Chapter 54 – Chicken Game

I knocked on the door of the room across from mine and looked for Minju.

“Minju. Please call a meeting.”

“Yes!”

She answered briefly.

Swoosh—snap!

And then she vanished instantly. She had gone to bring the core personnel, such as Sua, Yongjin, and Seongjae.

Of course, it wasn’t that she always knew their exact locations, but this was an apocalyptic world. Much like the military, reporting one’s destination was the basic standard.

Thus, with just a bit of common sense, locating them wasn’t difficult. Once everyone had gathered, I briefly explained the situation.

I told them that an attack was coming from Gwangmyeong.

“An… attack? By people?”

Sua asked back, sounding somewhat anxious.

Come to think of it, while she had been attacked by monsters many times, this would be her first time facing a proper attack from humans.

And right now, humans were more dangerous than monsters.

Perhaps later, but current monsters lacked a chain of command or the concept of a strategic operation. Unlike the early days when they appeared in trickles, they now came in clusters, but that was the extent of it.

They were simply a mass of quantity.

Humans, however, were different.

They scouted to find weaknesses and targeted them relentlessly. They used various strategies and tactics to torment their opponents, such as creating confusion through diversion or tightening a siege.

It was the same in my previous life. No matter how much the monsters’ power grew, nothing was as terrifying as humans.

But of course, this time was intended to be different.

So.

I answered her question calmly.

“Marauders.”

* * *

Meanwhile, at my words, Choi Yongjin lightly lowered his head and spoke.

“If it’s Gwangmyeong… is it those bastards?”

“Oh, you know them? What are they like?”

When Minju asked, Yongjin shook his head.

“What do you mean ‘like’? They’re just marauders. And very vicious ones at that. They’re the kind of bastards who drive cars to go on long-distance expeditions to plunder. I’ve run into them on the road a few times.”

He looked as if he were shuddering in disgust.

“The highway they operate on is often called the Blood Highway. They drive around with victims hanging from their cars, painting the road in blood. They may speak our language, but they’re worse than monsters.”

“Gasp.”

Minju had a look of horror. Of course, as someone who watched everything through the Observation Probe, I was well aware of this fact.

I hadn’t mentioned it because there was no need, but I didn’t think Yongjin was exaggerating.

Marauders of this level were mild. Later on, marauders who were truly more monstrous than monsters would begin to appear.

They headed in such horrific directions that a former colleague who possessed an Apoin Ability had even suspected [Mental Contamination].

Therefore, they needed to get used to this level of brutality quickly.

“They won’t be able to do that against us. Let’s end this quickly.”

I lightly shifted the mood and began to explain the operation.

As I explained the plan, it was only natural that looks of bewilderment gradually appeared on everyone’s faces.

“Is… is that really possible?”

Even Choi Yongjin was stuttering.

“No, no, regardless of that, Siwoo. Shouldn’t we test it out first? Isn’t it too dangerous?”

Even Seongjae, who usually never complained, was trying to stop me.

“Just trust me.”

I gave a smirk at their worries.

* * *

On the highway.

“Charge!”

“Remember me!”

Like a scene from some movie, the marauders drove heavy, scrap-metal-like vehicles adorned with steel plates and spikes.

They were rapidly closing the distance to the fortress.

However, they weren’t the only ones using the highway. Upon seeing a few peddlers passing by on the road, they shouted with sneering grins, feeling pleased.

“Boys! Sacrifices on the road!”

“Ram them!”

“Red paint! Stain the road red!”

Fortunately, the peddlers seemed to have noticed their approach. In a world like this, it was rare for so many cars to be driving, so they were able to avoid them by hearing the engine noise from afar.

“Quick! Move the cargo first!”

“They’re coming! Forget it, leave that behind!”

“Get out of the way!”

They managed to save most of the cargo they were moving, but—

Vroom—

Two shopping carts filled with various home appliances that had remained in the middle of the highway became the marauders’ victims.

