Ubermensch – Chapter 77

Chapter 77

They use large-caliber guns to intercept monsters.

But those guns need to be charged all day.

Mason was missing something between those two propositions.

‘What is it? What am I missing?’

The image of Winter Lord flashed through Mason’s mind.

And the next moment.

The image of a weapon came to mind.

“Gatling Vulcan…”

“Huh? Why that?”

“…That’s it!”

Mason finally realized.

“We can modify it! Into a monster gun that can take down Needle in one shot!”

“Who said we couldn’t? The problem is that it takes half a day.”

“If quality isn’t enough, then quantity it is. We just need to charge it with as many people’s energy as possible.”

“How?”

Core weapons were ultimately monster cores. They could only use the energy of the person equipped with them.

That was common sense and the limit.

“Scar! Scar’s Warlord Core!”

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The destroyer of Castle. Centaur Warlord, Scar.

His ability was to become stronger by receiving the power of other monsters.

If only that ability could be replicated…

“…Theoretically, infinite output might be possible.”

“It doesn’t have to be infinite output. As long as it can eliminate Needle or Blood Raven in one shot…”

Needle and Blood Raven, who were not strengthened by Winter Lord, were at the level of boss monsters.

If they could be eliminated beforehand, they could regain the strategic advantage.

Mason looked at Han Areum.

“Do you think it’s possible?”

“It’s theoretically possible, but…”

“So it’s possible!”

Han Areum flared up.

“Do you even know how difficult it is to implement theory in practice? Do you know how many real-world limitations we haven’t even considered?!”

“…So, sorry.”

Mason made a sullen face.

‘She seems to have a lot on her mind…?’

Anyway, Mason asked.

“So, can you do it?”

“I think it’s worth trying. Send a sample to our research team. But…”

“But?”

“There are two practical problems. First, how much energy will be lost during the energy concentration process, and second… whether the barrel or other parts can withstand the concentrated energy.”

“Efficiency and limits…”

Mason nodded.

“I’ll send our research team too. Work together.”

“Yes.”

Jang Geun-uk opened his mouth.

“Then what do we do until the modification is finished?”

Sung Kijun replied.

“We have to hold out defensively as much as possible. Pull back the front line and have the less defensively capable ones retreat behind Needle’s range.”

Sung Kijun looked around.

However, no one particularly objected.

Like it or not, they felt it was time to endure until a breakthrough could be made.

Mason looked at Oh Junghee.

“Given the situation, can’t you strengthen the fire support?”

The Korean military had traditionally been a force focused on firepower. They were even nicknamed the ‘Ministry of Artillery’. If they set their minds to it, they could provide enough firepower to obliterate the combat zone.

However…

“Protecting the bridges is the top priority of this operation.”

Oh Junghee shook her head firmly.

“Then what if, in case of emergency, we have to give up one of the three?”

Oh Junghee hesitated for a moment. Giving up a bridge was considered the ‘worst-case scenario’. But even in the worst case, there were priorities. The military had already decided on a policy.

“If there is a choice… we can give up Dongho, Hannam, and Seongsu Bridge in that order.”

“Isn’t Dongho Bridge the longest?”

“Dongho Bridge is the middle bridge. We can detour to the other two. Especially if we lose Seongsu Bridge, it becomes difficult to access the Ttukseom area.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

At that moment, Sung Kijun spoke up.

“I’d like to add anti-aircraft machine guns or anti-aircraft guns to prepare for aerial monsters. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“I’ll request support.”

“Good.”

They had devised all the countermeasures they could, and sought all the help they could get.

“Alright, comrades.”

Now all that was left was one thing.

“…Let’s grit our teeth and hold out.”

Just enduring.

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The next battle was three days later.

“Hold out! Hold out!”

Groans could be heard from all three bridges. Because they were fighting by pulling the enemy as close as possible, if they were pushed back even a little, the enemies would flood in.

Perhaps it would be fine at Dongho Bridge, which was longer, but the situation at Seongsu Bridge was extremely precarious.

“Damn it! Get some proper fire support!”

“We’re out of range!”

Even if they were ranged dealers, their weapon types differed. Unlike the Revengers, who mainly used rifles or sniper rifles, the weapons of other attack teams had shorter ranges.

The particular problem was Over Armor, which mainly used mid-range beam weapons like beam Gatlings and beam cannons, or close-range beam weapons like beam shotguns.

This was because they were confident in their strength and stamina, but…

Whoosh!

“It’s Needle!”

It was a disadvantageous situation for securing a safe distance, which was the most effective way to deal with Needle.

“Magic support!”

Moreover, the mages were similarly tied down. Using only magic that wouldn’t damage the bridges meant that more than half of their damage-dealing magic was unusable.

It was a moment where the mages’ specialty, versatility, was halved.

Making up for that loss of firepower was ultimately the military’s responsibility.

“Anti-aircraft gun emplacement set up!”

“Each emplacement, commence firing!”

Barrages of bullets poured out from the emplacements set up on the rooftops of each building. The restriction on attacks that could damage the bridges also meant that there were no restrictions on attacks that didn’t target the bridges.

Rattle Rattle Rattle Rattle Rattle!

