Chapter 135
What followed was three minutes of overwhelming violence.
I pull the trigger to blast the tiny golems, and if the Tommy can’t break them, I crush them with my fists.
If that’s not enough, I use a shotgun, and if that’s not enough, I use a fist full of aura.
No one was hurt in the process.
The monster that attacked us is called a Basalt Golem.
It’s a type of monster that lives in volcanic terrain and is characterized by its jet-black body and fierce attacks……..
‘They’re slow so I just have to be careful with each shot. Most of their attacks are slashes, with the occasional swing. What does that mean?’
“I can read their next attack with the slightest movement.”
The body movements I’ve been force-fed by Kwak Chun-sik, in preparation for dealing with multiple monsters, are very well coordinated.
I grab them from behind and attack them in the way I’ve become accustomed to through combat in the game, and they crumble to dust.
By the time I’d chambered my third magazine, the scene was completely clear.
“Two and a half minutes?”
If it was the real Saber Cloud, it would have taken him 20 seconds, so I still had a long way to go.
“Uh…… uh…….”
I tucked Tommy in and turned around to see a group of people looking in my direction with dazed expressions.
Luckily, none of them seemed to be seriously injured.
Spotting the only priest among them with a crucifix around his neck, I walk over to him and offer my hand.
“I’m Saber Cloud, a Hitman from Corleone.”
“Ah, the Hitman from Corleone……Ah, I’ve heard of you.”
The priest looks confused, but smiles as he takes the hand I offer.
Once he’s satisfied that the situation around him has been cleared up, they begin to unload the luggage one by one.
“Is it usual for monsters to swarm like this every time a ship comes?”
Even if it’s for the sake of the children’s education and necessities, I wonder if it’s worth the risk to the church if they keep getting attacked like this but the priest shook his head at my question.
“Actually, it’s better than usual, because when the Shukharbang or the villains come, it gets more intense than it is now.”
“Ah.”
This is the better side?
“You seemed to be struggling quite a bit just now, so how do you usually cope?”
“Well, we fight to the death.”
“……?”
“Since we can use divine magic, we’re not too afraid of getting hurt so we fight until our enemies fall.”
……Did he just say that light was divine magic?
These people are automatically healed, so they just charged in like berserkers?
By the way…….
“That’s efficient.”
“Yeah. Efficient.”
It was a method they could use since they had so many people who could use divine magic.
“May I ask why you are so sincere about sending your children to school?”
Hearing my question, the priest closed his eyes and pondered something.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and answered with a wry smile.
“I’m afraid that’s not something I can answer, so let’s go to the church, where I’m sure the bishop will be able to answer your question. Oh, and by the way, it looks like they’ve finished loading up, so why don’t you come with us?”
……Surely he can explain.
“Sure. Let’s get going, then.”
To meet the hidden monsters of Jeju Island.
* * *
“Father Marco, I’ve got all the luggage!”
“Ah, good work. Father John.”
True to his word, in the distance, Father John waved his hand, indicating that all the luggage had been loaded.
One large bus, one 2.5-ton truck, and a bongo.
I could tell that these three vehicles were the caravan we would be driving to the church.
As expected, there were a few Awakened people in the group, so the luggage was loaded quickly. I followed the priest and walked toward the cars that formed the caravan.
“You look really good!”
“The nun told me they all fell down with a bang!”
“Does it count if you pray too?”
“If you and the bishop fight, who wins?”
I’ve just walked up to the front of the car when the kids with their heads out the window start shouting.
“Guys, don’t stick your heads out the window!”
“””Yea~!”””
Of course, they were quickly stopped by Sister Maria.
The three vehicles the church had prepared had all been modified for defense.
The top of the bus was equipped with a sort of battery that could be manned by a single person, and both sides were imprinted with defensive techniques to prepare for an attack, and the same was true for the other vehicles.
“Can I get on the bus?”
I ask Father John, who is still outside the car getting ready to leave, and he nods.
“Yes, because the security is worse these days, and I don’t want anything to happen to the kids.”
“I guess that’s true.”
“Well, I’ve been recycling stuff from the old days, so I’ve been feeling the lack of defense lately, and I’d be relieved if you could help me with that.”
That’s a lack of defense?
“So all I have to do is prepare for an attack?”
“Yes, and do me a small favor…….”
He paused for a moment, then continued, his expression grim.
“If anything happens, please protect the children. We don’t mind, just the kids.”
“Just the kids?”
“Yes. Just the kids.”
He sounded very serious, and I laughed lightly.
“Don’t worry about it, let’s get moving.”
I nodded and climbed onto the bus, taking a seat in the center where I could immediately climb up if anything happened.
“Ah, there you are.”
Sister Maria happened to be sitting next to me.
I wondered why the kids behind me were so quiet, but Sister Maria must have been acting as an inhibitor.
“I was just amazed,” she said, “I didn’t think you could wipe out that many golems in one fell swoop. Are all the Corleone Hitmen as strong as you are?”
She asks with a twinkle in her eye and I wonder if she saw my battle while she was carrying the luggage.
“Oh, you mean the others, yes. Not all of them are like me, but some are stronger than me.”
“……It’s a scary place outside.”
“Haven’t you been outside yet, Sister Maria?”
“What? Ahaha…….”
She scratches her head, smiling wryly at my question.
“……Actually, I grew up in Halla Cathedral in the Jeju diocese, so that’s why I’m more attached to the children.”
“Ah.”
“So I actually wonder sometimes what it’s like out there, but…… I can’t let that put me off, can I? Because as you just saw, children are always exposed to dangerous conditions.”
