Chapter 358

〈 Chapter 358 〉 Part 1-15, Section 16

The Nuclearian wraps itself in radiation and charges forward. It was a simple, brute-force charge, with the Nuclearian barreling ahead while emitting radiation from its body—undeniably threatening.

But though it was threatening, dodging this was far easier than when it fired lasers from its mouth.

“Too…slow.”

BANG!

The Nuclearian smashed its forehead into a barrier. The ice wall trembled violently, shards falling everywhere, and a light frost settled on the Nuclearian’s forehead.

“Foolish creature.”

I spread my wings and quickly distanced myself from the Nuclearian. It couldn’t keep up with my speed, weighed down as it was by three boulders.

“Hey! Fly slower!”

“Then you’d just crash into me, right?”

“Phoenix! Stop! I can’t shoot arrows like this!”

The three spirits squabbled atop my back. I tightly gripped Karna and Seok Harang’s waists, while they clung to Hwanryong’s body for support, who faced us head-on.

“Well, attacking now would only result in a strong counterattack due to its pattern,” I said.

“Why does the pattern matter?! Just obliterate it already!”

“Just wait; attacks won’t land properly until the pattern resets.”

Karna insisted on engaging despite the evasive nature of the current pattern.

However, the Nuclearian was surrounded by a swirling vortex of radiation emitted from within, nullifying all attacks like it had consumed a Brahmasutra.

“I can fly through the sky too!” Seok Harang protested.

“Not likely. You’re the one who couldn’t dodge the laser pattern earlier.”

Seok Harang wanted to take off alone.

“I could fly faster if I weren’t burdened!”

“You’re the slowest, so just stay still.”

In truth, Seok Harang wasn’t the swift butterfly type but rather someone whose speed left much to be desired. The Nuclearian easily outpaced her, so I had to grab her first before taking off into the skies.

“Can’t you two just follow orders? You’re driving me insane!”

Only Hwanryong remained calm and composed.

Though Hwanryong scolded the others, after realizing that I could handle things alone, he yawned and leaned back, entrusting himself entirely to me.

Hwanryong didn’t want to move at all. He seemed content to let me carry the other two until the pattern ended, doing absolutely nothing.

I wanted to fly and evade.

Seok Harang wanted to break free and fly solo.

Karna wanted to fire arrows and attack.

Hwanryong simply wanted to do nothing.

It was utterly maddening, yet I burned my rising frustration into magic power and flew at full speed.

“Hmph, I’ll just let go!”

“Then I’ll just turn incorporeal.”

“Ah, fine then…”

As Seok Harang and Hwanryong bickered, Karna closed her eyes tightly. Panicking, I flipped my wings vertically to invert my body.

“Hwanryong! Cover its eyes!”

“What? Why cover its eyes-”

“Brahmasutra—!!”

Karna’s eyes snapped open. A dazzling light flashed, and she shot a “glare” toward the four-legged charging Nuclearian.

WHOOSH—-!!

Karna unleashed the Brahmasutra from her eyes. A golden laser, focused like a beam, pierced through the air toward the Nuclearian.

Zzzzttt!

Karna’s radiant gaze pierced through the vortex of radiation, striking the Nuclearian between its eyebrows. Though the Nuclearian screamed in agony, there was only slight charring, no significant damage.

ROAAAR!!

Instead, the Nuclearian absorbed the Brahmasutra’s magical power, increasing its speed even further. I tried to twist my wings to avoid Karna’s attack, but she managed to fire through the cracks of Hwanryong’s fingers covering its face.

“…Hmm, it’s faster now!”

“Are you happy about that?!”

“Hey, hey! Faster!”

“Seok Harang.”

I glanced backward briefly, flapping my wings more vigorously.

“You’re getting heavier.”

“What?”

“And your chest is bigger.”

“…Is that really the time or place to say that?!”

Seok Harang turned red with irritation. My comment, intended to help her regain composure amidst her anxiety, worked for a fleeting moment.

“Don’t worry. The pattern’s almost over.”

Nine times the Nuclearian had slammed its head into the barrier. Each time, frost accumulated on its forehead, and its once fluffy fluorescent fur was now soaked.

Squelch, squelch.

Frost clinging to the Nuclearian’s forelegs began to grow larger. The flame-shaped tuft of hair on its forehead had completely frozen solid.

“One more time should do it…”

Gurgle, gurgle.

