Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 277

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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277
“All ships, prepare missile launch! All hands, brace for impact!”
At Jae-in’s command, a piercing siren wailed through the fleet as red warning lights flickered across every vessel’s interior.
“All crew, brace for impact! Combat personnel on deck, evacuate to the ship’s interior!”
Newus warriors, Metalim, and spirit mages who had been standing guard outside the fleet rushed into the ships.
“Magic division, deploy shields!”
Mages near the engine room arranged themselves in a circle, unfurling their incantations as a protective barrier of mana enveloped the warships.
Having drilled for battle against the Administrator, everyone moved with flawless precision to their stations.
Jae-in’s expression was tense, yet her eyes gleamed with anticipation.
“…Just how powerful is this thing?”
Even though the Administrator’s Planet was still at considerable distance, everyone had made extraordinary preparations, and the Research Facility personnel’s faces remained etched with anxiety.
“I don’t know either. This is the first time I’ve detonated this many at once.”
Jae-in laughed nervously, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow.
“All fleet personnel evacuated and defensive barriers deployed!”
The flagship’s Control Center radioed Jae-in. Now only Ji-seok and Jae-in remained on deck.
The deafening noise of the ship fell into absolute silence.
A Research Facility technician familiar with Jae-in’s recklessness swallowed so audibly that every eye in the Control Center turned toward him.
“Fire all anti-Administrator missiles!”
As Jae-in gave the command, she pressed the switch on the briefcase, and each fleet captain turned the key prepared in their Control Center.
The missiles erupted in flames, shooting from the hatches and streaking into space.
“…When did you manufacture so many?”
“We utilized Luna City’s labor force.”
“It was repayment for our benefactor and an investment in our future.”
The Grand Elementalist of Luna City, who had evacuated into the fleet, answered Ji-seok through a water mirror.
“Chairman, do you think that attack will land?”
Though these were missiles of Jae-in’s own design, doubt gnawed at her.
“If it connects.”
I had felt the destructive power of mana core bombs countless times with my own body. If that many detonated, no amount of defensive capability could withstand it. Even I couldn’t be certain I’d maintain my form after taking such an impact.
Just before the missiles reached the Administrator’s Planet, countless Gates opened directly in their trajectory.
“Of course it would happen that way.”
Jae-in had anticipated the Gates’ appearance, so her disappointment was minimal.
“Detonate all missiles!”
Once the missiles were drawn into the Gates, the Administrator could reverse their trajectory, send them hurtling into distant space, or worst case, redirect them toward Earth. Detonating them now was the better choice.
The leading missile exploded just before entering the Gate, triggering a chain reaction as countless missiles detonated in sequence.
Though sound couldn’t travel through the vacuum of space, those witnessing the explosions felt as though bombs were detonating inside their own minds.
The Gates crumpled and scattered under the tremendous force, as flames completely engulfed the Administrator’s Planet.
Following the inferno, a shockwave swept across the fleet.
“Gaaahhh! What the hell did that madman detonate?!”
“Brace! Grit your teeth!”
The explosion rocked the fleet even through the defensive barrier. It was a power no one—not even Jae-in—had imagined. Ji-seok unfurled his domain of vitality to shield Jae-in, who stood beside him on deck.
“You built something like that on Earth and the Moon? If it had detonated on Earth….”
“But it didn’t, did it?”
‘If I’d left him alone, there might have been a future where he became a villain like Bae Na-young….’
Ji-seok silently acknowledged that Jae-in had made the right choice in saving him.
As the flames cleared, the Administrator’s Planet remained intact.
“As expected, it didn’t work. There are limits to modern technology after all.”
Then flying monsters—Blue Dragons, Wyverns, Ghosts—surged from the planet toward the fleet.
“All units, prepare for combat!”
“Move! Move!”
Combat personnel who had retreated inside emerged onto the decks, and the deck floors of each vessel split open like sliding doors.
Ice Dragon squadrons soared upward from within. There had been only three before, but now there were dozens.
“You’ve increased their numbers considerably.”
“Chairman. That’s not all.”
At Jae-in’s words, combat robots were ejected from the sides of the battleships. Their armor, reminiscent of dark dragon knights, bore striking resemblance to Ji-seok’s own.
Ji-seok narrowed his eyes to observe, but he couldn’t discern the internal structure of the combat robots.
“The design aside, that armor… surely not….”
“That’s right. We processed the Kagrun shell you brought back and used it to construct them.”
“I thought you’d used it all in that operation.”
“That much material? We still have some left.”
The combat robots took direct hits from the Wyverns’ flames without their armor melting. Several units punched through the inferno, seized the Wyverns by their snouts, and tore them apart.
Kagrun’s shell reflected virtually all energy attacks, making its defensive capabilities among the highest of all combat personnel.
“Is Luna City ready?!”
“Yes!”
Baldri answered, and the spirit mages beside her began chanting incantations.
“Source of life, benevolent and infinite Water Spirit King Arnabel! Lend your power to your humble children!”
The mana of the spirit mages converged upon Baldri, and her small form turned a brilliant blue.
From Baldri’s water-spirit-transformed body poured forth an intensely dark blue liquid, biting cold to behold.
The volume of water cascading forth resembled the opening of a massive dam’s floodgates. The water spread ever wider, becoming a tidal wave that struck the enemy in a single devastating blow.
As the water scattered and settled below, it formed a bridge connecting the fleet to the Administrator’s Planet.