As she said that, she lightly crossed her arms over her chest.
As I listened, I suddenly felt a weight on the back of my chair.
“We will protect Sister Maria!”
“Sister Maria, don’t worry!”
“We’ll be as strong as the bishop!”
I could hear them all from behind.
The children’s reactions made her smile. Then she bursts into laughter.
“Yes. You’re all so trustworthy. Instead of…… leaning back in your chairs when the guests are resting, right?”
“Heehee, that’s a mistake, Sister Maria!”
“I didn’t do it!”
“Jacob did!”
The bus was again noisy with children’s laughter and voices.
It’s hard to believe that they were just in the middle of a battle.
For them, this is just another day.
“How far is it by car to the cathedral?”
“Oh, it’s a short drive, maybe thirty minutes?”
“That’s pretty close.”
“Yeah, as long as you don’t get too close to the cathedral, you don’t have to worry about being attacked on the way. It’s always been the port that’s been dangerous───”
-Spotted a group from Raiders on the hillside!
At that moment, a priest’s voice came from above the bus.
Quickly crossing over to the other side and looking out the window, I could see a crudely constructed vehicle that looked like it had been assembled from scrap metal following us up the barren hill.
‘Raiders’.
They were one of the major factions on Jeju Island, a militant group of Awakened and a gang of robbers.
Or, to put it another way, a bunch of rags who didn’t even make it into the Villains Alliance.
“I’ll be upstairs in a minute.”
I said to Maria, who was calming down the cowering children, and went upstairs to the top of the bus to get a better look at them.
“Chhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
“Here they come again!”
“Shake them all off!”
Four cars and six motorcycles.
About 16 people.
Then I saw a guy on a motorcycle aiming an RPG.
“One shot!”
My decision was quick.
I jumped off the bus and charged at the guy.
“Here’s an idiot!”
He fires his RPG at me as I rise into the air.
It’s not a normal warhead, and I can feel the mana from the tip so a direct hit would hurt like hell.
“The old man told me that these guys are so full of mana that they put it in all kinds of weapons.”
And most of them use explosive weapons that do damage even when blocked.
I knew this, of course, but his technique was something I hadn’t seen in the game.
I stretched out my foot toward the incoming projectile.
“Stupid bastard, I hope you explode and die!”
They laughed at the sight, and just before it closed in.
“Backflow.”
For an instant, I wrap my aura around the instep of my foot, and then make a large circle, catching the warhead as if I were wrapping the ball around my foot and ankle.
The motion is reminiscent of a perfect trapping.
A lesser aura would have exploded on contact, but the warhead didn’t, thanks to my control.
Next, I use my newfound skill: a technique that completely reverses the flow of a projectile.
It was a technique that could be applied to any projectile, so it was very versatile.
‘I mostly use my hands, but……I can also kick.’
The technique of maximizing centrifugal force by wrapping the red aura around it, spinning it around, and then adding my aura to it to increase its destructive power.
“You’re crazy–!”
He raised his arms to block the warhead flying towards him, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the warhead, which gained momentum once more as I threw it with my feet.
-Kaaaaaah!!!
With the explosion, the motorcycle he was riding and the junk car that was running alongside him were sent flying and slammed to the ground.
I curl into a ball and roll across the floor, then use the momentum to leap to my feet and spring forward, catching a nearby raider in the process.
“Huh?!”
“Hold on.”
Throwing him to the ground, I intercept the motorcycle and pull away, revving it up and speeding toward the others chasing the bus.
Come to think of it, wasn’t this my first time on a motorcycle?
But my body seemed to remember, and I was able to maneuver with great fluidity.
“Fuck that asshole!”
One of the guys in the junked jeep yells, pointing a gun at me.
I keep pulling the trigger, but with one hand on the wheel, I can’t quite control the recoil.
It was just a high-powered bullet but of course, they can’t catch me with just that.
-Pfft!
I immediately twist the steering wheel left and right, dodging the rain of undulating bullets.
-Dddddddddddd!
I can hear the muffled sound of a bullet slamming into a rock behind me.
“Aaahhhh! What are you doing, you idiots! You think bullets come from digging, and you’re barely dealing with one guy!”
“Kek!”
There was a yell from what appeared to be the leader.
While he was paying attention to me, the distance between us had widened considerably.
“Mr. Cloud, get to the bus!”
I quickly open the window, pulling the motorcycle close to the side of the bus.
“Follow them! If we can get their stuff, we can have a week’s worth of fun and food!”
“They’re just kids, they’re worth a fortune! Chase them now!”
Whether they were excited to see their colleagues getting beaten up in front of them or not, they continued to follow us without looking at their surroundings.
It’s a tense situation where I feel like I need to do something about it.
But
“Stupid. They don’t know what they’re getting into.”
While muttering that.
─thud!
“……!”
The jeep behind us is instantly blown up by something that fell from the sky.
-Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!
The disaster had already begun.
“Heh, heh, heh, stop, stop!”
Panicked, he looks around, notices the potholes, and quickly turns the head of the motorcycle.
“I’m sorry, I’ll be right back, please──”
But it’s a vain hope that can’t be fulfilled.
─Thud!
With that, the last raider is silenced, and the only sounds are the engines of the motorcycles and cars.
It took about 10 seconds for the remaining raiders to disappear.
I couldn’t help but be speechless at the absurdity of what I was witnessing.
“It’s really ridiculous to see, this is Jeju Island’s──”
“Mr. Cloud, be careful!”
“Huh?”
At that moment, along with Sister Mary’s urgent cry, a huge force was felt from overhead.
A huge light was falling from overhead towards this direction.
……Huh?
