Chapter 62: To the Snowfield (7)
Sa-hyeok asked.
“Method? What method?”
[That…… I don’t know if it will work, but I have an idea! I’ll hang up for now!]
Click.
After cutting off the communication with Sa-hyeok, Bang-ul-i went outside the bag on the drone.
What was laid out in front of Bang-ul-i was……
[What were these called again? Were they called Silver Boxes?]
Three snowmobiles were scattered and abandoned on the snow.
Their official name is
A multi-purpose raid support equipment that can be transformed into various equipment through transformation and combination gimmicks, divided into a total of fifteen parts.
Because it was such a chaotic battle, none of the raid members could pay attention to the Silver Boxes.
[These pieces of equipment probably…… had transformation and combination gimmicks, right?]
Whirr-
Bang-ul-i accessed the internal circuits of the Silver Boxes.
[Now…… what do I do with these? First, I’ll attach this here, detach these, no, rearrange them here……]
Clang, Clang-
The three snowmobiles were separated into fifteen Silver Boxes.
Bang-ul-i started to deploy and assemble them at will.
══════════════════
Whoosh-
The trees burn.
The air heats up, the heat suffocates, and the snow that covered the ground melts into water.
And the Snowmen surrounding the raid party from the front and back.
They didn’t approach easily because of the fire, but they didn’t back down either.
The Snowmen didn’t release the siege.
As if waiting for the raid party to wither away in this fire.
If they stayed here any longer, it would only be a wipe for the raid party.
‘We have to break through.’
There’s hope if they can break through this siege.
But where and how should they break through……
“Here!!”
The tankers shouted.
They found a passage where the flames were relatively low.
“Here!”
“Escape!!”
The raid members started to flock towards the passage.
But they overlooked something.
If it was easy for the raid members to enter, it was the same for the Snowmen.
“Kuwaaaang!”
“D*mn it……!”
The Snowmen who were surrounding them from the outside also started to flock to the passage.
“Attack!”
“K*ll them all!!”
In the alley with the fire as a wall, the resistance began.
Heated blades, castings spewed out like blood.
And the Snowmen, rushing in as if they had thrown their lives away, confronting those Hunters.
At that moment, when a b*oody storm was about to rage.
Thump.
A heavy resonance that shook the ground.
Regardless of whether they were Hunters or Snowmen, everyone’s gaze turned to where the sound came from.
Just like that, the battle stopped.
Thump, Thump, Thump.
The sound getting closer and closer.
The Hunters’ anxiety grew.
“Is it another Large Snowman……?!”
But the Snowmen’s reaction was also strange.
To their ears, this was definitely not the sound of their brethren’s footsteps.
The sound, whose identity could not be determined, was now approaching.
And finally, ‘it’ popped out.
Crash!!
[I’m here!!]
What appeared through the blazing flames and thick smoke was a giant silver bipedal robot.
A robot with two arms and two legs like a human, controlled by Bang-ul-i.
A scene that was seriously surreal.
Looking at the giant robot, Ui-jun muttered.
“What is that……?!”
[What else could it be! It’s the three-stage combined Kim Bang-ul-nim!!]
Of course, Ui-jun couldn’t hear Bang-ul-i’s voice.
Instead, Ui-jun examined the giant robot from head to toe.
The surface shining silver and the extremely complex driving parts.
Ui-jun muttered in disbelief.
“Is that…… a Silver Box……?!”
Ui-jun quickly recalled the functions loaded in the Silver Box.
Temporary shelter, alarm device, terrain scanner, snowmobile……
“……But the Silver Box didn’t have a function like a bipedal combat robot?!”
[A robot! It’s romantic!]
Thump, thump, thump, thump!!
The silver giant robot controlled by Bang-ul-i started to rush towards the Snowmen.
The Snowmen were instantly gripped by fear.
The reason they had been fearlessly sacrificing themselves and attacking the Hunters so far was because they were confident that they could defeat humans.
But against that silver giant, they weren’t so sure.
Something twice the size of their Large type was rushing at them, shaking the ground.
The overwhelming difference in size and the unfamiliar metallic driving sound.
