Chapter 53
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Beastkin Tribe Chief
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3 Channel.
Ice Queen Han Soo-yeon mentally issued an attack order the moment thousands of zombies charged forward.
'Attack.'
Even with such a simple command, the Aqua Specter extended its right arm long like a whip and swept away the zombies.
The Awakened watching from the walls erupted in cheers, and though Han Soo-yeon didn't show it, she was considerably surprised.
'I didn't expect it to be this powerful.'
She had anticipated its performance given its massive size.
But the attack it just demonstrated far exceeded her expectations.
"At that rate, it could wipe out half the zombies by itself."
"If the Zombie Queen is stupid enough, maybe."
KWAAAAANG!!
The moment the Aqua Specter slammed its arm down to finish off the remaining zombies.
Kieeeek!
All the waiting zombies scattered like dispersing troops and began charging toward the walls.
To the Zombie Queen, zombies were expendable forces she could replenish anytime, so there was no way she wouldn't attack regardless.
'More importantly.'
Han Soo-yeon first spotted the Gigass, the Stage 5 variant zombie.
It was the biggest variable in this war.
"Everyone to your positions!"
"Prepare for battle!"
As the Awakened readied themselves for the imminent fight.
'Found it.'
The second Han Soo-yeon located the Gigass charging straight at them, she issued another command.
'Attack the Gigass. With the other zombies too.'
It was a slightly more detailed order, but the necklace conveyed the intent to the Aqua Specter.
In response, the Aqua Specter swung its elongated arm sideways just like before, targeting the Gigass.
KWAAAAANG!!
"...!?"
However, the Stage 5 entity possessing the power of 100,000 zombies grabbed the Aqua Specter's arm with both hands.
For a zombie driven only by instinct to grab and hold an attack like that clearly showed the Zombie Queen's intent.
'Attack with the other arm.'
Her aim was probably to pin down the Aqua Specter using the Gigass.
Realizing this, Han Soo-yeon quickly commanded it to strike with the other arm.
KWAAAAANG!!
The Aqua Specter obeyed and brought down its other arm on the Gigass, but it swiftly dodged to the side.
'Dodging this time?'
Han Soo-yeon had never seen a zombie evade so nimbly before.
In any case, after two attacks on the Gigass, the charging zombies began passing by the Aqua Specter one by one.
"..."
No matter how powerful the Aqua Specter was, direct combat with the zombies was inevitable.
Han Soo-yeon knew this, but she had issued the order to reduce their numbers as much as possible.
'Reduce the zombie count as much as you can, whatever it takes.'
With that, palm-sized spines sprouted thickly across the Aqua Specter's entire body.
Watching silently, she saw the Aqua Specter soon fire all the spines at once.
KWAKWAKWAK!!
It unleashed at least hundreds of thousands of spines in a 180-degree forward arc, piercing the zombies.
Its size shrank by about 20 meters right after, but the results were astonishing.
"Whoa! What was that attack?"
"Some kind of ultimate move?"
"That must've taken out tens of thousands at least."
The Awakened defending the line shouted in excitement.
It was only natural seeing the zombies dwindle with every Aqua Specter attack.
'No.'
In contrast, Han Soo-yeon frowned ever so slightly.
'If they were humans, it'd be a massacre.'
But the opponents were zombies.
Zombies didn't die unless their heads were destroyed.
Even now, those with pierced torsos or legs kept charging.
'Still, it's not ineffective.'
Even zombies became much easier to handle if their arms or legs were disabled.
Considering that alone, Han Soo-yeon deemed the attack worthwhile as she gazed at the shrunken Aqua Specter.
'If possible, I'd like to replenish its water.'
To do that, she'd need to bring Dew Rain close to it.
The D-Grade Drizzle ability didn't have the range to reach from the walls.
'No choice. We'll have to fight like this.'
Even reduced, it still boasted an overwhelming 80 meters in height.
Judging it fine for now, Han Soo-yeon watched the zombies steadily approaching the walls.
"Catapult units, ready to fire!"
"Strength-type Awakened, throw the oil drums!"
"Grenade launchers only on Stage 2 or higher!"
However, all 5,000 people on this wall were Awakened.
They were all veterans who'd hunted zombies to boredom, so they showed no fear even as they charged.
"Alright! Time to fight!"
At that moment, someone was descending the wall using a prepared ladder.
It was Park Jun-ho, the self-proclaimed Mobile Suit pilot. The moment he hit the ground below, he activated his ability.
"Come forth! Gundam!"
KUKUKUNG!
Simultaneously, a massive rock golem over 7 meters tall appeared before Park Jun-ho.
The unique part was its back opening wide, and Park Jun-ho immediately climbed inside.
KUNG—KUNG—
Once inside, the rock golem began moving gradually, almost as naturally as a human.
"Hahaha! Die!"
Park Jun-ho first soccer-kicked the Stage 1 variant zombie Runner that charged at him.
BAM!