The Vulcan cannons roared as if spewing out humanity’s resentment, and the tightly woven net of fire eroded the aerial monsters’ barriers, eventually leading to their slaughter.

“Kiiiieeeek!”

Modern weapons were not weak. They were simply inefficient against monsters.

“Wow, they’re really raining down bullets like crazy.”

Mason clicked his tongue.

“…They won’t ask us to pay for the bullets, right?”

“Don’t worry. It’s taxes.”

As the military took charge of dealing with the aerial monsters, the front lines of the ground battle began to stabilize.

That was when it happened.

“Beeeeeeeep!”

Blood Raven squeezed through the barrage of bullets. At that moment, Winter Lord’s buff enveloped Blood Raven’s body, and Blood Raven began to block the barrage with its body as if it were an aerial fortress.

“…Ugh?!”

Even the anti-aircraft emplacements couldn’t melt through Blood Raven, which had been strengthened to the level of a raid boss.

In the brief moment they created a gap, the aerial monsters all began to dive at once.

Flying in the air only made them targets. If they were going to be consumables anyway, it was best to target the ground forces, especially the rear.

“Cease fire! Cease fire!”

As the monsters’ altitude decreased, the anti-aircraft emplacements had no choice but to stop firing.

The flying monsters all swarmed the ranged dealers and mages.

“Tankers stay in the front line, the rest clean up the rear!”

The melee combatants all retreated to the rear, and even the ranged dealers and mages had to engage in close combat. However, casualties were inevitable.

“Damn it!”

If the previous battles had been well-coordinated massacres, now it was full of jarring disharmony.

Just by adding intelligence to the monsters, the fight had become much more difficult.

“Hold out!”

Mason shouted as he was busy being called here and there.

“Hold out somehow!”

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That day’s battle ended like that.

Unlike usual, everyone was exhausted at the raid leader meeting.

“This is tough…”

It is said that one sniper can hold down an entire company. In reality, only one bullet flew at a time, but the pressure was enough to intimidate everyone.

Not only classes that could be torn apart by one shot, but also tankers had to move while keeping their other comrades in mind.

It was a situation that exhausted the mind more than the body.

“What are the casualties?”

“No deaths, but there are quite a few seriously injured. At least three people are at the level of retiring as players.”

Mason looked at Sung Kijun.

“Is Holy Knights okay?”

Aside from their mental fortitude, Holy Knights was a raid team that couldn’t even fill its regular roster. They were the most vulnerable raid team to this kind of war of attrition.

“We can still hold out for now. But at this rate, we won’t last long.”

That they couldn’t hold out much longer at this rate… everyone agreed.

“How’s ‘that gun’ coming along?”

When Mason asked, Seo Yeonhee answered.

“They said it’s proceeding smoothly as planned.”

Han Areum frowned.

“Really? They really said that?”

“Yes, why?”

“That’s our version of ‘we’re screwing up beyond any excuse’.”

“…!”

Seo Yeonhee made a sullen face.

“What do they say when it’s actually going well?”

“They ramble on and on with explanations you don’t quite understand and self-praise you don’t really want to hear, until you’re exhausted.”

Mason made a sullen face.

“If you know that, can’t you tell them to speak in a way that’s understandable?”

“Ha! Then I’d become an insider!”

“…”

Mason sighed.

“Then what’s the fastest way to get the finished product?”

“We need to make the order clear.”

“How?”

“Tell them to make it as fast as possible, even if it breaks after one shot.”

Seo Yeonhee made a phone call.

After finishing the call, Seo Yeonhee said in a calm voice.

“They said it’ll be done in 24 hours.”

“Good, tell them to bring it over.”

Mason shook his head.

“Korean raid leaders have such strong personalities…”

Seo Yeonhee, who understood the meaning of those words, gave a wry smile.

The next day.

‘That gun’ was delivered as quickly as possible.

“…”

It was too big and crude to be called a gun. Based on a beam sniper rifle, various parts were haphazardly attached.

However, instead of being stored inside the gun, the crucial Warlord Core was connected by cables. Instead of the functional beauty of a finished weapon, a sense of unease emanated from the gun, as if it might not even function properly.

Mason picked up the manual and handed it to Masika as soon as he read the first sentence.

“…”

Masika also read the first sentence and immediately handed it to Han Areum.

“Could you translate this, please?”

“Let’s see.”

After glancing through it, Han Areum said.

“If you inject energy from classes other than ranged dealer, the cable will explode, if the energy is overcharged, the battery will explode, if you fire one shot, the barrel will explode, and because it’s crudely assembled, it will break if you hit the floor or a wall hard.”

Mason frowned.

“Did we order a bomb?”

“What more do you expect from a prototype?”

At Han Areum’s brazen words, Masika sighed and accepted it.

From a rough glance, it seemed that it worked by injecting energy into the Warlord Core, transferring it to the main body of the gun, and then firing it.

Mason asked.

“Can you hit it?”

“Yes… the center of gravity is off because of the excessive augmentation parts, but if I aim properly, I think I can hit it.”

Beam rifles were easier to handle than regular guns because beams were less affected by air or gravity. Moreover, if Masika Karembe, the best sharpshooter in Korea, used it, accuracy was practically guaranteed.

“Good. Then… let’s fight again.”