novelraw Chapter 126
Chapter 126
Chapter 126
The negotiations ended cleanly. Both sides had what they wanted, and the conditions were well worth the exchange.
Now that we could advance while leaving the supplies and the main bases we’d already crushed to Taebaek, the only thing left for us to do was to push forward relentlessly.
One of Taebaek’s advantages was that the scale of hunters they could mobilize was significantly higher compared to other hunter companies of a similar level.
“Damn it, there really are a hell of a lot of them. Mr. Jung!”
In the distance, carts came rolling along. An excessive number of corpses were riding on top of them.
The carts weren't being pulled by beasts. Instead, corpses wedged into the wheels were spinning around, busily rolling the carts with their arms.
“Nina-nina-ni, it’s a gorilla~”
Jung Oh-hoon put away his rifle with a clattering sound and simultaneously pulled out a small grenade launcher from his waist.
With a clear thumping sound, the launched grenade fell to the ground and exploded with a squelching noise, spraying white liquid.
The sprayed white liquid bubbled and swelled up in an instant before hardening firmly.
The racing carts slammed into the masses and flipped over.
Of course, the hardened white lumps also shattered, unable to withstand the force of the charging carts.
“Nice job, Batman.”
As I praised him, Jung Oh-hoon aimed his wrist at a tree behind him.
With the sound of cutting through the wind, an anchor embedded itself into the tree, and Jung Oh-hoon’s body was pulled toward it.
Landing on the tree, he continued firing, intercepting the approaching corpses.
Just as the hooded figures targeted him and the corpses tried to counterattack, his form shattered into dozens of pieces and scattered.
That was something obtained from Jaun Valley.
“You’re doing well.”
As Han Sang-ah drew her sword and rushed in, Jung Oh-hoon fired a few bullets to help her.
The bullets embedded themselves in the ground.
The bullets stuck in the earth made a hissing sound like sprinklers and sprayed adhesive.
While the movements of the corpses covered in the sticky adhesive slowed down significantly, Han Sang-ah swung her sword.
“My god, who on earth comes up with ideas like that?”
I marveled slightly while watching the corpses, covered in misty adhesive, struggling and being sliced apart effortlessly.
It certainly looked useful.
It seemed I wouldn't even need to jump in to deal with things like that anymore.
Planting my spear in the ground, I leaned against it and watched Han Sang-ah and Jung Oh-hoon fight.
“Hey, you there. Watch your back.”
Whenever it looked like they were making a mistake, I just did enough to prevent any threats.
They say kids grow through fighting, right?
Since Jung Oh-hoon decided to completely change his fighting style, he needed time to adjust.
“Be careful.”
Han Sang-ah said a word to Jung Oh-hoon as she narrowly avoided an adhesive bomb that exploded with a thud.
“Ah, sorry.”
Jung Oh-hoon glanced at me and spoke.
“But wouldn’t it be better if we try to match our timing?”
I replied while still leaning on my spear.
“What timing is there to match?”
I’m the one who should match you. It’s the same as dancing. The better dancer has to be the one to consider the person who can't dance as well.
“Is it still a long way to Sariwon?”
I made an absurd expression at Jung Oh-hoon’s words.
“We haven't even arrived at Geumcheon yet.”
There were about 15km left until Geumcheon.
From there, we had to travel over 80km more to reach Sariwon.
“I’ll launch a drone.”
Jung Oh-hoon flew a drone that had been hanging on his military gear into the sky.
“Wow, they’ve done something ridiculous again.”
The sight visible through the drone was quite impressive.
The Yeseong River is located in Geumcheon.
And the Kaesong to Pyongyang expressway we were using had to cross that river.
“They collapsed the bridge.”
After collapsing the bridge, they’d built structures on the other side.
Thanks to that, the Yeseong River was acting as a kind of natural moat.
Well, at least that’s what those corpses seemed to want to believe.
Beyond that, the usual obelisks were clearly in place.
“They’ve installed three of them this time.”
I guess that meant they really didn't want us crossing that river.
Once we crossed it, there was no other place to hold out with a river at the back except for Pyongyang, which sits on the Taedong River.
However… even if Pyongyang was once the capital of North Korea, our goal now wasn't something like reclaiming Pyongyang, but removing the Grade 1 Erosion Core, Samhyeoldong, in Pyeongseong.
“In reality, if we reach Pyongyang, we could just bypass the city and strike Pyeongseong instead.”
So they didn't want to give up this spot.
It was true that having a river at your back made an attack at least a little more difficult.
Still, there were no shields.
It would be a foolish move to install them again after seeing the shields get smashed pointlessly once already.
“There’s a mountain near the broken bridge. If I take a position there, I’ll be able to see clearly across the river.”
“Then you take your position and support us from a distance.”
Meanwhile, Han Sang-ah and I would cross the broken bridge.
We just had to sweep away the corpses stationed on the other side and smash the obelisks.
“I’ll send a signal after I’ve taken my spot….”
At that moment, something was shot toward the drone observing the other side of the river.
The drone was destroyed.
The words 'No Signal' shone clearly on the flickering screen.
“Do you know how much that cost!”
“How much?”
Jung Oh-hoon had been shopping on his phone recently. Most of the equipment he was using now was purchased then.
Jung Oh-hoon replied to my question.
“It’s about as much as a monthly rent deposit for an apartment, why!”
“Damn it, why the hell are you getting angry at me. Did I smash it?”
