Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

189 – Incineration

Determined to waste an enormous amount of points, Myung-jun forcibly summoned Knights and furiously tore up the ground within the quarantine area, as if to vent his anger over the points he had lost.

The most efficient way to locate the Prime monster hidden tens of meters underground was to forcibly inject the energy of the Knights’ unique equipment, the <Nemesis Force Blade>, into the ground, which destroyed the very molecular structure of the material.

Of course, if Myung-jun had brought Deki, who could move underground with her awakener ability, it would have been easier to find the Prime monster without summoning the Knights. Unfortunately, Myung-jun had not brought Deki for this subjugation operation.

“Commencing forced energy injection.”

[Confirmed. Forcibly injecting the energy of the Nemesis Force Blade into the ground.]

As another powerful energy wave rippled out from the center of the Knights’ greatsword, the ground around the Knights shook and trembled as if waves were crashing.

In an instant, the solidly packed soil and rocks within a radius of several hundred meters, including underground, lost their cohesion and turned into fine particles.

Considering the solid state of the ground being attacked, the range was astonishingly wide, but Myung-jun was not satisfied.

Even assuming that nearly 1 km of area was turned into powder at once, the vastness of the quarantine area suggested a significant energy consumption.

However, Myung-jun continued the search without hesitation, replacing the Knights’ power cartridges, which cost hundreds of millions of won each time.

The purpose of the search was singular: to force the Prime monster, hidden deep underground and synchronized with the surrounding terrain, to break synchronization and move.

To capture that moment, Kei, who had joined Myung-jun on the scene, was wearing a special suit and fully activating his awakening ability to track all the scents within the area Myung-jun was searching in real-time.

Finally, when Myung-jun had used up three cartridges and started on the fourth, Kei detected a completely new scent from within the ground and contacted Myung-jun.

[Hyung. Three o’clock direction, 2 km point. Something is moving 15 meters underground.]

[Could it be the Prime?]

[At the very least, it’s not a scent that can be detected on Earth.]

Upon receiving Kei’s message, Myung-jun swiftly moved the Knights. Estimating the speed of the target conveyed by Kei, he determined the central point of the ground where the main body was likely moving and thrust the greatsword into it.

“Commence forced energy injection! Maximum output!”

[Confirmed. Forcibly injecting the energy of the Nemesis Force Blade at maximum output.]

The place where Myung-jun landed the Knights was in the middle of a civilian village within the quarantine area, but he operated the Force Blade at maximum output without hesitation.

Then, an energy field of incomparable strength to the previous search spread out from the greatsword embedded by the Knights.

-BOOM!-

The shockwave was so powerful that it not only pulverized the ground but also turned the surrounding civilian houses into dust. The Untwart, moving underground, was left in shock.

‘Have they discovered my location?!’

Untwart hastily tried to maximize the durability of the tissues composing its body, but it was a futile struggle.

The Nemesis Force Blade, the Knights’ exclusive weapon, had the ability to cut through even the hardest tissues of a 9th-grade monster like tofu.

In front of that powerful weapon, which could even cut the bones of Banara, a member of the Twelve Heavenly Lords, there was no way for Untwart, who was far from reaching the level of a Heavenly Lord, to withstand.

-SHHRRRK!-

“KWEEEKK!”

The scream Untwart let out from 15 meters underground was absorbed by the sponge-like ground turned to dust by the energy field of the Force Blade, failing to reach Myung-jun’s ears.

However, Myung-jun, who had turned everything within a 1 km radius into dust, was confident that his attack had succeeded.

Unlike previous attacks where there was no response despite thrusting the greatsword, this time he felt a giant monster writhing deep underground.

Seeing the ground writhing like water in a heated kettle, Myung-jun immediately pulled out the greatsword and jumped the Knights into the air.

At that moment, numerous tentacles extended from the ground, covering the spot where Myung-jun’s Knights had been.

“Is that the Prime?”

