Chapter 46

Episode 3: Age of Ghosts / Chapter 46: Colonize (3)

TL: emptycube

The dragonhead spartoi concentrated their firepower on Choi Hyuk. During this time, Ryu Hyunsung’s troop were able to execute the charge with Lee Jinhee taking the lead.

Clang! Crash!

Though loud sounds could be heard, they weren’t effective. The spartoi were born from the High Dragon Barhaloleun’s bones. Their bodies were built of a material that was very reactive to karma, dragon bones.

“I can’t make a dent!”

Lee Jinhee shouted as she swung at the spartoi with agile movements. There wasn’t a significant result. When she tried to ignore the spartoi in front of her and jump over them, a karma arrow would fly over and block her like a ghost. She had no choice but to go through them, but there was no way to do so.

Chu Youngjin put away his red sword and took out another one to attack the spartoi. He was worried it might get damaged.

“This luster! No matter how I look at it, it looks like karma’s been applied? So, from the start, their bodies and the equipment they use are made of the same material. Their bodies are no different from karma-reinforced shields.”

“Then what do we do?”

Lee Jinhee asked. She avoided the swinging spear of a spartoi and slashed down at its wrist. There was only a slight scratch.

Baek Seoin replied.

“Jinhee. Try that!”

“What?”

“That Wind Void…”

“Wind Void Wave?”

“Yeah, Void Wave! Use that!”

Lee Jinhee’s mind seemed to light up at his words. If their bodies were like karma-reinforced shields like he said, then didn’t she just have to blow it away?

The skill she created a few days ago, Wind Void Wave. It was a skill that was even able to blow Choi Hyuk’s karma away.

Clench.

Lee Jinhee applied power to her dantian. Her karma started to coil into spirals. At some point, the spirals, which had been coiled to the extreme, had transformed into a whirlwind.

“Eat this!”

She rushed into a spartoi’s bosom and stuck her left hand out. The whirlwind that started from her dantian made its way up her arm and smashed into the monster’s chest. Wind blasted out from the spartoi’s chest.

Pashashasha!

Although the spartoi flinched, it didn’t move back a single step. From the beginning, it wasn’t a skill with much destructive power. The skill’s motive was to push away the karma on its outer layer.

“The luster is gone!”

Baek Seoin yelled in delight as he ran towards her. His sword shined with karma and,

Zzong!

A fracture appeared on the spartoi’s body.

“That’s good.”

Chu Youngjin rushed in, not losing his chance.

“Bisect!”

Crackle!

Along with the activation of his skill, he used his own particular method to explode his karma.

Crack!

Although, because of the high endurance of the bones, he wasn’t able to sever its neck, he was still able to break 1/3 of it. They had finally left a significant blow.

“Leader! It’s Wind Void Wave!”

Lee Jinhee shouted refreshingly with karma imbued in her voice. Loud enough for all 5,000 people to hear.

It was Baek Seoin’s role to be embarrassed.

‘What on Earth… is Wind Void Wave?’

He couldn’t help but be astonished at the immaturity of her naming sense.

Anyways, her worrying about Choi Hyuk was pointless. As he had already come to that conclusion by himself.

**

The karma arrows seemed as if they were trying to force Choi Hyuk to submit. Choi Hyuk fiercely wielded his karma in retaliation, but that was all. He couldn’t advance forward. He was in a situation where if he didn’t give up and retreat, his safety was at risk. However, he didn’t retreat.

Trials were like this. Although there were times when going around could be faster, there were also times where you would never break through once you failed to break through the first time. Your most fierce attempt would be your first. Therefore, if you couldn’t do it the first time, you wouldn’t be able to do it the next. With that in mind, Choi Hyuk was striking down the endless barrage of karma arrows.

His karma felt heavier every passing moment.

However, he increased his concentration. He believed in himself. His talent would always find a path to victory. What was the one move that could throw all this away? It was this moment when he figured out the answer.

‘Lee Jinhee.’

The surrounding air current changed.

Thump, thump!

His Karma Heart thumped furiously as it pumped karma. He expanded his barrier and pushed the surrounding attacks further away.

Thump.

This time, he recalled his released karma. He created a spiral in the center of the heart. The air around him distorted.

A whirlwind, no, a storm began to brew with him as the center.

He saw the oncoming karma arrows. If this skill failed, he would undoubtedly die.

‘Though there’s no way I’ll fail.’

He didn’t stop there. He divided the fierce karma storm into smaller parts and added in his unique rhythm. As he did, the different parts started to resonate with each other. Woong, woong, woong. Once the resonance started, it expanded swiftly.

His dantian felt like it was tearing apart.

When he was at the absolute limit of his limits, he pushed the resonance that seemed as if it was about to explode out. He pushed it out through the karma pathway on his right arm.

