episode_0140

The dazzling light was eating me up.

This is something I always feel every time I pass through a teleportation magic circle, but a scene that is astounding takes place.

The blinding flash of light emitted from the magic circle ate my arms, body, and neck like a fire that clung to my entire body.

After being enveloped in that pure white light and burning, and then burning again, my vision gradually became brighter and I could hear people’s voices around me.

─Wow… Is this real? It feels like I’m in a different world?

─Somehow, it’s amazing. It feels like I’m in a real battlefield.

“I think I came to the right place.”

I muttered, shaking off the neon-like particles of light that were on my clothes.

“… This is the battlefield.”

“This is my first time coming to Africa.”

I nodded at Jang Ah-hyeon’s muttering.

The scorching heat in the sky, the dry, muggy wind that brushes my skin, and the fine sand dust blowing in from afar revive my five senses and make me feel even more clear.

“Are you here? Mr. Northmund.”

A person who appears to be an officer in a dust-soaked military uniform approaches me and asks to shake my hand.

We held hands, greeted each other, and looked around.

Only then did I realize that somewhere my students were mumbling something that could be described as a bit intimidating or overwhelmed.

The equipment prepared here was state-of-the-art equipment that I had never seen before.

“Robot?”

“Haha, it is a reinforced exoskeleton worn by soldiers. It was created to be completely shielded from the outside world and able to resist dark mana to some extent. Of course, it is still experimental equipment.”

Maybe he was waiting for me to ask him that, but his tone showed some joy.

Although it was said to be a reinforced exoskeleton, there was a line of clunky robots that looked like something you often see in science fiction, and the soldiers passing by were holding familiar firearms in their hands.

Jang Taesan seemed to be the new Mana Rifle I showed him.

“Wow… Amazing.”

A voice of admiration flowed from Han Sejun, who was standing behind me. Isn’t that impossible?

Events that could only occur in the near future of 2077 are unfolding before our eyes. If you’re a man, you can’t help but fall in love.

“Does the gun look strange? I don’t think it’s an ordinary gun.”

“Hehe.”

Jang Ah-hyun smiled somewhat proudly.

Ordinary soldiers cannot properly handle mana like people with special abilities, so even if they use the magic gun, it would be difficult to expect firepower greater than that of academy students who can handle mana.

Nevertheless, it will be much more powerful against monsters than rifles that use existing physical bullets.

And what made it happen was this child who is now letting out a small laugh.

For some reason, it seems like he is smiling at Yoon Sia.

“Hmm.”

The other children were in a similar situation to Sejun.

Rather, in the past, rather than fighting together with regular soldiers, it was almost like a solo stage for those with special abilities, so there were few cases where they could fight together with regular soldiers.

And today, as I faced the countless ranks of soldiers, I felt overwhelmed and trembled by the force emanating from the professional soldiers.

That doesn’t work.

Aren’t they the people who should be the main players in this operation?

“Everyone, listen.”

“Yes! Professor!”

“Don’t be intimidated. In any case, you are the main people here. And the others gathered here are there to assist you. Don’t forget that fact.”

“Yes! Okay!”

I deliberately opened my mouth using Swahili, a language that not many people use.

My students will be able to understand the language spoken by me through the dragon-shaped translation badge on their chest, but not everyone else here.

In a way, it means that they are not important people and that they are almost like pawns in chess. If you hear that it will be used as a chess piece, it won’t help your morale.

Literally, the soldiers didn’t pay much attention to me and just quietly went about their work.

Occasionally, there were a few people who looked sideways at this place as if they were curious about people with special abilities, but there was no one who seemed to pay attention to what I was saying.

Only the young officer next to me seemed to understand the meaning through the tone of voice and looked a little bitter, but did not say anything else.

“Tomorrow morning, each unit will board a transport vehicle and begin advancing into the interior of Africa. You may have already heard and are familiar with the entire operation outline at the academy, but there will be another briefing this evening, so everyone is encouraged to participate.”

“Yes, I understand, Professor!”

Numerous voices that filled the plains of South Africa resounded loudly.

*

“What the fuck is going on? It still doesn’t feel real, damn it.”

Corporal Choi Jae-woo picked up his gun, which was still smoking from the muzzle, and checked the magazine.

About half of the red liquid sloshing around inside the ammunition box, which was made of transparent material on one side, still remained.

Inside the liquid, reddish stones were colliding with each other and making a crackling sound, so Jaewoo Choi was frightened and grabbed the magazine to stop the vibration.

The English letters TS-11 were engraved on the side of the gun he was holding.

A magic rifle made by Taesung. Although it has only been a short time since the rifle was first introduced to the military, it was famous as a gun for killing people.

Didn’t anyone in the next platoon lose their life recently when this gun exploded?

“… Fortunately, it didn’t explode. I don’t want to get lost in this damn place.”

It is an item that is very vulnerable to vibration. It’s not some kind of nanothermite container, and explodes on its own when impacted.

There is even a saying among soldiers that if they fail, they should just throw their guns at the enemy.

The rumor that it was no different from simply carrying a grenade with the pin pulled was widely spread throughout the unit.

Of course, in reality it wasn’t that bad.

It is true that TS-11 is weak to shock, but if it were that much like a firecracker, it would never have been commercialized in the first place.

However, this may not be of much comfort from the perspective of actual users.

