Chapter 242
The monsters seemed almost embarrassed as they suddenly fell into the water. Those who had lost their wings and fallen into the seat would be fine if they were left as they were, but there was a valid fear that other monsters would become stronger after eating them. The mercenaries who didn’t have the equipment to shoot far into the sky diligently threw harpoons to kill and recover the monsters.
“Crazy, the whole wing’s been ripped off. What did the Death Puppeteer do?”
“I got it. That bullet contains one of his minions. It’s a doll of the Death Puppeteer.”
It was curious to see that those who didn’t know of Onyx were actually fairly close to the mark.
“Oh, it’s terrible… he’s one that you shouldn’t look away from.”
“Hey, go ahead and tell me before you get mad.”
The mercenaries reported that they would pay for 50% of the loot on their own, afraid that he would misunderstand that they were trying to steal the monsters that he had almost killed. In fact, all he wanted was the metal wings, and those had already been devoured by Onyx, so he didn’t care what they did with the rest of the parts, but they were giving him money, so he decided to say that later.
“They keep falling.”
“How much magic does he have?”
“I don’t feel any magic…?”
“I think that’s stronger than the darkness that Dark Curtain creates. Why is he still only fourth in the rankings?”
“You idiot, the Dark Curtain doesn’t have that kind of attack ability in the first
place.”
“If it continues like this, we’ll not be able to contribute properly.”
Originally, the melee attackers were planning to face the monsters that made it past the ranged group. However, in front of Kang Shin-hyuk, who had created an area of darkness in the air to take care of the monsters, everyone had time to relax. Onyx, who was consuming the metal monsters, and the mercenaries, who were given the cleanup duty, were the busy ones.
“I tried to catch them.”
Eleanor touched her heart with a bleak look. Kang Shin-hyuk, who knew what was in her pitch-black long-coat (it was the Masked Bacchus uniform, of course), just smiled.
“It’s a waste to go out to finish them off. Save it, R.”
“That’s a great name; what does it stand for? Is that a gun?”
Bridget Poulsen’s eyes had lit up upon seeing Erebos, and she thought Eleanor might have something equally great. It would be odd not to recognize Kang Shin-hyuk’s gun, which had been used quite often while he worked with Masked Bacchus, but she couldn’t have known about Eleanor’s pistol. He just said she’d know soon and laughed as he continued to fire into the air.
-Bang! Bang bang bang!
The more shadows they cast, the faster the bullets were, and each time he fired, the area of darkness in the sky increased. Naturally, Onyx sped up as he was assimilated with the darkness, and all the aerial monsters captured by the darkness lost their wings. The sight of hundreds of monsters falling down in an instant could only be possible with magic.
“The Dark Master…”
“It’s the Dark Master!”
“Snrk.”
His appearance as he used his pistol resulted in an unfortunate nickname. Kang Shin-hyuk glared at Bridget, who couldn’t stand it and began to laugh next to him while he contacted Onyx.
‘What do you think?’
-Myuuu, myuuuu!
According to his direct report, the monsters were between A+ and S rank, and the boss monsters were still hidden. The metal was delicious, but it seemed he had eaten enough for now, so he reported that he would return soon with his owner’s share.
‘But should I say thank you for taking care of my share?’
He sighed and stowed his pistol. Even after stopping firing, the cloud of darkness occupied a part of the sky for a while, and Onyx ran wild in it before slowly returning.
-Myu!
“Yes, I wish I was full.”
He stroked the cute burping hedgehog, who was content after a good meal. However, despite the successful debut of their new tactics, his mood wasn’t very good.
‘We’re not even at the entrance yet, but there are already S-ranks here.’
His face was tense as he looked back at the celebrating superhumans. Shin Eunah’s fears sounded more and more realistic every second.
‘I told them that the limit of the enhanced equipment was C-rank.’
In fact, even C-rank monsters weren’t easy foes to deal with when it came to the inexperienced. In order to keep track of their fast reaction speed and physical abilities, you had to raise your specs with enhanced equipment as much as possible, train your vision, and use magic bullets. At the very least, it was possible for those three who had been thoroughly trained by Kang Shin-hyuk
‘It will be really dangerous.’
The mercenaries had no intention of an all-out war, of course, but they seemed to think they could protect the base camp. However, looking at the current situation, entering Africa didn’t seem properly possible, let alone establishing a base camp.
“Have you changed your mind? Shall we go back?”
“Not going back.”
Kang Shin-hyuk responded resolutely to Shin Eunah, who seemed to have read his thoughts.
“They may have to reduce the size of the base camp and send the mercenaries back. I can make a formal suggestion… huh?”
It was then that there was an unexpected reaction from the miniature sound collector and transmitter he had attached to the submaster Yoo Jun-man from Zeus.
[The response is too fast.]
[That little boy… I can’t get a sense of what kind of ability he awakened. It would be best if I could find out.]
