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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 28: Shooting, Star (3)
There is a saying among the commanders of Grave—
If you see a crimson object in the elf territory, run.
It meant that if you came across the clan leader ‘Nilberis,’ you should retreat immediately.
"Hurry! The sun is setting soon!"
The warrior at the front, riding the hoverbike, was impatient.
They were getting closer to the nest of the monsters.
Soon, the night would fall, and the monsters would run wild.
If they don’t act soon, they might miss their one chance.
‘I have to do something...’
As the warrior reached for their staff to prepare magic again, a large, stingray-like hoverbike appeared above the elves.
A huge, flat crimson-colored craft crossed the glowing sunset.
At the sight, the elf warriors swiftly gathered mana in their staffs, releasing arrows, their roles completed.
The crimson hoverbike approached the warrior.
The elf with long silver hair was seated at the helm.
A face sculpted like a statue, his ash-gray eyes giving off a sense of emptiness.
He wore a fur coat made from monster fur, and his long staff was also crimson.
“Nilberis, you’ve arrived…”
The warrior bowed respectfully.
“I heard you’ve been struggling.”
“It will be over soon.”
“Stop hesitating. It’s the seed of the Devil. We must kill it today, or there will be consequences.”
Nilberis’s cold voice made the warrior silent.
He knew.
The longer they delayed, the greater the chance of failure.
That’s why the clan leader had personally come to the front lines.
“Understood. Stand back.”
At Nilberis’s words, the warrior raised their right hand.
The elf warriors slowed their pace and retreated.
Now, only the crimson hoverbike was left chasing the target.
Nilberis closed his eyes, feeling the dark mana leaking from the target.
He thanked the World Tree for granting this opportunity and extended his staff toward the sky.
Muttering a chant under his breath, he began to cast his spell.
“Ael'quor, fen'dara. Mor'ashi'vor fen'dara. Elu'minae fen'si…”
The air around them twisted and undulated.
Mana poured out from his body, causing his long silver hair to whip around wildly, while the hoverbike trembled.
He opened his eyes again.
In his pupils, a blue flame burned brightly.
The compressed mana erupted through his voice.
“…Met’eor!”
A powerful blue beam shot from the end of the staff, striking the center of the twilight sky.
The sky seemed to crack open, and a crimson flow leaked through the gap.
Tiny flames began to fall like a rainstorm.
And then, a massive, blazing sphere appeared, so large it seemed as if the sun was falling from the sky, its intense heat causing the clouds to evaporate in an instant.
Boom!
The Starfire fell to the earth, it's dark tail sweeping through the air.
It collided with the target.
The armored turtle that had been desperately fleeing was engulfed by the fiery ball.
[TL/N: The warship is shaped like a turtle]
BOOM!!
A blast of hot wind rushed toward them.
The elf warriors raised their arms to shield their faces.
After a few moments, the air calmed, and they saw the aftermath.
The target, surrounded by flames.
The target plummeting from the sky, its indestructible deck breaking into pieces like snow.
“It’s over…”
Nilberis’s empty gaze lingered on the scene.
A satisfied smile crept across his pale face as he observed the devastation.
“At last… the demon has received the judgment of the gods.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Grave was engulfed in silence.
From the command bridge to the hangar and the living quarters—every corner of the ship had fallen still.
People stood motionless, eyes fixed on their screens, speechless and lost in thought.
The descendant of a hero was dead.
The supposed heir to Yeomra’s leadership had died.
He had passed away tragically, before even becoming a commander.
It was beyond belief.
Most had expected Commander Baek to make a dramatic appearance or for Yeomra to send a rescue team.
"What are we supposed to do now...?"
The captain of the Grave pressed his hand to his forehead.
This incident would undoubtedly cause major turmoil for both UnderHeaven and Grave.
A similar event had occurred twenty years ago.
Since then, Anubis Corporation had cut off ties with other companies.
They established their own stronghold, separate from UnderHeaven, and kept it hidden.
