Episode 7: Tidal Wave of Monsters / Chapter 116: The Alien Troops from Earth (1)
TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk
While looking at the tidal wave of monsters that covered Dragonic, Choi Hyuk recalled Kangdong District. It had disappeared now, but he still recalled the game "Survive and Escape" which he encountered after leaving school.
Those days, where he went around with Baek Seoin to destroy portals in order to fight the monsters that poured in day after day, was similar to his current situation. If there was a difference, it would be that there was nowhere to escape to this time.
It was either destroy all the Kahur Kabkuns or the extinction of humanity.
Choi Hyuk did what he could. Like he promised, they destroyed 4 Kahur Kabkuns in 2 days. There were now 6 Kahur Kabkuns left. Judging by the number, there were less than half remaining… But the progress of battle was much more difficult. There were already too many monsters that had crossed over through the Kahur Kabkuns. Even if the earthlings fought with all they had, large losses were inevitable. Even if Choi Hyuk remained, it would have been the same.
Choi Hyuk had to put this situation behind him and leave Dragonic.
There was nothing more he could do. The best he could do was alleviate the situation in Dark City and return as quickly as possible.
Choi Hyuk and Richard exchanged glances.
"Richard, then."
Take care. He didn"t need to say those words.
Richard absentmindedly nodded his head.
"Just come back soon."
In charge of defending Dragonic, he didn"t take his eyes off the defensive lines that were engaged in intense battles.
As long as Choi Hyuk and the elites left, there was nothing they could do about their front lines being pushed back. He had to think of a way to retreat the front lines, as well as create new ones.
His mind was complicated. The best-case scenario was for Choi Hyuk and his expedition to return quickly. His first goal was to set the situation up so that they could launch an extensive counterattack when they returned. However, Richard also thought of the worst case. The situation where Choi Hyuk"s expedition that took off to Dark City was annihilated and didn"t return. Humanity had to survive even in that situation. He had to somehow make the front lines enter a stalemate, creating time for earthlings" potential to grow before driving out the monsters. If that was impossible… He had to consider migrating to another planet. It was something he couldn"t aimlessly leave to the alliance. Richard was already thinking about that.
"Ah, you already told your friend Naro, right? That I might need its help in a pinch."
"Of course. I told it to follow your words as if they were mine."
{Yes. I can confirm it. I set my settings so that Overseer Richard will be my number 1 command authority until Overseer Choi Hyuk returns.}
Both Choi Hyuk and Naro confirmed it at the same time.
"Okay."
Richard nodded. He didn"t even turn around and waved his hand.
"Have a safe journey, everyone."
Richard, Diana, Nasir, and Yohan remained on Dragonic.
Choi Hyuk, Camilla, and Jessie left for Dark City.
"Who knew things would come to this? We"re lucky that we destroyed a few Kahur Kabkuns with our pre-emptive attack. If we had prioritized defending, we really would be in big trouble right now…"
Diana, who had firmly pushed for a defensive tactic, mumbled with an exhausted voice. It was as she said. If they had stuck to a defensive tactic, then there might have been more than 10 Kahur Kabkuns still remaining. In that situation, if their elites had to leave like they were now, the progress of the war would have been truly grim. Humanity might not even be able to overcome this crisis.
Chills ran down her spine when she thought that.
"As expected… Richard"s judgment is terrifyingly accurate. Just how is does he do it?"
Diana looked at Richard in a new light. His judgment would always be correct even when some unexpected change occurred as if he knew the future.
The other person who dumbfounded her was Choi Hyuk. It always looked like he was acting recklessly, but his judgments weren"t greatly wrong either. At least in fighting methods, it was clear he possessed an animalistic sixth sense.
Choi Hyuk was about to go off to battle.
"5 middle-ranked warriors, 5,000 low-ranked warriors, and 100,000 lowest-ranked warriors."
He was calling the list of expeditionary members.
Within a year since the advancement evaluation, the military strength of earthlings had greatly increased. When he thought of the harsh wars they had experienced, such as the advancement evaluation and doppelganger incident, which then triggered the mission renaissance that followed, it was an obvious result.
