Ubermensch – Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Wooong…

The Portal Stone emitted light once more, revealing a single person.

It was a woman, clad not in her usual attire resembling formal wear, but in a healer’s combat uniform.

“…Yekaterina?”

Yekaterina frowned as she looked upon the Ghost Dragon rampaging atop the tower.

“My, my…”

The Ghost Dragon, seemingly annoyed, launched a few Soul Bullets. Yet, Yekaterina stood her ground, as if they weren’t even worth dodging, her bejeweled staff held firmly in both hands.

The moment the incoming Soul Bullets reached her vicinity:

-Aaaaaah…

Instead of a pained, ghostly wail, they emitted a sound of peaceful dissipation.

She hadn’t defended against them. She had erased them.

Realizing this, the Ghost Dragon glared at Yekaterina.

It recognized that she posed a greater threat than the raid team atop the tower.

“You chose the wrong place to be born, no, the wrong souls to absorb.”

In that instant, Yekaterina, still leaning on her staff, began chanting a spell.

“This place holds the most resilient souls in this entire country.”

Finishing the chant, Yekaterina spread her palm open.

“If I lend them a little, just a tiny bit of my strength…”

Squeeze.

Simultaneously with her clenching her fist:

Boom!

A massive explosion erupted from the Ghost Dragon’s abdomen.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

It was a spiritual explosion.

As if this explosion were a signal, the souls that were maintaining the Ghost Dragon’s form began to stir. A strong will began to infuse the mournful, ghostly wails, and the Ghost Dragon’s body was rapidly ensnared by chains of souls.

Yekaterina let out a cold sneer.

“How could they not protect their descendants?”

While the Ghost Dragon struggled, people unleashed magic and beams.

However, aside from its soul composition, the Ghost Dragon possessed a skeletal structure with a defense level comparable to a Lich.

The thrashing Ghost Dragon’s body seemed as if it could snap the delicate chains of souls at any moment.

It was at that very moment:

Amidst the blood and bone dust, a single person began to rise.

More laboriously than ever before, but with greater tenacity than ever before.

A man was rising to his feet.

“Cough…”

Even a simple cough brought forth a torrent of blood and viscera.

Yet, that didn’t matter.

There was an enemy before him.

His comrades were fighting.

Even the dead were fighting alongside them.

Therefore, he could not bend his knee.

“Ugh… Aaaaaaaaah!”

Mason mustered all his remaining strength and charged forward.

Thump, thump, thump, thump…

He clenched his fist and swung.

An action he had repeated countless times.

The only difference this time was:

The sheer resolve imbued within it!

“Shatter!”

Crash!

The instant Mason’s strike connected with the skeletal frame, his arm exploded from the inside out with a bang.

Crack.

A hairline fracture appeared on the Ghost Dragon’s brow bone. A fine crack, shorter than a finger joint.

However, Mason’s attack wasn’t over yet.

“As long as I can break this beast!”

He still had… his left arm.

“Let’s shatter together!”

Slam!

He struck the same spot in the same manner.

His left arm exploded as well.

But, this time, it was different.

Crack!

A long gash stretched across the entire face!

Without a doubt, Mason had now broken the Ghost Dragon’s bone.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

The Ghost Dragon, bound from head to toe, looked down at Mason. Mason, his arms blown apart, glared back at the Ghost Dragon.

Mason took a step forward, and his arms began to regenerate slowly.

His resolute gaze remained unchanged.

The Ghost Dragon roared right in front of Mason’s face.

Its malevolent glare remained unchanged.

The monster of death and the superhuman from another world stared each other down.

Measuring each other’s tenacity and bloodlust.

However, the standoff was short-lived.

Flash!

Whether resisting or submitting, all the souls composing the Ghost Dragon scattered in all directions.

It had abandoned the souls that had become uncontrollable.

The one who retreated from the confrontation was the Ghost Dragon.

The Ghost Dragon’s body began to slowly ascend.

“Are you running away?!”

To Mason’s roar, the Ghost Dragon growled softly.

As if to say it would never forget this humiliation…

Whoosh!

The Ghost Dragon disappeared into the distant sky.

Simultaneously, the fog that had blanketed the National Cemetery dissipated.

With its master gone, the instance dungeon state was being lifted.

Thud!

Mason’s body collapsed on the spot.

However, before he fell, a pair of hands caught him.

Thump.

It was Sung Kijun.

“Get up, Mason. A tanker doesn’t kneel before their comrades.”

“T-That’s harsh…”

“Didn’t you know? A tanker’s only a nobleman before the fight.”

The two battered men grinned at each other.

It was a defeat, if it could be called that.

Countless newbies had perished, and the Ghost Dragon was still alive.

However, it was also a victory, if it could be called that.

Because they had protected those remaining at Camp B, and themselves.

Mason looked up at the sky.

“Right…”

The souls liberated from the Ghost Dragon were ascending to heaven.

“I can’t let them see me… kneeling before my comrades…”

A wind blew.

A wind that swept across the entire liberated National Cemetery.

Mason smiled.

๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑

Yekaterina was waiting inside the camp vehicle.

She leaned on her staff, wearing a friendly smile.

“It’s been a while. How have you been?”

At that moment:

Slash!

A thin but long line of blood appeared on Yekaterina’s cheek. Without losing her composure, she asked:

“…Seo Yeonhee?”

Seo Yeonhee, unlike her usual self, roared like a wild beast and swung her dagger at Yekaterina once more.

Clang!

However, Ronan’s Dragon Bone Greatsword…

Thump!

