Volume 9 / Chapter 243
TL: LightNovelCafe
Editor: Hungry Panda
He understands the concept, but he can"t make it naturally like Black Lord can. He doesn"t know whether it"s a difference in ability or practicality. The important thing is that it isn"t created the same way Black Lord makes it.
"Let"s just accept that I"m lacking. He"s a level 9. That means he"s complete as a mutant. What I can do… is up to what I"m capable of."
Papapapat!
As soon as Cha Jun Sung moved, TyIts power is definitely stronger than a vibrating or rifle series weapon. The only weapon that can approach the bomb"s power is the hand cannon.
If the opponent he is fighting now was a Ranker like Glare Gun or Boom Buster, he would have fought at close range. Long range is their deal.
Tyrant throws another induced light bomb.
He is using them more actively because he saw their effect. There aren"t fouls in a fight, but it is nasty. After taking five hits, his left arm shield was reduced to rags. He didn"t make them top strength, but he can be confident that it is harder than steel.
"I have something in mind too."
Unless he can"t completely avoid it, he can"t keep getting hit for the sake of experimenting. He needs to save the energy in each of his cells if he wants to win.
Bang!
Cha Jun Sung"s thigh rapidly swells. Powerful lower body force pushes his body forward like a spring. He soars into the sky as he spreads his wings.
Since he is the designated target, the induced light bomb follows him.
Cha Jun Sung joined the battle between Rage guild and the 9 Bijous. It is a busy place.
No matter how precise a chasing system is, he can avoid it here.
The induced light bomb explodes.
It sweeps the Rage guild and mutants. Tyrant stopped at nothing to try to kill Cha Jun Sung.
Cha Jun Sung protected himself by placing living shields in front of him. There"s no reason to watch out for others. He only needs to protect his own body. He entered alone, so he can leave alone.
Bang!
Cha Jun Sung kept weaving in and out to avoid attacks with much more ease than it seemed the size of his body would allow for. Tyrant watched this and calculated his escape route and used his booster to block his path. He used all of his induced light bombs. If he wants to use them again, he needs to be proactive.
"He"s a full body morphing mutant. It"s like fighting with smoke."
Tyrant grumbles in complaint.
His attacks vary and keep changing. It isn"t easy to a.n.a.lyze his pattern. Psychological warfare doesn"t work either because he"s smart.
Cha Jun Sung moved his hand, and Tyrant flinched. It isn"t because he"s scared. It is a reflex. He needs to react if Cha Jun Sung comes at him with a surprise attack.
But Cha Jun Sung who saw the reflex, thinks differently. Old habits die hard. He is watching the old habits take form again.
[He"s only trying to maintain a middle distance. He won"t come in close range.]
It is so.
Tyrant stuck to a middle distance.
It is like Cha Jun Sung insisting on long distance on the surface, but there is a difference.
"Light bombs are dangerous. That"s why I"m avoiding getting in close range. Tyrant is going middle distance because he knows it"s dangerous too."
This is the same.
He is confronting only at middle and long distance because of light bombs. There is one more reason why he is creating more distance than Cha Jun Sung. It is a disadvantage that only a few people know.
Close range, middle distance, long distance. Everyone has a distance that they are specialized in.
But they always need to keep all distances in mind.
How many things in the world go as they wish?
This is in fights as well.
There"s no way the opponent will let him maintain their own distance.
"He hates close range fights that get physical. Why? Because he isn"t confident in them. That"s why his combat style changed like that in the first place."
Tyrant is weak in close range battles.
Even similar affiliation Nuclear has the ability to fight close range Rankers like Cha Jun Sung when necessary.
But Tyrant can"t do that.
He strangely doesn"t have a talent for close range fighting. Cha Jun Sung told him about that disadvantage multiple times.
With a self-righteous personality that doesn"t let him listen to others" advice, he believes everything he thinks is right so he probably heard it through one ear and let it out through the other.
This is the result.
He still hasn"t fixed it. He"s basically saying that he will just live like this forever. Cha Jun Sung can understand it to an extent.
If he wants to approach Tyrant at close range, he needs to have that skill.
There will only be about 10 Lifers in both the virtual and reality versions who can get through the middle distance.