As he was heaving a huge sigh of relief, Private Lee, his platoon successor, spoke to him.

“Corporal Choi. Are you okay?”

“Uh, it’s okay. Anyway, those cheaters do everything. All we have to do is keep the guns from going off.”

“That’s right. There is no real lightning strike. I wonder if I’m dreaming.”

That was something I could never even dream of. Where did it go wrong?

Was that the problem? You know what? It’s something that every man these days has at least once.

This is a story about a romantic desire to go to Ellada, run by the world’s hero Elm Northmund, and meet the hero’s disciples at least once.

However, that dream came true in the worst possible way.

okay. Reuniting with the romance I had in my heart was truly the worst.

Who would have thought that the crazy president would send out half of the national army as an expeditionary force?

And there was a 50% chance that he got caught in that slut. That was really bad luck.

‘Si~ haircut. That wasn’t what it meant. I survived the Corruptor incident and was dragged to a place like this!’

What he meant was that at some point, he realized his abilities and wanted to enroll in Ellada and become their colleagues.

It’s not like I was looking forward to seeing them in this form now, in the form of a private soldier and a psyker.

And from afar, you can hear the cheers of the talented people who were your idols.

“Haaa!”

“Wow!”

The road into the interior of Africa was not smooth.

This entire area was once the headquarters of the devil, so even though the dark fog had cleared to some extent, there were still a significant amount of monsters left, even if they were rotten.

Of course, basically, when monsters of a certain size were captured, they first attacked them through bombing, and then hunted the monsters that had escaped the bombardment.

Although it was annoying, it was true that this mana rifle was quite effective against monsters. It is a truly terrifying double-edged sword.

“… But don’t you really fight well? I’m still amazed when I see that.”

“Che.”

A red-colored sword split the body of one of the slashers.

The slasher, cut off like a piece of soft tofu with nothing on it, screams and flutters strings that look like internal organs in a cross section, and flies into the distance and gets thrown down.

Even though blood was spewing out from that cross section, the person with the supernatural ability who had split the monster was cutting down the next monster without even getting his clothes wet with the blood.

Although he had a very innocent-looking face, as he entered the battle, he had a very calm expression and was mechanically slaughtering monsters as if this was nothing.

“But isn’t there a high probability that we will survive until the end? We are moving forward together with the troops of those famous people.”

“Yes, I guess that’s a good thing too. It’s a bit bitter and so.”

“At that level, even if a high-level monster appears, wouldn’t it be an easy win? To be honest, my heart is racing a little.”

“… Can you say something like that after being drafted as a meat shield like this?”

“Look! That’s Han Sejun, the famous Han Sejun! And over there is Jang Ah-hyeon. That dragon lady over there! And it also has that shadow ability and barrier! Honestly, I think I came to the right place.”

“… Crazy guy.”

Even though he said that, Choi Jae-woo had no choice but to admit that a small flame was burning in his heart.

Even if they have this magic rifle, they will have quite a bit of trouble dealing with high-level monsters, or even mid-level monsters.

They may be able to defeat Slashers, Toads, etc., but on the other hand, they are only good at that.

But the people before his eyes were truly superhumans themselves.

It was completely different from what we had seen on internet video platforms. Rather, the video did not even capture half of their skills.

purple. That woman with short brown hair who emits blinding laser beams.

The sight of monsters pierced by it turning into ashes and disappearing!

A woman with long black hair and horns sprouting from her head was wielding a huge sword as tall as herself.

Everything in the path of the great sword is crushed and disappears, like fish in a grinder.

Her long black hair flowing along with her large movements gives her a dreamy beauty that makes her look as if she is not from this world.

A black shadow extending from the leg of a bad-looking woman holding a spear becomes a thousand blades and cuts through the monsters.

The light green barrier not only blocks attacks, but also crushes monsters.

There is no way I could deny why someone with superpowers is a being that protects this world from monsters when I was watching it from a special seat like this.

If this is not Ikkitousen, what is?

“What are you doing! Keep moving forward! Assist the psykers!”

Choi Jae-woo, who was staring blankly at the unrealistic scene, suddenly came to his senses when he heard the familiar voice of the company commander coming from behind him.

When I quietly look back, I see a helmet with three diamonds on it, which makes it difficult to see properly because the high bar is pushed forward more than usual.

He must have been lost in the same situation as himself. And he must have come to his senses and is acting out of shame.

“Stay away from psykers! Move forward!”

“Yes! Advance! Don’t get far away from your escorts!”

The sound of numerous running steps is heard and a large amount of dust rises.

‘Yeah fuck! Where is this companion unit assigned to? If I had been deployed as a leading unit, it would have been really difficult to survive!’

That is the goal of this operation. The goal is to move Elada’s talented people to the point where the Dark Fog in central Africa still resides without losing any troops.

Therefore, the leading combat unit fights against monsters and clears the way, and the people with superpowers they guard follow them.

The lead unit will probably be in dire straits. Isn’t there really a huge number of people dying?

‘All we have to do is deal with the monsters that the lead unit missed and move forward. In some ways, is this also luck?’

Most of the African Expeditionary Force was deployed to this lead unit, so in some ways it might have been luck, as his successor said.

Although I lost in the first lottery, it was still the same as winning in the second lottery.

Choi Jae-woo held his breath while listening to the screams of the monsters in front of him.