Chapter 73.1

Chapter 73 – Rule 24. The Leader Pursues to the End (10)

“Ugh…!”

Chae-won let out a scream as a heavy impact hit the control seat.

However, the pouring Spatial Thunderstrike couldn’t penetrate the Chimera’s exterior. It only managed to damage it slightly.

The exterior’s hardness was extraordinary, and Chae-won had equipped the Chimera with a large lightning rod the moment she noticed Woo-jin’s intrusion.

But…

‘The lightning rod…!’

The lightning rod functioned as intended, attracting the Spatial Thunderstrike, but it couldn’t handle the overwhelming high-voltage electrical energy. It ultimately managed to channel only a portion of the thunderstrike to the grounding wire, before overloading and exploding. Fortunately for Chae-won, this reduced the overall damage.

Residual electricity spread out, engulfing the mechanical soldiers, similar to how a whale’s fight harms the surrounding small fish.

The Chimera was a weapon for later use.

Using the Chimera to deal with Woo-jin was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, thus modifying it specifically to combat the Disciplinary Committee Leader had never been considered.

Moreover, the magic that comprised the Chimera was incredibly dense and required significant energy to control.

Therefore, forming an insulator to cover the Chimera immediately in response to Woo-jin’s intrusion was impractical both time-wise and energy-wise.

Relying on grounding design was the best course of action.

However, this led to Chae-won’s regret.

‘I swore I wouldn’t underestimate him again…!’

This was the first time she had experienced Woo-jin’s Spatial Thunderstrike.

She hadn’t anticipated such a powerful attack, and thus hadn’t prepared for it, leading to the current result.

Once again, she had underestimated Woo-jin.

The Ahsung High Disciplinary Committee Leader was an opponent who couldn’t be underestimated no matter what.

BEEP!

BEEP!

“!”

The screen in front of her displayed red warning messages, reporting the Chimera’s damaged state. This was a system Chae-won had implemented.

Although the lightning rod had endured the Spatial Thunderstrike, the Chimera was far from unscathed.

Even formidable warriors couldn’t scratch the Chimera’s body.

Chae-won sensed something was wrong.

And then…

THUD!

A heavy impact sounded right in front of her.

It sounded like someone landing.

Feeling an instinctive sense of foreboding, Chae-won immediately switched her viewpoint. The screen in front of her displayed the front view.

In close proximity to the Chimera’s mouth, a man was standing on its edge, gripping protruding mechanical parts, staring menacingly into the cockpit where Chae-won was.

It was An Woo-jin, the Ahsung High Disciplinary Committee Leader.

“Long time no see.”

“An Woo-jin.”

Chae-won’s voice echoed from the Chimera’s speakers.

The surrounding mechanical soldiers were all charred and smoking, broken by the previous thunderstrike.

Only the Chimera remained.

Chae-won assessed her remaining energy as she spoke.

“You… You weren’t using your full power back then, were you?”

‘Back then’ referred to their first encounter and battle.

Chae-won’s voice carried a hint of incredulity.

There was a tremor in her laughter. Her pitch had risen. It was absurd to her.

She had thought Woo-jin was surprisingly skilled back then.

But now she realized he hadn’t even been using his full power, which she had not prepared for. She had been too complacent.

“Think whatever you want.”

Woo-jin drew a baton from his belt.

“I am executing an on-site arrest and will severely punish the offender.”

CRACK!

He swung the baton sideways, extending it to its full length.

It was a truncheon of the highest hardness, made from the hide of the Iron Dragon from the outside world.

The Iron Dragon Staff.

“I will suppress you.”

“Ha, interesting…!”

Chae-won laughed provocatively and activated her magic.

‘No matter how strong that guy is, he can’t destroy the Chimera.’

To destroy the Chimera, it would take at least a Tier 7 warrior. Someone like Spartoi Seo Gang-jin or the Great Villain Goliath.

Judging this, Chae-won regained her composure.

“Did you forget? The people outside are still within my attack range. Are you going to let them die?”

“No problem.”

Woo-jin’s eyes were filled with certainty.

“Do you think we wouldn’t have prepared for that?”

“…?”

Part of the Chimera’s control room screen was still displaying the situation on the surface.

The snake tails had momentarily stopped functioning due to the Spatial Thunderstrike, but they began moving again, preparing to gather energy in their mouths.

However…

BOOM!

“!”

Cruise missiles from somewhere struck each snake tail with pinpoint accuracy.

Explosions erupted, causing the snake heads to jerk and the gathered energy to dissipate.

The TVs attached to the mechanical snakes displayed grotesque, disgusted faces and let out screams.

The Ahsung High Disciplinary Committee’s artillery unit.

They had been instructed by Woo-jin in advance to launch their bombardment when the mechanical snakes emerged and prepared for a second attack.

‘Cruise missiles!? How…?’

It was unbelievable.

The timing was too perfect.

In the Mayeon High jurisdiction, they couldn’t use Ahsung High Disciplinary Committee equipment. The fact that the Ahsung High Disciplinary Committee was involved would have been easily detected by surveillance drones.

Thus, it must have been a long-range attack from a distance so far away that it couldn’t be seen with a regular telescope.

The area was saturated with Chae-won’s unique ability.

It was impossible for the Ahsung High special task force on the ground to send voice or video information to the artillery unit.

Moreover, the Chimera wasn’t large enough to be seen from outside the Mayeon High jurisdiction.

How was it possible?

‘…Don’t think about it. There must be someone in the Disciplinary Committee capable of that.’

In reality, Treasurer Yoo Doha had used her unique ability, Laplace’s Demon, to carry out Woo-jin’s orders. Chae-won couldn’t know this in detail.

Thus, she stopped thinking about it and focused on Woo-jin in front of her.

“Okay, okay… You’ve really prepared well. But tell me, why are you doing this? This will definitely cause you a lot of trouble. Are you doing this to find Oh Baek-seo?”

“……”

Woo-jin didn’t answer.

As expected.

He wouldn’t have acted so recklessly if he didn’t know Chae-won had Baek-seo.

“It’s obvious. You didn’t bring the Disciplinary Committee’s full force and came here with those oddballs. How did you know I had Oh Baek-seo? I’ll have to find out later.”

The Chimera’s beast-like face heated up.

It was a sudden change.

“Take her away.”

BUZZ!

CLUNK!

The Chimera’s head opened, revealing a large emitter.

Multiple cannons and emitters also protruded from around the head, pointing in various directions.

Woo-jin narrowed his eyes.

“If you can.”

Chimera.

The monster mentioned in Homer’s epic, the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and Theogony.

As known, it has the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a snake.

The Chimera is a ferocious beast that brings disaster.

It breathes vicious flames.

BOOM!

FWOOOSH!!!!

Blue flames poured out towards Woo-jin.

Chae-won’s modified Chimera feature.

Flame emission.

The cannons extended in all directions, spewing ferocious flames and high-temperature magic projectiles like a waterfall. It was a large-scale attack.

However, no matter how extensive the attack, it was challenging to surpass Woo-jin in the domain of ‘space.’

CRACK!