A Player Who Eats Metal - Chapter 38: Rain Falling Over the Waves

< Chapter 38: Rain Falling on the Waves – 5 >

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Lieutenant Moon Tae-ho wiped the blood off his face and looked around the corridor that had turned into a battlefield.

“What is this…?”

It felt like a dream.

From the command center to the distant battalion armory, the long corridor was filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of various weapons stuck in every direction. It seemed even more chaotic than an actual medieval battlefield.

“Is this some kind of… bomb or explosion?”

“I had no choice,” replied Lee Hyunwook.

“No, I’m not asking what it is, but… will it definitely be dead?”

At the end of the corridor, the ‘monster’ that had thrown him was literally crushed. At first glance, it looked like a massive lump with dozens of spears stuck in it.

“Yes, it’s dead.”

Indeed, he had killed it thoroughly. He had even driven silver stakes into its eyes and around its heart.

It was a gruesome sight that was hard to look at when one opened their eyes, but he had to do it to ensure it wouldn’t come back to life.

“Ugh…”

Moon Tae-ho wiped his face with his sole right hand.

He had lost all sensation in his left shoulder and his arm was hanging limply.

“Damn, what a disgrace. Even though I’m a lieutenant, I got hit once and passed out…”

“No, please don’t worry about it.”

Moon Tae-ho looked at Lee Hyunwook and chuckled.

“This guy is really something. Even though everyone around me was making a fuss, I was completely helpless. But you’re really something.”

Right after the incident, Moon Tae-ho felt a bit irritated when Lee Hyunwook was called in by the battalion commander.

No matter how much this guy had recently achieved, it didn’t make sense for him to call a sergeant when the entire unit was at risk of disappearing.

But now, he couldn’t help but think that the battalion commander had a keen eye.

“To be honest, I never had a talent for using magic directly, so I specialized in the direction of advanced magic skills from the beginning. That’s why I hold the rank of Lieutenant, but I’m sorry…”

Not all magic users were the same.

The direction was determined by the first ‘passive’ skill acquired.

In Moon Tae-ho’s case, he specialized in ‘Mana Detection’ and ‘Flow Analysis’.

In other words, his focus was on analyzing and controlling magic rather than using it directly.

That’s why he was perfect for the role of a ‘Widespread Magic Control Officer’, who controlled and coordinated large-scale magic created by multiple magicians, even though there wasn’t much to do in that position.

“But now, Lieutenant, I don’t think we have time to have this conversation.”

It was only now that Moon Tae-ho realized he had been lost in thought.

“Oh, right…”

“Lieutenant, if it’s okay with you, could I ask you to do what you do best?”

“Huh?”

Moon Tae-ho blinked at Lee Hyunwook’s words.

“Widespread magic, that is.”

“Why do we need that right now?”

“To open a long-range two-way portal to connect this place with the area near the totem.”

“…”

“If you allow it, I’ll bring magicians from the 2nd Battalion.”

Moon Tae-ho couldn’t quite understand what Lee Hyunwook was saying.

“What exactly are you planning to do?”

Lee Hyunwook smiled slyly.

“We need to sweep away the enemies who have infiltrated the base, don’t we?”

* * *

“…Advance.”

The 22 members of the “Totem Search Team,” excluding Lee Hyunwook, followed Seo Eunha’s command and ventured deep into Namsan Mountain.

In the darkness that had fallen over the mountains, the moonlight couldn’t penetrate the dense trees, and nothing could be seen even a step ahead.

However, they couldn’t turn on their flashlights. They didn’t want to alert the undead to their presence.

Fortunately, they had “night vision” equipment, so they could navigate through the night while wearing it.

How much time had passed…

At the leader’s signal,

All members of the search team held their breath and concealed themselves behind trees and bushes.

When the leader’s gestured,

Everyone’s gaze turned to that point.

Gulp-

Someone swallowed dryly.

Finally, their targets came into view.

That was…

Grooooan-

Hundreds of green lights appeared in the middle of Namsan Mountain, the eye glints of the deceased.

Hundreds of undead were gathered in the middle of Namsan.

“These zombies are different from the ones we encountered earlier.”

An Min-tae had a hunch.

Those were monsters of a higher grade than the “Residents of Hell” that had appeared near the outpost.

