novelraw Chapter 132 : Mission 10: The Hunters of Old (5)
Chapter 132 : Mission 10: The Hunters of Old (5)
The first creature to emerge from the open Gate was a screeching, low-level monster: a goblin.
Individually, they were weak. The problem was their numbers.
A green tide that looked to number well into the thousands burst forth, tearing the Gate asunder.
The goblins charged the sealed walls of the Gate Room first, throwing themselves against the barrier in an attempt to break through.
Thud! Thud!
But the wall didn’t budge.
It was dozens of meters thick, its durability enhanced with all the skills and technology of the Gate era. It was sturdy enough to withstand the arrival of a Gate Lord, let alone a horde of goblins.
Having given up on breaking through the wall, the goblins turned toward the only exit.
Toward the narrow doorway on the opposite side of the Gate Room, where Shin-woo Jo and the Knights of Iron stood their ground.
As the swarming goblins let out a collective roar and began to surge forward, Shin-woo bellowed, “Activate defense turrets!”
«Activating!»
Clank! Clank!
Automated turrets mounted on the ceiling descended in unison.
Trrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Long barrels spun to life, unleashing a torrent of fire with a sound like rolling thunder.
Goblins caught in the barrage were torn to shreds. Green chunks of flesh erupted like fireworks as blood, the same color as their skin, sprayed in every direction.
The monsters melted away before the overwhelming wall of lead.
For as long as it lasted, that is.
«Commander! Turrets are almost out of ammunition!»
“When is the Gate closing?!”
«No sign yet! It’s holding! No, it’s expanding!»
Far from closing, the Gate was growing larger. The number of goblins pouring out increased with it.
Shin-woo gritted his teeth. This was the horror of a Permanent Gate.
There was no way to close it.
Without a Core, it simply vomited out an endless stream of monsters from a fixed coordinate at its own whim.
All humans could do was pray that the Gate would exhaust its fury and shut its doors as quickly as possible.
«Turret ammunition depleted in ten seconds!»
“How long to reload?!”
«Thirty seconds! Forty-five if you include cooling the barrels!»
“Teams Three and Four, to the Gate Room! Prepare for backup! Teams One and Two, prepare for ranged assault!”
At Shin-woo’s command, the Hunters of Teams One and Two raised their ranged weapons.
Team One, composed of standard warrior-class Hunters, all carried firearms.
Team Two, made up exclusively of ranged ability users, held staves.
Shin-woo stomped his foot on the ground before him. “Raise the barrier!”
«Deploying barrier!»
Clank!
A thick barrier, just over a meter high, shot up from the floor directly in front of the Hunters, forming a barricade.
The leader of Team One, resting his machine gun on the barricade, called out to Shin-woo.
“Commander, what about the vanguard? The barricade alone won’t be enough!”
“I’ll hold the front line myself! You all just pour on the firepower!”
The moment Shin-woo vaulted over the barrier, the ceiling turrets fell silent in unison.
They were out of ammo.
The screeching goblins immediately resumed their advance. They scrambled over the mountain of their comrades’ corpses, crawling forward.
“Activate Artifacts Two and Four!”
«Activating Artifact Two and Artifact Four!»
The artifacts installed in the ceiling activated at Shin-woo’s command.
Wooooong!
An area-of-effect slowing curse and a defense-reduction curse spread across the room.
The floor of the Gate Room was sloped, with the Gate on the low ground and the Hunters on the high ground.
Caught between the incline and the slowing magic, the goblins’ advance suddenly faltered. Shin-woo charged headlong into the bewildered horde.
“Let’s go! It’s hunting time!”
“Good hunting, Commander!”
“Good hunting!”
As the Iron Knight plunged alone into the enemy ranks, a storm of bullets from Team One and attack spells from Team Two rained down on either side of him.
Shin-woo swung his greatsword, scabbard and all, carving a path through the monsters.
“Hmph!”
The massive, coffin-shaped scabbard swung with vicious force.
K-k-k-k-k-k-BOOM—!
A simple swing, yet it unleashed a devastating storm.
Every goblin within range exploded. Shin-woo was a veritable meat grinder, tearing through the goblins as he advanced.
The goblins fought back, swinging their crude blades at him.
Ting! T-ting!
But each time, their weapons struck a transparent barrier around Shin-woo’s body, bouncing off with a shower of sparks.
The ability of S-Rank Awakened Shin-woo Jo was “Absolute Defense.”
He was, simply put, indestructible.
This simple yet powerful ability not only made him the greatest vanguard in the history of the Awakened but also allowed him to slaughter enemies with maximum efficiency when thrown into their midst alone.
He didn’t have to distinguish between friend or foe, offense or defense. All he had to do was kill.
CRASH! K-CRACK! K-BOOM!
The endlessly swinging scabbard crushed monster limbs without pause.
The relentless advance of the monsters finally ground to a halt. More than that, they began to be pushed back.
Grehk…?
Grrrrrk?
The goblins were confused at first. They only grasped the situation when the front line was pushed back to them, and only screamed in terror when their own limbs were shattered.
SQUELCH! CRUNCH! K-BOOM…!
Shin-woo killed.
With his innate strength, with his thirty years of experience, with a lifetime of hatred, he meticulously pulverized each and every monster.
By the time the front line had been forced all the way back to the Gate, the goblins had lost their will to fight and were trembling in fear.
The seventy-one-year-old, walking, talking antique weapon slowly brushed back his disheveled gray-brown hair.
“I’m in one shitty mood right now… you goddamn monster filth,” he snarled.
