Chapter 84: Incarnation of War (3)
Dozens of missiles streaked forward at Mach speed.
Prophet Yulia Müller no longer paid any attention to them.
Once launched, the helicopter’s destruction was a foregone conclusion.
Even if a zero-grade hunter was aboard and could somehow survive the missile barrage, they would never be able to prevent the aircraft itself from being shot down.
The missiles summoned by the Red Knight were on a completely different level from Earth-made explosives.
They could be considered products of magical engineering from a world where both science and magic had reached extreme heights.
A single missile was devastating enough; dozens detonating with mana explosions would tear straight through even a zero-grade hunter’s barrier.
“Guide me to where the monsters are gathered.”
“Y-yes… Please follow me.”
At Yulia’s command, the only surviving 1st-grade villain nodded with a terrified expression.
He had already known that in a crisis, all his subordinates except himself would be sacrificed—so surviving alone wasn’t an issue.
What he hadn’t anticipated was Yulia’s transformation.
He never imagined the Godfather would suddenly appear here and turn her into… that.
He had thought she would scream as her body was ripped apart and die, yet the moment she endured it, she no longer looked human.
By the time they passed through ruined buildings and reached the front of the monster legion—
Yulia sensed something was wrong.
The sound of the missiles detonating—the dozens of explosions that should have already occurred—hadn’t reached her ears.
Even at this distance, the mana explosions from that many missiles should have been impossible to miss.
Just as she turned her head toward the direction the missiles had flown—
“What the…?”
The missiles that had been heading toward the helicopter were now screaming back at terrifying speed.
***
Jin-young, Shin Soo-jeong, and Vladimir Zhukov stood atop the missiles.
Dozens of identical missiles flew in formation around the one they were riding.
Shwaaaaaek—
They were slower than when they had originally launched toward the helicopter—Jin-young had deliberately reduced the speed.
He needed time to pinpoint the bombardment target.
Still far faster than sound, they quickly reached the depths of the zone.
Through his sensory manipulation ability, Jin-young’s vision captured the sight of a vast monster legion.
And approaching from behind were the Red Knight and what appeared to be a prophet.
Not fully heteromorphically transformed, yet no longer fully human—an ambiguous, in-between state.
『The overwhelming presence that dominated the entire area has vanished.』
‘We’ll find out once we catch and beat that thing.’
Keeping his eyes on the prophet, Jin-young used psychokinesis to control the remaining missiles.
Shwooooo—
The missiles dove sharply toward the ground where the monster legion stood.
Tz-tz-tz— Pishuuuu!
At the same time, spatial rifts opened around the Red Knight, launching hundreds of smaller rockets.
They appeared to be anti-ballistic interceptors meant to shoot down the incoming missiles.
But those hundreds of interceptors were also caught mid-flight by Jin-young’s psychokinesis.
Shiiiik— Pabababang!
Together with the large missiles, they slammed straight into the ground.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
In an instant, hundreds—thousands—of monsters exploded into pieces.
They had been lined up so neatly, almost like soldiers on a parade ground, that the blast swept through them evenly and efficiently.
Jin-young hurtled toward the Red Knight, whose interceptors had been neutralized.
“Get off first.”
At his words, Shin Soo-jeong and Vladimir leaped from their missiles.
Jin-young continued charging straight toward the Red Knight and the prophet, still riding his missile.
Kwa-tz-tz-tz-tz—
A massive spatial rift tore open in front of the Red Knight, revealing a gray barrier.
Just before impact, Jin-young soared upward.
Shwaaaaek— Kwaaaaang!
The missile crashed directly into the barrier, triggering a huge mana explosion.
Sss-sss…
As the bluish smoke cleared, the barrier appeared completely unscathed.
Not even a scratch from a missile of that caliber—it clearly wasn’t an ordinary shield.
『Material from another dimension. I can feel the power of the void beyond it.』
‘I don’t know what it is, but it’s strong, right? Wonder if I can take it.’
Tz-tz-tz…
The spatial rift closed again, and the barrier vanished.
Revealing the Red Knight and the prophet once more.
Kugugugu…
An oppressive weight pressed down from the energy radiating off the Red Knight.
It felt like standing alone against an army of millions.
This was the true majesty of the being called the Incarnation of War.
In terms of raw individual power, the Red Knight was a step above the Black Knight.
Of course, if the Black Knight had succeeded in opening the gates of hell, the story would have been different.
