Episode 5: Citizenship / Chapter 73: Advancement Evaluation (7)
TL: emptycube
Editor: Obelisk
The Berserkers fell. The dimensional wasps spread their wings, which rippled like a haze, and flew towards the Berserkers. The wasps gathered into a dark cloud, making the thousands of falling Berserkers look insignificant.
Pssshh.
Whoosh!
The sound of their flapping wings was irritating. The sound was like a sudden rain shower, then a waterfall, and then a landslide. The sound grew louder, becoming unbearable.
The number of dimensional wasps overwhelmed their vision, and the sound of their flapping wings was unbearable. Although they looked similar to the wasps they had seen until now, they were different. The onlookers trembled at the wasps" explosive vigor. They were only watching from above, but the beginner warriors were already frozen with fear, unable to move their arms or legs.
Yet, the Berserkers were not the least bit afraid. There were even some who looked cheerful as if they were enjoying an extreme sport.
An unhesitant freefall.
But, Choi Hyuk felt strangely uneasy. His eyes were locked onto the incoming dimensional wasps. The vigor of the dimensional wasps looked fierce but felt somewhat light. Choi Hyuk thought that they were inflating their vigor like balloons.
He activated his karma trait, Mind"s Eye. With his eyes dyed blue, he was able to clearly see the flow and structure of the dimensional wasps" karma. When he saw this, he was able to figure out the reason behind his unease.
He shouted,
"Prepare for impact!"
At the same time, the Berserkers" second-in-command, Baek Seoin, shouted. Like Choi Hyuk, his eyes were dyed blue.
"d.a.m.n! They are fireworks! Deploy the Karma Barriers!"
Crash!
Booom!!
The dimensional wasps, which were gathered together in a black cloud, simultaneously turned white. Their crazily flapping energy wings had started to explode. They were white fireworks. A cl.u.s.ter of stars, which shined bright as the Sun, formed inside the dimensional rift and created to prevent mutual interference between the dimensional wedges and the dimensional wasps" nest.
Even as this cl.u.s.ter filled their vision, the Berserkers didn"t bat an eye.
Bang, bang, bang!
Karma Barriers surged out of their bodies like deployed parachutes. The Karma Barriers and Karma Blades they personally learned from Choi Hyuk were reputed to be the best amongst colonizers.
Each person"s karma color was different, and different colored marbles, formed by karma, fell into the cl.u.s.ter of stars below, which expanded with explosions.
The beginner warriors who watched this gulped down their saliva.
"Oh, my G.o.d… What is that…"
The explosion had been created by the self-destruction of the black cloud of wasps. They could almost feel the heat from the blast from where they were standing.
"They said the first team to infiltrate would face the most danger…"
They never thought it would be to this degree.
They had fought in the wasp rooms individually until now, but to suddenly change to a group battle… Just this fact scared them, but they suddenly had to face self-destructing wasps? Wasn"t the level of difficulty too different?
As the explosion hadn"t yet ceased, they couldn"t see the Berserkers who were within.
"Are they alive…?"
"No way."
The beginner warriors could not imagine someone surviving that blast. Until yesterday, they had lived in a peaceful world as non-awakenees. Although they knew that awakenees had superhuman power and had heard they were fighting a gruesome war against monsters, that was all. Seeing with their eyes was completely different from their imagination.
The aftermath of the explosion subsided.
Someone shouted,
"They are alive!"
"They are fighting!"
While the people above were distracted by the explosion, the Berserkers were already in a b.l.o.o.d.y battle against the guardian wasps within the dimensional wasps" nest.
The exterior appearance of the guardian wasps was identical to the wasps they had fought until now. However, they were stronger as if they were completely different existences, only their appearances were identical. Even if they compared them to the self-destructing wasps, their vigor was on another level.
"Gahk!"
A Berserker was flung away after being hit by a wasp"s tail. The poison spread and his face became pale. Even though he saw this clearly, Ryu Hyunsung was unable to help him immediately.
"d.a.m.n… Late 2-star or early 3-star… This isn"t good."