***
The Gate closed thirty minutes later.
The vast Gate Room was thick with the corpses of goblins and the stench of their blood.
“Hoo…”
Shin-woo, caked from head to toe in green blood, was sitting on the floor in front of the now-closed Gate.
“Commander.”
Someone approached him.
It was the Vice-Commander of the Knights, clad in heavy, Western-style full plate armor.
Judging by the green blood splattered all over his armor, the battle in the rear had been just as fierce while Shin-woo fought on the front line.
“Vice-Commander. Good work.”
“It was nothing, sir. Need a smoke?”
Without removing his full-face helmet, the vice-commander skillfully rummaged through a pouch with a gauntleted hand and produced a cigarette.
“Ah. Thanks.”
Shin-woo took the cigarette offered by his second-in-command and placed it between his lips.
Just as the vice-commander was about to light it for him, a broadcast echoed throughout the Gate Room.
«Purification process will begin shortly. All personnel, please exit the Gate Room.»
“Hmph. Trying to douse us with water before I can even get a light.”
Grumbling, Shin-woo pushed himself to his feet. Chewing on the unlit cigarette like a piece of gum, he headed for the entrance.
Outside the doorway, Hunters, though not as drenched as their commander and vice-commander, were resting, covered in green blood. They all saluted Shin-woo as one.
“Good hunting, Commander!”
“Good hunting, sir!”
“Killed every last one of them, so it was a good hunt. You all worked hard. Rest up.”
Thump!
After closing the multiple layers of the Gate Room’s doors and initiating the lockdown sequence, Shin-woo spoke into his comms.
“Room’s clear. Begin purification.”
«Initiating purification process. Activating Artifact Twelve.»
Leaving behind the sight of disinfectant spraying into the Gate Room and machines beginning to clear away the monster corpses, Shin-woo stretched his back.
“Getting too old for this shit. Everything aches.”
He grumbled, rubbing his lower back. The vice-commander looked up at his leader from within his helmet with eyes full of reverence.
He had annihilated thousands of goblins almost single-handedly. It was a martial feat that was awe-inspiring no matter how many times one witnessed it.
This was the pinnacle of human military might. Death walking on two legs. An S-Rank Awakened.
But despite having wiped out the invading monsters without a single loss, Shin-woo’s expression was dark.
After roughly wiping the blood from his body with a towel, he made his way to the central control room.
“What’s the analysis?” he asked as he entered.
The Hunters monitoring the Gate’s status turned to face him.
“It’s still in a state of rampage. It’ll open again within twenty-four hours.”
“Did someone tamper with the Gate during the occupation? Is there an external cause for this rampage?”
“No, sir. The Gate Room was completely sealed. The rampage is internal.”
Shin-woo pressed his fingers to his aching forehead. “Why now, of all times…”
“Commander, the scale is alarming. Based on the Gate particle readings, we anticipate a series of massive monster waves.”
The Hunter in charge of analysis nodded grimly. “The Gate will continue to open over the next few days.”
“And the intensity will only increase, I take it.” Shin-woo gritted his teeth and stared at the monitor.
Inside the Gate Room, shimmering with heat as the incineration process concluded, the Gate remained.
That cursed pit, endlessly spewing forth monsters.
Clenching his jaw, Shin-woo asked his subordinate, “Can we hold it with our current numbers?”
“It will be difficult, sir. No… I believe it will be impossible.”
“…”
“To hold it safely, we’ll need external reinforcements.”
As Shin-woo fell silent, the vice-commander standing beside him spoke up cautiously. “What are your orders, Commander?”
“…”
“We were planning to force the Gate open ourselves, weren’t we? This works out. We can use this to show those bastards on the outside a thing or two…”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Shin-woo cut his vice-commander off and slowly straightened his back.
“We are Hunters. We protect people from monsters. No matter what happens, that does not change.”
“…”
“There’s still time before the government accepts our demands… Until then, we’ll have to risk our lives to stop the monsters.”
“Then will you request aid from the outside?”
Someone interjected, “No. That would defeat the entire purpose of this operation.”
Shin-woo nodded heavily. “We hold the line ourselves.”
“But Commander…!”
“Cut the external patrol forces by half and reassign them all to Gate defense.”
Looking at his subordinates, who were stunned by this sudden turn of events, Shin-woo’s voice was firm.
“Trust me, all of you. We can do this. Just as we have for the past several decades.”
“…”
“We will kill the monsters, and we will achieve our goal.”
There was power in his voice. The power of a deep trust built over decades of shared struggle.
Wasn’t that why everyone here had chosen to believe in that voice, to resolve themselves to die alongside him?
The Hunters of the Knights offered no further objections and returned to their duties.
It was already hectic enough dealing with the military forces pressing in from outside the facility. Now they had to fight the monsters from within as well.
This is going to be a living hell.
Shin-woo tried to light the cigarette in his mouth, but it was too mangled from being chewed on to be smoked.
He spat the tattered cigarette onto the floor, let out a long sigh, and swept his bangs back.
“This isn’t easy. Not easy at all…”
The oldest Hunter’s eyes were heavy with exhaustion.
***
December 10, 2050, 11:00 PM.
Seoul. Capital Defense Command.
Thwup-thwup-thwup-thwup—
Two transport aircraft lifted off from the base, their rotors slicing through the night air.
The aircraft windows showed the faces of convicts, each one more savage-looking than the last. They were trembling with a mixture of tension and excitement.
Forty-five convicts of the Black Parade had been dispatched.
Their mission to retake Cheongnyangni Gate had begun.