Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 259

Weapon-Eating Bastard – 259

By the time we arrived in the main family’s territory, each warrior squad was in the thick of battle with the monsters.

“Filthy monster bastards!”

And the most outstanding among them was, of course, Lee Seo-hyun.

The ivory sword, spewing pure white flames, was literally butchering the monsters.

‘Has he gotten stronger already?’

He seemed to have gained some insight from the First Brother’s words, and it seemed to have led to a real increase in his martial prowess.

Lee Seo-hyun’s stance had a special quality that I had never seen before.

Just as those who opened the door acquired their own domains [referring to a higher level of martial arts mastery], Lee Seo-hyun also seemed to have acquired his own domain.

Moreover.

“Ironclad Squad! Regroup the ranks!”

“Yes!”

There was also a warrior squad that showed remarkable cohesion despite the absence of a commander.

The Ironclad Squad.

United under Lee Young-sung’s command, they drove back the monsters, the Masked Ones, and the White Masked Ones.

Anyway.

Without exchanging any particular opinions, the First Brother, Second Sister, and I kicked off the ground almost simultaneously.

It didn’t take long to clear out the Behemoth’s forces and the monsters they had brought.

* * *

As soon as we returned to the base, we received unexpected news from the main family.

“A bizarre organization wearing masks has appeared in various parts of the world.”

“Yes! I heard the main family was also attacked?”

“It’s said to be a ridiculous cult called the Holy Mask Church. It’s a global crisis right now. They’re a radical religious terrorist group.”

“They’re talking about human liberation or something?”

It was the Fourth and Fifth Brothers who received the communication and delivered the news to us.

I frowned as soon as I heard the story.

‘Have they come to the surface?’

Those who knew about Behemoth knew, but they had never revealed themselves to the point of influencing the public.

The fact that they were carrying out terrorist attacks around the world and making their name known could be seen as meaning that they no longer intended to hide.

‘That means they’re either ready to show themselves to the world, or something has happened that requires them to show themselves.’

Or both.

The Second Sister chuckled and said.

“A heretical cult is running rampant, and various forces are rising up. Is this the beginning of a chaotic era that we only see in history books?”

“……”

The Second Sister said it playfully, but I couldn’t take it lightly.

“By the way, have there been any defectors from the main family’s base?”

I asked the Fourth Brother, who was temporarily in command while I was away at the conference.

The Fourth Brother tilted his head and asked.

“Defectors? Are you saying that the main family’s warriors have defected?”

“……I’m talking about guys who are wearing masks or have become monsters.”

The Fourth Brother didn’t seem to know about Behemoth.

It was Lee Seo-hyun, who had already experienced them, who answered my question.

“There weren’t any. Not the masked ones, nor the ones who turned into monsters. Anyway, there wasn’t a single person who showed any strange behavior.”

I narrowed my eyes as I listened to those words.

‘Why did they only avoid the main family?’

In the various organizations at the conference, there were guys who defected and attacked their allies.

Some of them may have betrayed on their own accord, and some may have been masked without even knowing it.

But the main family’s forces didn’t have any such defectors.

‘Does that make sense?’

I also have pride and trust in the main family’s warriors, but to be honest, they are still human, so there must be gaps in their consciousness.

This is Behemoth, who even corrupted Bishop Horatio.

There’s no way that those who have been hostile to the Soongmoo House for a long time wouldn’t have touched the main family’s forces.

‘Is there some condition for being able to put on a mask?’

That thought suddenly occurred to me.

Father said that he had experienced a moment when a comrade defected, so it’s not like the Soongmoo House is immune to defection.

‘Yes, that’s right. There must be some condition. Otherwise, Behemoth would have already mass-produced troops and conquered the world.’

It was right to assume that there was a condition for being able to put on a mask, and a restriction that prevented them from raising more than a certain number of troops.

Of course, there was also the possibility that they were deliberately not showing themselves in preparation for important situations.

‘I’ll have to scan them all with the Evil Eye.’

Now my Evil Eye is able to detect even the aura of heteromorphs [beings with altered or monstrous forms].

No, it was easier to detect such auras.

If the warriors of the main family didn’t feel the unique power of Behemoth, I could be sure that there was some reason why the Behemoth guys couldn’t touch the main family.

“What should we do now?”

As I continued to think, the First Brother spoke.

It wasn’t so much a question directed at anyone in particular, but rather a question for all the brothers gathered here.

“What do you mean, what should we do? Our mission is set.”

The top priority was to seize the aerial fortress.

If that became impossible, the goal was to prevent other forces from making contact as well.

That was the Soongmoo House’s line this time.

“From the alliance to the neutral nations and other forces that don’t belong anywhere yet. No one knows what will happen to them all. Even the Eastgrow Duchy will follow the orders of the British royal family, so it wouldn’t be strange for them to participate in the alliance.”

And that alliance was as good as in the hands of Kabbalah.

When I saw it during the martial arts demonstration, the Dawn Society clearly seemed to be at odds with the Six Nights, but in the end, Kabbalah and the Dawn Society were both mysterious secret societies.

‘This isn’t a power struggle involving the alliance and the Soongmoo House. It’s the same as fighting Kabbalah.’

On the way from the conference hall to here, I had finished telling the First Brother and Second Sister about the true nature of the Eiffel Magic Tower.

At first, they were both suspicious, but now they had accepted it.

“Whatever it is, smashing it is the answer.”

Around that time, the Second Sister replied in a nonchalant tone.

