Ark The Legend - Volume 7 - Chapter 9

SPACE 9. Light that calls the Darkness

Bakak-!

The sound of something splitting! Someone quickly ran up to Ark and thumped him on the head. Ark who had been staring at Irina looked around with a confused look.

“W-What is it? This guy? Why all of a sudden?”

“He is……”

Irina tried to answer with a confused expression. The guy who hit him flinched and retreated.

“Yes! It’s me! I dared hit you!”

Bakak-!

He hit Ark once again! He hit the same spot and lumps formed a tower on his head. But this time he didn’t back away. He ran up and grabbed Ark’s collar with cuffed hands while shouting.

“Me! Say you know me! Say it!”

“What the, you? Who are you?”

“This bastard! Look closely! You know who I am!”

Ark looked closely at the person. But he still didn’t know. The only obvious thing was that he was an alien. But he had never seen an alien with skin that colour before. Furthermore, the large horns on the head…..ah, that was a lump that matched the one just given to Ark. Anyway, the face was sharp like a weasel. The alien gave off an intense expression so Ark would’ve remembered meeting him before.

…..That’s what he thought…..

Although he certainly gave off a familiar feeling. Ark searched through his memories despite his aching head and managed to remember someone who gave off a similar impression. If the ugly alien holding his collar had fur covering his skin…..

“……Tori?”

“This brat! What’s with the question mark? Don’t attach a question mark to my name!”

“Eek? You, you really are Tori? But you……”

Ark murmured with a confused expression before a ‘!’ flashed in his head. Which reminded him, the jailbreak occurred on Stael. Tori had been imprisoned in Stael. But Ark thought that Tori was still imprisoned there. For Tori to be in a place like this……

“What? Did you escape from jail?”

“E-escape from jail? I was caught!”

“Caught? By who?”

“Who else! Those damn Katz!”

Tori had experienced a lot in the meantime. His life had been miserable since being picked up by the Katz on Stael! He received a terrible beating from the Katz every day!

Tori cursed the Katz with a voice full of resentment and dripping with tears.

“Hrmm, you must’ve gone through a lot of suffering.”

“Ah? I must’ve gone through a lot of suffering? Is that all? Don’t you have a conscience? I went through all this trouble because of you!”

“Because of who? Are you trying to blame me?”

“Of course! You bastard! If only you hadn’t set off the alarm!”

“Ha! Stop playing around. You’re the one who caused the incident by trying to deceive me! Yet you’re blaming me? What kind of bullshit are you saying? And are you the only one who suffered? Do you know how much I suffered on Beltana? To be honest, my mind……”

“What about your mind? Are you going to hit me? Huh? Yes, go and hit me! This bastard! I’m not scared of beatings anymore. No, haven’t I been hit already? Look at me! Are you a human?”

“You’re the one who suddenly ran up to me!”

Ark shouted angrily before suddenly asking.

“No, wait a minute. Why aren’t you with the escaped Katz?”

“He is the traitor who gave us information.”

Irina was the one who answered.

“After being kidnapped by the Katz, he left information for any pursuers on the hive called Kwai. But the Katz knew about it.”

That’s how the pursuers were caught. The Katz were aware the Tori left information and laid a trap for the pursuers. In the process Irina lost most of her crew members. Camel was seriously injured and 4 other members captured. And Tori was locked up with them as well.

“Can I ask why you’re here?”

“Of course it is to rescue Irina-nim.”

“Ah, yes…..”

Irina nodded indifferently.

“Then can you release us from the shackles and handcuffs?”

“Ah, yes…..”

Ark also nodded indifferently. This wasn’t how Ark pictured it. He heard that she was in danger and flew thousands of light years to rescue her. And he had finally reunited with her while she was in captivity. Something! It didn’t have to be much but it should be a more plausible scene! He had even directed such a scene when he jumped into the jail.

‘Because of that damn hamster……’

Tori had broken the good atmosphere between them. It was like the impressive video was skipped thanks to someone pressing the Del button.

“I don’t know what the situation is between the two of you but we should escape first.”

“……Yes.”

Ark answered while glaring at Tori. Ark swung his lightsaber that he wanted to cut Tori with and removed Irina’s handcuffs and shackles. Irina rubbed her wrist and asked.

“Did you come alone?”

“Yes.”

“This will be hard.”