Finally, the Nuclearian collapsed from exhaustion. Blood continued to flow from its severed heel, where Hwanryong had struck, and with every step, the Nuclearian oozed blood mixed with flames, writhing in pain.

Thud.

The Nuclearian wobbled and fell sideways. Its emerald-green magical energy swirled like a vortex in its eyes.

“…Phase 1, complete?”

“Yeah. Finally.”

The Nuclearian fainted. The monstrous beast, resembling something out of a 3D animation, would rise no more. Folding my wings, I set the three spirits down at a safe distance from the Nuclearian.

“So, you know what we need to do next, right?”

Setting them down, I pulled out the TAT. With a round loaded, the gun was ready to unleash fire at any moment, but the other spirits hesitated even in this final moment.

“To your positions.”

I flew across the sky above the Nuclearian. The spirits reluctantly took their respective positions, each gathering their magic power to deliver the finishing blow.

…

Without uttering a word as previously agreed, I held my silence. The other spirits also gathered their magic powers, glancing at each other nervously.

Hwanryong raised her crescent blade high, poised to slice down in a diagonal slash.

Karna transformed all the magic power of her golden armor into a single arrow, pulling the string taut.

Seok Harang poured all her magic power into an ice spear hovering above her head.

Click.

I aimed the TAT’s barrel at the Nuclearian. Another round loaded, and the miniature sun used earlier for ultimate attacks was reloaded as ammunition.

“…”

Now came the game of nerves. The Nuclearian was ready to transition to Phase 2, but the spirits were each stubbornly holding onto their pride.

10 minutes.

20 minutes.

All gathered their magic powers for their ultimate techniques, watching each other cautiously. We had strategized last night about how to fight, but we hadn’t reached an agreement on who would initiate Phase 2.

“Can anyone just start already?”

Unable to bear the tension, I spoke first.

“It’s random anyway. Just start.”

“No way. That’d mean fighting the weakest form.”

Karna strongly opposed first. She wanted to fight the strongest opponent, whether it was a monster or not.

“Seok Harang, you start. Aren’t you a hero?”

“Nah, I have pride too! How can the hero sent to quell the Pyongyang situation deal with such trivial matters?”

“It’s an S-Rank monster…”

Seok Harang also resisted fiercely. Though not exactly a fighter, she still maintained her pride as an SS-Ranker.

“Hwanryong.”

“I’m fine, but Xiao Lin inside me insists on fighting.”

Hwanryong raised an eyebrow. Xiao Lin refused to signal the start of Phase 2, despite willingly lending her body to Hwanryong.

“Hey.”

I lowered my weapon momentarily, focusing everyone’s attention.

“Do you guys realize you’re weaker than me and still acting like this?”

“Tch. Don’t make me laugh. Let’s settle this later?”

“Phoenix. I acknowledge your strength, but back then I lacked Bijaya! Now, I am fully prepared!”

“I think Xiao Lin and I could win again if we fought…hehe.”

“These guys are impossible.”

How could none of them yield? A sigh escaped me involuntarily. Ultimately, I released my transformation and aimed the weapon back at the Nuclearian.

“Hmph.”

This was originally Kim Nori’s specialty, but if we kept going like this, the Nuclearian wouldn’t just enter Phase 2—it would recover its Phase 1 state.

Thus, I had to start. The three spirits swallowed their saliva anxiously, waiting for me to speak, and even the unconscious Nuclearian seemed to await my declaration.

“…”

Finally, I intoned the incantation signaling the start of Phase 2.

“…Did we defeat it?”

ROOOAAARRR!!!

The Nuclearian’s body began to shimmer in seven colors of magical power.

***

At that moment, inside the private laboratory of the Yu Sung family mansion.

“Oh, it’s starting.”

Hikari hacked into an Xroid, switching its vision feed exclusively for her viewing.

The battlefield in Pyongyang, enclosed by barriers of Fire, Water, Light, and Illusion attributes, was invisible to human and machine alike. However, Hikari effortlessly observed the interior.

“Ah, the pattern just changed? Hmph h mph~”

Hikari instantly altered the Xroid’s visual data.

“Fire attribute reduced by 4, Light by 2, Illusion switched, Water…done. Heehee.”

Within less than five seconds, the Xroid’s visual information updated. The barrier blocking external sight was read through Hikari’s rapid analysis, allowing only her to witness the battle inside.

“Wow…”

The spectacle of four SS-Rank beings battling a single monster was overwhelming. Even Phoenix fighting without restraint was a rare sight for Hikari.

