Chapter : 111
Northern Land (1)
“Wouldn’t it have been better to bring power armor?”
“You can’t ride power armor with multiple people.”
Right now, they were moving in a military vehicle. Well, “military vehicle” was a bit of an exaggeration—it had been modified with a few reinforcements so they could move around safely in Cameron, making its defense roughly equivalent to an armored car. Of course, even that didn’t guarantee safety in Cameron…
“Gasp… did we leave the power armor behind because of us?”
“No. If we needed the power armor, we’d have left you and brought the armor instead. Power armor is useful for head-on confrontations or overwhelming force. Otherwise, there’s no need to bring it.”
“?”
Kim Chang-sik tilted his head in confusion.
“Think about it. The missing Russian research team—was it just an ordinary research team? No, it had the president’s son attached. Do you think they sent such a team into the wilderness without backup? They would have had all available forces following them. Yet they still went missing—that means something unexpected must have happened.”
“Unexpected… like what?”
“Most likely a special monster. Even a powerful psychic could lose if they faced a monster with unique abilities for the first time.”
“…Then we’re in danger too, aren’t we?”
“Do we ever do anything safe?”
Though he said that, Su-hyun wasn’t too worried. Regardless of what had happened, this research team had survived. That meant the danger level was manageable.
What Su-hyun was actually concerned about was the Chinese team.
What were they thinking coming here?
The Altaranium region was an attractive prize, no doubt. But the Chinese participant this time was Liu Xin—a psychic who was heavily supported by China. That someone like him would personally join just for a single Altaranium site seemed hard to believe.
The Chinese probably have better intel on Russia too…
China and Russia weren’t as close as Korea and the U.S., but they had a cooperative relationship of sorts. Just as Su-hyun had joined for the crusher, the Chinese team might have been here for something else.
But… is there really something like that?
“Frost Giant.”
Among giant-type monsters, this one was relatively small, but its troublesome special ability more than compensated for its size. When the Chinese team spotted the creature spewing terrifyingly cold air from its mouth, they nodded in approval.
“Proceed as usual. Move out.”
“Yes!”
Once they confirmed there were no other monsters nearby, they began their operation. The first to move were two with fire-based powers. Arrows of flame erupted into the blizzard-filled sky.
-!
The frost giant slammed the ground with its back in fiery retaliation. The impact was strong enough to feel as a tremor, but no psychic here would be unsettled by that.
“Keep attacking! Distract its nerves!”
There was only one monster, but several humans. Attacking from multiple angles would inevitably confuse it.
Then Liu Xin stepped forward.
Swish!
By the time the frost giant realized he had moved, he was already at its feet. Before the surprised monster could exhale, Liu Xin swung his sword. The artifact provided by the Chinese government for this mission, the Vein Blade, flared intensely.
The frost giant kneeled. Liu Xin’s movements were beyond human limits—enhanced agility, a type of physical enhancement psychic power.
A barrage rained down on the kneeling frost giant. There were only twelve of them, yet their movements were precise and flawless.
Unlike the non-psychic teams trained to deal with psychics, this team’s strength was different. They didn’t hide their identities. Their mission was to openly show their skills and perform publicly.
“Move.”
The eyes of the operatives in specially made suits were filled with respect for their leader. A leader who had given up the wealth and fame of a sports star to serve the nation on the battlefield—he spoke through his actions.
“Stop.”
“?”
“Something’s off.”
Su-hyun stepped out and scanned the surroundings. Despite the heavy snow, Luiril, watching him from the side, clicked her teeth in frustration.
“Uh… what are you looking for here?”
“Someone seems to have passed this way.”
“There’s no trace at all.”
Snow would quickly cover footprints, yet Su-hyun shook his head.
The snow is evenly thick everywhere, but here it’s unusually shallow. There must have been a commotion. A commotion means a fight…
He struck a snow-covered rock—it wasn’t a rock. It was the corpse of a frost giant, frozen solid. Su-hyun frowned as he examined it. The skill of the opponent was evident.
It’s Liu Xin.
Few in Cameron enjoyed close combat with monsters. Long-range fighting was dangerous enough; close combat multiplied the risk. Only Liu Xin or Moon Seo-yeon truly relished close combat.
“They moved slower than I expected. I can follow them.”
“Can we follow?”
“Of course, nothing good comes of it. We’re not exactly friends…”
The president’s son’s life didn’t matter. What they wanted was the crusher. The problem was its location somewhere in the vast Yelbruski Mountains.
Most likely, the research team has already discovered and secured it…
Su-hyun secretly hoped they hadn’t, but chances were high that they had. Finding the artifact before going missing made more sense than discovering it after returning. By the time they returned, they wouldn’t have the focus to find it.
I need to tie their hands a bit.
