Tactical Nuke
Our adorable little yordle, Kancho.
Because of his fluffy looks and cutesy way of talking, I often forget something very important.
He loves explosions more than anyone else in the world.
"Puh-he-he-he-he-he!!!"
With a rough cackle, Kancho pulled the trigger of his minigun.
Hundreds of explosive clay bullets scattered across the sea.
With the gas power turned up, the clay BBs flew quite a distance.
Kwagagagagagagak!!!
Hundreds of explosions blossomed into crimson flowers over the dark night sea.
Not a single chunk of clay was wasted by falling into the water.
Thanks to one of Kancho's skills—Remote Detonation—the clay exploded before it ever hit the surface.
"They're coming."
Stepping to the bow, Seira placed her hand on her sword hilt.
A moment later—
Swaeeeeeek!
A massive harpoon tore through the blasts and came flying in.
Seira swung her sword and split it clean in half.
From the other side, circular cannonballs and arrows infused with abilities shot toward us.
No wonder Oh Minsu waited.
The Vesta ships, spreading out to avoid the bombardment, had thick iron plating raised to defend their fronts.
Unlike the helpless Security team earlier, these forces on the water seemed properly armed.
"I'll take this side."
Even Dark, his complexion pale from seasickness, rose to his feet.
Cracking his joints, he swung his chains to bat away incoming shells and attacks.
They're opening with straight-up firepower, huh.
At first, I thought they wanted the people on board—hostages worth money.
But judging by their actions now, they had no intention of letting the New Caliho leave safely.
KWOOM!!
The New Caliho shook violently as another harpoon struck.
Seira and Dark were holding the line, but it was impossible to completely defend every inch of this massive cruise ship.
We had no choice but to accept the accumulated damage.
"Hm."
A few ships had sunk under Kancho's bombardment.
But the remainder were defending surprisingly well.
If even one of the three could get dropped over there, this would be over in seconds.
But with no footing, we had no means to advance.
We COULD wait for the patrol boat approaching from the rear and let them take over defense—but then there'd be too many eyes watching.
Right now, no one inside the ship could see the bow or the top deck, so we were free to act.
Surveying the area—
A row of jet skis parked nearby caught Jinhyuk's eye.
Of course—an ultra-luxury cruise ship would stock these as activities while anchored at sea.
Gulp.
Jinhyuk swallowed dryly and asked himself a question.
Can I really do this?
…Probably?
With that vague answer, Jinhyuk spoke up.
"Kancho, got enough clay? Enough to blow them all to hell?"
"Plenty, sirrr! Still tons lefssst!"
"Okay."
Even without Seira or Dark, we still had one more walking tactical nuke on our side.
Kancho had already disassembled the bomb earlier and collected a mountain of clay.
If we could just get Kancho into their formation, leveling the entire fleet would take seconds.
Deciding it was possible, Jinhyuk leapt down from the top deck.
With those short arms and legs, Kancho would take forever to swim.
There was one more way to drop him in unseen.
[Manifestation]
If a hero possessed by a card is not reverted due to death, they may always move to their master's location.
The solution: bring the "master" to a spot near their fleet.
Kancho would appear there without a trace.
Jinhyuk untied the chain securing a jet ski.
Then he squatted, lifted it like a deadlift, and flung it into the water.
Damn, that's heavy.
Wiping sweat from his forehead, he put on a life jacket.
If things got dangerous, he could call Dark or Seira—but that would turn the New Caliho into a warzone. Better to get this done carefully.
Jinhyuk climbed onto the jet ski and turned the key still stuck in the ignition.
Pull to go, I guess.
The setup was similar to a motorcycle.
Gripping the handles tightly, Jinhyuk pulled the throttle.
Wuuuuuuung!!
Oh sh—
He had pulled too hard.
The jet ski shot forward like it was having a seizure, carving through the waves.
Once he got used to it, he steered around and picked up speed.
The goal: circle wide and catch Vesta from behind.
Wind whipped past him, tousling his hair.
Why is this fun…?
He admitted it.
He was very much losing his sense of fear.
I have Quick Shield anyway.
If the worst happened, Quick Shield would activate.
Feeling safer, he accelerated even more.
Operation Backdoor—begin.
What the hell is that explosion?
On the patrol boat, Cheon Seyun frowned.
A massive, unnatural carpet bombing bright enough to light the sea.
No fleet capable of that kind of firepower was anywhere in sight.
And it made no sense for the luxury cruise ship New Caliho to be carrying something like that.
"Never thought I'd live to see the day—you actually volunteering for a mission like this, Seyun-senpai."
Eun Gangseok, another freelancer Ranker in the 80-floor bracket, approached.
"You're still wearing that eyepatch? I told you it doesn't suit you."
"I like it, though. Anyway, do you know someone on that ship? You usually blow off missions like this. What's gotten into you? Is it a boyfriend?"
