The One Who Saved a World Before Will be Best at Saving Another

Chapter 34

An eighty-car train was racing through Siberia. Even if each car was only about fourteen meters long, the total length was over one kilometer.

When something that long and massive ran joyfully over the tracks, it was bound to attract attention.

— Anyone available, get to Car 57 right now, it’s urgent!

Available huh. Who in the world had the luxury of being available when hundreds of winged creatures were swarming like a storm?

"Damn it, this is going great."

Like the monsters from an Erosion Zone for example.

We were dealing with swarms of wings without bodies. They were grotesque, with large wings plastered with eyes. Like peacock feathers dragged straight out of hell.

The wings were made of metal and sharp as razors. Hundreds of them swirled around the train like a swarm of locusts, making things miserable.

"If Lee Se-eun could join in, this would be a lot easier."

That was impossible. For the train to run on the barely intact Siberian rail, repairs and operations often had to happen simultaneously.

The repair crews working on the tracks in real time could not defend themselves against monsters. If they were taken out, the over-one-kilometer-long train would face derailment.

That was why Lee Se-eun was stuck right at the very front of the train, unable to deal with anything happening elsewhere.

"I don’t know whose brilliant idea this was."

Tying down the strongest fighter so she could not be used was absurd. If I were the commander, I would have cut off the head of whoever came up with this and hung it in the marketplace.

I sprinted to the location I had been ordered to. The spear in my hands lengthened and shortened on its own as it smashed into the pesky, eye-covered wings rushing me.

"Hey, move aside!"

I shouted, gripped just below the spearhead with both hands, extended the shaft to full length, and vaulted forward.

While I was airborne, the train kept running. I swung the spear without pause, cutting down the enemy numbers mid-flight.

"One, two."

I landed precisely on Car 57. Just as they said it was urgent, several Hunters were struggling to hold off the steel wings. I could already see cut marks all over the containers holding cargo.

"Get lost!"

I grabbed one wing that came flying for my head and crushed it in my hands before scanning the area.

"The cargo is not the target."

They were only after people. If anything, that was a relief.

"Hunter Yoo Chan-seok, thank you!"

The Hunters fighting these things greeted me.

"Go somewhere else."

I could handle this alone, so it would be better for them to block other sections.

"You there, take a rest."

I called out to one Hunter who was about to move off.

"What? I’m still…"

"You planning to be dead weight? Go rest."

My tone came out like an order. His mana was almost gone, and his body was worn down. From my perspective, he was no longer a usable combat power.

"Once you’re dead, that’s it. Rest, recover as fast as possible, then come back."

Even as I spoke, my spear kept swinging, lengthening and shortening to destroy the approaching wings.

"Alright."

He left, and I kept working. It was, in a way, a simple mechanical task. Sense the enemy through my instincts and kill them one by one.

"Incredible. They’re going for numbers huh."

Even after killing so many, countless wings still swarmed around the moving train. There had to be thousands.

The Hunters kept moving and cutting them down, but it was impossible to get every last one.

"Problem at Car 57 handled."

— Keep going until you reach Car 30, clearing as you go.

Following the order, I darted between the cars of the running train, clearing the monsters.

That went on for two whole hours.

Finally, whether they gave up or moved out of their territory, the monsters withdrew.

"Phew."

The Hunters sat heavily on the train roof, exhausted. I shortened my spear as much as possible and slung it at my waist.

I looked over the resting Hunters. None looked particularly upbeat.

"Focus on restoring your mana. There might be another fight."

The Hunters, sipping potion ampoules, gave me incredulous looks.

"You… I mean, Hunter Yoo Chan-seok, why are you fine?"

"What do you mean? And don’t waste time with formal talk in this situation. Just keep it short."

The man nodded.

"Your mana hasn’t dropped at all."

"It’s one of my many charms."

I fished a chocolate bar from my pocket and bit into it. Around then, Han Sang-ah, with a few fresh scratches, slid her sword into its sheath and added,

"You took down almost hundreds by yourself. Without you, things would have gotten messy."

"That’s another one of my charms. Embargo Tower sure knows how to pick people."

I briefly observed her for a moment and spoke.

"Bring me some eggs. Let’s see how your training’s going."

Han Sang-ah obediently went to get some and soon returned.