“Leader! It’s Wind Void Wave!”

He heard Lee Jinhee’s voice.

‘I know.’

Choi Hyuk smiled, revealing his teeth. An invisible wave exploded from his right hand.

…

Sound disappeared from the battlefield. The resonance of the storm, which was compressed to its utmost limits, blew away the air as it covered the whole battlefield. The luster on the bodies of the spartoi disappeared as did the karma on Lee Jinhee’s short swords.

The arrows flying towards Choi Hyuk either scattered or went off course and embedded into the red ground.

It was as if time had stopped. Both the humans and spartoi froze at the drastic change that silently overcame them.

The first to move was Choi Hyuk.

Thump!

He had overtaxed his Karma Heart to its limit, however, he gathered his strength once more. Along with a numbing pain.

Swish.

A 5-meter-long Karma Blade appeared. His karma and body were both at their limits.

“Euaahhhh!”

Choi Hyuk shouted to prevent himself from fainting.

Crakakakak!

The spartoi that blocked his path had their waists sliced and their upper bodies scattered in the air.

Like a lion, Choi Hyuk leaped over the spartoi and attacked the dragonhead spartoi behind them. It seemed that in exchange for their high offensive power, the dragonhead spartoi lacked strong defense as he was able to cut them without imbuing his sword with karma. Pieces of bone scattered into the air.

“Wah… Damn… I hate him.”

Lee Jinhee pouted as she pierced holes into the bodies of spartoi, which had lost their luster. She felt as if her skill was stolen.

“Is he even human! How can you improve something you’ve only seen once so much!”

While Lee Jinhee was speaking ill of him, Choi Hyuk had finished taking care of the dragonheads and was staggering. He acted otherwise by keeping his eyes wide open, but it was obvious he was exhausted. Substituting for the exhausted Choi Hyuk, 5,000 soldiers charged in.

“Push! Push! Annihilate them before their karma returns!”

They weren’t scared of the spartoi without dragonheads. They were simply monstrously tough monsters. Even that was blown away with the Void Wave. Though they were tough, the soldiers were able to smash them apart with various skills.

“Yeah, this is it!”

Spartoi would be split apart every time Ryu Hyunsung wielded his saber. His saber was shining faintly.

The spartoi couldn’t endure the attack of 5,000 people. If they couldn’t slice them with swords, they would smash them with iron maces. Though the spartoi regained their karma after the effect of the Void Wave ended, even then, these spartoi would eventually turn into powder after being beaten with an iron mace hundreds or thousands of times. The spartoi were no longer a match for the humans after they lost their karma cannonballs.

The fierce battle concluded in an hour.

500 casualties. The casualties due to the cannonballs in the beginning were simply too large.

However,

“Ooaaahhh!”

A cheer erupted. Why wouldn’t one? Didn’t China get annihilated after sending 15,000 people?

The combination of Choi Hyuk’s existence and the skill, Void Wave, was the dividing factor between 15,000 and 5,000 people. This was an incredible accomplishment.

{First to colonize amongst humans! Retribution of all participants increased by 10. Granted 10 free karma points.}

{Colonization Sovereign Choi Hyuk’s Retribution increased by an extra 30 points. Granted 30 free karma points.}

——————–

{Succeeded in Colonizing the Starting Point! – Spartoi Post}

The ‘Dragonic’ planet has become occupied by monsters. Although still surviving members continue their resistance, their prospects are bleak. Liberate the ‘dragonics’ and prepare a human settlement.

1. Barhaloleun Hill 1 is now a human territory! The portal has been activated.
2. Passage management authority granted to Colonization Sovereign ‘Choi Hyuk’
3. Unlocked ‘Supply Store of the Flame Wing Tribe’.

——————–

**

While Bae Jinman was treating the wounded after the battle, a few scouts left while the rest sat down and rested.

Choi Hyuk’s expression wasn’t good.

“Why is Leader Choi Hyuk’s expression not very good after winning so magnificently?”

“Ah, Guardian Bae Jinman. Are the wounded okay?”

“Yes. Everyone is now fine. Though, we can’t do anything about the dead.”

Bae Jinman who momentarily had a gloomy expression examined Choi Hyuk’s expression and asked.

“Is something concerning you?”

“No. I was just thinking about what to do now.”

“Liberate the dragonics and prepare a human settlement.”

Bae Jinman recited the announcement. Choi Hyuk’s expression distorted again.

“…I’m pissed. It was hard gathering 5,000 people. Doesn’t it seem there will eventually be battles where we need hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people?”

