Chapter 174

Chapter 174. Dr. Kim and the Seven (2)

****

Diana, the leader of the Misteltein team, frowned. What kind of weather is this? Fog and a storm at the same time?

“This is Misteltein-1. Requesting weather improvement.”

[Impossible. The current weather on the Korean Peninsula is under the control of the Seoul Branch. Attempting.]

It’s more surprising that this weather is even possible.

“Target is fleeing. That doesn’t look like Dr. Kim, and it’s not a strategically important point. Requesting to join up with another team.”

[Request denied. Eliminate them.]

Diana sighed. If that’s what the higher-ups say, then so be it.

“Misteltein. Explaining the operation.”

[Confirmed.]

“I’ll provide long-range fire support with No. 2. No. 3 and No. 4 will engage Dr. Kim. Multiple enemy combatants. No. 5, 6, 7, and 8 will lure the enemy.”

The Special Forces Misteltein has 8 members. The Seoul Branch has at least 8 squads guarding the area near Poi Station. They’re outnumbered.

But. The members of the Special Forces Misteltein are used to fighting gods, so they’re the most suitable unit to deal with Dr. Kim.

Misteltein-3 is a swordsman, and Misteltein-4 is a support sorcerer. These two have the best compatibility to deal with Dr. Kim.

Misteltein-2 is a high-output mage.

“Once the soldiers are dealt with, everyone will regroup and surround Dr. Kim. Operation begins.”

Diana checked her bowstring.

****

Nanami drew her sword.

“Enemies incoming.”

She had to act as Dr. Kim now. What would Dr. Kim say in this situation? No matter how much she thought about it, no answer came.

Nanami decided to just repeat what Dr. Kim had said before. A short phrase.

“This is Dr. Kim. Good luck. I’ll fight alongside you on the front lines.”

Nanami’s plan was this: lure the enemy to the nearby redevelopment zone and fight where civilian casualties would be minimal.

Whether the enemy would cooperate was another matter.

The enemy probably wouldn’t expect to take out Dr. Kim from a distance, so they’d likely chase her all the way here.

In a way, it was embarrassing.

The Seoul Branch and its allies had mobilized all their combat assets, but the headquarters had managed to send several transport planes into Seoul without significant damage.

If the Foundation’s goal was to destroy Seoul, the city would already be gone. But there’s no choice. We’ll do what we can now.

“Ah, ah. The enemy is moving this way. We’re heading to the Poi Station redevelopment zone now.”

[Disembark.]

The allied soldiers were disembarking from their infantry fighting vehicles. Nanami was assigned 9 squads of soldiers. That’s 9 infantry fighting vehicles.

Nanami moved to the center of the formation.

The original plan was to form a protective ring around Nanami and surround the incoming enemies to kill them. But things wouldn’t go entirely according to plan.

[Commence firing.]

The infantry fighting vehicles’ machine guns roared, but it didn’t seem like they’d be effective. The fog and storm were obscuring visibility. There’s no way they could hit anything in this situation.

For Nanami, it was the perfect weather to fight.

“Over there.”

Through the rain and fog, something flashed past the ruined buildings and caught Nanami’s eye. Nanami dashed forward at lightning speed. The first move would decide everything.

Pat, pat, pat.

Nanami broke through the rain and looked down at her target from the half-destroyed wall of a building.

It was a Misteltein member in a Foundation suit, wielding a greatsword. Probably looking for Dr. Kim (Nanami).

“Hey, up here.”

Lightning flashed above Nanami’s head.

A moment later, thunder would roar. Nanami let her muscle memory take over and blinked.

The sword moved.

With a thunderous roar, the building beneath Nanami turned to sand.

A life-or-death moment.

Adrenaline filled her veins, her thoughts sped up endlessly, and time seemed to stop. At Nanami’s speed, even the air felt like water, hindering her movement.

Nanami focused on the moment. The sound of thunder, the crumbling building, the rustling of gas masks and suits.

The raindrops falling from the sky seemed to slow down, and countless raindrops reflected Nanami and her opponent.

Nanami slowly, taking her time, assessed the situation. Blue sword energy poured out. Her opponent was wielding a strange sword.

Some kind of mechanical device.

Maybe a Reality Anchoring Device?

