Meteor Sword — Part 2
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
I emptied an entire magazine.
The muzzle flash cut through the world like a blade.
“2nd level, and you’re still standing!”
It was a lightning-fast barrage, but Ebony simply snorted in contempt.
With the flexibility of a cat, she leaned back, her body sliding gracefully out of my line of fire.
Thanks to that, the bullets only sliced through the air.
At the same time, she elegantly raised the twin pistols holstered at her waist.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Flames erupted from the barrels, surging toward me.
I could have dodged them.
After all, I had the [Evasion] trait.
But instead of making a big fuss, I chose a completely different approach.
[Mana Shield][Mana Core][Defense]
[Endurance][Toughness][Focus]
I deployed a Mana Shield around my head and abdomen—where Ebony had aimed her shots—and reinforced it with defensive traits.
“What the…?”
Ebony’s face twisted in surprise.
Boom!
The bullets exploded as they hit the Mana Shield.
Each one was a magic bullet, painstakingly engraved with explosion spells.
If it had the firepower of a grenade, it might have been dangerous. But since they were just from a pistol, they couldn’t break through both my shield and defense. All it did was send a whirlwind of flame swirling around me, far from enough to penetrate.
Shwip!
That’s when I felt a sharp sting in my left side.
Ebony flashed a wicked grin.
“How about that?”
Viper had fired a poisoned bolt from the blind spot, just as expected from someone who preferred a crossbow over a gun. It was a deadly strike.
The bolt was coated in a potent mix of poison and narcotics—a lethal cocktail.
Click.
But I ignored it.
I crushed the drug surging toward my brain through my veins and calmly reloaded my shotgun.
Acting as if that had been my plan all along, I raised the shotgun toward Ebony, and she recoiled in fear.
“W-What? Why isn’t it working?!”
Why? Because I have the [Purification] trait.
It didn’t neutralize all the toxins, but [Purification] curbed most of the effects, and I swapped [Toughness] with [Drug Resistance] to handle the rest.
As for the poison? I can detoxify that later.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
This time, I didn’t spray wildly.
I fired each shot with care.
Meanwhile, more bolts flew toward my side and back, but the Mana Shield deflected them.
“Hmph…”
Viper seemed frustrated.
He grit his teeth, preparing for another strike.
Meanwhile, Ebony was moving, trying to dodge, retreating, and circling just as I had planned, being led exactly where I wanted her to go.
“You damn bastard!”
Ebony pulled a grenade from her belt and threw it.
Planning to go down together? Not her style.
I didn’t even blink as I fired another shot from the shotgun.
Bang!
The grenade exploded right in front of me.
But it wasn’t a grenade.
It was a flashbang disguised as one.
A blinding light, as intense as a descending sun, flooded the space.
At the same time, a piercing, high-pitched noise—like the scream of a siege weapon—pierced through my eardrums.
The sudden daze almost overwhelmed me, but I endured.
That’s when I activated the [Resolve] trait.
My goggles helped block out most of the light, too.
‘I won’t let her escape.’
The world had gone completely white from the flashbang.
But I could still see.
A distinct shadow, sleek and elegant like a black panther, was flipping through the air, retreating.
I had been leading her from the very start.
Right to the spot where the grandfather clock stood, its ticking echoing softly.
Click.
I reached into my pocket and pressed a detonator.
For a brief moment, silence reigned.
Then a fiery explosion erupted, brighter than a supernova.
Scarlet flames engulfed the black shadow in an instant, swallowing Ebony whole.
A scream of agony followed, filling the air as I ducked to the ground.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
It was the special incendiary bomb I’d hidden in the grandfather clock.
Not just any incendiary bomb either—it was magical white phosphorus.
It had been worth spending over 1 billion won on this one bomb. (TL Note: Prices are really going out of hand. That was close to 800 thousand USD for a bomb)
“E-Ebony!”
Viper was in a state of panic, his expression grim.
He swung the cloak he always wore, and a glowing magic circle flickered, trying to ward off the flames. But it wasn’t easy.
Even so, his panic was nothing compared to Ebony’s.
She thrashed wildly, slamming into the walls over and over.
