Chapter 64 – Eraser

At this timing, the Aerial Mothership was insanely powerful.

It was capable of wiping out ground forces in an instant using its Anti-Gravity Field, not to mention dominating the air. Thanks to its impressive performance, it had recently acquired numerous nicknames.

There were grandiose titles like the Guardian of Humanity and the Purifier of Earth. Because of its appearance, which resembled a black bean, it had even been given bizarre names like “Sky-Kong-Kong.”

However, the most common name it was called was the “Eraser.” This was because whenever it took flight, it simply erased all Monsters, regardless of whether they were in the air or on the ground.

‘Of course it should be.’

Considering the amount of mana it consumed, it had to perform at least this well. On the other hand, it meant I was pushing the Aerial Mothership to its absolute limits.

Mana leaked out like a bottomless pot even when it was idle, so I couldn’t afford to let it sit around. Fortunately, there was a mountain of work for it to do.

‘Perhaps one unit isn’t enough…’

The reality was that the things a single unit could do were limited. No matter how much the Aerial Mothership swept the vicinity once it was airborne, it still had to actually be in the air to do so.

‘I need to increase the number.’

I had even skipped the Large Production Facility and gone straight to building an Ultra-Large Production Facility just to establish the foundation for producing Aerial Motherships. In such a situation, there was no way I could be satisfied with just one.

To put it bluntly, I had to get my money’s worth.

‘Well, that is, if I can solve the mana problem.’

If I could, an Aerial Mothership fleet wouldn’t be impossible.

‘And it’s not like I only have Aerial Motherships.’

If the Aerial Mothership was specialized for air-to-air combat, there were also ships specialized for air-to-ground combat. If I combined them, it would undoubtedly become the ultimate fleet that overcame each other’s weaknesses.

It was while I was planning toward that goal.

[Observation Probe (Unit 129): Requesting confirmation.]

“Huh?”

I momentarily shifted my attention to the sudden notification.

* * *

Unit 129 was an Observation Probe I had left to scout the vicinity of Yeouido.

Currently, My Faction was beginning to enter Guro-gu, moving beyond Gwangmyeong. This was for the purpose of eventually connecting my sphere of influence to Gwanak-gu to fully incorporate Seoul National University under my command.

However, from Guro-gu onwards, it was the heart of Seoul.

They say about 25 million people—half of the Republic of Korea’s population—live in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. In fact, half of those lived within Seoul itself.

In that cramped piece of land.

The winding alleys between buildings packed so tightly that not a single inch of greenery could be found were places that provided optimal conditions for ambushes, for both humans and Monsters.

Furthermore, due to the population density and wealth, the amount of resources rolling around was overwhelmingly vast.

Perhaps that was why it was Seoul. Because of that immense urban environment, conquering Seoul required time above all else.

While systematically clearing each alley to secure resources, I would eliminate Marauders and distinguish survivors to recruit them.

Along with that, I needed to keep an eye on the various power spheres within Seoul. Unit 129 was an Observation Probe sent with that intention.

‘There weren’t any particularly notable factions in Yeouido.’

I thought, searching through the memories of my previous life.

It was something of a mystery.

For instance, where did all the Assemblymen go?

They were people who had vanished without a trace.

This time was not much different.

Seeing people coming and going, I suspected there was a faction of considerable size somewhere in Yeouido.

But no matter how much I searched with the Observation Probe, I couldn’t find the headquarters of that faction, which seemed to be tightly hidden. It was in the midst of this that Unit 129, spying on Yeouido, sent a notification.

“What is it?”

I checked the notification from Unit 129.

“A mana fluctuation presumed to be a Villain?”

This might be a clue to the mystery of Yeouido. I redirected the Aerial Mothership, which had been heading forward, and began sending it toward Yeouido.

‘One Aerial Mothership should be enough.’

There was nothing to worry about.

* * *

Meanwhile, the man who had slaughtered the Assemblymen was looking up at the growing silhouette of the Aerial Mothership in the sky, feeling puzzled.

“Is it an airship?”

As someone who had once been human, an airship was the only thing he could think of. It was a world where giant flying objects were not common.

“In a world like this, how fearless.”

Instantly, his expression soured.

“For a mere human.”

And as he gestured with his hand.

“The sky belongs to us now.”

Harpy Swarms from all directions in the vicinity began to gather.

“Good, good. Go. Shoot it down.”

He gave the order to the harpies.

* * *

Watching the harpies approaching the Aerial Mothership from all sides through the Observation Probe, I couldn’t suppress a scoff.

“Is he joking right now?”

It seemed he was someone who didn’t know how the world worked.

I decided to educate him immediately.

‘Launch Interceptors.’

Clang! Clank-clank-clank!

The Interceptors began to emerge with a loud noise.

K-boom!

And the moment their engines ignited—

“Clean up.”

Similarly, the Interceptors began to spread out in all directions from the Aerial Mothership to eliminate the approaching harpies.

One could call it a head-on clash with the harpies, but…

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

This was no clash.

It was simply a one-sided massacre. Although the Harpy Swarm outnumbered the Interceptors by dozens of times, after just one engagement…

They all began to plummet to the ground.

Pitter-patter—

Like a rain of corpses.

“W-what?!”

The man began to panic.

“It’s problematic if you’re this surprised.”

