Ch.81Chapter 81 – Operation (3)

A large military transport aircraft sliced through the wind, escorted by eight fighter jets. Looking down through the window from inside the transport, Shin Jaehyuk voiced his impression.

“…Disgusting.”

The ground below was swarming with zombies, skeletons, ghouls, and other monsters marching southward, resembling a scene from hell. The infantry fighting down there probably couldn’t distinguish between the ground they stood on and hell itself.

Whether sensing the energy of the living or following orders from higher entities, that wave of corpses was pushing further south. Against them, the military was desperately bombarding with artillery and magic to defend their line.

Suddenly, Shin Jaehyuk spotted something on the ground and let out a horrified sound.

“What the hell… zombies are actually driving tanks?”

Behind the infantry zombie corps, about a dozen tanks were advancing in formation. The military, belatedly noticing their approach, concentrated fire along the tanks’ expected path. They anticipated the tanks would bypass the zombie infantry in front to strike the Hunter units on the flank. However, unlike modern human tactics, the tanks simply kept advancing, crushing their undead allies beneath their treads.

A strategy that disregarded friendly casualties—literally trading flesh to gain bone. The soldiers seemed confused facing tactics they’d never encountered before.

‘These are worlds apart from Eden’s zombies who couldn’t even hold proper weapons. Their efficiency as troops is completely different…’

In Eden, zombies and skeletons were bottom-tier monsters that even untrained peasants could handle one-on-one—weak entities comparable to imps. But on modern Earth, undead had an entirely different meaning.

They were immortal soldiers who advanced even when shot. Maddening threats that employed strategies violating human rights without hesitation—meat shields, bomb terrorism, kamikaze attacks. What made it worse was that their numbers weren’t even small compared to their danger. One corpse could produce a new soldier.

If Hunters who had awakened holy power hadn’t been able to achieve several times the results of regular Hunters of the same rank when facing undead demons, the defense line would have collapsed long ago.

While Shin Jaehyuk surveyed the battlefield, the zombie-driven tank unit finally reached the Hunter forces engaged in fierce combat. The five tanks that made it there all fired simultaneously.

True to their reputation as frontline Hunters, some managed to escape the firing range in advance, while others successfully prevented the barrage by cutting off the gun barrels before the tanks could fire.

However, stopping all the bombardment was impossible. Inevitably, shells aimed at the rear flew toward the fixed gun emplacements to destroy them.

As he anticipated the terrible explosion about to spread, Shin Jaehyuk, who was observing the ground with wide eyes, witnessed something strange.

“…What’s that?”

The flying shells suddenly veered to one side as if drawn by a magnet, completely deviating from their original trajectory and heading somewhere else. This bizarre phenomenon wasn’t limited to just the shells.

All across the battlefield, everything from small objects like trees and rocks to large ones like tanks and cannons was tilting toward one spot.

As if pulled by some powerful force.

“Kekeke, I see the young man is witnessing this for the first time,” Takahashi laughed at Shin Jaehyuk, who couldn’t take his eyes off the strange sight.

“That’s the power of the superhuman who single-handedly closed the Beijing Gate that spewed hundreds of thousands of undead.”

Far away at the center of all the gravitational pull, an Asian man was stretching his hands toward the sky in deep concentration. Shin Jaehyuk recognized the figure who occasionally appeared in the news.

‘China’s S-rank Hunter, Zhang Wei…!’

Zhang Wei’s transcendent telekinesis dominated the battlefield for several kilometers around.

His telekinesis, which pulled everything toward it, gathered the wind like a tornado, and as sparks ignited the leaves and trees caught in the vortex, a massive firestorm formed. The firestorm swept across the battlefield according to the telekinetic’s will, literally grinding the undead hordes to dust.

“No need to worry about holding the defense line. Unlike me, Zhang Wei is suited for facing large numbers. Though that’s not to say he’s weak in one-on-one combat, of course.”

Ignoring the Sword Ghost’s muttering about how he’d love a bloody fight if not for the Association, Shin Jaehyuk quietly marveled at the sight.

