A Player Who Eats Metal - Chapter 40: Steel Battalion

< Chapter 40: Steel Battalion – 1 >

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―Chiik-Airdrop complete.

A natural disaster,

That would be an apt way to describe the unfolding spectacle.

The sky ripped open, and a rain of steel poured down.

It was as if the entire armory had been unleashed.

Impacted by gravity, these projectiles gleamed as they fell.

Shh-shh-shh-shh-shh-shh-

The undead troops that had gathered in an open area, uprooting trees, had no way to avoid the deluge of steel from above and were swept away.

Poo-boo-boo-boo-boom!

In a barrage similar to concentrated artillery fire, hundreds of zombies, denizens of hell, were mangled simultaneously.

Keh- keh- keh-

Ordinary weapons could not easily put them out of action.

However, merely piercing and severing them at a few points was sufficient.

It was easy to deal with them once they were immobilized.

‘And the real blades are separate.’

Amidst the endless rain of steel, there were a few individually operating projectiles.

30 stakes, 12 steel beads, and 2 KG19s.

These sacred weapons moved like guided missiles under Lee Hyunwook’s control and targeted the enemy.

Wha-za-za-za-

As they passed by, dozens of zombies turned into ash and disappeared.

While the vertical rain of steel drew the eyes, the truly effective attacks were moving horizontally.

Lee Hyunwook’s arsenal wasn’t limited to that.

Thump- thump-

The ‘Haunted Armor’, now simply called the ‘Living Armor’, stood by his side, holding giant hammers and long spears.

[ Master rights for ‘Living Armor’ secured. (2/3) ]

‘Although limited to three, they’re more useful than they seem if used wisely.’

In his past life, he had once controlled up to 19 simultaneously. However he lost all of them when they were surrounded by low-level undead and hit by a ‘Corpse Explosion.’

Controlling the ‘Living Armor’ was easier than he thought.

With minimal focus, just maintaining a slight ‘connection,’ the metal moved and fought automatically thanks to the engraved ‘magic circuits.’

Thump- thump-

The steel giants led the way, crushing the rushing zombies, clearing a path.

Lee Hyunwook followed it.

And then…

‘I’ve found it.’

About 200 meters ahead, a giant tombstone emitting green light was visible.

He had finally found the ‘Concentration of Evil’, the totem.

“No!”

Then, a voice tinged with evil echoed.

Carol, she stood in Lee Hyunwook’s way.

“What are you doing? Who are you?”

Having lost her composure, Carol’s form had transformed hideously.

Six arms sprouted from her back, grown so large that they looked like spider legs, and indeed, she ran forward, alternating those limbs like spider legs.

“We had no information about someone like you. Who are you, who…”

She grabbed the spear thrust by the Living Armor and knocked it down.

Then, she crushed it under her six limbs and reached one arm towards Lee Hyunwook.

“Die!”

At that moment, something flashed from behind her.

Flash-flash-

Two bursts of electrical magic hit Carol in the back.

Unable to react, perhaps due to the shock, her eyes rolled back, and she tumbled backward.

“Ha! Sergeant Lee Hyunwook!”

It was Park Junmo.

He had calmly moved right behind Lee Hyunwook. Despite the chaotic battle, he had saved his limited bursts of electrical magic instead of wasting them recklessly.

‘As expected of Park Junmo, he’s more useful than I thought.’

Originally, Park Junmo would have been dead by this time, but his experiences had transformed him into a completely different person.

Moreover, since he was F-rank, if he could figure out how to improve his abilities… he was frankly promising.

“Now is the time! Please go ahead!”

Lee Hyunwook nodded and turned around.

Prioritizing removing the totem over finishing off Carol,

No, consuming the Demon’s Medal was the priority.

Now, the totem was just about 50 meters away, within striking distance.

Lee Hyunwook loaded half of his metal-controlling power into a metal stake and shot it toward the totem.

Thunk-

However, it was blocked by a translucent wall.

‘As expected, it’s a magical barrier.’

He had anticipated this. There’s no way they would leave such an important item unprotected.

But Lee Hyunwook had a weapon that could break through it.

The “Failnaught” floated up from his waist.

But then…

Whoo- Oom-

Something landed in front of the totem, shaking the ground.

Sure enough, it was another giant armor.

It completely obstructed the totem.

Creak- creak-

It was significantly different from the ‘Haunted Armor’ he had encountered so far.

It was much larger, and green smoke was rising from its body like an aura. Its eyes were not just glowing but blazing like the fires of hell.

“Gigantic Haunted Armor…”

The dungeon boss monster had directly come out through the gate.

Kroooa—

The monster held a halberd, nearly 5 meters in length, with both hands and swung it with all its might.

Woo-oom- Crash-

In one strike, the Living Armor was torn apart like a paper doll, its upper body flying far away.

As expected of a boss monster, its destructive power was extraordinary.

‘…This just got annoying.’

Lee Hyunwook faced off against the creature and slowly retreated.

It may have seemed slow on the surface, but the creature was incredibly fast.

It would close the distance in an instant and swing its long halberd.

If he even slightly misjudged that attack…

‘It would be instant death.’