If even Yeomra, the leader in necroshell production, fell, humanity would surely be at a severe disadvantage in the war.
As the captain had anticipated, Yeomra’s headquarters was now on high alert.
"It's over..."
Baek Ran stood by the window, her gaze distant.
Below, the city, bathed in neon lights, seemed to blur before her eyes.
The messages from the heads of other companies echoed in her mind:
“Calm down, we don’t know for sure yet.”
“Wait, I’m on my way.”
Through the window, several hovercars could be seen approaching.
They were sent by other companies and the government, trying to prevent Baek Ran from making any rash decisions.
“What have I done to Baek Ho... to save humanity... what have I done...?”
The reason she had let him go outside was because she hoped he'd return.
She believed that experiencing the outside world would help him remember his forgotten goal.
Since he was heading to what she thought was a paradise, she wasn’t overly worried.
And hadn’t she also kept him from being tied to the Chasa or Gwisin?
Even if the worst happened, she trusted in Grave.
She knew they would rescue him, no matter what.
She also had faith in her brother.
She believed he would do anything to protect his child.
“I was a fool... so stupid...”
Baek Ho was like her own child, even though she could never have children of her own.
And a mother who had lost her child would stop at nothing.
She intended to make the commanders of Grave understand what they had sacrificed today.
“What about the evacuation of the employees?”
Baek Ran's question was answered by a Chasa standing behind her.
"It’s been completed."
"Then you can go too."
"It’s fine. My life was getting boring anyway. I'll escort you to hell."
"I won’t stop you."
Baek Ran took a red orb from her pocket.
When she first received it, she never imagined she’d have to use it...
As she held the cold orb in her hands, messages continued to flood in.
“Baek Ran! Get a hold of yourself! Look at this!”
“Sister! Please pick up the phone!”
“Baek Ho is alive!”
"......"
It’s a lie.
A trick to stop her.
Baek Ho had been hit by a Meteor—something that could reduce even a massive battleship to ash.
Reapers could revive someone if their vessel remained intact, but not a commander.
He must have burned to ashes, enduring unimaginable pain as his body was consumed by the flames.
“How much pain and suffering did he have to endure...?”
Baek Ran turned off the SmartCore.
When her cybernetic eye stopped functioning, the tears that had been suppressed by the system began to flow freely.
They streamed down her face.
Whhhhmmm—
The red orb in her hand began to vibrate.
From this moment forward, Yeomra Corporation would vanish into the depths of history.
All the achievements of the genius engineer, Baek Ran, would be lost.
Some might say, "Isn’t it unfair for a company that helped ensure humanity's survival to disappear just because of one person's death?"
To that, Baek Ran would answer from the depths of hell, "From the very beginning, everything has existed for Baek Ho. It was always meant to be this way."
Whhhhmmm—
She infused the orb with dark mana.
The red light spread, casting an eerie glow that filled the room.
At that moment, a massive object appeared outside the window.
It was a dirigible that had recently been broadcasting I_Vu's live concert from a nearby stadium.
"...Huh?"
Baek Ran stared at the enormous screen on the side of the dirigible.
Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor.
The red orb she had been holding slipped from her hand.
She cried uncontrollably, like a child.
＊ ＊ ＊
Nilberis’s eyes wavered.
It was as bewildering as the moment when the World Tree, rooted on Earth, was engulfed in flames by human hands.
“What is this...?”
What poured out from the broken Gwisin was not the bodies of humans.
It was a mass of black crows.
Thousands of ominous, filthy creatures fluttered into the air, vanishing into mist.
It was like opening a gift box, only to have flies swarm out instead.
The Elven warriors, stunned by this absurd and grotesque scene, began murmuring.
“What is this…?”
“Where are the undead?”
“What happened…?”
Nilberis immediately recognized the identity of the swarm of crows.
They were dark spirits summoned by dark magic from another realm.
It was a form of evil necromancy used by humanity.
Was that overwhelming dark energy he’d sensed from the Gwisin... just those things?