Rankers like Cha Jun Sung, Weapon Master, Chamma Sword, and Blood King who generally use vibrating weapons as their main weapons are these cases. Other than Tyrant, distance series Rankers win their distance fights in the first place. They do not narrow the distance dangerously.
"If the distance is narrowed… I"m sure he"ll set off light bombs like crazy. I can"t close in without a plan either. That"s dangerous to us both."
Tyrant"s disadvantage is that he is weak in close range, but he isn"t such an easy subject that he can just go in without a plan. He knows that much.
"I"ll use that."
The supervisors and Odin found out that he"s a mutant but they haven"t found out that he and Black Lord are the same, so this is a skill that he practiced cautiously so as not to get discovered.
He wanted to hide it till the end, but his life is on the line in this fight. There"s no use for it if he dies. He needs to use everything he can.
"Dark tent."
Success?
He"s never tried it.
rant threw dozens of light bombs into the air.
It"s an air mine.
They float near the person who threw them and explode when something touches them. It is a difficult technique for Cha Jun Sung to handle with his large body.
Cha Jun Sung compacted his body as much as he could. He became almost as small as Tyrant. He reinforced his coat in that state, and forced his way through.
The distance closes in and all of the cells in his body activate. He can feel each movement. He cannot explain the principle. He can just do it.
Cha Jun Sung went through the overflowing flames, hugged Tyrant, and fell to the ground. He has him in a firm grip with both arms, so Tyrant can"t get out.
"I"ll withstand it. And I"ll lock you up and kill you."
Cha Jun Sung made his decision. His body turned dark and swallowed up the area. To be more precise, it swallowed Tyrant who was struggling to get out of his arms.
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d! What have you done to me!"
Tyrant yells.
He had been fighting fiercely with Black Devil just now, something spread suddenly like black paint and made his sight go dark. He can"t think of clear words to explain this phenomenon.
Is this a unique technique that mutants have like battlesuits? There"s no way to know.
"Light on."
Papat!
A light shines inside the dark tent. Tyrant"s mood soured.
A dome shape chunk of flesh covered in hideous, writhing veins blocks him. He can"t see a way out. It seems he has to create one.
"Like this!"
He changed the visual mode multiple times in order to figure out what the tent is, but it was useless. This giant chunk of flesh is Black Devil.
Woong!
A light bomb activates.
He can just blow away something like this.
Spat!
Did he know what he was going to do?
Sharp thorns come out of Tyrant"s side. He didn"t feel anything, not a trace or a sound.
His battlesuit"s sensor detected the attack and he was able to barely avoid it. The problem is what came after.
The first attack was just the beginning.
Ping ping ping!
Hundreds of thorns come sticking out from everywhere and it looks like a porcupine"s back. He didn"t have the time to take care of the situation here.
Tyrant"s body movements become busier.
He goes into a cold sweat inside his battlesuit. He didn"t see this kind of mutant even in the virtual version.
The thorns are simply a basic attack. Tangled tentacles danced and tried to tie around him like a giant hand trying to hit him.
"I need to hurry. There"s too much energy and nutrient consumption."
This dark tent is a half. The shape is similar to Black Devil"s, but it"s much less durable. It will rip after a few light bombs.
He might be able to recover with rapid regeneration, but there is a limit to that.
His breath catches with just his efforts to maintain it and attack. He can"t mult.i.task.
It"s best to not go through rapid regeneration if he can.
Cha Jun Sung who became the dark tent"s subject realized what it felt like. He moved major organs like his nucleus to safe places. He can see all of Tyrant. It was like watching him with hundreds of security cameras.
Bang!
Three light bombs stuck to the dark tent explode. That attack rips the outer wall and the world outside shows. Cha Jun Sung quickly regenerated.
He cast it with determination, but it"s impossible to use this technique again when it"s hard to even maintain it. He can"t let Tyrant out so easily.
He needs to kill him.
If he can"t kill him, he needs to take two of his arms and legs at the least. He needs to reduce his combat ability as much as he can.
/ /
Volume 9 / Chapter 244
TL: LightNovelCafe
Editor: Hungry Panda
Papapat!
Damages increase on the battlesuit.