“This is the true power of the spirits…”

The reason for erecting the barrier was clear. If the spherical barrier with a diameter of 1km hadn’t been cast, Pyongyang—or perhaps the entire Korean Peninsula—would’ve been annihilated by the spirits’ power before the radiation could leak.

“Cute enough to keep as a pet.”

Seeing the fluffy Nuclearian, Hikari licked her lips. She found herself wanting to care for such a creature for life.

“But that thing’s a bit concerning.”

No matter how cute, a monster was still a monster, especially one leaking radiation, which psychologically unnerved her considerably.

“Ah, I wonder if there will be two?”

Happy thoughts of the future filled Hikari as she anticipated progress in Homunculus research upon conquering the Nuclearian. The second body creation for Rusalka would also become much smoother.

Seven cores outputting identical S+ level power.

According to Phoenix, aside from its own core, the Nuclearian had captured and stored cores from S-Rank monsters and heroes around Pyongyang, creating one core for each attribute. After the battle, Hikari would use these cores to create the Homunculus core.

<Gnosis>.

The name Hikari temporarily gave to the core specifically for the Homunculus.

“Sister Yui Nah not being here is disappointing.”

Licking her lips, Hikari inspected the admission application. Her calm demeanor and gentle smile calmed even Hikari looking at the photo.

“If only Sister Yui Nah conducted the research… No, no. As Professor, I can’t plagiarize others’ work. Hehehe.”

Decisively storing Yui Nah’s data in the important data vault, Hikari rubbed her hands together and returned her attention to the Nuclearian raid.

“Ah, it’s starting.”

“Did we defeat it?”

Just as Hikari predicted, Phoenix personally recited the incantation signaling the start of Phase 2, and the magical power composing the Nuclearian split into eight parts.

“Oooh, ohh!”

Hikari’s eyes sparkled as she clutched the screen. Seven colorful quadrupeds appeared, embodying each attribute, and at their center stood the true body of the Nuclearian, possessing an SS-Rank core.

Based on the magical power pattern analysis, the attribute was-

Clunk.

The video feed cut off. Hikari was dumbfounded.

“Whaat?!”

Suddenly, the hack disconnected. There was no interference or detection, yet the screen went black.

“Grrr, I was watching so well, and now I’m furious. What happened?”

Hikari hurriedly attempted to reconnect via other Xroids, but the barrier’s pattern had already changed during that time.

“Aaaagh!!”

Hikari pulled her hair in frustration. Only about an hour remained until 10:00.

“It took two hours to hack one!”

There was no way she could give up now. Clenching her teeth, Hikari began pounding on the keyboard.

***

ROOOAAARRR!!!

Seven colorful monsters emerged from the Nuclearian’s body, roaring loudly. Attributes of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Darkness, Light, and Illusion materialized into small quadrupeds, each smaller than a meter.

Pip pippity pop.

And at the center of those seven monsters, slightly larger than the rest, a fluorescent green quadruped surveyed its surroundings with dignity. Despite being slightly taller than 1.5 meters, it radiated SS-level magical power and radioactivity.

‘So it was already SS by 2020?’

Its SS status since 2020 was uncertain. Expecting it to be S-Rank since it occurred earlier than the original timeline proved mistaken.

Pip pip.

The ‘true’ Nuclearian scanned the spirits surrounding it from four directions, carefully considering which monster to assign to whom, and I, having mentioned <Did we defeat it?>, was assigned the weakest two.

ROOOAARRR!

The previous gigantic Nuclearian we fought now manifested as a red and yellow Fire Attribute Nuclearian.

KIAAANG!

And a lime-green Nuclearian with a leaf-like tail that swayed gently.

“Wait, seriously?”

Even assigning the weakest ones, how dare they pick such unfavorable matchups?

‘This one isn’t Grass Type but Wind Attribute either!’

Whether Grass Type or Wind Attribute, both were weak against fire, making them far too easy for me to handle.

“Tch.”

I needed to finish quickly and wait for the others’ battles to end. The seven monsters each took their positions, and finally, the Nuclearian lifted its head.

BOOM!!

Trapped within the barrier spread across four directions, I found myself alongside the Fire and Wind Attribute Nuclearians.

Bang.

Bang bang.

“That’s why I suggested fighting the main body…”

Who received which attribute, and whom did the Nuclearian consider the strongest?

“…Why must I deal with these side dishes?”