“It’s hot! Aaaagh! Aaaaah!”
When a lady’s in that much pain, it’s only natural to help relieve her suffering.
I lunged forward with all my strength.
Leaping up, I drew the Holy Sword from my side.
Ebony’s face, now hideously burned, was reflected in the blade.
Her eyes, nose, and lips were already seared beyond recognition. The flames continued to devour her skin, burning it away.
She spotted me at the last moment, but it was too late.
Her pistols and other hidden weapons had long been dropped in her fit of agony.
Slash!
A clean arc of my sword sliced across her.
Right along the neck—despite her muscular build, it was still slender and delicate. The neck of a woman who had once been considered beautiful.
Ebony froze.
Her mouth gaped open, a gasping “Ha—” escaping her lips.
For a moment.
Then a line of blood appeared, and her head separated from her body for good.
“Damn it! Ebony!”
Viper shouted in fury, far too late.
Click-click!
He attached additional components to the crossbow on his arm, creating an X-shaped magic crossbow, and loaded a magical bolt into it.
The mana rippling from both the crossbow and the bolt was clearly dangerous.
I stood across from Viper, still holding the Holy Sword.
The flames still raged across the entire hallway, consuming everything.
Viper’s face twisted in frustration, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, I was calm.
Why?
Because of my [Fire Resistance] trait.
And also, because of [Endurance].
Step.
I took a big step forward.
Viper’s pupils contracted, then widened in fear.
Shwoosh!
The air cracked as Viper fired his bolt.
If it had hit me, it would’ve pierced both my Mana Shield and my armor, embedding itself in my flesh.
But it didn’t hit.
Just before he pulled the trigger, I dodged, narrowly avoiding the bolt.
It grazed my Mana Shield, but nothing more.
“Take this.”
Right after dodging, I rolled a grenade toward him.
Using my [Throw] trait to enhance the toss, of course.
The pin was pulled, the safety lever already released. I counted down 1.5 seconds in my head.
Just as Viper lifted his foot, trying to kick it away, the grenade exploded.
Boom!
Superhuman or not, no one’s immune to modern weaponry.
Sure, they say real superhumans start at level 3, but even then, it’s tough to block a grenade that goes off right between your legs.
I had already hit the ground, protected by Mana Recovery traits and activating my Mana Shield to shield my head.
Tap-tap-tap!
Even so, fragments pierced through the shield and pounded against my helmet.
If I hadn’t been wearing it, my skull would’ve been full of holes.
“Hmph.”
But I’d won.
Viper lay dead, reduced to a mangled piece of meat.
Both of them had been formidable superhumans, not much worse than Charon, but I’d beaten them easily.
After all, I was fighting in a battlefield I had spent billions of won to prepare.
This was the opposite of how things had gone with Charon.
Besides, the two of them had underestimated me, despite the difference in level.
“Whew… Hah…”
It was too soon to relax.
I had only crossed the halfway point.
The real challenge was yet to come: the Vice Chairman and, ultimately, Chairman Park Daeyeop.
[Einherjar Cultivation Technique], [Mana Core], [Mana Recovery]
[Wound Recovery], [Regeneration], [Vigor]
I switched all my traits to focus on recovery.
I took deep, controlled breaths as I restored my mana and healed my wounds.
The magical white phosphorus bomb had finally burned out, its flames dying with a weak sizzle.
I brushed off the remaining sparks clinging to my protective suit and leaned against the wall for a moment.
‘This is exhausting.’
The tracksuit I’d worn over my body armor had burned away completely.
I was left with just the hardened armor and my collapsible helmet.
Even the Magic Pistol I had tucked into my tracksuit was barely hanging on. I shoved it roughly into my waistband.
After reloading my shotgun, I turned my gaze to the hallway outside.
Boom… Boom…
The sound of grenades echoed nearby.
Only a few minutes had passed.
I hadn’t even fully recovered my mana or healed all my wounds when—
Bang!
The door connecting to the stairwell flew open.
I aimed my shotgun, ready to blast the first grenade that came through, but instead, what entered was unexpected: a man.
