Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

155 – Beyond the Heavens

In the middle of the mushroom forest, about 30 kilometers from the entry area where Myung-jun had arrived, James Garner and two members of Team 5, along with one Seeker, were frantically running through the forest.

Chasing them were twenty monstrous creatures with enormous teeth.

To hinder their pursuers, James used his awakening ability once more.

“Bind them! Chains of Steel!”

In an instant, dozens of chains sprang up from the ground, blocking the monsters’ path, but the creatures easily bit through the chains James had summoned.

Unlike the teeth of Earth’s predators, the monsters’ teeth were razor-sharp, resembling those of a cookie-cutter shark.

However, this was precisely what James had intended.

“Queeeck!!”

James deliberately summoned dozens of chains towards the monsters’ heads, while summoning two much thinner chains at their feet.

As a result, one of the creatures tripped and fell, screaming as it rolled on the ground, allowing James and his team to widen the distance.

“Huff… huff…”

“Captain, are you alright?”

“No. I can only manage about three more times. If it weren’t for the techniques I learned from Mr. Ho-chang, we would have been torn apart long ago.”

“Those teeth are truly terrifying.”

The razor-sharp teeth of the monsters could bite through the Striker’s external armor, which could withstand hundreds of anti-tank rounds without a scratch, as if it were tough steak.

Recalling that shocking sight, Robert Junior, the weapon specialist of Team 5, handed over Lena Dunham, who he had been carrying on his back, to the exhausted captain.

“Recover yourself. I’ll handle the rest.”

Handing over an injured person while telling someone to recover might seem nonsensical by general standards, but it was a common concept among Awakener individuals.

For Awakener individuals, whose physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people, carrying a person took less stamina than using their abilities even once.

Having handed the injured person to James, Robert did not slow his pace as he drew the Magnum from his waist.

He then took a round with a yellow tip from the bandolier slung across his body and loaded it.

“Is that a stopping round? How many do you have left?”

“Five rounds.”

“Not even enough to fill a magazine.”

“We’ll have to make do with other rounds. We’re short on ammo as it is.”

Without looking back, Robert fired the Magnum towards the rear.

– Bang!! –

A monster hit squarely in the forehead was sent flying dozens of meters by the tremendous impact.

“Queeeck!!!”

“Not only is it impressive that you hit without looking, but it’s also shocking that a single handgun round can send that monster flying dozens of meters.”

“It’s a special round made by the Liberal Clan, just for me. Considering the cost of one of these rounds, it better do at least that much.”

The round Robert used was a special round made by Myung-jun, focused solely on stopping power.

The special round converted all its power into impact force, designed to send charging enemies flying backward. It had such poor destructive power that even an ordinary person hit by it would remain unharmed, but it had enough stopping power to send a multi-ton tank flying.

However, Robert knew well.

Simply sending the enemy flying was far from enough to escape this situation.

For now, they could only push back the enemies instead of killing them.

At that moment, a woman who had been struggling to keep up with the two men finally spoke up.

“Um… sorry, but do you have any water left?”

James, who was about to hand over his canteen, realized it was empty and looked at Robert.

Robert shook his canteen a couple of times and then handed it to her.

“This is the last of it. How many times can you use it?”

“…Just once. And it won’t last long.”

The woman spoke with parched, cracked lips.

She was Skyler Parker, the Seeker with special abilities whom the U.S. government had tried to rescue by deploying three Strikers.

Skyler opened the canteen she received from Robert and asked James,

“Should we look for the rescue team? Or should we look for water?”

She could use her search ability only once more.

James replied to her question on how to use that one chance.

“Let’s look for the rescue team.”

Robert opposed James’ opinion.

“If the rescue team hasn’t arrived, we’ll be wiped out.”

“Check the time. There’s not much time left until the mission fails anyway. Even if we find water to extend the search range and duration, we can only survive for a few more hours at best.”

“So, you’re saying we should give up?”

“No, I’m saying we should trust the U.S. government and EDF.”

James continued,

“If they haven’t dispatched a rescue team by now, there are two possible conclusions. Either EDF didn’t understand our distress signal, or they couldn’t find anyone suitable to send as a rescue team. Either way, if no rescue team comes, we’re as good as dead.”

“And if the rescue team has arrived?”

“Then heading towards them as quickly as possible is our only chance of survival.”

“I still think it’s better to find water and try to survive as long as possible.”

“It’s one to one. Since Lena is unconscious, it seems best to let Skyler decide.”

“Me?”

“It’s the last chance to use your search ability. So, it’s not a bad idea for the one using the ability to make the decision. Decide whether to search for water nearby to buy a few more hours of escape or to use the last search chance hoping that EDF has dispatched a rescue team.”

Skyler closed her mouth.

After some contemplation, she voiced her opinion.

