Chapter 117
Halla Landing Operation (2)
Between the collapsed buildings, the labored breathing of people fleeing burst harshly into the air.
“Huff… huff…”
“Hurry! Get outside…!”
But there was nowhere to run.
The red barrier already surrounded them on all sides.
The moment the man running with the woman’s hand struck a door, a surge of red electricity erupted.
“Kyaaaah!!!”
“Chang-yoon!! You bastards!!!”
Seething with rage, the woman squeezed out every ounce of her star force and fired a fireball.
Shuuu──
“…?!”
But the fireball vanished before it could even explode.
“What the hell…?”
“Resistance is useless.”
At that moment, black shadows silently emerged.
Unknown assassins.
They raised bloodied blades, aiming at the woman.
At that gleaming edge, most would have already lost their lives.
“Damn… if only the captain were here…!!”
“Is that so? Then tell me, who do you think has taken the captain?”
“…!”
Hearing those words, the woman glanced around at the barrier encasing her.
With a look of despair, she sank to the ground.
She realized that this attack had been meticulously planned by them.
And now, she herself was soon to die.
“There is no malice. I will send you off without pain.”
Fear gripped her skin.
The assassin’s blade, catching the light of the red barrier, descended toward her head.
Shuuuuk──
At the same time, the air was pierced with a sound, and
Thud─!
The assassin, skewered by an arrow, stared wide-eyed in shock.
Shuk─! Shuk─! Shuk─!
Before he could even fall, bamboo arrows rained down from above the assassins’ heads.
“What the…!!”
“Move!!”
But it was too late to dodge.
The bamboo arrows pierced precisely through necks and foreheads, instantly sending them to the afterlife.
Soon after, archers in white robes, each wearing unique masks, began to appear.
“Y-You are….”
On the back of their robes was the cloud symbol, along with the large characters: Baekwoon (White Cloud).
The woman was startled for a moment.
“D-damn it… we’ll see about this!”
One assassin, barely surviving, tried to stagger away.
Thwack─!
Grrk!
But before he could take a step, a bamboo arrow from behind the archers pierced his nape.
Then one among the archers stepped forward, removing his mask with wrinkled hands.
“Unju. Was it necessary for you to step in personally?”
“Unju? Just a bamboo spear, really.”
Han Seok-jung, leader of the former Baekwoon clan, approached the fallen assassin and rummaged through his belongings, pulling something out.
“So this is what caused the trouble.”
He thrust the Yata Mirror (八咫鏡) with the bamboo spear. Cracks spread across the bronze mirror, which then shattered into pieces.
At the same time, the surrounding red aura dissipated like mist into the air.
“Phew… I wonder if Se-hyun is handling things well.”
The spear master’s gaze turned north.
The young one had become so bold.
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
“Alright, shall we move again?”
“Yes, sir.”
Following Se-hyun’s plan, they headed to the next location.
“What exactly happened?”
“It’s not much different from what you already know.”
The community representatives gathered in the meeting hall.
Even they had been trapped by an unknown barrier.
“It’s called a Silent Formation (Mueum-jin).”
“Silent Formation? A formation that suppresses sound?”
Before receiving a full explanation, Rachel could already surmise the situation.
Sound is a wave.
Communications signals are also waves.
If communication was paralyzed by the Silent Formation, the situation made sense.
Then breaking the Silent Formation would resolve the crisis.
“Do you know how to break it?”
“Of course.”
Se-hyun stepped forward on behalf of Seong-cheol.
The method was simple.
Player attacks were useless, but using an artifact allowed anyone to bypass it easily.
“An artifact… you mean the ones you distribute?”
Having already experienced them firsthand, Rachel quickly understood.
“Do you have enough for the people we’re sending?”
“Hmm… that’s the problem.”
Se-hyun shook his head.
Unfortunately, he had none at the moment.
Normally, he would have had a stockpile in the hidden space of the blanket, but he had lost everything in the fight against Kuroda.
And in the past month, he had been too busy with business to replenish supplies.
Then, from the corner, Manager Hong raised his hand.
“I have some, if that helps?”
“…Huh?”
He instructed his staff, and soon brought several flags and daggers.
Flags and greatswords for the Holy War.
All artifacts crafted by Se-hyun.
“Why do you have these?”
“I received them as samples during the contract. I didn’t know the manual, so they were just stored.”
“…That isn’t a manual?”
Se-hyun frowned, pointing to the accompanying papers.
“Oh, was that here? Haha.”
Manager Hong finally opened the manual, pretending to examine it.
Unbelievable. Because of idiots like him, even well-made artifacts get blamed.
But well… it helped, so no complaints.
“Then we must hurry. Even if we depart now, it will take three hours. We need to assemble people immediately…”
Rachel picked up the radio to give orders.
“Hey, calm down. There’s no need to rush…”
“You don’t understand. If Baekwoon falls, it will be even harder to manage. You know the community is under attack, right?”
“I know, which is why I said calm down. The urgent fire has already been put out.”
Rachel raised her eyebrows.
“…The urgent fire?”
