Chapter 107: City of Death (3)
No matter how mass-produced they were, it could still be dangerous if surrounded and attacked.
Hyun Suho, who had effortlessly thrown away an enemy soldier he was holding, quickly moved from his spot.
However, the enemies’ response was formidable.
Phew!
[The enemies have launched missiles. They are heat-seeking guided missiles.]
Missiles began pouring down like rain from all directions.
The missiles used by the enemy on Planet Eos were far faster and more accurate than the modern ones on Earth.
Of course, that still wasn’t enough to threaten Hyun Suho.
When Hyun Suho reached out his hand, bullets began to pour out as the gun barrel opened.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
It looked as if he was firing recklessly, but the bullets accurately hit the incoming missiles in midair.
The missiles from Planet Eos were designed to only explode upon nearing their target.
It was a principle similar to that of nuclear bombs on Earth.
The outer shell was sturdy enough not to budge regardless of external impacts.
However, Hyun Suho’s bullets easily pierced through the missile as if cutting through tofu.
Then the incoming missiles disassembled in midair.
Boom!
Now it was Hyun Suho’s turn.
He pushed through the explosion and once again fired a hail of bullets.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Even while flying at many times the speed of sound, the bullets Hyun Suho fired hit their targets with precision.
A power armor unit, startled, attempted evasive maneuvers, but it couldn’t beat Hyun Suho in a battle of speed.
One enemy, pierced by bullets, staggered and then plummeted to the ground.
No matter how advanced the technology of Planet Eos was, there was no surviving a fall from several thousand meters.
Fortunately, the power armor fell on the outskirts of the city, where there were no people, and exploded with a thunderous roar.
Boom!
Though he had taken down one, six enemies still remained.
[I’ll hack into the enemy communications and transmit them to you in real-time.]
‘Nice assist.’
As Nova began hacking, the enemy’s communication could be heard clearly.
[Marine Unit 3 has been taken down. He’s no ordinary opponent, everyone stay alert.]
[Adjust the threat level to stage 5, and move in a V-formation.]
From the enemy's perspective, Hyun Suho must have been an unpredictable variable. However, their communications showed no sign of panic, only calm, precise action.
They moved like a well-trained regular army.
‘It’s pointless, though.’
After two clashes, Hyun Suho had confirmed the performance differences between the power armor and his battle suit.
The result was clear: in speed, power output, and functionality, the battle suit was overwhelmingly superior.
Against such overwhelming performance, numerical superiority was meaningless.
Click!
Hyun Suho created gun barrels with both hands and pointed them forward.
Since it was an aerial battle, he planned to finish them from a distance rather than close combat.
Hyun Suho slightly folded his jet wings and moved swiftly through the air again.
“Here we go!”
[I will activate the firing assistance system.]
From that point on, it was practically one-sided slaughter.
Every time Hyun Suho moved, urgent warning signals could be heard through the enemy communications.
[The enemy’s movement is too fast. We can’t keep up.]
[The firepower is too strong. We can’t hold on.]
Boom!
Although it was the enemies that had surrounded Hyun Suho, it was also they who were being attacked.
Hyun Suho could move much more freely than his enemies and was also much faster.
Speed is relative. To something fast, something slower appears to be standing still.
Hyun Suho was using that to his full advantage.
Crackle!
The enemies kept firing missiles and bullets continuously, but Hyun Suho dodged the beams gracefully, like a butterfly.
He spun through the air, avoiding attacks, and whenever there was an opening, he fired his gun with pinpoint accuracy.
Of course, Hyun Suho was also hit by some of the attacks pouring in.
However, since they weren’t as big as missiles, the battle suit’s defense was sufficient to withstand them.
Boom!
The enemy power armors dwindled quickly, leaving only two remaining.
Just as he decided that capturing the remaining ones would be enough...
[A new unidentified unit has appeared. It is a new form, different from the previous ones.]
Nova immediately marked the new unit on the minimap. Hyun Suho glanced at it and was startled.