Clang! Crash!

Those items, whose purpose there was questionable, were now completely destroyed and rolling across the ground.

“Hahahaha!”

“Did you see that! Did you see it!”

The marauders cackled with excitement.

Among them, some felt a sense of regret.

“Tsk, a failed roadkill!”

“What should we do? Should we go back and finish them off?”

However, Lee Doyul’s adjutant shouted in an angry voice.

“Leave them! Have you forgotten the Boss’s orders!”

“S-sorry!”

“Don’t get distracted! Drive at full speed!”

This was not a lightning war.

They were racing toward the castle at full speed.

Their goal was to occupy it through an ambush, giving Siwoo no time to respond. Of course, he had been watching everything through the Observation Probe from the very beginning.

As long as the Observation Probe existed, an ambush was practically impossible.

But the marauders, unaware of this fact, were speeding down the highway full of confidence.

Vrooooom—!

* * *

An SUV leading the marauder vanguard.

This vehicle, lightened by minimizing its armament, served the role of scouting to ensure the cars following behind didn’t hit anything unexpected.

True to its scouting purpose, the team consisted of a driver and a passenger with keen eyesight. He was incessantly peering through binoculars to check the road.

While it was an important role, it wasn’t exactly a busy job.

Since the Apocalypse, the roads had always been empty. Furthermore, work crews patrolled and cleared dangerous objects in advance, so it might have been a role that wasn’t strictly necessary.

But today was different.

The scout, who had been scanning the surroundings sloppily with his binoculars, tilted his head upon discovering a small cloud of dust ahead.

“Huh?”

“What do you mean ‘huh’, you idiot!”

“There’s something up ahead.”

“You crazy bastard! Do your job right! What is it!”

“That… I’m not sure…”

“Give it here!”

The driver, keeping his eyes on the road, reached out and demanded the binoculars.

The scout grumbled as he handed them over. He wanted to see just how well the driver could do and felt a strong urge to give him a mouthful of curses.

Sure enough—

“Wh-what?!”

The driver let out a shout.

“You’re saying ‘what’ too, so what the—”

The scout tried to attack him at this moment, but the driver cut him off, swinging the binoculars around.

“Hey, aren’t those guys from the Volunteer Knights?”

“Wh-what?!”

Hearing the driver’s words, the scout snatched the binoculars back.

And looking ahead once more, the scout—

“Hehe, they really are.”

He let out a laugh full of ridicule.

“Poor bastards riding motorcycles.”

“My thoughts exactly! A real man drives a car!”

Since both groups used the roads, they had encountered each other many times. While there hadn’t been any major friction yet, the marauders often mocked the Volunteer Knights as fools.

“Volunteer Beggar Knights ahead!”

“Yahoo—!”

“Keke! We finally meet!”

“I heard they went under a Lord’s command this time!”

“Whew—! What is this, child’s play? Motorcycles!”

It was ironic that even in a world like this, there were marauders who refused to let go of their prejudice against motorcycles.

“Boys! It’s a battle!”

“Battle my ass! It’s a massacre!”

“Massacre? Isn’t this just a roadkill of a herd of water deer!”

“Kyahaha!”

The marauders chattered excitedly. Meanwhile, the scout, also wearing a smile, raised the binoculars once more—

“Eh?”

He tilted his head again at the sight of the Volunteer Knights as they drew closer.

Contrary to his thought that they would at most be wearing something like steel, motorcycle suits, and helmets.

The motorcycles were encased in black metal, and similarly, the riders were wearing armor.

The metal plates surrounding the motorcycles didn’t look that thick. Nor did they have spikes plastered all over them like the marauders’ vehicles.

“They’re going to fight with equipment like that…?”

The scout narrowed his eyes.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t shake a feeling of incongruity.

Even with thick steel plates, there were many cases where they had to abandon their cars due to the impact when ramming into monsters or people.

