Chapter 108: City of Death (4)
Slash!
Bright red blood spurted out from the cracked battle suit.
The surprise attack through teleportation had succeeded, but Hyun Suho's expression didn't seem that pleased.
'Was it too shallow?'
It wasn't a mistake.
The tough barrier had several layers, causing the attack to be slightly delayed.
Even the sonic blade, capable of disintegrating all matter, had been held off momentarily by Black Thunder's barrier.
It was only for an instant, less than the blink of an eye, but it had been enough for Black Thunder to barely save its life.
That didn't mean it was just a scratch. He had successfully grazed its rib.
An advantage gained with difficulty.
'I'll end it here.'
The pain of having its bone cut was clearly slowing down Black Thunder's movements.
Without any other healing skill, it would die from excessive blood loss.
It was at this moment, when the ranker-level powerhouse seemed poised to lose its life in vain, that two power armors, which Hyun Suho hadn't managed to take care of earlier, rushed toward him after Black Thunder's intervention.
[Master! Attack from the rear!]
The power armors launched all their remaining missiles and flew at him like missiles themselves.
A suicide attack with no regard for their own lives.
They intended to save Black Thunder, even if it meant sacrificing themselves.
If Hyun Suho continued the attack, he could bring down Black Thunder, but he would inevitably sustain considerable damage as well.
With no choice, Hyun Suho retreated to deal with the approaching power armors first.
Matching the speed of the missiles, the power armors flew in from both directions.
Even getting shot didn't stop their relentless charge.
Hyun Suho crouched briefly and spun his wings, rotating his entire body like a top.
Whirl!
There was no sound of cutting.
Hyun Suho cleanly sliced through not only the incoming power armors but also the missiles flying at him from all sides.
Boom!
The two power armors exploded in the air, but their goal had been achieved.
They had saved Black Thunder from imminent danger.
“...”
Black Thunder looked at Hyun Suho, letting its injured arm hang limply.
Hyun Suho was surprised to see Black Thunder as well, but the other must also have been surprised by his similar battle suit.
"Come again."
Hyun Suho taunted, beckoning with his finger, but Black Thunder floated silently in the air as if lost in thought.
And then, it suddenly changed direction and started fleeing.
Whoosh!
Accelerating instantly, it had already disappeared into the distance as a small dot.
Even injured, its speed was still greater than Hyun Suho's.
"Nova, can you track its location?"
[Impossible. Black Thunder is equipped with a device that nullifies pursuit.]
"Tch!"
It was disappointing to let it go, but there was no helping it.
Still, since all the power armors were destroyed, they wouldn't cause any more damage.
“How’s the situation in Paris?”
Since he had stopped the aerial attack, he thought the ground forces could be handled by the Paris police.
Once Tatiana completed the cure, they could save the people who had turned into zombies.
[There are still many residents acting like zombies, but the situation is much better than it was initially.]
"How’s the progress with the cure?"
[It seems it will take a little more time.]
Even an SS-ranked alchemist couldn't just whip up a cure instantly.
"Then for now, we'll save the residents..."
He was planning to assist the military and police in evacuating residents until the cure was ready when he suddenly felt a chilling aura approaching.
‘Who is it?’
It was a presence far more powerful than the power armors or Black Thunder he had fought earlier.
The moment he instinctively raised his sword, he realized that the owner of the aura had already reached him.
It was, surprisingly, a blonde woman.
Notable were the silver armor and longsword, symbols of the Rose Blanche Order of Knights.
Her piercingly blue eyes radiated a cold light, and her expression was stiff and stern like steel.
She seemed to be at least in her late 30s, exuding a mature presence, yet still a beautiful woman.
Hyun Suho finally realized who his opponent was.
“The Iron Lady? Oscar?”
Ranked 20th among high-rankers.
The Iron Lady, Oscar François.
The leader of the Rose Blanche Order and the strongest in France.
She had finally appeared before Hyun Suho.
Even in the high sky, where not even birds could reach, she was floating steadily.
She was the owner of an SS-ranked Paladin class.
Using her formidable holy power, it was nothing for her to hover like this in the air.
“Who are you?”
Her expression was fierce, as if she could swing her sword at any moment.
Well, with her country’s city destroyed in an instant, it would be stranger if she weren’t furious.
Hyun Suho raised his hands high as if to show he had no intention to fight.
“As you can see, I’m helping the city.”
“Helping, you say?”
Oscar, who had been convinced that he was one of those attacking the city, hesitated for a moment.
In that moment, Hyun Suho quickly spoke up.
“You’re aware that the power armors attacking the city have crashed, right? Do you think they went down on their own?”
Oscar frowned, finding his words persuasive.
“Is that true?”
“I came to Paris on some business, and when this suddenly happened, I stepped in to help. You can investigate to verify.”
Oscar glared at Hyun Suho, but it wasn’t enough to determine the truth of his words.
After thinking for a moment, Oscar spoke as if she had no choice.
“Fine then, follow me.”
“Of course.”
It was a relief.
No matter how capable Hyun Suho was, he couldn’t handle a catastrophe on the scale of an entire city alone.
He needed help.
To be precise, it was Hyun Suho helping them.
As they descended to the ground, the knights of the Rose Blanche Order were also waiting there.
"Commander!"
A female knight greeted Oscar and frowned upon seeing Hyun Suho following her.