‘Why is it so fast…?’
The new unit approached so quickly that it was barely visible on the minimap.
By the time Hyun Suho quickly turned his head, it was already close.
Hyun Suho tried to counter-shoot urgently, but it was faster.
Before he could even aim, it was already right in front of him.
Hyun Suho tried to strike it down by swinging his gun in a quick response.
Flash!
“Ugh!”
He tried to move as fast as possible, but it had already grazed past him.
The gun he swung was sliced in half, and even his arm was deeply cut, leaving a serious wound.
Crack.
Fortunately, the battle suit quickly began repairing itself, and even the wounds inside the armor started to heal.
Though he had allowed a surprise attack, fortunately, it wasn’t a fatal injury.
However, Hyun Suho broke out in a cold sweat inside the battle suit.
‘If I had moved even a bit slower, I would’ve been cut in half.’
The new enemy didn’t give Hyun Suho any time to think.
It made a sharp U-turn, accelerating again towards Hyun Suho with astonishing speed.
When they finally faced each other head-on, it was clear that it was different from the power armors he had fought so far.
‘A battle suit?’
It wasn’t the over 6-meter-tall power armor but rather a battle suit similar to the one Hyun Suho wore.
Although it covered the entire body without any gaps, its movements were smooth, showing no signs of restriction.
Moreover, what it held wasn’t just an ordinary sword.
‘A plasma lightsaber?’
The bright, ominous red plasma lightsaber was clearly visible.
The opposing battle suit swung its long plasma saber, aiming to cut Hyun Suho in half.
Hyun Suho also pulled out his plasma saber to respond.
Soon, the two battle suits collided head-on in midair.
Boom!
The clash of the two suits generated a massive shockwave.
Not only did the surrounding clouds scatter in all directions, but even the other power armors lingering around were blown away.
Due to the tremendous force of acceleration, Hyun Suho was pushed back, but he managed to defend successfully.
He then got a proper look at the enemy battle suit that had attacked him.
It was a battle suit about 2 meters tall.
Its black body was adorned with striking golden lightning patterns.
It was, of course, the first time Hyun Suho had seen such a design, but Nova knew better.
[Black Thunder?]
Nova sounded surprised.
“You know what that is?”
[That is a power suit from Planet Eos. Moreover, it has a unique number that only royalty can use.]
“A unique number?”
No wonder it looked similar to Hyun Suho’s battle suit; it was also from Planet Eos.
[In fact, the battle suit I created was modeled after that.]
“So that’s... the original? And what I’m wearing is an imitation?”
[Not at all. With the inclusion of magic engineering technology and Master’s skills, I can proudly say that its performance surpasses the original battle suit.]
“That being said, that suit’s performance is still impressive.”
While they spoke, the opposing battle suit, Black Thunder, approached swiftly.
It moved fast, with smooth and flexible agility.
It seemed to have far more experience in aerial combat than Hyun Suho.
Of course, in terms of swordsmanship, Hyun Suho was superior.
Crackle!
The two plasma swords clashed once more.
The opponent twisted its flight path at the last moment to exploit an opening, but Hyun Suho wasn’t one to fall for such tricks.
After pushing away with his sword, Hyun Suho extended his palm and fired a plasma bullet.
He judged that using physical bullets wouldn’t be enough to cause serious damage.
Pew!
It was a sudden plasma bullet shot.
The distance was close, and Hyun Suho thought it would be difficult for the enemy to react, but the enemy’s response exceeded his expectations.
A small hexagonal barrier formed precisely where the bullet was headed, absorbing the impact.
‘What the heck is that?’
Hyun Suho was bewildered, not expecting his plasma bullet to be blocked so easily.
[It’s the defense mechanism of Black Thunder. But its performance has improved at least tenfold compared to what I knew.]
Just as Hyun Suho had enhanced his battle suit with magic engineering and other skills, it seemed that the opponent had also modified Black Thunder.
It even seemed to incorporate Hunter skills.
[I will support with magic.]