The number of 3-star colonizers (lowest-ranked warriors), who could be considered as elites, had increased to 700,000 people, and the number of top elites, 4-star colonizers, had reached around 7,000 people. Of course, there were more people who had only just entered those levels than those considered proficient. For example, for a lowest-ranked warrior to advance to a low-ranked warrior, their important stats had to reach 400 points, but there were many more "entry-levels", who had less than 50 points, than those with more than 200 points, who were considered to be "proficient". Still, it was an amazing progress.
They also couldn"t ignore the development of the top experts either.
Choi Hyuk, who had just become a middle-ranked warrior at the time, and Richard, who had taken half a step into the 5-star level, had already advanced to the point of being considered proficient (halfway), and those who had been at the edge of the 4-star level, Overseer Jessie, Camilla, Yohan, as well as Ryu Hyunsung, and Lee Jinhee, had become middle-ranked warriors during their attack on the Kahur Kabkuns this time. Considering that it became harder to increase their karma every level they went up, the achievements they made within this short period of time was amazing.
Yet, Choi Hyuk wanted more.
"Our goal isn"t simply to survive and return."
With his back towards his troops, he observed the monsters pushing in from afar. However, to the troops, his voice was as clear as if he was speaking next to them.
"We will become stronger with this expedition. And then! When we return, only their screams will remain."
A small whisper, yet, his resolve was firmly embedded in it.
His anger and resolve moved the hearts of the warriors.
"Excluding me, there are 4 middle-ranked warriors, 5,000 low-ranked warriors, and 100,000 lowest-ranked warriors… Prepare for war!"
Along with Choi Hyuk"s declaration, the military gate system activated.
The top experts of Earth went off to war. The 5,000 low-ranked warriors among them made up the earthlings" core military force. Because of this, Overseer Jessie and Camilla joined the expedition to protect and lead them. The 100,000 lowest-ranked warriors were the same, they were top experts. As they especially couldn"t let the military force of 5,000 low-ranked warriors be used as sacrificial cards, additional warriors, who were known to be one of Earth"s strongest, joined in even though defending Dragonic was a pressing issue.
It was a gamble.
When thinking of priorities, it might have been better if they had just grit their teeth and washed their hands of this matter. It might have been better if they had simply met the requirements the alliance requested and have experts like Camilla, Jessie, Lee Jinhee, Ryu Hyunsung and the rest stay behind and defend. However, Richard believed in Choi Hyuk. Although he was also considering the worst-case scenario… He still trusted Choi Hyuk and gambled on their return. He included some of the strongest people to the expedition so that more people could return.
Whether this would be a brilliant move or suicidal would be determined later.
At the last moment, Richard turned around and looked at the expedition that was disappearing within the hazy gate. His eyes filled with complicated emotions.
"Alles Gute (The best of luck)."
Richard"s gaze looked to the front again. His eyes were clear and unwavering.
Whoosh.
As soon as they crossed the gate and arrived in Dark City, the warriors were met with an intense heat wave. Traces of Dark City"s dark, transparent appearance were nowhere to be found, and blue flames burned everywhere.
They saw a gigantic dog. Blue flames burned at the tips of its black fur. Its eyes and mouth billowed with blue flames. The mountain-sized dog was biting and devouring Dark City in the distance. Every time the dog ate a part of Dark City, the blue flames surged greatly.
"A h.e.l.lhound…"
Choi Hyuk recalled the data he studied with Naro in the past. It was a monster that had never been seen in the Virgo Cl.u.s.ter. It was a high-ranked monster. Only those of at least the 6-star level could be its match.
Out of curiosity, he had carefully studied powerful monsters like it since he could encounter them in the future… But he never thought he"d see one here and now.
The monster Choi Hyuk remembered was a monster proficient in ma.s.s destruction. Well, the properties of fire were such. However, the flames it possessed were unmatched in its peculiarity.
"Euaaack!"
A blue flame floated around before catching on a warrior from Earth.
"Euaah!"
At first, the warrior writhed due to the heat, but soon, his hot burns began to feel cold like dry ice.