Watching the scene through the Observation Probe, I turned the Interceptors to face him directly. The Thorn Spiders near him began to fire back, but it was useless.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The thorns bounced off as if hitting a wall.

This was the result of quickly upgrading the Mana Veil Essence—obtained by dealing with a Special Entity—through Mana Stone infusion.

As for the Mana Barrier Upgrade, an Advanced Research applicable to all machinery, it didn’t even flinch at this level of attack.

“I-impossible…”

The shocked man soon grasped the severity of the situation and began to deploy his own ability, scattering a black aura around his body.

Swoosh—

That black aura soon took the form of numerous crows.

“Go!”

They began to dive-bomb the Interceptors.

Cawww!

Or rather, they tried to.

Whish!

With overwhelming mobility, the Interceptors pivoted instantly to evade the crows and began shooting down the crows that were following each other’s tails.

Rat-tat-tat!

“I-it’s useless?”

Meanwhile.

Having witnessed that ability, I tilted my head.

“An ability I’ve never seen before?”

No matter how much I searched my memories of my previous life, no one who used a similar ability came to mind.

“Just what kind of ability is this…?”

If I wanted to know, I could just deal with him and obtain the essence directly. On the other hand, an unknown ability should not be allowed to deploy.

Variables had to be cut off early.

‘Activate [Anti-Gravity Field].’

As I made up my mind and activated the ability.

“Hu-huuuh?!”

The man, along with the Thorn Spiders, began to float into the air.

“Finish it.”

Vroooom—!

Bwaaaaang!

The Thorn Spiders were torn apart and began to fall in an instant.

It was no different for the man.

“Aaaagh!”

As a few Interceptors swept past, the man’s body, having lost more than half of its mass, writhed and struggled to regenerate.

‘Then the core must be on the other side.’

As I mocked him.

Just as I pivoted the Interceptors once more.

Swoosh—

Black ropes rose from the ground toward the man.

Clink! Clank!

They wrapped around the man’s body and slammed him straight back down to the ground.

Boom!

“What, a self-destruct?”

My eyebrow twitched at the incomprehensible situation.

* * *

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

The man was trembling, hiding himself within the shadows.

The streaks of light that had torn him apart were vicious things, causing burns on the remaining wounds and hindering his recovery.

“K-haaaaagh!”

Screaming, he abandoned the burned flesh and began to move his body quickly and quietly.

‘I-I have to escape. I can never win against that.’

The man was paralyzed with fear. Even his ultimate move, the Shadow Crow Swarm, had been effortlessly defeated.

And that was by the subordinates, not even the main body floating in the air. He couldn’t even imagine how strong the main body would be if it moved personally.

‘Escape first and look for an opportunity.’

He knew that Monsters would only get stronger.

As long as he survived, another opportunity would surely come later.

‘T-then, I will kill you!’

Just as the man made that vow.

Vroooooom—

The Interceptors began to show strange behavior.

“Eh?”

The Interceptors began to circle around the shadow where he was hiding.

‘No way, did they pinpoint my location inside the shadow?’

The man denied it.

‘No, that’s impossible.’

Until now, not a single person had discovered the Shadow Movement technique. It was a useful ability that allowed him to sneak into bunkers unnoticed, as it was unaffected by terrain.

‘There’s absolutely no way.’

Thus, denial was all the man could do.

But even so, the behavior of the Interceptors was too strange. It was as if they knew his exact location.

Even when he moved, they moved accordingly.

‘This… could it actually be?’

Just as the man harbored that doubt.

Bwaaaaang!

A brilliant Pillar of Light crashed down upon the spot where he stood.

* * *

I smiled as I watched the man through the Observation Probe’s Mana Lens.

‘Did he actually think that counted as hiding?’

It seemed to be an ability that utilized shadows.

I quickly cleaned him up with a concentrated strike.

Then, I ordered the nearby Worker Bugs to recover the Mana Stones.

“Shadow Essence, huh…”

It was an essence I had never seen before. Looking forward to how this essence would strengthen my machines, I began to resume the next plan that had been briefly interrupted.

“Then I’ll need to build a Mana Refinery in the Advanced Research Facility…”

There was a material that was almost essential to build those two facilities.

Its name was [Aetherium].

While Mithril and Adamantite were used for their physical strength, Aetherium was fundamentally different.

Aetherium had pathetic physical properties—it lacked heat resistance, was soft, and snapped easily.

Instead, it possessed an incredible mana sensitivity. It was a material that naturally possessed all mana-related characteristics, including the ability to store vast amounts of mana when necessary.

In other words, it was the perfect material for creating machines and facilities with [special functions]. But that wasn’t all.

Since the machines and facilities were powered by mana, it was often far more appropriate to make certain parts out of Aetherium.

In particular, it could drastically increase the efficiency of Mana Facilities. In short, it was a material that would generally improve capabilities across all aspects.

However… it had a corresponding disadvantage.

To mine Aetherium, special mining equipment was required, and preparation for aerial combat was essential. It wasn’t a material that had remained unobtained without reason.

‘For aerial combat, I can just use the Aerial Mothership…’

Also, a new Dungeon where Aetherium appeared was needed.

‘Then I’ll need a Nest Mana Stone too.’

There were no problems. In the past, I would have had to travel personally and put in considerable effort for a single Nest Mana Stone.

But now…

‘Aerial Mothership. Move to the designated coordinates.’

It was simply a matter of sending the Aerial Mothership.