But once again, someone came to Lee Hyunwook’s aid.

Crash-

A person in full armor rushed in and tackled the giant creature.

It was Seo Eunha.

“Whew! Go, hurry!”

As if David and Goliath were wrestling, she grabbed the creature’s shoulder and swung herself over it, clinging to its back. All the while, she continued to swing her greatsword, striking the creature’s helmet.

Screech-

Of course, since it was an incorporeal being, physical damage was of no use.

“What are you doing!? Go destroy the totem!”

Lee Hyunwook nodded.

‘I will not just destroy it; I will completely devour it.’

In that manner, while Seo Eunha diverted the creature’s attention, Lee Hyunwook moved to the right.

However, in truth, there was no need to do that.

Even if his view was obstructed, Lee Hyunwook could still sense and target his objective.

Of course, if there were something other than metal in between, it would block the way, but he had already identified the path.

The Failnaught was shot from Lee Hyunwook’s waist.

Shi-eek-

It went rapidly and elastically like a flying fish, tracing a curve as it moved.

Scree-ack-

‘It’s done.’

Though he couldn’t see it, he knew.

A large hole had been pierced right in the middle of it,

Craaack—

Whoomph—

It crumbled down as if it had exploded.

[ Congratulations! You have destroyed the Concentration of Evil and ended the disaster. ]

It was over.

[ Congratulations! You have achieved a special accomplishment. ]

“Hmm, an accomplishment?”

He had achieved this while destroying the totem.

[Achievement List]

-Purifier

-Condition: Destroy an object that declares a domain of death.

-Formation of resistance to darkness (Level 1), Increase in total mana (+200), Increase in divine power (+20%)

This was information even Lee Hyunwook didn’t know.

In his previous life, the totem had been in the possession of a Necromancer, and he ultimately failed to destroy it.

In other words, in this life, he had smashed it to pieces before that guy could get his hands on it.

‘Profits are really rolling in by the truckload.’

However, there was another highlight.

Lee Hyunwook sensed a piece of metal among the crumbling fragments of the stone monument and pulled it towards him.

Thump-

A well-crafted, rectangular piece of metal landed in his hand.

All sorts of patterns were engraved on its surface, but there was no time to look at it closely.

[ You have acquired the Demon’s Medal (Legion) ]

“…Done.”

The last Demon’s Medal he swallowed was “Inferno,” Hellfire.

This time, it was “Legion,” an army.

Judging by the name, it seemed to be an item related to ‘control.’

He didn’t know what skill would emerge, but Lee Hyunwook swallowed it without hesitation.

Thump-

At that moment, the ground shook.

Turning his head, he saw a cloud of dust rising, and behind it, the boss monster, the Gigantic Haunted Armor, was staggered. Seo Eunha was perched atop it, panting for breath.

“Ha— Haa—”

She turned her head towards Lee Hyunwook.

Blood was beaded like sweat on her face, and her eyes were half-open.

“Is it… over now?”

At Seo Eunha’s words, Lee Hyunwook nodded.

The forces of the 1st and 2nd squads were slowly advancing and sweeping away the remaining zombies.

Thanks to the firepower that had been unleashed from the entire battalion’s arsenal, most of the zombies had been incapacitated, making this task possible.

In other words, all that was left was literally just ‘cleaning up.’

‘But… where is Carol, that woman?’

Lee Hyunwook searched for Carol, the leader of the five butchers, amidst the chaos.

He couldn’t let that woman go alive.

However, no matter how much he looked, her figure was nowhere to be seen… but that question was soon answered.

“……Look over there! That woman is fleeing!”

At Choi Tae-yong’s shout,

Everyone turned their heads.

It was Carol.

The woman was running up the hill. She had decided to flee, judging that she had no chance of winning.

“Damn it!”

Seo Eunha cursed and raised her sword toward Carol.

A white beam of light shot out from the tip of the sword.

It wasn’t a radiant form but a straight line of holy light.

Zing-

The beam extended over a hundred meters and hit Carol in the back.

However, Carol merely staggered briefly before continuing to run forward.

The archers fired their arrows, and a few hit their mark, but Carol seemed unbothered.

Lee Hyunwook also fired his Failnaught, but the distance had already become too great.

“Damn, looks like we’re going to lose her! She’s too fast!”

Choi Tae-yong clicked his tongue.

‘Losing her is not good.’

It was a mistake. Carol had seen Lee Hyunwook.

The villain organization would now be on guard against Lee Hyunwook.

Just as they were standing there dumbfounded like a dog that lost its chicken…

“Huh?”

A massive shadow suddenly swooped down on Carol.

“…What is that?”

It happened so fast that they couldn’t make out what it was… but Carol, who as a mid-level vampire had considerable strength, was being overpowered and couldn’t do anything about it.

It looked like some sort of beast.

Thump-

It was…

“A, a tiger?”

Yes, precisely, it was a white tiger, a Bai Hu.

Roar-

In the middle of the mountain, a white tiger stood majestically, bathed in moonlight.

Then, above its head, lights and gusts of wind flew in.

Thud Thud Thud Thud-

The sound of rotor blades.

A helicopter appeared over the ridge and began to hover above them.