[There’s a bunch. We have to go inside the mainland to be able to make a big deal. But before that, if you were ordinary mercenaries…]
[It isn’t easy in the current situation. But if we go a little further, won’t there be eroded terrain? If we aim at that time, we will be able to get it out.]
[I’ll change the ranks little by little. The Gunners, they’re good for shooting without knowing anything.]
‘Are these guys reading a villain script right now?’
-Isn’t it because they think they aren’t being heard? 400,000HP bonus for members who pretend to be new!
‘But it’s too suspicious that it happened so soon.’
-It would be better for you to be aware of your abilities. No one else can make a tapping device that can’t be seen with the naked eye, magic, or any other equipment
As a bonus, he had the ability to pull the spiritual threads and attach them to others secretly. Kang Shin-hyuk had checked himself that it wasn’t visible. But that information… the mercenaries were divided into five ships, one of which was occupied by Zeus and the Gunners, respectively. Indeed, they were first and second in the world.
‘They’re aiming for mercenaries, but why?’
They weren’t particularly effective. However, he remembered hearing that Shin Eunah’s parents were secretly working on an artificial superhuman project. Mercenaries who had no ability but their developed physical and mental powers would be perfect subjects for experimentation. Undoubtedly defeating their second-largest competitor was also a reason for their choice of target.
‘We didn’t know there would be eroded terrain this close, but they did…there is a possibility they have a connection with Jormungand.’
-A 500,000HP bonus from an administrator admiring your astonishing power of reasoning!
No matter how much it seemed to be teasing, the administrator was sincerely praising him. Kang Shin-hyuk quietly whispered to Shin Eunah, who was surveying the ships after the battle.
-There seems to be eroded terrain in front of us.
-Eunah’s whisper: Huh? We are in the African sea area, but… huh?
Suddenly, she turned to him as if surprised, but he pretended not to notice as he wrote another message.
-1 tapped the Zeus submaster. When the eroded terrain appears, he says they’ll be doing a job on the ship the Gunners are on.
-Eunah’s whisper: That is, I mean…
Her face became serious as he considered his words. Bridget, who felt like something was going on that she couldn’t intervene in, looked sulky and began to harass Eleanor instead.
-Eunah’s whisper: I can’t reveal it now.
-It’s better to pretend you don’t know for now and wait for a more decisive moment.
-Eunah’s whisper: Then the Gunners…
-I’ll go.
The moment he replied, Shin Eunah looked frightened. However, he answered calmly.
-If it’s dangerous, I’ll call you right away. You can come straight in.
-Eunah’s whisper: I’d rather be there from the start.
– You can’t move easily, you know?
-Eunah’s whisper: Then, then…
She pouted, seemed to think something over, and then grabbed Bridget, who had been bombarding Eleanor with questions about British food.
“Take this one.”
“Uh, unnie? No matter how much of a top star I am, I’ll get excited when you treat me like this!”
“You’re excited…”
It would be strange for the 4th and 7th rankers to move together, but it might be best to prepare at least that much.
“Okay, then I’ll take her.”
“What? Where are you going to take me, and what are you going to do?”
“Let’s wait. Onyx?”
-Myu?
“Go first. Give me a signal, and I’ll be right there.”
-Myu!
Full of food and loyalty, Onyx bravely saluted and jumped off his shoulder. He quickly assimilated into the shadows and jumped several ships over, successfully infiltrating the Gunners’ ship in the rear. That stealth ability was already fraudulent, but now that he could move through the shadows, Kang Shin-hyuk was briefly worried he would grow into a monster that exceeded the current limit sooner or later.
-You may already be aware of it… individuals that feed on something to grow are likely to exceed the current limit, as long as they don’t die along the way.
‘Are there any side effects?’
-It might’ve been dangerous had it been in the wild, but no matter how many bad things it eats, you will be able to soothe its body with the remedies you create so it can grow quickly in a balanced way.
Were the weapons he created being treated as medicine for Onyx? Bridget Poulsen, who had noticed Onyx’s movement, had a twinkle in her eyes as she shouted.
“Wha, a shadow beast! Dark Master!”
“Call me that one more time, and I will shoot you.”
“Huh? What?”
“Oh, this guy really can’t handle it…”
While he was waiting for Onyx’s signal, Shin Eunah sent brief instructions to her task force members to prepare for eroded terrain and began to collect mana. They couldn’t trust the other superhumans who had been relaxing after their momentary victory, however.
And the moment arrived soon.
“It’s an erosion zone! Damn it, activate the shield on all ships!”
“The boat has stopped and can’t go forward… come on!”
Suddenly waves tens of meters high crashed into them, despite the sea being calm just moments ago. Monsters were appearing from the sea and the air.
“Protect the ship! Follow directions and cooperate!”
“Hold your stomach firmly!”
Confusion overcame them. In the meantime, Kang Shin-hyuk received the signal from Onyx and raised his head.
With all the ships focusing on the combat, the two ships in the rear of the mercenary fleet disappeared.