves' spines.
"Judak, you're a scary person."
Eliana stared at the agonized pumpkin beast, her natural speech slipping out without thinking.
-Kieeeek!
A bone-chilling scream, like metal being scraped.
Those massive, spindly limbs thrashing in pain should have been horrifying.
They should have been...
But the mine they'd just witnessed up close was several times more terrifying than the beast itself.
"Not meant for killing..."
When Judak had first told her that, she'd thought it was nonsense.
What use is a weapon without the intent to kill?
But now she got it.
- WTF is that?
- Seeing that thing makes me feel weird;
- Just casually walking by and stepping on one? Why is it so creepy?
ㄴ For real, it looks like something a demon made;
ㄴ Even the demons recorded in history weren't that brutally creative lol;
- Where the hell did Judak live that he has overflowing with savage weapons like that?
ㄴ Seriously
Thunk, thunk!
-Kurruk...
The elves nocked their arrows in unison and cleanly finished off the pumpkin beast.
Was it just her imagination, or did the dead beast's face look more at peace?
Even though they'd taken it down so easily, the elves couldn't bring themselves to celebrate.
"...Good work. I'll go report to Her Majesty, so you're dismissed."
"Yahoo!"
"Elkiat-hoo! We're off duty!!"
Of course, off duty was pushing it.
She gazed toward Eladriren, the elven kingdom, and let out a small sigh.
*
(GIF of the fragments exploding)
(GIF of countless shards embedding deep into the beast's body)
(GIF of the beast writhing in agony)
Inside the queen's office, wrapped in sacred wood, Armion was already on her tenth loop of the GIFs.
"Oh my god."
Miraculous great magic, no matter how many times she watched.
Her long silver-blonde hair and vivid green eyes sparkled, befitting the elves' queen.
She'd heard plenty that she had a gift for magic and was highly skilled, but this was a first in her life.
"Amazing. No, it's downright awe-inspiring!"
Armion swept back her hair with a small sigh, cooling her excitement.
"I get why humans see Judak as a god now. How could you not believe after seeing this?"
"Indeed. The high-explosive grenade he so generously gave us last time was something we'd never seen before either."
"Right? I jumped out of my skin when it went boom..."
Still buzzing as she spoke, she poked the rigidly stiff Eliana with her index finger.
"Eek!"
Armion's eyes twinkled with mischief as Eliana startled from the surprise poke at her side.
"But... you're using formal speech again?"
"...Because you're the queen of all elves. Things can't always be like the old days."
"The captain of the queen's direct knights... talking back?!"
"..."
Eliana's head throbbed for a moment.
She knew better than most how playful Armion was—they'd been close friends back in the day.
Especially now, as queen and knight captain, she had to endure endless teasing from Armion's informal approach, drawing wary glances every time.
"Fine, Armion. Happy now?"
"What about that cute way you talk?"
"...Happy now?"
"Ehehe!"
Especially since the gallery appeared, she'd picked up weird speech patterns and used them constantly.
Eliana watched Armion wriggle and spout odd phrases, feeling a complex mix of emotions.
This was... the elves' queen?
Armion was one of the few elves who knew Eliana's true identity.
That Eliana was Padtak, the full-blooded elf on the gallery.
"I'm jealous sometimes. You get to chat with Judak the most directly, right?"
"Pretty much."
"And last time, you even gave him that token you braided from your own hair! Oh my god, oh my god, just... Mmph!"
Eliana clamped a hand over Armion's mouth in panic.
She quickly glanced around for other elves, but felt something touch her palm.
"Eek!"
"Hehe."
Of course, it was Armion's tongue.
Their bond hadn't changed from the old days.
But sadly, the atmosphere in the world—no, in Elad—was no longer the same.
"...Armion, you know what's happening, right? Variant beasts are starting to gather in Elad one by one."
"Yeah. Similar type to the pumpkin beast?"
Not indirectly affected by the rifts, but directly injected with nutrients via tentacles, turning into beasts.
Signs were showing that more of them were creeping out.
"We can't just smash the rifts either..."
Armion fell into thought.
The rifts took the form of massive gems, and no method had succeeded in destroying them.
