Imperial Hunter - Chapter 129 (129/707) #17. Fragrance of Rebellion (9)
I never even dreamed of a perfect defense. It was impossible. My choice was to trigger them early and minimize the damage.
The hastily deployed telekinetic force that enveloped the entire bridge was only capable of that much.
Crash! The shockwave shattered the glass windows into thousands of fragments that scattered everywhere. The missiles that collided with the telekinetic barrier detonated, their mass, inertia, and explosive aftermath slamming into the patrol ship. Shredded missile fragments pierced the hull like paper, and a light earthquake-like tremor rippled underfoot.
Up to this point, it had been a success. But as I endured the second and third missiles in quick succession, a sudden ping of vertigo shattered my concentration, disrupting the bulletproof barrier.
The cause was blood loss. Dozens of large and small cuts from the glass shards.
Pressing my bleeding nape—slashed long and deep—I glared at the fourth missile embedding itself into the hull unhindered. If I'd had just 5 seconds—no, 3 more seconds to build the incantation…!
Crimson flames expanded destructively with a thunderous roar, piercing the patrol ship. The entire vessel shuddered like a living creature. The subordinates who had thrown themselves flat lost their balance and tumbled about. I wasn't an exception; my vision spun three full turns before I barely regained control of my body.
When I stood, my torn forehead throbbed. Blood stained the console edge I'd crashed into while rolling. A high-pitched ring echoed in my ears.
Ceiling panels had fallen in clumps, and the once-flat deck was noticeably warped. I might have blacked out for a moment.
Weee-ooh! Weee-ooh! Amid the shrill, dry fire alarm, not a single functioning automatic extinguisher was visible where the flames were spreading. Not one.
Of course not. Items unrelated to superficial performance were perfect for corruption in military procurement. In terms of quality, buying from a merchant like me would have been better. My company had never delivered a single defective product to a client.
The fire clinging to the aluminum armor plating was devouring the patrol ship with the ferocity of a metallic blaze. Extinguishing it would require a massively powerful, wide-area incantation—a madman's flames.
"H-Hyungnim?" Kyung-tae paled at the sight of my blood-smeared state.
"Don't panic. I won't die."
"But you need treatment first—"
"Enough."
Having roughly stanched my own severe bleeding, I prioritized treating the subordinates with deeper injuries, starting with Kyung-tae. I couldn't lose the organization's core forces so pointlessly. First, I'd stabilize the critically wounded nearing death to buy time, then handle the rest. Not full recovery—just enough to move on their own.
One had lost his eyesight from eye damage, but the Life incantation could regenerate even organs like eyeballs that couldn't heal naturally. That was the decisive difference from natural awakeners' body reinforcement, which merely accelerated natural recovery.
The drawback was that it consumed excessive processing power from my mana circuit. A fitting trade-off for an incantation tantamount to spare life itself.
Urgent radio transmissions poured in from the helicopters hovering nearby, checking on me and the others' safety. I had to finish healing and escape before the fire spread further. Swallowing pointless irritation at the interruption, I replied calmly.
"We're fine here. Pull back from the ship and maintain vigilance. There might be more attacks."
Scanning them, none of the helicopters had been caught in the blasts or hit by debris. Small mercies.
Then, amid static from the bridge radio, a familiar voice leaked through.
"Static… crackle… Ship 7… static… this is 589…"
I immediately recalled the owner: the captain of Patrol Ship Qingyuan (589), whom we'd contacted en route.
"Static… it's done… static… do you read?… Just now… static… missiles…"
Missiles? Had they detected our launches? No, their radar and systems shouldn't be back online yet.
The moment that ominous thought hit, a scream-like warning came from one of the vigilant helicopters.
Missiles inbound! 6 o'clock! Four in total!
Snapping my head back, I spotted four light points downstream. Over the murky river, the missiles formed a narrow diamond formation—typical anti-ship missile sea-skimming, spraying water like fountains on either side of their trajectory. Eyeballing it, roughly 3.5… no, 3 kilometers.
I ground my teeth audibly. Thorough bastards.
This time, response time wasn't an issue, but the spreading fire and immobile subordinates were. Acrid smoke began seeping through the corridors. The real problem wasn't the smoke—it was the flames creeping toward the torpedo tubes and fuel tanks.
Irritably, I slammed the watertight doors shut with telekinesis.
Fire, missiles, wounded subordinates. Each manageable alone, but all at once overwhelmed my mana circuit's capacity.
Missiles were the priority. Cornered, I erected a bulletproof barrier aft of the hull. The gap between hull and telekinetic field was over three times wider than before. Wider gap meant drastically reduced blast aftermath.
