Chapter 92

Modern weaponry is by no means weak.

It would be strange if weapons that have been continuously developed over thousands of years to become more powerful, more efficient, and easier to kill enemies were weak.

Personal firearms can overwhelm small monsters, tanks and aircraft can fight equally against medium-sized monsters, and missiles can inflict effective damage even on large monsters.

In terms of pure firepower, monsters cannot withstand modern weaponry.

After all, there were nuclear weapons as the ultimate decisive weapon.

Nevertheless, the reason humanity was being pushed back by monsters was because war wasn’t all about firepower.

Various factors combined to work against humanity: special abilities that defied existing physical laws and common sense, the advantage of attackers who could appear without warning anywhere in the world and launch indiscriminate attacks, and purely powerful monsters that couldn’t be effectively damaged even by modern weapons.

The scene unfolding before his eyes was also one of the reasons why humanity was fighting at a disadvantage.

“It doesn’t look that dangerous.”

“The number of Contractors and soldiers who have died here alone reaches four digits. In terms of danger level, it’s among the top three in the East.”

Streets filled with collapsed buildings, traces of blackened fires, abandoned cars, and garbage.

Yuseong curled his lips at the occasional sight of monsters and sounds of unidentifiable beasts.

‘So this is why heroes were needed.’

The first operation, starting only after a week of arriving in America.

Yuseong, who had been curious about what kind of monster could be so strong that America had requested help, could finally understand the situation after seeing the scene before him.

Urban warfare boasting the worst combat environment.

Even if the enemy were ordinary humans it would be problematic, so naturally they struggled when monsters with various unusual abilities were positioned throughout the city.

If it had been a small town or city, they might have been able to close their eyes and use nuclear weapons, but with a city of this scale that wasn’t possible, so after much deliberation, they must have concluded to borrow the power of heroes – small units with powerful combat capabilities.

“The problem is the elite monsters with powerful abilities. We can handle ordinary monsters somehow, but we’ve repeatedly failed to reclaim the city because of these ones. I’d like Mr. Yuseong to deal with them.”

The tablet he received showed an aerial view of the city.

Clicking one of the dots scattered here and there, a video began playing showing an Ogre causing havoc, named Ogre Magician.

There were eleven dots in total.

After taking time to check the videos, Yuseong nodded and stood up.

“Let’s start right away.”

“There’s still an hour until operation time. For now, please relax and have some coffee.”

Yuseong inwardly laughed at the sight of the blonde beauty subtly making physical contact while offering coffee with a smile.

While it was a situation that would naturally appeal to any healthy man, Yuseong could feel nothing but wariness, having heard from Sophia that she was an agent sent for a honey trap.

‘Do you know that the higher-ups are desperate to make you, Mr. Yuseong, into an American? If you want to become American, that’s fine, but if not, it’s better to be careful about everything while in America. Especially women.’

“No, I’m fine.”

Carefully extracting himself to avoid giving any cause for criticism, Yuseong began walking toward the bridge connected to the city, leaving the woman behind.

“So you’re telling me we’re enough on our own? First put the Korean Contractors in reserve force… Huh? Mr. Han? If you approach there…”

He launched himself toward the city, leaving behind Austin who was trying to stop him.

Though voices of surprise and screams came from behind, Yuseong not only didn’t slow down but rather increased his speed by using Flash Step.

‘At this rate, following the current plan would take too long. I want to return to Korea as soon as possible.’

Whether they had underestimated his abilities or were thinking of safety, America’s schedule was far too leisurely.

Just for this one city alone, they had planned to spend over two weeks.

Saying it’s fast for urban warfare?

That only applies to Contractors and the military.

The original reason America requested help from heroes was to handle elite monsters that couldn’t be dealt with by Contractors or the military, and that was indeed the assigned mission.

Securing the city over two weeks while dealing with small fry was work for Contractors and the military – he only needed to handle the elite monsters and wouldn’t need to stay in this city any longer.

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Dealing with eleven elite monsters hidden throughout the city couldn’t be that simple.

‘Until recently I would have had to move according to America’s plan, but now…’

Woong!

‘I alone am more than enough to handle this.’

The immense power generated by activating Tyrant’s Monster Arm mode began spreading throughout his body through both arms.

To somehow expel the overflowing power outward, Yuseong stomped with all his might.

Bang!

With a sound like a bomb exploding, Yuseong’s body rose dozens of meters into the air.

Cool wind brushing his cheeks and a pleasant feeling of floating.

However, a faint trace of pain appeared on Yuseong’s face.

‘The shock absorption option doesn’t apply to body parts other than the arms, huh. Fortunately I released the power at the last moment – otherwise my knees and ankles might have shattered from being unable to withstand their own strength.’

While stat increases from artifacts apply equally to the entire body regardless of the part, additional options only apply to the artifact itself unless otherwise specified.

The 99% shock absorption option only applied to both arms.

Recklessly using the strength increased to 3,349 points by activating Monster Arm mode would cause the body with only 349 points of health to self-destruct from being unable to withstand it.