The sword’s hum made the density of reality feel tangible.

It’s a good thing Nanami’s power isn’t related to reality adjustment. Misteltein is a Special Forces unit created to kill gods.

They were probably sent to kill Dr. Kim.

Damn humans.

There was only a hand’s breadth between the two swords. Nanami narrowed her eyes. It would be hard to block a full-powered sword strike.

She’d just have to deflect it. Most of the destructive power would be lost, but Nanami twisted in mid-air and changed the trajectory of her sword.

Even with the altered trajectory, it was a sword strike that could destroy buildings and cut through warships. At this level, her opponent wouldn’t be able to block a single strike.

Nanami’s opponent was thrown back by the force of the deflected strike.

With just this much power, how dare they? It’s too early to let her guard down, but Nanami climbed up the ruined building and looked down at her opponent.

Let’s finish this quickly.

Nanami closed the distance and swung her sword. Instead of a large motion, this time she adjusted her strength to split the sword strike.

She seemed weaker than Black.

“Weak and slow.”

Nanami muttered.

With every step Nanami took, dust and gravel flew in all directions. With every swing of her sword, raindrops were sliced apart.

But something—

Dangerous. Nanami stopped her advance and took a step back. Red threads were filling the area.

Tsk. Nanami swung her sword, cutting through the red threads scattered around. They didn’t seem to have a physical form. Some kind of sorcery?

A magic circle.

Nanami retreated from the area entirely. Something like red lightning shattered the surroundings. Well, the enemy must have had some tricks up their sleeve.

First, she needed to figure out where the long-range attacker was and what they were doing. Fighting blindly like this was too dangerous.

“Ugh…”

****

The Foundation is a group that fights against the incomprehensible. It’s only natural to use unconventional means to fight the unconventional…

Pat.

There was no gunshot, no sound of bullets.

Only the raindrops bending and falling along the path it cut through the air.

An arrow.

Its trajectory curved freely, and every time it appeared, it skewered two or three people. But the arrow hit.

[Squad 1 annihilated!]

Three arrows wiped out a squad.

[Squad 2, 4 casualties.]

And a bit more. The Special Forces Science Officer, Dr. Yang, moved upstairs with a ballistic shield.

“This is Dr. Yang.”

“You can’t shoot what you can’t see, so use smoke grenades and take cover to move.”

Dying is the same, but if they’re not aiming for the head, they either don’t have the firepower to penetrate helmets or the accuracy to aim for the head.

“If they’re not aiming for the head, they either lack the speed to penetrate helmets or the accuracy to aim for the head. There must be some limitations.”

“Move to the rooftop and use smoke grenades to confirm the enemy’s position. Judging by the angle of the arrows, the distance should be within 100 meters.”

Rooftop reached.

Dr. Yang rolled a smoke grenade onto the rooftop of the building they arrived at, then hid in the newly formed cloud and looked outside. They must be somewhere…

Dr. Yang scanned the surroundings with a scope. By now, the enemy’s arrows should have stopped falling. It’s hard to tell because of the rain, but—

“Use smoke, and target buildings in the direction the arrows came from where our smoke hasn’t risen.”

Gustav recoilless rifle. It’s hard to pinpoint the enemy’s exact location, but there aren’t many buildings in the general direction the arrows came from where smoke hasn’t risen.

Five buildings fit the criteria.

The Special Forces members fired the Gustav recoilless rifle, and the infantry fighting vehicles fired their machine guns and anti-tank missiles. Five buildings collapsed—

“Enemy on the move. Spotted.”

Something in black passed by. A humanoid figure holding a massive bow. It wasn’t clearly visible, but… they could chase it.

“Infantry fighting vehicles, advance.”

The infantry fighting vehicles advanced into the operational area. In the direction the archer’s figure had passed.

****

The sorcerer wasn’t found.

The red spiderwebs. At first, they were as thick as fishing lines, but they gradually increased in number until they blocked all visibility.

They must have used some other magic too, because Nanami’s sword swings felt like cutting through water, and movement became difficult.

The Misteltein swordsman was still fighting Nanami, but the teeth of Nanami’s Uncheolseok Greatsword were starting to chip.

“You’re not Dr. Kim, are you?”

You just figured that out now?