Chapter 52
“Huff! Huff!” Seong-Hwi panted heavily, sprinting as soon as he threw the spear at Tutobure.
Lee Kang-San, huh? She sure went all out.
The monstrous Tortoise Emperor Lee Kang-San had come to Edu. The Korean World Ranker was so powerful that people considered him the human closest to the Ten Lords and Fiends.
In his past life, Kang-San was enraged by his sworn brother Remy Martin’s death during the Edu attack, and he decimated Clan Trophy. A war between the humans and goblins almost broke out, but Abyete was forced to withdraw because he had no justification for war.
Seong-Hwi had met Kang-San several times in his past life because Kang-San had told Jurie the truth about Remy Martin and helped her through her subsequent despair.
I never understood his actions.
Jurie would never have fallen into sorrow if Kang-San had kept the truth to himself. All Kang-San cared about was the honor of his sworn brother Remy; he had not considered the psychological shock his daughter would suffer.
In some situations, people were better off not knowing the truth. Sometimes, an absolute evil was necessary to target one’s resentment, but Kang-San had taken that target away from Jurie. The resentment turned into self-hate, agonizing Jurie until her dying breath.
Jurie must have leaked the Edu attack information to Lee Kang-San.
Seong-Hwi more or less understood the circumstances. Jurie likely sent the information to Kang-San after discovering that the goblin High Ranker Tutobure would participate in the Edu attack.
Lee Kang-San must have come for both rescue and a warning.
He had likely come to rescue his old friend Remy and simultaneously warn the Union executives in the first zone that the Tortoise Emperor Lee Kang-San was not stuck on the front lines. He warned them to choose wisely since he could exert absolute power at any time, destroying whatever ploys and puny authority they had.
I expect nothing less of him.
Seong-Hwi did not particularly like Kang-San since he was Jurie’s friend, but everything Kang-San did was for the sake of humanity. He also became the leader of the pioneering faction, albeit unbefittingly, to obtain the Master Stone and restore humankind’s destiny to the former peaceful Earth. It was because he was humanity’s hope that the shock and sorrow of his death at the hands of Curiositas, the Second Fiend, was immeasurable.
***
“Ahhh! Kill them!”
“Those motherfuckers killed Zou Run!”
“Stop them! They’re coming!”
The tide of battle turned around once the struggling emitter humans regrouped with their enhancer comrades.
“Tanks at the left wing! Widen the gap! Nukers, break the enemies’ shields! All emitters, attack!”
Shin Jun, who led the enhancers here, stood out the most. He relayed commands to around eight hundred people to move systematically, and most of them were effective.
“Their shields are broken!”
“Fire!”
The tanks quickly charged forward to cover the fatigued nukers, and the emitters in the rear spammed their skills.
“Kurgh!”
“Take cover!”
“Morons! How are you being overpowered by newbies?!”
Additionally, the Martin clansmen Remy brought were strong enough to fight on the front lines in the fourth zone. The F and E-rank humans whom the goblins gathered for a one-off were no match against them.
“Keep pushing toward the manipulator dorm! Time is on our side!” Jun shouted.
He was certain of Edu’s victory. He was concerned about the explosive noises he could hear from the direction of the main gate, but they were in Middle Earth, the humans’ turf.
That aside, why are reinforcements from the Union so late? They should be aware of the attack and have come by now.
As he was thinking, the goblins shouted, “Kreeeh! Retreat to the warp gate!”
“Krrrk! Commence the retreat! Break the quies os!”
They’re retreating? Have the Union reinforcements arrived? What’s a quies os? Jun wondered.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
“You’re not going anywhere!”
The chasers had the advantage, but Jun noticed the retreaters simultaneously stuffing their hands into their pockets. His heart beat rapidly from the strange sense of uneasiness.
“Stop! Don’t chase them! Maintain the formation!” he shouted.
However, some were so drunk on victory that they did not hear Jun. They continued to chase after the retreating attackers. Each attacker pulled out two to three black orbs and threw them on the ground. A closer look revealed a thin layer of glass over the black orbs. The glass broke from the impact with the ground, and the black orb inside rolled toward the defenders.
“Are those... os?”
Os were the core of the Chaos monsters—their weakness. Everyone knew Chaos died when their os was broken. Considering that logic, Chaos did not die as long as their os was intact.
Chaos Mana surged from the os on the ground, and black blood bubbled from it. The blood immediately took form and became Shen-rank Blood Chaos, such as Black Dogs, Bodies, Kodomos, Langards, Sharpies, and more—they had encountered some in the Dark Forest and learned about the others in their Race Theory class.
Woof! Woof!
Nwaaah!
“Gaaah!”
“C-Chaos!”
The battlefield instantly fell into panic. The ones chasing the retreating attackers were killed by the swarm of Chaos monsters that appeared out of nowhere. There wasn’t only Blood Chaos. Bone, Flesh, Skin, and Armed Chaos were also among them.
