Chapter 71
1.
When he obtained the Monofilament Cutter, Kim Seojun thought about using it himself or having Major Lee Hyena use it.
"Excuse me, Staff Sergeant Kim."
"Yes."
"About that Monofilament Cutter, could I try modifying it a bit?"
At that moment, Jo I-Hyeon made a suggestion.
"A modification?"
"Considering your tendencies, Staff Sergeant Kim, I wondered if there was really a need to use it as a sword. So, you see."
With that, Jo I-Hyeon showed him a blueprint.
It was a drone.
"It's a drone combined with a rocket system. It moves like a normal drone, but when needed, the rocket ignites to provide additional acceleration. You attach the Monofilament Cutter to this end."
It is equipped with a Monofilament Cutter.
The moment he saw it, the look in Kim Seojun's eyes changed.
‘This is it.’
It looked far more effective than clinging to a Mog and wielding the Monofilament Cutter.
Especially here, Kim Seojun had one thought.
‘I see the Trajectory of a Projectile.’
"Ms. Jo I-Hyeon."
"Yes."
"I have one more favor to ask."
He made a request to Ms. Jo I-Hyeon.
"Please make a launcher to fire the drone."
"What? A launcher?"
"Would it be possible to make it fire the drone like a gun?"
"Well... it wouldn't really have any special effect, but if it's just for show, there's no problem at all."
And now, that result was in Kim Seojun's hands.
Kim Seojun loaded the Monofilament Cutter drone that Jo I-Hyeon had made onto the launcher.
After that, he hoisted the launcher, which was like a bazooka, onto his shoulder.
At that moment, Kim Seojun could see it.
The Red Trajectory.
Fwoosh!
The moment he pressed the button in that state, Kim Seojun could see it.
The drone was flying along the Red Trajectory.
And from there, Kim Seojun began to pilot the drone, and he could see it.
The Red Trajectory was continuously being drawn along the drone's path.
Like a navigation system.
It was the moment the drone was recognized as a projectile, and the moment he saw it, Kim Seojun's eyes shone.
2.
When the Resistance at the Japan Headquarters Base heard the news that a Mog Legion of 1 million was coming, they were filled with despair.
However, there were no runaways.
Anyone who would flee had already run away long ago.
"Even if we die, we die here."
Thus, everyone harbored a do-or-die resolve.
That was all.
Resolve was all they could harbor; there were no tactical or strategic discussions.
For one thing, it was impossible to achieve anything by clashing head-on against that swarming Mog Legion.
"We pour as many shells as possible before they cross the fence, until the fence gives out , as much as we can."
Their only hope was to pour out all their firepower while the fence held, reducing the numbers of the Mog Legion even a little.
However, they knew that even the Fence System, which the Japanese Government had spent an astronomical amount of money to build 15 years ago, would struggle to hold out for even 15 minutes against those overwhelming numbers.
In the end, everyone looked to what came next.
"After it falls, we reduce its numbers as much as possible."
At this moment, there was only one end everyone could see.
"We evacuate the children."
With everyone harboring that do-or-die resolve, they now waited for the Mog Legion to swarm in.
It was not difficult to confirm.
Even from a distance, the approach of a Mog Legion of 1 million and the disaster it created could be confirmed all too easily.
Before it, the Resistance was left dumbfounded.
They couldn't even form a thought.
They didn't even feel fear.
They thought resistance was impossible.
"Huh?"
But then, at a certain moment, a change occurred in the scenery they were watching.
BOOM!
Suddenly, powerful explosions began to ring out.
BOOM!
It was not missiles, but the sound of aerial shells exploding, those incredibly brute-force shells.
And that sound didn't stop after just a few times; it exploded endlessly.
Naturally, everyone here thought the same thing.
"It's a Bombing Unit!"
Only bombers could make this possible.
And not just one, but several were arriving at the same time.
Naturally, everyone looked up at the sky.
But there was nothing in particular to be seen.
BOOM!
Surprisingly, even amidst that, the sounds of explosions were heard repeatedly.
That wasn't all.
"The Tank Beetles were falling!"
"What?"
The Tank Beetles, which had been exuding a terrifying presence from the rear, began to fall.
The moment the most troublesome entities for the Resistance collapsed, the Resistance members' expressions changed.
Everyone tensed up.
They now harbored the will to fight.
‘Reinforcements have arrived!’
Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari was the same.
‘I don't know who it is, but we can't just stand still here.’
She thought they shouldn't just stare blankly at this precious support.
Moreover, this was quite significant support.
From the Resistance's perspective, the most troublesome things were not the Mogdogs, but the Tank Beetles capable of long-range attacks and powerful bombardment.
But right now, the reinforcements were dealing with them.