His main body will be fine but like with a mutant"s awakened state, the fight is won once the battlesuit is destroyed.
Cha Jun Sung"s dark tent repeatedly ripped and regenerated. Besides a physical fight, they were in a battle of attrition. The one who gets pushed back, loses.
Writhing.
A chunk of flesh coalesces on the ceiling and creates Cha Jun Sung"s bust. He is going to exercise physical force on Tyrant who is trying to avoid the attacks.
"Leg."
Legs over arms. This makes him lose mobility. It is worse to not be able to walk around than it is to not be able to use arms.
While busy, Cha Jun Sung quietly fell to the bottom.
At that moment, Tyrant looked up and met Cha Jun Sung"s eyes.
"I knew you would come out! Die! You disgusting mutant!"
Tyrant picks up his left arm.
There is a light bomb in his hand. Cha Jun Sung saw this and his face fell. He can"t avoid it. They will both get hurt at this close range, but there"s nothing he can do.
Bang!
Tyrant"s arm gets cut off. A light bomb goes off at the same time. He must have put a lot of energy into it, because the explosion was tremendous. It must be multiple times of the usual.
Cha Jun Sung"s body is burned to ashes.
He didn"t die. It"s a burn. But a burn is created on a foundation of stamina and nutrients, so he lost that much and there are injuries to his dark tent as well.
Rapid regeneration becomes slower and slower. It is proof that his strength is becoming depleted.
Tyrant is pushed by his light bomb"s explosion, thrown against the outer wall, and falls.
He can see the part for his left arm over there. It is empty inside. The part is fine, but the cut off arm inside seems to have melted in the heat.
Tyrant sighs. His internal organs were shaken. Even so, he didn"t stay on the ground. He needs to fight to his death if he wants to live.
Bang!
The part that Tyrant was leaning on bounced out briefly and hit his back. The inside is Cha Jun Sung"s s.p.a.ce. Everything moves at his will.
"This! This!"
Tyrant fell forward and held the cut section with his right hand.
He howled.
His arm is cut off, but his abilities from 10 stages of body modifications and his battlesuit treated itself and the wound stopped spreading early.
However, there is no way he doesn"t see that the situation is changing disadvantageously.
He needs to get out of here. He needs to do it, but things aren"t going the way he wants them to.
"I"ll kill all of you! I"m going to sweep this whole place! I"m going to be the only one left!"
Boom!
Tyrant"s battlesuit lights up red.
It grows more and more condensed, and then goes into the light bomb he is holding in his right hand. An incredible amount of energy is becoming concentrated.
Cha Jun Sung felt something ominous coming from Tyrant"s actions. After living with Bomb Ants for a time, he thought of the term "self-destruct".
He can"t tell if that"s really what this is, but it isn"t something he can just laugh and pa.s.s over.
"Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
Korean.
Cha Jun Sung"s mouth had been shut until now, and he finally opened it.
Right before the light bomb went off, the insane Tyrant"s eyes shook.
But that was it. It was too late. He can"t stop the explosion now.
Bang!
The dark tent that had swallowed Tyrant evaporated under the heat of the light bomb. It is a blinding and beautiful red explosion.
Tyrant and Cha Jun Sung who had been inside hadn"t been able to avoid the light.
The energy Tyrant had injected into the light bomb was 80% of his battlesuit. The amount of energy in a level S is tremendous and he basically injected the majority of it, but the explosion range wasn"t large considering this.
It seems to be a 50 to 60m radius measuring by eye, but it is small enough to be visible in whole from the top of a building with a few floors.
But the atrocity Tyrant committed isn"t as simple as it looks. A crater that goes dozens of meters deep formed at the center of the explosion in a constant curve. It is as though he scooped out that area.
Also, though the explosion is over, the atmosphere is hazy. From far away, it looked like there was an opaque film over it.
The s.p.a.ce is in a lull.
Rage guild members put their battlesuits into full function to look for Tyrant.
He can"t die.
None of the guild members are truly loyal to Tyrant. He isn"t someone worth showing sincerity to.
However, they need Tyrant"s abilities and the powerful foundation that provides him with, so they follow him without another option. If Tyrant dies, the guild will be destroyed. They might be able to go into b.l.o.o.d.y Kingdom, but they won"t have the upper hand in j.a.pan anymore.