The Snowmen’s animal instincts sounded the siren of danger.
And Bang-ul-i didn’t miss that opportunity.
[Get lost, you bastards!!]
Whoosh!
Bang-ul-i swung the robot’s arm wide.
Crash!!
Dozens of burning trees broke and fell.
The Snowmen’s ranks instantly collapsed, and some of them started to flee the battle.
And the Hunters, realizing that this robot was on their side, started cheering.
“Yes!!”
“Our robot is doing great!!”
“Sweep them all away!!”
The more Bang-ul-i ran wild, the louder the Hunters’ cheers became.
They too had grown up watching cartoons with all sorts of robots.
In front of these people, Bang-ul-i shouted excitedly.
[Yes, cheer more! Worship me!!]
Bang-ul-i’s tension soared endlessly.
[Worship! Admiration! Faith!! Yes, this is it!!]
Of course, the raid members weren’t just cheering.
They quickly reorganized their ranks, tended to the wounded, and searched for an escape route.
Thanks to Bang-ul-i’s improvisation, which made full use of his hacking ability, and the raid members who didn’t miss the opportunity, the crisis was quickly resolved.
Or so they thought.
The problem started when Bang-ul-i’s robot, which had been chasing away the Snowmen with threats, started hitting the Snowmen themselves.
Whack!
The robot’s heavy punch landed on a Snowman.
A punch with monstrous power that broke trees and plowed the ground.
But……
Drip.
Despite being hit by that, all that happened was a nosebleed from the Snowman.
[Huh.]
Damage was dealt.
It was ridiculously small damage, but it was damage nonetheless.
It was a surprising thing.
Originally, the only beings that could harm monsters were Hunters.
But a being that wasn’t a Hunter had actually injured a monster.
But that wasn’t important right now.
“Kruk……?”
“Kruk!”
“Kwaaang!”
The Snowmen were no longer afraid of Bang-ul-i.
They were monsters with exceptionally good learning abilities.
After realizing that being hit by that giant hunk of metal only resulted in a nosebleed, they realized there was no reason to be afraid.
They started to attack the robot without hesitation.
“Kwaaang!”
“Kiheeek!!”
Bang!
Crack!
The Snowmen started beating the robot indiscriminately.
Hydraulic pipes burst and circuits broke.
Thud!
Soon the robot knelt on one knee.
Unable to withstand the accumulated impact, the robot’s left knee stopped functioning.
[Oh, d*mn……! Hyung-nim, I can’t fight anymore……!]
At that moment, when the raid party’s defeat seemed inevitable.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, thick smoke covered the battlefield.
Thick, acrid smoke that made it impossible to see even an inch ahead.
The battle was momentarily paused.
Because they couldn’t see anything.
Both the Snowmen and the raid members couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
“What is it? An avalanche?!”
“D*mn it, is a blizzard coming?!”
“D*mn it, we’re all dead……!”
Despairing sighs erupted from the raid members.
They were already on the verge of death because of the Snowmen, and the thought of a disaster on top of that made their vision go black.
But only two quickly calmed their panic and began to analyze the situation calmly.
Bang-ul-i and the raid leader, Ui-jun.
Bang-ul-i and Ui-jun carefully examined the incoming smoke.
It wasn’t the dry smoke from burning trees.
This is……
“It’s fog.”
[It’s fog?!]
Fog, a phenomenon where condensed water vapor obscures vision.
In other words, the components of the incoming smoke were water, not soot.
“But why did the fog suddenly appear?”
[Could it be……?]
At that moment.
Swish!
Slice!
Two Snowmen who were standing blankly in the fog had their necks instantly sliced off.
Bang-ul-i and Ui-jun felt a faint presence beyond the thick fog.
“Could it be……?!”
[Hyung-nim?]
A faint hope tinged their voices.
══════════════════
3 minutes ago.
Whoosh-
Screech!
Sa-hyeok stopped, leaving a long skid mark on the ground.
He arrived near the target location, where the raid members were.
At first, he ran while looking at the location information Bang-ul-i sent on his phone, but after a while, he just ran.
Suddenly, smoke billowed from the target location, so he just had to run towards it.
