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

Chapter 36

It sounded like a blacksmith’s hammer striking iron in another world, echoing merrily across the Siberian plains.

With a clanging noise, countless rapid strikes battered the equipment Nikolai was piloting. Of course, it took no real damage. It had been built to be tough, after all.

“Not very warm, is it? Can’t be helped.”

On the front armor of his machine, black flames were merrily eating away at its durability. I was deliberately controlling the Paradoxical Flame so it wouldn’t touch the rear armor. My plan was to take it off afterward, hand it to Choi Seung-gi, make plates for protective gear, and sell the leftovers.

Sure, the front armor was far stronger in terms of protection, but stripping off armor could wait. The priority was eliminating Nikolai.

“You seem relaxed enough to let your eyes wander.”

With a thud, my extended spear smacked the transparent visor protecting his face. A cracking noise followed, and spiderweb-like fractures spread across the glass.

“It’s a bit of a shame.”

I thought it might break completely after all this burning, but it seemed I’d have to wait a little longer.

― Wait, why the hell is this breaking?!

The visor that had held firm until now suddenly cracked, and Nikolai was noticeably flustered.

“I don’t know, it just broke when I hit it.”

That wasn’t all. My relentless thrusts finally managed to scratch the front armor. That meant it had weakened enough.

“I’ve been roasting you for almost twenty minutes now.”

This wasn’t the Paradoxical Flame I’d used at Gyodongdo. If it had been, the core of the Erosion Zone we faced there would have died from catastrophic muscle failure in thirty seconds.

But this guy lasted twenty minutes. In terms of my previous world, maybe not pure mithril, but it was at least durable like a working-grade mithril alloy.

“But still,”

The fact my attacks were leaving marks meant its incredible defense wouldn’t last much longer. Before long, it would be like modeling clay.

“Here, a gift.”

After a few more strikes, I used my spear tip to carve a little heart shape into the front armor.

― You son of a bitch-!

Then, with a clunk, all the armor plates around his body fell away. It seemed he wanted to ditch the weight and speed up, since they were just dead weight now.

He even dumped the massive cannon that had been mounted on one arm.

With the armor gone, the machine’s power source was exposed.

“It’s not something I can eat.”

The mana output was immense, but it clearly wasn’t a consumable source.

The glowing core seemed furious, radiating a dangerous hum and glowing red-hot.

― Haah… huuuh….

Heat haze shimmered around the power source. It looked scorching just from here.

“It’s cold out, you should be dressing warmer, not stripping down like that. Embarrassing.”

I provoked the now bare-chested Nikolai as I readied my stance and drew up mana.

With a bang of compressed air, Nikolai vanished from sight, then appeared right in front of me, swinging a blazing lightsaber.

Almost ten strikes per second rained down. It was comparable to a machine gun’s rate of fire.

He’d surpassed the limits of human speed, and so had I in blocking and dodging.

― You monstrous bastard. Die, die! I’ll grind you to nothing, and leave no trace!

I watched and listened, blocking and preparing for the next blow, waiting for my chance to counter.

One solid hit would end it. He’d traded armor for speed, so one good strike could finish him.

― Then I’ll self-destruct!

“Wow, that’s an idea straight out of the Japanese army. Thanks for sharing.”

But of course there was no self-destruct mechanism. This wasn’t a cartoon after all.

It was the same as no pilot wanting to fly a fighter with a built-in suicide bomb. Who would board a plane that might explode?

Besides, that thing looked expensive. After some time, the machine, pushed past its output limits, began to groan and creak.

“Hear that? That’s the sound of your life ending.”

Nikolai stayed silent as black smoke poured from his machine. The whine of the turbines grew quieter and quieter until it died completely.

“Any last words?”

With a hiss of venting air, he lifted his cracked visor and spoke.

“Spare me, please. I didn’t want to do this.”

“Shall I, then? Honestly I can spare you if I want to.”

I said that as I drove my spear into his head. Nobody survives a spear through the skull.

The offer to spare him had just been to keep him from making a last-ditch move. This wasn’t a sparring match but a battle, and in battle the loser dies.

“About five minutes left…”

Lee Se-eun’s seal was nearly broken. Nikolai’s men, who had charged in so boldly, lost their will completely when they saw their leader’s head pierced.

With some breathing room, I examined the seal holding Lee Se-eun.

“Crafty work.”

Complex yet tidy, sturdy yet cunning. I had to admit it was well made.

But it wasn’t beyond me to unravel.