“I’ll look for the rescue team.”

“Skyler!”

Skyler raised the canteen, cutting off Robert’s objection, and spoke in a calm voice.

“You all joined later, so you might have more stamina, but I was here from the beginning, running away all this time. If I’m going to die anyway, I’ll gamble on the option with the highest chance of survival.”

When Robert finally nodded in agreement, she opened the canteen.

Then she turned to James and asked,

“Do you think EDF understood the message Mr. Brown sent?”

James nodded and replied,

“I believe so. If it’s the commander of EDF that I know, he would have made the right decision. And…”

“And?”

“The fact that the rescue team has been delayed this long actually gives me more hope.”

James thought that since Brown had sacrificed himself to create an entry point for only one person, if the U.S. government had correctly interpreted the message, they would likely send ‘the strongest one.’

“As all the Awakener around the world know, there’s only one person who can change the situation this drastically alone. Considering that person is currently in Japan, it’s understandable that dispatching the rescue team would take some time.”

“If someone else came…”

“Then we might as well stop running and prepare to meet our end.”

“Is that person, Cha Myung-jun, really that strong?”

Before using her ability, Skyler asked one last question, to which both James and Robert simultaneously scoffed.

With identical expressions, they spoke in unison.

“His strength is on a different level.”

“He’s more of a monster than a human.”

Curious about how strong someone must be to elicit such a reaction from the two strongest Awakener in the U.S., Skyler infused the canteen she was holding with her will.

The water inside the canteen transformed into the shape of a small water dragon, reminiscent of those from Eastern mythology, and crawled out of the canteen.

‘This might be my last request. Go and find what I’m looking for.’

As if it had heard her inner thoughts, the tiny water dragon nodded its head.

Then it soared high into the sky at an incredible speed.

‘Considering the amount of water, I have about two minutes. I need to find the rescuer’s location within that time.’

Skyler’s original ability was to summon small animal-shaped familiars using water.

The familiar she summoned now, the ‘Aqua Worm,’ had the ability to reveal the location of all water within its sight.

From tiny droplets of dew on leaves to the water inside the human body, which is 70% water, it could see it all.

Using this ability, she could grasp not only the monsters tracking them but also those forming a siege from afar and the surrounding terrain through the moisture in the ground.

However, as soon as Skyler fully activated her ability, she realized there was no need to search hard for the rescue team.

The tiny water dragon flying in the sky had spotted a terrifying presence advancing with immense destructive power, evaporating all moisture around it.

A single airborne fortress performing such devastating bombardments that it was altering the terrain itself, advancing northward.

Below it, a man clad in 5-meter-tall steel armor was running fiercely, as if out for a jog, following the fortress.

“I found them. 23 kilometers north of here, the rescue team you mentioned has arrived.”

“Really? Who is it?”

“I don’t know. All I saw was a massive airborne battleship and a man in 5-meter-tall power armor turning everything around him to ashes.”

“It’s Cha Myung-jun.”

“It’s Cha Myung-jun.”

“Oh, so that person is Cha Myung-jun?”

“With an airborne battleship and power armor, it can only be him. Those monsters that wrecked the Strikers are probably being pulverized like meat in a grinder in front of him.”

“That’s exactly what I saw.”

“See? Just like I said, he’s a monster, right?”

As Robert, relieved by the long-awaited rescue request from Myung-jun, spoke, Skyler responded.

“A monster? No. I think ‘monster’ is too cute a nickname for him.”

She honestly shared her impression of witnessing Myung-jun’s battle for the first time.

“Rather than a monster, he felt more like a god.”

“Looks like he’s gotten even stronger since we met in Brazil. Hehehe… We’re saved now.”

Unlike the relieved Robert, James wore a contemplative expression.

He then asked Skyler,

“Which direction is Cha Myung-jun heading now?”

“West from the entry area.”

“Is he conducting a wide-area search?”

“No. It seemed more like he was clearing the surroundings as flashily as possible.”

“Then he’s probably not looking for us but for the gate boss. If he deals with the gate boss, he won’t need to find us to resolve the situation.”

Skyler, with a pale face, said,

“But the gate boss is in the opposite direction, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. But Cha Myung-jun is moving without a Seeker. He’s trying to draw as much attention as possible while advancing. He wants the gate boss to come to him, reacting to the deaths of its subordinates.”

“But if he continues advancing in the opposite direction…”

“He might run out of time to find the gate boss before the clear time expires.”

“Then what should we do?”

James responded to Skyler’s question.

“Robert, from now on, you’re the captain. You two, run as fast as you can to where Cha Myung-jun is.”

“What about you, Captain?”

“I need to bring the gate boss to where Cha Myung-jun is before the clear time expires.”

James’s face, as he said this, bore the same expression he had when Brown had tried to sacrifice himself for everyone.

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