Ark the Legend 1-12

by Yoo Seong

  ‘This guy is indeed an idiot!’

  He might be blabbering on about other reasons but the result was the same! He truly was a fool who left Ark with an escape route. Well, Ark wanted to thank him!

  …..That’s what he thought…..

  “You block the entrance and don’t let him run away!”

  “Hah! Don’t make me laugh. Aren’t you just going to call them for help when the situation becomes disadvantageous to you?”

  “You’ll see who needs help soon!”

  Wiing! Wiiing! Wiing!

  The swordsman rushed forward with his lightsaber. Ark also held his posture while lifting his lightsaber. The blue lights started to cross and clash with each other, causing afterimages. Sparks flew with every collision. The two people crossed swords dozens of times in a few seconds before both sides retreated.

  ‘That bastard…..’

  Ark quickly looked at the swordsman.

  ‘He hasn’t been using the sword for just a day or two. He has reached a significant level of sword mastery. Have I met such a user before?’

  So far, the strongest person Ark had encountered in Galaxian was the Red Slaughterer. But the Red Slaughterer gave the impression of having skills that utilized the game environment rather than actual fighting skills. That is, his movements felt optimized to the game? However, the man across from him was the opposite! He fought depending more on his sword skills than his character’s skills. The problem was that he had extraordinary sword skills. If Ark was a protagonist of a martial arts movie, he would be the rival that received training from another master. Ark might sweat at the memory of his training but it meant he reached a significant level of martial arts skills.

  But he didn’t exercise after becoming the strongest user in New World. No, he had no need to. Ark had started training in martial arts to make playing the game easier. However Ark was literally a God in New World after obtaining the master code. Even if a bunch of legendary monsters appeared in front of him……he had the ability to kill them just from pressing the ‘Del’ key. However he started to train again once starting Galaxian. It still took a while to regain his sense of movement but it was pretty good after his confrontation with the Red Slaughterer. Yet the swordsman was matching Ark in a 1 on 1 fight. But Ark wasn’t that easy to deal with.

  “……Indeed.”

  The man nodded. He had sensed the same thing as Ark. Their skills were almost equal! Then the situation was simple. If their equipment and sword skills were equal then the only thing left was the superiority of their skills. But there was no big difference when the engaged in close combat just now. So victory would be decided by who made a mistake first!

  “It can’t stay like this. Peyital Blade!”

  The man attacked first. The lightsaber caused an air current like a storm that flew towards me.

  “Sonic Sword!”

  It was cut by Sonic Sword that had no form! The air current was split apart by his shockwave. The man then got close to Ark and attacked.

  “Defense Break!”

  However Ark used the orbit of his sword to break the opponent’s defense posture.

  “Khafra Fencing 3rd style! Galaxy……”

  After the man’s chest was wide open, Ark was about to use a skill with his lightsaber. But the man twisted his body and hit Ark’s wrist with his sword hilt. Ark’s arm loosened and his lightsaber fell to the ground.

  ‘T-this!’

  The man hadn’t used a skill. He just used the sword skills that his body had mastered. The man wearing the helmet raised his glittering sword.

  “It’s up to here!”

  The moment the sword was about to fall! Ark’s lightsaber on the ground rose like lightning. The sword was controlled by Psychokinesis! The swordsman was so busy concentrating on winning that he unexpectedly received a blow on the chest.

  “No, it is my turn to attack now! Welcome to the alter ego!”

  Ark’s rushing body split into 5. The swordsman had already seen Welcome to the alter ego. Welcome to the alter ego was designed to confuse the enemy and attack from behind! The swordsman automatically turned and struck a defense pose. As expected, the Arks had spread in all directions before combining into one behind him. However, there was no sword in the overlapping hands.

  “S-sword…..?”

  Snap!

  Sparks flew from the swordsman’s neck. The light rotating like a spin top and carving thick marks onto the man’s neck was Ark’s lightsaber! He had combined Psychokinesis with Welcome to the alter ego.

