Chapter 109
Chapter 109
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 109
Chapter Title: 109. Bring Dawn to This Land, Final Battle Against the 'Exalted One' (2)
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3.
Combat Support AI.
Alkaios Online.
Outputting combat data for the requested target.
[Combat Data]
[Divine Name]
- Barpakh'Tika
[Title]
- Dull Serpent
"I... I can't help but be skeptical about this plan too."
"Why?"
"Why? Are you serious? You know if this fails, everything falls apart, right?"
"I know."
"Do you really? What if your child gets... swallowed by Barpakh'Tika at a time like this..."
4.
"Yes... Ye-jin!"
"Hey, you fucking idiot!"
That was when someone came running.
From both sides. On the left were familiar faces. Ryu Hyun-ji and Heo Cheon-gyeom.
"Hey, you lot over there."
The right side was familiar too.
A young woman with a sleepy expression. A face she'd seen a few times at the council.
"Affiliation?"
The branch insignia embroidered on her shoulder was a monocular lens. [Lv: 77]. A veteran recon soldier.
For reference, the average level of the 1st Hunting Platoon excluding Shin Tae-yeop was 55. Ryu Hyun-ji answered.
"F-First, F-First Hunting Platoon."
"You all know this is an unprecedented situation that doesn't require executive committee approval, right?"
"............!"
"The Hunters of Cheongun Hyoja-dong are under Recon Branch Chief's command. Join up and get assigned to evacuation support duty."
A brief shiver ran through them.
Fast, so fast! As expected of the <Association>!
By the way, there were two recon branch chiefs. Lee Seong-mi and Eom Jae-beom.
"Lee Seong-mi Branch Chief went to Samcheong-dong, so she's not here..."
"Yeah. It's Eom Jae-beom Branch Chief."
Another roar and screams echoed then. The senior Hunter calmly told the boy and girl.
"Rally point is [Cheongun Hyoja-dong Community Center]. Spread the word to any other Association members you meet on the way!"
"Yes!"
"If you understand, move out. Now!"
Screams of people.
Roar of collapsing structures.
The serpentine hisses of the snake-humans.
"...S-Save, save m-me... Aaaaaaah!"
"...SHISHISHISHISHISHI."
Streets covered in blood and screams.
The world felt devoured by chaos in that instant as they ran through it.
"Citizens!"
The <Association>'s No.1 spirit-user Hunter quelled the chaos like it was a lie.
"Please stay calm and line up in an orderly fashion!"
Recon Branch Chief, Eom Jae-beom.
"Panic during evacuation only causes greater casualties."
"............!"
"Please relax now and follow my instructions and those of my subordinates."
The ground shook endlessly.
Snake-humans surged without end.
In the midst of that apocalypse.
Citizens who had been trampling and shoving each other in blind flight regained their composure upon seeing Eom Jae-beom.
To be precise, not Eom Jae-beom.
It was because they witnessed his Unique Skill, 《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》.
An overwhelming gravekeeper of prestige.
A thousand hands.
A skeletal body four meters tall.
Its form wrapped in tattered yellow rags like a mummy, covered in purple killing intent burning like flames.
Every time Eom Jae-beom formed hand seals.
...Kikikikikikikik...
The gravekeeper moved hundreds of hands, crushing approaching Heteromorphs into bloody pulp from all directions.
"Whoa..."
The boy and girl who arrived at the intersection in front of the [Cheongun Hyoja-dong] Community Center could only gape in awe at that power.
"Unbelievable... This whole area's turned into a complete safe zone."
"Of course! Who do you think Eom Jae-beom is? The only one who's awakened his Unique Skill to the third stage."
As Heo Cheon-gyeom boasted like it was his own achievement, Ryu Hyun-ji nodded vigorously.
"Am... Amazing. Black & White could never reach that level no matter what."
Black & White whimpered dejectedly at that, but there was no time to mind it.
"Evacuation Column 2, Lee Kyung-hyun, you're in command."
What impressed them even more than the Unique Skill was the astonishingly orderly evacuation command.
"All the veterans from [National Military HQ] are gathered here..."
The boy and girl stared at each other in stunned silence.
"Is it because they're ex-military? That's how they sync up so perfectly."
Then a [Lv: 69] Hunter approached and said this.
"I'm Kwak Se-rin."
"...?"
"You three, assist me. We're forming up the evacuees."
Kwak Se-rin pointed to where countless evacuees were trembling in fear.
"30 per wave. Five columns. Okay?"
"Yes!"
"Why aren't you two answering? Fuck, answer quick if you get it! Can't you see how fucked the situation is?"
"S-Sorry!"
"Sorry! Understood!"
Meanwhile, over there, the young Hunter Lee Kyung-hyun shouted.
"Column 2, moving out!"
Soon, leading two subordinates.
They could be seen guiding the evacuees to the west along the street.
"Moving out isn't the end! That's when it really starts, so follow orders calmly!"
But the fight here wasn't over either.
"P-Please, at least let my child in Column 3. Please."
Citizens pleading with the Hunters.
Hunters rejecting them with pained expressions.
"No! Keep order. Column 3 formation complete!"
"Choi Jong-soo! You take Column 3! Depart immediately!"
"Got it!"
Do Ye-jin also set to work forming Evacuation Column 6.
"Column 4, departing!"
It was... total madness.
"Column 5 formation complete!"
People begging to be taken first. Crying children. People fighting after cutting in line.
Then suddenly, a massive roar echoed.
Ku-gu-gu, a world-shaking vibration.
Craaaack, the ground splitting like tearing flesh.
