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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Rain Over the Waves - Part 5
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Regaining consciousness, Major Moon Tae-ho wiped the blood from his face and surveyed the wrecked hallway.
"What in the world…"
He wondered if he was dreaming.
From the command and control center all the way to the distant battalion armory, the long corridor...
Hundreds, no, easily over a thousand assorted weapons were lodged everywhere.
Even a real medieval battlefield probably didn't look like this.
"What is all this…? Did you drop a bomb or something?"
"I had no choice."
Lee Hyun-wook replied.
"No, I'm not blaming you, but… that thing… it's definitely dead, right?"
At the end of the hallway, the 'assailant' who had sent him flying was literally crushed.
At first, it just looked like a large mass with dozens of spear shafts sticking out of it.
"Yes, it is."
Yes, he had made sure it was dead.
He had even driven silver stakes through its eyes and heart. It was a gruesome sight, hard to look at, but necessary to ensure it wouldn't rise again.
"Hah…"
Moon Tae-ho rubbed his face with his right hand.
He had no feeling below his left shoulder.
"Damn it, I'm so ashamed. I'm a major, for crying out loud, and I got knocked out with one hit…"
"Don't be. Please don't worry about it."
Moon Tae-ho looked at Lee Hyun-wook and let out a wry chuckle.
"This kid… everyone's been making a fuss about how incredible you are, and I just brushed it off. But you really are something else."
Right after this mess started, he had honestly been a little irked when the battalion commander sought out Lee Hyun-wook first.
No matter how many unbelievable achievements the kid had racked up recently, it seemed absurd to call for a mere soldier over him, a major and the duty commander, when the entire base was on the verge of being wiped out.
But now, he found himself thinking that the battalion commander had good judgment after all.
"To be honest, I have zero talent for casting magic myself, so from the very beginning, I focused solely on specializing in wide-area magic. That's how I made major, but still… I'm sorry."
Not all mages were the same.
Their path was determined by the first 'passive' skill they 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 casting it himself.
This made him a perfect fit for the role of 'Wide-Area Magic Controller,' a position responsible for controlling and directing spells created by multiple mages—sometimes hundreds—working in concert. Not that there was much to do most of the time.
"But Controller, I don't think we have time to be talking like this."
Only then did Moon Tae-ho realize he had been spacing out.
"Ah, right…"
"Controller, in that case, may I ask you to do what you do best?"
"…Huh?"
Moon Tae-ho blinked at Lee Hyun-wook's words.
"Wide-area magic, sir."
"Why… why do we need that now?"
"I intend to open a long-range, two-way portal to connect this location with the area near the totem."
"…"
"If you permit it, I will requisition the mages from the 2nd Company."
Moon Tae-ho struggled to understand what Lee Hyun-wook was saying.
"…What on earth are you planning to do?"
Lee Hyun-wook smiled brightly.
"Don't we need to wipe out the enemies who've infiltrated the base?"
***
"…We advance."
The 22 members of the 'Totem Search Team,' now without Lee Hyun-wook, followed Seo Eun-ha's command deep into Namsan.
Night had fallen in the mountains. The moonlight couldn't penetrate the dense canopy, and they couldn't see an inch in front of them.
But they couldn't use flashlights. They couldn't risk alerting the undead to their presence.
Fortunately, they had enough night vision gear, allowing them to pierce the darkness as they moved.
After some time had passed…
The point man signaled a halt.
The entire search team held their breath and hid behind trees and bushes.
The point man gestured.
Everyone's gaze followed his direction.
*Gulp—*
Someone swallowed dryly.
Finally, their targets came into view.
It was…
*Groooan—*
Hundreds of green lights bloomed on the mountainside—the glowing eyes of the dead.
Hundreds of undead had gathered on the slope of Namsan.
*'They're different from the zombies we fought earlier.'*
Ahn Min-tae sensed it instinctively.
These were higher-grade monsters than the 'Denizens of Hell' that had appeared near the guardhouse.
For starters, they were much larger, and green smoke billowed from their bodies.
Their speed and strength were likely on a completely different level from the zombies they had faced before.
But that wasn't all.
