Chapter 185: Destruction King
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 185: Destruction King
We pack our gear for the raid and move out with the Japan Association staff.
From this point on, other heroes who came to support Japan will also begin their raids in earnest.
Following the military vehicle in the lead, all the cars racing through the empty streets belong to heroes and their support teams.
"We will arrive shortly."
"Understood. Thank you for the guidance."
"No, you've come to help Japan, so it is we who should be grateful. Ah, please... try not to pay any mind to what the Japanese media is saying."
Atsuko, the Association staff member acting as our guide, gave a bitter smile.
It seemed the Japanese media was quite displeased, feeling that the support sent from Korea—especially from the Three Major Clans—was lackluster.
They were making a fuss, claiming it was an insult to Japan that Lee Ru-da said Black Unicorn alone would be enough, and they cursed the clans that only sent B-ranks, saying they lacked any sense of humanity.
In particular, clips of Lee Ru-da were circulating in Japanese online communities, where she was being absolutely shredded.
Would any hero feel good hearing the Japanese media bashing them the moment they opened the internet? No one likes being insulted after coming all this way to help.
The staff members assigned to guide the Korean support teams must be having a miserable time. Regardless of what they actually thought, they probably felt like they were sitting on a bed of needles.
Perhaps finding some solace in the fact that the Japanese hero Satomi was part of Black Unicorn, Atsuko stayed close to her side.
"A hero only needs to do a hero's job. It’s fine," I said.
"Those are wonderful words. Once again, on behalf of the Japanese government and the Association, I thank you."
Atsuko was being extremely cautious, as if she had received specific instructions from the Association.
"What did she say?"
Kwon Ye-jin, who had watched plenty of Japanese adult videos but couldn't speak a word of the language, asked with wide eyes. She was already sensitive because she’d seen a lot of the anti-Korean content online.
"She’s thanking us for the help."
Lee Yu-na, the only one besides Satomi and me who could speak Japanese, answered in a cold voice while staring out the window. Her sister, Lee Ru-da, was being ground into dust by the Japanese public; there was no way she’d be in a good mood.
Atsuko, who knew Black Unicorn's information as an Association employee, struggled to maintain her smile while breaking into a cold sweat.
"Atsuko-san, was it? It’s not your fault, so you don't need to walk on eggshells around me."
"No, I apologize for the rudeness. Please don't let the chatter of ignorant people bother you."
At Atsuko's apology, Lee Yu-na simply nodded and turned her gaze back to the window.
Amidst the awkward atmosphere, we arrived at the dungeon entrance. As we stepped out of the car, our support team members, Kim Tae-eun and Joo Ji-hyun, practically jumped out and began neatly stacking equipment cases at the entrance.
Whether in Korea or Japan, we prepared for the raid with practiced efficiency.
"Second Lieutenant Ando Tamie of the Self-Defense Force. Thank you for Black Unicorn's support."
A soldier with a stiff demeanor, who had been guarding the entrance, approached and saluted me.
As I put on my gear and gave a brief introduction, Tamie nodded and asked while holding a clipboard, "How long do you expect the dungeon raid to take?"
At her question, I looked over our preparations, checked my watch, and replied.
"Including prep time, it should take about an hour and fifty-five minutes."
"…That is longer than I expected."
"Is it? I'm sorry, but I don't think we can cut it down much more than that."
Tamie shook her head at my apology.
"No, it's fine. I heard you only recently became a B-rank party. It’s only natural that it would take a bit longer than average."
"Thank you for your understanding."
I gave a light nod and checked the magazine of my Astra.
Tamie, who had been quietly watching me load my weapon, heard something from a soldier and asked me, "It will be lunchtime in three hours. Should we have it ready before you start your second raid? Or would you prefer to eat afterward?"
"Huh? No, there's no need for a meal."
"Tamie-san, Black Unicorn has three dungeons scheduled for today," Atsuko quickly interjected. Tamie nodded, finally seeming to understand.
"Ah, so you aren't destroying this one today. I see."
"Pardon? No, we are going to destroy it."
"Excuse me?"
Atsuko stared at me blankly, looking bewildered by my answer.
"But the schedule for today said three dungeons..."
"Yes, three is correct."
"…?"
Question marks practically hung over Atsuko and Tamie’s faces. It was funny seeing them make the exact same expression at the same time.
Thwack—
A work glove hit me. I turned my head to see Yoon A-young scowling at me, her eyes telling me to stop messing around.
