#137
137
Kyoto.
This city, located in central Honshu, Japan, was one of the world’s representative tourist attractions with remnants of the Heian period and beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom.
Until just yesterday.
Kwasik-!
A foot made of steel crushed the head of a man rolling on the floor.
“Hi!”
“Huh…!”
A terrible sight that sends shivers down your spine and makes all the blood drain from your body.
People who saw unfamiliar scenes vomited or fainted.
Even though they were people with strong stomachs, they were not completely fine. They were very frightened, their teeth clenching, their complexions turning pale.
< Was this man the most superior among you? I can't believe it. >
A low voice resounds as if coming from a cave.
The owner of the voice stretched out his arm and grabbed the mop-like head of the man he had just crushed.
Of course, it would be absurd to call a bipedal cyborg a ‘human being’.
Gishin tribe.
After the outbreak of the second cataclysm, they quickly occupied all of Japan, including Kyoto.
“This can’t be right….”
“I can’t believe < ghosts > are being attacked….”
“They were the only ones in Kyoto….”
Kyoto residents were surrounded by a group of nearly 50 Kishin tribes, gathered a short distance away. I looked at the mountain.
A mountain of corpses.
All of those red-colored pieces of meat that made up the garden were the corpses of hunters.
The corpses of members of < Ghost >, one of the largest clans in Japan and even the world.
They had won the favor and respect of many people with the catchphrase ‘ghosts who bring peace’, but now they are like scraps buried in a garbage dump.
< Broken parts cannot be used anywhere. Look. From now on, we will tell you why you can be happy. >
The Kishin tribe, who was giving a long speech on behalf of the group, was afraid to say that.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrva!
Fierce flames erupted from both hands of the Gishin group surrounding the mountain of corpses.
As the stench of burning flesh and bones spread, people’s fear grew even stronger.
< Look. Useless ‘parts’ are incinerated without a trace. But not you. You who are still capable of life activities have significant existence as our ‘biofuel’. Aren’t you happy? >
Kikigeek-! Geek-!
The speech must have ended there, as the rest of the Gishin tribe slowly began to close the distance between themselves and the people gathered in a round line.
The cyborg’s eerily glowing red eyes and the sound of its footsteps as if they were clawing with a knife stimulated people’s feelings of despair.
“That’s a lie…”
It was a time when someone muttered in a tearful voice, wishing this was just a nightmare.
Pak-!
Unknowingly, a new model fell from above and appeared among the people, creating an afterimage.
People who were frowning and crying opened their eyes wide and looked at the new figure.
A white-haired giant.
A sword of fire held in the right hand.
Black armor.
“ah…!”
Exclamations came out from everyone’s mouths.
Han Dae-seong, a man called the savior who came to the East!
He has appeared in Kyoto!
< What is this? >
< Looking at the weapon being held, it does not appear to be in a friendly state. Excluded. >
The Gishin tribe here were following very simple and clear behavioral guidelines.
Kill anyone who resists.
Clap!
The hands of the Gishin tribe scattered throughout the area underwent repeated mechanical transformations and soon took the form of rotating gun barrels.
Mini-gun.
Dududu-!!
Soon the six barrels rotated furiously and spewed out lightning.
People closed their eyes and covered their ears as the lights flashed and a loud noise that sounded like the ground falling was heard one after another.
It was a moment like falling into the middle of a war, but they were happy.
‘You don’t have to die.’
‘It’s Han Dae-seong. Since Han Dae-seong is here, we can all live!’
‘When I open my eyes, Han Dae-seong will definitely be beating down all these mechanical monsters!’
Because they know that Daesung will save them anyway.
This is a man who has single-handedly defeated monsters bigger and more terrifying than this.
But how can we be defeated by cyborgs like this?
Soon the heavy drinking subsided and people opened their tightly shut eyes one by one.
“….”
“Huh?”
But I couldn’t believe my eyes.
My mind was spinning with the thought that I was seeing something in vain.
The savior who had appeared with a halo on his back was now lying naked with bullet holes all over his body.
< What was this person doing? He died quietly without resisting. >
< You humans are really good at telling jokes. Unfortunately, we can't smile because we're machines. >
The Gishin tribe also looked embarrassed. Even they could not have expected that they would appear at such a time of conversion and then die in vain.
Did you say that the cruelest thing in this world is giving and taking?
dump!
Among those who experienced hope in despair and then fell into despair again, some were unable to hold on and lost their minds.
That was the beginning.
“Aaaahhh-!!”
“Aaaah-!!”
Sharp screams came from among the left and right.
Death of Han Dae-seong. That was a shock that could not be compared to something like having all the members of the < Ghost > Clan annihilated.
< It's noisy. >
< Order has been lost. If you don't keep your mouth shut, you will be incinerated as a group-. >
Kuhuung-!!
Suddenly, a loud roar shook the sky, so loud that it deafened my eardrums.
Not only the people but also the Gishin tribe looked up at the epicenter of the commotion in shock.
< A battlecruiser...? >
A medium-sized aerial battleship that had been flying in the sky earlier was now falling towards the outskirts of the city, engulfed in bright red flames.
