Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Black Cloud
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*Static—.*
- Captain, did you see that?
Kang Young-chan's voice came through the earpiece.
Kim Hwan-soo grunted in response.
"Ahem… Yes, I see it."
The two of them—no, all the squad leaders listening in on the radio—were looking at the same spot.
The most ornate and largest hut.
From it, a black smoke imbued with a sinister energy was rising.
- What's the plan?
"The atmosphere is unsettling. Squad Leader Kang and I will head toward the smoke. The remaining squad leaders will regroup with their units, and the unit commander will report to the corps immediately."
- Yes, sir!
Kim Hwan-soo let his sword hang loose, then swung it toward the sky with all his might.
*BOOM—!*
The moment the pliant sword straightened into a line, an immense sound erupted.
A sonic boom.
It was the explosive sound made as the tip of the sword broke the sound barrier.
"He must have heard that."
Kim Hwan-soo's action was a signal to summon Kang Young-chan.
He could have explained over the radio, but this was far more direct and effective.
After all, he had called Kang Young-chan this way several times in the past.
"Was he nearby?"
Not long after the roar echoed, Kang Young-chan could be seen running from a distance.
As he got closer, his figure became clearer. Kim Hwan-soo first furrowed his brow, then pinched his nose.
"Young-chan, go wash up in the river or something."
"What? You're the one who called me."
"The smell is just awful."
"Calling it awful to my face. That's harsh."
Kang Young-chan stripped off the clothes he was wearing and tossed them aside.
His damp shirt, pants, underwear, even his shoes—all of it.
*Rustle, rustle—.*
"The captain's technique is as clean as ever, huh?"
He stripped the leather clothes off the cleanest Red Orc corpse he could find.
*Scrub, scrub—.*
Kang Young-chan used the leather garment to wipe the Red Orc blood from his body.
After a rough wipe-down, he rummaged through the corpses again and put on an intact leather shirt and pants.
Kang Young-chan's build wasn't particularly large, but since the Red Orcs were fat and stocky, the shirt hung loosely on him, and the pants looked like shorts.
"Is this better?"
"Much. More importantly, I can't believe you just pick up and wear things like that."
"Enough, enough. Let's drop it. Tell me what we're going to do about that."
The rising black smoke continued to grow larger.
It wasn't the dark gray smoke of a fire.
A perfect black cloud.
An ominous and extraordinary sign.
There were records that a black cloud had always appeared during monster subjugations that resulted in numerous casualties in the past.
It felt as if something was about to happen at any moment.
"Young-chan, if things get dangerous, I'm running. Got it?"
"Heh heh. Don't you worry. I'll protect you, Captain."
"Right. I'm counting on you."
With those final words.
The two of them sprinted toward the black cloud at full speed.
***
*Poof—!*
[You have cleared the quest.]
Do-jae reappeared.
He was back in the same spot he'd been standing in before accepting the quest.
'Check quest.'
[Quest]
Classification: Main
Description: You have met the minimum qualifications. To reclaim your full power, you must gather the scattered fragments. (Progress: 3/7)
Restrictions: None
Reward: ???
Failure: ???
'Heart of the Golem, Eye of the Golem, Nerves of the Golem… Elatra, Altein…'
Do-jae got the gist of it.
The scattered fragments were the passive skills that started with 'Golem'.
And to recover the remaining four fragments, he would have to meet the rest of the great beings.
'The problem is, I have no idea when or where they'll show up.'
Both Elatra and Altein had given him quests on their own whims.
He had no leads.
He didn't like the idea of having to just sit around and wait, but for now, he had no way to communicate with them.
'But… something feels off…'
His clothes were the same, his sword was the same, even his posture was the same.
But all the Red Orcs were gone.
"Where did they all go?"
Had they all run away while Do-jae was gone?
Not a single living Red Orc was in sight.
"Good. Shall I test my new skill?"
*Ssk—.*
Do-jae closed his eyes.
And began to visualize the flow of mana circulating through every corner of his body.