*'…What in the world are those?'*
*Thud— thud— thud— thud—*
Footsteps that shook the earth, a legion of giant armors over two meters tall.
Green smoke billowed from within their empty helms.
*'Those are Living Armors.'*
Combat weapons that move on their own, attacking anything that invades their master's space…
*'I've seen them in person before… but these are much bigger.'*
Masterless Living Armors could be claimed by mage Players using a 'Control Magic' spell. Some people even kept them for personal protection…
But he had never seen so many at once.
And though Ahn Min-tae didn't know it, these were not simple Living Armors.
They were Haunted Armors, possessed by evil spirits rather than controlled by magic.
They were incomparably vicious, higher-grade undead.
And the purple gate that had opened there was continuously spewing out new monsters.
It was obvious that the number of undead would multiply as time went on.
"Hah…"
Watching the nightmarish scene unfold, the search team members were utterly terrified.
To think they had to break through that undead legion to find and destroy something called a 'totem'…
The urge to turn and run was an incredibly natural feeling.
But a single sentence Seo Eun-ha had spoken before the mission weighed on their minds like a stone.
"If we fail, they will descend from Namsan. At least tens of thousands will die…"
Right…
The lives of tens, no, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people depended on them.
*'That's right. If we give up here, it's all over. We can't let that happen.'*
But just as they couldn't turn back, they couldn't move forward either.
*'If we're spotted here… we're dead for sure.'*
Their instincts screamed at them to hide, to not let a single hair be seen, lest they be swept up in that procession of death and become a part of it.
But then…
"…Huh? P-Platoon Leader?"
Of all people, it was Seo Eun-ha who stood up and began to walk forward.
It was strange behavior.
Approaching so openly would surely get her spotted by the undead swarming the area.
"You'll be seen!"
one of the soldiers said anxiously, but she shook her head.
"It's fine. We've already been spotted."
"…What?"
Just then, a laugh echoed from somewhere.
"…As expected, a famous Paladin is on another level."
A woman's voice.
With it, something stirred faintly in the darkness where Seo Eun-ha was looking.
It was a woman in a suit, looking as if she had peeled herself away from the shadows.
"I've killed quite a few Paladins in my time, but I never expected one to notice this."
The woman put a cigarette to her lips, and Seo Eun-ha drew the greatsword from her back.
"I can't stand watching you waste time, so I'll ask just one thing. Who are you?"
An unknown, pale hand extended from behind the woman's back and held the cigarette.
*Flick—* Her real hand lit it.
"Hmm, well, if I were to tell you who we… *phoo*… are, it would take quite a bit of time, you see?"
It was then.
*Shh-lick!*
The sound of a blade slicing through flesh—suddenly, Choi Young-jun was standing next to Seo Eun-ha.
He had drawn his sword, a hwando, and something dropped to the ground at his feet with a thud.
A severed hand, still clutching a dagger.
"Kuh…"
A moment later, a man in a fedora landed some distance away.
Blood dripped from where his right hand should have been.
"Platoon Leader, there was another one above you."
"I already knew, but thank you."
A translucent barrier had formed above Seo Eun-ha's head.
A Mana Shield.
It was a skill embedded in the armor she wore.
"…Carol, I think I know why Heo Young-tae and Yang Hee-joo were taken out at the same time."
the man in the fedora whispered, glaring at Choi Young-jun.
They had encountered an unexpectedly skilled opponent.
"But if they're both here, who on earth killed Oh Kang-mook?"
"…That's a good question."
Their connection with Oh Kang-mook had just been severed.
It meant there might be another skilled fighter among them.
Meanwhile, the fedora-wearing man's severed hand twitched and began to move on its own.
*Skitter-skitter—*
It scurried across the ground on its fingers like a spider, racing toward its owner.
But it never reached its master's embrace.
*Sh-shlick!*
Its fingers were all severed, scattering in every direction.
It was Choi Young-jun again.
"Oh my, looks like you'll have to crawl like a caterpillar instead of a spider now."
Choi Young-jun grinned and wiggled his index finger.
The man in the fedora glared at Choi Young-jun.
