Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

124 – Earth’s Strongest Senior

“Kyah! Don’t come! I said don’t come!!!”

Deki swung her arms, looking at the swarm of insects rushing at her with sharp teeth bared.

Then, a huge stone wall rose between the swarm of insects and her.

A massive wall, made of solid ground, and a staggering 3 meters thick.

She desperately hoped the wall would block the insects’ charge, but the scene that entered her view was of countless insects rushing forward, breaking through the thick stone wall as if it were sand.

The time it took them to penetrate the 3-meter-thick rock was just about 3 seconds.

However, for her, moving at an incredibly fast speed using the power of the wind, those 3 seconds were precious.

‘If this turns into a long-term battle, I’ll definitely get caught. Judging by the speed at which the rock wall broke, even with the power of the rock spirit, it won’t hold for more than 10 seconds.’

She imagined herself caught by the swarm of insects.

In a state where her whole body had turned to stone, she envisioned herself being torn to pieces, like ants devouring a corpse, into hundreds of thousands of pieces.

That horrifying thought reminded her of the genetic fear humans have towards insects.

‘Dragging out time won’t work.’

She couldn’t understand it.

By the common sense she knew, every ability required a price.

It was the same for her ability to transform into rock and shatter mountains.

Every time she used her ability with willpower, she could feel an unknown energy within her body being consumed.

However, the opponent currently tracking her was continuously using an absurd level of ability, as if they had an infinitely supplied energy tank.

And what that meant was only one thing.

‘The opponent is overwhelmingly stronger than me.’

Deki had encountered those stronger than herself before.

The strongest awakener one from China, who came to kill her.

She was the one who fought against and drove Poison Emperor Zhai Tianlin to the brink of death.

And the battle she remembered back then wasn’t a difficult one.

She had the ability to transform living tissue into rock, an inorganic material immune to poison.

She could instantly dilute the highly acidic posion Zhai Tianlin sprayed with a large amount of water.

She could turn her entire body into flames, burning away any poison that infiltrated her body.

She could transform into a poison cloud, summoning a powerful wind that prevented her opponent from even approaching her.

All of her abilities countered those of Poison Emperor Zhai Tianlin, the strongest awakener in China, who had confidently tried to hunt her but was defeated without even being able to put up a proper fight.

However, the current situation was the exact opposite of that time.

The insects pursuing her easily dodged the flames she shot, the rocks she summoned couldn’t stop their teeth, and the waves of water she conjured were penetrated effortlessly.

In such a scenario, her lifeline became the wind attribute, the last of the four elements she could control.

Every time she stomped her bare feet, the power of the wind created an incredibly strong gust beneath her soles, allowing her to move swiftly as if she were flying.

Yet, despite her speed, the distance between her and the pursuing insects didn’t widen easily.

It was as if they were waiting for their prey to exhaust all its strength.

In the end, she took a gamble on a slim chance, stopped in her tracks, and shouted at the swarm of insects.

“Wait!!!!!!!!!!!!”

She thought that the awakener one controlling these insects from somewhere might be watching her through their eyes.

Whether her guess was correct or not, the insects stopped their pursuit and looked at her upon hearing her cry.

Seeing this, Deki spoke to the swarm.

“I don’t know which god’s avatar you might be, but even if I die here, I want to at least know the identity of the one who killed me. Could you please reveal yourself?”

– Buuuuuuung –

To her astonishment, the sight before Deki’s eyes was of the insects clustering in the air to form letters.

It was a horrific scene, more akin to a terrifying spectacle than a beautiful aerial show performed by living drones, as tens of thousands of insects orderly created specific shapes.

However, since it was the only reaction from the opponent apart from the attack, Deki focused on deciphering the letters formed by the insects.

“W…A…I…T… Wait. Does it mean to wait?”

Understanding the opponent’s intent, Deki sat down to signal her comprehension of the message.

Shortly after, a soldier from the People’s Liberation Army, with a frightened expression, arrived in a vehicle where Deki was.

“I’m sorry, but the other party can’t understand Tibetan.”

“Are you here as an interpreter?”

“Yes. I’ve brought a radio, so I’ll be translating in the middle.”

“Then please convey this. Why are they trying to kill me?”

At this, the soldier, infuriated by Deki’s words for having turned countless comrades to ashes and buried them underground, shouted at her.

“You are a traitor who tried to overthrow the national system! You’ve killed numerous soldiers, and you don’t know why you’re being attacked!?”

Before Deki could respond, she saw the soldier’s face turn pale.

A large insect had approached the soldier and was pointing its sharp mandibles at his neck.

Simultaneously, a man’s voice speaking in Korean came from the radio the soldier held.

[I don’t know what the hell you’re saying, but if you’re here to interpret, just interpret. Don’t chat among yourselves.]

“I’m sorry. She’s asking why you’re trying to kill her.”

At that moment, surprisingly, Korean words came out of Deki’s mouth.

“From what I hear, you sound Korean. Why is a Korean trying to kill me?”

[You speak Korean? It seems we didn’t need an interpreter. You heard her, right? Hand the radio to her and get out of here.]

The soldier threw the radio to Deki and got into the vehicle. Then he sped away from the dreadful place as fast as he could.

[Now that there’s no interference, shall we talk? You asked why I’m trying to kill you? It’s a simple job. No hard feelings.]

“My fight is a legitimate protest expressed by a nation that lost its country. Korea also has experienced losing its country in the past, so you should understand, right?”

[You know a lot about Korea?]

“One of my masters was a tour guide.”

[Well, you’re not wrong. But just because I got beaten up by a bully in the past doesn’t mean everyone has to become a hero saving people from getting beaten up. Honestly, what happens in Tibet is none of my business.]