The heart, emitting the largest and brightest light.
From that overflowing reservoir, large streams connected to his head, arms, and legs.
And from those streams, branches spread out in hundreds of directions like blood vessels, until finally, another large light settled on the back of his right hand.
But here, something strange happened.
The mana emanating from his heart failed to mix with the mana on the back of his hand, instead circling around it before returning.
As it did, it chipped away at the mana on his hand, absorbing the fragments, and the amount was by no means small.
'Is this what it means to be sealed? If the seal is broken…'
Do-jae thought.
If the mana on the back of his hand, the [Sealed Memory of the Right Hand], were to be unlocked, he might be able to make that vast amount of mana his own.
*Shhhk—.*
This time, Do-jae cast and equipped his Golem Armor.
Fortunately, just as Altein had said, there were no emotional fluctuations or annoying notifications.
'I guess I should be thankful for that.'
Wearing the Golem Armor gave him a new sensation.
He had thought of it as just a comfortable and sturdy suit of armor, but feeling its finer details made it seem completely different.
The mana seeping from his body like steam filled the gaps between each stone composing the armor, acting as a joint while also serving as a cushion and a barrier.
Much like how subcutaneous fat between the skin and muscles serves a similar purpose.
'Alright, time to try controlling it.'
Nerves of the Golem was a passive skill.
It didn't have a specific activation condition.
Just as he did when using Eye of the Golem, he began to control the mana of the Golem Armor as if it were a part of his own body.
*Clatter—.*
The stones covering his arm peeled off and moved toward his hand.
The stones gathered and clumped together, forming a stone sphere the size of a basketball.
It didn't stop there; as he manipulated his mana, the sphere floated above his palm.
An ordinary person might have thought he was using some kind of telekinetic magic.
However, the sphere Do-jae created could only be made using the stones from his Golem Armor; he couldn't use just any stones from his surroundings.
The proof was his left arm, now exposed as if he were wearing a sleeveless shirt.
*Whoosh—!*
As Do-jae twitched his fingertips, the stone sphere shot forward instantly.
The distance was five meters from Do-jae.
It took 1.5 seconds to reach its destination.
'It's short-range, but this could be useful.'
Considering its weight and size, 1.5 seconds was by no means slow.
What if he reduced the size and increased the number of spheres?
*Th-th-th-thud—!*
Pebbles the size of marbles embedded themselves in a rock.
It was like firing a shotgun.
*Zing—.*
He was experimenting with the skill's applications when…
He felt an intense flow of mana at his temples.
'Something's definitely wrong.'
Realizing the sense of unease he'd been feeling wasn't just his imagination, Do-jae sprinted up a steep hill.
And then, Do-jae could see it.
The black cloud that covered the battlefield.
***
"Squad Leader 2."
Son Jeong-gyu called out to Shim Young-jin.
Wiping away sweat and dried blood, Shim Young-jin answered.
"Yeah?"
"By any chance, did our squad leader not come with you?"
"Hmm… you're from Squad 3, right?"
"Yes. I'm Son Jeong-gyu from Squad 3."
"Then Squad 3's leader is Mr. Do-jae, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
Shim Young-jin shook his head.
He had been the last to arrive, and Do-jae hadn't been there.
"He's probably just running a little late. Why, are you worried?"
"It's not that. It's just that all the other squad leaders have arrived, but ours still hasn't..."
"He'll be here soon. I'm sure he's fine. That guy is strong enough that even my uncle acknowledges him."
"Yes… Thank you."
Unable to get a satisfactory answer, Son Jeong-gyu moved on to someone else.
"Unit Commander, have you by any chance seen our squad leader?"
"Hmm, Squad Leader 3? I was just trying to reach him on the radio..."
Song Hoon fiddled with his radio.
He tried changing the channel and turning it off and on, but all he heard was static.
"Is the radio not working?"
"It's not just Squad Leader 3. I can't reach the captain or Squad Leader 1 either."
As he spoke, Song Hoon pointed somewhere.