A massive figure, his entire body modified with cybernetic enhancements. His arms were replaced with enormous blades that nearly scraped the floor as he walked, and his only biological feature left was his eyes.
The Vice Chairman of the Cleaner Association.
[R Cyborg].
My shotgun wouldn’t be much help here. Hitting his metal body wouldn’t do a thing, and even his biological eye was shielded by transparent goggles.
The Vice Chairman scanned me briefly before stepping forward. At his signal, more members of the Cleaner Association rushed in, encircling me in a semicircle.
“Impressive.”
His voice, when he spoke, was a harsh, almost mechanical growl—closer to the sound of a voice synthesizer than a human.
“You took down Ebony and Viper that easily?”
He glanced at the two corpses lying on the floor—the charred remains of Ebony, headless, and Viper’s mangled body, shredded by the grenade.
The Vice Chairman knew their abilities well. If I hadn’t been able to win here, that would’ve been the real surprise.
Click-clack.
I racked the shotgun’s slide with a metallic sound, the shells loading with a satisfying clunk.
“You’re next.”
“Hah. You think you can do to me what you did to them? Then go ahead. Shoot me.”
The Vice Chairman took a relaxed stance, his left hand raised skyward and his right hand angled downward, like a mantis spreading its bladed limbs wide.
As if on cue, the Cleaner Association members all raised their guns.
I kept my shotgun aimed at the Vice Chairman but subtly flexed my left hand, which wasn’t holding the weapon.
It was grasping a small detonator, not the foregrip of the shotgun. The foregrip merely served as support.
I asked a question, throwing him off balance.
“Let me ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“Why didn’t you throw grenades when you stormed in?”
The Vice Chairman’s mechanical gaze locked onto mine, confusion flashing across his face. So did the faces of the other members.
It was obvious to them that throwing grenades would’ve been a terrible idea, knowing I was here. They assumed I couldn’t use any explosive traps without blowing myself up too.
They thought I was working with normal explosives.
“You guys really are idiots.”
Click.
I pressed the detonator.
Bzzzzz!
An invisible wave of energy surged forward, like a tidal wave.
Not a mana wave, but something even subtler—undetectable to non-superhumans, but the effects were immediate.
The lights flickered, crackled, then all went out.
Alarms blared.
The fluorescent lights that had been illuminating the hallway sputtered and died, leaving only the dim glow of emergency lighting.
A chorus of beeping sounds echoed from my pocket and the pockets of every Cleaner Association member.
Our smartphones had just been fried.
But that wasn’t my goal.
My real target was the Vice Chairman.
As soon as the wave hit him, the Vice Chairman let out a guttural groan and began to convulse violently.
“Grrraaaagh!”
His body spasmed, eyes rolling back in his head. The massive blades he had for arms went limp, and his legs wobbled.
The cybernetic tentacles embedded in his body twitched in and out erratically.
The Cleaner Association members panicked, rushing to his aid.
“V-Vice Chairman!”
“Are you okay?!”
“Vice Chairman, hold on!”
EMP Bomb.
How’s that taste?
Of course, his cybernetic body was likely equipped with some level of EMP shielding. They wouldn’t have used cheap cybernetics for someone in his position.
But even the best shields had their limits.
High-output EMP waves like this? They couldn’t block it all.
Earlier, I mentioned that the magic white phosphorus bomb cost over a billion won.
This EMP bomb?
It cost just as much—1 billion won.
I gave him a smug look as I raised my shotgun.
“And that’s why I asked.”
I squeezed the trigger.
“Why didn’t you throw grenades?”
Th-th-th-th-thud!
I let loose a barrage of shotgun rounds, emptying my magazine.
The Cleaner Association members, all standing directly beneath the EMP bomb hidden in the doorframe, dropped like flies.
They fell in heaps, like autumn leaves swirling down from a tree.
They hadn’t even had time to react. Their focus had been on the Vice Chairman, and they hadn’t anticipated my attack.
Each shot tore through them. Every pull of the trigger spilled more blood.
“Aaaaagh!”
“Ugh!”
“P-Please, spare me!”
“Arghhh!”
Screams of agony filled the hallway as I mowed down dozens of them in the blink of an eye.
It was over in a flash.