Had he been chasing a decoy all along?
‘I was fooled...’
Did the informant betray him? Or had they, too, been deceived by their own people?
Whatever the truth, trusting a traitor’s word and charging in recklessly had been a grave mistake.
“O Yggdrasil...”
He should’ve questioned why the Chasa, who always met battle head-on, had fled without a fight.
He should’ve realized—maybe they weren’t retreating, but protecting the demon’s seed.
He shouldn’t have brushed it aside.
Maybe... all of this had been the demon’s plan from the beginning.
The so-called “Demon’s Seed” inside that ship hadn’t even become a commander. He was supposed to be nothing.
But then—how could an untrained necromancer control thousands of dark spirits at once?
Even if those crows were the weakest kind of wraith, it made no sense.
If such a thing were possible, the undead would’ve won this war long ago.
‘A demon is still a demon, even if it's just a seed...’
Suppressing his anger, Nilberis issued a command to the Elven warriors.
“There must still be a necromancer nearby.”
They couldn’t have traveled far to use dark magic, so they needed to search the area thoroughly.
The Elven warriors responded in unison, but Nilberis knew the task was impossible.
Screeeeech—
A deafening screech erupted from within the broken Gwisin.
Screeeeech—
Dozens of flare bombs detonated all at once inside the Gwisin.
The sky above was engulfed in a thick green mist, swirling violently.
When Nilberis recognized what was happening, he lost all composure. His mouth fell open in shock.
“M-Monster Call!”
It was a pheromone-based concentration designed to lure monsters.
Just as Urban Elves had their Spell Smog arrows, humans had this despicable tactic: Monster Call.
“We need to get out of here—now! Hurry!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, the Elven warriors slammed the accelerators on their hoverbikes, running away from the scene.
＊ ＊ ＊
People stared at the screen in stunned horror, but this time, it was a different kind of shock.
An Elf’s body had just been crushed by the enormous claw of a giant monster. Blood and flesh were scattered in all directions.
The command bridge rang with the screams of the Elves and the monstrous roars of the beasts.
–Kaaaah!
–Kieeeek!
The intensity of the pheromone concentration used in the Monster Call was overwhelming.
Monsters, their eyes burning with fury, swarmed from all directions.
Flying beasts arrived first, quickly binding the Elves, while other creatures moved in to provide support.
The Elves fought bravely, but as time passed, they were pushed back. Even the great Nilberis was ineffective.
Having spent a significant amount of his mana teleporting the Elven warriors here, and then using the 8th-level Meteor spell, he was left drained.
The swift and powerful combat style he was known for had disappeared.
His spellcasting speed had slowed, and his attacks lacked the usual strength. Mana burnout had clearly taken its toll.
–We must protect Lord Nilberis!
–Clear a path!
The screen was filled with chaos.
What had once been the sight of the Gwisin being pursued now seemed almost tame in comparison to the brutal and horrifying battle unfolding before them.
Yet, there was a sense of grim satisfaction.
Seeing the monsters finish off the Elves who had already been overwhelmed by them earlier felt like a strange kind of relief.
If it weren’t for the shock of the situation, they might have found themselves cheering on the monsters.
"To think..."
"Elves are being pushed back like this..."
"Sigh..."
When had the Urban Elves ever fought so passively, from the sidelines?
Had they ever watched their comrades die without feeling a sense of sorrow?
These cunning creatures preferred guerilla tactics over direct confrontation and could dodge the beasts with their unnatural agility.
Such a brutal, open battle had always been a rare sight.
–The Grand Warrior has cleared the path!"
–Hurry!"
–Escort Lord Nilberis!"
As more Elves fell and a path for escape was opened, a Reaper, who had been monitoring the radar, suddenly jumped up and shouted.
“It’s Azrion!”
The Reaper, controlling a drone, adjusted the camera.
On the large screen, a massive creature appeared in the corner. It looked like a whale stretched out like a snake, with segmented, centipede-like legs protruding from its underside.