The 9 Bijous who sustained minor injuries from the Rage guild"s concentrated attack go back to their nest. About 100 mutants follow them.
They had been swept into the atmosphere of war, but came to their senses at the sound of the explosion.
There had been hundreds of mutants, and a lot of them had died.
That many Rage guild members died as well, but they thought that going beyond this was meaningless. The Rage guild members didn"t follow after the retreating 9 Bijous.
They are tired.
They don"t want to fight.
They had been fighting in the first place because of Cha Jun Sung.
"He"s over there!"
"Master!"
Bang!
Rage guild members looks for Tyrant. He was detected on their battlesuits" search function, buried under the wreckage outside of the crater.
A group numbering a little over 1 raid went to Tyrant. They entered as a full core of 10,000 people, but about 1/10 is left now. Some of them are still in Ant h.e.l.l, but there"s maybe 1,500 people in total. It is a devastating blow in terms of numerical value.
Tyrant gets up, supported by his subordinates.
He is only wearing impact tights. He has taken his battlesuit off somewhere, and is bare bodied.
"What about the mu-mutants?"
"They must have been frightened by the explosion ground, because they ran away."
"Then what about him?"
"Him?"
"Black Devil! Where"s Black Devil? The mutant points haven"t come in! I"m sure he"s alive! They didn"t run away because of the explosion. They felt his oncoming defeat!"
Tyrant interpreted the situation to his liking.
He is saying that the 9 Bijous ran away because there is a problem with Black Devil.
There are no odds.
He"s saying that he"ll cling to his life.
If Black Devil had been wounded, this is the chance to kill him. The damage to Rage guild is tremendous, but they still have fight left in them.
"… He spoke. It was Korean."
Right before the light bomb exploded, the language that went through the translator was Korean. He had been left in wonder because he hadn"t been able to stop the explosion.
Tyrant stumbles in dizziness.
He"s lost too much blood. He lost his right arm too. This is why he can"t stand up on his own.
His hair stands on end when he thinks about what just happened.
He had resorted to extreme measures in order to kill Black Devil and get out of this play.
When the light bomb exploded, the first thing to melt was the right arm that he was holding. He had injected 80% energy and the heat generated from this formidable energy completely melted his right arm and battlesuit part away.
At his helper"s warning, he activated his defensive series items and battlesuit"s energy barrier, and several overlapping barriers protected Tyrant.
All of that was destroyed at once.
Fortunately, Tyrant had been able to buy a fraction of a second"s time to eject himself from his battlesuit. Due to this, Tyrant got out of this range faster than the heat spread. He had survived with having only lost an arm.
"Take out the battlesuit."
Tyrant speaks to his helper.
When he was ejected, his PDA and s.p.a.ce compression bag were also ejected. There"s no reason to take his item out himself.
He can take out the items he wants by just giving an order.
Tyrant received treatment from medics and put on the battlesuit.
It is an extra level A.
He doesn"t have either of his arms, but he can manipulate arms manually.
Several needles come out inside the battlesuit and go into Tyrant. It is like a nutritional injection that stimulates vitality.
"My level S battlesuit"s destruction is devastating, but I"ll advance once I kill him."
The last leg.
It all ends once he kills Black Devil.
If he fails the mission, his use of the card becomes meaningless. He"ll just become a level A Lifer like before.
"Search everything!"
"Yes."
Excluding the few forces protecting Tyrant, the 1 raid spread out in forces. They looked for traces of Cha Jun Sung.
"Come out. Come out!"
The dark tent that had trapped him was Black Devil. He had set fire to the entire thing. Mutant points would have come in if he had died.
But he"ll be alive since those points didn"t come in, and he must be somewhere close by.
He"ll never be able to get away from the guild members" search network.
"Ack!"
A ripping scream. Tyrant and the leftover forces next to him had been watching from one place when they looked to where they heard the scream come from.
Ack!
Kya!
They hear successive screams. It isn"t coming from just one or two people scattered here and there. They went around in force numbers. It seems they are getting attacked in groups.
"Over there! Let"s go!"
Papat!
Tyrant ran toward the noise.
