Life Mission

Bang!

Glare Gun draws a parabola and goes flying. He got hit by one of the split skeleton's tentacles and soared into the sky before falling to the ground.

The shock was large and Glare Gun wasn't able to get up right away.

The split skeleton didn't chase and attack him. It faithfully focused on its immediate area.

Evil Queen is able to control the entities that come from her own body even if the utilization isn't wide like Europe's Beholder.

Since she can't constantly manage them due to her battle with Cha Jun Sung's group, she left unity and waiting as suggestions.

Don't scatter and stay together. Don't chase after anything and only take on what comes to them.

It was to stop them from breaking apart and to prevent tricks. They were extremely tricky because they faithfully followed Evil Queen's orders.

11 Lifers struggled against 3 split skeletons. A simple calculation says that 4 people are taking on 1 skeleton. They would be able to do something if they had been weak level 8s like Odelia, but they need many times more than the people they currently have if they are as strong as Narsiel.

There are only 12 Lifers including Glare Gun, who is spread out on the floor. Just 2 would be difficult, but it is impossible for them to take on 3.

Glare Gun didn't go flying because he had his guard down or because he landed a hit and took a hit. They were surpassing the concept of being pushed back, to drowning.

It was like that with 12, but now with 11?

It would only take moments for their formation to collapse.

Bang bang bang!

Short-range Lifers Koharu, Basil, Iron King, and Nine Tail get whipped by swirling tentacles and all fling out.

As the bothersome ones got cleared out, the split skeletons rushed at long-range Lifers. Since there are 3 skeletons, they each went to 1 person, to 3 people.

Nuclear, Ghost Gun, and Light Shooter become targets and their expressions darken. Each of the split skeletons' attacks are deadly.

They are powerful enough to cause instant death with one hit.

The Lifers didn't die after getting hit with such power because they each absorbed the impact in their own ways. Nuclear and the others can absorb the shock like similar-level Lifers, but that doesn't lessen the power in the attack coming at them.

"Freezing Field!"

Ice Queen maximized her battlesuit's output.

Dozens of holes open on her battlesuit and emanate extreme cold. Anything with the smallest bit of water on it freezes in the blink of an eye. They are in a swamp. Everything becomes white.

Ice Queen's Freezing Field is 9-combination.

So it didn't reach absolute zero, though it got very close. She felt that a pity.

"Nice! Queen!"

Ice Queen's action freezes the land that the split skeletons are on.

Nuclear yells with strength when he sees this. As their cells freeze and joints harden, the split skeletons' movements slow down dramatically. Nuclear's group takes that chance to get out of the attack range.

But that had been the wrong judgment call.

As soon as Nuclear's group created distance, the split skeletons' hostility focused on Ice Queen.

Until now, the split skeletons hadn't focused on a single person, but had spread out the attacks.

It's because no one had attacked all 3 at the same time. But Ice Queen's Freezing Field had gotten all of their attentions.

The Freezing Field being maintained. When the split skeletons' movement wasn't smooth, they went back and launch thorns at Ice Queen with the intention of puncturing her. Hundreds of thorns, each the size of a human arm, churn the forest. They puncture holes in trees and boulders, flying at incredible speed toward Ice Queen.

Ice Queen released the Freezing Field and tried to move, but it was already too late. She can only block them, but it is an attack that she cannot block.

Her battlesuit itself emphasized mobility over defense, so her outer armor was light and thin. Even at a glance, it showed by shape that a woman was wearing it.

Iron King's big and wide back blocks Ice Queen's front.

Iron King's battlesuit has the best defense of all of the battlesuits. If it protects the passenger, the outer armor's thickness alone is over 20cm.

He even modeled it in that direction, so though the defensive strength is higher than that of level S battlesuits, its limit isn't infinite.

Boom boom boom!

The small thorn attacks all went flinging off from the Iron Defense.

But after getting hit straight on, the outer armor began to be crushed and one large thorn eventually dug into Iron King's stomach.

"Iron King!"

