Future Knight

Chapter 138

-Detected nuclear fusion reaction from the enemy Gigantes. Although its appearance has changed significantly, cross-referencing the data revealed it to be the Allied Forces’ JED130-AT2 model.

『JED130-AT2!』

『Wh-what did you say?』

The Zvezda crew members couldn’t hide their astonishment at the mention of JED130-AT2.

It was the serial number of Zaid, who had been dispatched aboard the Red Mars ship, which had been sent here before them.

『C-could it be, the Red Mars crew survived?!』

They had searched so diligently but found no trace of the Red Mars ship. Now, out of nowhere, its remnants appeared.

The Zvezda crew members were thrown into chaos.

The realization that there were other Earthlings on this planet, where they believed they were alone, was shocking.

Moreover, those Earthlings were allied with the rebel forces opposing them.

The Zvezda crew members were filled with questions.

『But why is that guy fighting on the side of the aliens of this planet?』

『Where is the warship, and why did he appear alone? Could he be waiting to ambush us from behind?』

As the crew members were confused, Hong Hak-mae, who had recently risen to the position of the second-in-command, gave them an order.

『Change the mission. Capture that guy. If not possible, destroy him.』

『Roger!』

Eight Zaids charged towards Kang Chan’s Red Rabbit like a bullet.

Soon, the 30mm large-caliber Rail Gun fired at Kang Chan.

Dududududung! Dududududung!

As a barrage of Rail Gun fire headed his way, Kang Chan quickly called out to Silpyris.

“Silpyris, Blink!”

“Got it!”

The enemy Gigantes, which had been dealing with the unmanned combat aircraft, disappeared from view again to avoid the Rail Gun barrage, leaving the Zvezda crew members bewildered.

『It disappeared! Where is it?』

They looked around in search of the Red Rabbit.

Soon, they found the Red Rabbit, which could only move a short distance, and shouted loudly.

『Up there!』

『Fire!』

Tututudududung!! Tututudududung!!

Hundreds of blue spiral bullets cut through the air, rushing towards Kang Chan. However, Kang Chan evaded all their attacks with successive Blinks.

This was possible because the magician aboard Kang Chan’s Red Rabbit was not an elf but a dragon.

Even a magic-skilled elf would find it extremely difficult to execute multiple instantaneous jumps in such a short time.

『No, this can’t be! How?!』

The Zvezda crew members were filled with disbelief as the enemy Gigantes avoided their attacks like a ghost.

Even they did not possess such a perfect short-range teleportation technique.

『Has the Allied Forces’ technology advanced this much?』

If the Allied Forces had such technology, it was almost certain that the Empire would have no chance of winning the war.

Hong Hak-mae pondered with a heavy heart.

‘Is that why the Empire resorted to using the anti-gravity bomb?’

Though it was a misguided thought, the technology displayed by the enemy was incredibly valuable.

As he contemplated this, Kang Chan’s Red Rabbit leaped close to Hong Hak-mae, attacking.

『Huh!』

Kang Chan’s blade showed no mercy, perhaps to demonstrate that daydreaming on the battlefield led to death.

『Haaaah!』

『Kugh!』

Chaeaeaeang!

Hong Hak-mae managed to block Kang Chan’s Aura Blade with Zaid’s high-frequency blade in an instant.

However, Kang Chan’s Aura Blade easily sliced through the high-frequency blade as if cutting through butter, and then it mercilessly tore through Zaid.

Shugakak!

『Kugh! You!』

But Hong Hak-mae was not one to give up easily.

He twisted his body instantly, activated his boosters, and swiftly retreated from Kang Chan’s range, showing the prowess of a Zvezda crew member who stood shoulder to shoulder with the Red Mars ship.

However, Kang Chan had no intention of letting him go.

『Give up on escaping!』

『S-spare me!』

As Kang Chan’s Red Rabbit, looking like the Grim Reaper, chased him with a blue Aura Blade, the blood drained from Hong Hak-mae’s face.

But soon, support fire from all directions flew in.

They were all plasma beams powerful enough to penetrate Silpyris’ shield.

Kang Chan had no choice but to let go of the Zaid he had nearly captured and began evasive maneuvers.

“Damn it! Silpyris! Blink!”

“Huff, huff… Sorry, I can’t… anymore…”

Silpyris, who had performed countless spatial movements with the giant Zaid, was on the verge of exhaustion.

Kang Chan had no choice but to block the enemy’s attacks directly with his Aura Blade.

“Haaaah!”

It looked like a reckless and foolish action.

The Zvezda crew members were convinced that he would soon be riddled with holes by the plasma beams.

Blocking plasma beams, a type of light weapon, with a sword was an absurd notion.

However, their expectations were thoroughly betrayed.

When Kang Chan struck the plasma beams with his Aura Blade at an incredible speed, the beams vanished effortlessly.

『What the… How?』

『Impossible!』

They couldn’t comprehend how he could extinguish plasma beams, which traveled at the speed of light, with a sword.

But it was an undeniable fact.

Kang Chan continued to deflect the plasma beams.

The crew members began to doubt if the person inside the armor was even human.

『Spread out and engage!』

Hong Hak-mae, who had barely escaped Kang Chan’s grasp, wiped his cold sweat and commanded his comrades.

Seeing this, Lebedev chuckled incessantly, seemingly pleased to see the usually arrogant Hong Hak-mae in disarray.

As the enemy Zaids spread out and began to launch staggered attacks, Kang Chan quickly found himself at a disadvantage.

No matter how skilled he was, it was impossible to block attacks coming from 360 degrees.

“Silpyris, it’ll be tough, but we need to Blink!”

In response to Kang Chan’s urgent request, the young Silpyris bit her lip and said,

“I’ll try.”

