Rust - Chapter 811



Only Krnovel

RUST [RUST]-811

Maru somehow let out a hollow laugh.

‘Surrender.’

The ant world is a strictly vertical structure. In other words, it is a society where orders from above are passed down vertically. But how could they surrender so quickly?

[You said you surrendered, but why is your expression like that?]

[Because they surrendered too quickly compared to their capabilities.]

Ki-sun’s eyes opened slightly at Maru’s answer. Ki-sun nodded slightly at the mention of the ants’ capabilities.

The architecture of the ant empire that I saw up until here was in some ways superior to that of humans, especially in that they built their vast cavities without a single pillar or beam.

Groundwater countermeasures, ventilation countermeasures, humidity and temperature control. If we were to examine them one by one, it would be endless. The fact that they created and maintained this in itself was a demonstration of the ants’ capabilities.

All the more so because no civilization goes beyond the level of architecture.

[Do you feel bad?]

[Aside from that.]

Kisun Do quickly figured out what Maru was thinking.

[Are you saying that the guys in the audience room weren’t brainy?]

[Maybe? If not, would they have surrendered so quickly and in unison? Since all of their heads were dead, it seems they didn’t scatter or become a mess due to a fight over ranks…]

Maru was right. The social structure of the ants was similar to that of a cannibal society at first glance. Just as the Confederacy lost its head and was torn to pieces, the ant empire should have been the same.

But how could they have handled the situation so quickly with such a surrender? Ironically, it also revealed another fact. The fact that the Awakened Ants in the audience room were not the ultimate decision makers.

[Eh? Then what about the ants we met?]

[A princess ant, or an ant somewhere near that. The example is a bit different, but strictly speaking, it’s not a national civil servant, but an ant that’s more like a city hall or district office worker.]

Ki-soon added to Taepyeong Maru’s explanation.

[Still, it must have been a higher ant than the local community center official. All the ants nearby came rushing in to save him and were annihilated.]

[Huh? A massacre?]

Ki-sun turned her head and looked at the entrance to the audience room. The nurse and Erica’s heads naturally turned toward where Ki-sun was looking.

!!!

Ants that were so entangled that they were completely blocking the entrance and exit. They were frozen in place as if they were desperately trying to get in.

[Uh- Uh- So. That place over there is blocked off at the entrance. How do we get out?]

Maru pointed the window at the wall, worried about the nurse.

[?]

It was clear that the Eclipse was supposed to be hanging on the blade, but Gisun couldn’t see the Eclipse.

[Eclipse?]

[That’s what happened.]

[So that’s what happened? Did you lose it?]

[No. Eclipse has changed like this.]

Ki-soon looked at the blade Maru was holding with a ‘Change? What is this?’ expression on her face.

Is that an eclipse?

The original appearance of Eclipse was a rough exterior that seemed to be a mixture of rough rock and metal. It was black at first, but it turned into a deep red color after consuming a lot of blood.

After killing numerous mutant monsters, cannibals, and even vampires, the rough blade became smooth and the dents healed themselves.

And now. Eclipse was a completely different knife.

‘How did it change to become like that?’

No matter how I looked at it, the blade itself was completely different.

Black. Dark red. Eclipse, which was an intimidating color just to look at, has become an elegant white, as if it was made of special marble or ceramic.

Its size has also become much smaller. If it was originally the size of a longsword, it is now the size of a one-handed sword. If someone who didn’t know its original shape saw it, it would look like it was made that way from the beginning.

[Is that an eclipse?]

[I felt like a gap was opening up in the space, so I poked it. What did I poke it with? This is what happened.]

[Space? A gap? What did you stab into to make it change like that?]

[We’ll go back and talk about the details later. For now, let’s see how Eclipse has changed.]

The original side that looked like it had been roughly hammered has disappeared, and now there is a smooth appearance as if it was made of luxurious stone.

No matter how you looked at it, it looked like a work of art or decoration, and it didn’t seem as threatening as the old Eclipse. It didn’t look as solid.

[Step back.]

Maru, who had pushed the group back just in case, stabbed the window into the wall.

Phew-

Eclipse dug into the audience room wall as if it were pudding. The entire white blade went in, all the way to the handle guard.

