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The Player Who Eats Steel - Episode 170

170fury. 

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In central Rome, there were exactly 13,211 civilians taking refuge there..

Thump, thump, thump

They couldn't sleep at night due to the sound of huge footsteps echoing above their heads..

As long as I knew that the noise was the hungry pacing of predators trying to eat me, there was no way I could shake off my anxiety........

"......Ooh, we're all gonna die.”

As if there were only one or two people who felt that such an obvious complaint was valid, tears soon broke out here and there..

It's already been 44 hours since I was stranded here... … While news of the rescue team's arrival was rarely heard, sad news was pouring in..

“……I heard that the one right next to here was also hit..”

The eyes of the surrounding refugees were all focused on the words that a man seemed to be muttering to himself while looking into space..

"omg! Well, that's real.?”

Shelter 6 was only 4 to 5 km away from Shelter 3, so it was natural that the expressions on the faces of the refugees became even darker when they heard those words..

"Yes, I heard the security guards talking among themselves in the upstairs bathroom. All… … They say he died.”

Those terrible words could be seen as being somewhat purified, since 'eaten' was expressed as 'dead'..

"under… … They say the shelter isn't safe, so wow, what do we do now??”

"Damn it, wouldn't it be better to just go outside and split up? If you keep doing this, it's like setting a meal for those children..”

"Look, that's absolutely ridiculous, so don't even say it out loud. If someone hears that and does something like that for no reason, they will all die together..”

“……I know, I'm just saying this because I'm so frustrated with this situation. Damn it, you can't just wait without knowing when you might be rescued.?”

As despair deepened among civilians, the shelter management office was busier than anywhere else..

"Fuck, are you saying that now??”

The large man shouting at the top of his voice in the center was the ‘shelter director’ in charge of this place..

"How many civilians are here right now when you say something like that? What, just wait quietly? If you were here now, do you think you could say something like that? yes?”

He protested, but the voice coming from the other end of the Mana Messenger was still heartless..

- Chik: Even if you get angry like that, nothing will change. As I said before, first minimize noise and wait. That's the answer we can give.

The answer that came from the higher authorities was extremely disappointing, but it was the consistent answer since yesterday..

Rescue team cannot be dispatched yet.

I can't even give a date.

"Damn it, the government is going to kill all the people........"

- Chik 1 Shelter director, calm down. You know better than anyone else, right? There's nothing we can do at this point yet..

"Ah, anyway, here I am now……."

- Yes, I know there are millions of people stranded in our country alone..

"......."

- However, if you hastily dispatch troops to a place where level 110 titans are lurking, you are only sending your precious troops to their deaths. That's not what you want, is it? It's not just that shelter that's in crisis right now. The whole of Europe is in the same situation..

Considering that this explanation was all true, the shelter director held his forehead in even greater despair..

'……Well, pushing back those terrible giants wasn't enough, who could possibly lead more than 10,000 civilians to a safe area??’

Maybe it would only be possible to gather all the heroes from around the world..

And there were dozens of such shelters in the city of Rome alone… … The shelter director did not know that rescue operations were realistically impossible..

'But still doing nothing…….'

- Shelter Chief, I'll say it again, the titan hoplites that have appeared now are at a whopping level 110. This means that just to catch one fish, we would have to mobilize 10% of our national defense power.!

"under……."

- therefore… … You will have no choice but to hold out for quite some time. Rule: Use stockpiled materials as sparingly as possible.

But then

“一Xue, Shelter Director!”

This voice urgently calling him was the security captain in charge of security at Shelter 3..

And when he raises his voice, it usually means that something bad has happened..

“……Guard Captain, what's going on??”

"You need to come to the control room right now.!”

The control room was a place where various security facilities were installed, and the two people hurriedly headed there..

"Hey, look at CCTV number 8..”

As he gestured, one of the security guards operated the computer, and soon one side of the screen was filled with number 8 CCTV screen..

“uh?”

The moment he looked at the screen, the shelter director felt his legs relax for an instant..

“Oh no, that's it……."

8The first CCTV was an outdoor CCTV filming the city center near the entrance to the third shelter..

In other words, it was for surveillance outside the shelter... … There, now, four titan hoplites were being photographed..

"Guard Captain, what are these kids doing now??”

“……I don't know, but it's sitting on top of our heads..”

Yes, it looked like they were sitting right on top of the shelter and having a conversation. However, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable when he gestured to the floor with his hand in between..

‘Damn it, why are you here? Could it be that they have sensed our location? No way… … The Silence magic generator must be running.......'

But suddenly, a report surfaced that Shelter No. 6 was discovered and destroyed by those guys even though it didn't make any noise..

‘So, that means it’s not the noise that you need to be careful about… … Are you possibly sensing the flow of mana??’