Myung-jun noticed that the state of the tentacles attacking him was not normal. The tentacles were bleeding green fluid from numerous wounds, as if they had been ground up in a blender. The green fluid, possibly as highly acidic as the fluid of the parasites that melted the bodies of the infected, made a sizzling sound and mercilessly dissolved the soft ground Myung-jun had turned to powder whenever it touched the surface.

“Switch the Nemesis Blade from dispersion mode to cutting mode.”

[Mode switch complete.]

Determining that further searching was unnecessary, Myung-jun switched the mode of the greatsword. The energy field of the Nemesis Blade, which had been in emission mode, formed a blade-like shape centered around the blade.

Myung-jun then mercilessly swung the giant greatsword, glowing with a blue light, towards the ground from which the tentacles had emerged.

-BOOM!-

In an instant, the Knights’ greatsword left a massive scar on the ground, reaching tens of meters deep underground. Green fluid, like a fountain of blood, spurted out from the tentacles caught in the rift.

“KWEEEKK!!!”

“Finally, it screams!”

The sight of Untwart, visible through the cracked ground, was truly horrific. It wasn’t just because of the wounds inflicted by Myung-jun’s attack; the creature was inherently grotesque.

A mysterious monstrous monster writhing in pain 15 meters underground. Untwart was screaming internally from the immense pain coursing through its entire body.

For tens of thousands of years, Untwart had faced countless intelligent life forms, never once experiencing a crisis like this. In the outer universe where he lived, he was considered one of the most challenging monsters to deal with, but this time, the opponent was too formidable.

The adversary summoned by the Republic of Korea’s EDA to combat the mysterious infection. The Liberal Clan possessed overwhelming technology capable of neutralizing all of Untwart’s defensive measures.

And the leader of that group, Cha Myung-jun, was a man with the power to fight on equal terms with the Twelve Heavenly Lords, the rulers of the outer universe.

-THUD!!-

As the Knights’ greatsword sliced through the air once more, hundreds of Untwart’s tentacles were severed in an instant. Untwart, who had spread his tentacles widely like the hyphae of a fungus, retracted all his tentacles back to his main body.

‘At this point, I have no choice but to use my last resort.’

Although a direct confrontation showed no chance of victory, Untwart had a “last resort” for such situations. Resolving to use it, Untwart mobilized all his remaining tentacles to spray acidic fluid at the Knights.

Hundreds of liters of green fluid were launched towards the Knights piloted by Myung-jun. Myung-jun quickly maneuvered the Knights to avoid the fluid, not out of concern for damage but because he found the sight of the disgusting green fluid touching his Knights repulsive.

However, Untwart’s fluid attack was not a single shot. The fluid continued to be fired in rapid succession towards the spot Myung-jun had dodged, forcing him to keep moving the Knights swiftly to evade the continuous attacks.

While Untwart’s main body was buying time with these attacks…

-SZZZZ-

A small boil, resembling a pimple, appeared at the center of Untwart’s tentacles, where his main body was located. From within it, a slug-like parasite, similar in form to the parasites found inside the infected, emerged.

A small creature, only about the thickness of two fingers. This was the true identity of Untwart’s “last card.”

‘I’ve fought countless intelligent life forms, but none have ever been able to pay attention to such a small creature while battling a giant monster hundreds of meters long.’

Although this operation had failed, Untwart was not concerned. The enemies would mistakenly believe they had won the battle upon witnessing the death of his massive main body. In the meantime, he would grow a new main body and find new targets to infect.

Moreover, Untwart was confident that by learning from this failure and creating a new parasite with a more evolved algorithm, even the human enemies would be helpless against him.

However, Untwart was unaware. He did not know that Kei, the seeker who had located his position, had a sense of smell so keen that it could detect even the smallest fragment separated from the main body.

Kei, who was observing the battle between the Knights and Untwart from a distance using his sense of smell, immediately noticed a very small abnormal phenomenon occurring deep underground. He then contacted Myung-jun.

[Hyung, I think the main body is a decoy.]

[What do you mean?]