Irina sighed and said. Ark also had to admit there was an error in his plan. Originally Ark planned to rescue Irina’s group and subdue the criminals together. It was possible when he thought there were still 10 people. But the escaped prisoners weren’t the only ones alone here. There was the robed man and the Kero clan! Apart from the robed man, Ark had identified at least 200 Kero. Other than Irina, there was an additional 6 people in the jail. At least 2 people including Camel had suffered injuries so their combat power was significantly down. If an NPC didn’t treat the injury in a timely matter than a penalty will be applied. Anyway……

The group wasn’t strong enough to deal with all the enemies. He had to give up on capturing the criminals and concentrate on escaping.

“My opinion is the same as Ark-nim. But there are a significant number of Katz and Kero gathered. It isn’t possible to reach the cave entrance with our power.”

“I have an idea.”

Ark smiled and replied.

“Wait here a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

Ark headed out and returned after 10 minutes with a pile of rags.

They were the rags the Kero was wearing. Ark hid his body in a dark place and attacked a Kero patrol! He hid the corpses and looked for more Kero! He soon collected the rags that had a high possibility of falling. The Kero were only level 40~50. The cloak only had 1 defense so they had no choice but to die easily. However the cloak wasn’t simply to defend the Kero. The surprising function not recorded in the information window……

Weng- weng- weng- weng.

A group of people wearing smelly rags! There was a reason Ark had been able to pass through 200 Kero undetected even when using Stealth. The Kero were frogs. They were distracted eating flies. The loss of vigilance when eating made them no different from the Katz. Of course, not all of the frogs were looking for flies.

“This is for camouflage.”

“Camouflage?”

“The Kero clan all wear these rags. If we disguise as the Kero clan then we can walk around.”

Ark set an example and wore the rags. The face was hidden so anyone would think he was the Kero clan! After a while……

The jail door opened and 8 people wearing rags emerged. They were Ark, Tori, Irina and 5 of her team.

‘Huhuhu, I think this is a brilliant plan.’

A horrible odour was coming from the rags! They also imitated the way the Kero were walking! Ark’s strategy seemed to be working. The Kero clan gathered here weren’t interested in Ark’s group. It wasn’t a situation where their hearts could be calm. They became anxious when a group of Kero suddenly headed towards them.

‘Damn, did we get caught?’

Ark held onto the beam sword underneath his rags.

Nallum! Nallum! Nallum! Nallum!

The Kero flicked their tongues as they wound around Ark’s group.

-Ugh, I’m hungry. You should eat. Because you can be called at any time. I’m still hungry.

And they headed somewhere else. The rags were covered with saliva and felt even dirtier but they moved ahead again. The group was able to safely reach the cave entrance where the Katz were gathered. In fact, Ark hadn’t been able to understand the considerable difference between the Katz and the Kero when he first arrived. But he understood the moment he saw the rags. The Katz were a species sensitive to smell. And the Kero wore stinky rags. The Katz and Kero were species destined to never be close!

“Kyak! It stinks!”

“Uhh! Why did you guys come all the way here? Go away!”

“Ah! T-this is? Isn’t this food that tastes like fish?”

When Ark’s group arrived at the cave entrance, he threw the fish paste bars and the Katz didn’t care about them anymore. Thankfully they finally escaped the cave! They just needed to follow the spiral upwards to leave the mine.

‘That’s it! We should climb up before those guys notice……’

“Hey! You over there!”

Then he heard a rough voice from behind him. Ark flinched and turned his head. The robed man was angrily arriving!

“You guys, why are you standing in a place like this? Didn’t I tell you to wait inside? Answer now. Why did you come here? The punishment will depend on your answer.”

‘Dammit, we’ve already reached this point……’

“Why are you answering me?”

Ark’s lips dried at the robed man’s words. Ark could understand the language of the Kero. But that was due to the Nymphe’s translator function and he couldn’t actually understand their language. Of course the robed man expected the answer to be in the Kero’s language. Ark tried to mimic what he heard the Kero say as closely as possible.

“K-Kaegul?”

A vocal mimicry!

“You…..who are you guys?”

……It didn’t work.

“Disclose your true identity! Punishment Lightning!”

The robed man shouted as lightning formed between his hands.

“Damn! They found us!”

Ark tossed off his rags and grabbed the beam sword. At the same time, blue light emerged from the end of the beam sword and it changed into a lightsaber.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa! Pajijiji! Pajijiji!

The lightsaber collided with the lightning. There was a burst of white light and the lightning scattered in many directions. The sparks flew into the dirt. The crew members at the back were reeling from the aftermath of the shock. Ark’s hand holding the sword started tingling. The immense power of an Esper!

‘Dammit, this guy will be tough……’

Ark bit his lip until it became bloody.

“Ah! I’m not! They dragged me out by force!”

Tori shouted as he threw himself to the ground. What the hell…..this hamster bastard…..there was nothing he could say to a subservient action like that.

