Chapter 80 – Receive the Giant Soldiers

Kuuuung-!

As the Mana Facilities were completed simultaneously… I felt the mana that had been weighing me down become significantly lighter.

It felt as if someone had taken a heavy load off my shoulders. In fact, mana was now flowing back into me.

‘How long has it been since I felt this…’

I felt a surge of pure euphoria.

“Now, time to increase the forces!”

I immediately began operating the Super-Large Production Facility.

Screeech- clank-

Metal began to fold and shift urgently.

Meanwhile…

The situation on the front lines was shifting just as urgently.

“My god…”

“How many monsters are there?!”

“I-isn’t this getting a bit dangerous?”

Monsters were swarming in from all across the Korean Peninsula.

* * *

This was an era where money was more important to ordinary people than ever before.

That was because money could be exchanged for Artifacts or high-purity Mana Stones for absorption. It wasn’t just about food; it directly affected whether they lived or died.

Thus, when the opportunity to obtain large quantities of Mana Stones and Monster Materials arrived, the atmosphere had been like a festival.

However…

That atmosphere quickly turned into terror.

The monsters, densely covering the ground, had the power to do that.

“Forget the money…”

“Are we even going to make it out alive?”

The air was suffocating… In the end, they were just ordinary people who had come out not out of a sense of duty, but with the thought that they might make some easy money.

Once the situation became dire, their hearts changed.

Of course…

There were those among them who were not ordinary people.

“The middle looks good.”

“Pardon? Company Commander?”

“What did you just…?”

“Go!”

Bwaaaaang!

With the sound of powerful wingbeats, an Armored Transport Plane took flight.

Kwaaaang!

The transport plane used its horn to blast a massive hole in the center of the monster swarm and landed right there.

“Kweeeeeek!”

Then, Assault Cannons and soldiers of the Volunteer Knights began pouring out of the transport.

Tatatatat-

The Volunteer Knights’ assault squad began clearing the vicinity in an instant. Even after that, they continuously moved across the battlefield, putting out urgent fires.

“Over there next!”

They were being pushed so hard that it wouldn’t have been strange for them to feel dissatisfied with Choi Yongjin, but he was pushing himself harder than anyone else.

Whish- papapapabang!

A One-Horned Dragon soared into the air several times, only to slam back down to the ground with a powerful shockwave.

Kwaaaang!

Whether in the air or on the ground, Choi Yongjin stood at the forefront, fighting and commanding the battle.

“Should I call this doing things by the book?”

“Seriously… I really can’t keep up with that Company Commander.”

In the end, everyone had no choice but to concede. Meanwhile, Choi Yongjin wasn’t the only one showing a level of combat far beyond that of ordinary people.

If Choi Yongjin was in charge of the south of the territory, Yoon Sanghoon was in charge of the south toward the Jamsil area of Gangnam.

“Are you really handling the support for our side alone?”

They had heard the rumors, but…

Seeing Yoon Sanghoon, who looked like a model student, the people around him kept questioning him, feeling somewhat unconvinced.

“Yes… I am sufficient on my own.”

Yoon Sanghoon answered their questions diligently, though he seemed annoyed.

“Even so… won’t it be a bit difficult?”

“It’s not difficult. Look, here they come.”

However, the atmosphere flipped the moment the battle began.

Kwaang! Kwaaaang!

With every punch, holes were ripped through the enemy formation.

Although he couldn’t cover as wide an area as Choi Yongjin’s Volunteer Knights, who specialized in mobility, he fulfilled his role perfectly within his assigned sector.

Naturally, the gaze of the people witnessing Yoon Sanghoon’s combat changed.

“W-what is that?”

“A human? One person?”

“No way…”

But Yoon Sanghoon’s area wasn’t the only place where people watched a single person’s power with astonishment.

Sua, who was solely in charge of the north, was receiving similar looks.

“They are also descending toward Jamsil Bridge.”

“Got it.”

Sua, moving quickly in a sports car she had acquired from somewhere on the Olympic Expressway… took action immediately after a brief response to the report.

Bwaaaaang!

The engine roared loudly.

Since she had cleared the road in advance, there was no danger.

Arriving at Jamsil Bridge in an instant, Sua—

Hwaaaaak!

Immediately drew upon her mana to pull up the freezing waters of the Han River.

The water became a massive wave, crashing over the bridge.

Paaaaang!

But that wasn’t all.

Charrrr- kiiing-!

With a loud resonating sound, the wave froze instantly on the bridge, becoming a massive wall.

“Wow…”

“Seriously… how can she do that…?”

By using a new Artifact she had obtained when raiding the Underground City in the past, she had evolved from a simple Water Ability User into one who could use ice. Sua had been steadily studying the patterns of how that Artifact manifested mana.

Thanks to that, she could freeze vast amounts of water in an instant. Furthermore, if it was a small amount, she could do it even without the Artifact.

Her ability had evolved.

Based on that power, she zipped back and forth across the Olympic Expressway in her sports car, creating waves to sweep away enemies crossing the bridges and using ice to make it difficult for subsequent forces to enter.

Since there weren’t many intact bridges left to begin with—intended to isolate the Looters—Sua was able to defend the Han River bridges against the monsters without much trouble.

However… it wasn’t just monsters crossing the bridges.

Clank!

Teeooong!

Paaaang!

