Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Pavane for a Dead Dwarf (4)
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The moment Yeomyeong shouted, the Saintess rose from her seat.
Three seconds left. She opened the truck's rear door.
Two seconds. She raised the rifle and took aim.
One second. Fire.
Bang!
The spent casing ejected, and the bullet left the barrel. It sliced through the air, defying fate, and struck its target.
An anti-tank rocket.
The rocket that should have obliterated the truck in the original future exploded from a single bullet.
KABOOM!!!
The blast's shockwave swept past the truck's rear. The back wheels wobbled—thud!—but that was all.
Still riding atop the speeding truck, the Saintess pointed at the dumbfounded mercenaries and flashed a V-sign.
A brief silence.
Amid the mix of bewilderment and tension, Yeomyeong was the first to move. After a quick glance outside, he leaped from the truck's rear without hesitation.
"Hey! Where are you going!"
Only after the Saintess yelled did the mercenaries snap to attention and check the situation outside.
"Crazy. What the hell is all that?"
"...We've got a tail."
Five trucks and over dozens of motorcycles.
They had anticipated an attack, but not one with the sheer numbers rivaling an entire mercenary company.
"Hey, driver! How did you not notice this sooner!"
One mercenary shouted in shock. Kwon Captain, who had been observing them, spoke up.
"It's magic. No engine noise at all—they came prepared."
As Kwon Captain said, the pursuers made not a sound.
No need for further words. It had to be magic, wielded by someone of immense skill.
"This feels familiar."
Kim Mansu, recalling their departure from North Manchuria just days ago, furrowed his brow and glanced at the captain. The captain wore a similar expression.
"Too many for ribcage hunters. Those who come are not benevolent, as the saying goes—they're here for something else."
The captain quickly assessed the situation, then grabbed his weapons: a massive machine gun befitting his build and a greatsword.
"Non-Superhumans, stay and guard Darulma and the truck. The rest of us engage. And Saintess—"
Before he could finish, the Saintess scooped up an armful of weapons and jumped outside.
A belated squeal and the sound of rolling on the ground followed.
"...will join us."
Kwon Mongju finished his sentence and leaped from the truck. Kim Mansu and the Superhuman mercenaries followed like seasoned soldiers.
Thud!
The moment they hit the ground, Manchuria's chill air swept over the mercenaries. The stench of the battlefield.
Vroooom!
Had they finally dispelled the magic? The motorcycles' engines pierced the mercenaries' ears.
The mercenaries immediately assumed combat stances, wary of the bikes. But instead of charging them, the riders veered off in a long arc.
Avoiding combat? No, clearly aiming to pursue the truck.
'Trying to tie our feet? There's a separate commander.'
Undoubtedly mercenaries, or at least rigorously military-trained.
Kwon Captain raised his machine gun and bellowed.
"Priority on the motorcycles! Keep them from the truck!"
No further orders needed. The veterans responded instantly.
Rifle-armed mercenaries opened fire, while those with short-range weapons kicked off the ground and charged.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!
The bikers didn't go down easy. They drew guns to return fire or lobbed grenades to threaten.
But every mercenary here was a Superhuman. Their mobility and reflexes outclassed the bikes.
Bikes toppled in droves, while the mercenaries took minimal damage and dominated the fight.
Finally, the accumulating losses forced the bikes to abandon the engagement and turn toward their original target: the truck.
"Right flank! Block the bypass!"
Fate's cruel joke—the mercenary meant to cover the right was reloading.
The bikes swerved en masse into the blind spot.
A momentary lapse created the gap. Kwon Captain envisioned the truck half-destroyed.
'Lose the truck, and we're exposed for the next assault. Can't let that happen....'
As he pondered,
Something flew from afar and exploded amid the bypassing bikes.
BOOM!!!
A familiar blast. How could he not recognize the rocket that had just hammered the truck's rear?
Kwon Captain reflexively traced its origin. The next instant, his eyes met the Saintess's eyepatch as she tossed aside an empty rocket launcher.
Mercenaries gaped, but the Saintess raised rifles in each hand and jerked her chin at them.
The gesture was clear: Hurry up, finish the bikes, and follow.
"...Do they teach military training in the Holy Kingdom these days?"