"Damn it!"

Iron King is unable to withstand that impact, and goes flying. Trees break. Iron King lands on top of that debris.

He used all of his strength to try and stand up, but he was unable to straighten his leg while on his knees and collapsed. There was no movement.

Zing!

The medical system installed inside his battlesuit went into treatment mode. He didn't die. The thorn was coming out little by little.

It was just a temporary measure.

It is such a fatal wound it wouldn't be weird if he died now, but they can't say he's safe because the battlesuit isn't a medical system.

He will die if they are not alert.

He needs to get proper treatment right now if he wants to survive. The problem is that it is difficult to do that considering the situation.

Iron King's battlesuit pushed out the thorn. The inside is clearly visible because the thorn is stuck. Of course his punctured stomach is visible as well. It is a large hole, the size of two fists. If his body hadn't been strengthened with body modifications, he would have died long ago.

His bleeding stopped, but his ripped flesh and mess of organs are not something the battlesuit can deal with.

"I - I need to hurry up and move… Kyak!"

"Ack!"

Boom!

A split skeleton brandished a tentacle twisted thick with strength and pinned Ice Queen to the ground.

Iron King next to her wasn't able to avoid it either.

Ice Queen is another issue but Iron King, who had already sustained a serious wound, was now flickering like a candle.

"Strategist! We can't hold out like this!"

"There's a low chance we can win. It'll be better to take Iron King and getting out."

Bang bang bang!

Strategist speaks as he throws an energy ball at the skeleton going after Ice Queen.

They have gone past being pushed back. This is too one-sided.

Glare Gun, who had joined them while Iron King was being attacked, agreed with what Nuclear said. Unless they are ready to all die, they need to plan for what comes after.

The faster they make their decision, the better.

They play with the boundary between life and death with each second that passes.

In this situation, it wouldn't be surprising if someone died in the next second.

'The battle on that side…'

4 level S Lifers.

If Evil Queen's strength is beyond what they had imagined like with the split skeletons, those 4 won't be able to take her down.

Strategist spent precious time under intense pressure making a decision he won't regret.

He made his decision quickly.

But it happened even faster than his decision-making.

Boom boom boom boom!

There is a sudden tremendous roar and a point in the sky plummets to where Strategist's group is.

The tiny dot grows larger and larger.

A Lifer. His booster is being activated faintly. He hasn't been flung away in an attack, but is flying at them of his own will.

"Ten Xiao!"

Glare Gun watches the split skeletons as he yells.

A deformed left arm and a battlesuit crushed like a tin can - it is Chamma Sword. His trademark sword that is larger than a person, has been cut in half. The broken side is smooth. It seems to have been cut by something sharp.

They can't tell if he has internal injuries, but they can easily see that he isn't in a normal state. Chamma Sword stood up, using his broken sword as a cane.

"There's - there's no hope! Run away! While they're buying time!"

The Lifers are taken aback. He is normally a quiet man.

He doesn't speak unless necessary following his reticent personality. That is how careful he is.

In that sense, he thinks more deeply than even Strategist. That Chamma Sword is telling them to run away. They are curious as to what is happening over there, but they aren't in a condition to ask or listen.

'It's a failure.'

What the Lifers are thinking.

They don't know the post-war situation, but this is one thing they are sure of. Evil Queen is a being that they cannot fight.

"Run away? No chance. I intend to finish this once and for all so that there's nothing left to take care of after."

Boom boom!

The forest opens up and Evil Queen walks out in an armor made of bone.

Chamma Sword clenched his teeth and shook like a tree.

"How could this be…"

The Lifers look to one place.

They are looking at Evil Queen, but they are looking at a thorn coming out of the shoulder and pointing into the sky.

Violet and Weapon Master are skewered on the sharp bone. They are laid out like corpses, but they can't tell whether they are alive or dead yet.

"These guys? They're still alive. I'm pretty sure that guy lying over there is in more danger. But don't worry. You guys will die before he does."

Death comes down on them.