Chapter 53

Chapter 53

The moment the monsters swarmed in as a horde.

• Use my power.

I heard an unfamiliar voice.

It was a cold, low voice.

‘Is that Red Moon?’

The [Red Moon] card slipped out of the deck and floated before my eyes.

• With your current strength, you cannot even use half of half of it, but that should be enough.

The arrogant tone grated on my nerves, but now was not the time to care about that.

I grabbed the card.

Sssss!

Woooong!

Just as the card and Ether seemed to resonate, blades resembling red crescents soon formed around me.

They were blades slightly longer than an average dagger.

At a glance, they seemed meant to be thrown, not gripped and swung.

‘So what am I supposed to do?’

There were more than twenty blades.

In a situation where I was surrounded by numerous enemies like this, grabbing and throwing them one by one would be no different from throwing eggs at a boulder………….

‘Ah.’

I suddenly realized what I had to do and nodded.

The method for using a card?

Was that not something one naturally came to understand, even without being taught or learning it?

‘……There is no need to throw them.’

CRAAAACK!

“Krrrrrrrrk―!”

As soon as I reached that conclusion, I swung the axe and hacked into the Mudflat Lord’s back.

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

“Keheeeeeek!”

The monsters had already closed in right before my nose.

I did not care.

Crack, craaack!

“Krrrrrrrrk―!”

Whether the monsters attacked or not, I ignored them and swung the axe.

And that choice of mine was correct.

WHOOOOOSH!

The red crescents whirled around me.

SLAAAAAASH!

“Guooooogh!”

The zombie that had rushed at me first was sliced to pieces.

That was the beginning.

SLAAAAAASH!

The crescent-shaped blades embroidered my surroundings with red trajectories.

As if they had become the blades of a blender, they literally “ground” everything that approached me at a speed too fast to see.

‘Faster!’

Following my will, the blades rotated even faster.

Trying to follow them with the eyes had become meaningless in itself.

SLAAAAAASH!

“Kieeeeeek―!”

The monsters swarming in from every direction were torn apart, carved into pieces, and scattered.

The shredded pieces of flesh piled up around me like minced meat.

Then, at some point.

“……Hm?”

I suddenly felt that it had grown quiet and looked around.

“Grr, grrrk!”

“Kyaaaaak…….”

Almost thousands of monsters had stopped while surrounding me and the Mudflat Lord.

‘So even you bastards have something called fear?’

The answer was fear.

Even if they were beings that possessed nothing but the desire for slaughter and destruction, it seemed they had instinctively felt fear after seeing their comrades die.

“Krrrrrrrrk―!”

The Mudflat Lord clacked its gills and called them.

Flinch!

However, the monsters could not move easily.

They were clearly wavering between command and fear.

VROOOOOOOM!

From far away, dozens of military ATVs came racing over.

“Wait! We are coming soon!”

“I am seriously going to kill you!”

“Big Brother! Be careful!”

I heard the shouts of my companions riding on the ATVs.

WHIIIIIIIIIR!

KABOOM!

Allied drones fell into the places where the monsters were concentrated and self-destructed.

‘Good.’

A smile came to my face on its own.

The situation looked good.

At this rate, we had enough to kill the Mudflat Lord and end the situation.

CREAK!

I gripped the axe and hacked down with all my strength.

CRAAAACK!

Finally, the Mudflat Lord’s carapace split open completely, revealing white flesh.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaak!”

Its enormous body thrashed.

***

A chaotic melee broke out.

“Kill them!”

“Kyaaaaaak!”

“Damn it!”

“Grrrr!”

On the mudflat, Hunters and monsters tangled together in a bloody battle.

BOOM, BOOOM!

“Kyaaak!”

In the air, flying monsters and suicide drones collided without pause, causing explosions.

Stab!

CRAAAACK!

Amid that chaotic situation, I silently swung my axe while mounted on the Mudflat Lord’s back.

Thunk!

The axe blade was blocked by something hard.

‘I am almost there.’

If I cut through its spine, even the Mudflat Lord would no longer be able to thrash around.

‘I only need to go a little farther.’

BRRRRRRRR!

Helicopters approached from a distance.

‘What madman would do something like that…… Ah.’

I wondered what kind of insane humans would launch helicopters in this situation, where flying monsters were still running rampant, but they were the sort of people who had the basis to do so.

The logo engraved on the helicopters was one I knew well.

‘Abyss Clan.’

I wondered what had brought out the ones who had not shown even the tips of their noses until now.

What wind had blown and made them drag their heavy asses over here……?

‘Throwing money around, are they?’

In the middle of that, I saw the exterior of the helicopters ripple strangely and gave a faint snort.

It seemed they had painted the entire helicopter with a special coating made by refining Etherium.

Perhaps thanks to that, the flying monsters did not approach the Abyss Clan’s helicopters.

Seeing how they backed away as if frightened even when they tried to approach, it seemed the coating made monsters feel fear.

A coating like that would easily cost over one billion won per liter, and painting a single helicopter would probably have cost well over tens of billions of won…….

‘Looks like they came late to take a spoonful, but sorry. It is already over. If you were going to step in, you should have done it earlier.’

I smiled coldly and concentrated Ether into the axe.

• I will help.

I heard [Red Moon]’s voice, and the red crescents rotating around me seeped into the axe.

The axe blade flashed like a red moon.

SWIIISH!

I swung the axe.

SLAAAAAAAAASH!

Crescent-shaped red Ether burst from the axe, cut through the Mudflat Lord’s spine, and went on to split its enormous body in half.

SPLOOOOOOOSH!

Crimson blood burst out, turning the whole mudflat into a sea of blood.

“Wh-What was that?”

