Actually, Dad Was a Hero

Chapter 24: Desperate Struggle

An ant is a considerably strong insect.

Relative to its size, it possesses great strength, sharp mandibles, and depending on the species, even the ability to secrete acidic substances.

However, what truly makes ants powerful lies in their numbers.

Ant colonies, living in groups, can gain numerical superiority that overwhelms other insects by sheer quantity.

But even if they are strong, that’s only from the perspective of an insect. They can’t be a match for large mammals.

Even if hundreds or thousands of ants gather, they can’t defeat a five-year-old child.

And the fight between Jin Beom-Min and the horde of zombies was like a fight between a skilled human with tools and ants.

So it wasn’t even a fight.

The term one-sided massacre would be more appropriate.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Every time Jin Beom-Min’s sword cut through the air, dozens of zombies were sliced in half and scattered on the ground.

There was no need to specifically aim for the neck. After all, the zombies, cut in half, couldn’t inflict any significant damage on Jin Beom-Min.

“Kuaagh!”

“Kreugh!”

In the path he carved, zombies, cut at various angles and left with only their upper bodies, crawled on the ground, spewing grotesque cries.

But crawling with only two arms, they only slipped on the blood-soaked road. They couldn’t catch up to Jin Beom-Min who was charging at a speed comparable to a car.

Exactly 5 minutes after parting with Ghost Squad, Jin Beom-Min reached the location ‘Wraith’ had mentioned.

He could have arrived faster at his usual speed, but the winding roads and a brief moment of confusion where he took a wrong turn caused quite a delay.

In any case, Jin Beom-Min arrived. At the small plaza where the knight in blue armor stood still.

“Phew… Finally found you.”

Perhaps hearing his voice, the knight in blue armor turned to face Jin Beom-Min.

Steel armor polished to a shine with blue dye, a shield of pure white silver, and as Jin Beom-Min had expected, an old arming sword.

It was the appearance of a knight straight out of a fantasy novel, but there was a difference.

What was inside the armor wasn’t a human, but a corpse.

The knight in blue armor, with gleaming red eyes, took a stance. A stance with the shield forward and the sword hidden behind.

It was one of Jindar’s swordsmanship techniques familiar to Jin Beom-Min.

“Where’s the Necromancer?”

It was a question almost to himself, but unexpectedly, the knight in blue armor answered.

“…What… are you saying…?”

The voice emanating from the decayed vocal cords was horrifying, but Jin Beom-Min was surprised by the fact that the undead could speak.

Moreover, his words weren’t Orcish or Dark Elf, commonly used by monsters, but the common language of Jindar used by humans.

“You can speak?”

“…If it’s within the permitted… range… I can…”

“Permitted range? What does that mean?”

“…None…”

It was a strange attitude. It was as if he wanted to speak, but couldn’t because it wasn’t permitted.

Jin Beom-Min, puzzled, adjusted his stance.

Kiiiiiiiii…

The high-pitched sound from his sword gradually increased and then abruptly stopped.

The vibrations caused by the concentrated Mana had surpassed the human audible frequency. If there were any bats or dolphins nearby, they would have probably fled in terror, but there were no living creatures left around.

The length of the Mana was just about the length of the sword, but its density was thicker than ever.

It was as if the blade, made of blue crystal, was shining.

It was a different situation compared to when he was dealing with small fries like zombies.

“…Come!”

A bizarre voice cut through the air.

The stance the knight in blue armor took, with the shield forward, was clearly a stance to induce a counterattack.

However, just because the opponent was acting that way, he couldn’t postpone the attack indefinitely. Especially in a situation like this where time was of the essence.

Jin Beom-Min swung his sword without a word.

Clang!

The sword strike, swung to test the opponent, bounced off with an earsplitting metallic sound.

And following that, the blue-armored knight swung his sword, faintly imbued with Mana.

Jin Beom-Min, with ease, jumped back to dodge the attack and nodded.