That too for a moment.

With a loud thud and a shattering sound, the area surrounding the Eclipse was completely torn apart.

[to?]

The nurse’s eyes widened at the magical phenomenon. Erica, who was standing right next to the nurse, was also surprised and covered her mouth with both hands.

Maru and Gisoon went to the wall that had been stabbed with Eclipse without saying a word and examined it. The hole where it had been stabbed had also become larger, and inside that hole. In other words, the inside where it had been stabbed was largely empty.

As the saying goes, if you get shot, the wound on the front where the bullet goes in is as small as a bean, but the hole on the back where the bullet goes through is as big as a fist. It’s exactly like that.

[Fuck. What the heck is this? It’s completely different from the original Eclipse. What the heck-]

Ki-soon put her hand into the hole and felt the floor as if she was dumbfounded. It wasn’t an optical illusion or a camera error. It was truly empty.

‘Wow- what should I think of this?’

‘What the heck is this?’

‘Where did the contents go?’

‘Did you crush it by vibration?’

Maru said to the muttering Ki-sun.

[Try increasing the shield output to maximum.]

[Shield output? Why?]

Maru gently stabbed Eclipse into Gisun’s core armor shield.

The core tried to maintain the shield by emitting powerful energy, but Eclipse dug in without a sound – as if it had melted the shield.

I could tell from the shield I cut with Eclipse before. This was a completely different sword. As the shield was pierced in an instant, Ki-sun was startled and stepped back.

Maru pulled out the pistol on his waist and shot Eclipse. Previously, Eclipse would have been hit by the bullet and converted the shock into vibrations to create a super-vibration blade, but now it was not.

bang—

▯▯▯—

The bullet disappeared without a trace, whether it had touched the white blade or not.

The bullet disappeared without even ricocheting or leaving behind any fragments or traces.

[It disappeared?]

[······.]

Maru analyzed the moment the gun was fired through the assistant AI. The high-speed camera replayed the moment the bullet flew and hit Eclipse.

It was a bullet that seemed to disappear, but it wasn’t gone. If the existing Eclipse had converted the energy it received from the outside to create a super-vibration blade, the now transformed Eclipse seemed to be able to automatically apply super-vibration to the entire blade.

‘I’ve been making super-vibration blades for a while now.’

Even without a shot, I was able to pull out the vibrating blade using Maru’s will. At some point, it started vibrating as if it had an ego. I never thought it would change like this.

‘It even pierces the core armor’s defenses. It disintegrates bullets as if it were just eating them.’

Maru’s gaze turned to Eclipse and then to the hole in the audience room wall. Inside the hole, which was slightly larger than a fist, there was no space left for a person’s entire torso to fit through.

Tsk-

The tongue-licking floor headed towards a pile of charred ant corpses.

The floor was swept as if with a broom, with chunks of charcoal, lumps still oozing the ant’s characteristic fluid, and even dead ants poking their jaws out to bite.

Fususususuk-

As soon as the Eclipse’s day reached them, the pieces of the corpse disappeared as if they were being erased by an eraser. Ki-soon couldn’t close his mouth at the absurd scene.

Maru, who had been crushing everything in his path, suddenly stopped and handed Gi-sun the Eclipse Spear.

When Ki-sun, who had grabbed the window without thinking, looked at him with a look that said, ‘Why me?’, Maru gestured to the wall and the dead ant.

Ki-soon, who realized what was going on, touched the ant that was torn to pieces by Eclipse.

I didn’t stab it deeply, I didn’t cut it hard, I just tapped it. The pieces of ant carcass disappeared in the same way the Eclipse blade passed through.

[crazy.]

Swish, swish – The ant corpses just disappeared as soon as you swung the knife. It was the same even if you hit it with the side of the blade instead of the blade itself.

If you could call it resistance, it was like stirring curry with a large ladle. Just as it would be stirred if you stirred it, if you swung Eclipse around, it would split into pieces without exception.

Fujik-

Ki-soon stopped swinging at the sudden unfamiliar sensation. It was as if something was blocking her from swinging smoothly.

At the end of the Eclipse Day, an ant was hanging on, still alive despite its torso being cut off. Ki-sun’s eyes narrowed.

