Chapter 759
The inside of the command and control room felt as hot and stifling as a steam sauna.
No, in truth, that was only an illusion brought on by the crushing impatience and anxiety weighing down on everyone’s hearts.
As if to prove it, even though the temperature was being perfectly regulated around the clock by magic, cold sweat was pouring down German Chancellor Markus’s forehead like rain.
“Magical Power levels are surging!”
“Estimated to enter Level 1 within thirty minutes!”
“The range of the Magical Power increase is expanding!”
“Intelligence has recalculated enemy numbers! Estimated minimum force: ten thousand!”
“Report from Commander Scholz! He requests authorization to use ‘Uran’ in preparation for the worst-case scenario!”
Listening to the shouts flying at him from every direction, Chancellor Markus bit his lip at that final report.
Uran.
Those two letters, treated as a secret among secrets, meant uranium.
In other words, nuclear weapons.
Naturally, Germany, a defeated nation in World War II, could not possess nuclear weapons.
But there are truths in this world that cannot be brought to light.
‘And now they’re saying we should use Uran?’
Commander Scholz, currently in charge of sealing off Munich, was not an idiot who spoke without thinking.
He was one of the few brilliant commanders who had achieved real military success during the Great Cataclysm, and a man of cold reason.
“Your Excellency.”
At his aide’s call, Chancellor Markus squeezed his eyes shut.
Then he spoke with difficulty.
“Prepare Uran.”
“B-but…”
“It is only a measure for the worst possible scenario. I am giving this order now as the head of this government.”
The generals and aides, who had widened their eyes at the unexpected order, soon nodded.
They already knew.
Modern weapons capable of dealing real damage to upper-ranked monsters, creatures little different from demons, were limited to nuclear weapons.
And…
‘If it truly is the worst-case scenario, then even nuclear weapons will be useless.’
Nuclear weapons were a double-edged sword.
If the enemy included a monster equivalent to a high-ranking mage, it could use spatial movement magic to drop a nuclear missile with horrifying destructive power right over a major city.
If the nuclear strike succeeded, Munich, Germany’s so-called third-largest city, would be lost entirely.
And if it failed…
He didn’t even want to imagine it.
“What about the civilians?”
“The evacuation operation is still underway. At present, the civilians remaining in the danger zone amount to roughly ten percent of Munich’s population.”
“Make them hurry. Once this begins, there will be no turning back.”
“Yes, sir.”
Berlin, the capital, had already taken a direct hit from the earlier terror attack.
They could not allow Munich to go through the same thing.
The human and material losses already suffered from Monster Waves had reached astronomical levels.
‘This time, we absolutely have to stop it.’
Even if it meant blowing the entire city away with nuclear weapons, the people had to be saved.
Because the reason a nation can exist is that there are citizens living within its borders.
And to make that wish a reality, reinforcements were absolutely necessary.
A one-man army Hunter capable of doing the work of a thousand, or ten thousand, alone.
“What about them?”
Them.
Though no names were spoken, no one in the command and control room failed to understand the meaning of those two words.
Reports came flooding in from every direction at once.
“Michael Silbert is currently engaged in Cape Town!”
“The battle situation is overwhelmingly favorable! Combat is expected to conclude within thirty minutes!”
“Damn it. Of all places, Africa.”
A sigh escaped from someone just then, and one of the aides quickly continued.
“Jin Taekyung is moving toward Munich. Estimated time until arrival on site is approximately one hour.”
“What? A whole hour?”
“Wasn’t it said there are only thirty minutes until it reaches Level 1 disaster status?!”
“S-sorry. He is traveling as fast as possible by fighter jet, but the distance is over eight thousand kilometers…”
“Goddamn it!”
Among those who had completely forgotten the meaning of the words composure and calm, Chancellor Markus wiped his forehead with a handkerchief already soaked through.
“Everyone, stay calm. Even though the projected scale of the monsters has increased, we are by no means outmatched. First, evacuate all remaining civilians within the remaining time, and deploy every available force.”
The main force currently surrounding the danger zone numbered five thousand.
If the reserve forces waiting in the rear were added as well, a Hunter army numbering ten thousand would be complete.