Then the only things left were the Mogdogs!
‘We can hold out against Mogdogs even if tens or hundreds of thousands of them come.’
From the perspective of Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari wearing the Red Goblin suit, Mogdogs were by no means a fearsome opponent.
Then there was no reason to hesitate.
She soon led her unit, preparing to cross the fence to smash the swarming Mogdogs.
"Lieutenant Colonel!"
It was at that moment.
"Assault Beetles were coming!"
The moment they heard those words, everyone, including Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari, looked astonished.
‘Of all things!’
In this situation, they were truly the worst possible Mogs.
They were Mogs that could tear down the Fence System in an instant.
That was why.
"The Assault Squad!"
Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari issued an order.
"We were going to hunt the Assault Beetles!"
It was important to somehow deal with the Assault Beetles before they could tear down the Fence System.
It was like striking a rock with an egg, but if they left it like this, everyone would be crushed by the rock anyway.
They had to do something.
At the very least, they had to delay the Assault Beetles' charge.
And for that, Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari stepped forward first.
Wearing a giant red suit over 3 meters tall, twice as large as the others, she leaped down from the fence and immediately began to charge.
She advanced toward the Assault Beetles faster than anyone else, and because of that, she could see it before anyone else.
Vrrrrr!
Something was making a bizarre sound, effortlessly piercing right through the heads of the Assault Beetles and flying past.
‘Huh?’
Seeing that, Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari was surprised, and she could soon see it.
Thud!
The Assault Beetles were sprawling on the ground with holes in their heads.
3.
The drone, spearheaded by the Monofilament Cutter, eliminated the Assault Beetles with surprising ease.
In fact, that in itself was not surprising.
The Monofilament Cutter was a ridiculous weapon whose power turned even specially crafted steel plates into pudding—meaning it severed things at the molecular structure level to begin with.
What was surprising was the speed.
Vrrrrr!
The Monofilament Cutter drone was piercing through the heads of the Assault Beetles at an astonishingly fast speed.
It was a ridiculous speed.
"My god."
Even Noah Winston, who was watching, was appalled.
"Is it possible for a drone to move like that?"
Putting everything else aside, the movement of the Monofilament Cutter drone was ignoring the rules of flight for an airborne object at that moment.
Of course, it was possible because it was Kim Seojun.
Telekinesis!
Using that, Kim Seojun was currently manipulating the drone's trajectory freely.
At the same time, he could see it.
‘I just have to follow the line.’
Thanks to the effect of Apollo's Blessing, he could hit his desired targets more easily than ever before.
It was thanks to that.
Kim Seojun was able to quickly eliminate most of those troublesome Assault Beetles.
He didn't eliminate all of them.
The Assault Beetles were fast, and dozens of them destroyed the Fence System of the Japan Headquarters Base.
However, compared to the numbers that had been swarming in, it was at a level that couldn't even be considered damage.
"Truly amazing."
"Ms. Winston."
"I know, it's not the time to laugh."
Of course, neither Kim Seojun nor Noah Winston rejoiced at that fact in the slightest.
The eyes of the admiring Noah Winston hadn't held a hint of a smile even once so far.
They knew.
"There were too many."
No matter how many aerial shells they dropped and Monofilament Cutter drones they flew, they could only eliminate a minority.
"Compared to our ammunition."
In particular, the number of aerial shells Kim Seojun had wasn't small, but it wasn't at a level to eliminate all 1 million Mogs.
Crucially, the reason Kim Seojun could use the aerial shells with peace of mind was that the Mog Legion had not yet reached the Resistance's Base of Operations.
What if they reached it?
Would Kim Seojun really be able to drop aerial shells then, disregarding the damage to the Resistance or civilians?
Kim Seojun could speak clearly about that.
He couldn't do that.
Of course, he had no intention of whining about it either.
There was no way the swarming Mogs would be moved by such sounds and return home.
"So let's just look at the bright side."
Also, the situation had been spared the worst.
"We eliminated all the Tank Beetles and Assault Beetles, didn't we? We also took care of a significant number of Spine Snakes."
They had eliminated the most troublesome ones.
They had also dealt with quite a few Spine Snakes.
In effect, it meant that what remained were mostly Mogdogs, and in front of the combat power of a Psycher, Mogdogs were not difficult opponents.
"With just the two of us, well, if we fight all day, something will work out. We might be short on shells, but we're overflowing with bullets, right?"
And fortunately, the number of bullets was truly massive.
There was one problem.
"This place will be devastated, though."
After this battle ended, the Resistance's Headquarters Base would be devastated.
No matter how amazing Kim Seojun's Group was, it couldn't stop the incoming tsunami.