“Ark-nim!”

“Run! I will follow you soon!”

Ark was already rushing towards the robed man. Ark tried to strike downwards with his lightsaber and the robed man spread his hands towards Ark.

“Your soul was caught by me! Soul Chain!”

At the same time Ark’s body stiffened. But a message flashed after a moment.

The Elim’s Helmet increased immunity to mental energy by 50%! The stopped sword struck downwards and hit the robed man.

“Cough! Unbelievable!”

The robed man grabbed his cut chest and retreated. Then he stretched out his arms and tried to use another technique.

“Shield Break!”

Ark cut the robed man’s arm with his sword. Shield Break was the skill to destroy an opponent’s defense stance. However this time he took advantage of the timing to block the enemy’s attacks. Ark blocked the robed man’s arm and pushed his left wrist towards the face.

“Shield activated! Shield Emission!”

Pajik! Pepeng! Papapapapa!

“Kuaaaaak!”

The robed man screamed and flew backwards. Glass fragments from the shield had hit the robed man’s face. The face was torn from the number of fragments and blood poured down. The robed man shouted as he held his dripping face.

“Kuack! Catch……no, kill all of them!”

“Those guys are fleeing!”

The Katz came flocking out of the cave. Once again, the Katz resembled the Meow from New World. It was the same with the Meow’s agility. The Katz rushed across the basin at an incredible speed towards Irina’s group. They suddenly stretched out 10 cm claws!

“Irina-nim, it is dangerous!”

“Sword!”

Irina turned around and shouted. Two swords popped out from her bag and she grabbed the handles. At the same time, dozens of swords made of light enveloped Irina’s body. It was a great sword! When one sword disappeared another one would appear…..dozens of these swords seemed to form a sphere around Irina. However it wasn’t a simple sphere. A sphere of blades!

“Kyaak!”

“This female is strong!”

The Katz stepped back and bared their fangs. They were familiar with Irina’s skill from when they captured her. However Ark was shocked because he never saw her fight. No, to be honest he never imagined her fighting.

The first time he met her she was in charge of the prisoner’s supplies. In reality he saw her wearing a dress while attending a party and was about to be humiliated. And this time she had been captured while chasing after escaped prisoners. Therefore an image of a fragile girl was lodged in his brain.

But it was normal when he thought about it. All users envied those who were selected by the galactic federation. It made no sense if she wasn’t capable of combat. But the Katz weren’t that easy to deal with. With two out of the five crew members injured, it was difficult to stop the Katz flocking from all sides.

–Kekek! The enemy!

Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!

In addition, the Kero had started to flock out of the cave as well.

‘There is no chance if we fight here. It is imperative to escape!’

Ark bounced back the bullets with his lightsaber and ran towards Irina.

“Hik! Me! Me too!”

The ignored hamster followed behind him……

“Khafra Fencing 3rd style! Galaxy Sword!”

Dozens of swords swirled out like a fan. He pushed away the Katz pressing Irina and Camel on one side. He then joined the group and said to Irina.

“Irina-nim, follow behind me!”

“Yes!”

“Please support the rest and follow!”

Ark shouted as he jumped onto the railroad tracks. He had ran over 10 metres when dozens of rock snakes sprang out at him. This was the reason Ark took the lead.

‘My speed can’t be slow! Concentrate my senses!’

Wiing! Wiing! Wiing!

The blue lightsaber continuously followed a trajectory. The rock snakes fell as they were cut. Ark swept through most of the rock snakes before they could attack Irina. However the Katz were caught by the snakes.

“Kyaak! These damn snakes!”

The Katz couldn’t increase their speed thanks to the rock snakes. Of course that only affected a small number of Katz.

–Shoot!

Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu! Tu tu tu tu!

The Kero started firing their machine guns. But like Mt. Fargo demonstrated, their hit rate wasn’t that high.

Ping! Ping! Ping!

Most of the bullets only hit the stone around them. These shots were actually useful for Ark. The rock snakes reacted to the vibration. A large number of rock snakes came pouring out as the projectiles recklessly hit the environment. It was to the extent that the rock snakes seemed to cover the entire wall. They were so easy to deal with that he didn’t need to worry about them. The Kero’s hit rate was also so bad that it couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

“Ouch! Where are those stupid frogs shooting?”

A Katz coughed and cursed as they were hit by a grenade. Thanks to that, Ark’s group could climb up without the Katz catching up to them. The problem occurred when they reached the middle part.

“RPG!”