His heart beats fast.
Because he"s scared?
It is excitement that he could become a true level S Lifer. He doesn"t care whether people die as long as he can complete the mission. Even while injured, he can understand the guild members dying when thinking of the level.
He can think of this as the last struggle. This is the end.
Completion.
Tyrant arrived at the location of the screams with his big dream.
And as soon as soon as the Rage guild members saw "it," their bodies stiffened.
It didn"t take a long time. It only took moments for their heartbeats that were like excitement to become fear, and for that fear to become hair-raising horror.
/ /
Volume 9 / Chapter 245
TL: LightNovelCafe
Editor: Hungry Panda
"What happened…"
Cha Jun Sung feels weird. He can"t really explain it, but it feels like he"s floating in the air. Is this what it feels like to do the drugs he sees on TV?
He remembers the situation.
That d.a.m.ned Tyrant had used an attack similar to self-destruction and the dark tent he had cast while wary of being exposed, had evaporated.
Of course Cha Jun Sung, who had been the dark tent"s subject, was swept into the aftermath.
His major organs had been blown away. It can"t even be described as a serious injury. This is the most danger he has ever been in.
He can"t get in contact with Odin either. His strong level 8 body is gone too. It doesn"t make sense for the PDA to withstand that explosion with its durability.
He must not have died though, since he has retained his self. It"s ambiguous as to whether he is alive or dead. He can"t move his arms and legs.
His arms and legs are just a short description. To go into more detail, he can"t feel his nerve cells.
He is taken aback because this is the first time this has happened.
His senses are numb. He can"t see or smell. He can"t hear or speak.
What is he supposed to do from now on?
Even so.
"I still have my sense of touch."
He can feel that he is sitting on the hard ground. It seems he is slumped somewhere.
"I"m in trouble."
He is nervous.
If Tyrant is alive and there are still Rage guild members, it isn"t good to continue this state. It is inevitable that they will come looking for him.
His wounds might heal if time pa.s.ses.
Mutants are different from humans. There are differences with levels, but ultra high levels like Cha Jun Sung live unless the wound is definitely fatal.
Even if his insides get twisted and his arms, legs, and upper body get separated. If there is even a 0.1% possibility that he can live, he won"t die. That is a mutant.
Cha Jun Sung can think now. He can say that he"s alive.
"I"m helpless."
Severe hunger comes swarming in.
This doesn"t mean "I"m hungry." It is a small reason, but the big reason is that he is out of strength.
He needs to refuel his strength. He"ll do whatever if he can fill it. His whole body feels sluggish. He feels like he is going to fall asleep.
But he can"t go to sleep. His instincts are telling him that means instant death.
"I"m standing on the edge."
Life and death - he has a foot in both realms.
The choice is the former.
He"ll die at some point, and there will come a time when he accepts that death fully, but it isn"t this moment.
He feels a pain like a skewer is stabbing at his body. But the feeling that he might die is more serious than that pain.
"Did - did I lose?"
Right now, Cha Jun Sung might as well be a living piece of meat.
He is unprotected right now, and he can"t attack or act in defense.
"It"s unfair. I need to live. You guys dragged me into this battlefield."
Cha Jun Sung"s feelings rumble like a wave.
It is a craving about life and a hatred for everything that made him this way.
[Give control over your body to me. I"m no longer dependent on you.]
"Oriax?"
How long has it been since he"s spoken with the Oriax? It seems it has crawled out because his death has come, but the reality is that it has done a thorough calculation.
His body disintegrated.
Because of that, Cha Jun Sung"s mental state is in confusion as well. If the Oriax doesn"t take away control now, he doesn"t think that he"ll be able to do it again.
"You a.s.shole…"
When Oriax revealed its true feelings, its thoughts were shared with Cha Jun Sung.
He is angry.
They are all enemies. Subordination? When the Oriax forcibly invaded his body in the Public Underground?
Nonsense!
The Oriax is a gate crasher. It brought this upon itself.
He chose symbiosis because there was no other option, but there really had been no other choice.
It had been the Oriax"s instinctive struggle to stay alive, but everything has an ulterior motive if his death is at the foundation.
"I"m going to kill everything that is trying to kill me!"