Ryu Hyunsung wielded his saber as he examined the wasps. A Karma Blade erupted out of his saber. His saber exquisitely sliced off the wasp"s legs, tail, and mandibles before slicing its neck. Considering his stats, which were approaching 4-star, these late 2-star to early 3-star level wasps weren"t a problem for him at all. The problem was the dimensional wasps" nest itself.
Ryu Hyunsung tried to pa.s.s through the semi-transparent dimensional wall between the rooms in order to help the Berserkers who were being pushed back. The moment he tried to pa.s.s through, his body slowed down as if he was moving in slow motion.
"Keuak! This thing!"
Ryu Hyunsung let out a tantrum and exploded the karma within his body, only then did the purplish wall ripple and subside, allowing him to pa.s.s through smoothly.
"To do this every time…"
Since it was able to annoy Ryu Hyunsung, who was heralded as a top expert amongst the Berserkers, it wasn"t easy for regular Berserkers to pa.s.s through these dimensional walls. The consumption of stamina was enormous.
The dimensional wasps" nest was sectioned into countless rooms, each divided by purplish semi-transparent walls. They called these walls, dimensional walls. When humans pa.s.sed through these walls, their movements would become extremely slow, and to offset this slowness, they would have to use up a significant amount of karma.
Yet, the guardian wasps weren"t affected. The wasps flew around as if the walls didn"t exist. It was an indisputably disadvantageous battleground. The wasps were highly mobile while the Berserkers" mobility was bogged down.
On top of that, the Berserkers were scattered amongst the countless rooms.
This was due to the self-destruction of the wasps at the start that was not only dangerous but also had the effect of scattering the members of the infiltrating team. The Berserkers were spread out into different rooms, and it was impossible for the Berserkers to fight as a group, leading them to face the risk of being defeated one after the other by the guardian wasps, that could easily pa.s.s through the walls.
What made the situation even worse was that each guardian wasp was at the level of veteran colonizers, and if they compared their stats, they would either be equal or above normal Berserkers.
The Berserkers were forced to fight these enemies by themselves, unable to support each other.
Still, they weren"t intimidated.
When the guardian wasps flapped their wings, rattled their black exoskeletons and opened their mouths, which split into ten sections, the Berserkers actually became even more vigorous.
"Come at me, a.s.shole!"
In a pinch, they sacrificed their arms and struck the wasps" necks. Even in moments where they were unable to defend, when their necks were cut, or when they were dying from poison, the Berserkers still took down a wasp with them. The Berserkers, who had been tempered through countless fights, took at least three wasps with them on their road to h.e.l.l. On their last breath, they would deal one final sharp strike.
"Kuahk!"
{Kieeeeeh!}
The screams of the Berserkers and the wasps were unending. There was no time spent on finding the other"s weaknesses. Within seconds after a fight broke out, a wasp or a Berserker would die. In a war of attrition, where they would either kill or be killed, the Berserkers showed no signs of damping vigor. Instead, since the wasps were pushed back by their vigor, more and more wasps had to swarm in.
While spectating, even though their teeth chattered at this hopeless war of attrition, they also felt strangely moved.
"They really fight well…"
Then, another announcement appeared due to the Berserkers" actions.
{The enemy"s defensive line has fallen into a state of confusion. Still have not confirmed the route to the queen"s room. Second team, infiltrate.}
The second team was the Camilla clan. The Camilla clan were hit and scattered by the self-destructing explosion on their way down too. It was the same for the third, fourth and fifth teams. However, because the number of self-destructing wasps were noticeably smaller than the number that had self-destructed when the Berserkers infiltrated, they were able to safely land even while protecting the beginner warriors. Although there was no way to stop them from being scattered throughout the dimensional wasps" nest, they were able to quickly get into formation before the guardian wasps attacked them because the Berserkers had gathered the wasps" attention.
Just then, the usefulness of the beginner warriors was revealed.
{Due to the increase of infiltrating members, the speed of locating the queen"s room has become quicker.}
{If you use the wasp-hunting awl given to you, you are able to nullify the walls in the wasps" nest.}
This was the announcement which appeared after later teams joined.
