Chapter 2419 – 2419. Eternal Eden
‘Is it a variant?’
The corpse was not ordinary. The skin was gruesome, as if burned, and dark blue blood vessels protruded here and there. Among the spilled entrails, there were scattered metallic objects.
As if sensing my suspicion, Na Chaeyoung said,
“It’s an enhanced human. Judging by the looks, it seems like they’ve inserted drugs and bio-mechanical devices.”
“Bio-mechanical devices? They’ve already made those?”
“They’re fast. But they’re not perfect. Look. Even the appearance is a mess. It’s probably a prototype… or something like that. Be careful. Enhanced humans can exert power similar to Awakened ones. Maybe even stronger.”
“Is this guy not an Awakened?”
“You saw him use his ability. Awakened can also become enhanced humans. Well, Awakened have a lower compatibility rate for enhancement, so they’re not as efficient as ordinary people.”
“This guy looked Japanese. I’ll have to interrogate him later.”
I went outside the room. Choi Hyejin, Irina, Yu Seojeong, and Kim Jihee also sensed the anomaly and were preparing.
“Choi Hyejin, Irina. You two protect the women here.”
“What? I want to fight too!”
Choi Hyejin protested. When I frowned and glared at her, she immediately cowered and lowered her gaze. It was the effect of the beatings I gave her when she didn’t listen.
“The most important people in our faction, excluding me, are Doctor Na and Teacher Yu. Protect them no matter what.”
“Ah, okay.”
After hearing Choi Hyejin’s subdued reply, I put on my combat helmet. The interface turned on the display, showing the map and the locations of allies and enemies.
Of course, I don’t blindly trust this mini-map.
‘There could be another guy with a transparent ability. The mini-map is just for reference.’
The real thing is electromagnetic waves.
I scattered electromagnetic waves, checking all around. Fortunately, there were no enemies nearby.
I opened the window and jumped out.
In the battle area, bullets were raining down. Combat drones didn’t hesitate to self-destruct, and the death-defying guards didn’t retreat. But the damage was accumulating on our side. It was a bit surprising that the guards using drugs were being pushed back.
‘These bastards… they’re all Awakened enhanced humans using abilities. And they’ve taken drugs too.’
Three enemies appeared in front of me. They quickly changed their submachine gun magazines and aimed at me, pulling the trigger.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Electromagnetic Barrier (電磁氣幕).
I deployed an electromagnetic barrier, but the bullets pierced through. I had already moved to the side, so I avoided the bullets.
‘…Rubber bullets? Did they know my ability in advance and counter it? No. If that were the case, they would have thrown grenades instead of bullets. They intend to capture me alive, not kill me.’
I grabbed the corpse of a fallen guard on the ground and used it as a shield, charging towards them.
One of the three lowered his gun and began to glare at me intensely.
My body became sluggish. My limbs didn’t move as fast as I thought they would. It was a different feeling from just being heavy.
‘Is it an ability to slow down the target? It’s a troublesome ability.’
The other two retrieved their submachine guns and pulled out pistols from their waists. There were ampules embedded in the slide parts of the pistols. I knew immediately.
‘Anesthetic.’
If I get hit, I’m screwed.
My recovery ability activates even when I’m unconscious. Even if I die, I can automatically recover and resurrect. It just takes a bit longer if I’m unconscious. Na Chaeyoung said that Awakened abilities are related to brainwaves. If the brain is completely destroyed, recovery won’t happen, and even I could die.
‘No, what’s important now is what happens if I get hit by the anesthetic. When I’m unconscious, the output of my ability decreases. Of course, I can’t wake up instantly. The moment I lose consciousness, kidnapping is certain.’
If I keep getting hit by the anesthetic, I’ll develop resistance… but it will take a considerable amount of time to build that resistance.
‘Fortunately, I’m wearing combat gear now… so I shouldn’t get hit by a stray anesthetic.’
The surest way is to kill them before I get hit.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Gale Lightning (疾風迅雷).
Zzzzzzt.
Lightning coursed through my body, stimulating it. All speeds, including thinking speed, increased. I was still slowed down, but even so, they couldn’t keep up with my accelerated state.
I swung my sword at the approaching enemies. Their heads flew into the air.
The guy who was using the slowing ability widened his eyes and tried to pull out a knife from his pocket. Too late. My sword had already pierced his neck.
Gale Lightning was released, and I returned to my original speed. I felt my body, which had become hot like an overloaded machine, and exhaled. My muscles also ached. It was the aftermath of using Gale Lightning with my weak body. It was a kind of overclocking.
‘Recovery.’
The burden on my body was resolved instantly with recovery.
-This is the main building’s front gate! Requesting support! There’s a variant-level attacker! Five guards have fallen! Twelve combat drones destroyed! We can’t hold out much longer! Requesting support!
‘Variant-level? Five guards and twelve drones can hunt down most variant-level enemies. It must be a named-level variant.’
The main building’s front gate was close by, so I ran instead of requesting information.
A monstrous mass stood at the entrance of the main building’s front gate. It was a 3-meter-tall monster covered in bio-metal. A patchwork of flesh that looked like it weighed at least one ton.
“Isn’t that a variant?”
-It’s a fusion ability.