If the Chinese team realized the value of the crusher, things could get complicated—they would also take it by any means necessary, just like Su-hyun.
“It’s not here either.”
“Maybe it’s already dead?”
“Then find the corpse. Then we can leave.”
Searching around the target coordinates for survivors was tedious. Yet Liu Xin pressed his subordinates forward without changing expression.
“Uh… monster sighted at the rear! Frost Giants! At least ten!”
“?!”
Frost giants weren’t pack creatures. Yet suddenly, they appeared in swarms from behind. Liu Xin made a quick decision.
“Retreat! Move inward.”
“Yes!”
And there were eyes watching this—themselves, Su-hyun and his team. Recalling the recent events, Luiril’s face turned pale.
-Each attack the frost giants using any means possible. Of course, from hiding.
Hearing this, Luiril scanned for a hiding spot. Su-hyun grabbed her shoulder.
-You’re the bait.
-……
The swarming frost giants chased Luiril as she teleported away, roaring. She teleported one last time into the air, evading their pursuit—but it was a sweaty experience. Having monsters the size of houses charging from behind wasn’t pleasant.
If they were already there… that side must have finished searching.
Su-hyun exploited them thoroughly. Mentally dividing the mountain region, he recalculated the areas to search.
“Then we’ll go to the opposite side.”
“Move now?”
“No, wait.”
Su-hyun activated his vision ability. By efficiency, it was the best skill, especially in this situation. Although the mountains were vast, places for survivors to hide after escaping attacks were limited.
Focus on caves…
“Oh? The snow stopped.”
“Really? Good timing. I found it. Let’s go.”
Tasks that others would need to physically handle, Su-hyun solved with just one psychic ability. Spotting a light in a mid-mountain cave, he set it as the destination.
“Can we go outside?”
“…If you want, go ahead.”
The captives didn’t look bad for being trapped. Inside the cave were researchers, soldiers guarding them, and the psychic team. Despite having gone missing after being attacked, they appeared unharmed.
Clack—
“What, what is it!”
“Stop the nonsense and help properly.”
The leader of the psychic team, with a tired voice, smacked the back of the man he’d told to go outside.
“We survived, but if he dies, we’ll have to defect immediately.”
“Ugh… seriously…”
Their strength was decent. Although surprised by the ambush, the base number of personnel was high enough to survive even with some losses.
But they waited. Not because of President’s son Dmitri, but because of the monsters outside.
“Wait. The rescue team will come.”
“No one’s here yet.”
“They’ll come. Supplies are enough. Hold on.”
Watching the psychics argue, the researchers looked glum. Cameras outside showed the conditions, but they couldn’t enjoy the view.
“Dmitri, let’s gather the research data.”
“Yes…”
“Do we really need to take everything? Discard unnecessary items.”
“No! This is important!”
The psychics sighed at the miscellaneous items the researchers carried. They didn’t openly argue, but understanding each other was impossible. Even now, they refused to discard those things.
They had come to investigate the northern environment of Cameron and the ruins. The ruins themselves were fine. Collecting relics used by ancient species was a minor nuisance, manageable with the equipment available.
“These seeds in the jar are very well preserved. If we take them back…”
“Yes, yes, stop there.”
Ivan waved his hand, clearly annoyed. His goal was to get Dmitri safely, but the tediousness didn’t disappear.
If the researchers hadn’t been so stubborn, none of this would have happened. After leaving the ruins, he wanted to return immediately. But the research team wanted to stay longer to collect data. Since there were no problems, he allowed it.
And it didn’t take long for him to realize that was a huge mistake.
A dragon-like appearance, a body of transparent ice. Cunning, violent nature that toyed with and trampled enemies. The Ice Dragon, similar to the Earth Dragon, had enough power to annihilate them.
If Ivan hadn’t used his wit, they might have been wiped out there. They barely retreated to a temporary base inside the cave.
With Dmitri in tow, facing the monster was undesirable. Ivan tried to escape, but the Ice Dragon would appear roaring whenever they left the mountains. Two attempts had already cost eight lives.
Ultimately, Ivan chose to wait—a form of intimidation: “Dmitri is here, so you’ll come to rescue us.”
“Is anyone there?”
“!”
At the cave entrance, Ivan leapt to his feet. He had expected the rescue team eventually, but not in this way.
“W-what?!”
“The rescue team.”
The Russians gawked at the unusual team entering. Seeing them surprisingly intact, Su-hyun asked in confusion:
“I heard there might be survivors… but they’re doing well?”
“Is this the Korean team?”
“We came at the request of the Russian government.”
“Ah… thank you. I’m Ivan.”
“Who’s Dmitri?”
“That person.”
“Hmm…”
Su-hyun nodded at the man with rimless glasses, who gave off a fragile impression.
“So, what exactly happened?”
