Chapter 418. A Step Towards Desolation (5)

— Zone 183! The barrier has been pierced!

— A human has come through the hole! He is currently on the move!

-Diiririk!-

-Dirrring!-

Countless panels appeared in the air.

Of course, no one had expected the barrier to be pierced, and a grim expression fell on K-Adelaia Ron’s face.

‘… Pompeion, you were hiding such a terrifying weapon?’

K-Adelaia Ron’s eyelids twitched as she looked at the weapon that had made the hole in the giant barrier. She could not understand.

‘Why did he only use that now?’

If he had used it when the three clan heads had been sitting in the capital, it would’ve ended in a moment. No matter how strong they were, they could not withstand something that could pierce the barrier itself. No, even if that thing had been aimed at the ships: one shot, one fleet.

Since he had attacked three times, he could’ve erased three fleets. That would’ve been more than enough to screw the balance of power. Why was he holding onto such a thing?

However, K-Adelaia Ron realized that this wasn’t the time for her to worry about it.

-Tiriring!-

— You saw, right? We need a solution!

— Damn! Adelaia! What is that? Does the Ron family know anything about it?

K-Merrow Nell’s and K-Ukatan’s frozen expressions appeared before K-Adelaia Ron’s face.

Such might…

Adelaia calmed Ukatan down,

“Calm down. It doesn’t look like that can impact us directly.”

She said while looking at the various reports that had come her way on the giant cannon that had stood beneath Pompeion.

The picture of the cannon that they had been taken by a satellite was showing had it had melted down, and white smoke was rising from the remaining parts, meaning that it would be impossible to fire it again.

Three shots had caused that.

Shooting again was not possible, and even if it were, it wouldn’t cause much harm to them who were inside the barrier.

With a relieved smile, Ukatan Pael said,

— Is that so? Phew! Good. What are my boys doing not even gathering intel properly? Hmph!

‘That’s because you favor the military like the dull person you are.’

By filling the entire upper hierarchy with military personnel, it was obvious that his clan lacked intelligence gathering capabilities. However, that was also the reason why the Pael family had the strongest might of the three families.

It was a good thing that they had a weakness since they could become enemies at any moment. The real issue was what they currently had to deal with.

Though she had told Ukatan Pael that there wasn’t much of a problem, her actual thinking was slightly different.

Would Pompeion have thought that the weapon he had prepared would fail at breaking through the barrier? She didn’t think so, which meant that Pompeion had deduced that the small hole he had created would be more than enough.

‘That guy that came in through the hole.’

There was something about him.

As if thinking similarly, K-Merrow Nell spoke through the panel,

— Pompeion wouldn’t do such a meaningless thing. We need to move out as well. Let’s go and take down that guy who came in through the hole.

They didn’t know who had come in through the hole, but the combined forces of the three of them should more than be enough.

— No. What if we use them instead? After the construction ended, they just felt like freeloaders. Humans should deal with each other. Send Samuel and Mihee.

— Hmm, that’s not a bad idea.

K-Adelaia Ron nodded at K-Merrow Nell’s and K-Ukatan Pael’s words.

It wasn’t a bad idea, but when K-Adelaia Ron was about to respond, an urgent report was sent her way.

— Matriarch! The eleventh and the fortieth towers are being attacked!

“What? By whom?”

‘… Did Pompeion prepare something else as well?’

If so, things would really become a problem. If the towers got destroyed and the barrier fell, the giant cannon Pompeion had created would easily erase the capital.

As K-Adelaia Ron hurriedly told the Technorat to elaborate on the report, the Technorat clenched their teeth and sent a video.

Then, K-Adelaia Ron’s expression froze.

“… Samuel. Mihee.”

‘Why are they there?’

But the shock only lasted a moment.

“Bastards! How could you have not known this until they were already there?! What the hell were you doing this whole time?!”

K-Adelaia Ron’s rage-filled voice filled up the room.

***

-Kiiririririk!-

— I erased as much as I could. Hurry. We need to deal with it while the situation outside is chaotic.

Samuel nodded at Metionel’s words.

The timing of Pompeion’s attack was truly god-sent. The attention of the Neropa Union had been split, giving him their best opportunity to act. As Samuel’s hands darkened, a large amount of mana started to swirl around them.

-Booooom!-

The earth rose up in spikes and smashed onto the tower. The dark spikes rose up from all directions in order to destroy the tower.

Though the tower shone brightly in order to resist it, it was a futile struggle.