Soon, someone jumped out.

Thunk-

It was Battalion Commander Kim Kang-seok.

He had urgently returned from dispatch.

Behind him, a white afterimage appeared, and suddenly the white tiger was there. A tiger as big as a house… the expression fit this enormous beast perfectly.

“Don’t be scared, that’s under the command of the Battalion Commander.”

When a private took a step back, Ahn Min-tae said so.

Yes, that beast was a familiar under Druid Kim Kang-seok.

Just like his nickname, “Mountain God of Namsan,” he used these terrifying beasts as his weapons.

Seo Eunha sheathed her greatsword and saluted.

Kim Kang-seok looked around expressionlessly, but the atmosphere was intense.

“…I had authorized the use of the battalion arsenal, but I really had no idea you would bring the whole thing here.”

At a glance, it looked like a bloody field of metal reeds had sprouted on one side of the mountain.

He approached Lee Hyunwook.

“Lee Hyunwook, whenever you return victorious, there’s always much I want to hear.”

“But, it seems like we have a mountain of work to do first.”

Kim Kang-seok raised his head, and everyone followed his gaze to look up at the sky.

“The sky is…”

Just a moment ago, most hadn’t noticed when the wide-area portal opened, but as the dawn began to brighten, that strange coloration started to become more clear.

That’s why it was now clearly visible.

“…It’s purple.”

Right now, the sky over Seoul was purple.

“…No matter how you look at it, this is a precursor to a Wave.”

Kim Kang-seok spoke calmly, but his words were quite terrifying.

Shock began to spread across everyone’s faces.

They had won, but they couldn’t even afford to sigh in relief, let alone smile.

That’s because they knew all too well how horrifying a phenomenon a Wave was.

Perhaps this battle was merely the beginning.

But Lee Hyunwook was different.

‘I’ve successfully thwarted their most crucial first offensive.’

Lee Hyunwook had resolved to hunt and disassemble the whale known as the Wave.

And the first harpoon aimed at that enormous whale had been firmly planted.

It was possible because he had not relied on his power alone, but had utilized the battalion.

‘And I’ll continue this momentum to fully consume it.’

Just like the unlucky event, if the difficulty is high, corresponding rewards would follow.

As far as Lee Hyunwook remembered, this Wave held many hidden treasures.

Meanwhile, Kim Kang-seok looked at the armored giant standing behind Lee Hyunwook with a puzzled expression.

“Is that Living Armor something you can control?”

“Yes, it seems that my metal control ability can operate the magical circuits.”

“Amazing…”

“Commander, would it be alright if I repair these Living Armors for my use?”

There were a total of 30 that came out of this Gate.

About half of them seemed still usable.

Of course, Lee Hyunwook could only control up to 3 at a time.

“Hmm, I’m not sure if it’s possible with just the battalion engineers, but give it a try.”

In the battalion, there were players in the ‘blacksmith’ category, who were the engineers.

However, their skills couldn’t be considered exceptional.

‘I’ll have to bring over the artisan Kang Jung-du anyway.’

Kang Jung-du could easily repair something like this.

He planned to bring both of them in during the 4th Wave as a precaution.

“And Lieutenant Seo Eunha, is that thing you’re standing on the boss monster?”

“Yes, it is.”

Seo Eunha lifted the ‘World Stone’ that flowed from the Gigant Haunted Armor.

In other words, it was like a trophy signifying the successful completion of the dungeon raid.

The moment that’s destroyed, the Gate will close.

“Good. Leave a Gate watch force and the rest will descend.”

So the descent began.

Of course, the battle was not over.

There were still two Gates left.

Then…

Rustle- rustle-

A presence was heard from between the trees in one corner.

“…Huh? Where is everyone going?”

It was Choi Young-jun.

Strangely, he was wearing a hat that didn’t match his military uniform at all.

And he was dragging someone by their hair.

Of course, that someone was a male vampire, and his limbs had been cleanly severed.

“…What is this?”

He scowled at the scenery that had changed while he was away.

It could only look bizarre in his eyes.

“Wow, amazing… How did so many items drop?”

His judgment wasn’t off.

So many items had fallen, as if a hole had opened in the sky and rained them down; it was unimaginable unless witnessed firsthand.

* * *

Lee Hyunwook checked the system message that appeared before his eyes as he descended the mountain.

[ Metal absorption has been completed: Demon’s Medal (Legion)

-Controllable metal weight has increased: 544g

By now, he could easily digest this amount of capacity.

However…

“Ugh-”

[ A ‘Signal Core’ is being formed in the central nervous system. (1%) ]

-Severe pain may accompany!

This time it was not the stomach, but the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord.

‘This really hurts a lot…’

The pain he felt when the Breath Room was formed, as if his stomach was melting, was nothing.

His head hurt as if it would burst, and the entire body felt not just tingling but as if it was being stabbed.

Literally, as the nerves were being reconstructed, abnormal sensations began to occur.

“Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, you look… unwell.”

Park Junmo asked with concern.

“I’m fine. Just look ahead. I might fall.”

But, like some sort of proverb, pain had to be endured for growth.

Therefore, rapid growth often came with horrendous growing pains.