Azrion, an 8th-level flying beast, was a monster capable of using magic freely by absorbing mana from the air.
–Guuuuuu...
A deep, resonating roar emanated from Azrion’s body, and a magical wave spread outward in all directions.
The Elves flying on hoverbikes suddenly found their engines cut out, one by one, and they began to plummet from the sky.
Even the drones, which had been watching the scene, went offline and crashed to the ground.
The screen went black.
Quickly, the radar display switched on.
A map of the terrain appeared, showing numerous dots representing the Elves. All around them were swarms of monsters.
From this perspective, it was clear—no one could survive here.
Beep— Beep— Beep— Beep— Beep—
As Azrion appeared, the dots representing the Elves began to vanish one by one.
Soon, only two remained—one for Nilberis and one for the Grand Warrior.
Moments later, even the Grand Warrior's dot disappeared.
The captain, filled with tension, gulped hard.
He clenched his fists, waiting for the inevitable.
Beep—
Soon after, the red dot representing Nilberis vanished as well.
Had he teleported away?
Could that even be possible in front of Azrion?
“Check it.”
The trap specialist’s voice trembled.
The Reapers scrambled, hastily adjusting the holograms.
After a moment, the reports came in.
There was no sign of energy fluctuations from a teleportation.
Even after several scans, Nilberis's energy signature could not be detected.
"This... this can't be... Nilberis is dead..."
By the hands of a mere cadet?
The shock was beyond anything they could comprehend.
＊ ＊ ＊
The conference room, where seven admirals had gathered, was filled with noise, unlike the quiet of the command bridge.
Each admiral began contacting their headquarters to confirm Nilberis' death.
"There's no way he could have died so easily!"
"Keep looking! Just send someone to check with the nearest strike team! What? If you're worried, just send a Reaper!"
"…Alright!"
The Admiral from Hades used his SmartCore and displayed a photo on the screen.
The zoomed-in photo, taken from a distance, showed a head caught on a branch, with long silver hair fluttering in the wind.
The admirals immediately recognized the figure.
It was Nilberis, the leader of the Urban Elves who had brought great despair to humanity. The crimson staff resting beside him further confirmed it.
The admirals stopped talking and stared blankly at the screen.
Despite the disbelief, they had to accept it as the reality they saw before their eyes.
"Did one ship really... kill Nilberis...?"
The admiral from Anubis closed his mouth, which had been hanging open in disbelief, and asked the admiral from Yeomra.
"Was this... all part of a plan?"
"......"
No response came.
It was as if they couldn’t speak, or perhaps didn't want to.
Then, the admiral from Izanami slammed his fist down on the table.
“They used the next family head as bait to gain achievements! They deceived all of us! They were trying to become the Supreme Commander!”
“Don’t speak recklessly without knowing the facts.”
“They made fools of us all! We've been hearing for so long that there were spies within, and now look! They’ve turned us all into idiots!”
“That’s just speculation.”
The Admiral from Hades furrowed his brow and continued.
“You know as well as I do that Commander Baek is not the kind of person to do something like this.”
“Are you asking me to just accept this? A young cadet using forbidden magic to control a ship, setting off a Monster Call trap to kill Nilberis, and doing it all without consulting the main forces? Does that sound reasonable to you?”
“Hmmm… What exactly is the problem?”
The Admiral from Anubis tilted his head.
“Even if they deceived us, the fact remains that the cadet killed Nilberis. That’s an undeniable accomplishment.”
It was difficult to believe that a mere cadet had managed all of this.
The use of forbidden magic. The immense dark mana required to control such a large ship for an extended period.
The way the Monster Call was hidden until the right moment near the monster nest.
This was beyond what a cadet could achieve.
That’s why they assumed Commander Baek must have been involved.
But the admirals knew better. This wasn’t his way of doing things.
Therefore, this must have been a scheme carried out by Baek Ho alone.
‘What kind of monster has Yeomra been hiding all this time…?’