And at its head stood Germany’s pride, the S-Class Hunter Schumacher.
Thud.
Rising sharply from his seat, Chancellor Markus spoke in a resolute voice.
“It is a battle we have every chance of winning. If we can hold out for just thirty minutes, only thirty minutes, we can minimize the damage and bring this situation to an end—”
And at that exact moment.
“Urgent report from Commander Scholz!”
With a cry that swallowed the Chancellor’s words whole, a tremendous shock swept through the command and control room.
“T-the Magical Power! The Magical Power has exceeded the critical threshold!”
Critical threshold exceeded.
And that meant only one thing.
Monster Wave.
At last, the sturdy dam, the boundary that had divided humans from monsters, had collapsed.
A massive tremor swept through Munich.
The concrete-covered ground split open, and skyscrapers designed to withstand earthquakes collapsed like dominoes.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!
And beyond the thunderous roar shaking the world, people finally heard it.
And saw it.
Shwaaaak!
The cries of countless monsters emerging from the air, which split open as though cut by a sword.
– Grrrk.
Sssaaaaaa.
Mist darker than gray, almost black, seeped out and spread everywhere.
Monsters with human arms and legs, but the heads of bulls.
The endlessly emerging Minotauros looked around as they exhaled roughly.
An unfamiliar world filled with every kind of noise they had never heard before.
But the Magical Power permeating it was sweeter than anything, and the sight of countless humans in the distance stirred the innate ferocity within them.
– Grrk, Kaaauuu!
Kill them.
Kill the humans and conquer this world.
Roaring as one, the Minotauros charged across the ground.
Toward the humans who had raised a steel wall with their great shields.
For more blood and more Magical Power!
Drrrddd!
And the moment countless hooves pounded the earth.
Whoooooong.
With a heavy tearing sound, countless streaks cut across the sky and plunged down over the monsters’ heads.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwang!
A rain of missiles unleashed by the German Federal Army waiting in the rear.
Massive explosions accompanied by fire swallowed everything in every direction.
Turning everything left in that place, where most of the civilians had already evacuated, to ashes.
Melting it all away with horrific firepower.
No, at least that was what they hoped.
Even while knowing that firepower born of science could not stop those monsters.
The monsters.
Kwaaaaaaa…
The bombardment that seemed as though it would go on forever finally came to an end.
In the silence that fell over the city in an instant, as everyone stared at the mist that had not disappeared, one of the Hunters muttered softly.
“They’re coming.”
And those words that everyone had thought at once soon became prophecy.
Drrrddd! Drrrddd!
Kiiiii—iiiii—iiiii—
Violent tremors shook the earth.
Beyond the black fog, an uncountable number of monster horns flashed.
Along with the howl of a creature radiating a presence overwhelming any ordinary Minotauros.
– KRAAAAAAH!
The S-Class monster, Minotauros Lord’s [Fear], spread in all directions.
Standing at the front of the legion it led, the leader that had blown away everything blocking the broad road kicked off the ground with force.
Boom! Shwaeaeaeak!
The earth caved in like a sinkhole.
Toward the giant mass of the monster charging in with a massive roar, a single figure shot forward with the speed of a ray of light.
“How dare you!”
A shout filled with uncontainable fury.
Once a gold medalist fencer representing Germany, now the very symbol of Germany itself, the S-Class Hunter Joel Schumacher moved with his sabre.
Shiiik!
A silver line slashed through the air with a sharp tearing sound.
And the moment the giant halberd swung savagely collided with it.
Kwaaaang!
A deafening boom and shockwave shook everything in every direction.
It was the signal flare marking the start of battle.
And the two races, burdened with an inescapable fate, charged at each other.
“Formation!”
“Do not fall back! Kill them all!”
– Kaaauuu!
Kugugugung!
Shwishwishwish, splurt!
Countless explosions and screams.
And death following so close behind the cries that it might as well have been their shadow.
It was the beginning of a horrific bloodbath that would end only when one side had slaughtered the other.
Joel Schumacher fought like a man possessed.
So completely that he lost all awareness of time passing.
