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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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– Screech!
– Kree, kree!
– Heeheehee!
The gray wasteland was being painted black with the ink of monsters.
‘They just keep coming.’
Monsters endlessly pouring out of the holes in the ground.
It was like smoke being pumped into an insect nest.
‘…I can’t even count them anymore.’
Just a moment ago, there seemed to be tens of thousands.
Now, there were at least a few million, possibly more.
And their numbers were still increasing.
「So… what do you think of my army?」
Greed, sitting on an ornate throne that had appeared out of nowhere, crossed his legs and smirked arrogantly.
He rested his chin on his hand and looked at me with anticipation and excitement.
Judging by his gaze, he was expecting Arthur and me to exhaust our mana, stamina, and health fighting the monsters.
‘A futile delusion.’
Unless Infinite Items was forcibly deactivated, that would never happen.
Of course, he didn’t know that, so he could dream.
I smirked inwardly.
He couldn’t see it through my helmet, but I couldn’t help but laugh at his foolish plan.
And then I noticed something strange.
‘…What’s this? The defensive items all look similar.’
The defensive items floating around Greed like an iron fortress…
…while their shapes differed slightly, they all shared a similar design.
Shields and crystal balls.
Half of the hundreds of defensive items were shield-shaped, and the other half were spherical.
‘…Come to think of it, the spherical ones blocked the bullets enhanced with Speed Limit Removal, didn’t they?’
Ah, I think I understand.
The effects of his defensive items.
‘Now that I look closely, the round ones…’
…look like they would absorb things quite well.
I chuckled and raised my gun.
Click.
「Hmm?」
Greed tilted his head, puzzled by my sudden action.
He seemed confused that I was aiming my gun at him, even though he knew the attacks wouldn’t work because of the defensive items.
I ignored him.
To confirm my theory, I first…
Rumble, boom—!
…fired a bullet enhanced only with Super Accuracy.
A flash of lightning, accompanied by a rumble of thunder, shot towards Greed.
And as expected, one of the defensive items floating around him blocked it.
‘Just as I thought.’
But I wasn’t disappointed.
I hadn’t fired to hit him.
Boom—!
The “shield” that had blocked the bullet cracked, accompanied by a loud explosion.
‘The shields absorb damage, like Aegis.’
And since it didn’t shatter completely, it was Rank A.
Only a Rank A item could withstand a Super Accuracy, holy bullet, and Rank S item enhanced attack and only crack.
A Rank B item would have shattered instantly. And a Rank S item wouldn’t even have a scratch.
Most Rank S items had the “Indestructible” option.
‘Of course, “Indestructible” doesn’t mean it can’t be broken.’
With countless items in existence, there were items that could nullify or bypass “Indestructible” or “Immortal.”
For example, Mistilteinn, the weapon that killed Baldur in Norse mythology.
Now that I knew the effect of the “shield,” it was time to test the “crystal ball.”
Speed Limit Removal [ON / OFF]
Ding.
The cheat activated.
I squeezed the trigger.
Rumble, boom—!
A deafening rumble of thunder, and the world flashed blue.
The newly equipped Aegis shields on my fingers disintegrated rapidly.
And a massive flash of blue lightning, fired from the gun’s muzzle, traced a path towards Greed.
Crackle—!!
Following the flash of lightning, a surge of electricity followed the trajectory.
Whoosh!
It was absorbed by the spherical defensive items, but…
Crack.
As if they had an absorption effect for lethal damage, like Aegis, the crystal balls that absorbed the lightning cracked in half and vanished.
Seeing that, I cheered inwardly.
‘Good, confirmation complete.’
The shield-shaped items absorbed ordinary damage.
The spherical items absorbed lethal damage.
Having figured out how to bypass Greed’s defensive items, I deactivated Speed Limit Removal and lowered my gun.
Greed looked at me with a puzzled expression.
「It’s nice that you’re conserving your strength, but… I don’t understand why you did that.」
From his perspective, my actions were unnecessary, while from my perspective, they were essential.
He must have thought I was being foolish.
‘Sigh, you idiot.’
I had known he was an idiot from his foolish plan, but I hadn’t realized he was this clueless.
I stared at him, appalled that he hadn’t figured out why I had fired those two shots.
Perhaps sensing my gaze…
「…Unsettling.」
…Greed frowned, as if feeling uneasy.
But that expression was fleeting.
He smirked, revealing his sharp, shark-like teeth.
「Lee Yu-jin, it’s time.」
He spread his arms wide in a theatrical gesture.
「My army is ready to greet you…」
He declared that the summoning of monsters was complete.
As he said, the black tide of monsters engulfing the wasteland had stopped spreading.
But the wasteland, as far as I could see, was still teeming with monsters, the gray ground almost completely obscured.
「…Show me your limits.」
He said, slamming his fist on the armrest of his throne.
And as if taking his cue…
– Screech—!!
– Shriek—!!
– Kyaaaaaaaaa—!!
