novelraw Chapter 293 : Star of Hope (3)
Chapter 293 : Star of Hope (3)
"Phew~ This is hopeless."
A large horn extracted from Andromalius's corpse.
Looking at that overwhelming mass of magical energy, Lim Eun-seo scratched her greasy hair.
"Squad Leader Lim, what's wrong?"
To her subordinate's question, Lim Eun-seo sighed.
"Look at this, ahjussi. It doesn't melt even when thrown into a furnace, and if you hit it with a hammer, the hammer breaks. What am I supposed to do with this?"
"If you don't know, how would I..."
"Ah, stop whining and give me some tips. I'm a Squad Leader because of my good hand skills, not because of my rich experience, right?"
"Hmm. In that case..."
The member, who was old enough to be her uncle, rubbed his bearded chin in thought at the Squad Leader's tantrum.
"...Since ancient times, there's always been someone in our unit we turned to for help when dealing with difficult-to-melt materials."
"Oh, who's that?"
"3rd Unit Captain Seol Ji-yun."
"Ah!"
Lim Eun-seo exclaimed.
"Of course, the Flame Emperor's fire might be able to melt even a demon's horn."
"I'm not certain. Considering the terrifying power demonstrated by the demon Andromalius, even though it's just a body byproduct..."
"Well, that's true. But it's worth trying."
Lim Eun-seo wrapped Andromalius's horn in cloth and hoisted it over her shoulder.
"By the way, what are you planning to make after melting it?"
"A sword."
"Is it for Special Operations Captain Jeong Su-hyeon by any chance?"
"Of course. That guy, Su-hyeon, came back after completely melting the Moonless Sword I made for him."
Lim Eun-seo pouted her lips.
"As his noona, I have to do at least this much for him."
"Hmm..."
The member, ignoring the "noona" title as if he hadn't heard it, muttered.
"A demon's horn. And a sword made from a Great Overlord's horn at that."
"Exciting, isn't it? I can't even begin to imagine what kind of item will be created."
"Indeed."
The member suddenly asked.
"Have you decided on a name for the sword?"
"Nope! That's the hardest part."
"Hmm. I'll think about it too."
"Great. Let me know if you have any good ideas."
"Or since we're at it, why not hold a public contest?"
"Oh?"
Lim Eun-seo's eyes sparkled.
"That's a good idea."
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"Special Operations Captain Jeong Su-hyeon."
"Yes."
Kim Cheol-han, who encountered Su-hyeon in the headquarters, said it was perfect timing and handed him a thick stack of paper.
"What is this?"
"...Candidates for the name of your sword being made by Squad Leader Lim Eun-seo."
Kim Cheol-han, showing off the staff department's characteristic dark circles, answered.
"Name candidates for the sword."
"All of these?"
From simple names to ones exceeding ten characters, pure Korean, Chinese characters, English, and even Latin.
All kinds of names were densely written.
"Let me know if you find one you like."
"...Do I have to choose from these?"
"Not necessarily, but."
Kim Cheol-han said, massaging his temples.
"It would be nice to choose a cool and meaningful name. It's good for promotion."
"...Yes."
"Special Operations Captain Jeong Su-hyeon wielding a sword made from the horn of a slain Great Overlord. What a perfect image, don't you think?"
Kim Cheol-han grinned.
"Plus, a sword made from such material—I'm excited to see what kind of excellent weapon it will be."
Although Su-hyeon had already reached the level of wielding an invisible sword, a mind sword made of mana.
A fine sword that could fully accept his mana and forge it into sharper sword energy would be tremendously helpful regardless of a swordsman's level.
"Everyone is doing this because they want to help you somehow. I hope you accept it with a happy heart."
"I will do so."
"And the operation you proposed has been approved by both the Chief of Staff and the Commander. Telepathy, radio, numbers broadcast... We'll use all means to announce our fortress's coordinates and message, so be prepared to deploy at any time."
"Understood."
They were once instructor and cadet.
But now, Kim Cheol-han respected Su-hyeon's authority as Special Operations Captain, and Su-hyeon remained polite while understanding his intention.
Such was also a type of student-teacher relationship.
"Instructor Lee Ho-seung would truly be pleased to see you now."
"...His sacrifice will not be in vain."
"Of course it won't be."
Kim Cheol-han smiled, saying he felt all kinds of sentiments that didn't suit him.