With the massive weight of the over-7-meter rock golem, the Stage 1 zombie's head flew off instantly.
Moreover, Stages 1-3 couldn't pierce the golem's defense, so Park Jun-ho always felt confident against zombies.
"Summon Rock Soldier!"
"Flame Butterfly!"
"Lightning Harpoon!"
"Come out! Beast Bear!"
Other Awakened began countering the zombies scaling the walls with their abilities.
The first wave was mostly Stage 1 Runners, and even those were already damaged, making them easy prey.
"Unnie, get ready."
"Got it."
But soon, along with regular zombies, Stage 2-4 variants drew near the walls.
No matter how active the Aqua Specter was, blocking 300,000 zombies entirely was impossible.
'Plus, many have slipped out of its attack range.'
As a result, the zombies charging right now numbered around 20-30,000.
Adding those following behind pushed it well over 100,000.
"Park Chul-soo."
"Yes."
Before the fight, Han Soo-yeon called Park Chul-soo from her group.
The sturdy-built Park Chul-soo immediately responded and activated his ability.
"Hardened Body!"
Like Kim Seo's infinite ammo, Park Chul-soo could share his ability with everyone.
The C-Grade Hardened Body literally toughened the skin, eliminating worries of zombie bites at least.
"..."
Next, Han Soo-yeon located the densest zombie cluster and conjured something in midair.
Fwaat—
It was basketball-sized, shaped like densely packed dry ice smoke.
"Go! Tactical Han Soo-yeon!"
Jeong Ye-rim teasingly shouted, making Han Soo-yeon frown slightly.
Still, given the situation, she said nothing and fired the compressed frost bomb.
Shoo—
The frost bomb shot out at cannon-like speed.
It reached the packed zombies in an instant and detonated.
KWAAAAANG!!
The explosion engulfed over 400 meters, freezing every zombie in its radius.
The frost permeated their internals, shattering their bodies into pieces.
"As expected of Tactical Han Soo-yeon! That's gotta be at least 200 down, right?"
"Just 200."
"Come on~ Who kills 200 with casual attacks?"
Of course, this wasn't Han Soo-yeon's full power.
Thinking of a prolonged battle, it was moderate force.
"More importantly, lay down the wires to block their approach."
"Already done. Some strands are heading for the zombies too."
Jeong Ye-rim spoke as if there was no need to worry.
Indeed, no one was more specialized in prolonged fights than her.
'Telekinesis lasts 24 hours straight.'
Plus, with the 'Snake' property, wires attacked autonomously on command.
'But they only work up to Stage 2.'
Every strength had a weakness.
That's why Han Soo-yeon had recommended the hand gesture when the Castaway got Telekinesis.
"Anyway, we might hold for now, but soon the variants will swarm."
Han Soo-yeon said that's when the real battle begins, manipulating the Aqua Specter while crafting another frost bomb.
"Castaway-nim. We're here."
While intently watching the Channel 3 war, Elisicia announced their arrival.
They'd reached the first floor of the Great Labyrinth, home to the Beastkin tribe.
I briefly surveyed the surroundings.
"Not much different from the first floor before."
The only difference was the scattered large houses.
They were naturally built from piled stones.
'With only stone as material in the Labyrinth, houses are all stone too, huh.'
Anyway, now at the Beastkin village, continuing the Channel 3 broadcast felt off.
I closed the gallery for now and asked about the main goal: the Beastkin chief.
"Sirien-ssi, right? Heading straight to her?"
"Yes. She's near the exit to the surface, so a bit further."
Elisicia took the lead toward Sirien's location.
I followed, glancing around the Beastkin habitat again.
'They're all staring.'
The Beastkin who spotted us peered with curious eyes.
Being a place only for Beastkin, sudden outsiders would draw stares from me too.
'Hm.'
Most staring had their head ears perked cutely twitching.
"Fortunately, it's livelier than last time."
"Oh, really?"
Elisicia noted the place brimmed with more vitality now.
"Yes. Thanks to the items Castaway-nim uploaded."
Nothing else explained it, but it felt gratifying.
Seeing my actions helped many boosted that feeling.
'But...'
Noticing while looking around: everyone held pickaxes.
I supplied them daily when they ran out, but they weren't dirt cheap.
'How'd they buy pickaxes?'
With their superior physical prowess, maybe they mined stone barehanded to buy them?
Lost in thought, Elisicia stopped before a large house ahead.
"Here."
"Pretty big house."
"She's the Beastkin chief now, so others probably built it for her."
A sign of respect for the chief.
"Let's go in."
Inside, a pure white girl was the first sight.
More precisely, a girl with long, disheveled snow-white hair.
"..."
Before her piled skewer sticks and scattered canned beers.
'How much did she eat and drink?'
As I stared in quiet bewilderment.
"Oh? Hero. Then the guy behind in stealth is the Castaway?"
The girl—presumably Chief Sirien—casually spotted me despite the stealth cloak.