Chapter 395: Regressor Instruction Manual (1) |
The wars here and the ones on Earth were completely different. I had mentioned this a few times before, but it wouldn’t hurt to say it again.
‘Indeed.’
I immediately found the answer to why wars here and on Earth were completely different from each other. It was all because of how much influence one person could have on this continent. It was the same as what Jung Ha-Yan had shown in Laois. It was the same as the work Mist Summoner Cheon Kwan-Wi was doing right now, and it was the same as what the Republic Five Tiger Generals were doing, which was pushing back our forces in Dawan and Celia.
What about Cha Hee-Ra, whose strength was definitely beyond Mythic? She single-handedly stopped the battle at Castle Rock by herself, and she greatly influenced the course of the battle. There were many reasons in Cha Hee-Ra’s case, but it was enough to show how much influence a person could have on the continent.
If I were to exaggerate, people like them were basically tactical nukes. A more humble example would be to use fighter jets and tanks. Anyone’s jaws would drop if their enemies suddenly rode a tank into a battlefield where everyone should have been using nothing but arrows and swords.
This was why if the enemy had tactical weapons, we need them as well. If the enemy had a warrior whose endurance couldn’t be shattered by arrows and swords, then we needed an archer who could break through that warrior’s defenses.
The wars on this continent had always been like that, and it only kind of changed when the foreigners arrived here. Of course, it didn’t mean that the results themselves had been greatly affected. What changed the most was the process.
One could easily deduce the strength of a nation based on the number of tutorial dungeons they possessed. It was why they were astonished to see foreigners coming out of those dungeons. New influential people started getting involved in the close-knitted relationships that were being maintained all this time.
Of course, the foreigners weren’t invincible. Even swordsmen with outstanding endurance would eventually get destroyed, and it was even worse for mages.
Swordsmen with high stamina would eventually get tired, and mages with strong firepower would eventually run out of mana. If an enemy could go up against our named members, then our movements would get limited.
But what about Kim Hyun-Sung? Let us assume the enemy didn’t have a tactical weapon that could go up against our tactical weapon.
‘There’s nothing more that needs to be said.’
He was a human being who had been chosen by the gods. From the very beginning, he possessed abilities an ordinary human couldn’t even begin to imagine. However, he didn’t stop training to become an even better version of himself. There was also no need to mention his stats that I had seen through Mind’s Eye.
The Mercenary Queen’s strength was beyond Mythic, but Kim Hyun-Sung was a jack of all trades, skilled with everything. Aside from Intelligence, his stats were over 90 points, and he had four Legendary attributes. He was like the main character of novels and comics. I was sure that the current Kim Hyun-Sung could be considered the strongest human being in the world, and of the many people I had met so far, I still hadn’t seen anyone stronger than him.
- Prepare for battle!
- Prepare for battle!
- React immediately to their spells and arrows! Mages, hurry up and maintain the defensive spells!
The soldiers were in disarray, and Kim Hyun-Sung was hiding in a remote location. He seemed really calm. As long as I was with the regressor, I could probably fall asleep in the middle of the battlefield. He was breathing quietly and even doing light stretches.
The priests were pouring their buffs while the mages concentrated their support spells on him, and anyone could tell that Kim Hyun-Sung was the main character on this battlefield.
The troops were shocked by the enemy’s ambush. Of course, we trained our troops with the basics on how to react to an ambush, but it was understandable for them to react that way because an ambush was an ambush.
Explosions went off incessantly. Lee Ji-Hye and I weren’t affected by the explosions because we were watching everything from a safe location, but we could see that the damage was accumulating.
Booooooooom!!!
Crumble…
Crumble…
“Those soldiers aren’t here to defeat the allied soldiers. They’re here to either delay us or deal enough damage to us,” Lee Ji-Hye pointed out.
“Oh, really? They look like they want to kill us,” I commented.
“It means they’re that desperate. If possible, I wanted to preserve our soldiers and march, but it looks like we will have to take some damage. For now, let’s make sure to keep our formations varied. I want to avoid it, but we have no choice but to participate in this fight. Fighting here could actually be a good thing, though,” she suggested.
“When will Kim Hyun-Sung join?” I asked.
“He’s not someone you can use whenever you want. We need to use him as effectively as possible so that he can be called the tactical Kim Hyun-Sung. Where you use the named players is important, but how you use them is the most important. Let’s see… it’s important for us to clear the way, at the very least. It’s my job to make sure we’re taking the smallest possible risk while using a tactical nuke on our enemy,” she replied.
“Hm, alright. I can leave that to you, right?” I questioned.
“Yes, for now,” she answered.
“I’m going to go outside and see what’s going on,” I told her.
“Don’t stay out there too long, or you’ll get hit by one of those arrows,” she warned.
Lee Ji-Hye was serious when she said that. I stepped outside and heard all kinds of explosions. It was definitely different out here. I had experienced situations like this before, but I had just realized that this war was on a whole new scale.
Various spells were falling from the sky, and the allied troops grouped up to cast a fortified barrier.
Boooooooooooooom!!
Craaaaaaaack!!!
“Mage support unit! Cast shield! Cast shield!”
“Conserve as much mana as possible! Move, move, move! Move away from the bombing range! What are you doing?!”
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Priest! Priest!”