Hey, it was funny. Even Lee Yu-na was hiding a faint smirk.
It felt like I was about to get smacked in the back of the head if I kept this up, so I shrugged and gave a proper explanation.
"Yes, as per the schedule, it’s not three raids, but three destructions. We’ll eat at the next dungeon."
"B-but… the time…"
"The one hour and fifty-five minutes is the time it takes to destroy it."
"…Not… to clear it?"
I gave a bright smile and nodded at Tamie’s dumbfounded expression.
"W-wait a moment… If you exclude prep time, that means you intend to destroy it in less than thirty minutes. Is that even possible?"
When Atsuko asked in a panic, I just smiled brightly and nodded again.
Thwack—
The other glove flew and smacked my cheek.
Alright, alright, I’ll explain it properly.
Under Yoon A-young’s glaring gaze, I broke down what I had said.
"Yes. Thirty minutes per clear, three times, makes an hour and a half. Five minutes for each dungeon reset makes fifteen minutes. Ten minutes for prep. That totals one hour and fifty-five minutes."
"But the average clear time is seventy minutes?"
"That’s just the average. There are bound to be parties that are a bit faster, right?"
"That’s not just… a bit…"
Leaving Atsuko to mutter in disbelief, I picked up the glove from the ground. I was about to throw it back at Yoon A-young, but our eyes met, so I quietly placed it on top of an equipment case instead.
Why is she only cold to me? Makes me want to punish her in bed.
Grumbling to myself, I finished checking my gear and entered the dungeon, leaving the two stunned women behind.
B-1 Dungeon, the Destroyed Temple, was a stage-type dungeon, so we just had to beat down the monsters and move forward. There were absolutely no factors that could cause the scheduled time to fluctuate.
"Checking comms. How is the signal?"
"Yes, comms are clear. No drone delay, all equipment normal. Operator is live. Good luck with the raid today."
Hearing the soft encouragement of Ryu Ji-hye, who was commanding the situation room back in Korea, I turned my gaze to the others.
"From this moment on, I am the party leader. No honorifics, and all orders come from me."
As I flipped the switch as I always did, the look in the members' eyes changed. Hornet didn't seem fully adjusted yet, but she was slowly getting into sync.
"Are you really going with four supporters?"
"Yeah. As planned, Yoon A-young and Hornet will take on support roles with me. The frontline will be Kwon Ye-jin, Anna, and Satomi. Anna, don't use Demonization in this dungeon."
Even Satomi, who believed in the supporter tactics, looked skeptical about having four supporters.
The Destroyed Temple was a dungeon filled with humanoid monsters. Every time we advanced a stage, priests with their hoods pulled down would appear and attempt suicide attacks.
They had two patterns: stabbing their own hearts with a dagger to transform into half-rotten werewolves, or charging in to self-destruct. The key was to break through the monsters guarding the front and take out the priests before they could kill themselves.
As we walked down the crumbling corridor, we reached a wide hall.
"Lights."
At my command, the members drew their JP-12s from their waists and fired into the dark hall. The bullets embedded in the floor and walls emitted a steady light, illuminating the hall and revealing priests and already-transformed monsters rising from the ground.
"Frontline, engage. Hornet, stick to the ceiling and disrupt the rear."
"Got it."
Hornet flew up and anchored herself to the ceiling. As Kwon Ye-jin charged forward with her shield, Anna and Satomi followed close behind.
The priests stood their ground, chanting grim prayers, while the half-rotten monsters, dripping viscous saliva, clashed with our frontline.
"Drones, pull back. Yoon A-young, front-line cooling from the second line."
"Understood."
As I gave orders while buffing the frontline, Yoon A-young dashed forward and unleashed a blast of cold air toward the front, synchronized with Ryu Ji-hye’s communication.
The cold air sprayed across the front, regardless of friend or foe, slowing everyone's movements. Then, Lee Yu-na’s arrows thudded into the ground behind the frontline.
Whoosh!
The ground within a certain radius of the arrows burst into flames, resisting Yoon A-young’s cooling. The members on the frontline positioned themselves within that range to deal with the monsters.
"It doesn't matter if they get inside the range! Just make sure you take down the front row!"
When the monsters, slowed by Yoon A-young’s freezing, tried to enter Lee Yu-na’s magic circle, Satomi desperately tried to block them, but she backed off at my command.
"Suicide attacks incoming. Four attempts."