“They have to be within three kilometers…”

Following the mana trail would lead me straight to the caster. Watching Lee Se-eun detonating greatswords inside the seal, I clicked my tongue.

“If I find them, I could kill them for sure.”

By now the caster was probably coughing blood to keep the seal up.

But then, the seal broke.

“Slippery bastard.”

They’d released it the moment they realized things had gone wrong. That meant they’d run.

“Ugh, how annoying.”

And as soon as she was free, Lee Se-eun went wild with her greatsword. Each swing was a storm, each step like an earthquake.

“What a fiery temper she has.”

Mana poured off her body, shimmering the air around us. For mana to affect the world so visibly meant she was bleeding it out like water, as if it didn’t matter. Honestly for someone like Lee Se-eun, maybe it didn’t.

“Good work.”

While I finished off Nikolai’s demoralized men, Lee Se-eun joined in. They never stood a chance, and the fight ended quickly. Afterward, she approached me.

“Good work. You did better than I expected. It’s hard to believe, but you could be a contender for a Partner Hunter spot anywhere.”

It seemed like she’d been watching my fight with Nikolai even while breaking the seal. I just held out my hand instead of responding with words, and on it was my reward candy.

“Thanks.”

I popped it in my mouth, and the other Hunters from Jannabi looked surprised. What was their problem? She gave it to me to eat.

“You’re probably the only one who eats them.”

Lee Se-eun’s comment made me blink.

“What, do they make Lego sculptures with them or something?”

“They collect them. They even show off if they get a lot.”

So it was like a trophy. I sucked the candy and asked,

“Did I perhaps miss some kind of Hunter personality test?”

I was starting to think you had to be at least a little crazy to be a Hunter.

Once things were cleaned up, the train started moving again.

Then, I ran into something unpleasant.

“The ROK Army wants to seize the gear I took down?”

They were insisting on taking Nikolai’s machine.

“That machine was originally developed with ROK government funding.”

“And then some bandit roaming Siberia conveniently ‘reclaimed’ it for his own use.”

I replied coolly, giving the army officer a once-over.

“I took him down. That obviously makes it mine.”

“Hunter Yoo Chan-seok, please. If that machine ends up on the open market as your spoils, it will be a huge embarrassment to the ROK government.”

A South Korean military official explained that this would have a similar ripple effect to that of American nuclear missiles being released on the Iranian market.

It sounded reasonable enough, but I couldn’t believe it no matter how hard I tried.

From what Lee Se-eun had told me, the one who’d forcibly sealed her was with the Descendants of Dangun.

It was way too strange.

Nikolai had somehow gotten his hands on ROK special equipment and used it freely. For that to happen, either his faction was powerful enough to ignore the ROK government entirely, or the ROK military had quietly approved his activities.

It seemed likely there was a link between Nikolai and the Descendants of Dangun. Plus, I’d already been questioning the ties between that group and the ROK government.

Should we really trust these soldiers on the train with us? I honestly couldn’t.

“I’ll say it again. I took him down. It’s mine.”

“This isn’t a request. It’s a directive from the Korean Defense Counterintelligence Command.”

So they wanted to make it clear this was an order, not a plea. I decided to play along and see what I could get.

“Then what about my trouble? At least give me something for it. You can’t just take everything when you weren’t even here to help.”

I sounded aggrieved, but also made it clear I might be willing to give ground.

“Then… how can we make this work for both sides?”

Maybe he caught my drift, because his tone softened a bit.

“I’m not asking for much. I just want the armor from Nikolai’s machine as my trophy.”

He gave an awkward sigh.

“We can’t give you all of it.”

“Then just the front armor.”

He contacted someone, then shook his head.

“Sorry. We can’t give the front armor…”

“Then what can you give me? This is ridiculous. Fine, I’ll take only the rear armor. I won’t budge further.”

After another round of calls, he returned looking relieved.

“Upper command says that’s acceptable.”

“I’d like that in writing, please. An official document.”

If it was on paper, they couldn’t back out later. He nodded.

“Understood. We can have it for you in two to three hours.”

I smiled inwardly. In truth, the front armor was already half-melted by the Paradoxical Flame, barely tougher than kids’ modeling clay. Even if they took it, it’d be useless.

As the talk ended, I watched the back of the officer’s head.

“I think I can call it confirmed now.”

There was no hard proof, but from the circumstances, I could safely suspect some connection between the ROK government and the Descendants of Dangun.

Until evidence to the contrary appeared, I decided to proceed on the assumption that they were linked.