After completely clearing the area of undead with his telekinetic storm, Zhang Wei flew off to clean up the next sector.

“…Impressive.”

“Still, as long as blood flows, the undead can be created endlessly. Even he doesn’t have infinite mana and stamina, so to stop this endless production of troops, we need to close the gate quickly.”

Shin Jaehyuk nodded silently at the Sword Ghost who reminded him once more of their mission objective.

***

Eventually, the transport aircraft left the combat zone and entered undead territory beyond the ceasefire line. The pilot’s announcement came through their earpiece headphones.

-Our aircraft will land in approximately 20 minutes, with about 20km remaining to the landing point. From now on, we’re in a danger zone, so please remain alert. Although we have escort from eight F-45A fighters, monster attacks could come from anywhere at any time.

“It’s about to begin.”

Kwak Taewoo fidgeted with his sword hilt, not hiding his tension. Whether special forces or Sword First Guild members, everyone wore similar expressions.

In this tense atmosphere, only the Sword Ghost was grinning as he observed the ground below, anticipating the upcoming battle. Looking out the window, unlike near the defense line, high-ranking undead could be spotted one by one.

“Death Knight, no, a Dullahan? And there’s a ghoul, a chimera… Oh, that’s a monster I’ve never seen before! So all the elite forces were waiting in the rear? Good, very good.”

It seemed that while the low-ranking undead launched suicide charges in the combat zone to buy time, the high-ranking undead were gathering forces in the rear.

The Sword Ghost fidgeted in his seat as if he wanted to jump out of the transport and dive into that army right away. However, he barely suppressed the urge, thinking that if he waited just a bit longer, he could face an S-rank boss likely much stronger than those troops.

As they continued their flight smoothly with just a few kilometers left to the landing point, something inevitably went wrong. An urgent transmission came through their earphones.

-Emergency situation! Twenty fast-approaching aircraft detected on radar, presumed to be fighter jets! Everyone put on parachutes and prepare for engagement!

“What…! Twenty of them!”

“Damn it, we’re less than ten minutes from landing!”

At the urgent warning, everyone stared out the windows. With their awakened enhanced vision, they could make out the approaching aircraft from afar. They were North Korean fighter jets with pale corpses in the cockpits.

“Fuck! Can corpses really fly fighter jets? This is insane!”

As if responding to someone’s shocked exclamation, missiles were simultaneously launched from the fighter jets.

-Missiles approaching! Missiles approaching!

-Confirmed enemy first strike. Engaging in combat.

The escort fighters spewed fire to intercept this sudden ambush.

BOOM! BOOM!

The transport aircraft shook violently from the impact of missiles exploding in mid-air. However, eight escort fighters were insufficient to block all the missiles fired by twenty jets. Three escort fighters exploded after being hit, and the remaining missiles headed straight for the transport.

Of course, the special forces on board, prepared for such situations through various training, responded quickly. The squad leader hurriedly instructed his subordinate.

“Joonsik! Put up the barrier!”

“Yes, sir!”

As a blue shield enveloped the transport, the missiles couldn’t approach further and exploded meaninglessly in mid-air. Though the transport stabilized, the squad leader remained tense.

“How many more hits can you block?”

“About fourteen direct hits before my mana runs out, sir!”

“Not exactly comfortable considering our upcoming mission… For now, half of those with ranged attack capabilities should focus on intercepting missiles, the other half target enemy fighters!”

“Understood!”

All magic-type awakened individuals pressed against the windows, concentrating. Watching the Korean military’s response, the Sword Ghost also gave instructions to his guild members.

“Magic users, help them. Leave the missiles to them and focus on shooting down the fighters.”

Each spell from an A-rank awakened person had power comparable to a missile. As these elite Hunters gathered for the S-rank gate operation unleashed their magic, the tide of battle quickly turned. Now it was the monsters who had to defend against incoming attacks.

The enemy aircraft, originally twenty, had been reduced to eleven.

“Good! Less than half remain!”

With more leeway in missile interception, more personnel focused on shooting down the fighters. The enemy, sensing the crisis, changed their strategy.