Did that mean they had to wait, knowing full well, like with the pumpkin beast, until they attacked?
"What should we do? The young elves won't sit around waiting for that."
Unlike the older generation, young elves ate meat, traveled a lot, and blew through expedition funds.
The occasional elven sexy pics on the gallery were all safe bets from the young ones.
Telling them it was dangerous and to wait wouldn't easily quell the mood.
"But no choice."
Lifting restrictions just to vent frustration would lead to elves dying again.
Armion couldn't tolerate that.
She was pondering whether to ramp up controls even more instead.
"Hiek."
Peeking at the gallery, Eliana suddenly gaped in shock.
"W-What's wrong?"
"Look at this."
Eliana showed her gallery to the startled Armion.
And there, a curt chat from Judak.
Judak*: Need more mines?
Judak*: (GIFs of various mine types)
Judak*: Got plenty, just say whenever lol
"Oh my god."
The GIFs ranged from the bounding mine they'd just seen to massive, hefty ones several times larger.
These weapons were as common to Judak as roadside pebbles?
"Armion?"
As Eliana called out in confusion to the elf queen leaning in close, Armion whipped her head around.
"D-Do these all go boom like the grenades or bounding mines?"
Somehow, Armion's pale skin was flushing with excited anticipation.
*
The pumpkin beast made for a great test subject.
Even for me, spectating the power of modern weapons you'd never see in real life was entertaining.
"Just getting started, huh?"
I'd heard from Padtak it wasn't just occasional waves.
Dangerous beasts were being sighted simultaneously across Elad.
"What to try next..."
It also meant there were plenty more worth testing.
Right on cue, a new gallery post popped up.
[Title: Beast appeared. But it's huge...]
(GIF of a hulking beast with horns on its back and head)
(GIF of it not being easily subdued by bounding mine)
Judak-nim's weapon is definitely effective...
But hard to approach and take down ㅠㅠ
It's bleeding out so even watching from afar will kill it, but it rampages for 30 minutes before dying...
(GIF of the wrecked nearby flora and fauna)
Worst, it doesn't distinguish friend from foe...
Elhheuk...
[Upvotes 5423] [Downvotes 523]
- Elves already getting cocky?
ㄴ Fr, without Judak's weapons, it'd be chaos—not just hundreds, the whole Elad
- If you're that pissed, come to us lol
ㄴ Who's pissed?
ㄴ Sigh, sarcasm is peak human behavior
ㄴ Yeah, Judak likes humans more than ungrateful elves lol
ㄴ What about Fredrick then?
ㄴ Shut up bitch, wanna taste Judak's steel?
ㄴ What do you want, haters? Wanna turn into a porcupine with Judak's bounding mines?
I didn't care much about elves vs. humans bickering.
Business as usual WWE.
What caught my eye was the bloated, muscular mega-beast.
Bounding mines could kill it, but the wait was torture for everyone.
Its size meant massive blood loss, bad for Elad's forests.
Cleaning up fragments flying hundreds of meters was a hassle too.
- Judak*: OK, got it
ㄴ OP) Yes?
ㄴ What weird shit is he bringing now...
ㄴ Judak*: If nothing's left, problem solved, no?
ㄴ OP) ??
ㄴ ???? What do you mean Judak Judak
I'd been browsing the mine category and spotted a uniquely shaped recent one.
[PTKM-1R Modified]
Developed for anti-tank, but post-beast era mods made it anti-mega-beast too.
Outstanding performance! Glorious explosion!
"Oh, this one?"
Seemed perfect for those hulks...
Only issue: price.
119,190 points
"Hmm, gonna browse elsewhere."
For that points, I could buy WWII anti-tank mines galore.
Weapons pricier than my house? Nah.
[M15 Anti-Tank Mine] - 131 points
"Oh, this should do."
Cheap, and solid performance—my eyes went to another reliable anti-tank mine.
[Purchased 10x M15 Anti-Tank Mines!]
This oughta suffice.
Even bigger and tougher than the pumpkin-headed one? No problem.
Made to wreck tanks from the start—no worries.
"Alright, send these over... Huh?"
I was about to close the shop category.
The most iconic war weapon, my old pal.
The moment I saw it, my hand froze on the shop close button.