Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Final Battle, Gyo-nam-dong Old Town Siege (1)
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0.
“Lead Hunter!”
As I stepped into the [Blacksmith Shop], Lee Seon-hyo beamed and bowed his head.
“Seon-hyo.”
The brand on his forehead: [Weapon].
I had crossed paths with this soot-covered young blacksmith boy right before the Muak-dong raid.
“How’ve you been?”
“Thanks to you, Hunter.”
“What did I do? Anyway, sorry... I’ve been so swamped I haven’t had time to drop by.”
“No, no! I won’t keep you since you’re busy.”
Lee Seon-hyo came out of the workshop holding a leather scabbard. But something odd was attached to it.
“Made it for you, Hunter.”
“...What’s this?”
To be honest, it was hideous.
Bandage-like strips protruded along the leather scabbard, like ribs.
“Oh, these bandages are the sheath!”
“How does that work?”
“It’s made from Living Soft Iron. As the name suggests, the iron is alive.”
Lee Seon-hyo fetched a club-like tool and pressed it against the bandage.
“It works on this principle.”
The bandage whipped around—whirr—and clamped the tool tight.
“If you pull with force, it senses it and releases.”
Just as he explained.
When I tugged the tool, the Living Soft Iron loosened smoothly and returned to normal.
“It won’t release from combat shocks... The tooltip says so...”
I immediately summoned the Dawn Sword.
I swapped scabbards and sheathed the Dawn Sword in the Living Soft Iron.
Shraaak—
A crisp, orderly sound.
In an instant, I felt the blade lock firmly against my back.
“Oh...!”
As I let out an exclamation, Lee Seon-hyo scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“Last time you brought the leather scabbard for repairs, it was pretty worn. And you didn’t have a sheath... You were using disposable bandages, right? I got the idea from that and made a permanent one.”
“With what money?”
“Well...”
A lump formed in my throat for a moment.
This kid... barely scraping by to feed himself. He used the soul stones I gave him for this.
“Oh, do you like it?”
“Like it? It’s beyond that... It’s moving enough to bring tears to my eyes.”
“No crying! We promised, remember?”
Right.
I had made that promise with Lee Seon-hyo. He flashed a boyish smile.
“Since that day, I haven’t cried once. For real.”
“You little...”
I pulled out my soul stone pouch and placed three top-grade stones—my entire fortune—on the counter.
“I-I’m not taking money! I won’t! I can’t!”
“I’m not paying for it. It’s pocket money because you’re awesome. Thanks.”
We exchanged a few more trivial words. As I turned to leave, time running short, Lee Seon-hyo called out in a choked voice.
“You’ll win and come back today too, right?”
Not “someday” like last time.
Today too. He said “today too.” A tearful testament that hope had taken root in his heart—and a sign of his trust in me.
“Of course.”
That’s why I.
Raised my fist high and responded to his trust with a resounding voice.
Lee Seon-hyo raised his fist in return, and I bumped it.
“I’ll win this one too, Seon-hyo.”
1.
Old Town District.
A stench stabbed at my nose.
I stood on Tongil-ro, watching the main force’s battle prep with bated breath.
“Bring it over here. Hurry.”
“Quietly, you idiots. Move quiet.”
Hunters hauled large wooden barrels.
Barrels brimming with oil. The key to this arson operation.
- Let’s use oil.
- Oil?
- So even if Tae-yeop’s power runs out, the flames won’t die.
Just as I’d said in the strategy meeting. For the same reason, abandoned cars littering the boulevard would be put to use.
It’s about time... to start.
I gazed vacantly at the sinister twilight city.
I could hear it. Cackling laughter.
I could feel it. The sticky wind blowing in.
Soon, Heteromorphs would swarm out from that nightmare world.
Things everyone wanted to forget.
But Kim Gye-sang... I couldn’t forget him no matter what. That smile he wore to the end. And above all, those final words.
Now... now, any moment.