Along with artillery barrages, tanks began crossing Jamsugyo Bridge.

It was the Marauder Alliance from Gangbuk.

* * *

The Looters also knew to some extent about the existence of the Defense Battle.

No matter how much control Apoin exercised through Seoyeon and others, it would have been stranger if information about such a massive event hadn’t leaked as their influence grew.

Especially considering that the Looters had ways to acquire remote information, such as the Clairvoyance ability.

They saw the Defense Battle as an opportunity.

To begin with, their only direction for expansion was south.

It wasn’t as if they had any intention of fighting the monsters in North Korea. They wanted to easily loot supplies from humans; they had no desire to fight monsters.

However, Siwoo was positioned in the southwest and Gwak Sangyong in the southeast, completely blocking the routes to the south.

Thus, they could only view them as thorns in their side.

In the end, they had tried to play them against each other, inciting them to fight. But not only was it useless, the two had actually teamed up…

Their hope of expanding south seemed to vanish.

Then, they heard the news of the Defense Battle.

Stories that monsters were swarming from all directions.

Since they would have been slaughtered by the monsters if they stayed put anyway, they saw this as their last chance to push south.

And they possessed tanks they had acquired by winning over the armored divisions at the front. Among them, their greatest asset was undoubtedly…

The K-2 Black Panther.

The National Army’s state-of-the-art tank.

* * *

Water is heavy. A wave, being the movement of that mass, could flatten cars on its own.

Hwaaaaak!

Paaaang!

A wave was pulled up.

Kwaaaang!

But this time, it wasn’t of much use. The K-2 Black Panther was designed to ford waters up to about 4 meters deep.

In her desperation, she had erected an ice wall, but…

It was useless.

Paaaang! Kwaaaang! Kururung!

It was thanks to the powerful destructive force of the tank’s main gun.

After that, the tank simply rolled its continuous tracks, crushing the ice chunks and moving forward.

‘At this rate, they’ll break through!’

Sua quickly thought of another way.

‘Should I collapse the bridge?’

But that wasn’t an easy option either. Jamsugyo was a bridge built with wartime scenarios in mind.

There was the Banpo Bridge acting as a ceiling to block artillery, and the bridge piers were thick and densely packed.

It was that sturdy, and repairs were easy.

Of course, it wasn’t a very high bridge, but since it was winter and not the summer monsoon season when water levels rise sharply, there was a limit to the amount of water Sua could use.

While she was agonizing…

The tanks continued their charge.

* * *

“Siwoo, do I really not have to go?”

“Yeah. Wait here.”

Minju was fidgeting anxiously.

“Still, wouldn’t it be better to at least transport the wounded?”

I calmly continued to soothe her. But since Minju knew the situation at the front was worsening, she couldn’t hide her impatience.

Of course, I understood her feelings.

I was in charge of the eastern front, where the resistance was strongest in this battle. Despite having the Aerial Mothership and a significant number of ground troops, we were barely maintaining the status quo, let alone pushing forward.

And that was only possible because it was me; in other areas, the situation was getting worse as time went on.

Because there was a limit to the mana of Ability Users, humans were at a disadvantage the longer the battle dragged on.

But… her role had already been decided.

“No, waiting is your job.”

Minju looked like she was about to cry.

Her expression finally cleared…

Cheoooong- clank! Kwaaaang!

When the summoning of the first [Colossus] was completed.

“S-Siwoo? What is that?”

It happened just as the tanks began charging across Jamsugyo.

“Now, moving that is your job.”

I grinned.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sua’s face was dark.

She felt devastated, believing she could do nothing but watch the Looters’ charge across Jamsugyo.

“Everyone get ready. Concentrate firepower!”

But she couldn’t just stand by and watch.

She was doing her best to stop them.

“A-against tanks?”

“It’s been useless so far…”

The problem was the people she was leading.

Setting aside their abilities, those whose hearts weren’t as strong as hers already seemed to want to run away.

“We still have to try…”

Just as Sua clenched her fist.

Swaaaa- paaat!

“M-Minju unnie?”

Minju appeared.

Beside her… was something massive.

It was too large to be called armor. It was incredibly huge, thick, heavy… and hard.

It was, quite literally, a mass of Adamantite.

Kuung- kuung!

The giant figure approached the tank with a speed that belied its size, and then—

Clank!

As if flipping over a dining table…

Hwaaaaak!

It flipped the tank over, sending it crashing off the bridge.

Kwaaaang- poondeooong!

The 56-ton weight hit the water’s surface with a thunderous roar.

Everyone was naturally shocked.

“W-what kind of strength is that!”

“He just… flipped that heavy thing like it was nothing…”

The strength was so immense that the floor of Jamsugyo couldn’t withstand the force of the flip and cracked… leaving two massive footprints embedded in the ground.

The Looters began to scream upon seeing the monster.

“Dammit! Fire!”

Kwaaaaang!

The tank’s 120mm Smoothbore Cannon fired from point-blank range.

Taaaaang-

But it was useless.

As if blocking the sun, the Colossus casually caught the artillery shell with one hand, then approached again to perform another flip.

Hwaaaaak! Pundeoooong!

“My god…”

While everyone was in shock.

Brrrr-

Minju’s cellphone rang.

Siwoo had contacted her via Apoin.

[Minju, if you’ve moved that one, come back quickly and move this next. Another Colossus has finished production.]

One was only the beginning.