Flame suppression? That would backfire. Undetonated missiles would punch through with sheer kinetic energy. And containing the warhead detonation from shock and friction mid-penetration? Doubtful at 100%.
Boom! Boom-boom-boom! Rumble! The four missiles crossed 3 kilometers in 10 seconds, pounding the telekinetic field in succession. As expected, the chained explosions barely affected the hull—just missile fragments scraping the aft deck and a few structures. The idling anti-submarine helicopter rocked from the shock.
The next crisis: the uncontrollable inferno. Secondary explosions were counting down to shred the hull.
Gazing at the still-immobile subordinates, I thought, 'Toss them out the windows?'
Even then, I doubted we could retreat far enough before the ship blew. We'd take the shockwave point-blank instead of gaining distance. Better to focus on healing, then shield with magic at the critical moment and endure the blast. Underwater shockwaves were far stronger than in air. At least we had watertight doors and bulkheads.
Decision made, I ramped up the Life circuit allocation while preparing a shock-absorbing telekinetic shield, and shouted.
"Everyone, cluster as close to me as possible! Brace for secondary explosions and flooding!"
Those who could move helped the others. Moments later, the starboard triple torpedo launcher glowed red-hot, igniting the chain of catastrophe. Three torpedoes detonating inside bulkheads widened the already ragged hull's fatal cracks. Sparks hit fuel vapors from the tanks, ballooning the aft section with crimson flames. Finally, portside torpedoes blew, snapping the keel—the ship's backbone. The black-smoke-belching patrol ship split in two.
With each blast, I strained telekinesis against bulkheads and doors to offset shocks. Now, in the rapidly sinking bridge, I blocked flooding while treating the wounded. Leaking diesel spread over the river, rapidly expanding the fire's domain.
Splitting my circuit between telekinesis and Life incantations, I ordered.
"Those who can move, evacuate first! Regroup at the riverside park on East Haji Island!"
"But—"
"That's an order. Out!"
Once submerged, suction would pull us down, so the mobile ones leaving helped. The growing fire on the water was another variable. I'd set the rendezvous upstream—east—for this very blaze.
"Understood."
Kyung-tae and a few bit their lips but obeyed. Those whose conditions had improved enough to swim gear-laden.
With few properly sealed watertight doors outside the bridge, flooding was swift. The bow submerged to the tip in under 30 seconds. The deck tilted nearly 50 degrees, sending limp subordinates sliding.
A consolation: even where the current deepened against the sandbar, the river was only about 50 meters deep. Meaning the water pressure I'd telekinetically withstand was a mere 5 atmospheres.
Over the missing armored glass, I draped the telekinetic barrier. Sealed gaps in crumpled doors and split bulkheads to halt inflow. More efficient than restraining the water itself—telekinesis gained potency at close range.
Spare circuit capacity ran Life. Shards in flesh were pushed out by regrowing tissue; blood production surged to replenish flow. Severed vessels and nerves reconnected; shattered bones knit back.
Suppressing subordinates' mana fields throughout was tricky. Pushing my circuit to the limit stirred a thirst for greater power.
Soon, one who'd been unconscious stirred.
"Chairman?"
"Coming around?"
"What happened to you…?"
"Don't worry. It's not as bad as it looks."
I was still just staunching major bleeding. No hindrance to my mage abilities.
The subordinate, startled by my ragged state, then peered out the window at the river and grasped the situation.
Thud. Emergency power cut, plunging the bridge into artificial darkness. But total black didn't follow—the flames rippling above the surface provided light. Insufficient for the subordinates, though, so I shaved circuit capacity to float a small orb aglow with mana flame.
Fish drawn to the light bumped the telekinetic barrier, turning away—like an unmanaged aquarium.
Then, a heavy thud from below: bottoming. The split hull had hit riverbed. The tilting deck leveled as sinking slowed. The bow settled into mud with another jolt.
Finishing all treatments took another perceived 5 minutes. Halting Life after healing myself lifted the circuit load instantly. Only stiff fatigue remained.
'A breather at last…'
The thought brought hunger even at 50 meters depth. Substantial calories burned staunching steady bleeding. Mana-enhanced physiology boosted efficiency sharply—but max consumption scaled accordingly. Like fuel use: low-efficiency 100hp engine or high-efficiency 2000hp pack—which guzzles more?
Shaking off distractions, I moved my weary body. Shards and debris expelled rapidly from wounds. Freshly regenerated flesh showed slight color variance.
Thus, we'd survived the crisis—barely.
Powering down personal devices, prepping subordinates, I smashed the black box last, then dropped the telekinetic water block.
Fierce currents flooded the dim bridge.