First of all, they were much larger in size, and green smoke was emanating from their entire bodies.

Their speed and strength were probably different from the zombies they had faced before.

But that wasn’t the only difference.

“…What on earth is that?”

Thud, thud, thud, thud-

With footsteps that shook the ground, an armored giant over 2 meters tall appeared over 2 meters tall,

Green smoke rising from the empty helmets they wore.

“That’s Living Armor.”

A combat weapon that attacked everything invading its owner’s space, moving while alive….

“I’ve seen it before, but it’s much larger.”

In the case of ownerless Living Armor, a magic player could cast a “control spell” to make it their possession.

So, some people occasionally carried it as a guardian.

But he had never seen such a large number.

And An Min-tae didn’t know, but that wasn’t just ordinary Living Armor.

It was Living Armor possessed not by a control spell but by an evil spirit, Haunted Armor.

It was an undead of a higher grade, unimaginably malicious.

And the purple gate that had opened there was constantly spewing out new monsters.

It was an undeniable fact that the number of undead would increase several times as time passed.

“Ha….”

As they watched that nightmarish scene, the members of the search team were stunned.

They had to break through that undead legion and find and destroy the so-called “Totem”…

The feeling of wanting to run away immediately was a very natural emotion.

However, before the operation, Seo Eunha’s words had settled in their minds like a heavy stone.

“If we fail, they will descend beneath Namsan. At least tens of thousands will die….”

That’s right…

Tens of thousands, no, perhaps even tens of millions of lives were at stake.

“Yes, if we give up here, it’s all over. We can’t let that happen.”

But, just as they couldn’t turn back, they also couldn’t move forward as if there was no turning back.

“If we’re caught here… we’ll definitely die.”

It was their instincts warning them like that. It told them to hide every hair on their heads, or they would be swept away in that procession of death…

But….

“…Huh? Li, lieutenant?”

It was none other than Seo Eunha who, after getting up, began to walk forward.

It was an unusual behavior.

If she approached so openly, she would undoubtedly be detected by the undead scattered throughout the land.

“If you continue like that, you will get caught!”

One soldier urgently whispered, but she shook her head.

“It’s okay. We’ve already been spotted.”

“…What?”

Then, laughter was heard from somewhere.

“…As expected, a few renowned knights are different.”

A woman’s voice echoed,

And along with it, something blurry moved in the darkness near where Seo Eunha was looking.

She was dressed in a suit as if a person had emerged from the shadows.

“I’ve killed several knights effortlessly like this, but I didn’t expect you to notice.”

The woman took a drag from her cigarette, and Seo Eunha drew her greatsword from behind her.

“I can’t stand seeing you dragging out the time like this, so I’ll ask just one question. Who are you?”

A pale hand of unknown identity extended from behind the woman,

Chick-chick – her real hand lit the cigarette.

“Um, well, if you want us to tell you who we are, it might take quite a bit of time.”

That’s when it happened.

Shu-ak!

The sound of a blade cutting through flesh – suddenly, Choi Young-jun was standing next to Seo Eunha.

He was holding his sword, Hwando, and something fell with a thud at his feet.

A hand holding a dagger, a severed hand.

“Ugh….”

Then, far away, a man in priestly robes landed.

Near his right hand, blood was dripping heavily.

“Captain, there was one more above your head.”

“I already knew, but thank you.”

Above Seo Eunha’s head, a semi-transparent shield had formed.

A mana shield,

It was a skill inherent to the armor she was wearing.

“…Carol, I think I know why Heo Young-tae and Yang Hee-joo were attacked simultaneously.”

The man in priestly robes whispered to Carol while glaring at Choi Young-jun.

They had unexpectedly encountered formidable opponents.

“But both of them are here, so who the hell did Oh Kang-muk die to?”

“…That’s a good point.”

“Just now, the connection with Oh Kang-muk was severed.

It might mean that there’s another skilled individual among them.

While this was being discussed, the severed hand of the man in priestly robes began to twitch and moved on its own.

Thud-thud-thud—

It crawled on the ground with fingers that seemed like spider legs, heading towards its owner.

However, it couldn’t make it to its owner in the end.

Shu-ak!

All of its fingers were separated and scattered in all directions.