At level 110, it wasn't strange that he had such a keen sense of mana..

'Damn, I used mana communication too carelessly..’

But it seemed too late to regret it.

In the screen, the titan hoplites who were sitting on the floor seemed to have finished their conversation and stood up, holding a whopping 20 meter long spear pole with its tip toward the floor.

Bang—— Bang—— Bang——

I started hitting with all my might..

"omg—"

"shit!”

Bang—— Bang—— Bang——

Like a drill attached to heavy equipment, blows of destructive power rain down at random toward the ceiling of the shelter..

The shock that occurred penetrated deep into the shelter, and as the refugees' agitated mutterings began to flow, the shelter director felt a creeping sense of fear running up his spine..

The worst he feared had come.

"Everyone, prepare for battle!”

At that time, the guard captain shouted, pulled out his sword and shield, and jumped towards the ‘first defense shield position’ on the top floor..

Then, a total of 29 security guards scattered throughout the area followed him..

They are practically running to death to do their duty..

But that might be meaningless resistance, the shelter director thought..

"now… … Okay, it's over..”

110There are as many as 4 large monsters in the level..

No matter how hard you try, no matter how lucky you are, you can never stop it..

It was such a self-evident fact that even the children sheltering in this shelter seemed to know it..

But the shelter director changed his mind..

‘but… … Even if everyone dies, we have to hold on as long as we can..’

This third shelter had an underground passage leading to the Roman subway, and was designed to open the underground passage and escape as soon as the shelter was attacked..

‘So, we have to hold out until as many civilians as possible escape. That's the last role I can play..’

After ordering his lieutenant to lead the escape, he drew his wand and began to climb the stairs..

“……Ooh, we never back down!”

In the section closest to the ground, the so-called first defense shield position, guards were gathered there and were staring at the ceiling where cracks were spreading..

However, their average level was around 28 at most, so they were like a bunch of eggs standing in front of a rolling rock..

quaddd——

Soon the ceiling was completely torn away, and early morning sunlight poured into the shelter like a waterfall..

"Ugh!"

My eyes were dazzled for a moment... … Four heads wearing huge helmets turned their backs to the sunlight and looked down at the guards, baring their yellow teeth..

Because there was clearly human flesh between the teeth, the guards felt instinctive fear and hesitated to take a step back..

「Ugh, so many living, writhing things gathered together like this... … What a windfall this is?」

「Look at these, isn't it so cute they're staring at us with weapons the size of toothpicks??」

「Friends, I'm going to eat that big guy over there, so I hope no one touches it..」

They exchange such a terrible conversation, and then they reach out with their vicious hands as if competing..

「Hehehe, come here.」

Even though those huge hands were right in front of us, no one was willing to start a counterattack. Just frozen like chicks cornered in a chicken coop…….

"ah……."

"Black one"

This is because they sensed that no matter how hard they tried, they would not be able to inflict any damage, and they were overcome with a feeling of helplessness..

Maybe it was the same way that a small animal facing a large beast freezes at infrasound..

As it is, the moment everyone meets their end as mere prey.…….

One billion——!

A black object fell vertically from the distant sky and landed on the neck of a titan hoplite..

「Wow——」

The guy was screaming and spraying red blood, and he reached out and tried to pull it out from the nape of his neck..

Yes, yes, yes, yes.——

A shock wave was generated from the black object, causing the creature's body to swell to its fullest extent, and then red blood flowed like lava from every pore of its face..

That is, he died instantly..

"What, what?!”

「Pfft, what is it?!」

The shelter guards who were watching the scene could not help but be dumbfounded. Now, someone had attacked the titan hoplites..

In other words, it saved them.!

'Does that make sense? Who on earth could do that??’

That scene was just surprising to the shelter director..

Didn't even the higher-ups say until a little while ago that they couldn't dispatch a rescue team??

But who on earth is attacking them... … Can you kill with just one blow??

‘Crazy, did you think that was even possible? I heard that it takes 10% of our country's national power to catch just one animal, but to kill it with one hit like that?.......'

Just when the shelter director's mind was becoming confused, a tremendous roar rang out from somewhere..

Bang 1 Bang 1 Bang 1

A violent roar as if the entire ground was turning over... … Perhaps it was because I had been tormented by the sound of giant footsteps for the past 48 hours, but I felt that the pattern of the roar somehow resembled 'steps'..

'What is this, what is coming??’

「Wow, look over there! Hey, what the hell is that?!」

「Damn, there's a giant coming at us!」

「Everyone, everyone raises their shields to block.!」

The giants were even so shocked that they called them “giants,” so I could tell that something really big was coming this way..

Bang 1 Bang 1 Bang 1

With each step, the half-collapsed ceiling cracked and all kinds of stone fragments rained down, causing the guards to cover their heads with shields and retreat..