Unless a meteorite suddenly falls from space, Earth’s 21st century technology cannot even put a scratch on its armor.
The moment the Gishin tribe saw the unbelievable sight, they were speechless.
Coo-ung!
Once more, a black figure jumped out from the direction where the air battleship had just collapsed and landed among the people.
Inyoung’s identity was also Daesung.
“Uh huh…?”
“There’s nothing wrong with my eyes, right?”
“Oh, didn’t he just die earlier?”
People who were faced with an incomprehensible situation reacted in confusion.
The same goes for the Gishin tribe. How embarrassed would they have been to not launch a preemptive attack like usual and just stand there blankly?
-Sure.
That’s when Daesung’s wrist, holding the hilt of the sword, moved slightly.
< Exclude it for now! >
The barrels of the guns in both hands of the Gishin tribe began to rotate again.
People thought.
If the man in front of me is really ‘Han Dae-seong’, he would not be immune to being hit by that bullet or would block them all with his sword.
But that’s wrong.
no. To put it more accurately, I ‘underestimated’ Daesung.
Sreuk-!
It was an instant.
The moment he swung the sword in his right hand horizontally, a wave of fire was drawn like a line and swept over the Gishin tribe.
One island.
They were dead before the rotating gun barrel finished spinning and started spouting fire.
The ‘real’ did not even allow attacks.
dump!
The moment when 50 Kishin tribes with their heads and upper bodies cut off fell at the same time.
“Wow-!!”
“Han Dae-seong! “The real Han Dae-seong has arrived-!!”
“i love you-!!”
People jumped up, raised their arms, and cheered enthusiastically.
This time, real hope has been shed for people.
***
‘As expected, it’s still weak.’
Daesung clicked his tongue as the non-stop cheers flowed from one ear.
Of course, when I say I am weak, I am not referring to myself.
He shed an ‘alter ego’ that fluttered among the people like a fallen leaf.
< Completed alter ego >, a power inherited from an old man of the Hekar tribe.
It is said that the more the alter ego gains combat experience, the closer it becomes to the original clone, so it was sent out first, but as you can see, the result was the same.
‘Right now, I’m not in a state where I can do anything on my own if I don’t lay the board down.’
Daeseong activated the system and viewed the information on the power.
< Avatar (completed version) >
* Model: Han Dae-seong
* Match rate with main body: 1.66%
When I first gained strength, it was 0%, but now it has slightly increased by about 1%.
‘It is clear that the act of sending self-immolation to the front line had some kind of effect.’
It seemed that ‘combat experience’ had a much more comprehensive meaning than simply killing the enemy.
The ‘act of standing’ on the battlefield was also recognized as part of ‘actual combat experience’.
[Orichalcon, the gemstone of the imaginary space ‘Orb’, has been discovered.]
[Orichalcon, which has passed the ‘discovery’ stage, moves to the ‘save’ stage.]
[Current Orichalcon possession: 8000]
50 units By shooting down the Gishin tribe and a battlecruiser, a large amount of Orihalcon was also captured.
The amount of collection is enormous, incomparable to the New York incident, when one orihalcon was released for each monster!
If we continue to hunt the Gishin tribe like this, it would not be impossible to tune not only the command soldiers but all summons to Orihalcon.
‘later.’
Of course, what we need to do now is not play with decorating summoned animals.
Daeseong looked around Kyoto City… no, it had now been transformed into an insidious alien land.
The continental floating factory of the Gishin tribe.
As the name ‘factory’ suggests, mechanical facilities reminiscent of a steel mill were built densely in the area where the building should be.
Kyoto city, and even the whole of Japan, was engulfed in smoke like a city of fog.
‘I don’t know why it’s called the floating factory.’
I literally thought of the ground floating in the sky, but that wasn’t the case at all.
First, I needed to look into this area a little more.
The original purpose of coming here was to continue the investigation and find the location where Great Sage Melcanon was kidnapped.
“hmm?”
Then, suddenly, something caught Daesung’s vision.
In the gap between buildings, a round ball of light about the height of a saint’s head was shining brightly.
The edge of the light mass was decorated with a gray deck studded with spike-like points.
An electric current flowed from the tip of that thorn, and it seemed to be forming a lump of light.
‘It’s not a gate.’
Although it looked similar, the gate did not have a deck around the border and had a more swirl-like appearance.
As I was about to get closer and take a look, a Japanese person spoke up.
“Mechanical monsters poured out from inside that unknown thing.”
“From there?”
Not only did it look like it, but its role was also very similar to the gate.
At this point, I have a sense of what that thing is, but I need a wedge.
“Come out.”
Daesung opened a subspace.
Immediately afterwards, the little boy started to come out of subspace, whining.
“Hi…what is that? I’m scared…”
“Hey, hey… Be quiet… Let’s just do it…”
Suddenly, a small crack appeared in the air, and as something of a different race came out from inside, the people who saw it were startled.
It is none other than the Hekkar boy who had set out to follow Daeseong earlier.
Did you say her name was ‘Alia’?
Alia said “Whoa!” He took a deep breath and said.
