Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 093

Stretching out over the vast expanse of the great wilderness, three powerful jet streams spewed forth from levers, extending across the sky like thin threads.
Despite the vast expanse of the Other World being more than 50 times the size of Earth, the levers extending at the speed of sound gradually approached their destination.
The scenery changed dramatically as they passed through lush mountain ranges, then suddenly flew over endless seas, and after two days, a desolate desert appeared.
Various types of monsters prowling on the ground were captured by the lever’s radar network, mostly common species with the occasional rare variant.
Meanwhile, Isaac sat at the Nexus Jet’s control seat, investing most of his time in designing blueprints with an AI program. He operated the program on a holographic screen, alternating between it and studying magical engineering textbooks, maintaining a consistently indifferent expression.
At Isaac’s command from the first day, ‘Rest comfortably as we don’t know when things might happen,’ the members inside the lever watched overseas drama series they had saved to watch for such occasions.
Eventually, growing bored, Gil-seong, with her cheerful personality, suggested playing board games with Isaac and enjoyed a few rounds of card games together. As a result, a commotion ensued as Isaac used his counting skills to consecutively win rounds.
And so, two days passed, and on the morning of the third day of flying in the Other World. The once gradually blue sky began to turn yellow. It wasn’t just a simple storm, the whole world was engulfed in dust, rapidly reducing visibility.
It was after flying for about two hours that a massive sandstorm was detected 100 km ahead.
– Whoooooosh! –
It was a colossal sandstorm estimated to cover an area of over 1,000,000 square kilometers. With the outrageous measurements from the magical radar, the S-class heroes were bewildered and quickly initiated emergency communication.
[Hmm~ This is serious. It seems to be the infamous Desolation Gale. It sucks up all surrounding life and uses it as prey.]
[That seems correct. The ‘Desolation Gale’ is not just a simple weather phenomenon but a gathering of numerous malevolent spirit, one of the worst disasters in the Other World, with wills that seek out life. However, it’s so massive that… It seems it will take another two to three days to return.]
The schedule for the Expedition of Fire Lily was set for a maximum of two weeks. To return before the Hero Tournament on December 20th, they had to finish their mission within two weeks.
Isaac fell into deep thought at the advice of the two S-class heroes.
‘Of all times.’
Safety was paramount, but failing to retrieve the Fire Lily within the allotted time would incur quest failure penalties.
‘Round trip of 300,000 km. From the outskirts of the Screaming Land to the center Fire Lily spot is roughly 1,000 km. It was already a tight schedule.’
Calculating, if they could penetrate the sandstorm in a straight line, they could pass through in about six hours. It seemed prudent to attempt it and divert if it proved too difficult.
“Let’s try entering. We’ll determine whether to proceed after identifying the range controlled by the spirit.”
The Desolation Gale was a presence akin to a swarm of ‘spiritual spirit’ that formed a large horde. While it might be impossible to dissipate the entire desert storm, there was a possibility of clearing out the attacking spirit and moving forward.
Based on this reasoning, both Yoho and Flame Emperor agreed with Isaac’s judgment.
– Krrrrrnnng. –
– Whoooooosh! –
The three levers approached the massive sandstorm. Visibility drastically shortened, forcing them to rely solely on the map illuminated by the magical radar to determine their position.
“Krrrrrr…!”
Gunggi growled as if sensing the presence of spirits nearby. Immediately after, the sandstorm fiercely engulfed the levers.
– Whoooooosh! –
At that moment, Yoho summoned three tails as if she had been waiting, waving her hand towards the sky. Her magic bound something unseen outside the levers, and instantly, the raging sandstorm calmed down.
The spirit was neutralized. The S-class heroes immediately measured the subdued storm’s range using the radar network. The results showed a faint decrease in intensity within several square kilometers of the storm.
Confirming this, Isaac nodded and spoke.
“Let’s enter the storm. Three squads will take turns handling the sand spirits for ten minutes each.”
Although the Desolation Gale was a dangerous disaster, there were two S-class heroes on this side. Isaac had full confidence in Yoho and Flame Emperor’s abilities.
[Wow~ Indeed. With a strong leader like Oppa, there’s nothing to worry about even if we’re caught up in dangerous phenomena.]
And they trusted Isaac. They had no choice. He was the S-class hero among S-class heroes who single-handedly subdued the Aqua Shaper.
Yoho wasn’t afraid, even if hordes of Lord-class spirits swarmed them, as long as she was with Isaac.
“…”
Overwhelmed by her heavy trust, Isaac momentarily lost his words, but if it couldn’t be helped, it was better to see it as a morale boost.
“I trust all of you too. Let’s navigate through this.”
With a muddled mind, Isaac rallied with a simple word of encouragement. As the leader of the expedition, even if he couldn’t provide substantial help, he resolved to at least speak well.
And it proved quite effective.
Seeing Isaac speaking in such a gentle tone for the first time, Flame Emperor, who had been eyeing him, was quite moved and touched.
‘He said he trusts me.’
– Fwoosh! –
Enthusiasm surged as flames erupted over Flame Emperor’s charged his courage.
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At the heart of the colossal sandstorm, within the calm eye of the storm, there lay a massive pit. Inside it stood a structure resembling a cathedral, even larger than most stadiums.
The pit endlessly excavated, with sand and dirt defying gravity and rising around the cathedral. Dozens of vague, eerie orbs floated around the perimeter of the massive pit, and whenever they emitted mysterious flashes, the speed of the excavated sand increased.