‘The elders will surely find this interesting.’
Since his time at the academy, he had kept himself hidden, unlike the heirs of other corporations.
Rumors had spread that he was hiding something due to his lack of achievements, but after this incident, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
‘Baek Ho, was it?’
‘I should try to establish some connections with him in advance…’
Countless people had witnessed this event.
The rumors would spread quickly across various forward bases and battleships. With this incident, Yeomra's future head would soon be the center of considerable attention.
After all, hadn’t he just killed Nilberis?
‘We need to strengthen ties with Yeomra…’
‘At this rate, Yeomra might just keep producing Supreme Commanders one after another.’
‘I don’t know what Masamune’s card is, but… this is going to be tough.’
And there was one more fact that the admirals didn’t know: It wasn’t just Grave who had witnessed this scene.
The citizens of UnderHeaven had also seen it, live on the airship’s screen.
＊ ＊ ＊
The dark mana pouring out of Baek Ho’s body suddenly stopped.
Seonhwa halted her dance and turned her gaze toward him.
Blood was pouring from every orifice in his face.
"Young master!"
Seonhwa rushed to him, cradling his face in her hands.
She checked his pulse, which was faint, so faint it was almost gone.
"Seongyu! Hurry!"
Seongyu dropped his drum and sprinted over.
He pulled a long needle from his chest and inspected Baek Ho’s upper body, which was riddled with swollen, dark veins.
His teeth clenched as he pressed the needle into Baek Ho.
"Sister… it’s no use… It’s too late…"
"Shut up!"
Seonhwa snatched the needle from Seongyu’s hand and began feeling around Baek Ho’s head.
She drove the mana imbued needle into the Baihui point at the crown of his head (a key energy center in traditional medicine), followed by the Fengfu at the nape (used to regulate Yin energy) and Taiyang at the temples (to stimulate Yang), her hands trembling as she reached for his ankle to complete the treatment.
But Seongyu grabbed her arm.
"It’s no use... You could make things worse..."
Seonhwa’s body trembled violently.
She held Baek Ho tightly in her arms, crying uncontrollably.
Her desperate sobs echoed as she shouted for him to wake up.
How could this be happening?
She had sworn he would never die.
The others bit their lips, quietly mourning with her.
This was something they had all expected.
The use of dark mana had already signaled his impending death.
They knew the price Baek Ho had paid, and deep down, they were filled with a tangled mix of emotions.
"This can’t be happening..."
Seonhwa struggled to swallow her sobs.
She had watched this boy grow for twenty years, and now, she couldn’t bear the thought of losing him like this.
She pulled a talisman from her robes. Her plan was to freeze his body and take him back to headquarters.
If it was Baek Ran, she knew she could save him. Of course, she would be scolded for letting things reach this point, but that didn’t matter to her.
Just as Seonhwa was about to place the talisman on Baek Ho and chant the incantation, Nana stepped forward.
Her pupils were wide, her eyes gleaming with a crazed intensity, as if she had lost all sense of reason.
"What’s this?! You want to die too…?"
Seonhwa’s words faltered, a mix of confusion and anger.
Nana lifted the bowl of blood she had been holding and poured it over her head, as if preparing herself for a ritual.
"What... are you doing?"
"Haaah..."
Nana let out a satisfied sigh as she brushed her blood-soaked hair back, her face strangely serene.
She gave Seonhwa a crooked smirk.
"This isn’t human blood, is it?"
Seonhwa stiffened the moment their eyes met—not because of Nana’s bizarre behavior, but because something about her presence triggered a memory.
"...Selena?"
Why did this woman feel so much like her, that infamous lunatic?
Nana, oblivious or uncaring, casually cracked her neck to both sides and stretched like she was warming up.
Then, turning to Seongyu and the other reapers, she clapped her hands.
Everyone just stared at her in stunned silence.
Nana narrowed her eyes and scoffed.
"What, never seen a star before? Cue the beat already, dumbasses."
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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