This time, it was Choi Young-jun again.

“Oh, now you have to crawl like a caterpillar instead of a spider?”

Choi Young-jun chuckled and wiggled his index finger as he spoke.

The man in priestly robes glared at Choi Young-jun.

“That man, I will kill him.”

“You mean you want him?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, then I’ll take the knight.”

In an instant, the eyes of the two vampires turned red. At that moment, behind them, in the darkness among the trees, dozens, no, hundreads of green glows started to appear one by one.

Kweee—

While the sounds of hundreds of footsteps and eerie cries echoed through the mountains, they surged like waves.

The undead horde was closing in rapidly.

“Get ready for battle!”

An Min-tae shouted, and the members of the search team loaded their skills.

“Now, our famous knight, shall we see your skills?”

Carol chuckled and disappeared into the darkness.

Kweee—kweee—

Among the trees, a horde of zombies began to charge like a pack.

Just from the numbers visible at the moment, there were dozens of them.

The search team members looked at Seo Eunha.

But without any orders, she gripped her shield.

Oong—

As she raised the shield, white characters appeared on it.

They were runic characters.

As they spun around the shield and gradually gathered into one point—

Zzoo-aa-a-ung—

Tremendous white light burst in all directions, forming a white dome with a radius of 20 meters.

Pah-ha-ah-ah—

Within it, the dozens of zombies that entered were instantly oxidized.

It couldn’t be anything but tremendous divine power.

She handed the shield to Choi Young-jun.

“This dome will last for 7 minutes. Provide support fire while protecting the kids.”

At this moment, she meant that she would break through alone.

“Well, can you do it?”

“…There’s no other way.”

Seo Eunha raised her sword in front of her and closed her eyes.

Oong—

The gray full plate armor emitted light, and it seemed like the armor turned pure white.

With her body enveloped in that radiance, she pushed back the darkness and walked forward.

As if in response, knights in armor also appeared from the opposite side.

They wore 2-meter tall black armor emitting black smoke, the “Haunted Armors.”

Thud-thud-thud-thud—

Carol smiled in the darkness while observing their movements.

“A special gift I prepared just for you guys over there, it’s the first one.”

“…”

Haunted Armor was not something you could easily defeat just by having high divine power.

Not only did it have a physical defense as its appearance suggested, but it also had significant magical resistance.

Thus, it was difficult to directly strike the evil spirits inside it with “divine power.”

Plus there were thirty of them.

Nevertheless, Seo Eunha didn’t hesitate and charged forward.

Despite the full-body armor’s seemingly immense weight, she moved unbelievably fast.

After a brief confrontation, she stomped on the ground, shot up into the sky—

Zzzeoo-ung!

And collided directly with the leading Haunted Armor.

Sparks flew between their armors.

She soared again after stomping on the guy’s chest, and then descended, thrusting her greatsword into the Haunted Armor’s head.

Jjeong-!

At that moment, a white light burst from her sword.

Pah-ha-ah-ah—

Holy Light,

As the blinding light spread even inside its body, it looked like white, translucent smoke in the form of human faces erupted from the gaps in its armor. Those faces seemed to scream in agony, despite being utterly silent.

The evil spirit that had possessed it had been destroyed, returning it to an ordinary “Living Armor.”

That was the end.

Kuu-ung—

The giant armor collapsed helplessly.

Other Haunted Armors rushed forward, but it made no difference.

Jjeong! Jjeo-ung! Jjeong! Jjeong!

Seo Eunha dodged the flying hammers and spears at an incredible speed, swung her greatsword through the joints of the Haunted Armor, and made the steel giants fall like dominos.

She then injected “Holy Light” into the armor, incinerating the evil spirits inside. It sounded simple, but her performance was beyond belief.

In this way, the main skill of a knight was enhancing armor and weapons.

In other words, Seo Eunha in her regular clothes and fully armed were worlds apart.

“What the…”

Carol stopped trying to light her new cigarette as Seo Eunha raised her sword, aiming it at her.

“It may sound strange coming from my mouth, but I’ll teach you why I’m famous, so come down and see.”

Carol was momentarily taken aback but quickly composed herself.

“Ah… I knew this would happen, so I prepared a second gift.”

She took something out as she said this.