“The motherfuckers released quies os!” cursed Ali, the emission instructor who was shooting the fleeing human attackers with his AK-47 D Weapon.
Quies os, or dormant os, was specially made by processing an intact os of a Chaos. The technique was developed for a noble purpose—hunting Chaos with Chaos—but it was soon abused. As a result, the development and use of quies os was prohibited under the World Law.
Although superficial, the Ten Lords always claimed all races were one and should work together to defeat Chaos, their common enemy. Hence, using the Chaos to terrorize the Mirror World residents was an act of terrorism in their eyes. However, those prohibited items were used to buy time for the attackers’ escape.
“Those crazy goblin fuckers! Are they not afraid of the consequences of breaking the World Law?!”
The Chaos ran wild, attacking everything and everyone regardless of friend or foe. The attackers took the chance to retreat to the warp gate.
***
The battlefield near the manipulator dorm was the worst of all. Unlike the enhancers and emitters who regrouped early on and the conjurers and transformers who had been together from the beginning, the manipulators were on their own. The weight on their shoulders was somewhat lifted after reinforcements from Clan Martin arrived, but the number of casualties skyrocketed again after the enemies released the quies os.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
“Kurgh!”
A Blood Black Dog that evolved into an Armed Black Dog after continuously devouring the os of other Black Dogs bit off a newbie’s neck. Its teeth were as hard as steel, and the newbie’s neck was as soft as cotton candy.
“Son of a bitch!”
Franky, the manipulation instructor, charged at the Armed Black Dog. He took a puff of his D Weapon, a marijuana joint. His D Weapon was an internal manipulation type—to be more exact, a drug D Weapon with a doping ability. There were three types of drug doping D Weapon rules: stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens. Franky established stimulatory and hallucinogenic rules for his D Weapon.
[Activating Unique Skill: Sensory Amplification.]
[THC Concentration: 30%.]
The world around Franky felt more vivid. His enhanced vision made it feel like he was watching a 3D movie. His enhanced hearing allowed him to read the Black Dog’s movements by hearing its muscles moving. His enhanced touch increased his evasion ability by being able to sense the air on his skin.
Woof!
The Armed Black Dog tried to bite him, but Franky dodged as if he were dancing with a partner. He also sliced the Black Dog’s tendons with his sword as fluidly as escorting his partner after the dance ended, and stabbed its os.
Whine!
The Black Dog turned back into blood. Franky canceled his skill, and his senses returned to normal.
[Canceling Sensory Amplification.]
[Applying Debuff: Lethargy due to THC overuse.]
“Urgh!”
Franky suffered a debuff from using his unique skill all day. Doping skills allowed one to exert powers that far transcended their limits for a short duration, but the subsequent rebound was just as large.
“D-dammit!” Franky cursed as his limbs grew heavy.
He wanted to pass out right this second, but that was suicide on a battlefield.
“NO! DO-HYUN!” A woman’s screams echoed throughout the battlefield.
However, Franky was fighting the debuff with all his might and had no leeway to turn around.
***
Shin Jun’s team had three manipulators: Nam Do-Hyun, Choi Hee-Gyeong, and Han Ye-Ji. They were in a fierce battle against the attackers alongside their fellow manipulators, whom they had become close to in the past month. Among them, the twelve-year-old Do-Hyun stood out the most by far.
Do-Hyun learned an unforgettable lesson in the Dark Forest: the weak were powerless to do anything. They couldn’t protect their loved ones or avenge them. Hence, he resolved himself to grow stronger because he couldn’t do anything despite the massacre of the elderly in District 8.
“Come here, Do-Hyun. Here’s some pumpkin candy I’ve been saving. You’re getting tired of eating just fruit, aren’t you?”
“You’re so brave. I see a leader in you. You remind me of when I was young.”
“No, Mr. Kim. Do-Hyun resembles me more. Don’t you see how handsome he is?”
“Stop that, all of you! You’re making our little boy uncomfortable!”
Their voices echoed in Do-Hyun’s head. Their blood flowed like a stream, and their agonized expressions floated along it. Do-Hyun recalled how he couldn’t even avenge them and was forced to leave it to Card. He focused only on getting stronger in the past month at Edu. As a result, he established a rule for his D Weapon.
[Red Lightning Yo-yo (Destiny Weapon)
Rank: F(68)
Description: A yo-yo filled with the wishes of a boy to grow stronger. Red lightning lies dormant in the yo-yo’s ball bearings. The more the yo-yo spins, the more powerful the red lightning generated.
Unique Skill: Red Sleeper][1]
Do-Hyun summoned a transparent yo-yo with four red ball bearings on each side—eight in total.
[Activating Unique Skill: Red Sleeper.]