I clenched my fist until my knuckles cracked white and scanned the surroundings.
This was the end of Tongil-ro.
For reference, it marked the border between Seodaemun-gu and Jongno-gu.
A suitable spot for the main force to hold.
Behind us, the fog of Paradise.
To the right, the fog of the Hunting Zone.
To the left, Shin Tae-yeop’s flame barrier blazing.
- While we hunt the Subordinates, the main force won’t get flanked or hit from the sides.
I’d advised exactly that.
The advantage of focusing solely on enemies head-on.
I waited in the middle of Tongil-ro with Jeong Ha-kyeong and the subjugation team.
The 2.4-meter giant Im Yong-gon was tending to his massive hammer.
Do Su-jin, short sword at his hip, adjusted his fluttering cape against the fierce wind.
“I heard from Choi Uk.”
I approached Im Yong-gon and spoke carefully.
“You didn’t give up on me to the end. Thank you. Thanks to you, I got to see my comrades alive.”
Im Yong-gon finally replied after a long pause.
“...Just paying off a late debt. Don’t worry about it.”
A debt?
What debt did Im Yong-gon owe me?
For some reason, those words...
Suddenly, I felt like I’d glimpsed this giant firefighter somewhere before.
Ding... Ding...
The bell tolled then.
Twice. Two tolls transmitted from right to left.
It’s starting.
My spine tightened.
It meant one thing: arson prep complete.
Bwooooooo... Bwooooo... Bwooooo...
A trumpet blast erupted from main force command.
The trumpets I’d suggested as substitutes were now in use by command.
And the trumpet signaled the operation’s start.
Five Hunter teams rolled oil barrels into the entrances of abandoned buildings.
“Kieeeek!”
A Heteromorph screeched from inside. Still, the Hunters calmly shoved in cars before backing away.
“Showtime.”
Shin Tae-yeop finally stepped forward. More precisely, he bowed once toward each ruined building.
...Good lord.
This has to be magic.
Its awe-inspiring power could only be explained as movie magic.
—Fwooooosh!
A colossal blaze erupted like an explosion, swallowing the buildings in seconds.
“Kiiiiiaaaaa!”
“Hiiieeeek!”
Shrieks tore through the air.
How much time passed? Swarms of Heteromorphs burst madly from each building. And then.
“Charge!”
“Gozaaa!”
“Woooo!”
Hunters who’d finished the arson charged in, and battle began.
The metallic clash of flesh tearing and bones shattering. Urgent shouts and pitiful screams tangled chaotically.
“Don’t leave a single one! Sweep ’em all!”
Warrior-type Hunters’ serrated weapons ripped Heteromorph heads apart.
Ranged-type Hunters’ bullets and projectiles crippled limbs.
“Load the catapults!”
In Tongil-ro’s center.
Two makeshift catapults—gas-ejection powered, apparently—stood side by side. Mysteries of how they were built or worked.
Both crafted by Seo Hwa-yun herself, installed during prep time.
“Light the torches!”
Seo Hwa-yun shouted again.
Operation tech team members loaded oil barrels and set them ablaze.
“Fire!”
She flipped the switch.
Counterweights dropped, hurling flaming barrels into the night sky. They smashed into high-rises, unleashing firestorms.
“Yessssss!”
Seo Hwa-yun roared like a mad scientist.
“Practically a massacre.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong sidled up beside me.
Arms crossed, she eyed the battlefield with disbelief.
She was right.
Low-grade Heteromorphs thrashed in the flames.
Most couldn’t even flail properly before being slaughtered.
“Like the Human Wheel... All thanks to that guy.”
“I know.”
We turned toward the distant command post almost in sync.
Had he overdone it?
Face slick with cold sweat, Shin Tae-yeop slumped to the ground, gasping.
Yeah, rest.
You’ve done more than enough.
Craaaack— a menacing rumble.
One building collapsed, flames and smoke surging violently.