  “Ugh!”

  The man grabbed his neck and stumbled. The lightsaber flew from his neck to Ark’s hand. And…..

  Wiiiiing, wiiiiing.

  There was an explosion of light! This was the result when a battle between users of a certain level and skill occurred. It was hard to counterattack once someone was on the defensive. It was the same for the swordsman. He couldn’t find any gaps as Ark started his continuous series of strikes. His health fell from 60% to 20%. Moreover, various abnormal stats occurred because of the continuous critical hits so he couldn’t escape. But there was a way.

  “Damn! Armour armament!”

  A metal capsule sprang out of the swordsman’s bag. It spun in the air and transformed into a battle suit of armour that covered the swordsman. This was the best way to escape an enemy’s series of attacks! A shock wave had occurred when the battle suit was equipped. Ark was pushed back several metres from the shock wave and his series of consecutive attacks was stopped. However…..

  “I’ve been waiting for this! Armour armament!”

  Ark exclaimed with a flash. The space warped and the summoned battle suit wrapped around his body.

  “Binding Sword!”

  Chwa chwa chwa chwa! Chwa chwa chwa chwa!

  At that moment, the chest area of his battle suit split to the sides. It was like the skin of an insect or crustacean opening to reveal dozens of beads! The chest opened and the beads simultaneously fired laser beams. No, they were lights that looked like lasers! The threads of light wound around the swordsman and a message appeared.

  -Binding Sword Lv. 2 has captured the enemy!

 
  In addition, the enemy can be pulled in front of the user. And the moment the duration ends, the chain will explode to deal additional damage>

  A chain created by the battle suit! The sudden change in the skill was thanks to Ark’s complete synchronization with the battle suit. That’s right. Arc had already completed the gene rearrangement.

  -The process to rearrange your genes to synchronize with the Drone has been completed!

  You have succeeded in rearranged your genetic information and accomplished a perfect synchronization with the Drone. This means you can use 100% of the battle suit’s power.

  You will now feel even the smallest bit of dirt falling on the battle suit, it won’t be uncomfortable to breath anymore and you will be able to move without feeling the battle suit. In addition, the effect of the skills expressed through body coating will be amplified.

  However this is a Rama battle suit so you won’t be synchronized to the federation battle suit anymore.

 

  + When the battle suit is equipped, the environmental adaption will rise by an additional 30% (80%).

  + When the battle suit is equipped, the rate that satiety falls will be reduced by a further 20% (50%).

  + When the battle suit is equipped, fall damage will be reduced by an additional 30% (80%).

  + The amount of mana used by 18 Barrage can be adjusted.

  + The battle suit’s duration has increased by 30%.

  The information window that floated in front of him! In Galaxian there were two types of skills. He wasn’t talking about active and passive. It was acquired skills and innate skills. Acquired skills were those t
hat took no effort and could be learnt by repetitive learning. Most skills belonged to that category. But in Galaxian, the DNA of other species could be absorbed to learn skills. The innate skills were those learnt through body coating! The effects of these skills were amplified once he achieved 100% synchronization with his battle suit. Once he wore the battle suits, all sorts of effects went UP! That wasn’t all.

  ‘I feel like I’m not even wearing armour.’

  Ark’s body suit increased his capabilities by 35%. Naturally he would become stronger. However his senses became dull like he was wearing thick clothes so that was a disadvantage. He thought it was natural since it was a thick armour. But it wasn’t natural. After the synchronization was completed, the battle suit felt just like his skin. It felt like he was just wearing clothes instead of armour!

  ‘This is the real battle suit!’

  In the meantime he had been using an incomplete battle suit. He also consumed all the mana of the battle suit when using 18 Barrage. He hadn’t been able to control the amount of mana used. However, the situation changed with the 100% synchronization.

  “Come!”