“It’s quite spacious and comfortable inside, but it’s difficult to get in and out.”
“Do you know what that is?”
Daesung pointed to a lump of light.
Then Alia answered immediately with her eyes shining brightly.
“and! That’s teleportation, right? This is my first time seeing it in person! “It’s awesome!”
“Details.”
“It’s a machine that connects different places! Uncle, if I go and touch that just once… Ah.”
Alia, who was very excited with a curious expression, quickly straightened her face. I belatedly realized that Daesung was not someone who could be pampered.
“I’m sorry for my sins… I won’t do it again, so forgive me just this once.”
“I allow it. “Go and touch it.”
Alia, who was downcast, looked at Daesung with wide-open eyes.
Immediately after that, he nodded his head vigorously and ran to the teleportation.
‘It’s a machine that connects different places. You can think of it as backward compatibility with Gate.’
As soon as he heard what the machine was used for, Daesung thought of a place to use it.
While Alia was looking around the teleportation device as if she were watching dolphins in an aquarium, Daesung also walked over and got closer to the device.
whiz-.
Soon, a holographic substrate was created around the teleportation.
Even though it is a substrate, everything from the letters to the structure has a form that cannot be understood from a human perspective.
Before Daesung could ask anything, Alia spoke first.
“The language used here is the Gishin language. And it’s a 3D control panel that can operate teleportation.”
“Can you read?”
“Just so I can read it? “I think I can control this thing!”
“That’s amazing.”
“I have everything except the books that aren’t in the northern library!”
“Then, from now on, can I set the place I’m talking about as the arrival point?”
“Sure. All you have to do is touch it a little. “It’s no big deal.”
Surprisingly, this little boy was worth bringing in.
Daesung told Alia to set the arrival point to ‘New Mexico’.
This is where the blood stone is located.
‘Einfried is there too. ‘Except for the annihilator’s nest, it is the safest place on earth.’
It was also an opportunity to explosively increase the speed of supply of bloodstone.
Now, all you have to do is gather people, explain the situation, put them on a teleportation, and send them to New Mexico.
That was when Daesung turned to the people and raised his voice.
Flash!
A light flashed out of nowhere.
It wasn’t like lightning or a tree branch from another dimension coming down.
Just say,
“Damn it! Again!?”
“driving me crazy! “Please, please save us…”
People started swearing in unison. It seemed that this was not the first time they had experienced this phenomenon of flashing light.
Daesung asked a Japanese woman who seemed relatively calm.
“Is there a problem.”
“Oh, that’s it… It’s been like this since a while ago. No, I don’t know, every time there’s a sudden flash in all directions-.”
At this time, a scream erupted.
“oh my! my son! “Where has my son gone?”
“dad? dad-!”
Several people were sobbing and crying out the names of their relatives or acquaintances who were with them.
The woman glanced at them with sad eyes and continued what she was saying.
“…People keep disappearing randomly. As if it fell to the ground or rose into the sky. suddenly.”
“Disappear?”
After hearing those words, Daesung looked back at Alia as if asking if she had any inkling.
But Alia just shook her head.
‘All sorts of things are happening.’
It was not immediately clear whether this was also the work of the Gishin tribe or not.
In any case, as things like this are happening, it would be best to evacuate the people here to New Mexico as soon as possible.
“Everyone pay attention here.”
Daesung gathered the confused people together and opened his mouth.
***
After sending the people beyond the teleportation, Daeseong rode the annihilation dragon and inspected the entire archipelago.
And soon I discovered that the summit of Mt. Fuji was carved out flat, as if it had been carved out.
The part that had been shaved off was filled with a huge mechanical device that resembled a stone gate.
From a distance, it looked as if an iron cap had been placed on the top of a mountain that had been cut off.
Daesung immediately took Alia out of subspace.
“What is that?”
“Um… that’s Wall. A fence that the Gishin tribe usually puts up to hide a place they want to hide? A screen? “You can think of it as the same thing.”
“It’s a place you want to hide… Then there’s a possibility that your ruler is out there.”
“Yes, I think the same thing, but… the problem is that it’s so different! The machines made by the Gishin tribe are usually made of a mysterious metal called orihalcon, and that wall in particular cannot be destroyed even by meteor magic unless it is an extremely strong orihalcon weapon.”
One characteristic of Alia was that she talked a lot when a topic of interest came up.
While the guy was talking excitedly to himself, Daeseong activated the main gun mounted on the annihilator dragon’s wing ridge.
When she heard the sound of the gun barrel moving, only then did Alia discover the existence of the main gun and stutter.
“Uh… Ah, uncle? “No way, this is made with orihalcon.”
“launch.”
Bubble bubbung-!
White rays split into dozens of branches and spread out of the gun barrel, striking Mount Fuji.
For a long time, the blinding white light dimly colored the foot of the mountain.
When the brilliant light subsided, the iron plate covering the top of the mountain was already melting mercilessly as if it were being heated in an oven.
“Thank you for the explanation. Get back in the road.”
“….”
Alia looked down at the scene in a dazed state, unable to keep her mouth shut.