The yo-yo left Do-Hyun’s hand and began to spin. The more the yo-yo spun, the thicker the sparks of electricity generated became.
“Haaah!” Do-Hyun shouted as he swung the yo-yo.
He could move it freely since it was attached to the end of a string.
Graaah!
The yo-yo hit the Skin Bodies, and the red lightning electrocuted them until they were burned. The lightning element allowed its user to perform powerful attacks, bind targets, and apply the debuff, Electrocution. Do-Hyun could add an element to his attacks because the conjuration category was next to manipulation. He was also a standout prospect in the manipulation class because the lightning element was rare.
“Great job!” a comrade shouted as they stabbed the Body’s head with their spear.
Seeing that, Do-Hyun looked around for his next target. Just then, he heard a familiar voice screaming.
“Kyaah!”
“Kreeeh! You’re soft, human woman!”
Do-Hyun turned around and saw Ye-Ji being dragged away by a goblin by her neck.
“No! Ye-Ji noona!” Do-Hyun shouted as he ran toward Ye-Ji.
Compared to the other manipulators, Ye-Ji lacked combat ability because she focused entirely on gathering information after learning about the uses of a smartphone D Weapon.
“Let her go!”
Do-Hyun’s yo-yo spun rapidly to spit red lightning and flew at the goblin.
“Krrrk?”
The goblin turned around after hearing crackling noises, but the yo-yo was already behind him. The yo-yo wrapped around the goblin, and the red lightning electrocuted him.
“Kreeeh!”
“Haaah!” Do-Hyun immediately infused more mana into his yo-yo because, unlike the Chaos monsters, the goblin could counterattack with skills. “Ye-Ji noona! Get away!”
“Kurgh! Cough!”
Ye-Ji was on the ground, coughing up blood. Her face was red, likely because her airway had been obstructed from being choked. She did not seem to be in any condition to move.
I have to do something! Do-Hyun shouted inwardly.
He gritted his teeth and raised his skill output, resolving not to let the goblin escape his grasp. He had practiced using his yo-yo tens of thousands of times each day after establishing a rule that would help protect his loved ones. All of his efforts had been for this moment.
“Haaah!”
“Kreeh... Keh! Geeeh.”
The red lightning grew stronger, and black smoke rose from the goblin’s mouth. Just then, a scream pierced through the noise on the battlefield.
“NO! DO-HYUN!”
That’s Hee-Gyeong ajumma’s voi—
Blood splattered on Do-Hyun’s face before he could even finish his thoughts.
“Cough! Huh?”
Something long was protruding from his chest. He couldn’t tell what it was because the spear, covered in blood, looked so unrealistic. The red lightning’s output decreased once the mana supply was cut. Do-Hyun had not noticed the back attack because he had focused all his attention on killing the goblin. The spear that penetrated his heart was pulled out from behind him. He felt like the world was spinning.
The cowardly man who stabbed Do-Hyun from behind said, “Hehe! I killed the boy, sir goblin! My name is Choi Tae-Hyun! Please remember it and consider giving me a good position in Clan Trophy!”
Do-Hyun was stabbed in the heart—his chance of survival was zero.
Even if I die...
Do-Hyun squeezed out what remained of his strength. His Heath and Magic stats, and unwavering mentality forced his body to move.
“Urgh... Aaaahh!”
Do-Hyun pulled the yo-yo string with all his might.
“Kreeeh!”
The goblin, slowly coming to his senses, was pulled away from the collapsed Ye-Ji. Do-Hyun lost all strength and fell to the ground after completing his final duty.
“This fucking brat is still alive—huh? The hell? He’s dead. Don’t fucking surprise me like that!”
The man who stabbed Do-Hyun ran to the goblin to score points with him.
“No! No! Nooo! Do-Hyun! Open your eyes!” Hee-Gyeong quickly sprinted to Do-Hyun and held him in her arms, screaming in despair.
Don’t... cry... ajumma. I... did my... duty, Do-Hyun mumbled inwardly as his consciousness faded.
A steadfast but cold voice echoed in his head.
“I do whatever I want, crybaby brat. Don’t push things you can’t do onto others.”
They were the words Card had said to Do-Hyun when Do-Hyun begged him to kill the people responsible for the District 8 massacre.
“If you’re frustrated, become strong enough to grasp your destiny. Destiny is weak to the brave and strong to the cowardly. Since you were brave enough to throw that rock, there’s hope for you yet.”
I was... brave. I became strong... and saved... Ye-Ji noona. I grasped... my destiny.
He slowly sank to the depths of the void.
I... made a difference in this world.
The tiny, insignificant pebble reached the bottom of a deep, black lake—nothing but darkness.
Erigi’s Thoughts:
Damn, I was rooting for you, Killua.
1. The sleeper is a yo-yo trick where the yo-yo is left spinning at the end of a string. ☜