Pajik— Pajijijik!
Jin-young observed the red sparks crackling around the Red Knight.
They didn’t seem related to red mana; they appeared to originate from some unidentified energy the Red Knight possessed.
It was different from the Legacy energy the Black Knight had wielded.
“You must be the Korean hunter—the false prophet—who’s been interfering with our grand plan.”
The reptilian humanoid, its entire body covered in green scales, spoke.
Of course, Jin-young couldn’t understand the words.
Instead, he reached into subspace and pulled someone out.
A man whose body was completely enveloped in Creep appeared.
The moment he saw the Creep-covered figure, the reptilian humanoid furrowed his brow.
“Variant. I was wondering where you’d gone—turns out you dared betray the Godfather and side with the false prophet.”
“Prophet of Pride, Yulia, huh. You seem to have aged quite a bit in such a short time.”
“Filthy traitor scum.”
At the variant’s words, Yulia’s expression crumpled viciously.
Jin-young glanced at the variant and said,
“You can speak Korean now, right? Translate for me.”
“Understood.”
The variant, whose mental world had been remolded by the tentacle, had Korean perfectly implanted as well.
“As expected, you’re not as easy as the rumors suggested. To think you’d turn my own attack back and annihilate the monster legion. Impressive.”
Yulia turned to Jin-young and spoke in a calm voice.
On the surface, she acted as if it were nothing serious, but the damage to the monster legion was far from negligible.
Even now, Shin Soo-jeong and Vladimir were jointly wiping out the remaining stragglers.
Effectively, half of GODS’s plan had already failed.
“Without the monster legion, you won’t be able to turn Russia into ruins, will you?”
Jin-young struck at the core, but Yulia responded with a confident smile.
She had something she could rely on.
“The monster legion was just a sideshow. The Red Knight is still perfectly fine.”
Yulia locked eyes with Jin-young and added,
“And with me—reborn as an even stronger existence—the disaster is inevitable.”
At her words, Jin-young scanned the surroundings and tossed out a question.
“Is that so? It feels like someone came and went from here. The Godfather, maybe?”
Her expression twisted even more grotesquely, turning downright demonic.
“Don’t you dare utter the Godfather’s name with that filthy mouth. Before I tear you limb from limb.”
“Quite the foul mouth. If you call the Godfather ‘Godfather,’ what else would you call him? The Godfather is—”
At that moment.
Sring—
The Red Knight drew the sword from his waist.
A red aura began surging from the silver blade.
Sss-sss…
“Now it really begins.”
Vladimir, who had approached Jin-young’s side at some point, spoke.
He and Shin Soo-jeong had finished off the remaining monsters and even dealt with the 1st-grade villain controlling them.
Jin-young looked at Vladimir and asked,
“Is this when that war machine you mentioned gets summoned?”
“Indeed.”
Kwa-tz-tz-tz-tz—
As soon as Vladimir answered, rifts tore open in the air.
Tz-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The red energy from the Red Knight’s sword exploded even more violently, and massive objects began forcing their way through the rifts.
Jin-young didn’t interrupt the summoning ritual—he was curious to see exactly what these war machines looked like.
Kuoong!
A gigantic mechanical foot stepped onto the Creep.
A colossal humanoid robot straight out of childhood cartoons.
The Red Knight’s war machines had crossed dimensions and been summoned to Earth.
Only three in number, yet their presence was so overwhelming that the count hardly mattered.
And that wasn’t all.
Tz-tz-tz-tz-tz—
In the sky, ships of various sizes appeared. Futuristic vessels designed for endless voyages through the cosmos.
Now Jin-young understood why Yulia had remained so confident even after losing the monster legion.
“……”
Shin Soo-jeong, facing the Red Knight for the first time, simply stared speechless at the space fleet.
Even Vladimir Zhukov, who had once clashed with the Red Knight, wore a stiff expression.
“This doesn’t feel like the same Red Knight I fought back then…”
Under Yulia’s control, the Red Knight was unleashing his full power without restraint.
“You will regret not submitting to GODS and instead following that false prophet!”
Yulia raised both arms high and shouted.
At her command, the space fleet began igniting thrusters to head toward Moscow.
To stop that many ships, at least three or four zero-grade hunters would be needed—and even then, massive civilian casualties would be unavoidable.
Shuuut—
Jin-young drew a single sword from subspace.