The ones who blew your rent deposit weren't me, but those corpses acting cocky across the river.
Jung Oh-hoon packed his things while muttering curses under his breath.
“Let’s go right now. Those bastards must know we’re nearby anyway because of this skirmish. You damn bastards, once I’m in position, I’ll show you what a storm of bullets really is.”
He seemed to deeply regret the money.
Then again, he must've felt terrible after buying it for such a large sum only for it to be destroyed in an instant.
Jung Oh-hoon’s rage was fully unleashed after he took his position and sent the signal.
“He isn't firing bullets.”
He seemed to have mounted some additional accessory on the rifle he usually used.
Instead of bullets, Jung Oh-hoon’s rifle was pouring out bright red lasers like a machine gun.
“I know that thing. It’s one of those items rich people smuggle for self-defense. I bet my family members each have one too.”
I heard it was an item that originally gathered mana from the atmosphere to fire mana rounds.
Normally, the equipment would give out after firing about ten shots, requiring an hour to recharge.
However, since Jung Oh-hoon was a hunter who possessed mana, he seemed to have tuned it.
The sight of thin, bright red flashes flickering from the mountain peak and pouring across the river was quite impressive.
“He even used that foam wall from earlier to create a temporary position.”
― What are you doing, just playing around?
Jung Oh-hoon’s radio transmission rang out.
Han Sang-ah and I ran toward the river under the cover of Jung Oh-hoon, who was emitting lasers from the mountain peak.
As if waiting, the rapid-fire lasers Jung Oh-hoon emitted began providing cover fire.
“You can cross this much, right?”
Instead of answering my words, Han Sang-ah reached out toward the other side of the bridge.
At that moment, her body and the debris of the broken bridge located far away were connected by pale sparks.
“Want a piggyback ride?”
“No.”
Upon hearing my answer, Han Sang-ah’s body was pulled toward the debris across the bridge.
I infused mana into my legs, took a deep breath, and leaped off the ground.
Arrows and spells poured toward Han Sang-ah and me as if they’d been waiting.
Han Sang-ah’s body became translucent at that moment.
All the attacks flying toward her passed through without dealing any damage.
“Ah, I’m jealous of that.”
I had to dodge and deflect every single one in mid-air.
She had it so easy thanks to the equipment obtained from Jaun Valley.
While I was deflecting the storm-like attacks aimed at us, Han Sang-ah, who arrived first, spoke.
“The distance looks short?”
“It isn't short. Focus on the enemy.”
I thrust my spear forward and extended its length.
The spear succeeded in embedding itself on the other side of the river, and I ran across the spear before pulling it out, successfully completing the crossing.
― Okay, here comes the big one!
Along with Jung Oh-hoon’s radio transmission, something made a whistling sound as it cut through the air from afar.
A metal projectile about the size of a basketball was falling over the enemies’ heads in a beautiful curve.
The speed wasn't that fast.
Conversely, that meant it didn't need to be fast.
It also meant it didn't matter if it was intercepted.
A black flash, accompanied by a ghostly wail, struck the metal ball as it flew with a whistling sound.
“My god, a cluster bomb?”
Dust poured out from the shattered iron ball and scattered on the wind.
Confirming this, I backed away slightly with Han Sang-ah.
Then, the white, flour-like powder that poured from the iron ball caused a series of flashing explosions.
― Ha! Serves you right! That’s revenge for my money you blew!
The corpses caught in the countless explosions were all left in tatters.
They looked as if they’d been swept by a Claymore.
Some were dead, and some were alive.
The dead ones could be left as they were, and the living ones weren't in a normal physical state.
I froze the tattered corpses with my ring, and Han Sang-ah finished off those frozen bodies.
In the meantime, Jung Oh-hoon used his superior vision and laser Gatling to suppress the actions of those attacking us from afar.
― Let’s crush them! Those damn pieces of trash corpses blew up my drone, damn it. I bought it thinking I could use it for a long time!
That guy looked ready to go blow someone's head off even if they were the president if they didn't pay back money he’d lent them.
He wasn't the type to do anything for money, but he was certainly someone who considered money extremely important.
While we continued the fight, I looked at Han Sang-ah as she sprinted and then lunged toward her.
“Oh, damn it.”
Grabbing Han Sang-ah by the scruff of her neck, I immediately threw her backward. Right after, sharp spikes erupted from beneath the ground.
The size was terrifying. Each one looked to be almost 3m long.
If I hadn't thrown her, Han Sang-ah would have had three or four large holes poked through her stomach.
With a series of thumping sounds, the ground heaved, and a beast the size of a tank popped out.
“A beetle wandering around with a bunch of large thorns on its back.”
It almost got dangerous. It had been hiding incredibly well.
I almost couldn't find it.
The beetle’s maw ripped open, and a head popped out.
It had the face of an old woman and boasted a freakishly long neck.
Its form was like a snake with an old woman’s head.
― It’s you.
Similarly, I felt an energy similar to Ballea from this thing. Twice now. At this point, I had to think that Samhyeoldong itself had some connection to Ballea.
“Grandma, why are you drooling so much from your mouth? That makes things hard for the nurses and caregivers.”
Saliva was dripping from the old woman’s mouth. Her neck had rope marks as if she had died by hanging.
Her limp tongue, sticking out between her weak jaws, was licking the dust on the ground.
“I feel like I’m seeing things.”
The presence was too faint. Even though she was right in front of me, it was hard to be certain she was actually there. Even though she was such a large insect.