She started poking the eggs with chopsticks and needles, showing me the results.

I checked and nodded.

"It’s perfectly cooked now."

"This one’s raw though."

I meant your egg-poking skill, not the egg itself. Did she swap her talent and sense or something?

"I think we’re done with this drill. My hand control’s definitely gotten more precise."

"Of course it has, I’m the one that assigned it after all."

I declared it was time for the next step and took one egg from her.

"Egg again?"

"Yes, it's an egg again. But the method’s different, so it’s okay right?"

She looked a bit disappointed at my words.

"Outside of Korea, eggs are a luxury. In Russia, they’re about 3,500 won for two."

I had not realized they were that expensive. In Korea, ten cost around 6,000 won. It was about twice as much as I remembered, but still nothing compared to other countries.

"You’re part of the Geumyang Group family though."

"That’s why we can use eggs for training."

It was not wasting food. It was training.

"Watch closely."

I cracked the egg into a bowl. Inside, the yolk and white were completely blended into a yellow liquid.

"Internal destruction technique?"

"That’s one name for it."

Using mana to wreck only the inside of the egg without damaging the shell.

"Just breaking the inside isn’t enough. Anyone who can use mana can do that."

"Agreed."

Han Sang-ah could probably burst the yolk without breaking the shell right now.

"But I want you to stir the inside so thoroughly that you could make a rolled omelet the moment you crack it."

"That sounds hard."

"That’s why it’s training."

Hang Sang-ah looked fired up. She really was an easy person to read.

"But this isn’t something I’m teaching you to use in combat."

Unless in special situations, it was inefficient. Like playing Hanon etudes at a piano competition and expecting to win.

"Practice controlling mana, then use your own refined combat techniques in real fights."

"Got it."

While talking, I glanced around and froze for a moment. I immediately pulled out my radio transceiver.

"This is Yoo Chan-seok. I just saw a cigarette ember to the northwest."

— A cigarette ember? That means someone’s nearby.

I remembered what had been said in the Air Force base meeting.

"We’re near Khabarovsk now, right?"

— Yes, I guess that makes sense.

The threats we might encounter had been part of the meeting. The Khabarovsk area was home to an armed gang led by someone named Nikolai.

— Obstacle ahead. Slowing down!

The train’s speed dropped. Looking ahead, massive boulders, likely hundreds of tons, blocked the tracks, doused in oil and set ablaze to make clearing them difficult.

— Don’t slow down. I’ll…

Before she could finish, Lee Se-eun’s voice cut out. At that moment, a massive amount of mana surged from the horizon.

"Shit."

Even at a glance, the mana aimed at the train was dizzyingly strong.

— Cancel that, slow the train!

It was Lee Se-eun’s voice. From beyond the horizon, a blinding beam of light blasted toward us.

But It never hit us. Someone stepped between the beam and the train. It was Lee Se-eun.

She swung her sword, and the beam that could have erased the train was deflected into the sky like a ping-pong ball.

"Wow, that’s not human."

She deflected that? Deflecting that was beyond most people’s abilities. But she had done it casually.

Tenth rank, was it? It would take someone like that to be counted among the top ten Hunters.

The beam rose and exploded in the sky, turning night into day.

"Looks like there are hundreds."

In the sudden light, we saw hundreds of armed humans rushing the slowing train.

As soon as they appeared, they charged with a bizarre trumpet call and a song.

"What song is that?"

Han Sang-ah answered.

"A Soviet military song from the Cold War. The lyrics now are ‘If the enemy dares to test our strength, make them never dare to test us again.’"

"Psychos."

Crazy people here, crazy people there, crazy people everywhere.

Anyway, the train had no choice but to slow down. And a train this long needed time to speed up again.

"At least Hunter Lee Se-eun can move now…"

When the train stopped, the track workers would take shelter and Lee Se-eun could engage.

Just as one Hunter muttered that, hundreds of sheets of paper appeared around Lee Se-eun, connected by glowing purple lines.

"Talismans?"

I was able to tell what the function of it was immediately after seeing it. Someone had sealed Lee Se-eun inside.

She could not be approached, and she could not leave until she broke it.

"Why was that so fast!?"

It was hard enough to make a solid, durable seal. But doing it that fast was even more shocking.

Now we were definitely in for some trouble. What a hassle this is.