Ubermensch – Chapter 24

Chapter 24

There was a massive altar.

On the altar, amidst numerous stone statues crying out in sorrow, stood a man.

The altar overlooked a planet.

And a man overlooked the planet.

A large, imposing figure, with a left arm made of silver.

Even from behind, one could tell the man was also a ‘Barbarian.’

The man held a golden cup, filled with a blood-red liquid.

Mason instinctively knew.

That it was a curse, a calamity.

That merely scattering a single cup of that liquid onto the planet would turn a whole star into a tomb.

“No!”

Mason roared and ran, but he couldn’t move faster than the man could overturn the cup.

Glug, glug…

A cup of liquid fell onto the planet.

And the planet became hell.

And horrifyingly, truly horrifyingly,

The man was smiling in satisfaction.

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“No!”

Mason screamed and opened his eyes.

His room in the Holy Knights’ headquarters. His bed.

Mason’s entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

‘A nightmare?’

Mason sat up and ran his hands through his hair.

He felt his cold sweat-soaked hair. It was unpleasant.

“Haa…”

His throat was dry, his mouth parched.

Mason opened the refrigerator and guzzled down whatever he could grab.

His thirst quenched, he regained the composure to look around.

It was still dawn. The sun was rising, but the room was still dark.

It wasn’t cold enough to be considered chilly.

Yet, Mason’s body was trembling faintly.

From fear.

Nanomachines were an all-purpose tool, something that could be used for dangerous purposes depending on how it was handled.

Therefore, safety measures were in place as a standard.

However, there were times when they were used for dangerous purposes.

Red nanomachines were things that had their safety measures deactivated, to be used for only one purpose.

Annihilation.

What the Barbarian in the dream poured onto the planet was a chalice of disaster that would only bring destruction.

And the Barbarian in the dream, the monster who, satisfied, annihilated a world…was too similar to Mason himself…

“Damn it.”

It was the worst feeling.

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After the Ghost Dragon, there was a major change in anti-monster strategies.

South Korea’s strategy against monsters was defense.

To defend against the waves of monsters surging down from the North, the government and the military used their existing North Korea strategy for defense.

However, the problem was that monsters weren’t humans.

Modern weapons were powerful. It’s just that they were inefficient against monsters.

Especially infantry firearms.

Old tactics and strategies were proven wrong, and the casualties suffered by the regular army, especially the infantry, were horrifically high.

It was to the point that 20-year-old men were almost extinct across society.

South Korea could no longer engage in infantry battles with monsters.

So, what they chose was the strategy of defense and player development.

Building a defensive line connecting the north of the Han River and Gangwon Province, and fostering elite infantry, the player troops, as much as possible in safe zones.

That’s how it had been so far.

“We don’t know much about monsters, and the National Cemetery incident made us realize that.”

The National Cemetery incident revealed a loophole in that grand strategy.

Even designated rear areas weren’t free from monster appearances. Until now, the main focus had been on the front-line North Korea defense line rather than cleaning up the rear.

However, the Lich incident taught a lesson that naturally occurring monsters shouldn’t be underestimated.

The government issued quests on a large scale, requesting the thorough destruction of even small monster colonies in safe zones.

The Holy Knights were at the forefront of fulfilling those government quests, dividing their raid team into party units.

Of course, Mason was too.

Mason nibbled at his food at the dining table, talking with Sung Kijun.

“Where is it today?”

“A certain mountain in Jeolla Province. They say there’s a Treant there.”

Treants, giant living trees, were generally considered less threatening monsters. It was understandable since they were trees rooted in the ground.

Large and tough, they were annoying to kill, but they never left their territory, making them low-priority monsters.

That is, until the National Cemetery incident.

“Experts say there’s a possibility that it’s building its own ecosystem in that area.”

“Really?”

“I’ll attach Seo Yeonhee to you. Let her eliminate all the risk factors in the area.”

Seo Yeonhee was a master of search and reconnaissance. She was the perfect partner for Mason.

“Alright.”

Mason got up from his seat.

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Seo Yeonhee arrived a little earlier than the appointed time.

Her personal vehicle was a massive, ironclad beast of a Humvee. It was big enough for even armored Mason to sit comfortably.

“Nice car.”

Mason got into the car.

Seo Yeonhee turned on the music. It was a country song Mason didn’t recognize.

“What song is this?”

“Country Roads.”

“…What’s it about?”

“It’s about wanting to be taken back to one’s hometown.”

“Hometown, hometown…”

Mason made a bitter face.

Because it was a place he could never return to.

“Last night, I had a nightmare.”

“Oh? What was it about?”

“A dream of destroying the world.”

Mason hesitated before adding,

“…By my own hand.”

Mason’s voice was laced with an unusual fear.