To the point that, despite being marauders, wearing seatbelts was counted among the top five most important rules.

No matter how much they talked about not looking cool, one had to be alive first to care about looking cool or having style.

Since the Volunteer Knights showed none of that, it was natural for the scout to feel a sense of dissonance.

“Come to think of it, they’re using flails and guns as weapons?”

Looking at the Volunteer Knights’ weapons, a scene came to the scout’s mind. It was… the cavalry of the plains.

The image he drew in his head was of cavalrymen who would glide past effortlessly, striking with horse-mounted flails, and horse archers who would shoot as they retreated.

Except the Volunteer Knights used guns instead of bows.

The scout looked at his own vehicle.

‘The steel plates should block a K2 rifle, so it should be fine, right?’

As the military began to collapse, K2 rifles began to flood the market. Most were looted from the dead or sold by deserters trying to obtain supplies.

In fact, consumables like ammunition were harder to find.

So while arming with rifles wasn’t an option, at least testing was possible. They knew roughly how thick a steel plate needed to be to block a rifle bullet.

Being people who cherished their own lives above all else, the marauders had naturally reinforced their vehicles based on that standard.

‘There shouldn’t be any problem.’

The scout eventually shook off his negative thoughts and smirked.

* * *

Meanwhile, while the scout was thinking, the distance between the Volunteer Knights and the marauder vehicles was steadily closing.

And very closely.

“Uh, huh?”

“H-Hyung. They aren’t stopping.”

“M-motorcycles aren’t stopping in the face of cars?”

Neither side was slowing down.

“What’s with them? Do they even have a brain?”

“Hyung! They’re actually getting faster!”

At this rate, a head-on collision was imminent.

“C-crazy!”

“Have they lost their minds?!”

“W-what do we do!”

As everyone looked toward the adjutant.

He scanned the situation with panicked eyes and then made up his mind.

“What do you mean what! W-we ram them just like this!”

The opponents were just motorcycles.

The Marauder Legion didn’t just have cars; the entire vehicles were encased in thick steel plates. Since there were many cases where no major problems occurred even when ramming into monsters, motorcycles should be fine.

“Y-yes! This is a game of chicken!”

“We can’t back down against motorcycle bastards!”

“Boys! Increase speed!”

It was just as everyone began to make a commotion. Perhaps gaining confidence from the response, the adjutant shouted in a low voice.

“Nitro! Use the nitro!”

Everyone’s expressions brightened further, and they cheered.

“Boys! Permission granted!”

“Kyahahaha!”

K-boom!

As nitrous oxide entered the engine, the exhaust sound grew significantly louder. Their speed clearly increased.

“This is it!”

“Try and handle this speed! This mass!”

“How’s that!”

The marauder group shouted in excitement.

However, the knights simply approached in silence.

The marauders felt that sense of incongruity once again.

“Wha… what?”

“Are they really just going to keep going?”

“Are they really going all the way?”

“Hey, we’re actually going to hit!”

“Damn it, hit the brakes!”

“Don’t hit them! The ones behind will ram us!”

“Then what the hell are we supposed to do, you piece of—”

But he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Screeeech!

Bang! Crash! BOOM!

Collision.

This wasn’t a mere multi-car pileup.

Two groups had simply collided head-on. However, the victims were not the motorcycles as everyone had expected.

Vrooooom!

As if nothing had happened.

The motorcycles burst straight through the wreckage of the cars.

Crash! Screech!

“Wha-what! This is impossible!”

“A-are those really motorcycles?!”

“Crazy, a motorcycle and a car collided, so why did the car lose?!”

The motorcycles instantly accelerated again.

Vrooooooom!

Heading toward the cars behind them.

“D-damn it! Turn the cars around!”

“T-there are cars behind us!”

“Hey, hey! Get the cars out of the way!”

The expressions of the marauders, who had been driving in a line along the highway like a train, were now completely paralyzed with terror.