Simultaneously with Ryu Ji-hye’s report, priests who had plunged daggers into their chests came charging in, their bodies wreathed in flames.
"Hornet, focus only on the ones trying to transform! Keep firing to disrupt them!"
Bang! Bang!
Giving orders to Hornet, I fired between the monsters, creating walls in front of them. Before they transformed, the priests had thick mana barriers but pathetic physical abilities. They slammed into the walls and collapsed, and as they tried to get back up to charge again, stone walls rose once more to block their path.
This time, they used short-range teleportation to bypass the walls. This was the part that usually gave people trouble.
Bang!
Not all priests could use it. I sniped only the ones who emerged from teleportation and then raised more stone walls.
I heard the sound of them slamming into the walls with full force.
That, my friends, is what you call a Counter Spell. It’s a cutting-edge technique that was only recently introduced to the Korean military.
By disrupting their mana manifestation, I temporarily disabled their teleportation. The priests, who had charged thinking they would phase through, slammed into the walls and tumbled over.
Pang!
Explosions rang out as red blood and fragments scattered behind the walls. While I frowned at the gruesome sight, the frontline members succeeded in slaughtering the monsters they were facing.
The priests, who hadn't been able to transform due to Yoon A-young’s cooling and Hornet’s disruption, were immediately killed by Anna and Satomi as they lunged forward.
Satomi flicked the blood off her katana and wiped it on her wrist before looking at me. Not just her, but Hornet, who had descended from the ceiling, as well as Yoon A-young and Lee Yu-na, were all staring at me in silence.
"Holy shit, was it always this easy? Master, that was insane!"
Only Kwon Ye-jin was excited, shaking the blood off her shield.
"How many minutes did that take?"
"Four… no, I think it was less than four minutes."
Lee Yu-na, who had picked up the habit of timing things my way, answered Satomi’s question. To be precise, it took 3 minutes and 41 seconds.
There were five stages in total, including the boss. Even including a short breather and the time to walk back, thirty minutes was more than enough.
"I told you it was possible."
When I smirked, only Kwon Ye-jin and Anna laughed brightly, while the other members still looked dazed.
The tactics for this dungeon are simple. The already-transformed priests block the front, while the remaining priests either launch suicide attacks or transform into more monsters.
Most parties treat it as a race against time, trying to break the frontline to attack the priests, but the monsters' guard is too solid for that. Even with Anna and Satomi, those monsters were troublesome enough that it took three minutes to take down just a few.
The key isn't breaking the frontline quickly, but preventing the priests from transforming.
Of course, that’s impossible for a party that goes all-in on attackers.
"Alright! Let's try to break a world record today!"
"It’s a bit of a shame. If only Elly were here, we could have kept going without needing to rest."
Lee Yu-na gave a bitter smile.
I felt the same way. I don't know why the regulations are so strict. Just like quarantine at an airport, Errors have to go through rigorous screening when crossing into another country.
In the end, Elly, who couldn't make the schedule, would be delivered later by a Square Garden employee… wait, no, by a hero who can see Elly.
Well—if she’s not here, we fight without her. There’s no need to whine just because we’re missing one portable mana charger.
We continued forward and eventually took down the boss.
Since the boss also used the priest gimmick, as long as we stayed on it and prevented it from transforming, it was no different from a regular mob. After being slashed several times by Satomi’s katana and forced back, the boss died when Anna snapped its neck with a roundhouse kick.
Lee Yu-na’s arrow flew and embedded itself between its eyes for the finishing blow, ending the dungeon raid.
"Ha, fuck, that was pussy-easy."
Hornet let out a hollow laugh and shook her head before looking at me.
"I feel sorry for anyone who has to fight you."
"Good thing you didn't fight me, right?"
When I brought up what happened with the New Human Alliance, Hornet scowled, clicked her tongue, and turned away.
Since there was almost nothing to scavenge in this dungeon, we headed straight out.
"…You’ve finished the raid already…?"
Atsuko muttered blankly, looking back and forth between her watch and me.
"Yes. Once the dungeon resets, we’ll go back in immediately without a break."
"Ah… yes, yes…"
As if they still couldn't believe it, Atsuko and Tamie held a measuring device to the dungeon entrance and were shocked by the reading.
I laughed as I watched them stare at each other with dazed expressions, then turned around to see Lee Yu-na smiling.
"Our Clan Leader wasn't wrong."
"Yeah, because my sister trusts Yeon-woo."
Black Unicorn is enough.
Japan would soon come to understand the weight of those words.