"…I will kill that man."
"You mean you want him for yourself?"
"That's right."
"Fine. Then the Paladin is mine."
The two vampires' eyes flashed red. At that moment, behind them, in the darkness between the trees, dozens—hundreds—of green eyes began to glow.
*Gyaaaah—*
Hundreds of footsteps and sickening cries echoed through the mountain as they surged forward like a wave.
The undead legion was closing in.
"…Prepare for battle!"
Ahn Min-tae shouted, and the search team members readied their skills.
"Now, our famous Paladin, shall we see what you've got?"
Carol smiled slyly and vanished into the darkness.
*Kieeeh— Kieeeh—*
From between the trees, a horde of zombies began to charge like a pack of dogs.
There were dozens of them visible at a glance.
The search team members looked to Seo Eun-ha.
But without a word of command, she lowered her shield.
*Vwoom—*
As she raised the shield, white characters materialized above it.
They were runes.
They spun around the shield before converging at its center—
*Bwoooom—*
An immense white light erupted in all directions, forming a white dome with a 20-meter radius.
*Fshhhhhh—*
The dozens of zombies caught within it were instantly incinerated.
It was an incredible display of holy power.
She handed the shield to Choi Young-jun.
"This dome will last for seven minutes. Protect the others and provide covering fire."
Her words meant she intended to break through alone.
"Hmm, do you think you can handle it?"
"…There's no other way."
Seo Eun-ha raised her sword before her face and closed her eyes.
*Vwoom—*
Her gray full plate armor began to glow, creating the illusion that it had turned pure white.
Wreathed in this radiance, she pushed back the darkness and walked forward.
As if to meet her challenge, armored knights appeared from the opposing side.
They were the two-meter-tall 'Haunted Armors,' wreathed in black smoke.
*Thud— thud— thud— thud—*
Carol watched from the darkness, a smile on her face.
"The first of the special gifts I prepared just for you."
"…"
Haunted Armors couldn't be defeated with high holy power alone.
As their appearance suggested, they boasted not only high physical defense but also considerable magic resistance.
This made it difficult to directly strike the evil spirits within them using 'holy power'.
And there were a whopping thirty of them.
Yet, Seo Eun-ha didn't hesitate for a second. She kicked off the ground and charged.
She was unbelievably fast for someone bearing the immense weight of full plate armor.
After a running start, she launched herself into the air—
*Clang!*
and slammed directly into the lead Haunted Armor.
Sparks flew as the two sets of armor collided.
Seo Eun-ha used its chest as a foothold to leap into the air once more, then plunged downward, driving her greatsword into the Haunted Armor's head.
*C-craaack!*
At that moment, a white light burst from her greatsword.
*Fshhhhhh—*
Holy Light.
As a brilliant, almost bluish-white light spread through the inside of its body, black smoke poured out from the gaps in the armor. The smoke took the shape of a human face, screaming as if in agony.
The possessing evil spirit had been exorcised, turning it back into an ordinary 'Living Armor'.
That was the end of it.
*Thooom—*
The massive armor collapsed anticlimactically.
Other Haunted Armors charged at her, but the result was the same.
*Clang! C-craaack! Clang! Clang!*
Seo Eun-ha dodged the hammers and spears flying at her with incredible speed, swinging her greatsword into the gaps in the Haunted Armors' joints to sever them and bring the steel giants crashing down.
Then she would inject 'Holy Light' into the armor, exorcising the evil spirit… a feat that was easy to describe but absurdly difficult to perform.
In this way, she took down five Haunted Armors in an instant, crushing them like tin cans.
This was because a Paladin's primary skills lay in enhancing their armor and weapons.
In other words, there was a world of difference between an unarmored Seo Eun-ha and a fully equipped one.
"What the…"
Carol, perched on a tree branch, stopped just as she was about to light her cigarette.
Seo Eun-ha was already looking up at her, the tip of her sword aimed right at her.
"It's a bit strange to say it myself… but come on down. I'll show you why I'm so famous."
Carol was taken aback for a moment, but quickly composed herself.
"Ah… I figured as much, which is why I prepared a second gift."
She took something out.
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