The Archmage’s Destruction Strategy - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#103. Crazy Korean

The road heading north from Santa Maria along Route 101.

Sung-jun was advancing northward with 20,000 Skeleton Soldiers.

“Kieeeeeeek!!!”

“There’s more over there! Go crush them!”

While sweeping away every Corrosion Entity in sight.

Sung-jun was following behind the skeleton army at a slow pace, pulling on the reins in his hands.

“My lord.”

Karcerion, who had procured three horses for Sung-jun and his companions to ride, approached Sung-jun and spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be better to pick up the pace a little?”

Seeing his master unable to keep up with even the walking speed of the Skeleton Soldiers, Karcerion suggested increasing their pace, but Sung-jun couldn’t accept his loyal subordinate’s proposal.

While Sung-jun possessed understanding and learning abilities that would surprise even his Teacher when it came to magic, he was a complete beginner when it came to horsemanship.

Sung-jun was diligently practicing his riding skills under Karcerion’s guidance, who handled horses as if they were extensions of his own body.

“Neigh neigh neigh!!”

“Let’s just go…”

“Neigh neigh neigh!!!”

“Karcerion. Do you happen to know how to make horse jerky?”

“The horse is not the problem. If there’s a problem, it would be my lord’s riding skills.”

Unlike Sung-jun, who was holding back the party with his catastrophic riding skills, Seoa and Miyu were quickly adapting to horseback riding, which they were trying for the first time in their lives.

Now they could run around here and there on horseback like skilled riders.

Seoa, who had been happily galloping among the Skeleton Army feeling the wind cutting across her cheeks, rode over to Sung-jun’s side.

Then she spoke to her Teacher, who still couldn’t ride well.

“Teacher…”

“…Don’t say it. I know too.”

“Why don’t you just fly…”

Her point was reasonable.

For a mage capable of using flight spells, horses were nothing more than slow transportation that only made one’s bottom sore unnecessarily.

But Sung-jun didn’t give up on traveling by horse.

For some reason, as the master of the skeleton army, he thought riding a horse like a commander looked cooler than flying around.

Moreover, since Sung-jun’s current purpose wasn’t to move quickly but to attract the attention of any U.S. Military forces that might be in the area, he was slowly advancing forward while learning to ride, leading a massive undead skeleton army of 20,000.

Sung-jun’s movements, as he intended, strongly shook the reporting system of the U.S. Military command remaining in the western United States.

***

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“Additional report from SOL surveillance point. Skeleton Army encountered Level 3 Corrosion Entity pack. About 20 Level 3 Corrosion Entities eliminated instantly. No damage to Skeleton Army.”

“Additional report from SOL surveillance point. Skeleton Army resuming northward advance. Current northward speed 4 miles per hour.”

Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), where most of the National Guard defending the western United States had gathered for efficient troop deployment, was monitoring the entire western U.S. through an extensive wired reporting system.

Whether Corrosion Entity packs concentrated in major cities had escaped outside the cities, whether Corrosion Entities had moved to farms and livestock pens designated as important defense targets.

Since JBLM’s operational doctrine was to identify Corrosion Entity movement routes as quickly as possible and respond early, the command received hundreds of reports daily about the movements of Corrosion Entities scattered throughout the western United States.

And most of those reports contained rather unfavorable content for the few remaining soldiers.

“Skeleton form… Since they’re not human, are they a type of Corrosion Entity? Isn’t this the first time this form has been reported? Are you certain the confirmation was accurate?”

“Positive. There were reports that they moved and attacked in perfect coordination as if receiving someone’s commands.”

“A new Corrosion Entity…”

Cases of previously unreported Corrosion Entity packs appearing in large numbers were more frequent than one might think.

Even now, when he closed his eyes, the terrible events of D-day came to mind – elite U.S. Army forces, among the world’s finest, had been instantly annihilated by Corrosion Entity packs that suddenly poured through opened Gates more than once or twice.

-Eagle 1! This is Dog 3! Friendly War Pig destroyed by enemy attack! All forces from Eagle 2 to 5 retreating! Reporting! Our weapons have no effect on the enemy whatsoever!

Facing otherworldly monsters that guns and artillery couldn’t touch.

-Eagle 1! This is Dog 3! Retreat route blocked! Requesting air support! Civilian protection impossible in current state! Requesting again! Requesting immediate air support now!

-This is Eagle 1. Air superiority currently difficult to secure. All units retreat from the front lines, accepting civilian casualties.

The U.S. Military had abandoned the American people.

‘I thought our available Awakened forces would be sufficient…’

Recalling the urgent communications from that day, JBLM’s field commander Seth MacFarlane closed his eyes.

Then his adjutant beside him looked at him and said.

“Are you thinking about memories from that day again?”

“A full 20,000. The largest Corrosion Entity pack to appear since D-day.”

“We’re different from back then.”

MacFarlane’s adjutant spoke with eyes burning with vengeance.

“Now bullets work on them.”

The fact that bullets suddenly started working on those terrible monsters that used to easily deflect even 50mm anti-materiel sniper rounds was information newly discovered about six months ago.

When the command, initially skeptical, confirmed through field tests that bullets were indeed penetrating, new hope dawned for the U.S. Military that had been sitting idle, waiting only for destruction.

The hope that they might be able to take revenge on those terrible monsters that killed their families and comrades.

From that day, the U.S. Military began organizing a ‘Reclamation Force’ composed of regular soldiers rather than Awakened, and started planning large-scale operations to save scattered American citizens.

Now, with the day when that plan would become reality not far away.

The sudden appearance of a 20,000-strong monster army without any warning could cause major disruption to the national recovery plan that had just begun to get on track.

