Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

071 – The Strongest Shield in the World

The chicken-headed gorilla, Gelectus, which remained alone in the seat where Banara had first sat, sensed the death of Agalipha and the extinction of the monsters.

It was a phenomenon that signalled the emergence of the ‘Fourth Transcendent’ that he had already anticipated, but Gelectus was quite bewildered.

Calculating the speed at which the mental connection with the monsters was severed and the speed at which the connection with Agalipha was severed, it meant that there was a transcendent that should not exist in the current world of Earth as he knew it.

Gelectus hastily sent a mind message to Banara, who was buying time.

‘Agalipha annihilated. Attack force annihilated, strategy modification required.’

“What?! Does that make sense?!”

‘The emergence of the Fourth Transcendent. Stronger than predicted. Erosion strategy modification required. Request for response through reinforcement and direct intervention of the commander.’

‘So, you mean let’s go with the plan I suggested earlier?’

‘Negative on the previous proposal. Risk of the Fourth Transcendent joining before the next erosion.’

‘No, but the result is the same, isn’t it?’

‘Lord Banara powerful. Lack of strategic knowledge.’

‘Is that a roundabout way of saying I’m stupid?’

‘Understanding ability above standard.’

‘Well, if you ever become useless, I’ll kill you.’

‘This body. Immortal.’

‘Just shut up and start reinforcing.’

Gelectus sent all the energy that was originally supposed to be used for summoning additional monsters to Banara.

It was the energy obtained through the overflow of the fourth gate, completed while Agalipha was buying time a while ago.

– Shuuuuuuung!!! –

As the blood-red aura from the other side of the forest gathered like clouds and began to be absorbed into Banara’s body, the three people facing Banara were greatly astonished.

It was an action that seemed to absorb an indescribable energy, and the fact that Banara’s body, after absorbing the energy, was rapidly regenerating, carried a gloominess that could not be described with any word other than despair from their perspective.

Then, the impulsive Sven, in order to somehow prevent Banara’s regeneration, tried to block the energy heading towards Banara with a wall of ice pillars.

“Iiiice Waaalll!!!”

Sven, covered in blood all over his body, swung a blue axe and shouted, creating a gigantic ice wall that reminded one of an iceberg, blocking the space between the forest and Banara.

However, as if there was no such ice wall by Sven, the red-black energy pierced through and was absorbed into Banara’s body. Seeing that, Orléans shouted urgently to the remaining two people.

“Block it! I don’t know what it is, but block it at all costs!!”

“Iiice Spiiike!!”

“Do not order me!!!”

Having learned some French, Sven responded immediately upon hearing Orléans’ shout, and Pereira, although he couldn’t understand the meaning, understood it as a signal that something had to be done and immediately started her attack.

However, the moment the attacks of the two reached Banara’s body, the attacks, exerted with all their strength, were completely blocked by a round energy barrier.

“What?!”

“No time to be surprised! Sven!!”

“Why!”

“We’re using the combination technique!”

“What?! It has never succeeded before!”

The combination technique Orléans mentioned was a technique where Sven’s ice pillar was inserted into the rapidly rotating giant water disk summoned by Orléans.

If successful, the technique guaranteed a cutting force far stronger than the conventional technique that simply attacked with rapidly rotating water.

However, Orléans and Sven had never used this combination technique until now because, despite numerous attempts, they had never succeeded in the technique even once.

It was a technique conceived with the thought, ‘Theoretically, is it possible?’ Even during practice, every time they attempted it, the ice pillar from Sven would scatter in all directions due to the centrifugal force from the rapidly rotating disk.

And thanks to that, Orléans had faced the brink of death several times during practice.

However, in this moment when the opponent was becoming even stronger, Orléans judged that if it wasn’t for this technique, they couldn’t stop the opponent.

Even if there was a risk, they had to attack with the maximum technique they could perform.

Around Orléans, a larger water ring than any he had summoned so far was created.

Soon, the rotating ring started to increase its speed fiercely, like a circular saw cutting through stone.

Watching this, Sven took a deep breath and jumped back, shouting towards Orléans.

“All I can do is insert an ice blade! Turning that is a commander’s job!!”

“I know!! So shut up and do it with the strongest blade possible!”

“Crazy, even if we all die! Ice Blade!!!”

As Sven shouted, around him, dozens of gigantic ice blades, about 8 meters in length, were created.

But it didn’t end there. Sven, whether it was because of that or not, shouted again, hitting the axe in his hands strongly.

“Press!!”

In an instant, the gigantic ice blades, making a creaking sound, shrank to about 5 meters in length.

But Sven didn’t stop there; he hit the axe again.

“Press! Press! Press!”

