Episode 7: Monster Hail / Chapter 113: Pre-emptive Attack (4)
TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk
Choi Hyuk sparred with Tangka the day before they went to war.
Bang!
Choi Hyuk"s fist dented Tangka"s metallic side.
Pushhiiii!
Steam escaped from Tangka"s entire body as though he was angry. His battered side creaked as it returned to its normal state.
Whoosh!
In a flash, Tangka"s fist touched Choi Hyuk"s head, however, Choi Hyuk"s waist swayed, dodging Tangka"s fist like a ghost.
Woong, woong, woong!
Tangka"s shoulder and Choi Hyuk"s upper body were like hazes. They were moving so fast that their movements blurred. Tangka attacked and Choi Hyuk narrowly dodged. In the end, none of Tangka"s attacks landed on Choi Hyuk.
Instead, it was Choi Hyuk who stepped forward, aiming for a moment"s opportunity. He wrapped his hands around Tangka"s left wrist, extending his arm, before pushing Tangka"s elbow upwards with his shoulder.
Crunch!
"Grrk!"
Tangka"s left arm bent backwards. Tangka let out a groan. However, his vigor didn"t lessen in the slightest. Tangka"s entire body rippled with a metallic karma light. Tangka"s body rotated strangely as it approached Choi Hyuk like a magnet.
Baang!
"Keuk!"
A groan escaped from Choi Hyuk"s lips as he barely managed to raise his arms to block the blow. Tangka"s attack this time was one that pierced directly at Choi Hyuk"s weakness. It was an unexpected move that completely ignored the rhythm of the battle. It was a swift, unconditional a.s.sault, similar to how the north pole of a magnet would shoot towards the south pole of another. It possessed a persistence that felt as though you were caught in an invisible magnetic field as it would traverse the shortest distance towards you even if you attempted to dodge.
Rather than an attack, it was inhuman, like some sort of "phenomenon", which was why Choi Hyuk couldn"t dodge it.
Although he had narrowly raised his arms to block the attack, his arms, which were reinforced with karma, had broken.
"Heh! I"ve finally caught you!"
Tangka"s vigor rose. Tangka possessed considerably superior stats compared to Choi Hyuk, yet he was the one who had been beaten up instead of Choi Hyuk. He had become annoyed by Choi Hyuk, who avoided his attacks like a slippery eel.
Tangka decided to end this properly as he had victory in his grasps.
"Now take this!"
He reached out and grabbed Choi Hyuk"s collar with both hands.
Although all the wounds Choi Hyuk had inflicted on him had already healed, Choi Hyuk"s arms were still broken. As his collar had been grabbed on top of that… It seemed like the spar would end with this.
Goong!
"… Huh?"
However, instead of his victory, Tangka saw a white light.
Choi Hyuk"s right foot, reinforced with his blue karma, had shot up and driven itself into Tangka"s lower jaw.
Thud!
Tangka powerlessly fell to his knees before slumping onto the ground.
"Hoooo…"
Stepping back on the ground, Choi Hyuk momentarily faltered. He had launched a front kick at the last moment by greatly exceeding his Stamina. He was obviously drained of karma, and his right foot had sustained heavy damages.
"Uhh… d.a.m.n it, what was that?"
Having fainted for a moment, Tangka flailed on the ground, attempting to get up from the ground. Choi Hyuk, who had been staggering, sat on the back of his head.
"What do you mean what? You lost."
"What? I lost?"
Tangka, who had been attempting to stand back up, flopped down after hearing those words. Even though Choi Hyuk was sitting on the back of his head, he didn"t look like he cared.
"Impossible. For me to lose when you didn"t even use your Weapon of Vow…"
Tangka looked dejected as though he had lost his nation.
"See. I told you that you would end up the same as me."
A black, transparent face and a body wrapped in a black fabric. Warrior Leader Bilu of the Dark Tribe{1} snickered, enjoying Tangka"s current state. He had sparred with Choi Hyuk before and had lost. With an irked expression, he said to Choi Hyuk,
"You weren"t even a match for us back during the welcoming party… You"re getting stronger at a terrifying speed."
They both knew how strong Choi Hyuk was when armed with his Weapon of Vow. However, they had lost when sparring with him in hand-to-hand combat without the use of weapons. This was ridiculous. Bilu and Tangka were already well into the late stages of the 5-star level, and Choi Hyuk was a warrior who had just reached the early stages of their level. The stat difference between them was enough that Tangka and Bilu could normally take on two or three warriors of Choi Hyuk"s level.
However, since they had actually fainted in a one-on-one against Choi Hyuk, the shock they felt couldn"t help but be huge.
Yet, Choi Hyuk didn"t seem to be very satisfied.