A bitter cough rippled out momentarily.
The acrid stench of burning flesh and blood now permeated everywhere.
“One down!”
“Reserves! More oil barrels! Hurry!”
“Fire. Feed the fire. More!”
Flames spread across the entire old town. Each time, Heteromorphs screamed out... and died to the Hunters.
“Ahahahahahaha!”
“Die! Die!”
The cold, dark city was lit bright by the flames’ gloomy red glow. Hunters, drunk on bloodlust, hacked, slashed, and crushed Heteromorphs within.
But.
No matter how much they burned, it never ended.
That’s when Do Su-jin muttered so low it was barely audible.
“Firework festival.”
“...?”
“We were gonna go see the firework festival.”
I turned. His eyes looked like they were dreaming.
What an odd guy.
Gazing at this carnage and still reminiscing about the past?
Ding... Ding... Ding...
Frantic bells from far left.
Thud thud thud thud thud.
The ground began shaking half a beat later.
“Giant! Giant incoming!”
“Reserves! Left side!”
Shouts erupted a beat late. Three Hunters dashed past us toward it.
“Hurry!”
I whipped my gaze left, but smoke obscured it.
“Fuck, it’s huge.”
Instead, my enhanced hearing caught urgent voices.
“Sh-shit. Another one’s coming.”
“Get ready! Take this one first.”
“Brace for impact! Hold. Hold! Kill it!”
Roars and cheers tangled, then—boom—the world shook.
“Take that, fucker!”
Cheers and laughter burst, only for desperate voices to follow.
“Motherfucker. Another right away.”
By then, the whole area was chaos.
Metallic clashes and bells ringing wildly amid firestorms.
Smoke and ash blanketing the district black.
“Fire. Fire. Fire again!”
“Up top! Up! Human bats!”
And now, screams indistinguishable from shouts.
Still? Not yet?
I scanned around impatiently.
That bastard Arishel’rab...
Is he scouting the situation? Jeong Ha-kyeong asked.
“What’s wrong? Problem?”
“Something feels off.”
“...?”
“This plan... It’s built on intel that Arishel’rab is berserk. But what if that was faked too?”
As Jeong Ha-kyeong’s face hardened.
“Flare.”
Im Yong-gon said.
I looked immediately.
A blue glow burning through the smoke... And beside it, a meteor plummeting somewhere.
It’s him.
Rampaging madness: Arishel’rab.
My heart thundered with thrill.
—Kwaaaaaang!
At the impact site, dirt and debris shot up like a mountain peak. Jeong Ha-kyeong murmured blankly.
“Right side... Where those idiots are.”
In that instant, I drew the Dawn Sword from my back. The Living Soft Iron sheath clicked—shraaak—back into place. I shouted.
“Right flank hospital sector. I’m going first!”
About 80 meters.
Four glances would do it.
Bwooooo... Bwooooo.
As trumpets blared.
I kicked off the ground fiercely, fully activating Human Nature.
Cold flames blazed sharply in my heart as.
[Unique Skill, 《First Liberation: Dawnlight Yeomyeong Sword》 Activated]
The world turned monochrome.
From there, I pulled spaces 20 meters ahead under my feet.
Stepping on them teleported my form there instantly.
The scenery whipped by.
Charred university ruins. Apartments wreathed in flames.
And the fully collapsed Samsung Hospital. There, I merged my twin blades into a broken greatsword.
“...!”
The ruined hospital was a hellscape of fire and smoke.
The grand building sunk whole. Amid it, a massive silhouette thrashed faintly.
“One more hit!”
Desperate voices.
“I’ve got it! Focus attacks!”
Something burst from the smoke.
Chakrams.
Wind-whipping Chakrams cleared the smoke, revealing it clearly for a moment.
“Ah...”
A monstrous dragon head.
Height nearing 4 meters.
Eyes flashing icy blue like frozen stars... And malformed wings.
“...Arishel’rab.”