“The power given by the gods should be used for a greater cause. With such immense strength, are you choosing to become an assassin instead of a hero?”

[I don’t particularly believe in gods, nor do I have the time to debate that with you. I attempted this conversation thinking you might have some interesting information, but it seems to have been a waste of time.]

As soon as Hee-cheol finished speaking, thousands of insects began to gather into a human shape right in front of Deki’s eyes, as if trying to form the most horrifying amalgamation in the world.

These figures, now a singular mass, started to take shape slowly, like a sculpture made of clay. Some parts formed into armor, others into weapons. The end result was a figure resembling a medieval knight in armor, approaching Deki.

This was an ability Hee-cheol couldn’t use before absorbing the Silvaris’ crystal. Satisfied with his new power, Hee-cheol conveyed his will through the knight-shaped figure.

“Being strong is a good thing. It lets you do what you couldn’t before. The thrill from that is quite captivating.”

Listening to Hee-cheol’s voice coming from the figure rather than the radio, Deki bowed her head.

‘Should I attack? No, even if I exclude the insects used to create that figure, I’m already completely surrounded by insects. Moreover, the aura emanating from that figure made of insects suggests my abilities won’t work at all…’

In a situation with literally no answers, Deki felt intense despair. It was the sensation of her hope, that she might be able to achieve her nation’s liberation with her own hands, shattering completely.

It was the feeling of deprivation when facing an opponent with a power far stronger than her own. All these feelings were draining the fighting spirit that burned within her heart.

And Hee-cheol, as if understanding her emotions, spoke to her.

“It feels hopeless, doesn’t it? The feeling when your abilities, which you believed to be absolutely strong, crumble before a stronger opponent. The despair of realizing that you, who believed you were the protagonist destined to save the world, are nothing more than an extra. It’s a feeling that’s never easy to overcome.”

Hee-cheol looked at Deki.

She wore a traditional Tibetan outfit made of various brightly colored fabrics—red, green, white, yellow. Once a source of pride towards her homeland, the outfit was now torn apart and stained with blood and dirt from Hee-cheol’s insect attacks. It was a cruel experience for a young girl who didn’t even appear to be twenty yet, but Hee-cheol felt no sympathy upon seeing her.

As an Awakener with the power to easily take lives, he knew he had to be prepared to have his own life taken just as easily by another Awakener, regardless of their gender or age. Only the simple logic of who was stronger mattered.

Pointing the spear held by the knight-shaped doll at Deki, Hee-cheol said, “If you’re willing to die without resistance, I’ll end you in one strike. If not, being torn apart by the insect swarm is also an option. How do you wish to die?”

“A dignified death.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s not an option. If you won’t resist, using insect-type dolls to capture you is the most efficient. And the end result of that choice will be dreadful.”

Instead of responding to Hee-cheol’s words, Deki staggered to her feet. With a determined look in her eyes, she activated her ability. Water masses formed in her left hand, flames in her right, and rocks were lifted from the ground around her, floating in orbit.

“If that’s your choice, so be it. Regardless of how painful the outcome may be, do not resent me.”

In an instant, thousands of insect-shaped dolls surrounding her began to rush at her simultaneously, echoing through the canyon with their dreadful buzzing. It was an overwhelming attack with a destructive power that she could not possibly stop with her current power.

“I’m sorry, Master. It seems my power wasn’t enough,” she thought, facing the horrific death of being torn apart.

Her last thought, in the face of such a dreadful death, was not fear but regret. Regret that she couldn’t achieve her goal of her people’s liberation with the gift given to her by the gods. Regret that, despite having that gift, she couldn’t fulfill her purpose. Amidst all these emotions, the strongest one she felt was the ‘pride’ of not giving up until the end.

“At least I didn’t give up, right?”

As Deki inwardly muttered and gathered her energy, two gigantic pillars—one of water and one of fire—appeared on either side of her. However, as Deki prepared to launch the summoned pillars towards the insect swarm, she couldn’t help but freeze in place at the sight that followed.

What she saw were two colossal pillars of fire, tens or even thousands of times more powerful than the one she summoned, shooting in a straight line from behind her towards the swarm of insects. Like powerful beams reminiscent of space battleships, they effortlessly erased the swarm, which she couldn’t even touch despite her attempts to burn them away.

Simultaneously, Hee-cheol’s enraged cry mixed with his realization of the attacker’s identity exploded. Among all the Awakener he knew, only Myung-jun possessed equipment capable of unleashing such a powerful attack from a distance—the ‘Hell Blaster.’

“Daaaammmnnn!!!”

Deki hastily looked up as the swarm of insects charging at her suddenly veered upwards into the air at a 90-degree angle.

There, she saw the figure of Myung-jun, clad in white armor, descending amidst a blue light reminiscent of lightning, repelling all the swarming insects that came into contact with him.

As the shattered parts of the insect dolls rained down like confetti from the impact, Myung-jun’s powered suit landed on the ground. Simultaneously, shockwaves emanated from the suit’s body, severing the connection between the Awakener controlling objects within a certain range and their controllers, acting like a ‘kind of Awakener EMP,’ disrupting the connections.

Hee-cheol felt the immediate dissolution of his connection with the insect dolls. Feeling a pain akin to someone forcefully tearing at a bundle of nerves within his mind, Hee-cheol involuntarily screamed, clutching his head.

Then, Myung-jun’s voice, picking up the fallen radio, sounded from the device beside Hee-cheol.

[Moon Hee-cheol. Instead of tormenting a weakling, come here. Let’s settle this once and for all today.]

It was a declaration of war, encapsulating all the resentment Myung-jun had harbored during the past 32 years of regression.

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