Ch.181181. Release the Order

Holding a 50-centimeter single-edged blade emitting blue light, 444-1 was walking steadily toward the building that was once the Governor’s Palace but now served as both a religious facility for the Hive Cult and the residence of the cult leader.

“F-For the Great Father—”

Slash!

As he walked, he slaughtered stray cult soldiers with his blade,

massacred cult followers who were nearly complete in their transformation into monsters,

and crushed fleeing workers with telekinesis when their fear of the cult overcame their faith.

The Hive Cult’s numbers seemed surprisingly small, but paying this no mind, he entered the plaza directly in front of the Governor’s Palace.

“There he is! Over there!”

“Kill him! Kill him!”

“Let us be praised by Him! Let us be honored by Him!”

“Long live the Great Father!”

“””””””Long live the Great Father!!!”””””””

“Long live the Minor Father!”

“””””””Long live the Minor Father!!!”””””””

Thousands of elite cult soldiers gathered in the plaza,

assembled to protect the cult leader, the Minor Father,

and upon spotting him, they began to howl.

Despite their fanatical behavior,

contrary to appearances, these elite cult soldiers—the royal guards—were exceptionally powerful.

Twenty-one Engineer Worlds, each with populations in the hundreds of billions.

With a total population numbering at least in the trillions across the entire 77th planetary system of the Talisman sector,

they had gathered the 6,841 strongest and most skilled fighters—naturally, they were formidable.

They were all at least mid-level psychic users,

or monsters that had fully transformed during the Hive Cult’s mutation process,

and then evolved further into mid-level monsters.

On top of that, about 200 psychic entities possessing Walkers or tanks,

carefully selected and positioned, could grind down most ordinary enemies, but…

‘…Order 444-1. Mission commencing.’

Unfortunately, this enemy did not fall within the range of “ordinary.”

Hundreds of laser beams of varying thickness,

dozens of plasma clusters large and small,

and thousands upon thousands of bullets instantly stretched toward him.

At the forefront, speed-type warrior monsters charged with raised claws,

from behind, heavily armored bulky monsters rushed in,

and from the sides, Hive Cult soldiers armed with melee weapons and heavy armor attacked.

The density of attacks seemed excessive for targeting a single individual, but… so what?

Raising his one-handed sword and infusing it with psychic energy, he swung it violently—

‘—Hup!’

KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAANG—!!!!

After disrupting the enemy formation with the insane act of “deflecting” lasers and plasma clusters, he threw himself toward the speed-type warrior monsters directly in front of him.

These were beings that had transformed from severely mutated humans into monsters with their characteristic transcendent durability,

and had evolved one step further into mid-level monsters.

They were abnormal life forms capable of performing anti-tank combat techniques—something that shouldn’t make sense logically.

444-1 charged at these roughly 200 monsters whose combat power could only be compared to armored weapons, took a moment to steady his breathing, and then—

Slash-slash-slash-slash-slash-slash-slash-slash!!!

With the eerie sound of flesh being carved, he strode through the center of the monsters as if dancing,

and that alone was enough to fell 200 tank-class mid-level monsters.

Just 12 seconds.

That was how long it took him to annihilate monsters capable of reducing an entire city to ashes.

And he didn’t stop there.

The heavily armored monster-type creatures charging from behind the warrior-types,

unnecessarily tough with defensive capabilities that were practically offensive weapons—

Before 444-1, they were no different from the other monsters.

In less than 10 seconds, he dispatched 57 monster-type creatures,

then immediately threw himself at the Hive Cult soldiers on his flanks.

These soldiers, whose appearance wasn’t much different from humans,

were all mid-level psychic users specialized in physical enhancement.

They were armed with incredibly durable powered suits covered in armor plates, shields with built-in psychic barriers, and plasma hammers.

They were truly living siege weapons and mobile fortresses, but…

To 444-1, they were merely slow-moving targets.

His blade, capable of cutting through any material in a single stroke thanks to reverse-engineered monster technology,

ignored their psychic barriers and cut them down,

instantly annihilating the close-combat specialized forces.

“Ah, ah, ahhh…”

“S-shoot! Shoot! I said shoot!!!”

Since he could deflect all projectiles, the fate of the remaining ranged cult elites was… well, obvious enough to skip over.

※ ※ ※

After deflecting the lasers, plasma clusters, and various projectiles they fired and disposing of 6,841 elite cult soldiers,

the fate of the remaining psychic entities was all but sealed.

‘—Eject!’

KWAAANG!

444-1, who knew how to eject psychic entities that had entered physical space through some method during his training back into the psychic dimension,

disposed of his enemies without much effort before entering the Governor’s Palace.

“—He’s coming!”

“Stop him! Stop him!”

Of course, inside the Governor’s Palace, quite a few elite cult soldiers remained—

the personal guards of the leader they called the Minor Father.

Seemingly intending to take advantage of the building’s interior,

these guards were mostly equipped with powered suits so massive they appeared to sacrifice mobility,

huge plasteel shields, and plasma assault rifles that could be wielded one-handed, forming a phalanx-like defensive formation.

TUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU—!!!!!

With these forces blocking each corridor and unleashing their firepower whenever 444-1 appeared,

they could have killed even a tank brought inside the building if facing ordinary enemies.

‘X-7P usage request… approval granted.’

Click.

However, to 444-1, the leader of the Triple Number Department’s field agents of the Order, they posed no obstacle at all.

He drew out the ‘X’ series weapon—technology reverse-engineered from new species of monsters—the seventh type of personal weapon,

specifically in pistol form.

With a short body and long barrel,

resembling a P38 Luger pistol from reality but with a needle-like barrel,

and a connection port where the magazine should be.

Click.

After connecting an energy supply tube drawn from his back to this port,

he took a brief breath and quickly leaped back into the corridor.

TUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU—!!!!!

As the Hive Cult’s guard forces opened fire again upon seeing him,

he avoided their attacks with psychic barriers and acrobatic movements while firing exactly 5 shots from the X-7P.

—Thud!

Having vaporized the heads of all 50 soldiers with those 5 shots, 444-1 immediately deactivated the X-7P,

thought for a moment, and then put his thoughts into action.

Since there would likely be similar forces in each corridor,

and since this Governor’s building had separate elevators installed every 10 floors for internal security or against intruders,

he would have to deal with them one by one.

But there was a way to bypass this tedious method, a secret passage that the Hive Cult almost certainly didn’t know about.

It was the mandatory one-time use, single-person descent elevator installed in all Governor’s Palaces.

Of course, various traps would fill the elevator shaft to prevent intruders from using it.

According to his internal network, the internal gravity would be about 30 times normal when the elevator wasn’t operating,

and it would be filled with traps like black hole snares that could instantly kill even 444-1 if he made a mistake.

But… such complex facilities required constant maintenance,

and while the Governor would have kept them inspected for his own safety, what would those Hive Cult dregs know?

So, there should be no problem.

With that assessment, he located the elevator shaft deeply embedded in the corridor wall—

‘…Jackpot.’

As expected, confirming that all internal traps had been neutralized due to lack of maintenance,

he immediately ascended through the elevator shaft and—

‘There he is.’

444-1 could sense that in the Governor’s office, accessible by breaking through just the elevator door,

was the cult leader—the one the cult fanatics called the apostle of the Great Father,

the Minor Father.