When the compression process finally finished, the gigantic ice blades, which were about 8 meters long, had shrunk to about 30 centimeters in size and were floating in the air.

Looking at it for a moment, Sven closed his eyes tightly and shouted towards Orléans.

“Here we go!!”

“Come on!!”

The moment Sven extended the axe, dozens of ice blades rushed towards the water ring summoned by Orléans, and Orléans’ water ring swallowed all those ice blades.

And at that moment, Orléans had to bear the tremendous mass added to the water ring he was controlling.

“Aghhh!! Damn, it’s ridiculously heavy! Seriously!!”

During practice, when Sven’s ice blades entered the water ring, they exploded like claymores and flew in all directions, but this time was different.

Orléans had separated the water ring into two during this attempt, creating a separate water ring specifically for holding the ice blades inside.

Of course, all the concentration and energy going into this new attempt were Orléans’ responsibility.

However, with the determination to go all out with this strike, Orléans exerted all his strength to prevent the ice blades from flying out.

Then, he began rotating it at the maximum speed he could achieve.

“It’s done!! It’s the first time, but I did it!”

– Clang – clang – clang – clang!!! –

As the 5-fold compressed super-high-pressure ice blades merged with the water ring, tearing even marble like tofu, a spine-chilling sound echoed just by listening, and it started rotating like crazy.

Looking at the sharp rotating saw blade made of water and ice, Orléans was convinced of its power, capable of cutting through even diamonds in an instant.

With that conviction, Orléans threw the 4-meter-sized rapidly rotating ice disk towards Banara.

And at that moment, Péreira, who was also watching the coordinated attack of the two, extended the arms of the wooden giant she was controlling to surround Banara and prevent him from escaping.

In a situation where even evasion was blocked, Orléans, imagining the future where the horribly tough monkey would be cut into two pieces and lying on the ground, smiled.

However, at that moment, what came into Orléans’ sight was Banara’s face, which had a small smile on it, even with the giant ice blades that could cut through even a massive mountain placed in front of her.

– Kwaaaaah!!! –

A completely different booming sound from the ‘cutting sound’ Orléans had expected reverberated, sending thick leaves of a dense forest flying in all directions.

And at the same time, an incredibly fast waterstorm and fragments of the shattered ice blades, powerful enough to pierce tank armor, engulfed Orléans and his group.

It conveyed a level of shock to Orléans and his group, similar to the level of an explosion happening right in front of them.

– Tutututututuk –

A vast amount of moisture that soared into the sky due to the explosion gathered in the air and poured down like a shower. Orléans fell to the ground, drenched.

And then, he looked at his own blood, which was staining the surroundings red, with pain in his chest.

“Cough!! Cough…”

One of the ice fragments may have broken his ribs and pierced through his lungs. In the midst of the pain where he couldn’t breathe properly, Orléans saw a thick rain curtain blocking his view.

And…

– Drip, drip… –

The sound that should never have been heard spread through Orléans’ ears amid the pouring water, like a drizzle.

“Pitiful. If you had used that technique from the beginning, the outcome might have been reversed.”

“G…Water…This…”

Orléans turned his gaze to look around.

There, despite hitting the ice pillar wall and being hit by the shards that came out, Sven, who had fallen to the ground, and Péreira, who had received the aftermath of the explosion by the wooden giant and bounced back, were glaring at him.

Both were still alive, but judging by their physical condition, Orléans thought they were in a state just before death.

In his despair, Orléans recalled the words of a child he had heard.

‘How about asking for help from the Liberal Clan?’

The thought of what would have happened if he had considered that crossed Orléans’ mind, but he soon shook his head, denying his own thoughts.

He, Sven, and Péreira were all Awakener within the top ten in the world.

But facing an opponent who played with them to this extent, Orléans thought that no matter how much of a top-ranked Awakener the opponent was, they wouldn’t get away unharmed.

At that moment, despite the pain of not being able to breathe properly, one thought that crossed Orléans’ mind made him laugh.

“Kuhuh… Puhuhuh…”

And then, thinking that Banara, who thought he was crying in the face of death, asked him.

“Why are you laughing?”

“Well, it’s just that… suddenly a funny thought… came to mind… hehehe…”

“Since you’re going to die soon anyway, I won’t ask what you’re thinking.”

“Cough… Kuuk… Among the guys I know… there’s the strongest one… if I had called him from the beginning… maybe the result could have been different…”

“The result wouldn’t have changed.”

“…Don’t know… Cough… At least… I might have been able to see… the guy’s surprised expression… I’ve never seen him surprised before…”

In an instant, Banara remembered the memory of the Fourth Transcendent he had heard from Gelectus.