Only then did Bae Jinman understand Choi Hyuk’s concern. It would be great if Choi Hyuk was able to kill all the monsters occupying this planet himself. But that was impossible. He was strong, but he needed help. Even today, if he didn’t have the 5,000 people, he might have become exhausted in the middle of the battle and died.

However, Choi Hyuk wasn’t confident in ‘politics’ which was needed to gather the help he needed, in fact, he even despised it.

So Bae Jinman laughed.

“Puahaha. Why do you worry about that?”

He revealed a heartwarming smile.

‘It’s times like this when I remember he really is a young man.’

To Bae Jinman, Choi Hyuk’s worries weren’t anything to worry about.

Soon after, Baek Seoin and Lee Jinhee returned from reconnaissance and an executive meeting, including Ryu Hyunsung, Chu Youngjin, and Bae Jinman, was held.

Choi Hyuk kept a blank expression throughout the meeting. His followers were very competent.

“There are no dangerous enemies within a 2km radius. There are only small-scale monster groups. The hilly region extends in a long line. You can tell just by looking, but this is the highest place in our surroundings. However, 2km north, there’s a vast plateau and there are more spartoi there. We saw around 500 with just a quick glance.”

Lee Jinhee added in during Baek Seoin’s report.

“Ah, and there was an amazing ore so I brought it! It seems similar to the material that make up the bodies of the spartoi… Look. It doesn’t cut when I hit it with a Karma Blade.”

She said while rubbing an ore emitting a red light on her blade. Bae Jinman’s eyes shined.

“Is there a lot?”

“Yes. There’s a lot. There~ Do you see that pointy boulder? I brought some of that as well.”

Lee Jinhee threw a wide red rock up into the air.

“This is really light. And strong.”

Bae Jinman smiled. He turned towards Choi Hyuk and said.

“It’s a gold mine. There’s a farmer amongst my comrades and he said that this dirt is extremely fertile.”

“The place seems quite desolate considering its fertile?”

Like Ryu Hyunsung’s words, there weren’t a lot of plant life around them. They only saw enormous trees here and there. They were trees whose trunks were the size of 4 elephants.

“Yes, as it is a rocky area. However, if it didn’t have nutrients, those trees would absolutely be unable to grow that large. We have to investigate specific details, but it means there is a possibility anyhow. If not, we can advance it as a flat region.”

Bae Jinman suddenly looked up at the sky. A strange white sky that looked like a milk whirlpool.

“This place is a new world. It’s full of potential. Leader Choi Hyuk, think about the words in the announcement. ‘Prepare a human settlement’.”

Choi Hyuk looked at him with a ‘So what?’ expression. It was Baek Seoin, instead of Bae Jinman, who replied.

“… Are Guardian Bae Jinman’s thoughts the same? ‘Prepare a settlement’ could be interpreted simply as creating a base… but I too find it a bit strange. Why do we need to settle? Was it because we have to leave Earth and needed a place to settle?”

“Ehh, that’s going too far.”

Lee Jinhee scolded Baek Seoin.

However, Guardian Bae Jinman agreed with him.

“No. That’s correct. You’ll know if you’ve seen the news recently. We are expecting the worst harvest in history. We’re not facing a drought because there hasn’t been any rain but the ground itself is drying up. They say that food has been reserved few years in advance.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to Bae Jinman.

“Though it may seem civilization on Earth is strong, but in fact, it’s extremely fragile. What do you think will happen if this sudden lack of food continues for 1-2 years? But if the ground continues to dry up like now, no one will be able to live on Earth. There is another suspicious situation. They say that there have been large-scale disappearances? Where do you think they’ve gone? Even this hypothesis is possible. Perhaps this colonizing land might be the land humans have to migrate to. They might possibly be somewhere on this land as they were migrated in advance.”

A silence hung in the air. Though they would be able to figure it out as they slowly confirmed things… The dark and obscure world seemed to reveal a more detailed outline.

Bae Jinman’s expression suddenly changed. From a serious one to a brighter one.

He combined what he had said until now and jokingly said to Choi Hyuk.

“Before, you were worried that there wouldn’t be many people participating in the colonization war? There is no need for that. The value of the mineral resources here is unfathomable and a food crisis approaches Earth. Now, look here. There are resources of value and a possible escape from annihilation. Why would they endure and not come here?

Bae Jinman paused for a moment before meaningfully saying.

“You shouldn’t be worried whether if there will be a lot of participants, but who you will accept. They will eventually beg Leader Choi Hyuk to let them in.”

A strange silence hung in the air. It was a palpitating silence. They were silently feeling extremely excited. A completely new world was approaching.

Choi Hyuk had his mouth tightly shut. He had butterflies in his stomach.

Baek Seoin broke the silence and added in.

“On top of that, there is even the ‘Supply Store of the Flame Wing Tribe’.”

It was game set.