One mercenary muttered a lame joke at the sight, but Kwon Captain scowled and roared.
"If you've got breath for nonsense, fight! You gonna let the newbie take point?"
His bellow worked instantly. Across the vast Manchurian plain, the battle reignited.
***
Leaving the gunfire behind, Yeomyeong faced forward.
Five trucks encircled him.
Spreading his mana wide, he sensed a familiar signature from each: the Shepherds' twisted mana.
Like at the North Manchuria base, he couldn't fathom why the Korean government was up to this in Manchuria.
Complicated politics? Or an extension of the "insane bullshit" Seti mentioned?
Nothing certain, but one thing was sure.
Thwart their plans here, and the government would notice him for sure.
Unlike his dung beetle days of secretly killing Shepherds, Cheon Yeomyeong now stood openly in the world.
As his brief thoughts lingered, Yeomyeong drew his sword and swung it through the air.
Clang!
A bullet aimed at him ricocheted to the ground. The sword's hum suggested it wasn't ordinary.
'...Special round?'
To ambush a Superhuman-heavy company, they had some preparation.
No need to look further. Yeomyeong channeled mana into his feet. Wave Yang Art mana rippled, accelerating his body like a flash.
"Kill— him!"
Next instant, a voice laced with twisted mana rang out.
As if on signal, truck doors flew open, and humans poured out.
Mercenaries with bloodshot red eyes, drooling uncontrollably.
'Zombies? No—living people infused with twisted mana?'
Twisted mana emanated from their bodies, but its location was the issue.
The brain. Without exception, it occupied their brains.
Yeomyeong grimaced and gripped his sword tighter.
Unlike their deranged appearance, they weren't common zombies. Armed with automatic weapons, they assumed firing stances in perfect unison.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!!!!!
Precise gunfire poured toward him. Yeomyeong dodged by tracing a "之" pattern.
But in the open Manchurian plain without cover, evading every bullet was impossible.
One grazed his cheek, one to the side, two to the chest, four to his raised left hand as a shield.
'No vitals hit.'
Enduring the wounds with regeneration, he closed the distance, then yanked a grenade from his belt and hurled it.
Superhuman strength sent it in a straight line, like a pitcher's fastball, not an arc.
BOOM!!
It detonated, blasting limbs off unlucky foes.
Gunfire continued, but gaps formed in the barrage.
Yeomyeong exploited them. He slipped through in an instant, reaching their faces.
Boom!
It started with the Remington MH750. Then the issue sword. Finally, Wave Yang Art.
Unleashing every technique he knew, Yeomyeong granted the infected mercenaries peace. Like a farmer scything wheat, he felled them without pause.
As their numbers visibly dwindled, the twisted voice rang again.
"Fire— kill him!"
At the command, they fired heedless of friendly hits.
Bang-bang-bang-bang!!
Allies be damned, they pulled triggers to embed bullets in Yeomyeong.
But with little effect. He rolled behind a truck for cover, used corpses as shields, escaping shots repeatedly.
Bullets occasionally struck, but his regeneration surpassed other Superhumans'. As long as no brain shots, he endured the special rounds.
Thus, the fight devolved into a tedious war of attrition. Endless meat shields versus infinite regeneration.
The victor... was Yeomyeong. Soon, their numbers thinned too much to contain him.
Granting the remnants peace, he scanned around.
Gunpowder, blood, and foul filth stench.
Amid the suffocating odor, he sought the culprits.
Pig Head or Cow Head Shepherds. Eliminating them would end this slog.
'...Where the hell are they?'
But locating the Shepherd proved difficult. Dying mercenaries' leaking twisted mana clouded his senses? A nagging, ominous premonition brushed his back.
It felt just like...
"Immortal King!"
Then, the twisted voice assaulted his ears. Yeomyeong whipped his shotgun toward the source and fired.
Boom!
The special slug slammed the foe. But it shattered not flesh, but a mana shield.
Crack! The shield fractured, scattering mana dust.
'Shield? Real magic? How?'
Frowning, Yeomyeong checked the face—and the mystery solved. Not a Pig Head or Cow Head fumbling pseudo-magic.
A grotesquely twisted Horse Head.
Beast-red eyes met his. As he swung his sword, the Horse Head completed its incantation first.
"Corpse Explosion."
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