At the head of the formation, Kang Sujeong raced forward with her short hair streaming behind her and Goggles covering her eyes. She looked every inch a female warrior.
Her momentum was so fierce that the oncoming Siege Truck hesitated and began to slow down.
“Wh-what is this? Is she insane?”
The Raider aboard the Siege Truck was visibly startled when he saw Kang Sujeong charging straight toward them.
At this rate, both the motorcycle and its mad rider would be smashed to pieces, but the Siege Truck would undoubtedly suffer considerable damage as well.
Even with a Battering Ram mounted on the front, running over those enormous motorcycles could force the truck off course or damage the drill attached to it.
“Fuck, we are actually going to collide at this rate!”
“Should we not turn the wheel?!”
“If this thing is destroyed, we might have to climb a ladder or throw ourselves onto a Jump Spot!”
Only one Siege Truck had been provided for Stage 2, so they had to avoid damaging it.
“Damn it! Turn the wheel for now!”
Had they continued straight ahead, they might have passed through the open Gate.
However, fearing that the crazed motorcyclists would stop them before they reached it, the driver turned the wheel.
As though she had been waiting for that exact moment, Kang Sujeong’s eyes flashed.
“Flanking Maneuver!”
The Skirmisher Unit, which had been charging toward the Siege Truck in a wedge formation, simultaneously changed direction and veered to the right.
They turned only a few centimeters before colliding with the Siege Truck on their left.
“Fuck, I thought we were going to die!”
E-Bolt, the former Raider who had switched sides and joined the Sentinels, clutched his chest in relief before firing the Energy Bolts he had prepared at the Siege Truck’s wheels.
Firing rapidly was more difficult while riding a motorcycle, but he still released three shots with brief intervals between them.
BANG! BANGBANG!
The Siege Truck appeared to possess some degree of magical defense. The Energy Bolts did not burst the tire as he had imagined.
However, they seemed to damage the axle, causing one of the front wheels to thrash violently from side to side like the tail of a rabid dog.
“E-Bolt! What happened to the wheel?”
“It did not burst, but I think the axle is damaged! They will have difficulty steering now!”
Kang Sujeong called out to E-Bolt behind her, and he answered with feigned disappointment.
The hierarchy among them had already been firmly established.
Kang Sujeong was the benefactor who had spared Sledgehammer and E-Bolt’s lives, as well as the leader of the Skirmisher Unit.
Yonghyeok and Seongwon, who had volunteered to join the unit, followed that hierarchy as well.
“Ms. Sujeong! About ten of them are on our tail!”
Kang Sujeong nodded as though she had expected Yonghyeok’s warning.
“Guard the rear! Everyone else, head toward Point A at full speed!”
Following the plan, Kang Sujeong drove her motorcycle fiercely toward Point A.
‘Everything is unfolding exactly according to his plan. There has not been a single deviation.’
Kang Sujeong could not conceal her amazement as she thought of the man watching them from the distant walls.
He was like a sage who could see a thousand miles without leaving his seat.
He seemed to know everything that would happen and every measure required to counter it.
It had been the same when he created the motorcycles.
-Assigning Guardian Stones activates them like this. Naturally, that assumes the objects themselves remain intact.
He had gathered parts from motorcycles that were little better than scrap and assembled them into functioning vehicles before activating them with Guardian Stones.
-What happens if we do not activate them? I do not know the exact details either, but the System is remarkably petty. If it decides that something disrupts the balance, it imposes restrictions in one form or another.
The exact restrictions differ between missions, but Guardian Stone Allocation prevents them. Fortunately, I created these motorcycles with my skill, so they require relatively few Guardian Stones. Their cost-effectiveness is not bad.
More than anything else, Kang Sujeong had been surprised to discover that there were things he did not know.
To her, he had seemed like a Prophet who knew everything.
‘…He is in the same situation as the rest of us.’
The moment she realized that, even greater courage welled inside her.
Her trust in him became faith.
Until then, she had followed him because she believed he was a special being.
Now, she followed him because she understood that he was risking his life alongside them.
Ironically, knowing that his life also depended upon the plan made her trust him even more.
It meant that he, too, was desperately trying to adapt to this damned world and survive.
-Afterward, move to the Jump Spot. Do not try to stop everyone. Focus on delaying them for as long as possible. If the Skirmisher Unit can hold them back for one minute—or even one second—you will extend all of our lives by that much. Remember that.
If she failed, he would be placed in danger as well.
Therefore, Kang Sujeong swore that she would not fail.
She twisted the accelerator on the handlebar as far as it would go and raced even faster across the wasteland.
VROOOOOOM-!!
More than ten Raiders pursued the Skirmisher Unit.
They did not possess motorcycles, but they were just as fast.
Even on foot, their movement-related skills allowed them to close in on the Skirmisher Unit at astonishing speed.
“They are heading toward the Jump Spot!?”
Contrary to expectations, the Skirmisher Unit did not continue harassing the Siege Truck and instead left the Siege Route.
“What? Then can we not simply leave them alone? We only need to protect the Siege Truck.”
They were among the Raiders who had been following the Siege Truck and had stepped forward to protect it according to the Oath.
Their original role was to serve as the Search Team, entering after the Siege Truck breached the Gate and searching for Guardian Stones.
Therefore, they had no reason to concern themselves with the Raiders at the Jump Spots, whose interests had nothing to do with theirs.
“It will take some time to break through the Gate anyway. Let us amuse ourselves with those bastards!”