– Swoooosh… –
And overseeing all this was a humanoid figure made of sand, gazing down imperiously. The surface of the sand humanoid was never still, with the sand constantly rippling, creating a grotesque atmosphere.
– Swoosh. –
Then, at that moment, a small clump of sand flew over and stopped in front of the sand humanoid. The identity of the sand clump was none other than a bird made of sand. Larger than a sparrow but smaller than a crow, the sand bird flitted around the sand humanoid with a noisy fluttering.
– Goooh…! –
In response, waves of ominous energy emanated from the sand humanoid, overwhelming the orbs of eerie light and the sand bird working below, causing them to tremble in fear.
“How peculiar. To trespass our territory without fear.”
With a low voice, he turned his gaze upwards. In the high airspace of the storm’s eye, six bizarre-shaped sand masses were clustered together. Each mass was suspended in the air like structures in the sky, their sizes incomparable to the sand bird.
The smallest among them was about 5 meters tall, but the largest swelled to the size of a sizable apartment building, its surface constantly undulating with waves of sand.
“It’s a matter concerning the future of our Sand specter race. We must rid ourselves of intruders.”
– Goooh…! –
At the sand humanoid’s request, the bizarre-shaped sand masses floating in the sky writhed and emitted intense waves of ominous energy.
Soon, their forms crumbled and turned into a sand deluge, flying off somewhere. Observing this, the sand humanoid, seemingly confident that the problem would be resolved, refocused on extracting the cathedral buried underground.
However, just as the bottom part of the cathedral was nearly fully exposed, a sudden change occurred.
– Creaking! –
Suddenly, a magic barrier enveloped the entire cathedral. Nearby orbs of eerie light, manipulating the sand, trembled as if electrified by the barrier’s repulsive force, then collapsed.
In the airspace, the sand humanoid, instead of being alarmed by this phenomenon, laughed with delight, a strange laughter echoing.
“Hahaha! Finally, a proper ruin has been found! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and use what you’ve prepared!”
– Wuuuuu… –
At the sand humanoid’s command, orbs of eerie light flew in from all directions, encircling the cathedral in a specific pattern.
Before long, a massive magic circle unfolded around the entire ruin, emitting dazzling light.
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***
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The golden-tinted bullet pierced through the black orb hidden amidst the sandstorm. The fierce sandstorm momentarily calmed, providing a clear visibility of about 100 meters.
[Now it’s our turn. Descend and rest.]
As the hero who purified the spirits with golden bullets, Gil-seong, listened to the communication from the hero ‘Ellie’ in her ear. Ellie represented the A-class heroes of Dawn Clan and held the same position as Gil-seong, as a marksman.
“Yes!”
Gil-seong replied boldly. However, despite her energetic response, she was incredibly exhausted. Nearly half of her mana was depleted, and most importantly, locating the spirits with the ‘Watcher’s Eye’ amidst the sandstorm had consumed a significant amount of her mental strength.
With the three levers alternating every ten minutes to deal with the spirits, her role as a marksman was particularly heavy due to the fast-paced flight.
– Zing… –
The members returned to the levers through the upper hatch lift. Sweat beaded on Seo Eun-ha and Gil-seong’s foreheads, who had buffed and purified the spirits.
On the other hand, Yeo jin-soo and Hwang Man-deuk remained stable, having only occasionally brushed off the sharp sandstorm.
– Shurrr… –
At that moment, Isaac, who had been diligently checking something on the central holographic map, reached out and sent a surge of green energy to Gil-seong and Seo Eun-ha. Instantly, the weary expressions of the two female heroes relaxed.
“Ah, thank you!”
“How’s your condition? Do you feel any changes or discomfort?”
“Huh? Me?”
Gil-seong pointed to her own face with her finger, seeming confused by the question, but that gesture alone seemed to be the answer.
“I’m fine. I’ll just lie down for a bit. Ah, phew.”
She happily stretched out onto the bench in the corner. Being small in stature, the long bench was just right for Gil-seong to lie down comfortably. Isaac glanced at each member before nodding subtly.
The heroes’ status screens weren’t in bad shape.
[A massive negative energy observation ahead! It’s a Lord-class!]
Just then, urgent communications from Flame Emperor came through. At the same time, Yoho’s voice, filled with mischief, indicated detecting intense dark energy waves.
[What should we do?]
Why were those supposed to be sleeping in the eye of the storm popping up here? It was driving them crazy.
[We proceed with the plan.]
Isaac casually ordered to respond according to the pre-shared plan. Armed with his background knowledge from the Clan of Heroes, he was well aware of the characteristics of Lord-class sand specters guarding the eye of the storm.
Even if he had to resort to the Final Finish, that was a story for the last moment.
– Boom! –
Right after the command was issued, the upper hatch of the central lever opened, and a long stream of flames shot out. The flames flew faster than the lever, quickly turning into a fiery bird.
– Waaah! –
Before long, a shape resembling a colossal sand whale appeared in front of the fiery bird. The sand whale unleashed a fierce and wide-ranging storm, significantly slowing down the lever’s speed. The force pushing against them was so strong that deploying the shield to protect the aircraft was challenging.
– Rumble! –
The fiery bird spread its wings and shot a barrage of fireballs. Despite being within the sandstorm, the fireballs struck the sand whale’s body directly. Successive explosions resounded, causing the giant whale’s massive body to stagger backward.
“Kieeh!”
However, the Lord-class sand specters were not just one or two. Summoning five tails, Yoho realized the full power of the Sand specters was beyond imagination, furrowing her brows in concern.