Indeed, when he arrived, trees were burning.
The heat was all around, and because of it, the thick snow had melted, turning the ground into a muddy mess.
“What the, why did they start a fire?”
Did they set it on fire with the intention of dying together?
Or was it just a mistake?
Either way, Sa-hyeok had one thing to do right now.
Put out the fire.
Sa-hyeok looked around to see if there was anything he could use to extinguish the fire.
Then.
Splash.
The muddy sensation felt under his feet.
The snow that had melted due to the heat had mixed with the soil, turning it into a thin mud.
Sa-hyeok reached out his hand towards the ground and muttered.
“This will do.”
Gulp-
Whoosh-
Following Sa-hyeok’s hand, the thin mud began to rise into the air.
The brown fluid dripping and flowing everywhere.
Sa-hyeok recalled the teachings he received from the Water Stream Sorcerer at the Sokcho hotel.
‘Let it flow.’
The way to handle fluids is different from the way to handle solids.
Solids can be left still, but fluids must be kept flowing to maintain their shape.
Sa-hyeok swung his hand wide.
Whoosh……
Like a giant snake uncoiling, the mud surged into the air.
And Sa-hyeok recalled one more thing.
The sharp sense he felt during the aerial battle with the Snow Black Eagles, the ability to read the flow of air currents.
Create the flow, read the flow, and thus control the flow.
Whoosh!
The unstable, twitching flow of mud in the air was soon neatly organized.
Only after reaching this point did Sa-hyeok finally turn his gaze to the target.
Towards the tree that was burning and dying.
Sa-hyeok manipulated the floating mud to wrap around the tree.
Slap!
Sizzle!
As soon as the mud covered it, the fire was extinguished.
But in reaction, a tremendous amount of steam erupted.
The steam generated from the heat of the fire meeting the moisture of the mud.
The fog created this way obscured Sa-hyeok’s vision, but it didn’t matter.
He could see everything with his telekinetic detection anyway.
Sa-hyeok began to extinguish the fires on the other trees by manipulating the mud.
Crackle!!
Sizzle!!
The fires extinguished without resistance, the fog erupted fiercely.
The area was quickly covered in thick fog.
The fog soon spread to the battlefield where the raid members and Snowmen were fighting.
Some were bewildered by the sudden fog, some were terrified, and some analyzed the situation calmly.
But no matter what their reaction was, they couldn’t move.
Because they couldn’t see anything.
In that frozen space where everyone was stopped.
Step.
Only Sa-hyeok started to move.
Woosh!
First, he identified the locations of the Snowmen and the raid members with his telekinetic detection.
Then he launched all four Mubuchamdo into the air.
It was time for a massacre.
Swish!
Slice!
Two Snowmen who were standing blankly in the fog had their necks instantly sliced off.
[Hyung-nim!]
Sa-hyeok turned his head towards where Bang-ul-i’s voice came from.
The mangled giant robot and Bang-ul-i’s drone attached to its back.
Sa-hyeok said.
“Good work. I’ll take care of it from here.”
Sweep.
Sa-hyeok swept his fingertip horizontally in the air.
Whoosh!
The Mubuchamdo flew horizontally, piercing and passing through the Snowmen.
The Snowman’s blood splattered everywhere.
Smelling the blood of their comrades, the Snowmen began to waver.
Blocked vision, comrades dying for unknown reasons.
An indescribable fear gripped them.
“Kuh……?!”
“Kwang!!”
The Snowmen soon began to flee.
Since they couldn’t see, they started running blindly in all directions.
But Sa-hyeok didn’t let them scatter like that.
Crack-
Thud!!
A giant tree that had burned to death suddenly collapsed, blocking the Snowmen’s escape route.
“Where do you think you’re going? You have to d*e first.”
Swish!
Slash!!
The Mubuchamdo flew wildly in the air, skewering and killing the Snowmen.
Those who were lucky enough to approach Sa-hyeok had their heads crushed by his fists.
How much time had passed like that?
The fog gradually cleared, revealing what was hidden within.
The raid members couldn’t help but be astonished.
Amidst the piles of Snowman corpses, Sa-hyeok stood.
