Chapter 62 – Like an Echo

This time was different.

No matter how long Choi Yongjin had spent traversing battlefields, he could tell just by looking. He stared at the swarm of monsters that blanketed the ground and sky in a deep black, thinking deeply.

‘Is this the swarm that brought down Pyongyang…?’

No matter how incompetent the North Korean Army was, Pyongyang was different.

As a former officer, he knew this better than anyone. Pyongyang was where the most skilled and loyal units of North Korea held out with sheer grit and tenacity.

Naturally, not only was the combat power of the units there the strongest in the entire North Korean Army, but the entire city had been fortified to withstand a long-term defense battle at any time.

And yet… this was the swarm that had crushed such a place.

‘It won’t be easy….’

That didn’t mean Choi Yongjin’s unit was weak.

The heavily modified motorcycles were a given.

Many of the combatants were armed with Magitech Armor, and thanks to the capabilities of that armor, they could fire modified firearms to their heart’s content.

Furthermore, all the combatants had undergone combat training to develop their abilities, and they had been granted authority over the Assault Cannons. They even had several Observation Probes.

Mobility, combat endurance, firepower, intelligence—nothing was lacking.

Well, compared to the monsters, there was one thing lacking.

And that was…

Literally, a [lack].

They lacked numbers.

The monsters of Siberia, having faced no opposition, had established nests everywhere. As time passed, they grew by absorbing mana, and now they were creating a wave of sheer quantity that seemed endless.

And no matter how high the quality, sufficient quantity overwhelms everything. Choi Yongjin felt this acutely.

Right now, the monsters were blanketing the front in black. But… now was not the time for such thoughts.

‘The enemy is before my eyes.’

He had to fight.

Under his command were the last soldiers of the National Army.

It must have been unfair for them to be dragged away and conscripted, yet these were young men who had held their positions and fought to the end even as the world collapsed.

If there was one silver lining, it was that while they once fought for a vague public good when bound to the state, now that they were under Siwoo, they were fighting to directly protect their own families and lovers.

Siwoo provided the utmost consideration so that the soldiers would never need to look back, allowing them to fight with everything they had. He also poured resources generously into ensuring their survival.

Nor did he subject them to the endless layers of control they had faced in the regular military. He gave them plenty of leave so they could be with their families and provided ample weekly pay.

Naturally, the soldiers’ morale was sky-high. Ironically, it was only after leaving the military that they became the most soldier-like. This was no exception for Choi Yongjin, the officer.

Thanks to Siwoo’s consideration and Minju’s ability, he was able to see his fiancée four times a week. In the past, such a thing would have been unimaginable.

That was why they could fight.

Even in a situation like this.

Many leaders give speeches right before a battle, but he now thought that was quite ridiculous.

Boosting morale isn’t something you do right before the fight.

“Everyone, to your positions!”

It is something you do in the everyday.

Sure enough, at Yongjin’s brief command—.

“Corporal Park! Take care of the kids!”

“Yes, sir! Hey, Private First Class Kim! Where did you leave your junior?”

The soldiers moved with seamless efficiency.

* * *

After that… the battle continued for an exhausting length of time.

K-boom! K-booooom!

Even the barrels of the Assault Cannons, made of Adamantite Alloy, were glowing hot.

The soldiers fighting near the Assault Cannons had thrown aside their quilted liners and rolled up their sleeves thanks to the heat.

Because they had been firing to the point of overheating, the machinery was starting to strain… the firing rate of the Assault Cannons had noticeably decreased.

Of course, this wasn’t just the Assault Cannons.

Rat-tat-tat— clack!

“Squad 4 is out of ammo!”

“Take this! It’s the last ammo box!”

“A-are there no loaded magazines?”

“That’s all there is!”

They were out of bullets.

“Hey, aren’t you a psychokinetic!”

“My mana ran out a long time ago!”

“I don’t have much mana either, this is a disaster!”

Mana was no different. However… there was no sign of the monsters’ numbers decreasing.

In particular, the flocks of Harpies, who dove at high speeds from the air and attacked relentlessly, were accelerating the waste of mana and ammunition with their considerable evasion skills.

“Corporal Yoon! Is the next sortie of Interceptors not here yet!”

“Hey, they just left, you think they’d be back already!”

Because of the distance, the problem wasn’t solved simply by Interceptors coming and going. Since Interceptors had short operational times, they would just swoop in once or twice and head back.

Of course, thanks to that immense firepower, those one or two passes were enough to give them a momentary breathing room… but that was all.

Just enough to breathe.

Unrest was beginning to stir among the soldiers.

“Company Commander, is there any way out of this?”

The eyes of the Private First Class were clouded with fear.

In that moment, a memory from the past surfaced for Choi Yongjin.

‘Am I… being abandoned again?’

What he had experienced at the front was a trauma.

While the subordinates who trusted and followed him were dying off one by one, he had vaguely told the remaining ones that ‘support will arrive soon’ even though he himself had no certainty….

He truly never wanted to do that again.

So, for a moment, Choi Yongjin hesitated, unable to answer.

But he soon scolded himself.

‘Siwoo told me to wait.’