-Kakakaka!-

-Crunch!-

The endless attacks slowly ate away at the tower.

‘I need to destroy it quickly and move!’

As Samuel focused…

-Oooooong!-

… A familiar sound, which he dreaded most in the current situation, could be heard from behind him, the sound of the photon transmission.

‘Damn!’

As Samuel quickly moved to the side…

Boooom!

… A giant fireball rushed past the spot Samuel had been standing on.

-Sssss!-

Due to his concentration being disturbed, the various dark spikes that had been attacking the tower fell back to the earth, while the bright light around the tower quickly stabilized.

‘Damn!’

Samuel scowled and turned around as a rage-filled face came into view.

“You… You traitor! What the hell are you doing in such an important moment?!”

Samuel spat at Ukatan Pael’s angered voice,

“What do you mean by traitor? You betrayed us first!”

‘This isn’t so bad.’

The worst situation that Samuel had thought of was having all three of them go there. If that had been the case, even if Mihee succeeded in destroying her tower, he would’ve longed burned to a crisp.

This was a gamble, and of course, he had his own questions.

‘… Wait. There are two of us, so they should have send two here and still have some power left, no?’

The situation he had thought of next was that while one clan head bought time with one adversary, the other two went to kill the other. Since only one had shown up against him, did that mean that two had gone after Mihee?

Ukatan Pael growled as he spoke,

“Cockroaches! It seems you guys really do care about your own kind, huh? To come over the wall to help…”

“…?”

However, before Samuel could respond, Ukatan Pael blazed on fire and shouted. It wasn’t that only one had come after him. One would be enough.

-Boooooom!-

The tremendous power that had been further amplified by the Flame’s Blessing rushed toward Samuel.

***

“Damn! Why aren’t you responding? HQ! HQ!”

R-Gregorian Nell continued to cry and shout as he stared at the moving mountain. As its movements became larger, the sound coming from within it became louder as well.

Why wasn’t HQ responding?

‘Dammit! Why did they tell me to watch over this in the first place, then?!’

At that moment…

“Woah. Woah. Woah! Chill man! I’ve blocked it all.”

“…!”

As R-Gregorian Nell turned around in shock…

-Boooom!-

… A giant bloody axe rose toward him.

“Damn!”

-Whooosh!-

R-Gregorian Nell quickly activated the power of the Flame inside his body.

“Woah, there.”

-Boooom!-

John Stone grabbed the axe that had returned to his hand and said with a frown,

“I told you I can handle it alone.”

“Huh?”

As R-Gregorian Nell responded…

-Pushuk!-

“Kuhuuuk…”

… He groaned as his body got pierced from behind.

“Guhukk…”

R-Gregorian Nell’s head dropped as he heard Kiriel’s voice and fell to the ground.

-Thud!-

“Haa…”

“I told you I didn’t need help.”

“He might’ve run away.”

‘If the clan heads found out, it would’ve become a real issue. Anyway, is he coming out?’

-Thump! Thump!-

Kiriel mumbled at the giant mountain that now resembled a beating heart. The beats coming from it seemed to indicate that something was going to be birthed from it.

If Mihee and Samuel hadn’t distracted the clan heads… No. If Pompeion hadn’t attacked then the clan heads, they would’ve felt this quake.

-Kaaadadak!-

A hand pierced through the top of the mountain.

“He’s out…”

“Woah! He’s out!”

“…”

As Kiriel frowned at the overly excited John Stone, John quickly realized his actions and piped down.

“I mean… I’m just saying, you know?”

‘Thank the heavens.’

John Stone sighed with relief.

‘Samuel, you lucky bastard. You might get to live.’

Though they had split due to their conflicting opinions, he was still worried. The memories he had of himself and Samuel slowly rose from within him, the days when Samuel had rescued him and they had fought with their backs against each other, but it was all fixed now.

That aura. Since he had come out, everything would be fixed.

John Stone tapped Kiriel and said,

“Come on. Let’s hurry and go up.”

“… I was going to anyway.”

Kiriel and John Stone quickly moved to the top of the mountain, and before their eyes, Hansoo, who was looking around while kneeling, could be seen.

John Stone shouted toward Hansoo. He was in a hurry.

“Hey! Let’s move! We don’t have much time! Things have turned terrible while you were asleep!”

Then…

“…”

… Hansoo heard John Stone’s shout and asked,

“Who are you?”

Kiriel’s expression froze at that moment.