“Ugh, everyone be careful of falling rocks.!”

"Damn it, check out the magic shield.!”

At that moment, the shelter director witnessed the soles of a huge being passing by beyond the collapsed ceiling..

It jumped up and covered the entire sun, as if there had been a solar eclipse, and immediately after that, it was seen attacking three titan hoplites and throwing out its right fist..

Wow - billion——!

The scene where the fist, which resembled a powerful car, stretched out and smashed the chin of the titan hoplite, causing it to rise vertically and land on top of a building... … It was so unrealistic..

「100 million——」

Gurgling…….

A Roman building with a long history spanning hundreds of years collapsed like a cardboard box..

"This is now... … What's the situation??”

"Ho, is there a civil war between the titans??”

Yeah, it almost seemed that way at first glance..

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

The giants suddenly disappeared out of sight and started making all kinds of noise and destroying the surrounding buildings..

It was clear that a physical fight was going on, so I felt like I had to stay far away to avoid being like a shrimp getting caught in a whale fight..

“Uh—uh— Shelter director, it’s dangerous.!”

However, without realizing it, the shelter director climbed over the collapsed ceiling and stood on the messed up pavement..

For some reason, I felt the need to witness this scene with my own eyes..

'……I've seen that black giant somewhere before! And somehow, I feel confident that they are on our side.!’

When I got up to the ground, I could see it at a glance..

thud! thud!

A metal giant sparkling with a magical dark blue color in the early morning sunlight... … It lifted a blunt weapon made from the skull of a huge beast and slashed at the titan hoplite..

Kwaang——!

The guy raised his shield to block, but he couldn't withstand the impact coming through the shield and bent down on one knee..

The shock wave that erupted from the collision not only shattered all the windows of the surrounding buildings, but even the bricks on the upper floors collapsed..

And the body of the shelter director, who was standing about a hundred meters away, was lifted into the air..

“Pfft—”

Kwaang——!

The ensuing blow caused his shield to collapse and fall to the ground..

He was completely defenseless, and the third hammer hit broke his bone like a watermelon..

With the sound of a crash, one side of the building was stained with red water..

「This, this monster.!」

Meanwhile, the last Titan Hoplite threw away his shield, grabbed a 20m polearm with both hands, and hurled it with all his might towards the side of the metal giant..

One thing——!

But all it took was a few scratches on the shiny metal body..

「Ugh, no, that’s ridiculous.!」

In the end, the lone Titan Hoplite dropped his spear and began to back away..

Looking at that terrified expression, the shelter director felt a sense of joy. It was like the pleasure I felt when my older cousin beat up the big bully who was bothering me..

‘Huh, they can make that kind of expression too.…….'

Then, the moment I suddenly turned my head and looked at the metal giant standing on the other side... … The shelter director felt a sense of absurdity this time..

「This scruffy guy, you want to play hard with your brother? Yeah, come here!」

Because it had a funny emoticon on its face..

It immediately threw down the skull hammer it was holding in its hand and lunged at the last titan hoplite with its arms outstretched. “Ugh—go away, you monster.”!」

Then, as if wrestling, he picked the guy up, slammed him to the floor, and immediately put him in a headlock..

One step at a time

As the two giants clung to each other and exerted all their strength, the ground they stood on was about to collapse..

But that power struggle lasted only a few seconds..

15m and 26.5m, the difference in weight class is too big..

Wooduk one

Soon, with a bloody sound, all the strength left his body, and it seemed like his cervical spine was broken..

Just like that, the battle ended, and a blue-black metal giant rose from the hazy dust that covered the area..

Meanwhile, four giant swords were floating in the air on either side of it..

Although the shelter leader was not aware of it, even while the metal giant was fighting, those four giant swords were flying like wasps and attacking other titan hoplites..

Go, oh, oh, oh, oh——

"Oh, yeah, now that I think about it……."

Looking at the scene, the shelter director finally remembered where he had seen that metal giant..

Not long ago, a big event that made an uproar in the world, the battle against the black dragon 'Aji Dahaka'…….

At that time, it was the same being who threw the final blow that killed Aji Dahaka, the Mogleyi javelin..

'And that it's here…….'

He slowly raised his head and looked towards the sky, behind the back of the 26.5 meter tall dark blue metal giant, and saw something flying in the morning sun rising in the east..

"Ah, after all”

It was a huge cube-shaped aircraft 'War Box' and a group of small 'AD-2's scattered around it, reflecting the sunlight rising from the east, looking like the Milky Way blooming in broad daylight..

Looking up at that magnificent scene, the shelter director muttered without realizing it..

“……he came.”

Soon, steel rain began falling towards another group of titan hoplites in the distance..