[A small piece just broke off from the main body underground. It’s moving as soon as it detached, and it seems like it’s trying to escape while using the main body as bait.]

[Isn’t it just a piece of flesh cut off from the fight?]

[It’s crawling away too actively for that.]

Hearing Kei’s report, Myung-jun fell into thought for a moment. Then he spoke to Kei.

[Alright. Let’s capture it alive.]

[How are we supposed to capture something moving 15 meters underground?]

[Can you pinpoint its exact depth and location?]

[How precise do you need it?]

[Down to the centimeter.]

[I’ll try.]

Listening to Myung-jun’s communication, Kei expanded his senses to the maximum. He went beyond merely detecting scent particles to a level where he could grasp the essence of all objects surrounding the “scent.”

This attempt was far beyond Kei’s usual capability range, but the special suit designed by Sujeong helped him exert his abilities beyond his limits.

Finally, opening his eyes, Kei informed Myung-jun of Untwart’s exact location.

[Found it.]

[Mark the coordinates and wait nearby.]

Realizing what Myung-jun intended to do, Kei shouted in shock.

[You don’t mean to tell me to capture the  monster in the split ground using the freezing capture device, do you?]

[Exactly.]

[Hyung, are you out of your mind? If you miss even a little, the  monster will either turn to dust or I’ll be cut in half by the sword strike from the Knights. Even with the special suit made by Sujeong noona, if I get hit by the Nemesis Blade, I’m dead in one shot!]

[Trust me. I’ll take it down in one blow.]

Despite grumbling, Kei moved to the expected path of the parasite, trusting Myung-jun’s words to believe in him.

When Kei arrived at the scene and marked Untwart’s exact movement path through the communication device on his wrist, Myung-jun maneuvered the Knights and raised the Nemesis Blade. He then delivered a powerful strike, capable of splitting the earth, right in front of Untwart’s moving path.

In an instant, a blue sword energy shot out from the greatsword swung by the Knights in mid-air, splitting the ground right in front of Kei’s feet. Despite being startled by the ensuing explosion, Kei closely observed the ground that Myung-jun had split open.

Seeing the  monster fly into the air from the impact of the explosion, Kei shouted loudly.

“Got it! You worm-like creature!”

Untwart, who had been flung into the air from the safety of the underground, was utterly shocked. The enemy, who should have been desperately fighting his main body, had precisely attacked his escape route.

However, Untwart’s thoughts did not continue further. Before he could even regain his composure in mid-air, the freezing capture device thrown by Kei froze him alive.

‘What the hell?!’

Thus, Untwart, a high-ranking parasite of the notorious parasitic species “Unity,” which had spread terror by infecting countless species, met his end with a curse-filled final cry.

Simultaneously, the main body, which had lost its connection to the protected Untwart, ceased its attack and began to melt away. Shortly after, as the green liquid from the melting tentacles dissolved the ground and thick clouds of a terrible stench rose, Myung-jun’s Knights emerged through the dense green clouds.

Holding the frozen Untwart, Myung-jun spoke to Kei, who was watching him.

“We need to contact the EDA. For now, this infection incident has been successfully resolved.”

“Does that mean we can lift the quarantine?”

“It should be fine. We’ve completely eradicated all infection sources within the operation area.”

Hearing Myung-jun’s words, Kei asked,

“This operation was incredibly tough. I hope we never have to fight something like this again. It’s easier to deal with strong opponents; these cunning types are too troublesome.”

“I agree, but this isn’t the end. What’s certain is that the one we eliminated this time wasn’t a Twelve Heavenly Lord-level monster. That means this might just be the beginning.”

“Are you saying there could be more of these things?”

“We’ll have to torture ‘that one’ in your hand to find out. Hopefully, its durability is higher than I think. If it dies before we get all the information, it’ll be a hassle.”

In Myung-jun’s eyes, a fierce determination burned brightly, reflecting his resolve to reclaim the points he had spent, even if it meant torturing the creature.

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