The bodies of over fifty Cleaner Association members lay scattered on the floor, lifeless.
One magazine had been enough to wipe them all out.
Automatic shotguns really are unmatched at close range.
“Damn you!”
The Vice Chairman roared in fury and charged at me.
He was still standing.
Clearly, his cybernetic body was top-grade. Despite the EMP wave hitting him at point-blank range, he had already regained enough control to move.
Clang!
His bladed arms whistled through the air, gleaming dangerously.
I flipped the shotgun in my hand, parrying his blades with the buttstock.
Clang!
“Ugh!”
The impact made him stumble backward for a moment.
I took the opportunity to draw my Holy Sword and thrust it toward him.
One Point!
But the Vice Chairman wasn’t done yet.
He tilted his body just enough to deflect the sword with his metallic torso, causing the blade to scrape across his armor, leaving a deep scratch. But it wasn’t a fatal blow.
He regained his balance quickly, yelling in defiance.
“You think you can beat me with those weak sword strikes?!”
The Vice Chairman had mostly recovered from the EMP shock.
He was undeniably powerful. His entire body was a cybernetic weapon, and trying to defeat him with conventional swordplay was an uphill battle, especially with his machine augmentations.
It would take more than brute force to beat him.
But there was a weakness to cybernetic augmentations.
They make you strong, yes.
But they also give you a target.
With my left hand, I pulled out my Magic Pistol—the Black Flame.
Sliding my left hand’s index finger into the trigger, I felt the mana-storing ring on my finger make contact with the pistol.
Buzzzzz!
The Black Flame emitted a low hum, eagerly awaiting action.
The magic circle etched along its barrel shimmered ominously, casting a dark glow. The black flame swirled at the muzzle, spinning like a galaxy.
The Vice Chairman’s biological eye wavered in fear, his pupil dilating as he sensed the imminent danger.
“Goodbye.”
Boom!
A beam of black fire shot forth in a straight line.
The Vice Chairman couldn’t dodge, not in his current state.
The Black Flame engulfed him, the dark fire swallowing his entire body.
“Grrrrraaaaaagh!”
Magitech cyborgs run on magic.
The Black Flame is pure mana fire.
Naturally, it devoured the magic powering his cybernetic systems, burning them away.
The Vice Chairman screamed, thrashing wildly in agony as the black flames consumed him.
Just like Ebony had.
I approached him slowly.
He reached out to me, trying to extend one of his massive blades.
Was it his final act of desperation?
Or was he begging for mercy?
I didn’t care.
Stab!
I reversed my grip on the Holy Sword and plunged it straight into his eye, driving it deep with the full weight of my body.
The Vice Chairman’s mouth fell open.
Oily magic fluid dripped down, and his once-proud head slumped forward.
“Ugh… finally…”
I shoved the body aside and started making my way toward the rooftop.
The last challenge was still waiting.
Slinging the high-velocity grenade launcher over my shoulder, I stepped outside.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
I launched a volley of grenades into the crowd of Cleaner Association members gathered at the front of the building.
“Gah!”
“Ughhh!”
I rained down dozens of grenades on them. Explosions rippled through the area, sending dark clouds of dust into the air.
It was impossible to tell what was going on down there.
But something heavy was approaching.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
I could feel it—the weight of each impact as someone or something leapt up the building.
Of course.
It wouldn’t end that easily.
Not with him.
This man wasn’t like the others.
He was a true monster.
“Tch.”
The figure finally emerged from the dust cloud below.
A man appeared, breaking through the swirling clouds of debris, his presence almost tangible.
Chairman Park Daeyeop.
His suit was torn in places, and his face was streaked with dust, but that didn’t matter.
Despite the rain of grenades, he didn’t have a single scratch on him.
I had fired dozens of grenades, yet none of them had harmed him.
“You know…”
Park Daeyeop ground his teeth as he glared at me.
“I’ve been through all kinds of crap in my life, but there’s never been a moment as humiliating as this!”
Vrrrrm, click.
His steel gauntlets shifted, transforming to encase his hands and forearms.
That was the signal.
Park Daeyeop charged at me like a man-eating tiger.
–TL Notes–
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