-Wait! Cease fire! Cease fire! Too close to our aircraft!

The fighter pilot who had been bravely facing the enemy at the front urgently radioed in. The enemy aircraft was getting so close that he might get caught in friendly fire.

The squad leader frowned.

‘Clever. No, beyond clever—cunning. Can low-ranking zombies really be this capable? Or are they receiving orders from higher entities… Damn, we need to respond first.’

Pushing away his growing unease, the squad leader gave instructions.

“You heard that? Hold fire on that aircraft! Leave it to our fighter and deal with the others first!”

As if supplementing the squad leader’s words, a radio transmission came through.

-I’ll handle this aircraft, so stop your attack—? Shit, you crazy bas—!

BOOM!!!

Everyone looked toward the sudden explosion. Two entangled fighter jets were falling to the ground in pieces. The two had different colors. And one was the fighter that had just sent the transmission.

“K-kamikaze!”

Someone screamed. As if that scream was a signal, the remaining ten enemy aircraft began flying toward the friendly aircraft all at once. The squad leader shouted.

“B-block them! Put up a protective barrier for that friendly aircraft too!”

“The barrier can’t reach that far, sir!”

“Fuck! Then everyone use your skills at full power, don’t save any mana!”

At this rate, they wouldn’t even be able to land, let alone start the operation. Hunters who had been conserving mana for later used all their remaining magical power.

Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t deploy a barrier a hundred meters away, and even if he could use his divine protection shield now, it would only hinder the friendly aircraft performing crazy aerobatics to avoid the enemy’s suicide charges. So Shin Jaehyuk also practiced the maxim that the best defense is offense, firing lightning spears to take down enemy aircraft one by one.

However, another friendly fighter eventually fell victim to a kamikaze attack. Of the original eight escort fighters, only one remained. The panicked pilot, forgetting his mission and trying to save his own life, made a final choice.

-E-emergency ejection! Good lu—!

WHOOSH!

RATATATATATA—

Unfortunately for the ejected pilot, the undead had no moral sense or rules of engagement prohibiting attacks on ejected pilots. The ejection seat that shot out from the fighter became a public target. The parachute, riddled with concentrated fire from enemy aircraft, became a tattered rag falling to the ground.

‘F-fuck…’

The squad leader, who had been considering whether they should force an evacuation from the transport, erased that thought from his mind.

After disposing of the last remaining fighter jet, the undead pilots turned their aircraft toward the final target—the one emanating the most life energy.

“Joonsik! Can we just ram them with the barrier?!”

“Cough! Th-that would be difficult…!”

“Damn, mana exhaustion already! Pilot, how many minutes until the landing point?”

-We’ll arrive in two minutes! But landing is impossible due to the enemy aircraft! We need to deal with them first!

The squad leader’s urgent radio transmissions continued.

As the situation became critical, Shin Jaehyuk decided to use his barrier. It was a choice he had been saving until the end because it would only protect this transport while abandoning the escort fighters.

‘I wanted to save the allied pilots… But now that they’re all dead, there’s nothing holding me back.’

The divine spell, Celestial Barrier, physically separates inside from outside. They could be safe from enemy attacks, but conversely, allies couldn’t attack enemies either.

Still, this option where both sides remained alive was better than mutual destruction in the sky through kamikaze attacks. Of course, the enemy aircraft might change tactics and start firing missiles again. That would drain his divine power significantly, but since he recovered quickly, he would be fully restored by the time they faced the boss.

Yes, this was the best option. Just as Shin Jaehyuk was about to speak to the squad leader, someone else spoke first.

“Hmm, can’t be helped. Good work. Tell that young man to lower his barrier too.”

“P-pardon?”

“Hmm… I suppose barefoot is best to avoid slipping.”

The Sword Ghost picked up his sword while removing his socks. He pointed to the square hatch on the transport’s ceiling.

“No problem opening this during flight, right?”

“W-wait, sir! What are you doing? Ugh-!”

The Sword Ghost resolutely flung the hatch wide open.