Camel suddenly screamed. Ark and Irina flinched and turned to see a shell heading towards them. A Kero had launched a RPG! Some shells were heading in an unexpected direction. But it wasn’t just one frog firing the RPG.

Pusung! Pusung! Pusung!

Quantity rather than quality. 10 shells flew continuously.

“Everybody down!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa, kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Successive explosions occurred around the group lying face down. The ground shook roughly and dirt and rocks poured down on top of them. Part of the ground in the middle area was swept away like a landslide and one member slid away with it. No, they were about to fall! Irina threw her body and grabbed his wrist.

“Ugh! Ensign-nim!”

“Hold on tightly! You can’t let go!”

“I can’t! My injuries are too severe and I’m lacking strength in my hand! Let go and escape with the other members!”

“Don’t talk so weakly! I’ve already lost a lot of my group! I’m not losing anymore!”

“B-but…..”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up? If you can talk then climb up!”

“T-that’s not…..above! F-falling rocks!”

Irina looked up and her face paled.

Ku ku ku ku! Ku ku ku ku!

A large amount of dirt and sand were flowing down the slope above them. But the dirt and sand was a problem for later. A rock was rolling ahead of the dirt! It was a huge rock. If hit then it would be instant death! She would turn into a stone frog. Then one man stood in front of her.

“Armour armament!”

The man shouting was Ark! A battle suit enveloped him and Ark’s fist stretched out towards the falling rock.

“Take this! 18 Barrage!”

It was his special technique 18 Barrage that consumed 100% of the mana! Steam bubbled from his battle suit and there was an explosion of fists.

‘One point! Focus all my attacks on one area!’

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

His fists flew at 300 km/hr and only concentrated on hitting one point. 18 Barrage was completed in just 1 second. The rock split in half as the final fist of 18 Barrage was driven in. The battle suit split open and removed itself from Ark.

“Ah, Ark-nim!”

Irina gave Ark a disbelieving look. However Ark was still looking at the top.

‘I did it! But……’

Hundreds of tons of sediment were pouring down. There was no way to stop the sediment with a sword or fist. Then the only way was to endure it.

‘Pay attention! It’s not over yet!’

“Mind Shield!”

The shield wrapped around his body and Ark stepped in front of the group. He crossed his arms to form the letter X.

“Come!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

At the same time, hundreds of tons of sediment covered Ark. The rocks among the dirt hit Ark as the landslide swept past him. The shield’s durability was sucked out at a tremendous rate. However Ark continued standing there was his arms crossed in front of him. It was the end if he was buried in dirt and sand. If Ark crumbled then Irina and the group would be wiped out!

“Never…..give up…..I won’t!”

Ark croaked with bloody lips. He focused all is efforts and maintained his posture against the sediment falling down. The pressure only loosened after he was pushed back into the basin. His trembling knees finally collapsed.

“Heok!”

Cheolkeok! Cheolkeok! Cheolkeok! Cheolkeok!

There was the continuous sound of iron around him. It was the sound of being surrounded by Kero and having guns pointed at him.

‘Damn!’

Ark cursed as he quickly got up. The Heir’s Sword wasn’t in his hand anymore. Ark hurriedly looked around and saw the sword hilt buried in the dirt approximately 10 metres away. He had dropped the sword while being pushed by the landslide. And now he was surrounded by frogs holding guns!

‘In the end……’

Ark sighed and looked around. He had survived despite the huge amounts of dirt and sand.Unfortunately 3 members of the crew were already injured so they were no in a critical condition.

It would end here. 200 Kero were pointing their guns at the group! Ark couldn’t see a way to get out of this. No matter how lousy their hit rate was, if they fired in unison then Ark would be riddled with bullets in seconds. No, it was more like he would become a crushed tomato.

–Kekekeke, try not to blow up the room.

A Kero smiled and lifted a RPG. And the moment he was about to pull the trigger!

“Stupid bastard!”

Snap! Chwajijijijijik!

The Kero was hit by lightning. The one holding the RPG instantly turned to ashes. The Kero were perplexed by the sudden situation and looked at the robed man who appeared. Sparks were flying from the hands of the robed man!

“Idiots! Do you intend to ruin the plan I put so much effort into preparing? You can’t use firearms in a place like this! A sword. There is no need to capture them. Just kill with your swords!”

“Leave it to us.”

A group of people stepped forward. They were the Katz who had descended the slope.

“Okay. Take care of these guys.”

“Huhuhu, you cheeky humans. Shall we start attacking?”

The Katz approached with their sharp claws. But Ark had no interest in them. Ark’s head was repeatedly replaying the footage with the Kero and the RPG.