"You scoundrel! So you’ve been caught by the commander!"
Like Oscar earlier, she also suspected Hyun Suho to be the mastermind behind the incident.
"Who are you people? Why are you slaughtering the residents?"
Hyun Suho shook his head, as if the claim was absurd, and replied, "Slaughtering? On the contrary, I helped them. The people who turned into zombies were attacking others."
"Lies! Tell the truth!"
As the female knight's tone rose, Oscar stepped forward and said heavily, "Chevalier Vanessa, step back."
"Commander! But…"
"This is an order."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
When Vanessa stepped back, Oscar shouted to the other knights, "The rest of you, spread out and detain the maddened people, and assist those in need. Lucien will handle interrogating this person."
"Understood."
At Oscar's words, the female knight named Vanessa moved back while the others scattered in all directions. Instead of Vanessa, a young man stepped forward.
He was a knight with gentle features and wore glasses. His hair was tied back, and he had a slim build—someone you wouldn't easily peg as a knight if you met him on the street.
Unlike Vanessa, he first offered a polite greeting.
"Hello, I'm Lucien from the Rose Blanche Order."
"Chevalier Lucien. It's an honor to meet you."
"You don’t seem to be French. May I ask what brought you here?"
"Of course. I came to Paris on business, but then this frightening incident occurred, so I was also in a difficult situation."
"May I, by any chance, take a look at your Hunter terminal?"
"Of course."
Without hesitation, Hyun Suho handed over his terminal.
Lucien used his device to scan it.
"Hyun Suho, Korean. Arrived three days ago."
"That's correct."
In reality, Hyun Suho had just arrived in France, but Nova had hacked into French databases to make it look like he had entered the country a few days ago.
Not knowing that Hunter terminals could be hacked, Lucien’s expression softened a little as he asked, "Our order was slightly delayed because we prioritized protecting key figures. Do you happen to know anything about the current situation?"
"Well…"
Hyun Suho explained what he had experienced.
From the people who became zombie-like due to a mutated rabies to the power armors that attacked the city.
"Rabies, you say? Not zombies?"
They too had assumed that the infected were suffering from a zombie virus.
This is how powerful the media can be—people make assumptions based on what they’ve seen in movies.
After some more questions from Lucien, Hyun Suho answered them all without hesitation.
When Lucien was finished, Oscar stepped in again.
"What a waste of time. Paris is under complete lockdown. You’ll be taken to a shelter."
Sending Hyun Suho to a shelter was not for his protection but to confine him.
Even though Hyun Suho had helped defend the city, there was still uncertainty about the situation, and they wanted to eliminate any variables.
It was the right decision.
If Hyun Suho were in Oscar's place, he would have done the same.
People were continually turning into ghouls due to the virus. The police and military were fully deployed to contain Paris.
It was ironic that the forces meant to protect people were now preventing them from leaving.
But they couldn’t be blamed for that—if they didn’t do this, there would undoubtedly be greater casualties.
Oscar, having lost interest in Hyun Suho, was about to move to another location with her knights.
That’s when it happened.
Finally, there was contact from Tatiana.
[Master, Miss Tatiana has made the cure. However, we lack the ingredients and equipment to produce it in large quantities.]
Hyun Suho's original plan was to transport the completed cure through a wormhole gate.
He hadn’t considered that materials needed to be gathered.
‘Wasn’t it supposed to be made using a skill?’
[Rather than using a skill, she figured out the formula for the cure.]
In a way, that was an even more remarkable feat.
She had discovered the cure for a mutated disease in just a few hours.
Of course, she had the ability of an SS-rank alchemist to aid her.
After a brief moment of consideration, Hyun Suho called out to the knights who were about to leave.
"Wait a moment. I might be able to help."
If someone else had said such a thing, they would have turned their backs without hesitation, given the urgency of the situation.
But knowing Hyun Suho's extraordinary abilities, Oscar couldn’t quite ignore him.
"How would you help?"
"This rabies outbreak was deliberately caused by someone. You already know that healing magic doesn't work on it, right?"
Oscar nodded bitterly at that.
"The general healers were helpless. My sacred power worked, but…"
It seemed that Oscar, being a high-ranker, was able to treat it with her sacred power.
But she likely concluded she couldn’t treat everyone by herself.
"Fortunately, I know how to produce a cure for this."
In truth, Tatiana had discovered it, but he couldn't say that.
Then Vanessa stepped forward and said, "You happen to know the cure for the virus spreading throughout the city? Do you know how suspicious that sounds?"
Vanessa seemed to think Hyun Suho was part of an evil company that spread the virus to profit from selling the cure.
Hearing it, it did sound plausible for a moment, even if it was just a novel plot.
Seeing the suspicion in Oscar’s eyes grow, Hyun Suho urgently waved his hands.
"I have no intention of accepting money. I'll just tell you the production method."
Despite Hyun Suho's insistence of innocence, Vanessa remained distrustful.
"Commander! We can't trust this man. He must be connected to the current crisis."
Oscar also couldn’t fully believe Hyun Suho, who had suddenly appeared claiming to know the cure. However, given that he claimed to know how to treat it, she couldn't just subdue him either.
After a brief deliberation, Oscar spoke to two of her knights.
"Vanessa! Lucien! Escort him to the research lab. If what he says is true, it could help resolve the situation."
heyy is this sill updating?
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