Chapter 61

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The Great Condor was gliding above the clouds.

Lee Hyun-wook, riding on its back, closed his eyes.

'There is no metal moving in this vicinity.'

By passing through the clouds in this manner, there was no risk of being attacked by the swarm of iron-armored bugs.

However, as he was at a high altitude, the cold seeped into his body, making him feel a chill. After casting 'Hardening' on his entire body and applying a 'Mana Shield,' the cold was somewhat blocked.

Finally, he took out a 'Mana Recovery Potion' from his waist and swallowed it.

- Mana recovery speed increases for 10 minutes. (+200%)

With this, his preparations were complete.

"—Let's go down!"

As he shouted, the Great Condor began to dive vertically.

Whoosh—

After passing through a layer of clouds, the ground—Mount Cheongryong—came into view.

There, a gray and black haze was rising. The gray haze was real smoke from smoldering embers, but the black haze was... a disgusting swarm of bugs performing a collective dance.

'I have to break through this.'

Without a moment's hesitation, Lee Hyun-wook leaped off the Great Condor.

He made his body straight and fell vertically, closing his eyes.

Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—

As if sensing his arrival, a stream of black haze began to shoot towards him.

Why—Why—Why—Why—Why—!

The number was exactly 374—Lee Hyun-wook 'sensed' each of their movements.

Then, he extended his left hand forward.

'—Shatter!'

Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—!

Dozens of them exploded simultaneously.

Following that, another dozen,

and another dozen shattered into pieces.

As his left hand slowly drew a circle, all the iron-armored bugs in its path exploded.

Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—!

Thus, the 374 iron-armored bugs were scattered into thousands of metal fragments.

However...

'Indeed, using Shatter recklessly consumes too much mana.'

The Metal Shatter skill was undoubtedly a one-hit kill when dealing with these creatures.

But the number of iron-armored bugs was overwhelmingly large,

and even if he poured all his mana, he wouldn't be able to significantly reduce their numbers.

'But I only need to eliminate one thing for sure—the erosion factor.'

Even if he couldn't eliminate all of them, he could at least clear a path.

And...

Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—!

The 'metal fragments' he created followed him, rotating around his body.

Then, another swarm of iron-armored bugs flew up.

This time, there were 1,188 of them.

An overwhelming number.

'I'll pierce through them as if I'm breaking through a wall!'

Lee Hyun-wook crossed his arms to protect his head and concentrated 'Hardening' on his forearms.

Clang—Clang—Clang—

He then pulled the 'metal fragments' floating around his body towards his forearms and used 'Metal Deformation' to intertwine them. A heavy metal shield—a kind of bumper—was formed.

"—Now! Give me acceleration!"

At his words, the 'Wind Spirit' Hani, who was perched on his shoulder, moved.

As Hani began to circle around Lee Hyun-wook, a whirlwind enveloped him.

Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—

'Fast!'

Lee Hyun-wook's descent gained speed.

Like a projectile, he plummeted at an incredible speed, encased in steel—

He soon collided head-on with the 1,188 iron-armored bugs.

Clang—Clang—Clang—Clang—Clang—Clang—

One-point breakthrough

He charged straight through the swarm of flying iron-armored bugs, piercing through them in one go.

Even as they tried to circle around and chase him, they couldn't catch up to his descent speed.

Lee Hyun-wook closed his eyes again and began to scan all the metal on Mount Cheongryong.

'...I have to find it.'

The erosion factor, its exact location, was impossible to discern with the naked eye.

This was the problem that Kim Gang-seok, Choi Jung-cheol, and Kim Se-hee had all worried about.

Even if they reached Mount Cheongryong, which had weakened defenses,

the thousands of iron-armored bugs covering its surface made it impossible to easily find the erosion factor.

In other words, eliminating the erosion factor through a surprise attack was impossible.

To this, Lee Hyun-wook responded.

'...I can do it.'

Yes, it was something only Lee Hyun-wook could do.

'Given that their shells are made of metal, I can sense and analyze their movements.'

'Using this method, I can deduce the location of the erosion factor.'

The swarm of iron-armored bugs surrounded the erosion factor like bees protecting their hive.

Thus, even when Choi Jung-cheol's 'Semi Armageddon' hit, the erosion factor was protected.

In other words, the point where the iron-armored bugs were most densely gathered was the erosion factor.

However...

'Damn, there are so many...'

The sheer number of metal movements on the surface of Mount Cheongryong made his head spin.

Sensing thousands of movements simultaneously, he felt his nerves overloading.

Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—

Meanwhile, his altitude was rapidly decreasing.

'I have to find it before reaching the ground. If I can't handle it in one go, I'll die.'

Then, he noticed a spot that felt different.

A place where an unusually large number of iron-armored bugs had gathered to form a thick layer,

and a place where their movements were somewhat slow and cautious,

like a swarm of worker ants protecting a queen ant.

