Chapter 74: The Wizard’s Legacy (2)
He thought of opening the book just in case, but as expected, it wouldn’t budge.
Although it emitted its own light, there was no other reaction from it.
Instead, it was the purple monsters that were reacting.
"Am I imagining things? It seemed like their heads turned this way."
[It’s not your imagination. The monsters are reacting to the book.]
The bizarre-looking monsters turned their heads toward him, as if on cue.
It was a scene straight out of a horror movie.
Even Hyun Suho had struggled quite a bit to take down just one of those monsters. If it hadn't been for the plasma, it would have been much harder.
And now, there were easily thousands of them in sight. Including the faintly visible ones, there could be tens of thousands.
All of them were clearly staring at Hyun Suho.
"Damn it!"
Hyun Suho quickly put the book inside his coat.
It was a reflexive action, and although he didn’t understand why, as soon as the book was tucked away, its light faded.
Fortunately, after that, the monsters' heads turned back to their original positions.
It was as if they were thinking, "Was that just my imagination?" but he couldn’t be sure.
He wasn’t even certain if the monsters were living beings.
Their appearance and the clean cut surface when they were sliced by the lightsaber showed no internal organs, just a smooth texture.
They looked more like crystal golems than living creatures.
"What kind of dimension is this? How can such monsters exist?"
He had been utterly shocked when he first arrived in this place.
A vast desert made entirely of gray sand.
There wasn’t a single tree, nor any sign of life.
Only massive dunes formed by the wind filled the monotonous landscape.
"What galaxy could this be?"
When you pass through a dimensional gate, you can travel to many different planets.
Planets inhabited by demi-humans like elves, dwarves, and orcs were the most famous.
Perhaps they could even enter Eos, Nova’s home planet.
But then, Nova said something unexpected.
[Based on the positions of the stars, this is Earth.]
“Earth? This place?”
A land of death inhabited by unknown purple monsters.
It was hard to believe that this place was Earth.
“Is this like the Sahara Desert?”
“No. It’s presumed to be Greenland.”
Greenland is the world’s largest island, located next to the Arctic Ocean and Canada.
About 84% of its land is covered in ice, with most of the rest being barren wasteland.
The only area where humans can live is around 1% of the coastal edges.
It’s not an ideal place for civilization to thrive, but it wasn’t supposed to be this bad.
“What on earth happened here?”
[Insufficient data.]
He hadn’t really been expecting an answer, but even Nova couldn’t speculate on the situation.
In the world where Phantom used to be, they could hack into the internet and obtain a wealth of information, but that wasn’t possible here.
[There are satellites orbiting Earth, but most of them have been destroyed. This suggests that either human civilization has been gone for a long time, or someone deliberately destroyed them.]
“So, this Earth is devoid of humans?”
[So far, I haven’t detected any humans, animals, plants, or even insects.]
If this were a world where humans never existed, or if it were the primordial Earth before humans appeared, it would be understandable.
A world with remnants of civilization, but without humans.
“What on earth happened here?”
He couldn’t understand the situation, but now wasn’t the time to satisfy his curiosity.
Hyun Suho landed back on the ground and spoke to the others.
“Give me the radio and all of you should go back through the portal you came in from. There should still be some time left before it closes.”
A barely surviving agent, still gasping for breath, asked in a shaky voice, “W-What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to find and rescue them.”
On the other team were Eun Hui-gwang and Na Yeon-sil.
Objectively, their combat strength was not inferior to this group.
However, the situation reported over the radio did not sound good.
‘Maybe it’s a bad match-up?’
Both Na Yeon-sil and Eun Hui-gwang are pure swordsmen.
Considering the overwhelming durability of the purple monsters, even a party with a high-ranking member could struggle.
The agents hesitated for a moment at Hyun Suho’s words, but then shook their heads.
“We can’t do that. We’ll go with you.”
They had already felt firsthand just how overwhelmingly powerful the monsters in this place were.
But no matter how dangerous a dungeon might be, they couldn’t just abandon their comrades and leave.
Hyun Suho read the determination in their eyes, but he still shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but with my abilities, I can’t protect you while moving.”
“Th-that’s…”
Not ‘join,’ but ‘protect.’
Hyun Suho was clearly stating that they would be a burden.
Normally, he wouldn’t be so harsh with his words. But there was no room for niceties now.
“You don’t have to leave the portal, but don’t move from here.”
Luckily, the purple monsters weren’t moving from their spots.
Of course, assuming anything in this situation without proper information would be foolish, but staying still was definitely better than wandering around.
Hyun Suho felt sorry for them, but he didn’t even have time to persuade them.
He snatched the radio from the agent’s hands and began moving.
‘Nova! Can you track them?’
[Yes, I will display the signal’s direction visually.]
Hyun Suho utilized the battle suit’s flight capabilities and soared into the sky.
Since the purple monsters stayed on the ground, he figured that flying high would reduce the risk of collision.