This provided a foothold for combat personnel who couldn’t fly. But the same advantage applied to the enemy. Monsters poured across the bridge from the Administrator’s Planet in swarms.
“The Spirit King says he’s sorry he could only help this much!”
Exhausted, Baldri waved at Ji-seok through a water mirror communication.
“Tell him I’m grateful.”
Across the water bridge, Metalim Warriors, Luna City’s spirit mages, and Newus Warriors and mages charged toward the ground.
“With this much force, we could even push back the Administrator, couldn’t we?”
It was overwhelming military might—Earth’s absence didn’t seem to matter.
“You know how it is.”
Jae-in smiled faintly.
“Mm.”
“Only you can do it. No matter how many troops we gather or how many weapons and bombs we create, only you can bring down that damned bastard.”
“Are you putting pressure on me?”
“I’m telling you the truth. So please, go. Save us. Save my children….”
Jae-in looked directly at Ji-seok as she spoke, but thinking of her daughters, her throat tightened and she couldn’t finish her words.
Ji-hae and her three daughters had been frozen like a curse, and Jae-in had endured it well until now. But her heart could not have been at peace.
“Leave it to me.”
Ji-seok donned his armor and launched himself from the deck.
Ji-seok compressed his life force inward as much as possible. He had trained extensively in the technique of sealing his life force internally to prevent its loss in Cagron.
Ji-seok flew directly toward the hottest battlefield. When he slipped between thousands of combat robots armed with similar armor, neither enemy nor ally could pinpoint his location.
As he flew, Ji-seok created fingernail-sized aura bullets and fired them to support combatants and robots in danger. Though small in size, these powerful aura projectiles pierced through monster heads and protected his allies from peril.
He wanted to stay and help his allies, but there was something more important on the ground now. Ji-seok didn’t linger on the battlefield and continued advancing toward the planet.
A swarm of wyverns surged forward in overwhelming numbers.
“Dragon Squadron! Take care of the wyverns!”
At Jae-in’s command, the dragons unleashed successive ice breaths, and countless wyverns froze solid. Behind them, hundreds of combat robots hurled themselves forward and shattered the frozen wyverns.
Ji-seok clung to a fragment of a destroyed wyvern’s wing and entered the atmosphere. To any observer, it appeared merely as one combat robot falling alongside the debris, so he drew no attention from other monsters.
To avoid drawing attention, Ji-seok offered no resistance and simply free-fell.
“Wait for me.”
Thinking of the Manager below, Ji-seok ground his teeth.
As he passed through the atmosphere, the ground came into view.
The replica World Tree’s trunk was visible. It was unilaterally draining the World Tree’s power. If he severed that connection, this dimension would be completely separated from the World Tree.
The area without the replica World Tree was filled with monsters.
Most debris that fell from beyond the atmosphere burned up, but Ji-seok unconsciously protected the wyvern wing with his life force, so it remained intact.
Assessing where Ji-seok would land, there were countless goblins gathered below.
“Squeak?”
A goblin looked up at something, saw the falling wyvern wing, and fled noisily with the others.
Crash!
Though light by comparison, when a wyvern wing over five meters long fell, it struck with a thunderous boom and sent dust billowing into the air.
Dozens of goblins crushed beneath it burst apart, but the other monsters paid no attention and moved toward the water bridge created by Baldri.
Ji-seok, buried in the earth, searched for the Manager’s presence among the countless monsters on the ground.
Having progressed from simple vibrations and life force detection to sensing souls and even thoughts, Ji-seok could perfectly perceive his surroundings even while buried underground.
But on the surface, he sensed neither the Manager’s true body nor even a spiritual form.
Ji-seok expanded his search range to the underground depths of the planet.
“Beneath the Tower of Knowledge.”
A tower standing prominently among the monster hordes. From that location, he felt the presence of a powerful spiritual entity.
Whether it was the true body or a projection, his instinct told him that tower was where the problem originated.
There was one more thing that bothered Ji-seok. The underground depths of the planet seemed wrapped in iron, making it impossible to detect.
Ji-seok decided to head for the tower first.
He had remained hidden in the earth to detect without interference, but now there was no need for that.
As Ji-seok brushed the dirt from himself and walked out of the crater, countless monsters’ eyes turned toward him.
“If this were my previous life, I would have died of a heart attack.”
S-rank monsters were interspersed throughout, and there were countless B-rank and higher monsters. Low-rank monsters filled every empty space, and they stretched across the entire horizon.
“Gathering like this just makes them easier to process.”
“UUUAAAHHHHH!!!”
The Minotaur King swung an enormous axe toward Ji-seok.
Ji-seok watched calmly, then unfurled his domain. A sphere of vitality expanded in all directions.
The monsters caught within it froze as if time itself had stopped.
“I’ll replenish properly before we fight.”
Since entering the Administrator’s Dimension, I couldn’t draw upon the World Tree’s power smoothly. The Administrator had isolated this dimension like a tumor, severing my connection.
Because of this, I had to fight with limited vitality, but with so many monsters present, I—who could absorb life force—was no different from wielding infinite power.
The A-rank and lower monsters within my domain were drained of their life force, withering into mummified husks before collapsing.
The S-rank monsters, capable of protecting their own vitality, resisted my domain and lunged toward me.
A single Earthworm, its body dozens of meters thick, burst from the ground and swallowed the surface monsters whole.
The Earthworm, lined with teeth like saw blades, opened its maw and charged at me.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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