“Yes, it’s about time for contact.”
“Contact?”
Beep──
Rachel’s phone rang.
– Senior! Contact from Baekwoon…!
“Baekwoon?”
Beep─!
“Yes. This is Rachel from the Foundation Management Division.”
– Yes. Baekwoon leader Han Gang-hyeok speaking. I heard from the elder.
“Elder?”
Se-hyun shrugged at her puzzled look.
“My acquaintance.”
Rachel turned her gaze and continued:
“…Thank you for your assistance.”
“We are currently rapidly normalizing mainly the small and medium communities. The barrier is strong, so Seoul headquarters support may be necessary.”
“No. Even just aiding the community is enough, thank you.”
Only then did she understand what it meant that the urgent fire had been put out.
At least, the indiscriminate terror by assassins had been contained.
But the real problem was what came next.
How to root out Halla.
“Now it’s time to use the Rocket Jumper.”
“…Rocket Jumper?”
An artifact modeled after Ken’s warp ability.
It compressed a straight-line trajectory to the aiming point, allowing instant warp.
Se-hyun activated the Rocket Jumper.
The fan with a soul stone at the center spun, producing tremendous noise.
The surrounding heat made the area feel like a battlefield.
But the device had limitations.
“Recharge time, and only three people per warp.”
“And we have to create this mess every time we move, right?”
Rachel sighed, surveying the wreckage.
“Cut them some slack. Let’s use this warp device to strike Halla’s main base directly.”
While Ken could store the impact and strike later, precise control with this device was difficult.
It could only disperse damage to reduce stress on the person receiving it.
“Tch. So, we’re hitting the main base with this?”
Certainly, causing chaos while warping, it didn’t seem impossible.
“Yes. Seong-cheol, me, and you—three of us will go.”
The so-called “Halla Landing Operation.”
While Baekwoon and the Foundation personnel protected against the terror, the three would warp into Halla’s empty main base.
Halla wouldn’t even suspect their main base was under attack.
“…Wait.”
Surely she hadn’t misheard. They were going to strike Halla with just three people?
“…This crazy bastard.”
The absurdity of it made curses escape automatically.
The premise itself was flawed.
Even if they were caught off guard, Halla wasn’t small. How could three people possibly strike it?
“Forget it. Find someone else.”
“Why? Can’t do it?”
Rachel saw no reason to cooperate.
The Foundation still needed a commanding figure on-site.
It would be too much to leave things to Manager Hong.
Without the branch chief, they had to improvise.
She couldn’t expect him to handle things on his own.
“Huh? Improvise?”
“Of course. We can’t use the branch chief’s authority.”
Rachel briefly explained the restrictions due to Foundation procedure.
Yet he still questioned it.
“So why leave the branch chief absent, without declaring him dead?”
“…What are you talking about?”
“He’s dead, the branch chief.”
“What?”
Rachel’s mouth fell open.
“Why are you only saying this now?!”
“You never asked, so why make a fuss at me?”
“….”
“Tch… that’s why bureaucrats are so clueless.”
Se-hyun shook his head in disbelief.
And the disbelief was mutual.
After discussing the barrier in detail, they casually mentioned the branch chief’s death.
“Anyway, my brother and I can stir things up in the enemy camp, but that’s not enough. Someone from the Foundation must check and clean up.”
Meaning, an authorized decision-maker was needed on-site.
Rachel was suitable for that.
Despite the friction between them, at least she could objectively judge the situation.
“Fine, I know you’re strong.”
“Then there’s no choice. Temporary alliance, just this once.”
“Ha, hearing that from you…”
Rachel placed something on the table.
A platinum card with twelve branches, each engraved with diamond fruits.
Manager Hong’s eyes widened as he recognized it.
“Adams’ identification for temporary authority?!”
“Using the authority of the temporary branch chief. It has been confirmed that the Korean branch chief has died, so temporary branch chief authority is…”
Rachel’s gaze turned to Manager Hong.
“I delegate command to Hong Chan-ho, Director of the Defense Division’s Rift Containment Section.”
“…!”
“You are in charge, Director Hong.”
Manager Hong received the platinum card, his expression resolute.
He took a deep breath.
“Attention! The Halla Landing Operation begins now, citizens!”
He shouted loudly, his voice echoing.
“Move quickly! Sitting still and breathing won’t save you!”
“Director… Hong?”
“From now on, I make the decisions. No questions allowed.”
One employee cautiously asked, noticing the sudden change.
“Why is your tone…?”
Bang─!
“Not paying attention? Want to get fired? Sent to management? Huh?”
“N-No… well…”
Only then did the employees spring into coordinated action.
Rachel, still stunned, looked at Se-hyun.
“Is he copying me…?”
“Maybe not the tone, but he’s definitely being rude too.”
“….”
Se-hyun smirked at Rachel holding her head, then aimed the fully charged Rocket Jumper southward.
“Hold onto my arms tight, both of you.”
Click─!
“Going.”
Kwaaang──!!!!
A deafening roar and blast.
With dust flying, the three vanished in an instant.