―At last, you require my services?
The Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword began speaking the moment it appeared.
Jin-young sent it flying toward Shin Soo-jeong.
She immediately reinforced the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword.
―Thank you, my lady. Your warmth truly sets my heart racing…
Jin-young launched the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword skyward like a rocket.
Shwaaaaaek— Pukwak!
It pierced straight through one of the numerous ships.
“……”
Yulia flinched for a moment at the sight of the sword radiating an ominous aura.
But when she saw that only one ship had been destroyed, she snorted derisively.
“Hmph. Not as impressive as I thought. While the space fleet annihilates Russia, the war machines and—”
Before she could even finish her sentence.
Flash—
A brilliant burst of light erupted from the ship the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword had pierced.
Jjeojeojeojeojeojeok—
Tens of thousands of white beams shot out from the pure white flash, piercing through every surrounding ship.
The sight of pure white lightning spreading like a spiderweb across the crimson-stained sky left even Yulia momentarily entranced.
Kwarrrrrrrrrrr!
The thunderous roar arrived slower than the light, spreading across the heavens.
Tu-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
Inevitably, countless ships were being torn apart at random by the lightning.
It was as if they had encountered an unstoppable electromagnetic storm in the vastness of space—utterly helpless.
Of course, the relatively massive ships weren’t completely destroyed by the lightning.
Kwa-tz-tz-tz-tz—
Their automatic defense systems activated, enveloping the hulls in mana barriers.
Jjeojeok— Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
Some barriers were ripped apart and hulls damaged, but it wasn’t enough to bring them down.
Seeing this, the Heavenly Thunder Divine Sword muttered,
―This much should be enough to loosen up the body. Time to put some real power into it.
Shwaaaaaek—
It shot toward the largest ship like a comet.
Kwa-kwaang— Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwaang!
Leaving behind the ceaseless explosions echoing from the sky, Jin-young’s group advanced toward the Red Knight and the prophet.
“Kill them all. Leave not even a bone fragment.”
At Yulia’s grim command, the massive war machines stepped forward to block their path.
Vladimir responded without hesitation, activating his ‘Giantification’ ability.
Tz-tz-tz-tz-tz—
He grew to the height of a ten-story building, roughly matching the war machines in size.
Shin Soo-jeong immediately reinforced him.
Shuuu—
Blue mana seeped into his body, making his movements noticeably lighter.
Giantification sacrificed agility for extreme strength, but with Shin Soo-jeong’s reinforcement, his speed had increased as well.
“I’ll repay the humiliation from last time.”
In truth, Vladimir could have stayed home and left the disaster subjugation entirely to Jin-young.
He had paid the full price fairly.
But he had insisted on coming along.
The memory of his previous defeat to the Red Knight—and losing half of the hunters who followed him—continued to torment him.
He didn’t feel qualified to simply watch Jin-young defeat the Red Knight from afar.
With renewed resolve, Vladimir charged toward one of the war machines.
Thud— Thud— Thud— Kwaang!
The moment the two colossal beings clashed fists—
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwaang!
Vladimir was sent flying backward and crashed into the ground.
But at the same time, the war machine was also hurled back, collapsing a building as it fell.
Kugugugu— Kwaang!
Shin Soo-jeong’s face naturally stiffened at the sight.
A single war machine was on par with a zero-grade hunter who had maximized strength—so for her, still only 1st-grade, all she could do was provide reinforcement.
She worried whether she and Jin-young could handle the remaining two war machines together.
At that moment, the other two war machines began their assault.
Click— Pishuuuuung!
Muzzle-like ports extended from the machines’ shoulders, launching dozens of missiles.
Meanwhile, the other drew a gigantic sword and charged straight at the group.
“……”
Shin Soo-jeong summoned puppets of various colors simultaneously, preparing to meet the incoming attacks.
Just as she was about to intercept the missiles with her puppets—
Shuuu—
The warheads turned around and flew back the way they came, just like before.
As if anticipating it, the sword-wielding war machine swung its massive blade to cut the returning missiles down.
Buuuung—
The enormous greatsword tore through the air with enough force to shred the missiles.
At that instant, Shin Soo-jeong witnessed it with her own eyes.
The missiles split apart, unleashing blinding white light.
Tzkakakakakang— Pat.
As suddenly as if someone had flipped off a switch, the light vanished.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
An astronomical energy explosion engulfed the war machines.
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