"It may sound sudden, but I'm proud to have been your instructor. You were an extraordinary and special cadet from the very first time we met."
"I too."
Su-hyeon bowed to him.
"Am grateful to have had you as my instructor, Staff Officer Kim."
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Crash!
With a loud noise, Hong In-hyeon and Choi Min-a were thrown away like cut strings.
"Tch!"
"Min-a!"
Seo Jun-seong's telekinesis safely caught the two.
'Neither magic nor blade wind utilizing turbulence works.'
It wasn't a matter of durability difference or compatibility difference.
Just rank difference.
Seo Jun-seong bit his lip at the scene created by the significant rank difference.
'Is there really no way except to endure?'
They couldn't last even 10 minutes in yesterday's sparring.
Today, the second day, they were launching coordinated attacks with all their might to inflict even a little damage on Su-hyeon.
"Who's next!"
"Us!"
Filling the void left by Hong In-hyeon and Choi Min-a were Hwang Ji-su and Nam Tae-hoon.
However.
Whack!
Su-hyeon subdued Nam Tae-hoon, who had flown in commanding shadows, with a single left body blow.
"Kek!"
With a death cry, Nam Tae-hoon was immediately retired.
"Just become frozen meat!"
Zzzap!
Su-hyeon blew away the extreme cold that Hwang Ji-su shot with all her might with a fist wind.
"Danger!"
Before it was too late, Seo Jun-seong, who had extracted Hwang Ji-su from the bizarre trajectory of the fist wind using telekinesis, struck at Su-hyeon with a giant arm created from extremely dense telekinetic force.
"Hmm."
Su-hyeon looked at the attack with a satisfied expression.
Indeed, the presence of Seo Jun-seong, who was versatile in supporter, area attack, and one-on-one combat, was proving to be a great help.
What was bearing down on him was the maximum output attack created by an S-rank telekinetic.
"Well then."
An invisible sword formed in Su-hyeon's hand.
"Hup!"
Su-hyeon cut what couldn't be cut by swinging his invisible sword.
"...Insane!"
Cutting telekinesis with a sword?
Although they had seen it several times yesterday, it was still something they couldn't adapt to.
"Geez, there's no such thing as compatibility or anything!"
Hwang Ji-su, who had created nine massive ice dragons, shouted.
"Let's all attack at once!"
Jeong Su-hyeon, a martial arts fighter who used sword and fist in close combat.
However, to the transcendent Jeong Su-hyeon now, constraints such as distance, attack means, and characteristic compatibility were meaningless.
As evidence.
Crack!
Kim A-yun's railgun, fired at maximum output, flew toward Su-hyeon.
Snap!
Su-hyeon simply caught the railgun's bullet with one wave of his hand.
"Come on, are we playing catch?"
Hwang Ji-su, feeling despair, muttered.
Su-hyeon's body didn't receive even a scratch from enormous voltage lightning.
Su-hyeon's reaction speed, which lightly caught a super-high-speed bullet impossible to perceive as if catching a baseball, was no longer human.
Whish!
When Su-hyeon threw the bullet back as if returning it, the bullet, flying much faster and stronger than what Kim A-yun had fired, hit Kang Geon-woo and knocked him down.
Kuogh!
"One more shot."
What gathered at Su-hyeon's fingertips was too large to be a bullet and too fast to be a shell, and it was fired at Seo Jun-seong.
"Kuuuu!"
To Su-hyeon, who had reached the level of freely manipulating mana, things like magic or techniques had no meaning.
Just shooting when he wanted to shoot.
"Kuup!"
However, the casually fired mana bullet was powerful enough to stop right in front of Seo Jun-seong only after he used all his mana and mental strength to deploy a gravity field and layer barriers of telekinetic force.
In the meantime, Su-hyeon had already appeared behind Seo Jun-seong and was inserting a concise hook into his temple.
Whack!
Seo Jun-seong, who had lost consciousness, landed as lightly as a feather guided by Su-hyeon's mana.
"Kyaak!"
"Kuk!"
Kim A-yun, who was preparing another massive lightning attack, was hit by Su-hyeon's fist wind from outside her consciousness and fainted.
"Tch!"
Hwang Ji-su's attempt to trap such a Su-hyeon in a prison of cold only managed to freeze a bit of frost on his hair.
