Chapter 210: Reinvasion (7)
Chapter 210: Reinvasion (7)
Rumble! Boom!
The military aircraft shook violently as the deafening roar of thunder rang in everyone's ears.
Most of those on board were Awakeners, and even the civilians were soldiers, so no one screamed, but it was only natural that their expressions darkened.
The plane had set a course to pass directly over the target coordinates as the Knight had requested, but as soon as they neared the area, the weather conditions turned abysmal.
Though it was a sturdy military craft, flying in such treacherous conditions was a gamble.
They were only at the edge of the desert, yet it was already this bad; ahead, they could see even more massive bolts of lightning tearing through the sky.
"It looks like it will be difficult to fly all the way to the target point," an employee from the US Branch said, approaching them with a deeply apologetic look.
Han Shin, the Knight, nodded. He had been monitoring the situation through the small cabin window. At this rate, it was obvious the plane would crash.
"It seems they're trying to prevent us from dropping directly from the air like last time," Grace whispered beside him.
Han Shin agreed. He decided they would jump immediately.
"We'll drop from here."
"Understood!"
The distance was still significant, but they had no other choice.
Guided by the staff, Han Shin’s group moved toward the tail of the aircraft. The ramp opened, and a fierce wind accompanied by driving rain lashed inside.
Patter, patter!
Raindrops pelted Han Shin’s full body armor, streaming down the silver surface.
Flash! Boom!
The brilliant glare of lightning reflected off his plate. The plane was bucking wildly; to anyone else, jumping now would look like a suicide mission.
However, not a single person in Han Shin’s party showed fear.
Without hesitation, they leaped.
Led by Han Shin in his silver full body armor, who ran and dove out without a second thought, the rest of the group followed suit.
But there was one thing different from before.
Wolyeong, dressed in her black robe and black veil, had become famous enough that almost everyone recognized her. However, Kang Yujin was not wearing her well-known Wolyeong attire today.
She had decided to use the equipment of Tiamat, matching the timing of Sitri crafting new weapons and gear. Thus, Kang Yujin had chosen silver full body armor that covered her entire body, similar to the one Han Shin wore.
She had chosen it because the enemies they faced were growing stronger, increasing the likelihood of danger—a choice Han Shin had praised as excellent.
Of course, she also had a small, hidden motive: since it looked so much like Han Shin’s armor, it felt like they were wearing a couple's outfit. But that was a minor detail.
People were naturally surprised to see Wolyeong change her look. However, given the urgency of the situation, there was no time to ask questions. Since the gear was nearly identical to that worn by Grace and Laysia—who were said to be from another world—most simply assumed she had received it from the Knight.
Coincidentally, their destination was a desert turned into a wasteland by radiation. Even for Wolyeong, her original black robe and veil would likely have been insufficient, so the change was timely.
Han Shin’s group landed much more smoothly than they had during the drop in London.
After London’s invasion, Han Shin had absorbed the energy from the destroyed Black Spire and passed Tiamat’s divine power to Laysia and Kang Yujin through physical intimacy. As a result, both women’s abilities had evolved and grown significantly stronger in a short period.
Rumble! Boom!
Thunder continued to crash as the wind and rain raged. Thick, dark clouds blotted out every trace of sunlight, stretching endlessly across the horizon.
"Let's move out immediately."
"We'll move in the formation we agreed on."
"Right."
"Got it."
The group had already discussed their formation for combat and travel. Han Shin and Grace took the vanguard, Kang Yujin and Laysia took the middle, and Sitri brought up the rear.
They weren't walking far apart, but it was better to maintain a formation with assigned roles rather than moving aimlessly.
Not long after they began their march, they were greeted by monsters rushing in from all directions.
The Ego Artifacts had prepared a thorough defense by commanding the Demonic Humans. Just as the US Awakeners and Han Shin’s group had suspected, the artifacts were indeed responsible for preventing the plane's approach.
It was no coincidence that such vast, heavy clouds, rain, and lightning had struck the desert at this exact moment.
The Black Spire was already operational.
Back in London, the barrier made of dark mana that blocked projectiles had been generated with the Black Spire as its core. This time was similar, but with the added goal of preventing the Moon Shadow Party from dropping from the sky and making it difficult for the humans of Earth to launch aerial attacks.
For now, the Ego Artifacts' plan had worked. Han Shin’s group couldn't drop directly onto the Black Spire and had to approach on foot from a distance.
Then there were the monsters waiting for them.
These were monsters that had emerged from portals in this radioactive desert because they hadn't been cleared in time. They had become indigenous to the area, only to be strengthened and subjugated by the Ego Artifacts—the transformed demons of Mammon.
While the artifacts couldn't give complex commands, they could restrain the monsters with dark mana so they wouldn't attack their own side. They expected that if they let the monsters run wild with their ferocious temperaments, they would naturally attack the intruders and buy enough time.
Slash!!
With a long sound of tearing flesh, fluid sprayed from the cleanly severed torso of a massive black snake.
It was a monster shaped like the giant serpents Han Shin had seen when he first entered a dungeon with Grace—a subspecies of the Great Serpent.
Known as "Nayakub," they looked almost identical to cobras, but they were unique in that they traveled in swarms.
The creatures had surrounded Han Shin’s group and were attacking fiercely from all sides.
The party fought back with their respective weapons. Han Shin had just cleanly dispatched a Nayakub with his spear.
Grace fought with her sword, while Laysia, acting more as a Holy Priest than a martial artist, cast and maintained support magic.
And Sitri finally got to use the whip sword she had created in actual combat for the first time.
The Nayakubs at the rear were completely swept away by Sitri alone.
As soon as she confirmed the swarm was rushing in, Sitri shifted her sword into its whip form. What had been a standard longsword with a wide blade separated into segments, extending forward.
Sitri swung the blade-whip with such speed it looked almost random to the untrained eye.
Shred-shred-shred!
Accompanied by the sound of meat being ground up, the Nayakub swarm aiming for the rear didn't even have time to scream before they were reduced to chunks of flesh. Caught in the storm of the whip sword, they were scattered across the desert, their remains rolling through the rainwater.
However, the Nayakub swarm was still vast, and they began to move with serpentine cunning.
The Nayakubs could spit venom from a distance, and globs of poison began flying in from all directions.
Sizzle!
The black venom hit Han Shin’s and Grace’s shields, making a boiling sound as it slid off.
They had intended to simply fight their way through, but the swarm was too large. Realizing how strong the group was, the monsters stopped charging blindly and instead maintained their distance, focusing on their venom-spitting attacks.
Nayakubs naturally hunted in packs, and when faced with an opponent larger or stronger than themselves, they had a habit of showering them with venom from afar. This proved to be an annoyance for Han Shin’s group.
"Shin-a, I'll just take care of all of them."
Realizing it would take too long to defend and cut them down one by one with swords and spears, Kang Yujin focused her mind and expanded her psychokinesis over a wide area.
In the blink of an eye, her power surged outward, turning the surrounding Nayakubs into heaps of meat. She used her telekinesis to crush the heads—the source of the threatening attacks—killing them instantly. She targeted every single one surrounding them.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The sound of massive, black-scaled cobras hitting the ground echoed one after another, their headless bodies collapsing into the sand.
In truth, she had wanted to save her strength since they didn't know what lay ahead, but the time constraint forced her to choose this method of resolution.
Han Shin quickly checked on her.
"Noona, did you use too much power? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I tried to be efficient by only targeting their heads to save as much strength as possible."
Han Shin nodded, noting that she had indeed been as conservative as possible with her psychokinesis.