novelPioneering Africa (3)
| ← Ch.084 | Ch.086 → |
"R is on the wyvern."
"Is she a wyvern rider?"
"No matter how I look at it, it's SS-rank or higher."
Eleanor tried to ignore the whispers around her.
"What do you think?"
"It's okay. Stretch out the spear. Alright, Hell. You can get a rough feeling of it, too, right?"
-Quoooh!
Hell cried out vigorously. It was evident that he was completely obedient to Kang Shin-hyuk as he didn't rebel even when another human rode his back.
"Then, I'll fight from the skies from now on."
"Please take care, R."
When Kang Shin-hyuk put out his fist, Eleanor carefully bumped it with her own.
-Fox!
'Didn't I start it?'
Eleanor soared into the sky atop Hell with a group of spike wyverns obediently flying behind her. The superhumans looked at it and thought that the wyverns alone had increased this expedition's chance of success by more than 10%.
"To treat not only death but also living things like that..."
"Life and Death Puppeteer... there's no end to the surprises. It won't be strange if his ranking rose right away."
"He tamed five SS-rank monsters, after all."
"We're entering the port of Casablanca soon! Everyone prepare!"
While Kang Shin-hyuk wondered if he had acquired a new title, the port of Casablanca had finally drawn close enough to see. At that very moment, he felt like something thin was tearing around him.
"... This."
"Barrier."
Shin Eunah spoke up quietly. Perhaps she knew already, but what was the significance of a barrier that couldn't prevent intruders? The answer was immediately revealed.
"Oh my..."
"What is this? Before... it wasn't..."
Casablanca, a port city in Morocco, had been the commercial center of Morocco. Until the fall of Africa, it was a modern city with developed buildings and large corporations from all over the world. As they approached, that information was still similar. Of course, many buildings had been destroyed, but there was still traces of civilization. However...
"It's a jungle."
Kang Shin-hyuk nodded in agreement. Everything had changed upon entering the barrier. There were no buildings or any traces of civilization and, of course, no docks for their ships to anchor at. Moreover, groups of monsters flocked to where the pier had been in the past to stare at their ships.
"I couldn't tell you."
"Damn, I was fooled by the barrier. It was hiding all of this."
The barrier didn't just work on human eyes; it also deceived the satellites the humans used. Its ultimate purpose was to raise the overall level of the monsters inside the continent by containing the magic power of the entire continent circulating only within it. In other words, it made the entire African continent into a different world.
"Kh..."
"No, what mana density!"
As they grew closer to landfall, the superhumans of B-rank or lower began to suffer from the heavy mana. Rather, the mercenaries who had no mana at all seemed fine, but Lee Jinseok's group, who had just awakened, were working hard to hide the fact that they were suffering. On the other hand, the high-ranking superhumans felt their magical power resonate with the dark mana and suddenly felt full of energy.
"Wow, I feel like I can fly."
"Only this much."
"Don't you think you've gotten a lot stronger?"
"The enemy gets stronger the same as we do."
Kang Shin-hyuk nodded at Shin Eunah's calm words. He had realized it in the dimensional quest. In a world with high magic power, the level of monsters that were born would be high. Since Kang Shin-hyuk didn't deal with magic and wasn't affected by it, it didn't really matter to him.
-So, it can be said that you have the appropriate skills to complete the dimensional quest. Of course, this is no exception...
'I know, so calm down. '
It was impossible for them to anchor as it was. They could only barely anchor the ships after they somehow pushed back the monsters that had flocked to the shore.
"Let's destroy them with magic."
"Try it first."
"Thunder, thunder!"
Shin Eunah's help was indispensable when it came to attacking the enemy with magic. She wore an annoyed expression as she joined those who came to call her. It was truly spectacular to see all those high-rankers gather together and chant magic together in harmony, but Kang Shin-hyuk was focusing on something else.
"How is it, senior?"
-We talked about it earlier.
"I'm afraid someone will hear it."
-I'm not afraid of anyone listening now, so I think you can call me Eli.
Kang Shin-hyuk listened to the voice coming through the comm device and looked coldly up towards Eleanor, who was floating somewhere in the sky. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to notice.
-I've been thinking about it, but the honorifics seem weird when I'm only one year older. It's strange that Korea has honorifics.
"The scale has grown. But if I start doing that with my senior, Na-hee will make a fuss again."
-Okay. I must speak about it with Na-hee.
Eleanor's communication skills seemed to improve when she wasn't talking to someone face to face. Kang Shin-hyuk had been wary of getting too close to her. However, when she graduated, they would probably continue to work as Masked Bacchus together...
"Then, Eli? Is that fine?"
-Good... !
-No!
The administrator overreacted, as usual.
"So, Eli, how's the sky?"
-I think the battle will start soon, but we can win. Hell looks confident.
He was the strongest among the wyverns in the sky, and he had reached the SSS-rank after bowing to Kang Shin-hyuk. What was even more surprising was that Hell had the potential to go even further. The golden streaks flowing through his body was proof of it.
"He doesn't seem to care?"
-Yes. The other wyverns seem to be strengthened as well.
"You understand them quite well. Is it because you're the proud head of the Wyvern Knights?"