'There, it must be somewhere around there.'

Lee Hyun-wook turned his body towards that spot.

Just before colliding with the ground, he granted his body metal control.

His body rose in the opposite direction of gravity and landed on the scorched earth.

Thud—

Immediately after landing, the thousands of metal fragments that had fallen with him rained down like a steel shower.

Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—Boom—!

The iron-armored bugs around the landing site were swept away by the metal fragments, and the whirlwind created by Hani pushed the surrounding bugs away.

But it was like scooping a handful of sand from a beach.

Why—Why—Why—Why—Why—!

Thousands of iron-armored bugs flew towards Lee Hyun-wook in unison.

It was like a black wave engulfing him.

But Lee Hyun-wook could control that wave.

He raised both hands and spread his palms.

'Rotate.'

Lee Hyun-wook pulled the numerous metal fragments and made them rotate at high speed around his body. Hani then created a whirlwind along the same path, significantly increasing the rotation speed of the metal fragments.

Whirl—Whirl—Whirl—Whirl—Whirl—!

Thus, a whirlwind of steel enveloped Lee Hyun-wook.

The combination of metal control and the wind spirit created a powerful inertia barrier that would be impossible without either.

Clang—Clang—Clang—Clang—

The bugs tried to break through the steel whirlwind but were deflected and scattered.

However, this was only a temporary solution.

'I probably can't hold out for long.'

Soon, they would gather and forcefully break through the steel whirlwind...

Lee Hyun-wook felt like he was standing between the teeth of a monster.

If he was a bit slower, he would be torn apart and swallowed.

'The erosion factor, it's nearby. But I need to find its exact location.'

He closed his eyes again.

The moment Lee Hyun-wook, the intruder, appeared, the iron-armored bugs showed two types of movements.

Most of them rushed towards Lee Hyun-wook, but a significant number moved towards a different location.

'...That's the formation to protect the erosion factor.'

Lee Hyun-wook read their movements.

And finally...

"Right, there it is."

He pinpointed a single point, an exact coordinate.

Lee Hyun-wook led the steel whirlwind towards that spot.

Then, something massive shot up from the ground.

- Boss Monster 'Iron-Armored Giant Bug' has appeared.

Ke—Ke—Ke—Ke—Ke—!

A monster in the form of a beetle, about 7-8 meters in size,

with front legs shaped like pincers and a horn-like protrusion on its head.

And a tube on its mouth that spewed acidic liquid.

'Finally, I've reached the final barrier.'

The appearance of the boss monster meant he was doing well.

'The Iron-Armored Giant Bug, this thing is a kind of cover protecting the erosion factor with its body.'

Like the Hell Ret Mutant, it was a 'guardian' type boss monster guarding the gate.

It had been covering the erosion factor with its sturdy body to block external attacks,

but as Lee Hyun-wook approached, it had no choice but to rise.

The monster approached Lee Hyun-wook.

'Right, come a bit closer... so the erosion factor is fully exposed...'

The monster kicked the ground and charged at Lee Hyun-wook, lowering its horn like a rhinoceros.

Thud—Thud—Thud—Thud—!

If it hit, even an armored vehicle would be pierced.

The monster broke through the steel whirlwind without any difficulty and soon collided with Lee Hyun-wook.

Clang—

However, the horn-like protrusion was blocked by something.

Hum—

A golden shield enveloped Lee Hyun-wook.

"Seo Eun-ha... indeed, my first shield."

A bracelet on his wrist was glowing.

It was the bracelet Seo Eun-ha had given him just before the Steel Platoon set out.

In the meantime, Lee Hyun-wook moved to the side and inserted a wire into a gap in the monster's shell.

'—Electrical Discharge!'

Zap—Zap—Zap—

The electric current from the wire tip surged through the monster's body.

The massive body of the monster trembled and was momentarily paralyzed.

In other words, it was the perfect moment.

"Right now!"

At his shout, Hani shot the steel whirlwind forward, destroying everything in the area.

Then, finally...

'There it is!'

A red gem embedded in the ground, the World Stone (Erosion Factor), was clearly revealed.

The target identification and aiming were already complete.

Whoosh—Whoosh—Whoosh—

Something heavy was falling from above.

It was, of course, 'Mogulay.'

The bugs had lost the physical defense to withstand that single strike.

Boom—Boom—Boom—!

The explosion—beneath it, the ground was completely shattered by the immense force.

And...

- You have destroyed the 'World Stone (Wave)!'

A system message appeared, indicating that everything was over.

The assault operation, which only Lee Hyun-wook could carry out, was successfully completed.

"Hah..."

Lee Hyun-wook exhaled a hot breath and looked up at the sky.

The gate would now close, but thousands of iron-armored bugs still filled the sky.

However, they