…the monsters roared ferociously.
And they charged towards Arthur and me.
Rumble…
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck, the sheer number of monsters making the ground tremble.
Despite the approaching horde, Arthur, her hands resting on the pommel of her embedded sword, watched them with calm, blue eyes, like a tranquil lake.
But only for a moment.
Golden mana swirled in her eyes.
Crackle.
Mana erupted from her body, taking shape…
Clank.
…and forming a magnificent suit of armor, identical to the armor of the King Arthur stored in the Round Table.
Of course, it was only made of mana, not the real thing.
But since it was formed from Arthur’s golden mana, its defensive capabilities were undeniable.
Actually, it was probably sturdier than most physical armor.
“Lee Yu-jin, I’m ready.”
Arthur said, drawing her embedded sword.
She lowered the visor of her materialized helmet, concealing her face.
I nodded, seeing her prepare for battle without needing any instructions, and transformed Astra.
The pistol instantly transformed into a minigun.
Not with a black coating, but with a blue and white coating like Thunderbolt.
A heavier, slightly sharper minigun.
And at the same time…
‘Transfer.’
…I transferred boxes of grenades above the approaching monsters.
But before I could detonate them…
「I want to see your limits, Lee Yu-jin. Not these trivial explosives.」
…Greed stole them with “Steal.”
‘Damn it.’
I had momentarily forgotten.
That he had “Steal.”
And that the grenades were Rank A.
Poof…
The grenade boxes stolen by Greed vanished due to the restrictions of Infinite Items.
I transferred the boxes underground.
「I just told you, I want to see your limits, not explosives.」
But he stole them again with “Steal.”
‘No way… the mana fluctuation should be minimal. He sensed that?’
Of course, the amount of mana used for Transfer varied depending on the distance and weight of the item.
But the mana fluctuation detectable externally was extremely small, regardless of the mana used.
Only superhumans with exceptional mana sensitivity could detect it.
And Greed was a Fallen, who used demonic energy, not mana.
While he could sense large mana fluctuations, he shouldn’t be able to detect small ones like those from Transfer.
But he was detecting my Transfer almost instantly?
Then there was only one explanation.
‘This alternate world is practically his body.’
And I remembered what Greed had told me earlier.
– 「Because I am the core that sustains this alternate world.」
That his heart was the core sustaining this alternate world.
That meant this place was practically his body.
Why hadn’t I realized that sooner?
‘I’m just as clueless as he is.’
I chuckled wryly and activated the Potion Injector containing mana potions.
And as I felt my mana replenishing, I reflected on my lack of foresight.
‘Terra, how much processing power do you have left?’
– …Calculations complete. I can operate 25 golems and 500 drones.
‘Without the drones?’
Since Greed could steal the drones with “Steal,” as they were classified as items, I couldn’t use them.
So, it was better to focus all the processing power on the golems.
Terra immediately answered my question, which contained that intention.
– Then I can operate 30 golems.
30 golems.
A ridiculously small number compared to the millions of monsters.
But since the golems had been modified and were now much stronger, I didn’t feel too disadvantaged.
And there was also Arthur and myself.
I transferred 10 defensive golems and 20 Iron Golems in front of me.
Thud, thud!
Clank, clank!
The defensive golems anchored themselves to the ground and switched to defense mode.
And the 20 Iron Golems, transferred in front of the defensive golems, transformed into their humanoid forms.
– Iron MK. 87, ready for deployment.
– Iron MK. 87, ready for deployment.
– Iron MK. 87, ready for deployment.
– Iron…
「…Hmm?」
Greed’s puzzled voice came from above.
It seemed he couldn’t steal the golems, or rather, the equipment attached to them.
‘Of course he can’t.’
The reason was simple.
The golems weren’t items, they were non-living beings created through alchemy.
Therefore, they weren’t affected by “Steal,” which could only steal items.
And the equipment attached to the golems, the miniguns and Aegis shields, were considered parts of the golems, not separate items.
Of course, if they were detached from the golems, they would revert to being items.
– Enemy detected.
– Enemy detected.
– Enemy detected.
– Enemy…
The cameras in the Iron Golems’ eyes turned from blue to red.
Whirr, clank!
They drew chain swords and shields from their wrists.
– Commencing enemy extermination.
They charged towards the monsters, their heavy footsteps cracking the ground.
I transferred Broken Spears of Courage (S-) behind the defensive golems and embedded them in the ground.
Thud!
A wave of energy pulsed outwards.
A red aura enveloped Arthur, the golems, and myself.
And a purple aura wrapped around all the monsters within a 1-kilometer radius.
And then…
Whirrrrrrrr!
…the turret miniguns on the defensive golems began to spin, emitting a high-pitched whine.
Following their lead, I spun the barrels of my minigun.
And when the monster horde entered range…
────────!!
…20 turret miniguns on the 10 defensive golems…
────────!!
…and my lightning-wreathed minigun…
Crackle—!!
…opened fire.
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