[When I used Eclipse before, I said that things like buildings and cars were cut well, but living things like mutant monsters were resistant, right?]

[Oh. That’s right.]

Ki-soon said as she returned the Eclipse.

[New Clips seems to be the same. I just cut down a live ant, and I felt some kind of resistance.]

[i get it.]

[And. Newclips. It seems too dangerous.]

The reason I gave it to Gi-sun to try.

Unlike Eclipse, which reacted to Maru’s doubts and had different cutting powers, the transformed Eclipse was not like that. Even though it was used by Ki-soon, it showed incredible power.

What if something unexpected happens and you lose your Nuclipse? If the enemy comes running with it, there’s no answer.

First of all, the biggest risk was that it would also nullify the defense shield. Chewing through the core armor’s shield meant that it would also penetrate the defense shield of the floating city.

The story was that if we had time, we could break through not only the floating city but also the lab bulkheads in Vladislav Tower.

In fact, it means that you can cut through walls, iron plates, and gloves with just one sword. It was dizzying to think that someone who wasn’t even on the floor could do that.

[The moment you lose your nucleus, it’s really dangerous. Because anyone can use it.]

[······.]

Ki-soon, who is rephrased as Newclips.

[If a high-level cannibal or vampire who specializes in swordsmanship gets his hands on a Nuclipse, you can assume that everyone but you will die.]

[···Still, I can’t not use it.]

That’s the problem. For Maru to be a deterrent by its very existence, and a strategic weapon, it would need an Eclipse-class weapon.

There are stilettos, sashimi knives, and skewer knives made from fragments of the altar, but these are not enough to display overwhelming attack power.

It would be difficult to cut through buildings, cut through armored vehicles or tanks, or dismember mutated monsters with such a weapon.

Ki-soon nodded.

[You must not leave a trace when you pull it out. If the enemies notice the Nuclipse and start targeting it intensively, you will get tired.]

Maru nodded calmly at Ki-soon’s concern that if he only aimed for the knife without trying to kill, Maru’s unique senses might not work.

Let’s clash the Stiletto and New Clips that I brought as sidearms. There was a clear difference from when it was Eclipse. The Stiletto, which had been unaffected even after combining with Eclipse dozens of times, was torn to pieces at one point.

Maru disassembled the New Clips from the window and put it on his waist. The New Clips was much smaller than Eclipse’s scabbard, so there was no problem inserting it roughly.

[Is that scabbard okay?]

Ki-sun’s story about how the sword sheath is eaten because it’s so damned hard.

[You just have to hold on until I get back.]

I guess I’ll have to inspect the mask properly. Maru held the handle of the New Clips hanging from his waist.

[Uh- Here. You want to negotiate?]

The nurse, who was looking out through the crack, waved her hand and shouted.

[Because I surrendered. Let’s meet and negotiate.]

‧

‧

‧

It was easy to get out of the audience room, where the passage was blocked by ant corpses.

Phew-

The sight of ant corpses filling the passage disappearing in an instant. The pieces being erased in a clump with each pass of Nucleus. The sight of them being literally torn to pieces and erased was magical.

‘Since there’s a new clip, it’ll be quick if we break through the wall.’

‘No. Let’s go through the passage rather than the wall.’

Maru thought that breaking through a wall wouldn’t be shocking to the ants. It would naturally be a display of overwhelming force.

‘They are political. They are smart too.’

It was Maru who told the story of the ants in the audience room. Everyone was surprised by the part where the ants not only used telekinesis but also tried to capture Maru.

‘The surrender may have been an attempt to buy time. Word has reached us that the King of the Holy Kingdom has arrived, and he may want to take us hostage.’

‘So let’s show that we’re going to bravely break through the passage? And do a show of force while doing it? I agree.’

Ki-soon agreed with Maru’s idea. The nurse and Erica also nodded. And so, Newclips and Maru’s tea show began.

Kwajik-

The sight of the corpses that had blocked the nearly 10m section being erased in an instant made the antennae of the ants that were digging through the passageway to drag the corpses tense up.

(Confused. Surprised. Embarrassed. Fearful. Report. Check. Wait.)

The pheromone translator the nurse was holding reacted noisily.