What... what the hell?
For a moment, no one knew what had happened. It was too sudden a despair.
A snake wriggling its centipede legs.
That immeasurably massive, grotesque body suddenly erupted from the street over there.
Flying debris scattering everywhere.
And its trajectory was... toward the clustered evacuees.
An ambush...?
In that instant.
She thought everything was over.
But those dozens of chunks of debris all halted dead in midair.
Precisely, something had seized them.
《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》.
The massive gravekeeper extended countless arms, catching the debris in the air.
The moment they marveled at that.
A roar tore through their eardrums as the giant snake burrowed back into the ground.
"...Fuck!"
"...Branch Chief! Branch Chief!"
"...Bring the holy blood pills! Hurry! What? Just grab everything, you idiot!"
Beeeeep—
In a world of dust clouds and ringing ears, urgent shouts rang out.
When the dust cleared... Oh god.
"I'm... I'm fine..."
The gravekeeper appeared first.
In a wretched state with its upper body half torn away.
"More than me... the evacuees... hurry..."
Then Eom Jae-beom appeared.
His upper body nearly blown off like the gravekeeper... As he vomited blood, the recon troops shook their heads.
"We can't leave you, Branch Chief!"
"You idiot... That thing'll be back soon... Is this the time...?"
"But—"
"—Who are we...?"
"...?"
"Answer me... That's an order."
"...Republic of Korea Army."
"Service... creed..."
No response.
As Eom Jae-beom slumped to the ground, 《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》 flickered like a mirage on the verge of vanishing.
"Didn't hear me...?"
Eom Jae-beom said again.
"The duty officer just said... service creed... Discipline's completely shot..."
One of the recon troops, an original [National Military HQ] member, finally broke down sobbing.
"Our resolve."
A mournful chorus followed.
"We... to the nation and people... pledge loyalty, Republic of Korea Army..."
At last, Eom Jae-beom gave a faint smile.
"Soldiers... those people are right there... The resolve you etched in your hearts... This time, keep it without fail... I'll buy you time..."
As the recon troops rose one by one, Heo Cheon-gyeom shook Do Ye-jin's shoulder hard.
"What're you spacing out for? Formations done! Squad Leader Kwak Se-rin says we're leaving now!"
"O-Okay."
But the evacuation column hit a snag from the start.
"...Crazy!"
"Scatter! Scatter! Everyone disperse!"
"U-Uwaaaaaah!"
The ground shook wildly.
The next moment... 60 meters ahead, the 'Exalted One' erupted again.
But the 'Exalted One' couldn't strike here.
《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》.
Its countless arms flew in, shoving the thing away midair.
「KIRAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!」
A scream filled with rage and malice.
Then an enormous dust storm engulfed the evacuation column.
It was horrifying.
No... no way...
Its stamina was three times that of its Subordinates?
"Don't just stand there!"
Temp squad leader Kwak Se-rin yelled then.
"We gotta get out of here! Lead the people! Don't lose a single one!"
But perhaps due to the overwhelming size difference.
Just deflecting that fall shattered the arms of 《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》.
The spirit-user would take the same damage... In that case...
- The resolve etched in your hearts... This time without fail...
Do Ye-jin squeezed her eyes shut.
And without looking back.
She led the evacuees running through the crumbling streets.
5.
His head throbbed like it would split.
Everything felt hazy... Overwhelming drowsiness washed over him.
Eom Jae-beom lay sprawled in his own pool of blood.
The only reason he clung to consciousness was one. If he died, 《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》 would vanish too.
[One more time ahead.]
A voice resounding in his mind.
[You can hold back the 'Exalted One.']
The voice of the Transcendent who chose him, once a battalion commander lost on the day of destruction.
[But then you will die. Do you truly wish for death?]
The ground rumbled again.
The sound of the Dull Serpent, Barpakh'Tika, approaching.
"Service creed..."
Eom Jae-beom answered with those words.
"My... resolve..."
The prideful resolve he held as a boy.
The dream he once lost amid the military's toxic promotion obsession.
"I... to the nation... and people... pledge loyalty..."
That dream.
In the twilight age after the world's end.
Someone reminded him of it. Made him find it again.
- Don't forget.
Kim Baek-jun.
- That all of you are the pillars of this world.
This wasn't repayment.
Just a middle-aged man who had lost his dream choosing, belatedly, to realize the dream of his youth.
"Republic of Korea.................."
A late choice.
The choice he should have made originally.
The choice he should have made... on the first day of destruction... without fleeing...
".........................."
The moment the middle-aged man's breath stopped.
[Satisfied.]
The gravekeeper creaked into motion on its own.
[I was greatly entertained.]
The diving 'Exalted One' failed to devour countless lives.
And 《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》.
With all thousand arms shattered, the gravekeeper flickered like heat haze... then scattered into countless motes of light and vanished.
After that, no one saw Eom Jae-beom or 《Thousand-Hand Tomb Emperor》 again.
[Divinity]
- Quasi-Deity (Exalted One)
[Past Deeds]
- World Pillar Jover: Exterminated
- World Pillar Cherkion: Exterminated
...(6 omitted: expand)...
- World Pillar Huranum: Exterminated
[Analysis]
1. One who devoured countless lives to gain power rivaling a god.
2. Wanders world pillars devouring lives to sustain its bloated divinity.
2.5 From this, it can be deduced it prioritizes places teeming with life.
3. If it wished, it could swallow an entire world whole. The reason it doesn't── ■■■■■■■■■■■■(Data output error)
[Dull Serpent, Barpakh'Tika]
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