‘He prevented the Kero from firing their guns. If he intended to kill us then that would be much easier. Despite that, he stopped the guns from killing us. He said it would ruin his plans…..which reminds me, I don’t know what his plan is. Why did they not leave after their lair was discovered? If the use of firearms would risk ruining the plan…..’

Ark looked behind him. A large antenna was located in the centre of the basin.

‘That is the reason why the robed man prevented the use of firearms!’

200 Kero were gathered in front of Ark’s group. If all of them fired then the antenna would definitely be hit. The Kero’s hit rate was low. Of course the antenna would be destroyed. Just as he was thinking that.

“Where are you looking? Your opponent is me!”

A Katz rushed forward and swung his claws. Ark looked back at Irina and shouted.

“Get down! Shield Emission!”

Ark’s shield exploded and hundreds of fragments flew around. It was the Mind Shield that had 410 durability! The shield hadn’t been completely destroyed by the landslide. And Mind Shield was still a shield. Ark blew up the Mind Shield with Shield Emission. The shield wrapped around his whole body so the blast range was 360 degrees!

Jajajajang! Pepepepeng!

The fragments of the broken shield flew around. The Katz rushing at him only received minor wounds. The durability of the shield was low so it was natural for the damage to fall. But it was enough to push them away for a while.

“This bastard……!”

The moment the Katz were going to flock again!

“Psychokinesis! Come my sword!”

Ark reached out and the beam sword flew into his hands like a magnet was attached to it. It was the Psychokinesis skill he received from Xanax!

Wiing! Wiing! Wiing!

Ark pushed them back with a swing of his lightsaber. He ran to the antenna dish and took out a grenade.

“Don’t move! If anyone moves even one step then I will throw this grenade at the antenna!”

“Stop!”

Sure enough.

The robed man shouted with a pale face.

He glared at Ark and angrily proclaimed.

“Do you think you can get out of here alive if you do this?”

“If I don’t do this? Wouldn’t I still die?”

“……!”

“This is my plan of desperation. If I’m going to die then shouldn’t I blow something up with me? Eh? How about it? Should I do it quickly?

Ark prepared to pull out the safety pin. The robed man desperately said.

“W-wait! What do you want?”

“The key.”

Ark lifted his finger and replied.

“Don’t you have the key to the transport ship that the escaped prisoners came on? Give it to me.”

“…..Give it.”

The robed man said as he looked at the Katz.

“Marshal! Why do I have to give the key…..?”

“You stupid cats! Shut up and give it to him!”

The man they called Marshal snapped at the Katz. The Katz immediately took out the key as they were threatened with lightning. Ark took the key and looked at Irina.

“Irina-nim and the other members should escape to the transport ship first.”

“If we escape first then what about Ark-nim?”

“These guys have RPGs. If I take the transport ship as well then those guys will shoot us down before we can escape. This is the only way I can stop that situation. Don’t worry. Do you think I want to die? I’ll get out of it alive somehow so go ahead.”

There was no guarantee he would survive. But this was the best way at the moment. If Irina’s group escaped then he would complete the quest. He could also look good in front of a girl he was interested in. No, in this case wasn’t it a bonus that he would complete the quest? Anyway! There would be benefits even if he died. Irina also knew this much.

“Yes, I will look for you on Istana.”

No, she was already treating him like someone dead…..

Ark cooled down at Irina’s words.

Ku ku ku ku! Ku ku ku ku! Ku ku ku ku!

Suddenly the entire mine started to vibrate. The Marshal murmured in a voice full of ecstasy.

“Oh! The time has finally come! The time to resurrect the Great God!”

“God? What nonsense is this…..?”

Ark raised his head as a wind rushed through the mine. Red rays shot out from 4 planets that could be seen above the mine? The 4 rays then connected with each other above his head!

Kwa kwa kwa kwang, kwa kwa kwa kwang!

A pillar of red light rose from the antenna that Ark was holding hostage. It overlapped with the 4 rays of light.

——————————————————————————————————————-

The northernmost corner of the galaxy changed. There were 5 planets that made up the constellation Harmadon. Right now a massive event was taking place there. The five red lights formed a huge pattern in space. That pattern was a pentagram! The pentagram was several million kilometres large. After a while……

The space in the centre of the pentagram distorted and enormous flames spurted. A huge fireball had started to appear from the space. However this fireball wasn’t made of light.

Darkness!

It was a deeper darkness than outer space! The darkness swallowed up any light that hit it.

Ohhhh! Ohhhh! Ohhhh!

The black existence stretched out in all directions. At the same time, all users logged into Galaxian received the same message.

TO BE CONTINUED