Without even knowing who around him was dying, or how many had already fallen.
He had no choice.
The moment he took his eyes off it for even an instant, that enormous halberd would tear his body to pieces.
Whooong, splurt!
The hair on his skin stood on end as the blade of the halberd brushed past right before his face with a heavy tearing sound.
But at the same time, a body tempered by countless repeated drills and battles moved as naturally as flowing water.
Shwaeak, paang!
Compressed air burst from the tip of the sabre as it thrust forward with his step.
The Minotauros Lord, stepping back with agility unsuited to its massive frame, twisted its face.
– Grrk?
A cry mixed with bewilderment and pain.
At some point, a hole the size of a child’s fist had opened in its shoulder.
‘Got you.’
Schumacher felt a tingling thrill run down his spine.
That movement just now had been so natural and so fast that even he himself had not consciously registered it.
As if invisible strings were controlling his body.
‘What is this? Did I lose too much blood?’
The battle against the Minotauros Lord was by no means easy.
No, to be honest, it was grueling.
The rusty blade of the halberd tore away chunks of flesh with the slightest graze, and each clash of weapons sent overwhelming force through his arms, rapidly draining his stamina.
Overwhelmingly inferior in strength.
A slight edge in speed.
That had been the result up until now, and Joel Schumacher’s vision had been growing hazy from blood loss and exhaustion.
But…
For some reason, right now, it felt as though he could do anything.
As though he could bring down that terrifying monster and become the superhuman who saved this land.
‘Yes. Ubermensch.’
Friedrich Nietzsche, father of German philosophy, once said this.
The Ubermensch is the superhuman who rises even in tragedy, the great overcomer who seeks to realize possibility to its absolute extreme.
And at this very moment, Joel Schumacher was ascending one more step, not in concept, but in martial might.
With the countless hours of training and experience he had built up from being the greatest fencer in the world until now.
And with his desire to survive.
Shik! Shwishwishwish!
Countless rays of light slashed through the air.
Each time the sabre danced, swung with the least possible movement and the greatest possible speed, the Minotauros sprayed blood and staggered back.
Thrust, slash!
He stabbed and cut.
The monster’s body reflected in Schumacher’s hazy eyes was filled with openings, and his senses, which had reached their peak, were focused on one thing alone.
The Minotauros Lord.
‘Now!’
Slash! Chwaaaak!
Watching the fountain of blood burst upward into the air, Joel Schumacher blinked.
‘Huh?’
Strange.
A monster’s blood should have been green or bluish.
But the blood raining down over his head was red as a rose.
Like a human’s.
“…Cough.”
Blood spilled through his dry lips.
At the same time, the dreamlike haze clouding his senses disappeared, and the reality that crashed over him all at once jolted his consciousness awake.
‘I’ve been cut.’
Not cut it.
Been cut.
Staggering as he felt a blazing pain tearing through his back, Schumacher realized it.
At the final moment, while all of his senses had been focused on the leader, a Minotauros had slashed across his back with a rusty sword.
His comrades, after cutting off that Minotauros’s neck, rushed in and caught him.
“Schumacher!”
“Damn it! Get back—”
Whoooong, splurt!
Along with the heavy tearing sound, the hands supporting him and his comrades’ breaths vanished.
Having lost his balance and collapsed, Schumacher gasped and lifted his head.
Minotauros Lord.
The leader of the monsters that had come to Munich was looking down at him.
With a giant double-headed axe raised high.
‘…Damn it.’
This was the end.
For Munich.
For the Hunters here.
And for the Ubermensch Germany had so desperately wanted.
Letting out a hollow laugh, Joel Schumacher closed his eyes.
No.
He was just about to close them.
“Planning to die like this?”
The unfamiliar voice that dug into his ears jolted awake his fading mind.
In his dizzy vision, Schumacher slowly blinked and saw someone’s back standing in front of him.
A back broader than Minotauros Lord’s, quiet yet radiating an overwhelming presence.
And the spear held in his hand.
At the same time, Joel Schumacher realized.
“Jin… Taekyung.”
Asia’s Ubermensch had arrived on the battlefield.