  Ark shouted as he looked at the swordsman. At that moment the chain around the swordsman’s chest was pulled. He was like a fly caught by a spider!

  “18 Barrage!”

  Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

  18 Barrage was Hyper Drone’s knockdown skill! Steam was blown out as his accelerated steel fists impacted with the swordsman’s chest. Ark used 50% of his mana. His opponent’s health was only 20% so that should be sufficient. A fist mark was carved into the swordsman’s chest every time until it hit 18 times! The opponent flew back into the wall.

  “You……you……!”

  ‘You’ was the only word he could say.

  Then blood spewed out and it was GAME OVER! But Ark couldn’t afford to breath yet. It had been a 1 on 1 duel. But the remaining people wouldn’t step aside after his opponent died.

  “H-Hyung-nim!”

  “T-this bastard!”

  The two soldiers lifted their machine gun and RPG. This was the reason Ark only used 50% of his mana! Ark had already anticipated his reaction so he triggered Hyper Booster. The moment the soldier tried to fire the RPG!

  “It’s up to here.”

  Tang-! Tang-! Tang-!

  The gunner fired in rapid succession. But surprisingly, his muzzle was aimed towards the back of the soldier holding the RPG! He then pulled the trigger. It was an unimaginable situation to the two soldiers as they turned back to the gunner. The gunner aimed at the handle of the machine gun and RPG to deflect it before aiming at the vital spots like the head, heart and jaw.

  “Kuak! T-this bastard…..”

  Tang! Tang! Tu tu tu tu! Pepeng!

  The shots continued for a while. Eventually the two men were slumped in a pile of their own blood. Out of the 3 soldiers, only one was remaining. It was just the gunner. Ark narrowed his eyes at the gunner covered in blood.

  “You…..who are you?”

  —————————

  “Hey!”

  Ark ran down the passage and shouted. The people gathered on the opposite side reacted to his voice and turned around. They were Slayer, Leon and the Royal Guards. While Ark had entered the Central Laboratory, the battle against the black helmets chasing after the Royal Guards was already finished. There were the bodies of 20 black helmets and Ark’s team members scattered on the ground.

  “Ark, you’re alive!”

  “Hah, but he……”

  The team members suddenly flinched and grabbed their weapons. Ark was followed by someone wearing black armour and a black helmet like the enemy scattered on the ground. The man holding the pistol was the gunner from the laboratory. Ark shook his head and said to the team.

  “No, this one is okay.”

  “Okay? Why?”

  “That fellow…..isn’t he with them?”

  “He decided to cooperate for the time being.”

  The gunner added after Ark’s words.

  “You understand?”

  “I don’t understand pal!”

  Slayer burst out angrily. He stared at Melina slumped against the wall and growled.

  “Because of that guy…..Melina-nim because of that guy…..ugh! She’s never died once since we’ve been with her…..dammit! I’m going to get revenge for her!”

  “Of course! Blood for blood!”

  Leon also exclaimed as he loaded his rail gun. Melina wasn’t the only one. Kaya and Park had bullet marks on their bodies, both autobots had collapsed along with Berad and Cupa from the Royal Guards. They could revive at the Fairy but they had lost the experience they gained on Impeltus. And the death of their comrades ignited the team’s fighting spirit! The team members gathered in front of the teammates dead bodies with tears streaming from their eyes.

  “You bastard, you want to try it? Okay. Then let’s end this. Kill all of…..”

  “No, we have to escape from here.”

  “That won’t be easy.”

  The person who answered was Sadain.

  “Like you said earlier, their main force is gathered at the entrance of the laboratory. They number approximately 70 people. And there are no obstacles around them. There are a lot of troops and it is impossible with just Slayer as protection. Park’s autobots would be helpful but that won’t work as you can see. Our recovery ampoules are used up so the odds aren’t in our favour in close combat.”

  Ark’s eyes widened at Sadain’s words. Sadain frowned and asked.

  “What is it?”