But that was a mistake.
Just as he ignited the booster and started to gain speed, two purple monsters suddenly leaped off the ground simultaneously.
“What?!”
The monsters had jumped 2,000 meters in an instant.
They had launched themselves so powerfully that he could clearly see the thick clouds of dust dispersing from where they had been standing.
The jump was impressive, but what was truly astonishing was their transformation.
The back of the humanoid monsters split open with a loud crack, revealing thin wings like those of a beetle that began to flutter rapidly.
Amazingly, the monsters hovered in the air with the stability of flying insects.
"You've got to be kidding me."
The creatures, now airborne, attacked Hyun Suho without hesitation.
Whoosh!
As he quickly bent backward, a purple blade barely grazed the tip of his nose.
He had already witnessed their terrifying attack power earlier.
If he tried to block their strikes while flying, he would likely be sent flying off into the distance.
As Hyun Suho flew through the sky, dodging their attacks, he extended both arms, aiming at the monsters.
Whirr!
His palms glowed brightly, and blue plasma was fired.
Boom!
The monsters reacted swiftly.
As energy gathered in his palms, they must have sensed danger, as they twisted their bodies to dodge.
One shot missed entirely, while the other grazed a monster's side.
Fortunately, the one that was hit wobbled in the air, though it didn't fall to the ground.
The monsters showed no signs of pain or fear as they relentlessly attacked.
Their quick counterattack came just before the next plasma shot was ready.
[Danger detected! I will assist with the flight!]
Sensing the danger, Nova took control of Hyun Suho's battle suit, helping him evade the incoming attacks.
Even with Nova's assistance, a purple blade still managed to slice through the thin material of his battle suit.
Screech!
The suit, which had been reinforced with monster materials, tore like paper.
Luckily, he wasn't injured, but if the cut had been any deeper, it might have severed bone.
Barely avoiding the attack, Hyun Suho aimed his palm at the monster's head.
"Die!"
Bang!
As plasma obliterated the monster's head, it lost power and plummeted to the ground.
Normally, unless you destroyed a golem's core, it would regenerate quickly no matter how much damage it took elsewhere.
Fortunately, it seemed these creatures didn't have a separate core like real golems.
With one down, only the one with the wounded side was left.
It wobbled unsteadily as it approached Hyun Suho, but its attack power was still something to be reckoned with.
Hyun Suho didn't let his guard down and carefully extended his palm.
"You're next."
Bang!
The plasma shot pierced the creature's chest, sending it crashing to the ground.
Thud!
Even after falling from a height of over 2 kilometers, the creature's body remained intact, only leaving a large crater where it landed.
"Just how tough are these things?"
It had been foolish to try cutting them with a chainsaw sword.
Yet, for some reason, plasma seemed to work unusually well on them.
"Maybe they're weak against heat?"
[Analysis of the attack patterns shows a different phenomenon than just melting points due to temperature.]
"So you're saying it's not just about heat?"
[There is no material like that anywhere in the universe. The monster's body is closer to energy than matter.]
"Energy? That thing?"
He had confirmed its hardness when it shattered his chainsaw sword. Yet, it's apparently energy rather than a physical material.
"And if it's weak to plasma…"
[Do you remember when I mentioned that its healing factor was more akin to poison or a curse? If it's not the heat energy, there's a high probability that it's weak against light energy.]
"Weak against light…"
It was currently daytime.
The sun was shining, yet that alone didn't seem to affect the monsters.
"Or maybe what's being suppressed is just this much."
Who knows how these creatures would behave once night fell?
He needed to hurry.
"No choice then. I'll have to break through."
Though he now knew the creatures could fly, he couldn't afford to waste time.
Luckily, Nova had a good idea.
[I have a plan. So, here's what we'll do...]
After hearing Nova's plan, Hyun Suho grinned.
"Is it doable?"
[Already prepared.]
"Alright, here we go!"
Hyun Suho fastened his battle suit tightly and shot through the air.
As expected, the purple monsters sensed his presence and leaped after him.
"How many are following me?"
[It's better if you don't know.]
"...Got it."
Luckily, he wasn't too late in finding the scattered group.
He saw a flash of silver in the distance, indicating that the Silver Knight was still alive.
"Found them."
Looking around, many of them were bleeding and lying on the ground, while Eun Hui-gwang was fiercely battling the purple monsters.
As Eun Hui-gwang's sword cut through a monster, its body was split in half.
It was probably thanks to his legendary weapon, balmung, or his EX-rank skills.
What was surprising was Na Yeon-sil.
She was gasping for breath, sitting on the ground, clearly injured.
Though Eun Hui-gwang was fighting valiantly, more monsters were gathering, likely attracted by the noise.
"Eun Hui-gwang!!"
Swinging his sword for dear life, Eun Hui-gwang looked up at the sudden shout.
There, he saw Hyun Suho in his impressive battle suit, with a swarm of monsters trailing behind him, darkening the sky.