Wham! Wham! Wham!

After calculating the strength limit his body could withstand through several jumps, Yuseong nodded with satisfaction and turned his gaze forward.

Monsters were revealing themselves from building windows, ruins of collapsed buildings, overturned cars, and piles of garbage, startled by the sudden explosive sounds.

Watching with amusement as monsters rushed toward him while roaring, having apparently spotted him, Yuseong lightly stomped his foot and landed on the rooftop of a building on the opposite side.

The sight must have been quite bewildering, as even orcs, known to be desperate to fight when seeing humans, wore dumbfounded expressions.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

’20m is easily manageable.’

Though monsters appeared from various places with each explosive sound, none had the ability to chase after Yuseong as he freely jumped between buildings.

After moving like that for several minutes, Yuseong was able to find his first target.

A goblin decorated head to toe with fancy jewels, receiving protection from hundreds of goblins.

The elite monster Goblin Shaman.

“A human!”

“A human has invaded! Protect the Elder!”

The goblins began charging while emanating dense killing intent.

They seemed to possess strength far beyond ordinary goblins, but such things held no meaning for Yuseong.

Crunch!

With a sound like a watermelon breaking, the head of the goblin that charged at Yuseong first disappeared without a trace.

Yuseong’s monologue reached the ears of the frozen goblins.

“Hmm, having too much strength is also something to think about. If I control it wrong, it’ll be complete chaos.”

“What in the world…”

As the startled Goblin Shaman’s voice rang out, Yuseong launched his body forward.

One hit, one kill.

Exactly one goblin met its end each time Yuseong threw a punch or kick.

The force behind the attacks was so strong that parts hit by his fists exploded into pieces, while parts hit by his kicks were torn in half as if ripped apart by tremendous force.

“You monster!”

When the Goblin Shaman struck the ground with the end of his staff, geometric characters appeared on the goblins’ bodies as their skin changed to become like tree bark.

A high-level technique that disperses impact throughout the body to reduce damage.

However, that ultimately proved to be a terrible mistake.

Until now, at least only the parts hit by attacks took damage, but after the technique was cast, their entire bodies exploded like bursting balloons regardless of where they were hit.

Splat!

The horrific sight of countless bits of blood, flesh, bones, and organs scattering through the air was too much even for goblins to bear, despite being second to none in cruelty.

Additionally, when dozens of their companions died in the blink of an eye, some finally began abandoning their loyalty to the shaman and running away.

The pale-faced Goblin Shaman used all sorts of spells to strengthen the goblins and attack Yuseong, but it was all meaningless struggling.

“That’s one down.”

Clash!

“Huh?”

“Kneel before the veil of Ahnax!”

For the first time, an attack was nullified.

Seeing the red light veil surrounding the Goblin Shaman and one broken skull attached to the staff, Yuseong smiled and threw a punch.

Shadow Moon Style 16. Thunder Thrust.

Seven thrusts struck the veil in the blink of an eye, and all seven skulls attached to the staff were completely shattered.

After a moment of silence, Yuseong’s fist struck the Goblin Shaman’s head.

“The Elder has fallen!”

“Catch the human! We must not let him escape!”

Leaving behind the headless Goblin Shaman’s corpse and the enraged goblins, Yuseong jumped onto a nearby building and took out his smartphone.

After reconfirming the positions of elite monsters being updated in real-time through drones, Yuseong began moving toward the closest target.

If he had moved through the streets it would have taken considerable time, but advancing in a straight line while jumping over all obstacles, he reached his destination quickly.

‘Second one.’

An insectoid monster resembling a rhinoceros beetle.

Size rivaling a dump truck, durability said to have withstood military bombardment, and brute strength several times that of other medium-class monsters.

Though it was among the top three most dangerous among the elite monsters in this city, to Yuseong it was just a large punching bag.

Buzz!

“Oh?”

It took flight with powerful wing beats.

Yuseong smiled as the insectoid monster flew straight at him with its huge horn, as if certain of victory, while he poured all his internal energy into executing Meteor Step.

A footwork technique focused on weight rather than speed like Flash Step.

And just before colliding with its horn, he twisted his body and threw a punch.

Shadow Moon Style 16. Rock Piercing.

A collision between a human weighing less than 100kg and a monster exceeding 10 tons.

Common sense would dictate the monster should win such a fight, but when beings beyond common sense collided, the result was also beyond common sense.

Crack!

With an ominous sound, the massive horn split in two.

The insectoid monster that fell to the ground unable to withstand the impact tried to take flight again to eliminate the human who dared break its horn.

However, before the monster could flap its wings, Yuseong’s fist executing a second Meteor Step and Rock Piercing crushed its head first.

“…Hmm.”

Covered in foul-smelling green bodily fluids, Yuseong let out a small sigh and jumped into the air.

The city was vast and there were still nine monsters left to deal with.

It wasn’t too late to rest after finishing everything.

Bang!

An explosive sound signaling the start of the slaughter echoed through the city.