“Why not? I wanted one of those motorcycles anyway. Good. Everyone, open fire!”
They understood that there was no need to intervene.
Nevertheless, they attacked, intending to kill the Skirmisher Unit and seize their motorcycles.
They possessed not only high movement speeds but also ranged attack abilities, so attacking Kang Sujeong’s group from behind was easy.
“Fireball!”
“Ice Spear!”
“Lightning Charge!”
Each Raider unleashed their ranged Active Skill.
There were not enough of them to fill the entire sky with attacks, but every projectile possessed enough power to inflict serious damage with a single hit.
“Dragon’s Protection!”
Yonghyeok, who was guarding the rear, seized the opportunity and activated an Active Skill that resembled his own name.
Amazingly, Dragon’s Protection was a Rare-ranked skill.
During the early stages, a Rare Active Skill was so valuable that it could not be purchased even for an astronomical sum.
It was somewhat unfortunate that his skill was defensive.
However, during a mission where teamwork was crucial, there was no one more useful than him.
ROOOOOAR-!
At Yonghyeok’s command, the enormous face of a dragon—larger than the Siege Truck itself—emerged and unleashed a tremendous roar.
A gigantic Magic Barrier formed behind the Skirmisher Unit, covered in various Chinese characters and incomprehensible geometric patterns.
CRACKLECRACKLECRACKLE!!
The barrier covered in characters and patterns completely nullified every incoming attack.
“Wh-what is that? It blocked everything!”
The Raiders were startled by the obviously extraordinary skill.
They realized that continuing to fire ranged attacks would accomplish nothing.
“Pathetic! Move aside. I will handle this!”
A short man who had been traveling underground like a mole suddenly shot high into the air.
“Earth—quake!!”
He plunged headfirst into the ground.
CRACK-!
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!!
Beginning from the point where his head struck, the ground twisted and shattered in a line toward Kang Sujeong at the front.
“Wh-what is this?”
“Is that a Rare skill?”
Even the other Raiders stared in amazement at its destructive power.
“Sledgehammer!!”
At Kang Sujeong’s shout, Sledgehammer sharply turned his handlebars and leaped from his motorcycle.
He drew the enormous Sledgehammer strapped to his back and brought it down upon the ground being destroyed by Earthquake the instant he landed.
“Leave this to me and go! Sledge Hammer!!”
BOOOOM!!
An eye for an eye.
Destructive force for destructive force.
The destruction surging forward from Earthquake collided with Sledge Hammer, causing the ground to erupt high into the air.
“Are those bastards serious?”
The Raiders pursuing them stopped with their mouths hanging open after witnessing the Skirmisher Unit’s extraordinary abilities.
They had followed merely for amusement, but now they realized that these opponents were far from ordinary.
“Damn, the Leader was right. It feels completely different now.”
Sledgehammer casually rolled both arms backward as he stared at the dozen Raiders facing him.
As the Leader had explained, he had been using his skill entirely incorrectly until now.
-Your skill is not specialized for crushing a person’s skull. It is specialized for destroying objects. Target the ground, walls, rocks, and other objects. Strike the ground, and your enemies will lose their balance. Launch stones, and the fragments will bury themselves in their skulls like Shotgun pellets.
Until then, he had only considered using his overwhelming destructive power to crush skulls.
He had never thought of attacking the ground or nearby objects to inflict damage indirectly.
Sledgehammer picked up several large rocks from the shattered, overturned earth and repeatedly tossed them into the air before catching them.
“Once you are ready, come at me one at a time. I will turn your skulls into modern art.”
He swung his Sledgehammer as though practicing his batting form at home plate.
The Raiders hesitated at the sight.
“You bastard. Are you trying to look impressive all by yourself? I am still here.”
Behind him, E-Bolt stopped his motorcycle, removed his helmet, and summoned three Energy Bolts into the air.
Sledgehammer smirked.
“You lunatic. Once I finish with these bastards, you are next.”
“Right back at you.”
Despite facing more than ten enemies, neither of them stopped laughing wildly.
“Will those two truly be all right by themselves?”
Kang Sujeong gave a slight nod as she continued driving in response to Seongwon’s question.
“Trust the Leader.”
When Kang Sujeong mentioned the Leader, Seongwon nodded as well.
“We win as long as we delay them.”
Yonghyeok spoke as though agreeing with her.
According to the Leader, they would destroy the Raiders’ main force and then come out to rescue the Skirmisher Unit.
Rather than trusting the Leader, Yonghyeok had calculated their value.
‘Five Guardian Stones.’
That was by no means a small number.
Abandoning them here would be equivalent to throwing away five Guardian Stones.
He had not understood it before, but Guardian Stones held absolute value within this place.
The Leader did not appear foolish enough to abandon something so valuable merely to protect himself.
Therefore, Yonghyeok believed that he would certainly come to rescue them.
“Jump Spot at two o’clock.”
“There are… six of them?”
There were fewer enemies than the Leader had predicted.
“Do not let down your guard. He said those people would be the most dangerous.”
They were sitting alone around the Jump Spot, which had not yet activated, idly passing the time.
When they noticed the Skirmisher Unit, they rose one by one.
Their obvious composure carried the distinctive air of powerful individuals.
“I will say this one more time. We—”
BOOOOOOM-!!
Before Kang Sujeong could finish, an enormous explosion swallowed her words.
Raging flames and dust erupted from the place she had just passed.