“You saw how those bug-like things were talking today, right? Maknae [youngest sibling] did a good job of planning the operation. It’s only because we swept them away in advance that it’s only this much. If not, it would have flowed even more strangely and become a mess, right?”

“But Sister. The damage to our allies will be considerable, right?”

The Fourth Brother asked with a worried expression.

Even if we exclude the neutral nations, there are as many as thirteen organizations united.

And above all, the enemies have a mobile fortress.

“Hmm~. Our Fourth has grown up a lot, hasn’t he? Talking back to this sister?”

The Second Sister wore a truly intrigued expression.

The Fourth Brother turned pale and looked at me.

“Fourth, think about it. We’re the Soongmoo House, and this is a normal battlefield. Do you think everyone can safely cheer and survive?”

“I don’t think so either.”

“Then you know too. You’re not going to talk nonsense about retreating, are you? In the end, we have to fight, so there will inevitably be sacrifices. Those who die are just unlucky or weak.”

It was cold, but not entirely wrong.

Even I couldn’t think of anything to refute that.

“But Sister, we can’t completely ignore the damage to the family’s forces.”

Lee Seo-hyun cautiously brought up the topic.

“Even though we’re close to being allies, there’s also the neutral nations. And we’re worried about the silent Nine Dragons Union and the Russell Family, right?”

“Hmm…… That’s true, isn’t it?”

Even if we fight and break up the alliance, we could be attacked by the hyenas behind us.

Moreover, Behemoth had already appeared on this land.

“In the end, the problem is the mobile fortress. If it weren’t for that, we could clash with the alliance without thinking about the aftermath.”

Lee Seo-hyun closed his mouth after saying that.

The mobile fortress.

That strategic weapon that was the epitome of absurdity.

No matter how much other organizations and countries poured their budgets into trying to copy it, they couldn’t even create an inferior version.

That one alone could face a national-scale force.

‘And the Magic Tower Lord’s magic is also cast on it.’

The power and range were shocking even when viewed from a distance.

That magic probably wasn’t even his full power.

Considering the compatibility, the First Brother or I would have to step up to stop him.

The Second Sister and the other brothers wouldn’t be able to do it.

‘Only the First Brother, who has learned magic, and I, who use Cheonra [a specific martial art technique], are exceptions. Originally, warriors tend to be somewhat weaker in large-scale battles.’

The efficiency of a mage is bound to be the best when it comes to wide-area attacks.

The direct descendants and the heads of the warrior squads would be fine even in the midst of the shelling, but the troops under them wouldn’t be able to handle it.

If we had to defend and advance, it would be annoying because the other side had a lot of numbers.

“Yes, the mobile fortress is the problem. The alliance’s forces and the magic itself aren’t a big problem.”

The First Brother said that.

It was as if he didn’t care about anything except the mobile fortress, which was tricky.

“It’s not like there’s no way. We can use mobility to wage small-scale guerrilla warfare. The Second Sister, Maknae, and I can draw attention from the front, and you guys can move the troops to attack. First, we need to give the command unit the plan…….”

“But if we do that, the forces guarding the main camp will also…….”

I listened to the conversation between the other brothers and continued to sink into thought.

‘Mobile fortress.’

There seems to be a way.

It felt like something was tickling one side of my head, like it was about to come to mind.

‘It would be difficult to completely destroy it. The enemy forces are also considerable. Then, if we can just make it so that they can’t use the main cannon…….’

I paused for a moment.

I looked at the First Brother, then the Second Sister, then Lee Seo-hyun, and then felt the sensation of the necklace around my neck.

“What’s wrong?”

The First Brother asked.

I blinked for a moment and clenched and unclenched my hands.

At that moment, Lee Seo-hyun, who was next to me, poked me in the side with his elbow.

“Hey! You’re not going to do something weird again, are you?”

“Weird? Choose your words carefully. It’s a word that’s easy to be misunderstood.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“……Can you call it a plan?”

“Why don’t you wipe that smile off your face and say that? Every time you make that sly smile, you come up with ridiculous plans, right?”

I felt a little hurt by Lee Seo-hyun’s words.

“Hmm…… I can’t deny it.”

“Ahem, well, Maknae is a bit.”

“Yeah, didn’t you make that smile in Area B-1 too?”

“I was horrified!”

But everyone except the nonchalant Second Sister started taking Lee Seo-hyun’s side!

“Hehe. Maknae, this sister is on your side. Whatever you’ve come up with, tell me quickly?”

Only the Second Sister supported me and spoke to me.

……It felt a little reluctant, as if I was being treated as the same kind.

“Anyway, tell me quickly, Maknae. You’ve come up with another ridiculous plan, haven’t you?”

Lee Myung-jung said with a glint in his eyes.

Whenever this happened, Lee Cheol would come up with a plan that no one could imagine and create a breakthrough.

“I have come up with a plan.”

I reluctantly said that and looked at Lee Seo-hyun and the Second Sister.

“Tell me quickly.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to me.

A way to break up the alliance and destroy the mobile fortress.

A way that only I can do, not anyone else.

The moment they heard my words, the brothers looked at me with bewildered faces.

“Puhahaha!”

Only the Second Sister slammed the table and burst into laughter.

* * *

At the foot of a mountain.

A giant man holding a bottle of alcohol suddenly turned his gaze to the distance.

“Huh, is it finally time?”

The man made an old man-like sound of ‘Heave-ho!’ and stood up from his seat, slowly starting to move.

His steps…… were heading north.