The current attack wasn’t something that could be blocked with an ordinary shield. The sword strike, enveloped in high-density Mana, could cut through not just a shield, but even a fortress wall.

However, the knight in blue armor easily blocked his attack.

It was certain that the shield had absorbed the Mana imbued in the sword.

“That shield… It’s no ordinary item!”

As Jin Beom-Min spoke with admiration, the knight in blue armor shrugged. He couldn’t speak, but he seemed to be proud of something.

Seeing that, Jin Beom-Min suddenly remembered something.

“Could it be…”

Blue armor. A shield that absorbs Mana. He had definitely heard of it before.

“…Could it be… ‘Blue Wall’ Kuen?”

“…Unexpected… that someone… knows me…”

The knight in blue armor answered, slightly raising his shield as if in greeting. A slight pride was mixed in the rough voice that sounded like a rubber band snapping.

“Kuen… I heard you… died a long time ago…”

“…Died… I did…”

“…Right.”

Kuen seemed unable to speak further.

Kuen was one of the twelve Knight-Commanders who protected the Delphin Empire when Jin Beom-Min was training at the Hero Academy.

His blue armor would leave a strong impression on anyone who saw him for the first time, but what was famous among knights wasn’t his armor, but his shield.

A legendary item, ‘Abyssal Barrier’, that could absorb the Mana imbued in attacks and perfectly block any attack.

The reason he was nicknamed ‘Blue Wall’ was because of that shield that blocked all attacks.

However, while defending against the endless attacks of monsters, the Knight-Commanders of the Delphin Empire also perished one by one on the battlefield.

Jin Beom-Min had heard that ‘Blue Wall’ Kuen had also died on a battlefield when he was around thirteen or fourteen years old.

But now, after more than 30 years, he was facing him, turned undead, not in Jindar, but on Earth.

Jin Beom-Min, recalling old memories, asked in a bitter tone.

“…I heard that shield can’t block magic?”

“…Can you… use magic?”

“…No, I can’t use proper offensive magic.”

“Then you should die.”

This time, Kuen took the initiative and attacked with his shield forward. Jin Beom-Min dodged the attack by moving his body without clashing swords.

Whoosh! Swish!

Kuen’s shield bash and sword strike cut through the air. Jin Beom-Min quickly dodged, reading his attack patterns.

‘His defense is solid, but his attacks are a bit clumsy. The amount of Mana is also low… This might be doable…!’

He had never crossed swords with Kuen when he was alive, but in his current state, it seemed like he could subdue him without much difficulty.

If blocking attacks with the shield was the problem, then he just had to create a situation where he couldn’t block.

The moment Jin Beom-Min, having made up his mind, adjusted his stance to attack, a chilling presence descended from behind.

“Oh no!”

Swish!

He quickly twisted his body, and something grazed his side.

A thin scratch appeared on the Iron Troll Breastplate, then quickly healed and disappeared.

Crack!

The long spear that grazed Jin Beom-Min’s face pierced through the building wall and lodged itself firmly.

It was a spear with a gruesome appearance, as if it was made by pulling out the spine of a giant animal.

“Now, Kuen!”

Clang!

Jin Beom-Min, who blocked Kuen’s shield attack with his sword, felt the Mana imbued in his sword being sucked out once again.

Yet, he turned his head to look at the opponent who had thrown the bone spear.

A Dark Elf, clad in black, was revealing himself from behind the debris.

“…Found you.”

Jin Beom-Min grinned and charged at the Dark Elf, swinging his sword.

“Wall of Pain!”

Crack!

With the Necromancer’s shout, giant ribs sprouted from the ground, forming a dense wall and blocking Jin Beom-Min’s sword.

Simultaneously, Kuen’s attack sharply aimed for Jin Beom-Min’s back.

“Damn it!”

Jin Beom-Min used ‘Giant’s Footsteps’ to soar high into the air, dodging Kuen’s attack.