The existence of a strong power that forced him to abandon his previous strategy, which had been undefeated even while conquering numerous galaxies.

Curiosity about the being that had cleared thousands of high-level monsters groups dispatched to human cities for the dual operation in such a short time made Banara hesitate to deliver the finishing blow.

Banara injected energy to make it easier for the opponent to speak and asked while relieving his pain.

“Is he strong?”

“Cough… I don’t know.”

“What!?”

“All we know is… that he has never failed or lost even once… No one has seen his limits, so no one knows how strong he is…”

“If I use my strength as a reference?”

“I don’t know… You’re also the strongest existence I’ve encountered. If you two face off… At least, you might see his surprised expression.”

“It sounds like you’re saying that I might lose.”

“Well… that’s…”

“You’ll know when you fight.”

The last words came not from Banara’s front but from behind.

There, Péreira, who was either grimacing in pain or smiling with a strange expression, was lying on the ground with a strangely shaped glowing stick in her hand, covered in blood.

Seeing that, Banara quickly turned his head.

Orléans, who had just been talking to him, also had one hand hidden behind his back, he realized.

As Banara pulled Orléans’ hand from behind, a sparkling stick held in his hand was revealed.

“What is this?”

“It’s a signal for reinforcement and a signal that we’ll give up everything we gained on this expedition.”

“Is this what you used to call the so-called strongest human just now? It’s useless. He’s in a city hundreds of kilometers away. By the time he arrives, you’ll all be cold corpses.”

As Banara raised her hand, Orléans’ gaze was not on Banara’s hand.

It wasn’t even looking at his eyes.

Banara realized that he was looking at the empty space behind him and quickly turned his head upward.

And there, she discovered something that ‘shouldn’t be there’ and frowned.

‘A giant bird? No, it’s something made of metal.’

Banara thinking of it as ‘something that shouldn’t be there’ was somewhat natural.

Just as radio waves couldn’t penetrate, the influence of the gate could disable all electronic devices within a radius of several hundred kilometers, depending on the grade.

However, despite the fact that it was clearly within the range of influence, the giant metal object, shaped like a bird, was slowly opening its wings from below.

And from there, Banara quietly watched a giant human-shaped object jumping down from below.

‘Human? It’s too big to be considered human.’

The object that initially looked like a small dot gradually began to grow, revealing its true identity.

“Reverse thrust operation!!!”

The moment a man’s resounding shout echoed, an immense jet stream erupted from the giant metal giant’s feet and back, reducing the falling speed with tremendous thrust.

However, despite that, when the weight of the giant, weighing tons, collided with the ground, it left a giant crater, creating a deafening collision sound and scattering debris in all directions, as if a high-explosive bomb had detonated.

And from within it, accompanied by the sound of mechanical joints moving, a man clad in black armor, covering his entire body, walked out.

In one hand, he held a shield almost the size of his body, and in the other, a sword shining with a blue light.

Floresta and Servihum.

Seeing the man who arrived after receiving structure requests from two giant clan leaders simultaneously, Banara smiled with a smirk on her lips.

“Are you the strongest human in humanity?”

At that, the visor attached to the helmet raised up, revealing the face of a man who looked confused.

“What? What’s that out of the blue?”

“Both of them said it. That there is someone stronger than themselves, the strongest existence in humanity. And now, you appeared after hearing their structure signals. It’s only natural to assume that you are that person, don’t you think?”

“The strongest… The strongest, huh… It’s a nice title to hear. Unfortunately, I’m not the person you’re expecting. I did arrive to save those two, but…”

Lowering the visor on the power suit, the man extended the shield.

“But don’t be too disappointed. It’s true that I’m strong enough for you to hear about the second-in-command. Come on, little monkey. I’ll turn you into a hamburger before the captain arrives.”

In an instant, Banara’s figure disappeared from its original position and appeared in front of the shield.

And at the same time as Banara’s incredibly fast movement, he delivered a powerful blow to the shield.

A powerful blow that could destroy even a massive mountain in a single strike.

Banara was confident that his opponent would die from this blow, even though he was clad in metal armor. However, contrary to his expectations, Banara’s fist was easily blocked by the shield extended by the man.

Even though it was an attack with the power that could not be stopped by a mere shield.

Shocked by the fact that his full-force blow was blocked, Banara, the man in front of the shield, spoke.

“Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. Excluding the overall combat power, if we talk about physical strength alone, I’m the top ranker in humanity. Until the captain arrives, feel free to try to break through if you can.”

The voice of Ho-Chang, speaking like that, was filled with ‘absolute’ confidence in the equipment made by Soo-jeong and his own abilities.

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