-Right. I'll show you why I'm the captain of the Wyvern Knights.
Kang Shin-hyuk smiled and turned his eyes forward. The magic that the superhumans, led by Shin Eunah, was bombarding the monsters along the shore alongside other long-range attacks.
-Waaaah!
The magic baptism, which seemed enough to wipe out the entire area, could not proceed further and exploded in the middle as if a transparent curtain intercepted it. Only the lightning that Shin Eunah threw broke through the shield, wiping out nearly a third of the monsters beyond it. It was a shocking result, but more monsters quickly pushed in from the back to restore their ranks.
"No, I thought it would be okay if I took the lead and broke it."
There was a reason Shin Eunah launched her magic first. She sensed the barriers unfolding there in advance and tried to break through them to open the way for the others. However, Shin Eunah had punched through, creating a narrow path, but all the other magic attacks had been blocked.
"Damn, there are a few layers of barriers!"
That was the world's No. 1, who was specialized in defense magic but not very good at attacking. That wasn't something to be ashamed of, however.
"Thunder, can't you destroy that barrier?"
"Yes, but by that time, the monsters will already be on this ship."
The person who received Shin Eunah's cold response ground their teeth.
"But if this happens, the ship can't enter..."
"Don't speak nonsense. Now, are we going to head back just because there's no place to dock?"
"We may be able to go in, but to get out, we have to destroy that barrier."
"Then what the hell would you do? Use lightning to deal with all those monsters?"
"What would you do then? Send only melee fighters first? Drop them in the middle of that hell?"
There was a lot of noise coming from everywhere. At the same time, the wyverns led by Eleanor were engaging the aerial monsters flying out from the interior of Africa. Those who realized it was reassured that they had strong allies in the sky, but they continued to groan because they couldn't overcome the situation.
'Can I help?'
Had Shin Eunah told him that there was a barrier, he could've helped a little earlier to stop them from wasting mana.
"Where is it?"
It was often a benefit not to be influenced by mana, but it wasn't in this case. Kang Shin-hyuk produced the pistol Erebos and lifted it, loading a 'secret bullet' he had prepared.
'In this case, it would be worthwhile to drink the Transcendence potion. '
He had drunk one to face off against Oh Joo-young before, but since Shin Eunah appeared, it had been a waste. Kang Shin-hyuk filled each of his orbs with his spiritual power and Golden Dragon Fighter instead of using the energy of the potion. Now, the bullet created by the Dark Spirit Pearl and the Great Heavenly Spirit were loaded into Erebos.
'It'll be embarrassing if it doesn't work, so let's do it secretly. '
While everyone else was confused by the magical barriers covering the African continent, Kang Shin-hyuk quietly signaled to Shin Eunah and then fired his pistol. The moment the bullets touched the barrier, having gone through the shadows cast over the sea, black ripples appeared around it, revealing it.
"What?"
"The Puppeteer shot the barrier!"
"Wait a minute, is that the barrier... ?"
Soon, the expected result occurred. The barrier was melting away due to the encroaching effect within the bullets. That alone wouldn't be enough, but the soul poison contained in them made it possible. There was no way it couldn't melt away a magical barrier.
"The Puppeteer is... !"
"Now!"
"Attack!"
Everyone fired off their magic as quickly as they could, afraid that the barrier might appear again. Of course, Shin Eunah, having received the signal from Kang Shin-hyuk in advance, drew all her magical powers to the limit to destroy the coast. The monsters tried to defend themselves, screaming terribly and breathing fire and acid, but they couldn't resist the magic.
'The barrier... okay, it looks like it can't recover. '
The barriers that had been melted away couldn't easily be restored. Rather, due to the soul poison spreading through the barrier, it broke through it at an even faster rate as it exhausted the barrier's magic.
"You, you..."
Jang Jin-myeong, who worked with the power of darkness, approached him after roughly guessing what he had just done.
"What the hell are you using? Is that a pistol? I'll ask, can't you let me see that pistol for a second?"
"I'm sorry, but this belongs to me."
"Ah... !"
Moreover, the core of the ability was created with his soul poison, so even if Jang Jin-myeong could use Erebos, it wouldn't produce such a result.
"Now, go! Capture the shore! The time has come for the superhumans of the EU to work!"
"The Zeus guild is following them!"
-Quaaaaaah!
Hell's roar echoed from the sky, informing them he had the upper hand in the battle.
"Without the Puppeteer, this expedition would've been impossible. He tamed the variant wyvern, and the barrier was lifted... what can't he do?"
"The Empress is also indispensable. Will Korea be the top-ranked?"
"Oh, Stone Ground suddenly started running!"
"I'm worried that he may overwhelm their goodwill..."
Many melee superhumans, including Stone Ground Nick Harland, ran forward, thinking they couldn't be left behind. Stone Ground, surprisingly, pulled the land of the shallow seabed up, creating an impromptu bridge for them.
"We can do it. America... Mankind is taking Africa back!"
"... Ah."
Shin Eunah sighed as she watched him raise a huge stone wall fortress to block the monsters.
Thus, humanity set foot in Africa again for the first time in decades.
| ← Ch. 084 | Ch. 086 → |