And no matter how livable Planet Kingclench was, it was different from Earth.
It was a place where one couldn't breathe freely for even 10 minutes without equipment.
The moment the Resistance survived, it would inevitably fall into that dilemma.
Where on earth should they go?
"For now, I will focus on the battle."
Of course, that was a story for after they survived.
"Right, worrying is something living people do; corpses don't worry about things like that."
Therefore, Kim Seojun's Group didn't worry about that at that moment.
They focused only on the battle.
And 18 hours passed, and Kim Seojun could hear it.
[The battle has ended.]
[You have acquired a total of 1,003,111 points.]
[You have acquired 1,000,000 points in a single battle for the first time. A Skill Upgrade Ticket (Transcendent) is provided.]
4.
It was a miracle.
Despite facing a Mog Legion of nearly 1 million, the Resistance survived.
And quite a few of them survived at that.
However, when the battle ended, there wasn't a single person cheering.
They couldn't.
The Japan Headquarters Base where the Resistance had been staying had virtually all of its buildings and facilities destroyed, except for the shelters hidden underground.
Faced with that bleak situation, Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari couldn't bring herself to say things like, 'Report the damage situation!'
The others were the same.
Having struggled desperately to live, they now faced an incredibly cold reality.
‘Where do we go now?’
It was then.
"L-Lieutenant Colonel Hikari!"
A Space Marine with a Japanese Flag attached to his battle suit approached and spoke urgently.
"I-It's them."
At those words, Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari's expression changed.
"Where are they?"
She was already aware of their existence.
She had to know.
Because they were the ones who had eliminated most of the Mogs that attacked this place.
And they hadn't just eliminated them.
The Resistance had seen it.
The Mogdogs were being hunted down, swept away by the gunfire shot from the attack helicopter.
If it were not for them, not a single survivor would exist here right now.
That was why.
"They were coming this way."
The moment Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari heard they were coming, she didn't wait.
Thud!
Wearing the incredibly massive Red Goblin Suit, she went straight to meet them.
And soon, the moment she saw the reinforcements, Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari immediately saluted.
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari, Commander of the Resistance!"
She treated them as superiors right away, even before the other party revealed their rank.
It was a rare sight in normal circumstances.
But that moment was not a normal circumstance.
From Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari's perspective, even if the person in front of her was a Private E-1, she had to give the person the highest treatment.
"I am Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun of the Korean Space Force."
At Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari's greeting, Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun also saluted and introduced himself.
They finished their greetings, and at that moment, Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun spoke.
"By any chance, do you have another headquarters secured besides this place?"
He asked the most important question at this point in time, and to that question, Lieutenant Colonel Matsumoto Hikari shook her head and answered.
"This place is our Last Bastion."
They had nowhere else to go.
At those words, Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun's expression also hardened.
It was obvious, but staying here was by no means a good choice.
Just holding out was one thing, but they didn't know when the Mog Legion would come again.
"The Chinese Space Force will inevitably send troops."
Crucially, in this situation, there was no possibility that the Chinese Space Force would just leave the Resistance forces alone.
Of course, the situation on the Chinese side wasn't good either.
Right now, they have lost control over the Mogs, and every base except the First Headquarters Base has issued a Support Request.
That was why Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun was even more certain.
‘In this situation, they won't want to just leave a headache like the Resistance alone.’
The first thing they had to do in this chaos was to eliminate threatening variables.
So they had to find even an abandoned Headquarters Base and move there.
It was around then.
"Brigadier General."
Kim Seojun, who had been keeping quiet in the back, called out to Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun, and Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun raised his head.
"There is currently one Headquarters Base operating normally."
At those words, Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun looked surprised.
"There's a place like that? Where is it?"
In response to that surprise, Kim Seojun answered.
"It's the First Chinese Headquarters Base."
"Huh?"
A question mark floated on Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun's face upon hearing that answer, and an awkward smile soon formed on his lips.
"Hey, Staff Sergeant Kim, you're not asking me to tell the Resistance to migrate there right now, are you?"
"No Support Request came from the First Headquarters Base. That means they held out."
"Doesn't that mean, in other words, that their combat power is strong enough to hold out? Of course, I know. Your abilities are amazing, Staff Sergeant Kim. You easily robbed the Third Headquarters Base too. But the First Headquarters Base is on a different level. The level of security and the level of stationed troops will be several times those of the Third Headquarters. It's not a place you can just enter whenever you want like your own house."
To those words, Kim Seojun answered.
"I can enter."
"What?"
"Now, I can enter as much as I want, whenever I want to enter."
To Brigadier General Lee Yeong-Jun, who looked blank at those words, Kim Seojun answered more certainly.
"I can now use Teleportation to go anywhere."