And Mason’s regenerated arm blocked her.

“Calm down.”

Grab!

Mason’s left hand, maintaining its momentum, caught Ronan’s Dragon Bone Greatsword, which was about to strike Seo Yeonhee.

“Is this really the time for this?”

Yekaterina spoke calmly.

“Ronan, I don’t want to see any bloodshed here. Especially not Seo Yeonhee’s blood.”

“…I respect that.”

As Ronan stepped back, Mason stood in front of Seo Yeonhee.

With both Mason and Ronan blocking her path, there was no chance of her striking Yekaterina.

Seo Yeonhee gritted her teeth but soon regained her composure.

“…Alright. I’ve calmed down.”

Seo Yeonhee took two steps back.

“Good.”

Mason nodded, but didn’t move from his position between Seo Yeonhee and Yekaterina.

Mason wiped the blood off Yekaterina’s cheek with his thumb.

Seeing this, people were startled and checked Yekaterina’s expression. They were more surprised now than when Seo Yeonhee had attacked.

But Yekaterina simply stood there, smiling.

“How kind of you.”

“To whom should I be kind if not the one who saved my life?”

“Hearing you say that makes my arduous journey worthwhile.”

“How did you get here?”

“Our task was finished, but yours wasn’t. That…”

Yekaterina glanced at the Lich’s corpse.

“…meant things had gone awry here, so I came to see.”

“Thanks for coming. You saved us.”

“While I’d love to take all the credit… this time, I didn’t do much. It’s thanks to the strong will of the souls in the National Cemetery.”

“…Is that so?”

“We probably won’t be so lucky if we encounter the Ghost Dragon again.”

“Right, in that case… we have no choice but to become stronger by then.”

“Such a proactive mindset.”

“Better to look ahead than below!”

Mason chuckled heartily.

“Yes. Hold on to that spirit.”

Yekaterina smiled.

“Because I believe that your spirit will save us all…”

Yekaterina leaned on her bejeweled staff.

And with that, her body disappeared.

She had teleported away.

“Well then…”

Sung Kijun put a cigarette in his mouth.

“Time to clean up…”

Click.

Sung Kijun lit his cigarette.

๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑

Cleaning up at the National Cemetery was as complicated as the gravity of the situation.

Leaving aside the hundred or so civilians, hundreds of precious players had died in one place. Even though they were still low-level, it didn’t lessen the impact.

And, the most serious problem was…

“The Ghost Dragon has flown over China after escaping Korea.”

It was the very existence of the Ghost Dragon.

Its sturdy body, the necromancy it wielded freely, and above all, its swift flight speed.

Those who had encountered it and analyzed the combat data all agreed that the Ghost Dragon was one of the worst monsters in history.

The Four Great Demon Gods were about to become Five.

“The Ghost Dragon will become the enemy of all mankind.”

Sung Kijun lit a cigarette.

“I… should have done better.”

Mason patted his back.

“We did our best. As always.”

“We did. But… I should have done better.”

At the dark outskirts of the National Cemetery, the only thing illuminating Sung Kijun, who was standing guard duty, was the ember glowing at the tip of his cigarette.

“Do you know why the raid team system is based on 40 members?”

“Isn’t it because it’s taken from games?”

“Then let me rephrase the question. Why do you think they only send 40 people instead of 100 or 200?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s to lose only 40 in the worst case scenario.”

Sung Kijun exhaled a puff of smoke like a sigh.

“If it’s an enemy that requires more people than that… it means it’s better to just bomb them or use nukes.”

“…”

“It’s too many. 300… is too many…”

Sung Kijun’s words were filled with despair.

He wasn’t looking at the fact that they had repelled the Ghost Dragon, but only at the 300 players he had failed to protect.

At that moment, Mason tried to say something, something to comfort Sung Kijun. But he closed his mouth.

‘This is who he is.’

Mason looked at Sung Kijun’s profile.

He had realized what the noble paladin was looking at.

Mason quietly spoke.

“You asked me before why I fight.”

“I did.”

“Leader… why do you fight?”

Sung Kijun answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“For the weak.”

He asked in return.

“Why do you fight?”

“For humanity, to eliminate monsters.”

Sung Kijun met Mason’s gaze.

“So you’ve realized it now.”

“I have.”

It had been three months since Mason had joined the Holy Knights.

A long time, if considered long, and a short time, if considered short.

However, the Holy Knights had never planned their own raids.

They only waited, to be called upon when a quest came.

“The reason I fight… is the complete opposite of yours.”

Mason was a superhuman, the strongest tanker.

The only place he could fight was where no one else could withstand; the front lines against the most brutal and harsh enemies.

However, the place where Sung Kijun should fight… was where he could protect the most people.

They seemed similar, but were not the same. It was… something that could never be the same.

Those who had invited him to fight alongside them, knowing he was already part of the Holy Knights, like Seo Yeonhee and Yekaterina, must have understood this.

They had been certain that one day, Mason would realize that his path differed from Sung Kijun’s.

“I am a man who wants to do good. However… you are a man who must do great things.”

“I’m not trying to do great things.”

“Defeating monsters for humanity. It’s hard to think of a greater feat than that.”

“…”

Sung Kijun smiled bitterly.

“Yes, that’s always the case. Sometimes, people… don’t even realize the meaning of their own words.”

“Leader…”

“I’m not telling you to leave right now. You can stay in the Holy Knights until the time you must leave.”

“When is the time I must leave?”

Sung Kijun put out his cigarette.

“When you decide where you must go.”