It was the black cloud, which had spread nearly to the Bravo Line.
"I think it's because of that cloud..."
The moment the black cloud appeared, the radios went dead.
That wasn't all.
All sorts of electronic devices, including smartphones, lost their connection or started acting strangely.
Just like when entering a dungeon.
But they couldn't just wait for Do-jae while holding onto radios that no longer worked.
*Bwoooo—!*
The magnificent sound of a horn echoed.
Kicking up clouds of rough dust, the Red Orcs began to charge.
"All units, prepare for battle!"
***
"Captain, I think we've walked into a trap."
"I think so too."
The two of them had entered the black cloud.
For ten minutes, they had been wandering in circles.
"Heh heh, where did this cute little trickster come from?"
Kang Young-chan licked his lips.
He was itching for a fight, but the problem was that he didn't know how to get out of this place.
This method of trapping and tormenting enemies was the kind he hated most.
"It doesn't seem to be an illusion."
Kim Hwan-soo said.
Red Orc shamans can't use such high-level mental magic.
Which meant this wasn't an illusion, but reality.
Kim Hwan-soo was a veteran, seasoned enough to be sick of battlefields, but unfortunately, he had no experience with this sort of thing.
If he had lived as a hunter and raided dungeons, he might have experienced something like this at least once.
But due to the nature of the Suppression Corps, it was difficult to gain as diverse an experience as a hunter.
And the same went for Kang Young-chan.
*Hop, hop—.*
"What are you trying to do?"
"What does it look like? I'm going to jump!"
*FWHOOM—!*
Kang Young-chan's legs, bulging as if they would explode, kicked off the ground and shot into the sky.
But as if there were an invisible wall in the sky, he slammed hard into something and fell back to the ground.
"Oof. My head..."
The sky was blocked, and on the ground, they just kept going in circles.
An S-rank Awakened, Kang Young-chan, and an A-rank Awakened, Kim Hwan-soo—this incredible force had become nothing more than helpless scarecrows.
"Ah, screw it. I'm tired. I'm just gonna take a nap."
"What? We need to think of a way out."
"We tried."
"Still, we have to do some—"
*Rumble—!*
Kang Young-chan glared at Kim Hwan-soo.
An immense pressure washed over Kim Hwan-soo.
"Captain. I said I was tired."
A and S.
A mere single rank apart.
But the gap between those ranks was enough to render Kim Hwan-soo completely immobile.
'Hmph, for a mere test subject.'
Even a manufactured S-rank was still an S-rank.
Kang Young-chan, who had become an S-rank thanks to Kim Hwan-soo, seemed to obey him due to some secret weakness, but his beast-like nature could go berserk at any moment.
What if Kang Young-chan decided to take them both down with him?
He wanted to avoid that situation at all costs.
Besides, for now, he had orders to follow, so he had no choice but to humor him to some extent.
'A base creature who knows nothing but fighting. Once this mission is over, we're done.'
Kim Hwan-soo left the sleeping Kang Young-chan and started to move.
There were no monsters in sight, and even if there were, what kind of monster could possibly touch Kang Young-chan's body?
*Scrape—.*
Kim Hwan-soo moved forward, leaving marks on the ground.
One every fifty meters.
He managed to dredge up a memory of how to deal with being trapped in a repeating space, something he'd heard long ago from a senior who used to be a hunter.
'17… 18… 19…'
At the spot where he should have been drawing the twentieth mark.
He found his first mark, along with Kang Young-chan, who was now snoring.
'So it's one kilometer.'
The length of the space they were trapped in was one kilometer.
After another round, he confirmed that no matter which direction he went, he ended up back at the one-kilometer point.
'Then the point that binds the space must be between the nineteenth and twentieth marks.'
Kim Hwan-soo adjusted his marks, narrowing down the distance.
It was a task that required time and effort, but for now, it was his only option.
'It should be somewhere around here.'
*CRASH—!*
At that moment.
The space suddenly shattered, and something burst through.
"Captain!"
"Squad Leader Lee?"