I flinched at the unbelievable power.

To think it had split a massive body nearly four meters thick in one blow.

• That was Red Moon Slash.

The Card Spirit of the [Red Moon] card said.

“Red Moon Slash……?”

• You will come to understand it gradually. It is not a secret technique someone at your level can use.

I felt as if I understood what it meant without needing to ask.

Tremble, tremble!

My two legs began shaking like aspens.

Shudder, shudder!

Every muscle in my body screamed.

“Urgh.”

My vision grew dizzy because of the sudden wave of vertigo that came over me.

‘Yes, there has to be a price.’

I humbly accepted the aftereffects of using Red Moon Slash.

With my current level, it should have been impossible to split the Mudflat Lord in two with a single blow in the first place.

“Krrk, krrrrk…….”

The Mudflat Lord let out a feeble cry, then soon fell silent.

Sssss!

Soon after, the Ether that had made up the Mudflat Lord seeped into me.

[Ether has been absorbed!]

A considerable amount of Ether flowed in.

[Your grade has increased!]

My grade, which had been 3-Star, stepped up to 4-Star.

In truth, it made no sense for my grade to rise just because I had killed the Mudflat Lord.

A grade was not something that rose that easily.

The Ether I had gained throughout the process of getting here had probably accumulated and accumulated, resulting in the grade increase.

The Ether absorbed from the Mudflat Lord had merely served as the catalyst for the grade increase.

“Whew.”

Thanks to the blessing of Ether brought by the grade increase, I was barely able to recover my strength and stand.

Then an item floated up before me.

There were usually three things one could expect from a boss monster.

A Rune, Etherium, and an item.

A Rune was a stone containing an ability, in other words, a skill.

Etherium was a gem used to improve stats or enhance items.

Lastly, an item was a tool from which one could expect a specific effect.

“Huh?”

I was startled after checking the item.

[White Bone Soul-Subduing Mask]

Equipment (Mask)

★★★★★

Disruption, Intimidation, Fear

A pure white skull mask…… It was an item even I had never seen before.

SHOOOOOO!

[Looting] activated on its own and collected [White Bone Soul-Subduing Mask] in the blink of an eye.

[White Bone Soul-Subduing Mask has been obtained!]

Right after the item collection ended.

“Keheeeeeek!”

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

The monsters began collapsing one by one.

The king of the mudflat.

Once the Mudflat Lord died, the monsters also began to disappear.

***

“Eunseong!”

“Hey, you insane bastard!”

“Big Brother!”

Instructor Kim Sangeung, Choi Yura, and Ra Sihyeon rushed over and shouted.

“Mr. Cha Eunseong!”

“Are you all right?”

The Hunters belonging to the Defense Strategy Department’s special mission team also gathered and checked my condition.

“I am fine. Everyone, you worked hard.”

I was responding to my companions, no, my comrades-in-arms, who had rushed over as soon as the battle ended.

Then—

BRRRRRRR!

A helicopter painted with Etherium coating.

Someone slid down a rope from the helicopter owned by the Abyss Clan.

“Well, well. I was one step late.”

A man with a sly impression, seemingly in his early forties, spoke as if embarrassed.

Wi Taewoong.

He was the Master of the Abyss Clan.

“I came as fast as I could, but to think the situation had already been resolved. Still, I am glad everyone is safe.”

Urgh.

I almost laughed at that nonsense.

I could confidently say I knew Wi Taewoong’s personality better than anyone.

Lee Hyun.

Like Ra Sihyeon, he was someone I had killed with my own hands, and his spiritual mentor was Wi Taewoong, the man standing right before me.

When I glanced up, Lee Hyun was sitting on the helicopter, dangling his feet as he looked down at me.

My insides twisted.

Seeing the chick-era version of the bastard I had killed with my own hands right before returning to the past made me feel strangely complicated.

Just as it had when I reunited with Ra Sihyeon.

“I believe you are called Cha Eunseong? I am Wi Taewoong. The Master of the Abyss Clan.”

Wi Taewoong approached me and spoke.

“Do not answer him.”

“Yes, do not answer him.”

Choi Yura and Kim Yeongnam advised me.

“Heh.”

Wi Taewoong laughed at Choi Yura and Kim Yeongnam as if they were ridiculous.

“Are you bastards his representatives or something?”

Just as the atmosphere was about to turn ugly, Instructor Kim Sangeung stepped in at the right moment.

“I am Kim Sangeung, an instructor of the Special Force Training Center. This person is currently an entrant undergoing training at the Special Force Training Center, and contact from third parties other than the Defense Strategy Department is prohibited.”

“Contact from third parties is prohibited, is it? How amusing.”

“What exactly is amusing?”

“Would it not be amusing? You cannot even properly protect such talent, yet you speak of prohibiting contact.”

“Even if you are the leader of a prominent Clan, it would be troublesome if you spoke carelessly.”

“Oh.”

Wi Taewoong put on an exaggerated act, as if impressed.

“As expected of someone who used to work as a human butcher, you have quite the temper, is that it? I heard you were a famous knife hand even among those from the Naval Special Forces.”

“…….”

Instructor Kim Sangeung’s face hardened stiffly.

Wi Taewoong’s statement was classified information among classified information, so it was not something just anyone could know.

That meant Wi Taewoong had a means of accessing extremely sensitive information.

“You had better watch that mouth…….”

Instructor Kim Sangeung took one step toward Wi Taewoong.

At that moment.

“Give me a business card.”

I stepped forward and spoke to Wi Taewoong.

“Hey! Have you lost your mind?!”

“Hey, little brother. You should not do that with just anyone.”

“Eunseong!”

I ignored the reactions around me.

Because I had my own plan as well.