"Brrr."
The warrior, who had writhed due to heat, now chattered his teeth as his body shivered.
"Hey, are you alright?"
A healer from the Camilla Clan hurriedly extinguished the fire and healed his burns, but the warrior still complained about the cold. His body began to shiver more intensely.
A cold flame.
"Cold… I"m cold!"
Their behavior was illogical. Those who were burned by the blue flames felt hot at first, but soon, their bodies shivered from the cold. Their strange figures made the warriors tense.
However, soon, something even more terrifying occurred.
"Ah… Warm."
"Hey, are you crazy?! Euack! What are you doing!?"
With their bodies shivering, the people who had been inflicted with burns once again approached the blue flames to get rid of the cold. The blue flames wrapped their entire bodies, making them feel warm until they experienced a more intense chill.
"Cold… I"m cold!!"
Then they would look for more blue flames. They repeated their actions until they were turned into ashes. Every time the warriors gave their bodies to the blue flames, blue flames would spew out like dandelion seeds.
"Just what is this…?"
The h.e.l.lhound was different from the monsters they had seen until now. The spirit surging from its body was enough to make them feel intimidated, and the blue flames spewing from its body were ominous and strange. Also, it made so many blue flames that the sky looked like it had a blue river flowing in it. Due to the warriors throwing their bodies into the flames, the already plentiful blue flames increased.
"Da-dangerous."
The warriors stepped back. Their ranks became disordered. However, there was no place that was completely safe from the blue flames. Fear and chaos seeped into their hearts.
"Keep your heads straight! Don"t touch the blue flames if they approach, and push them back with your karma! Low-ranked warriors, push them back with your power, and lowest-ranked warriors, get into groups of 10 and push them back together. If you don"t push with enough power, they will burn through your karma and come closer, so follow my orders faithfully!"
The one who straightened out the situation was Baek Seoin.
Since any information Choi Hyuk thought was useful was forwarded to Baek Seoin through Naro, Baek Seoin also remembered the h.e.l.lhound, in more detail than Choi Hyuk, and also knew how to handle it.
"Push! Push them back!"
Due to Baek Seoin"s instructions, the expedition barely managed to regain their composure as they pushed the blue flames back.
Their actions left quite an impression on Dark City"s 3rd District Garrison"s Team 17 Leader, Lankin.
"What"s this? I was worried since they sent newly-joined rookies, but they"re better than I expected."
His body was painted red. Unlike Tangka, he was an agile robot. Lankin was of the Armored Soul Tribe. He was a middle-ranked warrior who had reached the peak of the 5-star level. He appeared while spinning his Gun of Sentiment "Lankin"s Thrill".
The same time he appeared, a black flag fluttered above Choi Hyuk"s head. Unrelated to Choi Hyuk"s will, his sovereign symbol had been revealed. Lankin recognized the flag.
"So you"re the leader, huh?"
With a joking voice, an announcement appeared.
{Effective immediately, Choi Hyuk, the leader of Earth"s expedition, will be a.s.signed to 3rd District Garrison"s Team 17. You will follow the command of the team leader, Lankin.}
Thud!
Lankin jumped up really high into the air and dropped right in front of Choi Hyuk. The blue flames floating in the sky clashed with Lankin"s red torso, but they simply bounced off powerlessly. Lankin, who was slightly taller than 2 meters, looked down at Choi Hyuk as he said,
"Although you might act like a leader in the countryside, this is Dark City. Stay alert and follow my orders. The situation is severe. You can do well, right?"
Pat, pat.
Lankin patted Choi Hyuk"s shoulder as if he were a child.
Swish!
Choi Hyuk unsheathed his sword. His Sword of Vow "Choi Hyuk"s Imprint" almost brushed past Lankin"s arm. Surprised by its startling chill, Lankin retreated his arm.
"Just what is the mea-"
He looked at Choi Hyuk with eyes mixed with anger and surprise.
However, Choi Hyuk had a carefree att.i.tude as if all he did was simply unsheathe his sword. He nodded his head once as he asked,
"So, what"s our target?"
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