"No. If this was a real fight where we actually risked our lives, I would have lost. Even though I can briefly knock you out, I don"t have any techniques that can take you out in a single strike. On the other hand, each and every one of your attacks is dangerous to me."
But at Choi Hyuk"s words, Tangka and Bilu looked like they had eaten a bug.
"What are you talking about? If we were fighting with our lives on the line, you would have unsheathed your Weapon of Vow."
"… Are you saying you would have fought against us barehanded even if we put our lives on the line? Ey, act in moderation…"
Choi Hyuk simply shrugged at their icy reactions as, no matter what they said, he personally felt he was very lacking. Only that was important.
As he grabbed Tangka"s hand and pulled him up, Choi Hyuk asked,
"What do you have to do to become a high-ranked warrior? Do you know anything?"
"You"re already aiming to be a high-ranked warrior?"
Bilu cut in with an irked expression. Choi Hyuk glanced at him while saying,
"I don"t know… I heard that you can"t become a high-ranked warrior simply by raising your stats. Isn"t it good to prepare ahead?"
"That"s true…"
Bilu and Tangka exchanged glances. Then they clenched their teeth.
Bilu"s voice oozed with depression.
"We have no clue even after 50 years… If we knew how to become high-ranked warriors, do you think we would still be middle-ranked?"
"Ah… I guess that makes sense? After this war ends, I should ask Commander Mack for advice."
Choi Hyuk quickly lost his excitement. His appearance scratched at Bilu and Tangka"s pride.
"Euack! d.a.m.n it! I will definitely become a high-ranked warrior before you!"
"d.a.m.n it…"
The alliance"s warrior training system could only support one until the 5-star level, becoming middle-ranked warriors.
The 6-star level. One could no longer receive a.s.sistance from the system to reach the 6-star stage, and one couldn"t make up the difference with stats. It was impossible for someone to distribute their free karma points to reach the 6-star level.
Only warriors who obtained a special enlightenment and developed their own personal karma (fate) could advance and become top-ranked warriors.
Because of this, there was a countless number of those like Bilu and Tangka, whose important stats had reached 599 (5★) and who ceaselessly aimed for and repeatedly attempted to become high-ranked warriors.
Power: 365 (+213) (4★) Speed: 371 (+201) (4★) Control: 317 (5★)
Endurance: 100 (3★) Stamina: 51 (4★) Recovery: 371 (3★)
Retribution: 251 (5★)
Choi Hyuk"s current distribution of stats wasn"t well-balanced.
Considering his close-combat fighting style, his Endurance and Recovery were critically low. There were a lot of problems with his Stamina as well. One would think he was a ranged fighter when looking at his stats.
Even still, Choi Hyuk prioritized increasing his Control. When compared to the stats he possessed when he had fought against Richard back in Nasari, his Stamina had increased by 51 points, Retribution by 251, and finally, his Control by 309. His other stats were the same.
If you took into account the fact that his Retribution had increased by 200 points when he created his Weapon of Vow, he had, in fact, invested three-fourths of his points into his Control.
Although he was hanging on due to his outstanding Control stat and fighting senses, he couldn"t continue to let his gla.s.s cannon body and low Stamina be detrimental factors.
Still, rather than balancing his stats, Choi Hyuk emphasized advancing to the 6-star level. He planned on increasing his Control and Retribution to 599 (5★) through this war and face the wall of the 6-star level.
Because Choi Hyuk had resolved himself like this, those a.s.signed to Choi Hyuk"s troops were experiencing a battle more difficult than ever.
"Wait! Wait! If we go at this speed, the rear lines won"t be able to catch up! Overseer Choi Hyuk!!!"
The Queen of England Diana shouted. However, Choi Hyuk, who was pushing his way through, didn"t slow down at all.
"d.a.m.n it… It"s no use. We have no choice but to match that guy"s pace!"
Sovereign Jessie clenched his teeth and shot forward. He dropkicked a jaksam that had been trying to force its way through.
"Kuaaah!"
The jaksam collapsed to the side with a scream. This was a monster among monsters, possessing such a strong vitality that it could even endure the attacks of a middle-ranked warrior as long as it didn"t exhaust its energy with three attacks. Because of this, Sovereign Jessie didn"t kill it and simply made it fall before pa.s.sing by. He left it to those behind him.
"Exhaust it!"
By the time Sovereign Jessie shouted, Lee Jinhee was already rushing towards the collapsed jaksam. The jaksam, that had raised its knee and was about to get back up, launched an attack towards Lee Jinhee, who was running around in front of it like a fly. Its veranda-sized palm shined with light. She had no way to dodge it in mid-air where there was nowhere to step.
Tap.
However, Lee Jinhee stepped on the air and flipped her body, leisurely dodging its attack. After dodging one attack, she followed after Choi Hyuk who was way ahead of her. That was how the jaksam used up one of its attacks.