“Are you scared?”

“Yes.”

“Of what?”

“That this might not just be a dream.”

Mason buried himself in the seat.

“Are you afraid it might be a prophetic dream?”

“That too, and…”

Mason hesitated before speaking.

“…That this might be something that’s already happening.”

“Mason, you’re here.”

The man who had dimension-hopped shook his head.

“It could be me from another dimension. Or…something I’ve already done.”

“…”

“There are too many possibilities. And all those possibilities are terrifying.”

Seo Yeonhee looked at Mason.

She calmly said,

“Is there a need to be scared?”

“Huh?”

“You’ll stop it. That event.”

“…”

“If it happened, you’ll undo it. If it’s happening, you’ll stop it. And if it’s going to happen, you’ll prevent it.”

Seo Yeonhee said with a calm expression.

“Mason, you’re…that kind of person.”

“…Yes, you’re right.”

Mason chuckled.

Whether it was true or not, the outcome was the same.

If it happened, he’d stop it. If it didn’t happen, it was just a bad dream.

It was his job to crush any monsters.

There was no reason to be afraid, even if that monster was himself.

“Then…speaking of which, let’s go catch that Treant.”

“Yes.”

Seo Yeonhee drove the car.

They arrived at a low, rolling hill. It looked no different from the surrounding area, except for the dense forest.

“The Treant is inside this forest.”

“Good, let’s go.”

Mason took a step forward, gripping his two-handed hammer.

Thud, thud…

Forests had a unique smell. A smell of old soil and wood, a smell that felt full of life.

But the smell here was stronger than elsewhere.

Probably because of the Treant.

The problem was…they didn’t know what the Treant was.

The smell was a bit strong, but it looked like an ordinary forest no matter how he looked at it.

“What’s the Treant?”

Usually, Treants monopolized even the nutrients meant for surrounding trees, growing into giant trees.

A giant tree standing alone on a bare mountain. It would be strange if it wasn’t noticeable.

But this Treant seemed to be a variant.

“The core energy isn’t localized.”

“Looks like it’s mimicking an ordinary tree.”

“Or…it’s coexisting with ordinary trees.”

Monsters were evolving, or changing. That was what people were worried about.

About them becoming more dangerous than expected.

No, about the hard-earned information becoming meaningless.

There were two main options.

Attack every tree that made up the forest, or find and attack only the Treant.

“Let’s just destroy the forest itself.”

It would take a decade to rebuild the forest, but the effort was better than the risk of leaving the monster.

Mason tightly gripped his two-handed hammer.

“Hmph!”

Mason swung his hammer, snapping a tree in half.

Seo Yeonhee also seemed to agree, drawing her dagger.

“Ha!”

She plunged her dagger into the nearest tree.

If it were a monster, there would be a reaction.

If not, it meant it was a normal tree.

After observing for a while, Seo Yeonhee turned to another tree.

As they destroyed the forest like that, she felt a strange sense of dissonance.

The scent, intensified as the forest was destroyed. The unique scent of the forest was gradually changing into a sweet fragrance.

At some point, the fog had become thick in the forest.

So thick that she couldn’t even see Mason’s back, even though he should be nearby…

“Mason?”

At that moment, a familiar voice came from beside Seo Yeonhee.

“Mason? Who’s that?”

Seo Yeonhee flinched as if struck by lightning.

Because it was a familiar voice.

Slowly, contrary to her pounding heart, she turned around.

There stood a familiar person.

Tanned skin honed by sports, golden hair that was lush like a thicket, a young man with a smile like the sun.

Tears streamed down Seo Yeonhee’s face without her realizing it.

“Sebas…”

Sebastian Ranieri. Her first love and last lover, stood there.

“What’s wrong, Yeonhee?”

As always, with a sun-like smile.

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Working in different directions, Seo Yeonhee had unknowingly drifted quite far.

And at some point, a thick fog had enveloped Mason.

“…Hmm.”

Mason muttered, gripping his hammer.

“This isn’t natural, is it?”

He swung his hammer widely, creating a gust of wind.

Whoosh!

A strong wind swept away the surrounding fog.

Through the dissipating fog, the form of something was approaching.

“Hmph!”

Mason swung his hammer to crush the thing’s skull.

“Mason?”

“…!”

Until he heard the other party’s voice.

Clank!

Mason’s hammer stopped an inch away.

Whoosh!

The wind from the hammer ruffled the man’s hair.

It was a young man of average build. An Asian youth with black hair and ordinary clothes.

However, he was someone Mason could never forget.

“…Uncle?”

The leader of the future, the 28th century. The god-king of science, Robert Park, stood there.

“It’s been a while, Mason.”

He asked with a gentle smile,

“How have you been?”