Chapter 25: Light Bringer (4)
[All-direction railgun turrets have been deployed. I will fire them sequentially at 0.5-second intervals.]
[Enemies are approaching from eight directions simultaneously. Deploying defensive missiles.]
*Boom!*
The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air as the half-destroyed remains of a bone dragon fell from the sky.
Hyun Suho's main weapon, the Genocide, still spewed plasma, even if its appearance had changed. However, it wasn’t enough to deal with all the monsters swarming in from every direction. The rate of fire and mana were insufficient.
To buy time to recharge his mana or plasma ammunition, he used bullets and missiles.
In this world, it was common knowledge that firearms couldn’t inflict significant damage on monsters unless used by a marksman. However, the holy enchantment from Guardian Angel applied to bullets and missiles as well, making them effective against enemies.
The upgraded skill that enhanced bullet performance also played a part.
[Detected an attack from the 6 o'clock direction. Impact in 2 seconds.]
"Leave that to me!"
Hyun Suho deftly avoided the attack of a bone wyvern flying at him with its claws extended, then swung his chain sword, slicing through its body and mana core simultaneously.
*Rumble!*
The shattered bone fragments rained down on the skeletons standing idly on the ground below. Some were even struggling, pinned beneath the debris.
"On to the next!"
[Assisting.]
Nova calculated the movements of all the surrounding monsters down to the nanosecond and relayed the information to Hyun Suho.
No matter how exceptional Nova's performance was, in the end, the pilot was Hyun Suho. He had to translate the calculated information into action.
Perhaps it was due to his EX-rank talent, but Hyun Suho quickly adapted to the movements and began to display incredible prowess.
*Whoosh!*
Hyun Suho, who had been flying in a figure-eight pattern, suddenly plummeted towards the ground as if crashing. He aimed for a group of Hunters surrounded by a horde of skeletons. As Hyun Suho lightly scraped his chain sword along the ground and soared back into the air, the encirclement collapsed, giving the Hunters some breathing room.
"Watch out!"
Hyun Suho was weaving through the air, evading the onslaught of bone wyverns' attacks. When the time was right, Nova never failed to signal him.
[Plasma ready.]
"Here comes another shot!"
As Hyun Suho thrust out his chest, a mass of plasma burst forth from it.
*Crackle!*
The plasma tendrils scattered like shotgun pellets, piercing through the mana cores of the bone wyverns with pinpoint accuracy. The more enemies swarmed, the more effective the attack became, as the odds of piercing through multiple targets in a line increased.
Even though Hyun Suho had secured a large supply of mana potions, the total amount was still finite. If he hadn’t prioritized efficiency, he wouldn’t have flown so close to the monsters in the first place.
"Vulcan!"
When Hyun Suho extended his hands forward, they transformed, revealing rotating minigun-like barrels. As he swung his arms from side to side, the barrels spun rapidly, unleashing a barrage of bullets infused with the holy enchantment.
*Ratatatatat!*
Hyun Suho never stopped moving in the air. Whether firing plasma rounds or rapidly discharging bullets, he constantly flew erratically through the sky. With plasma engines attached, Hyun Suho’s speed far outpaced that of the bone wyverns. From the perspective of something fast, something slower might as well be standing still. This difference was especially evident in aerial combat. That’s why, during the world wars, the performance of aircraft was of utmost importance.
Hyun Suho began to ravage the bone wyverns, swirling through the air as if swimming in water.
*Boom!*
Plasma, bullets, and chain swords—all were in use. Wherever Hyun Suho passed, the bone wyvern hordes invariably plummeted to the ground.
With Hyun Suho dominating the skies, the other Hunters found it relatively easier to fight. They no longer had to worry about when or where the bone wyverns would come charging in.
The analysis that Hyun Suho—more accurately, Nova—had compiled and passed on to Jin Seo-yeon had already been disseminated to all the Hunters. Unlike typical undead, these monsters could only be defeated by destroying their mana cores. Their nature was closer to that of golems. Although it was difficult to strike something as small as a fingernail in one hit, knowing the strategy versus not knowing it made a world of difference.
"You need to destroy the mana core! Even if they’ve fallen, double-check them!"
Hyun Suho wasn’t just targeting the monsters. Moving across the battlefield, he would occasionally spot a specific target and land without fail.
"Hero landing!!"
*Thud!*
Hyun Suho landed safely, one knee touching the ground. It was the move he had practiced most diligently when first trying out the battle suit.
[Practice paid off. Though it has zero practicality.] Nova commented.
'What do you know about a man's dream?'
The spot where Hyun Suho landed was a government-operated treatment facility.
In the treatment center, many injured individuals were huddled together, recovering. A government official dressed as a healer was startled to see Hyun Suho suddenly appear, causing him to stumble backward in surprise.
"Whoa, you scared me. I thought you were a monster."
Slightly hurt by the comment, Hyun Suho asked Nova, ‘He thought I was a monster. Is there something wrong with the armor design?’
[It's just the words of a human with poor aesthetics. Don’t worry about it. Hmph! That's what you get with those science majors.]
Not all healers are necessarily science majors, though. And should an AI created by a science major even say something like that?
Anyway, that wasn’t why Hyun Suho had come here.
"You have mana potions here, right?"
"M-Mana potions?"
"Yes! I don't have time, so answer quickly."
"Uh... we do have some extra."
"Perfect. Hand them all over."
"Excuse me?"
"I said give me all of them. We need them for the fight."
Though his request was sudden and blunt, they couldn’t refuse. They had witnessed Hyun Suho's feats on the battlefield even from this distant location.
This dungeon break was proving to be much more difficult than anticipated. Even with six high-rankers mobilized, clearing it still seemed far off. If things went south, there was no guarantee that this place would remain safe.