As Nova shouted, five fireballs appeared around Hyun Suho and flew toward the enemy.
Black Thunder also flinched in surprise at the sudden magical attack.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted, but once again, barriers formed, completely blocking all the fireballs.
Nova hadn’t used magic to inflict damage on the opponent.
Rather, it was a process to gather data.
[The barrier was generated with an error margin of less than 0.01 seconds. It seems the shield is automatically generated.]
“That means...”
[It means that ranged attacks won’t work on Black Thunder.]
If ranged attacks were useless, it meant Hyun Suho had to confront it with a plasma sword or a chain sword.
But even with close combat, could he break through that sturdy barrier?
“This is when a powerful attack skill would come in handy.”
Grumbling for a moment, Hyun Suho drew his chain sword and stepped forward.
Judging by the opponent's barrier, he thought a physical weapon would be more effective than an energy weapon.
Black Thunder’s offensive didn’t let up.
Bang! Bang!
Even with the battle suit, Hyun Suho felt like his bones were shattering each time their swords clashed.
The opponent’s strength clearly surpassed both him and his battle suit.
‘A ranker-level powerhouse at least.’
While Black Thunder’s performance was undoubtedly impressive, that alone wouldn’t allow it to fight Hyun Suho on such equal terms.
It wasn’t just the machine; the pilot’s capabilities were also outstanding.
For Level 7 Hyun Suho to be overpowered meant that the opponent was at least Level 8 or higher.
With both strength and speed being inferior to the enemy, Hyun Suho could only rely on one thing.
His skills.
When Hyun Suho began to seriously utilize his Suho Swordsmanship, he could sense the opponent, who had been pressing in with overwhelming power and speed, getting flustered.
‘This is it.’
Wearing power armor could grant immense strength, but being a robot, smooth and free movement wasn’t possible.
Hyun Suho’s battle suit, made from monster materials, was closer to a biological armor rather than a mere machine.
It meant he could move much more naturally than not only in power armor but also in regular armor.
In that aspect, it was far superior even to Black Thunder, which was said to be worn only by the royalty of Eos.
Hyun Suho fully utilized that advantage to counter Black Thunder.
“Hup!”
The enemy wasn’t relying on just strength and speed.
In terms of aerial maneuvering, they were a step above Hyun Suho.
But martial arts was a different matter.
He received training in the Suho Swordsmanship from Dokgo jeong, and was continually guided by the demoness and persurer of Soul Spear.
Eun Hwi-gwang, who watched from the side, described the process as being tempered.
It meant his martial arts were honed that intensely.
The variable, of course, was aerial combat.
If this fight had been on the ground, it would’ve been over by now.
But since they were in the air, it was hard to properly execute his martial arts.
‘No other choice.’
This wasn’t a sparring session, it was a battle.
Moreover, the enemy was a villain who had driven the people of Paris to their deaths.
It was a tactic that seemed a bit underhanded, one that Hyun Suho usually avoided, but now wasn’t the time for such concerns.
While exchanging sword strikes, Hyun Suho raised his sword high.
A strike with all his strength behind it.
Whoosh!
Despite the powerful strike, Black Thunder did not react significantly.
After all, strength was on his side.
Shifting to a contest of strength was exactly what Hyun Suho wanted.
Just as Black Thunder easily blocked the sword and tried to counterattack—
Suddenly, Hyun Suho’s figure vanished like a mirage right in front of its eyes.
Whirring!
It was the teleportation ability obtained from the skill book.
The activation time was too long to be useful for others, but Hyun Suho could use it in less than 0.1 seconds.
Hyun Suho appeared behind Black Thunder.
Belatedly, Black Thunder hurried to defend, but it was just slightly too late.
And that slight delay made all the difference between life and death.
“Over Technology.”
The chain sword transformed into a sonic blade and swung.
Several layers of solid barriers unfolded to block it, but it was useless.
The sonic blade shredded all the barriers like paper and cut through Black Thunder’s thick armor.