Silpyris took a moment to catch her breath and concentrated. The Red Rabbit then instantly Blinked above the enemy’s head.

“We did it!”

Kang Chan cheered, while the enemies screamed.

As soon as they noticed the enemy above them, a massive 20-meter-long blade of light descended upon their heads.

Crackling! Zzzt!

Kang Chan quickly moved away from the bisected Zaid.

The exposed nuclear fusion reactor was about to explode.

Just as Kang Chan anticipated, the destroyed enemy Zaid’s nuclear fusion generator erupted in a massive explosion.

Boom! Crackle!

『Alexandria!』

『No!』

Shouting the name of their fallen comrade was futile; he had already turned into flames.

The exploding Zaid, akin to a flying hydrogen bomb, had a blast radius of 3 kilometers.

A small sun appeared in the sky in an instant.

As the unmanned combat aircraft hesitated due to the explosion’s impact, Kang Chan didn’t miss the opportunity.

“This is it!”

Zikyon and Rekracion, freed from the unmanned combat aircraft’s constraints, launched their breath and magic attacks at the hesitant aircraft despite their exhaustion.

“No, stop!”

Despite Hong Hak-mae’s desperate cries, dozens of unmanned combat aircraft turned to ash in the sky.

Watching the unmanned combat aircraft turn to ash, Hong Hak-mae’s face twisted in anger.

Losing a third of their aircraft power, especially with no reinforcements from Earth, was a significant loss for them.

“Damn it! Retreat to the battleship!”

Unable to afford any more losses, Hong Hak-mae chose to retreat, and they left the battlefield at incredible speed, just as they had arrived.

Zikyon wanted to chase them down to the end, but everyone was exhausted and seriously injured, so they needed to return to Raksha for reorganization.

“What should we do, Lady Zikyon?”

“Return to Raksha for now.”

“Understood.”

The dragons transported the weary Kang Chan and the injured Sword Masters on the ground using spatial movement.

* * *

Benziller couldn’t believe it.

His subordinates had returned as remnants of a defeated army.

“How could this happen?”

Out of the 100 unmanned combat aircraft, only 65 returned to the battleship, and even those were in poor condition.

Every single one required extensive repairs.

Moreover, losing the crucial Zaid was an extremely painful loss for him.

“Hong Hak-mae, what happened here?”

“I have no excuses, Captain…”

“What about the Dark Knights you took with you?”

“They were all annihilated.”

“W-what? Are you saying those rats were that powerful?”

“There was an unexpected factor.”

“We should have exterminated those dragons back then…”

Benziller assumed that the dragons were behind everything and gritted his teeth. However, Hong Hak-mae’s next words were enough to shock him.

“The unexpected factor was the Red Mars unit.”

Hearing an unexpected name, Benziller frowned and asked again.

“Red Mars? Why are they being mentioned here?”

“We have evidence that the Red Mars crew survived on this planet.”

“What? They remained on this planet? Show me the evidence.”

“Computer, play the video.”

-Yes, projecting it on the main screen.

The enormous main screen on the Zvezda’s bridge replayed the footage from the previous battle.

It was a recording stored in Hong Hak-mae’s Zaid.

Soon, a mysterious enemy Gigantes appeared on the screen. Its appearance was very familiar to Benziller.

“What is that?”

“It’s disguised as an alien Gigantes, but it’s actually an Allied Forces’ JED130-AT2 model equipped with a nuclear fusion reactor. It’s the same type used by the Red Mars unit.”

As Benziller watched the video, his eyes widened in astonishment.

“That hideous detail… It’s definitely a JED130-AT2 model. But did the JED130-AT2 model have short-range spatial movement capabilities?”

The scene of Kang Chan’s Red Rabbit using spatial movement and decimating their forces with a giant blade of light was astounding to him.

A blade of light that distorted even plasma beams.

It possessed tremendous power, slicing through the shielded Zaid like butter.

Benziller recognized the nature of this technology.

It was the supernatural ability used by those called knights on this planet.

“But how is the Red Mars unit using that kind of technology?”

“I don’t know. But judging by the fact that they are fighting alongside the aliens, I suspect they gained some sort of power from them.”

“Some sort of power?”

This ‘power’ seemed far more potent to Benziller than any Earth weapon.

“We must try to win him over to our side. We need to make those technologies ours, Hong Hak-mae.”

“Understood, Captain.”

“By the way, did you retrieve the chips implanted in the Dark Knights’ heads?”

“Yes, I sent droids to recover them all.”

The number of chips brought from Earth was limited. Recycling was essential here, where there were no production facilities.

“Their effectiveness was quite satisfactory. Insert the recovered chips into the next Dark Elves.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Benziller, having highly valued the power of the Dark Knights, who had pushed back the enemy Sword Masters until they were wiped out by the Red Mars Zaid, demanded the next batch of sacrifices from Hong Hak-mae.

“Understood.”

Manipulating Nemitz’s subordinates, who had turned into puppets, was as easy as pie for him.

* * *

The Dragon Knight returned to the plaza of Raksha through spatial movement.

Boom!

As the two Gigantes, whose lower bodies had melted away, descended onto the ground, the tremendous vibration seemed enough to topple the surrounding buildings.

“What on earth is going on?”

Startled by the immense vibration, people poured out of the buildings, witnessing the destroyed Gigantes and the two massive dragons descending from the sky.

The dragons, too, were covered in large and small wounds on their beautiful bodies.

The only one relatively unscathed was Duke Sachsen, who was riding Agni. Only he could stand on the ground with both legs intact.

Unlike when they had set out, their pitifully devastated appearance was heartbreaking.

The expressions of Cracksion and the elders of various races, watching their return, were nearly despairing.

It was because of their fear of the Earthlings, who had reduced the absolute beings of this world to such a state.