Yu Seojeong said. I frowned, not understanding her words.
-There’s a fusion ability among the Awakened. It’s an ability to temporarily fuse something with oneself. Bio-mechanical devices and bio-metals are particularly suitable.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Swastika Lightning (卍雷).
Lightning gathered and rotated in the shape of a swastika (卍) on my left hand. I then shot the Swastika Lightning at the monster. The blue lightning struck the monster accurately.
Smoke and the smell of burning flesh rose from the monster’s body. But the monster didn’t fall and turned to look at me.
‘Did that mass of flesh act as armor?’
It wasn’t ordinary flesh. It was bio-mechanical and bio-metal.
The monster extended its left hand, just like I had done. The monster’s thick palm split open, and a bio-metal gun barrel popped out, firing bone bullets. They were slower than bullets, so I deflected them with my sword.
Bang!
‘Ugh.’
The bone bullets were slow, but they contained tremendous power. My arm felt like it was about to break. The monster fired bone bullets again. This time, I dodged instead of deflecting.
‘With this level of power and physique… it’s hard for me to fight it in my current state.’
I reached for the drug injector on my left forearm. The ampule attached to the injector contained liquidized X-cream.
When I pressed the button on the injector, a small needle pierced my forearm. The drug entered my body.
BEEEEEEEEEEP.
I heard tinnitus, and my hearing was impaired. I couldn’t hear any other sounds except for the tinnitus. Other senses became sharper, and my heart beat faster. My senses sharpened, and my thinking speed increased. The monster’s bone bullets looked much slower than before.
After easily dodging the bone bullets, I channeled electricity into my galchi sword.
Wooooooom.
I couldn’t hear the sound, but I could feel the vibration.
The galchi sword shone silver and became even sharper.
I charged towards the monster. The monster reflexively swung its arm.
‘It’s slow for its bulk. I can see everything. I’ll cut off that troublesome arm first.’
The sword dug into the flesh but stopped. It was too thick and tough to cut through in one go. Moreover, it was incredibly viscous and held onto the sword, not letting go. The monster’s other hand came down. I gave up on the sword and retreated.
“Irina. You’re watching from above, right? Can you snipe? No, snipe!”
BEEEEEEEEEEP.
I couldn’t hear the answer because of the tinnitus. But my voice was transmitted.
From the 5th floor of the main building, Irina’s arrow fell on the monster. The arrow pierced the monster’s body and exploded. Boom! Some of the monster’s flesh splattered.
‘Is there a limit even with explosive arrows?’
Choi Hyejin revealed her upper body from the 5th floor and threw something. A white sword. A spare galchi sword. I grabbed the falling hilt and generated electricity, and the sword instantly shone silver.
“Irina. Electric arrows.”
Thwack. Thwack thwack.
Arrows landed one after another on the ground nearby. Arrows with small batteries attached. They could also be used to electrocute targets, but that wasn’t their purpose now.
I generated lightning. I drew electricity from the batteries attached to the arrows and gathered it on the blade. Perhaps sensing danger, the monster charged towards me with a thudding sound.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Thunder罡刃 (雷罡刃).
Using a massive amount of electricity, I temporarily created a lightning blade and swung it at the monster.
Cut in two.
The giant mass of flesh was split in half.
The human inside died, and the ability was released. The mass of flesh lost its power, and the bio-mechanical devices and bio-metals scattered like broken Legos.
I quietly caught my breath. My body was tingling, making it hard to move. I checked the situation with the mini-map on the display. The enemies’ reactions were disappearing. I couldn’t hear any reports because I couldn’t hear.
‘It’s really inconvenient not being able to hear. I should ask them to make it so that messages are displayed.’
Anyway, they were being subdued one by one.
Combat drones were continuously coming out of the main building. Na Chaeyoung had deployed all the drones she was researching, saying she was modifying them.
‘Doctor Na seems a bit angry too.’
Moreover, reinforcements were pouring in from the Seongjin Church annex. They were the guards and security team protecting the annex.
‘It’s over. Even if they’re strong, they’re not strong enough to overcome the power of numbers.’
I raised the corners of my mouth.
They were Japanese. They probably joined hands with Jung Woo-hyun.
‘Jung Woo-hyun is finished. If I torture them, it won’t be difficult to extract evidence. If I repeat killing and reviving them, they’ll spit out any evidence.’
I could impeach Jung Woo-hyun with just cause, without a coup. No, even more than that. I could apply the charge of sedition.
As someone aiming to be president, I knew one of the privileges the president had.
Immunity from prosecution. Even if they commit a crime, they won’t be arrested or detained. However, sedition is an exception.
‘But that process is too long. And I don’t know who the next president will be.’
I can’t be the next president. My young age is a problem, but Seongjin Church hasn’t firmly established itself yet.
‘There’s no guarantee that the next president won’t try to keep me and Seongjin Church in check.’
I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to become a behind-the-scenes power.
I used recovery to eliminate the effects of the X-cream. My hearing also returned to normal.
And I contacted the Army Chief of Staff, Jin Su-hak.
“Jin Su-hak. The time has come. Advance to the Blue House with the soldiers. I’ll join you. I’ll take that bastard’s head.”