And also to MacFarlane’s cherished wish and sole purpose: ‘revenge.’

General MacFarlane recalled the reports and spoke to his subordinate.

“You said the skeleton Corrosion Entity army seems to be under someone’s command?”

“According to the reports, yes.”

“And they fought each other when encountering other Corrosion Entity packs?”

“There were such reports too.”

“Then isn’t it possible they’re summoned creatures controlled by someone?”

“Sum… moned creatures?”

“Why, those Japanese mutants have all sorts of abilities, and I heard some Awakened among them command summoned minions.”

“A mutant controlling a 20,000-strong skeleton army…”

The adjutant pondered for a moment, then spoke to his superior.

“If such a mutant existed, could we not know about it? They would have become famous instantly.”

“Then what about Skill Stones? Those things that started being discovered recently.”

After the Pioneers who had overseen awakening ceremonies worldwide vanished simultaneously on D-day, countries could no longer create new Awakened.

However, starting about a month ago, people who touched magic stones extracted from Corrosion Entity bodies suddenly began seeing strange windows, and a new method was discovered to replenish Awakened forces that had only been dwindling over time.

A method of creating magical tools following messages that appeared when touching magic stones, and using those magical tools to manifest abilities like those of Awakened.

General MacFarlane picked up a report that had come up from the Weapons Development Department just yesterday and began reviewing its contents once more.

It contained detailed research on magical armaments analyzed with the Weapons Development Department’s full effort over the short span of one week.

「Report on Empirical Data and Development Status of Magic Stone Armaments」

-Summary-

…Based on the above content, the investigation team’s classification of collected magic stones by grade and type yielded the following conclusions.

▶ Magic stones collected by regular soldiers using conventional weapons against low-grade monsters mostly showed reactions identical to ordinary magic stones, with only a small number confirmed to possess capabilities as magical tool materials.

▶ Most low-grade magic stones were materials for auxiliary equipment attached to conventional weapons, and when auxiliary equipment made from these materials was mounted on existing firearms, significant improvement in anti-Corrosion Entity performance was confirmed.

▶ High-grade magic stones collected by investigation teams with Awakened forces are used as core materials for special equipment, and magical tools made from these stones were confirmed to possess the unique ability of Awakened armaments to bind to their desired owners.

▶ Currently confirmed abilities include 【Explosive Rounds】 【Increased Penetration】 【Reduced Regeneration】 【Burn Damage】 【Weight Reduction】 【Increased Cutting Power】 【Wound Regeneration】, etc., and large-scale subjugation operations for magic stone acquisition will be necessary for additional confirmation.

According to the report, current Corrosion Entities, unlike before, carried magic stones with special abilities within their bodies, and the moment one touched these stones, the form and abilities of magical tools that could be made from the stones, along with the necessary processes and materials, appeared before one’s eyes like a game.

And by using magical tools made according to these displayed ‘blueprints,’ even civilians could manifest abilities like those of Awakened.

“So you mean the Unknown Entity commanding the skeleton army could be a ‘new’ Awakened that didn’t exist before?”

“Wouldn’t that be possible? Since magical tool creation itself is possible for civilians, not just mutants. If someone was lucky enough to obtain a magic stone with the ability to control 20,000 Skeleton Soldiers and made a magical tool from it…”

At MacFarlane’s words, his aide showed a thoughtful expression for a moment.

Then he shook his head, disagreeing with his superior’s opinion.

“Impossible. First, to obtain a magic stone with such powerful abilities, the Corrosion Entity from which the stone was extracted would need to be at least level 8.”

“That would be difficult.”

Since the U.S. Department of Defense had assigned level ‘9’ to the apocalypse-class Corrosion Entity that appeared in New York, needing to kill a level 8 or higher Corrosion Entity was essentially the same as having to hunt a near-apocalypse-class Corrosion Entity.

With most Awakened forces on the American Continent having ceased activity, it was impossible for a civilian to defeat a near-apocalypse-class Corrosion Entity, so MacFarlane erased from his mind the possibility that the skeleton army’s controller was a human who had newly awakened abilities.

“Then the only remaining possibility is that the opponent is an enemy.”

“Then the only remaining possibility is that the other party might be an enemy.”

“That would be the case. It’s not good news for us though.”

“Twenty thousand…”

MacParlane, who had been muttering, spoke to his aide.

“Deploy the 3rd Reconnaissance Squad.”

“The 3rd Reconnaissance Squad, sir?”

The 3rd Reconnaissance Squad, whose entire platoon was composed of Awakened at level 5 or higher, was the most powerful Awakened unit throughout all of JBLM.

Unlike the typical reconnaissance squad formation consisting of civilian-born squad members and an Awakened platoon leader, this was a special unit composed entirely of Awakened from platoon leader to squad members.

However, the most well-known characteristic of the 3rd Reconnaissance Squad among the U.S. Military was not their combat power, but their cruelty.

A blind cruelty that, when facing Corrosion Entities, would kill any Corrosion Entity in sight regardless of the mission objective.

In a way, this could be considered natural.

The members of the 3rd Squad, called ‘Angels Crawling Up from Hell,’ were all former ‘platoon leaders’ whose squads had been completely wiped out, and they were all Awakened.

If twenty thousand skeleton legions were the enemy, MacParlane thought they needed to use the most reliable card available right now.

“With the 3rd Reconnaissance Squad as the vanguard, mobilize two division forces. Notify the Weapons Development Department and requisition all completed magical tools so far.”

In MacParlane’s mind as he spoke, the ominous word ‘total war’ that might possibly occur was rising up.

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