Its second attack was launched towards the Ethiopian Sovereign Yohan. He deflected the jaksam"s attack that was swinging down towards him with his enormous staff.
Baang!
The jaksam"s palm ineffectively thudded on the floor.
With this, the jaksam had used up a considerable amount of its power. Normally, they would have to endure three of its attacks to completely take down its defenses, but this was enough.
"Divine Punishment."
Boooom!!
Camilla dropped from the sky like a meteor. Her iron mace split the jaksam"s head. It took around 10 seconds since it appeared to kill the jaksam, which was a considerably powerful monster.
Those running alongside Choi Hyuk could be considered humanity"s dream team.
Yet, they were desperate.
"We aren"t even a quarter of the way there! Yet we have already met one of the strongest monsters we know?! Haha!"
Sovereign Jessie shouted, seemingly excited.
"We have no idea what lies in front of us! We must stick closely behind Overseer Choi Hyuk! Without him, there may be plenty of monsters we can"t take on! Stick next to him so that he can regulate his stamina!"
The Sovereign of Paradise Camilla ordered urgently.
Even the Ethiopian Sovereign Yohan constantly encouraged the warriors lagging behind him.
"d.a.m.n it…! Hang in there! Or else you"ll all die!"
Choi Hyuk"s troops, which were only comprised of humans, ascended the long Kahur Kabkun and penetrated the monsters" ranks.
On the other hand, Bilu and Tangka were comparatively more relaxed.
While both Bilu and Tangka were similar in strength or slightly stronger than Choi Hyuk, the alliance troops they led possessed power that greatly exceeded what the average human possessed. To be Bilu or Tangka"s adjutant, one would have to possess stats in the early stages of the 5-star level. Since their elites were on the same level as the Queen of England Diana, they could easily take care of the monsters. Also, they didn"t lack numbers either due to the elites sent over from each overseer.
They were breaking through the Kahur Kabkun at a much quicker pace than Choi Hyuk"s troops. The Kahur Kabkun entrance on the opposite side wasn"t far away. Just as they were smoothly progressing along with their mission, a situation arose.
"Wha… What did you say?!"
Tangka couldn"t contain his anger at the sudden order. He smashed his own metallic head with his fist as he raised his voice,
"You want us to retreat right here and now? Then what about the earthlings? If we don"t destroy the target number of Kahur Kabkuns, it"ll become difficult to handle the outpour of monsters!"
Tangka showed a fierce reaction. However, Commander Mack seemed as cold as ice. Lightning crackled around her golden horns. This showed she was extremely angry.
{… You can"t refuse. You will go support Dark City immediately. That"s an order.}
Only then did Tangka read her expression.
"d.a.m.n… It"s an order from the higher-ups."
This order wasn"t made through Commander Mack"s own judgment. It was an order from her superiors. That was why the person who was angrier and in more pain than anyone else at this moment might perhaps be her.
But what could they do? As long as they were soldiers, they couldn"t disobey.
"d.a.m.n it!"
Bang!
After hitting his head once more, Tangka shouted as he activated the military gate system.
"There"s an emergency situation! As of this time, all troops led by Tangka of the Virgo Cl.u.s.ter will teleport to Dark City! Earthling warriors, immediately contact each of your overseers and decide what to do!"
Flash!
Leaving those words, Tangka and his troops retreated.
Only the elites dispatched by each overseer remained in the Kahur Kabkun.
"… Wh… What?"
They had been on the brink of victory, yet everything suddenly changed.
Kuuuooooo!
The monsters that had been hopelessly pushed back reignited their spirits. Filling the empty s.p.a.ce left behind when Tangka"s troops disappeared, they pushed forward. Their positions had changed. The attackers had become the defenders and the defenders had become the attackers.
The heated excitement of the battle turned into fear and despair.
"… Brother. Quickly let the leader know and tell him to open the gate."
Vice-director of Chu Youngjin"s troop Kim Saehyun urged Kim Honghyun. Although it would be a headache in the future if they didn"t destroy the Kahur Kabkuns now, if they wanted to save their lives first, they had to retreat.
Yet-
"Yeah, I reported it. I told him that we"d hold on for a while longer so to quickly come clean things up."
Kim Honghyun actually unsheathed his sword and stepped forward.
"What? Are you crazy?! We aren"t the only ones who will die! Everyone will!"
Kim Saehyun was surprised. However-
"Hihi. Of course, this is how you should act if you want to act as our leader."
The Berserkers actually readily followed behind Kim Honghyun.
{1} Hmm… I checked the raws… and Bilu is supposed to be the 1023-quasarling and Whalubo is supposed to be from the Dark Tribe… Well, I guess Bilu is now the Dark Tribe member. :/ I have reflected these changes in the previous chapters.
/ /