The beginner warriors, who had chosen to fight instead of returning to Earth, were able to quicken the speed at which they were locating the queen"s room by their sheer numbers. Not only that, but the weapons, given only to them, were able to melt down the walls which were tormenting the Berserkers.
From then, the beginner warriors became miners. The beginner warriors would gather around the purplish walls and pierce holes in them with the awls. Every time they pierced a hole, the wall would become more transparent until it disappeared completely. When the walls were removed like this, they were able to go to and from different rooms like normal. Although it took 20 beginner warriors a minute to remove a wall, it was an essential task for the group battle.
By the time the guardian wasps, that were busy with the Berserkers, found out about this, the later teams had already gained s.p.a.ce and gotten into formation.
It was slowly becoming a worthwhile fight.
As more teams infiltrated, the pressure from the wasps gradually lessened. However, it was still an even fight. It didn"t look easy to completely push or annihilate the wasps. When the dimensional wasps were at a disadvantage, they would move the fight to regions where dimensional walls still stood. Although they tried their best to push forward and remove the dimensional walls, the fight couldn"t help but be dragged out.
However, even during these moments, they were constantly deducing the location of the queen"s room, and at some point, the location of the queen"s room was announced.
They learned this information as if they had suddenly remembered something they had forgotten. They suddenly knew where they had to go.
The warriors, who had become tired due to the long drawn out fight, were instantly fired up.
"Good! Attack! Let"s go!"
In order to create a path to the queen"s room, each sovereign placed their veteran warriors in the lead to push the wasps back before sending in the beginner warriors to melt the dimensional walls.
Psshsh!
"Kuahk!"
"Gaahk!"
Of course, to resist them, the guardian wasps" attacks became fiercer, increasing the number of casualties.
The Berserk Sovereign, Choi Hyuk, who had been quietly fighting until now, started to make his move. From the start, his objective was the queen, which was why he felt reluctant to use his skills when he was unsure of the queen"s location. Even though he saw the deaths of Berserkers, he only fought dimensional wasps at a suitable pace, only lending a hand at critical moments. He had not used all his strength.
However, now was the time for him to use his full strength. Choi Hyuk suddenly showed off one of the strongest skills he possessed.
It was a skill that could melt the dimensional walls without the wasp-hunting awls.
"Instant Void Annihilation!"
His sword cut through the air and ripped open a dimensional wall.
"Let"s go!"
Every time he swung his sword, he would rip open a dimensional wall which obstructed his path. The Berserkers, who were feeling greater exhaustion because they had to pa.s.s through the walls without the help of beginner warriors, shouted, "Woaahhh!" and rushed out like fish from a ripped net. They began to run amok like a ma.s.s jailbreak of vicious criminals.
"What… What are they?"
This scene looked similar to a natural phenomenon, like a typhoon or blizzard.
The Berserkers rushed past them like a gale. The guardian wasps melted and disappeared like sugar in hot water.
There were even quite a few warriors whose lives were saved by standing in the rushing path of the Berserkers.
"W… What the…"
Not even 30 seconds had pa.s.sed since the location of the queen was announced, but the Berserkers had already run off so far that the other sovereigns were no longer able to see them.
"Hurry! Hurry up and follow them!"
The other sovereigns, a step too late, followed the path Choi Hyuk had ripped apart. However, after around 5 minutes had pa.s.sed, they heard cheers.
"Wahhhh!"
An announcement followed shortly after.
{Sovereign Choi Hyuk eliminated the queen wasp. Sovereign Choi Hyuk and his team members will be given additional rewards.}
"What? Already?"
The fight had been long and tiring. However, once the objective had been located, the end was pitiful. It was all because the monster that had endured until now had suddenly gone berserk. The 3rd stage began and ended with the Berserkers.
"… Let"s just forget what I suffered."
Although it wasn"t the case for all the beginner warriors, to many, this served as a trigger to silently bury their grudge against Choi Hyuk.