"You crazy bastard!!"
Killing just one of these monsters required considerable effort.
Luckily, the silver aura worked well against them, allowing Eun Hui-gwang to barely hold on, but the situation was dire.
Na Yeon-sil had collapsed with an injury while trying to protect him earlier.
It was Eun Hui-gwang's fault for reacting thoughtlessly when he first saw the monsters.
In fact, it should have been him lying there, not Na Yeon-sil.
Even Eun Hui-gwang, who always acted nonchalantly, couldn't help but feel the weight of responsibility.
He gritted his teeth and swung his sword, but there were simply too many of them to handle.
"Are you trying to get us all killed?!"
Eun Hui-gwang thought Hyun Suho was fleeing toward them to use them as bait while he escaped.
However, contrary to his expectations, Hyun Suho didn't fly off in another direction; instead, he landed right in the middle of the fray.
As he landed, he swung his lightsaber, cutting down the surrounding monsters.
"You…!"
Before Eun Hui-gwang could say anything, Hyun Suho moved.
"Nova!"
At that moment, something amazing happened.
A round drone emerged from Hyun Suho's body.
Eun Hui-gwang was familiar with that drone since Hyun Suho always had it with him.
There was a time when he even mocked it, thinking it was insignificant compared to his own EX-level skills.
But the round drone began to elongate and then transformed into an incredibly beautiful woman.
"What?"
Even in the middle of this dire situation, Eun Hui-gwang couldn't help but be awestruck by Nova's appearance.
Her beauty was otherworldly, perhaps even the epitome of the ideal he had been searching for his entire life.
"Wh-what…! Wh-what…!"
While Eun Hui-gwang was left gaping like a fish, Nova spread her arms wide, pointing to the sky as she spoke.
"Satellite weapon is ready."
Most of the satellites orbiting Earth were destroyed, but a few remained functional.
One of them was a satellite weapon.
Although the level of technology wasn't on par with that of Planet Eos, it was still far more advanced than the world Hyun Suho came from.
Even though it was the same Earth, the timeline was far into the future.
Nova had remotely hacked into the satellite weapon, taking control of it.
The weapon's turret, orbiting in space, was now precisely aimed at their location.
Hyun Suho, while keeping an eye on the swiftly approaching monsters, asked Nova, "Is it ready?"
"Wait a moment. I'll count down from five. Five, four, three…"
As Nova began the countdown, Hyun Suho gathered all the mana within his body.
Finally, when the time came...
"Firing God's Rod! Master, now!"
"Beam shield!!"
Hyun Suho grabbed Nova's hand and raised it to the sky, deploying a shield of light.
The moment the shield was formed, a massive beam of energy rained down from the sky.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The satellite weapon, God's Rod.
As its name suggests, a terrifying laser beam descended from space, piercing through to the ground.
The diameter of the laser alone was nearly 100 meters.
It was far larger than Hyun Suho's beam shield.
If not for the beam shield, which was effective against energy weapons, it would have been impossible to block.
Even with Nova assisting right beside him, Hyun Suho had to grit his teeth to endure it.
"Uuuurgh!!!"
"Just a bit longer, Master!"
The sudden satellite bombardment startled the purple monsters mid-flight, but it was too late.
Not only did the direct laser strike them, but the monsters also couldn't withstand the lasers reflected by the beam shield, which scattered in all directions.
The creatures were helplessly obliterated.
Nova's calculation that the monsters would be weak against light was spot on once again.
"Nova! How much longer…?"
"We're almost done!"
As Nova said, the optical weapon, which had been pouring down like a waterfall, gradually thinned and then finally dissipated.
"Gasp! Gasp! I'm exhausted!"
Taking a moment to catch his breath, Hyun Suho looked around and was greeted by a spectacular sight.
Everywhere outside the area protected by his beam shield had been completely obliterated.
The ground had been so deeply penetrated that its bottom couldn't even be seen.
Because of this, it looked as if they were standing on the peak of a sharply cut mountain.
Hyun Suho admired the sight for a moment and then spoke.
"…Is there any way we could make something like this in our world?"
"I have secured the design for the satellite weapon. However, I recommend that we first establish an aerial fleet."
Hearing this unexpected positive response, Hyun Suho was surprised but quickly moved on.
He began treating Na Yeon-sil and the others who had fallen.
Fortunately, thanks to their high levels, Na Yeon-sil was unharmed, and the others had only lost consciousness, with no life-threatening injuries.
"Whew!"
Just as he was about to finally relax, a strange voice suddenly called out.
"It was odd how the monsters suddenly went berserk…"
Hyun Suho turned his head at the voice and saw an unfamiliar man floating in the air.
The man appeared to be an Asian in his forties.
"A human?"
He clearly wasn't a Hunter who had crossed the dimensional gate with them.
In a world where they believed all life had been wiped out, there was unexpectedly another person.
He, too, seemed surprised to see the group.
"Who are you? How are there still people alive?"