  “No, that’s the first time I heard you talk for so long.”

  “This isn’t the time to be playing around.”

  “I wasn’t playing around. We have to quickly get out of here. This isn’t just talk. Those guys aren’t at the entrance. They are coming along the right passage to this place.”

  Ark had a reason for being so confident.

  —————————

  “You…..who are you?”

  He asked the gunner standing in the pile of blood. The gunner watched Ark with a wary expression and said.

  “I’m not your enemy for today.”

  The gunner replied as he put his pistol into his bag. Ark stared at him.

  “For today?”

  “I’ll have to see in the future if we are enemies or colleagues. I haven’t decided yet. But for now you’re not my enemy.”

  “Then take off the black helmet and say that.”

  “It isn’t hard to take off my helmet. But then I will need to explain many things. And now isn’t the time for that. Shouldn’t you know this too?”

  “Will the situation change if I believe you?”

  “Of course.”

  He said while manipulating his Nymphe.

  “It is me. Move through the right side passage at the entrance to where I am now.”

  –The entire main force? But Captain-nim commanded…..

  “You fool! There’s no time! Right now Leader is fighting with Ark! And there is a secret passage hidden in the room where he can escape towards the 6 o’clock position in the laboratory! Now Ark has killed the leader and two soldiers and is escaping through the secret passage! Use the right passage to move to the room in the 6 o’clock direction! Hurry!”

  -Huh? Oh, I see! Let’s go! Follow me!

  A baffled exclamation was heard from the gunner’s Nymphe. The gunner broke the communication and said in a mischievous voice.

  “Do I need to explain the situation to you? Ark. It is up to you whether to believe me or not. If you believe me then you will join up with your team and escape from the left passage. If you don’t believe me then use the right passage.”

  Only a fool wouldn’t understand his purpose. But Ark decided to believe the gunner for the moment. The reason was simple. After he defeated the leader with 18 Barrage, the situation was still in the favour of the black helmets If they sealed the entrance then Ark’s team wouldn’t be able to esca
pe. In this situation, there was no reason for the gunner to lie or kill his two colleagues. And the gunner didn’t ask anything from Ark for his help. If he lied then naturally Ark’s team would kill him before they died. There was no reason for the gunner to commit suicide in such a way.

  “Okay. I’ll believe you for now.”

  —————————

  ‘It was true.’

  He thought while running down the left passage. Ark arrived in front of the entrance and nodded. There were no black helmet troops to be seen. They probably moved to the 6 o’clock position after receiving the gunner’s communication. However the situation still wasn’t over. If the black helmets couldn’t find the secret passage then they would return!

  “Hurry! We can’t relax until we escape from Impeltus!”

  “Okay! I’ll go out first!”

  “Wait a minute!”

  Ku kwa kwa kwa kwa! Ku kwa kwa kwa kwa!

  Just as Slayer was jumping outside. There was a roaring sound as the gunner yelled and dirt went flying up. Shells were pouring from the air! Slayer screamed before running back.

  “Hik! Hik! Hik! I-I almost died! A ship! A spaceship is floating in front!”

  “Is there something you can do?”

  “Wait a moment.”

  The gunner nodded at Ark’s question. And he manipulated his Nymphe for a while.

  Pepeng! Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

  Flames shot up from the rear of the ship floating outside the laboratory. It lost its centre of balance as black smoke rose from it.

  The gunner looked at Ark and said.

  “I’ve planted a bomb in the power section of the engine room. But it isn’t a regular C-6 explosive. The power is disconnected and they can’t move. It will take at least 20 minutes to recover. So it is better to move instead of wasting time being surprised.”

  “I know! Let’s go!”

  Ark immediately led the team out. At the same time, a silver flash flew down from the purple clouds. He had called the Silver Star in advance using the remote control system by the time they arrived at the entrance. Once the Silver Star arrived in front of the laboratory…..

  Tol tol tol tol! Tol tol tol tol!