"Here you go."
"Thanks! I'll be off now!"
*Whoosh!*
Kicking off the ground, Hyun Suho took off and soon disappeared into the distance, becoming just a dot in the sky.
The healer watched in bewilderment as Hyun Suho vanished.
"...He's a real monster."
Hyun Suho, after hearing from Jin Seo-yeon that potions had been distributed to all the guilds involved, went around collecting mana potions from various locations. Some guilds, feeling offended, firmly refused, but most obediently handed over their potions to him.
He had already gathered and consumed over 50 large mana potions. In monetary terms, it was worth well over 5 billion won.
As Hyun Suho used more mana, the number of bone wyverns shot down increased.
"At least it's worth the money. Fire!"
*Pew!*
"Thanks, Jarvis!"
[You're welcome, Tony.]
As time passed, Hyun Suho's movements became smoother and more stable. He had fully awakened his battle suit’s senses through actual combat. While he initially relied on Nova’s assistance to fly, he could now soar freely like a bird on his own.
"Woohoo! This feels amazing!"
[I agree. Your current abilities are comparable to a 4th generation fighter jet on planet Eos.]
"Still a long way from the 7th generation?"
[You're being overly ambitious.]
*Boom!*
From afar, it looked like explosions followed the path Hyun Suho flew. At this rate, it seemed like he alone could take down thousands of bone wyverns.
And then it happened.
The bone dragon began to move.
*ROOOOAAAARRR!*
As the bone dragon roared, a tangible ultrasonic wave spread across the entire sky. The force of it even caused Hyun Suho, who had been flying smoothly, to momentarily stumble.
"Ugh! What was that?"
Up until now, the bone dragon had been perched on a spire, observing as if it were a mere bystander. Suddenly, it began flapping its wings and took to the skies.
"Was it just my imagination, or did it look directly at me?"
[It wasn’t your imagination. It’s definitely targeting you.]
"Don’t tell me the bone wyverns I killed were actually its offspring?"
[This is no time for jokes. You should retreat.]
The bone dragon was several kilometers away from Hyun Suho, a distance that would make it barely visible on a cloudy day. But with just one flap of its wings...
"It's fast!"
The bone dragon had already closed a significant portion of the distance.
[Estimated level is at least 8! Master, retreat!]
"Tsk!"
Hyun Suho diverted all of the Genocide’s output to speed.
*Vroooom!*
The bone dragon was undoubtedly after him. There was no way he could handle a monster with an estimated level of 8 alone. He had to retreat to where his allies were.
‘Where to…?’
Even in that brief moment, Hyun Suho calculated his options. He couldn’t lead this monster back to where Jin Seo-yeon was. That would be like assassinating her himself.
‘I need to head to where one of the high-rankers is!’
Among the six high-rankers, Hyun Suho changed course toward the one who was closest.
"Accelerate!"
*VROOOOOM!*
As Hyun Suho utilized his mana, he quickly broke through the speed of Mach. However, to his surprise, the bone dragon was even faster.
[At this rate, you'll be caught in 3 seconds, Master!]
Had he been too excited and ventured too deep into enemy territory? There wasn’t enough time to reach the location where the high-rankers were.
With no other choice, he headed toward a group of hunters emitting a strong aura.
These hunters were swiftly clearing out the incoming undead. Hyun Suho landed right in the middle of them.
*Thud!*
"What the...?"
The hunters, who had been fighting, were startled and looked up at Hyun Suho, who had suddenly landed like a meteor. Among them was a familiar face.
"You’re the one who was next to Jin Seo-yeon earlier…"
It was Silver Knight, Eun Hwi-gwang, along with the government agents who were assisting, but in reality, keeping an eye on him. Whether by luck or misfortune, they happened to be here.
But Hyun Suho had no time to explain anything to them.
"Plasma Cannon! At 70%!"
[Charging complete!]
"Fire!"
*Boom!*
The plasma cannon, charged to 70%, shot into the air. The bone dragon, which was fiercely flying toward Hyun Suho, was in its path.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
[Target hit!]
"Is it down?"
[That phrase is a forbidden one on Earth...]
Until now, nothing had survived a direct hit from the concentrated plasma. The toughest opponent he had encountered was, of course, the Hydra. Though it regenerated with its bizarre healing ability, the process took a significant amount of time.
So far, nothing had withstood the plasma, but that didn’t mean it was infallible. If plasma were omnipotent, the Eos battleships would have already defeated the Death Star.
He had always thought he might encounter something resistant to plasma one day, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
Growl-!
The bone dragon, though struck by the plasma, appeared unscathed. The only noticeable effect was that it had halted its furious charge. Its empty eye sockets emitted an ominous red glow, and a chilling purple aura writhed within its ribcage.
That must be the mana core driving the bone dragon.
[As expected, there’s no dragon heart. How disappointing.]
‘That doesn't seem like the most pressing issue right now.’
Dragon scales, dragon skin, dragon bones—these are all top-tier materials harvested from dragon corpses. Their physical defense and anti-magic properties are so superior that they can block almost any spell. However, Hyun Suho hadn’t expected them to be impervious to plasma as well.
‘I wonder if I could use those bones for body modifications?’
[The marrow has rotted away, so that won’t be possible. And I don’t think that’s the most pressing issue right now.]
‘What a letdown.’
He shouted at Silver Knight, who was standing there in bewilderment.
"What are you doing?"
"What?! What?!"
"Stop that thing! You’re the hope of our nation, Silver Knight!"
"What?! Wait... Hold on..."
"You're a warrior-type, so you need to take it on. I’ll provide support from the rear."
With a good shield in front of him, Hyun Suho was determined to make the most of it.