‘2 against 1 is a bit tough…’

Jin Beom-Min regained his composure in the air and assessed the situation.

The Necromancer who used ranged attacks and blocked melee attacks with magic.

And Kuen, who blocked his sword with a shield and attacked persistently, albeit clumsily.

It wasn’t a good matchup for him.

But a bad situation… he had overcome such situations countless times.

The trials he had to overcome at the Hero Academy were often more harsh than this.

Compared to those times… This was still manageable.

******

Screech!

The van’s tires spun.

‘Ogre’ kept turning the steering wheel and pressing the pedals, but the van only swayed and jolted, unable to move forward.

“Damn it! Something’s stuck in the wheels!”

“Do something! They’re chasing us from behind!”

‘Reaper’ shouted, but there was nothing he could do.

Until a while ago, the zombies had ignored the retreating Ghost Squad, but at some point, they started chasing them again.

It was probably after Jin Beom-Min discovered the knight in blue armor.

Jin Beom-Min would handle the knight in blue armor, and Ghost Squad would deal with the zombies sent by the Necromancer – that must have been the Necromancer’s strategy.

“Everyone, disembark! We’re going into the building!”

‘Sandman’ pointed to the building next to the van and said.

The old building, which looked at least a hundred years old, was built of solid granite and seemed to be about five stories high.

“Get out?”

“We’re going to the roof! We just need to block the entrance!”

Following ‘Sandman’s’ instructions, the Ghost Squad members looked at each other and quickly opened the van doors and stepped onto the ground.

“Grab the ammo!”

“No time! Just grab what you can!”

Bang!

‘Sandman’ kicked open the building door as if there was no need to even try the handle. Then, he immediately dashed towards the stairs.

The Ghost Squad members followed him, each carrying as much ammo as they could.

“Kyaaagh!”

“Kreugh!”

Dozens of zombies, screaming grotesquely, crashed into the van. The black van shook violently, windows shattered, and metal panels crumpled.

The zombies, after rampaging and smashing the van for a while, seemed to realize that the Ghost Squad members were gone and looked around.

Then, they discovered the open door and rushed towards it without hesitation.

“Huff… Huff…”

“Ah, damn it. What kind of hardship is this all the way in France? Others come here to see the Eiffel Tower.”

“Ah, that Eiffel Tower ain’t nothing special. You just get pickpocketed and ripped off!”

The Ghost Squad members grumbled, but diligently climbed the stairs.

They were panting, but as elite soldiers, their steel-like legs moved tirelessly.

Bang!

‘Sandman’ kicked open the door, and blinding light poured in. They had reached the rooftop.

“Leave the door open! We’ll lure them as close to the door as possible and shoot!”

The Ghost Squad members took their positions at a distance and aimed their weapons at the door leading to the rooftop.

Fortunately, it was a small building, so there was only one door leading to the rooftop.

“…Kreugh!”

The first to appear was a young female zombie in a floral dress.

Bang!

However, she collapsed at the doorway, her head blown to pieces by ‘Wraith’s’ shotgun.

“Kuagh!”

“Kreugh!”

Soon after, dozens of zombies rushed up the stairs at once.

Rat-a-tat-tat! Bang!

The Ghost Squad’s fire concentrated on the narrow doorway, and the zombies collapsed as soon as they came up, entangled with each other.

Bang! Bang!

“Cease fire!”

‘Sandman’ shouted.

The door leading to the rooftop was now completely blocked by zombies.

Some zombies still had their heads intact and were waving their arms, trying to move somehow.

But due to the tangled mess of bodies, it was a futile effort.

From behind, as if other zombies were pushing, the piled-up corpses twitched and moved, but there was no sign of them breaking through.

It had literally become a barricade made of corpses.

“Phew… We can breathe for now.”

“We should have entered the building from the beginning.”

‘Imp’ also wiped the sweat off his forehead and said.

“Uh, guys?”

However, ‘Wraith’ opened his mouth as if to object.

“We have a problem.”