Cha Jun Sung flailed. All he thought of was survival.
It felt like something was opening up. Unlike before, Cha Jun Sung felt like something attacked him, and he was gaining a tremendous amount of energy from whatever attacked him.
"I"ll eat all of them up, mutants and humans all. As long as I can live!"
The enemy"s attack becomes more intense. The Oriax"s mental attack continued as well. He returned the attacks as much as he was attacked from inside and outside. He is struggling to stay alive.
"I need more powerful strength."
It is often said that you can achieve something if you desperately want it.
It"s because you have that much qualification. Opportunities come to those who have the qualification.
Waiting for luck without doing anything is just greed.
"I can get stronger."
Black Lord - this is him in another world.
If they are the same and they have the same qualifications, he wants to become like him.
He wants to… become complete.
"Uh uh…"
"Monster!"
The Rage guild members took steps backwards from the devastation in front of them.
Tyrant gulped.
He is getting bigger and bigger. The black lump that had been the size of a human head in the beginning, had become bigger than a truck.
Dozens of tentacles come out of the black lump and skewer the Rage guild members. Then it absorbs each of them. All that comes back out of the lump are machines like battlesuits and equipment.
"Kill it! It"s trying to recover its strength and resurrect itself!"
Tyrant knows by intuition that they are looking at Black Devil"s nucleus.
There are mutants like that. Those that can resurrect as long as they have their nucleus even if their bodies have been blasted away. There are very few among the ultra high levels.
"Attack!"
Tyrant throws light bombs like crazy.
His battlesuit performance deteriorated so its power isn"t even half of what it was before, but he attacked however he could.
The Rage guild members followed him and used all of their power on the black lump.
Attacks other than bombs and bullets went at the black lump"s coat, but they were unable to get through and just floated around outside. It is an incredible defense.
"Get back!"
Woong!
Tyrant injected as much energy from the level A battlesuit as he could into a light bomb.
He is trying to deliver one big blow rather than taking small hits. Before a light bomb with maximum output could leave Tyrant"s hand, the black lump must have some kind of thought because it didn"t just stand by and watch his actions.
Spat!
A sharp tentacle cut Tyrant"s wrist in a wink. His arm had already been cut off, so there is just empty s.p.a.ce inside the battlesuit part.
He didn"t have time to react. If he doesn"t have arms, he can"t use light bombs. The energy doesn"t get delivered properly. Tyrant tried to do it with his other hand, but the black lump"s transformation came first.
The black lump gradually took shape. It is cloistering to go back to the form it originally had.
"I"m… complete."
Kung!
A moment pa.s.sed. The black lump took total form.
It is similar to the level 8 Black Devil that Tyrant saw, but there were three pairs of arms and heads with faces on the top, bottom, and sides.
It looked like an incarnation of Asura, the battling demon of Buddhism.
Cha Jun Sung became a level 9 with complete awakening in his final evolution.
"Ah ah! Don"t come!"
Tyrant took steps backwards getting chased by something, and falls on his b.u.t.t. His level A battlesuit becomes a rag. It is so ruined that it can"t function.
Boom!
A mutant with overwhelming magnificence appears in front of Tyrant. It is Cha Jun Sung, who has become complete, superior to all other existence. He has three pairs of arms, and red blood flows down his six arms. The blood is from the six Lifers that he is holding in his hands.
The corpses ripped apart behind Cha Jun Sung form a line. He chased Rage guild members running away and killed them sequentially.
There is a saying that describes the horrors of war as people"s bodies piling up like a mountain and blood flowing like an ocean. That is the situation that happened in front of Tyrant recently. All that was left of the Black Devil was the nucleus, but it resurrected in less than 30 minutes.
Though they had been injured, an entire raid had been wiped out. Not a single person had survived. Except Tyrant.
"Did they all run away?"
The dull voice is monotonous. Emotionless as though a machine were speaking. It is creepy and scary.
Tyrant thought he was dreaming. He had realized he wouldn"t be able to complete the mission when about 3 forces died.
4 forces, 400 people had been killed, but they hadn"t been able to leave even a scratch. On top of that, it had been layered into a special mission. This is it. Special mission - the culprit that"ll force Tyrant to quit.
/ /