In return, Su-hyeon's sword cut through the ice wall and stopped right in front of Hwang Ji-su's nose.
"If you're going to stop like this, what are you trying to do?"
Hwang Ji-su, filled with indignation, grabbed the invisible sword and tried to inject cold into it.
"...!"
The sword made of ultra-high-density mana didn't allow even that.
Thwack!
Su-hyeon, who knocked Hwang Ji-su unconscious by hitting her nape, held her in his arms and laid her on the ground.
What remained were Min Hae-na, Lee Yu-jin, and Kwon Seung-yeon.
"Now there are three left. At this rate, I wonder how long you could last in front of a Great Overlord..."
Even at Su-hyeon's deliberate provocation, the three remaining people clenched their fists resolutely.
"Let's go."
Su-hyeon plunged into the formation created by the two Captains, Min Hae-na and Lee Yu-jin, and Deputy Captain-level warrior Kwon Seung-yeon.
Ratatah!
Min Hae-na's mana bullets were too slow to track Su-hyeon, who was like a ghost.
Woong!
While Min Hae-na's thrust, boasting the longest range, aimed at Su-hyeon, Lee Yu-jin and Kwon Seung-yeon, who had moved to the left and right, extended sword and fist.
But.
Whoosh!
The two couldn't even capture Su-hyeon's afterimage.
Whack!
"Ugh!"
Kwon Seung-yeon, whose leg buckled from a light low kick, raised his guard seeing Su-hyeon's left straight flying in.
But that was just a feint created by shoulder and upper body movement.
Su-hyeon's fist, which thrust at the abdomen with a flexible shoulder changing its trajectory, knocked Kwon Seung-yeon unconscious right there.
"Kuk!"
Slash!
Two attacks aiming at his head and back flew in through that gap, but they missed again.
'Where?'
'Above our heads!'
The two were shocked to see Su-hyeon already drawing his invisible sword above their heads.
'When did he!'
This had already transcended the realm of footwork.
The current Su-hyeon was a being who could freely use both flight and instantaneous movement.
His footwork, enhanced with three-dimensional space and distance compression options, had already far surpassed the category of martial arts known to humans.
Clang!
Min Hae-na's staff was instantly broken into three pieces.
She didn't even capture a single one of those attacks with her eyes.
'Unbelievable.'
Even if she denied it, it had already happened.
Whoosh!
Min Hae-na, who had stepped away from Su-hyeon with ghost-like footwork while holding her now single staff, gave a hollow laugh when she saw Su-hyeon already waiting for her in front of her destination.
'S-rank, Captain, such things are nothing but empty shells with no meaning before this man.'
Thump!
Su-hyeon, who charged while deflecting Min Hae-na's single staff thrust attack, struck her abdomen, cleanly knocking her unconscious.
And thus, only one remained.
"...Here I come."
"Words aren't necessary."
Su-hyeon and Lee Yu-jin faced each other.
Tack!
The two crossed past each other.
Only one exchange was needed to decide the winner.
"...That was a good move."
Su-hyeon, who caught a single strand of hair that had been cut very slightly in midair, said.
Thud.
But Lee Yu-jin couldn't respond to his words.
Hit on the neck by the back of the sword in exchange for cutting a single strand of hair, Lee Yu-jin staggered, and Su-hyeon quickly embraced her and laid her down.
"...Better than I expected."
Looking at his friends who had all fainted, Su-hyeon muttered.
"You all fought well."
Though the result was a crushing defeat, in the process, Su-hyeon saw the surprisingly improved skills and potential of his friends.
'Especially Lee Yu-jin's swordsmanship has already surpassed that of Lee Cheong-myeong before he became a Ma-in, it's no exaggeration.'
It didn't seem to require much time for her to surpass even the combat power of the transformed Lee Cheong-myeong.
Hwang Ji-su had also already acquired the position of the strongest in ice freezing, and the second-best elemental-type Awakened after Seol Ji-yun.
The telekinesis possessed by Seo Jun-seong was undoubtedly the world's best among Awakened of similar systems.
'At this level, they've already surpassed power-ups that would have taken years in previous runs.'
"Special Operations Captain Jeong Su-hyeon! Chief of Staff Heo Sung-gyeom is urgently looking for you!"
Seeing an Execution Force member running from afar, Su-hyeon's eyes lit up.
"It seems the time has come."
Now it was time to start the first mission of the Special Operations unit.