The trauma in his heart kept echoing, asking, ‘Are they really coming?’ or ‘Did something go wrong?’

But Choi Yongjin steadied his heart.

‘No, there’s no way Siwoo would do that.’

He trusted Siwoo.

And so… Choi Yongjin spoke once more.

“Support will arrive soon.”

It would be different from the past.

And… the moment he said that.

“C-Company Commander?!”

A soldier called out to Choi Yongjin.

“W-what is that?”

In the sky behind them….

Something massive was floating.

* * *

Round and elongated, with dark-colored decks on its surface, the Aerial Mothership looked like a giant black bean at first glance.

But as the Aerial Mothership drew closer.

The members of the Volunteer Knights were left speechless, moved by the growing, magnificent sense of intimidation.

“How on earth can something that big stay afloat?”

“Isn’t it an airship filled with something like helium?”

“Hahaha, no way.”

“I-isn’t that the enemy?”

While they were in such confusion.

Suddenly, the left and right sides of the Aerial Mothership’s hull opened—.

Clank, clank, clank, clank—!

Suddenly, something began to pop out.

“I-Interceptors?!”

“They’re here! Support has finally arrived!”

Everyone began to cheer.

Meanwhile, the Interceptors that leaped from the hull of the Aerial Mothership ignited their engines once they had distanced themselves from the ship.

Ka-booom!

And with that overwhelming power.

Spreading out in a fan shape toward the front—.

Pa-ba-ba-bang!

They began to fire.

“Kieeeeeek!”

“Yee-haw!”

“Yeah!”

The death screams of the monsters overlapped with the cheers of the soldiers. And the engine roar of the Interceptors lay low beneath all those sounds, playing like a single symphony.

K-boom!

Along with that….

Pouring all their mana into firing photon machine guns….

In the first sortie, the front line of the Aerial Monsters was completely shot down.

Without taking a long detour, the Interceptors returned immediately to the Aerial Mothership to recharge their mana and headed back to the battlefield to repeat the scene.

And by the time they had made three rounds.

K-booooom—!

There were no monsters left in the sky.

“T-the sky is blue?!”

“What, it was still daytime?!”

The ground, which had been a gloomy sight hidden by the shadows of the monsters, had cleared up. But that wasn’t all.

‘Activate [Anti-Gravity Field].’

K-wooooom— Vrooooom!

With the activation of the Anti-Gravity Field, the lighter monsters began to float into the air. This was possible due to the overwhelming mana output of the Aerial Mothership.

“What is this now!”

“What on earth is happening?!”

“C-could this be… the ability of that airship?”

“No way!”

Watching the monsters float into the void, the soldiers stopped fighting and stared blankly at the monsters with bewildered expressions.

And then….

Ka-booom!

Once again, the feast of Interceptors poured down.

And when those monsters fell back to the ground—.

Thud-thud-thud—

They had become piles of corpses whose forms were unrecognizable.

But this wasn’t the end.

Swoosh— pat!

Two figures appeared beside Choi Yongjin.

The negative words tied to the trauma that had been echoing in Yongjin’s heart… had vanished.

“Sorry, Yongjin. Did you wait long?”

“Ha… haha….”

Choi Yongjin simply laughed.

I had been watching through the Observation Probe, but even without it, it wasn’t hard to realize the mental anguish Yongjin must have gone through.

“Minju, please handle the supply transport now.”

“Ah, yes!”

Swoosh— pat!

And then Minju vanished.

“The supply items weren’t quite ready.”

The material preparation team had done their best, but it seemed they couldn’t keep up with the consumption rate of such a fierce battle. I replenished the unit and checked the battlefield once more via the Observation Probe.

“Where is that guy?”

“I think he’s still in the back.”

What I was looking for was a Special Entity.

Specifically, one equipped with the [Mana Barrier] Essence.

‘If it’s Mana Barrier… it was a defensive Essence that strengthens the mana shield.’

In particular, a Mana Barrier of a certain level causes mass-weapon attacks to graze and be neutralized.

Of course, that didn’t mean there was no mana consumption, but with the abilities of a grown entity, it would likely be effortless.

In other words, it was invincible against conventional human weaponry.

It made sense why Russia, China, and North Korea had struggled.

Of course… that didn’t apply to me.

First, I confirmed the entity’s location with the Observation Probe.

‘Found you.’

I ordered the Interceptors.

“Prepare for concentrated strike.”

Ka-booom!

As soon as my order fell, the Interceptors launched simultaneously.

They moved in a formation like a circle and began to orbit above the Special Entity.

And then….

“Commence concentrated strike.”

The moment I gave the order.

Vrooooooom!

A brilliant pillar of light illuminated the battlefield.

The Interceptors attacked a single point simultaneously.

And the moment that light receded.

Ka-booom!

A single mushroom cloud rose.

“My god!”

“W-what!”

Everyone on the battlefield seemed panicked at first—

“The blast pressure is coming! Everyone cover your ears and get down!”

“Private Park! Get your head down in the trench!”

Everyone began to take cover.

Whoosh—

After the cloud of dust settled… only a single Mana Stone remained where the Special Entity had been.

“Go and retrieve it.”

“Ding!”

I grinned.