“This is an order to prepare a counterattack spell! This is our top priority!”
“Check the magic circle first before casting the spell!”
“Channel the spell!”
“Attack!”
“...!”
‘Are they firing back already? That was fast.’
It was proof that the detachment was well-trained, and even though I wasn’t the one who trained them, I couldn’t help but feel proud. Having a control tower was useful because it helped deal with ambushes, but the enemies were on higher ground, so it seemed like our spells wouldn’t be able to reach them. We were basically at the front lines, and I could tell that the demon summoner was well-prepared.
“I want the warriors to maintain formation and move forward as much as possible. Make sure the rearguard avoids damage as much as possible. It’s one of our top priorities.”
“Understood!”
“Those with a defensive-type artifact should move to the center! Push them back as much as possible!”
“Shit! Don’t let those bastards climb up here!”
Lee Ji-Hye continued giving orders from the command center, and the army was following her orders. Overall, it just seemed like the soldiers were approaching the enemy, but she gave details whenever she gave orders, so this was different from just charging at the enemy.
‘Damage to the allied forces isn’t the issue here…’
The problem was that the mages’ mana and the priests’ holy power were continuously being consumed. Even if we manage to break through this place, it was uncertain whether the priests and the mages would have enough stamina to participate in the next battle.
‘This is what he wants...’
The enemy had enough soldiers to pull out. They would be in an advantageous position if they managed to deplete the stamina of our soldiers, and if they managed to inflict a lot of damage on us, then it meant that they basically hit the jackpot.
In many ways, we were at a disadvantage, so I started to get curious about when Kim Hyun-Sung would get dispatched.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Medic! Medic!”
“A fireball directly hit the fifth squad.”
Allied soldiers were getting injured, and I couldn’t help but think that there was a problem. However, it shouldn’t be the case because there was no way Lee Ji-Hye wouldn’t know the perfect timing.
I was about to ask the command center for details, but…
‘Huh?’
I saw ice flying toward me. To be exact, it was a piece of ice shaped like a spear.
‘Wait, is that ice?’
It seemed like others weren’t able to see it, and it felt like time was moving slowly. I was getting curious about how I didn’t notice something like that until it got this close to me.
I got goosebumps because the spear broke through the barrier spell that was used on the entire command center, and it kept on flying toward me. I cast a spell, but the dragon shield manifested slower than the ice spear’s flight speed.
A simple ouch wouldn’t be able to describe the damage I would receive if I were to take this attack.
I started getting annoyed by the fact that my body wasn’t reacting fast enough.
I did my best to move to the side to try to avoid a fatal injury, but the spear flying toward me made me think about many things.
‘Someone is behind this…’
They had to be someone who specialized in assassination or sniping. The fact that they could throw a spear from afar and ensure that it wouldn’t get detected until it was too late meant that the assassin was a named member of the enemy.
The spear continued flying toward me, and I decided to lean back as much as I could…
Clang!
A sound akin to a window pane being shattered reverberated.
“Huh?”
“Are you okay?”
I saw Kim Hyun-Sung standing in front of me.
‘Why is he here? Wait, when did he get here?’
As far as I could recall, he was preparing to make a move somewhere far away from the command center. I had no idea when he started flying toward me, but it was interesting how he arrived in the proverbial blink of an eye.
However, I was even more astonished to see his appearance.
‘He’s really handsome.’
He was holding me with one arm while his other arm was holding the remains of the ice spear. The composition of the spear didn’t really matter because it directly turned into sparkling dust, which reflected light on Kim Hyun-Sung’s face.
I was looking at him with my naked eye, but I felt like I was looking at a filtered picture. The sun that suddenly emerged from beyond the clouds enhanced his features even more, so it felt like I was looking at a poster or a scene from a movie.
I was about to say something because we were just awkwardly standing still, but Kim Hyun-Sung spoke first.
“I think it would be better if you go inside until I take care of the sniper, Mr. Ki-Young. It’s dangerous here, and I’m sure everyone is targeting you.”
“I agree. I got… careless. I didn’t think that the barrier would break so easily,” I said.
“I’m sure it was a spell focused on penetration. An attribute could also be influencing it. It’s intimidating, but it won’t be able to pierce the command center’s defenses. Please hurry inside…” Kim Hyun-Sung explained.
“Got it, and thank you, Mr. Hyun-Sung,” I told him.
“I only did what was right,” he said.
“By the way, is it okay… for you to be… here…” I stammered.
“I was kind of late, but it should be fine. I just received the order as well. Now… I’ll be on my way,” he replied.
“Okay, be careful,” I told him.
“Ah! I’ve told you this before, but you need to take the situation into account and be careful, Mr. Ki-Young. Please deliver this to the command center as well,” he requested.
“Okay, sure,” I answered.
“I’ll be going now,” he said.
It was shocking to see him disappear in an instant. However, I immediately went back inside the command center because I was worried that something else would come flying at me.
The magic hologram showed Kim Hyun-Sung running, and I knew where he was running toward.
‘So he was looking for the right opportunity…’
I saw him running toward the guy who hurled that spear at me.
“How is he running so fast?” I mumbled.
He was so fast that my eyes couldn’t keep up with him.
A few moments later, I heard screams from all over the place.
“Tactical nuke incoming!”
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