"You want to keep spouting nonsense on assignment?"
Clicking her tongue, Seyun turned her gaze back to the New Caliho.
I hope he's okay.
Eugene Hyuk, the Hall of Fame Runner.
It was unlikely anything would happen to him.
His combat ability far exceeded his floor.
But against a terrorist group like this, it was different.
He could be swallowed whole by firepower before he even had the chance to swing a chain.
Still…
KWA-A-A-AANG!!
Another explosion erupted over the New Caliho.
A shell had detonated midair.
Who in the world is on that ship?
Even from this distance, a fool could tell.
Someone was defending the bow and the upper deck.
Otherwise, the New Caliho would have sunk long ago.
"We're coming up on their stern!"
"Yeah. Can you speed up a bit? I'll block anything that comes our way."
"Understood!"
To the civilians aboard, this was terrifying.
But the driver didn't question it.
After all, the one who spoke was Ranker Cheon Seyun.
"Gangseok, you can handle the terrorists, right?"
With a grin, Eun Gangseok tapped the eyepatch covering his eye.
"As long as they enter my field of view. But you haven't forgotten, right? Our mission is rescue, not annihilation."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway."
Seyun raised her shield and sword—gear designed specifically for external combat.
"Let's go."
Those terrorists who dared commit such brazen acts—
She would make sure they paid dearly.
After today, they wouldn't even dare step foot in Korea again.
Inside Vesta's flagship.
Ban Hoyeon, commanding the fleet, clenched his teeth.
He had planned to open with a critical strike against the New Caliho, but they showed no sign of breaking.
Just what is on that ship…?
And this damn bombardment.
They had raised impenetrable iron doors and layered defensive abilities atop them.
It was the best possible response.
They had taken minimal damage so far—but their resources were steadily draining, while the enemy's bombardment seemed endless.
Captain! This is Ship 7! Do we keep going like this?!Ship 19 reporting! Our shield is down—we're pulling back to the rear!Ship 23 as well. We'll fall behind and follow!
Ban Hoyeon's brow furrowed deeply.
This damned shelling.
They should have reached the New Caliho long ago, but spreading formation and slowing down to evade had delayed them endlessly.
Patrol boat approaching New Caliho's stern! Rankers Cheon Seyun and Eun Gangseok are aboard!
"Damn it all!"
Ban Hoyeon slammed the console.
He could handle the Hunter Agency—but not those two.
Rankers weren't Rankers for nothing.
Their numerical advantage would mean nothing.
Realistically, retreating was the right choice…but even that was questionable.
If we retreat, death is all that waits.
The client had poured a fortune into this operation.
Failure was not an option.
"Haaah."
Closing his eyes, Ban Hoyeon raked his hand through his hair.
How had it come to this?
How had Plans A and B both been wrecked?
It defied common sense.
Captain! The bombardment has stopped!
Staring ahead, Ban Hoyeon let out a thin smile.
So they were finally running dry.
"Listen up! Stop defending! Focus all available firepower on the New Caliho!"
Even if they retreated, they needed to at least sink the New Caliho with Jin Seohee aboard.
"Once I give the signal, fire every—"
Splat!
Ban Hoyeon froze.
Something had slapped onto the window from above.
A raccoon-like creature with an adorable face clung to the glass.
Its little hands pressed together as it looked at him—then it reached into its bag.
As the creature pulled out a massive lump, Ban Hoyeon's brow knotted.
Clay…?
For a moment, he didn't understand.
Then he remembered.
What the mysterious bombardment had looked like.
"Puh-he-he-he-he!!"
Kancho let out a peal of laughter and waved at Ban Hoyeon.
A second later, Kancho vanished—
Leaving behind the clay he had pulled out.
"You've got to be—"
He didn't have time to finish.
Light burst from the clay.
Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuung!!!
In the next instant, the explosion swallowed the entire fleet.
"UWAAAAAAAH!!"
Jinhyuk yanked the jet ski throttle as far back as it would go.
He glanced behind him.
Just looking at the explosion made his stomach tighten.
The shockwave would reach them any moment—no need to guess how strong it would be.
"Puh-he-he-he! I'm back!!"
Jinhyuk looked at Kancho, manifested on his shoulder.
"Kanchoooo! Why did you detonate it so fast!?"
"It wasss my first time blowing up somethin' that big! I got excited! I couldn't help it!"
Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
Putting a little more distance wouldn't make a difference.
"Darkooooo!"
Dark manifested in the back seat of the jet ski and immediately covered his mouth.
"Uurgh!"
Already seasick, the jet ski was torture for him.
KWA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-AAM…!!!
The shockwave surged toward them.
Before Jinhyuk could say a word, Dark plunged the Eternal Cold Iron into the sea.
A glacier rose from the depths, towering high above.
Moments later—
JJEOOOOONG!!!
The shockwave crashed into the wall of ice.
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T/N:
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