Ark the Legend 1-12

by Yoo Seong

  On the other hand, Ark had only absorbed the Shire 2 times so it was impossible for him to use the top levels runes of Kuhwen and the nobles. In addition, those runes required at least several months training in order to be successfully learnt.

  Ark was able to acquire the Ikram and Immortal runes because they were stamped in the Shire and he had absorbed it. In other words, Ark wasn’t at the standard to learn from Kuhwen or the nobles.

  An information window floated in front of him after the shocking information!

  -You have acquired undisclosed information about the ancient alien species called the Murat.

  The universe has a long history and many alien civilizations have grown and declined.

  Finding undisclosed information can help illuminate the history of the universe. Hidden alien artefacts or technology can play a decisive role.

 

  + Information about the ancient alien species Murat (4/15).

  + You have obtained 300 Adventure points for acquiring information about the Murat.

  + You have gained 5 Intelligence for acquiring information about the Murat.

  ‘Damn….!’

  Naturally he was angry. But it wasn’t like he had no income.

  “However I can teach you some simple things. It isn’t used by the nobles but runes that everyone knows so you should be able to use it.”

  That’s how he learnt a new rune.

  -A new skill (Common Occupation ☆☆☆) has been learnt.

  Rune Carving- Hwairam (Users, Active): This rune will cause an earthquake within 100 metres like a giant with huge feet is walking. But the earthquake is at the level of a light vibration. Kuhwen says that this rune is often used to create mischief in the palace.

 

  -A new skill (Common Occupation ☆☆☆) has been learnt.

  Rune Carving- Kuem Radon (Users, Active): Prince Kuhwen often likes to sneak out of the castle. This Kuem Radon rune is useful for that. When the Kuem rune is invoked, a third eye will be created that will enable you to see the surrounding circumstances from above. However, the weakness is that it will only last for 1 minute.

 

  Rune Carving was registered as 3 star thanks to the rarity of each of the runes. Like Kuhwen said, the actual effects weren’t that serious. They were simple skills that shook the earth and scouted the area. But Ark wasn’t disappointed. It was more important to learn how to use the skill. Furthermore, it was free so Ark gladly accepted the skills.

  A couple of days passed like that!

  “…….”

  “Hyung-nim, what are you doing?”

  Ark opened his eyes as he heard Basak’s voice. At the same time, a giant Ant was rushing towards him with bared fangs. Basak blocked the Ant with his shield as it prepared to attack Ark.

  “Hyung-nim, are you okay?”

  “Ah, I-I’m okay. You saved me.”

  Ark calmed down and raised his body.

  ‘Pant pant! H-how surprising. I almost died. I thought I just closed my eyes for a little bit but I was actually sleeping. Damn, I used to be able to stay up three days and nights so did I grow old?’

  It was reasonable.

  He hadn’t slept properly since entering the Valley of Darkness. In fact, it was the same even before he entered the Valley of Darkness. He only slept 4~5 hours when crossing the desert of Muratio Star thanks to its 12 hour days. And now he had stayed up all night for two days.

  ‘It is fortunate that we reached this spot.’

  Ark regained his spirit and looked around.

  Pajijijik! Pepeng-! Pepeng-! Pepeng-!

  The soldiers were in their formation and fighting against the Ants.

  They had been constantly marching and fighting the Ants over the last two days so the soldiers were exhausted. The number had also reduced a lot and there were only 40 people remaining. But now they could fare better against the Ants.

  After the first ambush, Ark started to prepare the formation in a strategically advantageous location. In addition, the soldiers repeated the battle every night so they were used to dealing with the Ants. And now they were a mere 10 kilometres remaining from the exit.

  ‘This is the last time. Once this battle finishes then we can leave the valley. After that we have to hurry but there is still some room. I’ve already learnt the skills so I can afford to sleep for 3~4 hours.’

  He wanted to ZZZZ in a warm duvet! Just imagining it caused a happy mood.

  “….Hah!” W-what am I thinking? My spirit almost flew to Andromeda again! N-no! If I die here then all the experience will fly away. Steady yourself, Ark! There is only 1 hour left until the sun rises! I have to hold on until then!”

  Ark rubbed his eyes and motivated himself.

  “Eh? What?”

  Ark’s eyes widened.

  There was a small light glittering on the ridge opposite him. It wasn’t a clear light. It flickered like a small light bulb through opaque glass but Ark had a weird feeling.

  ‘The light flashes periodically and it isn’t from the stars. It is an artificial light. And it is wrapped in a transparent membrane like it is meant for stealth! It feels like when I see through Stealth using Clairvoyance. In other words, that is an object with the stealth function. It is dark yet it is just watching as we fight the Ant. Then that is probably….’

  Ark considered the situation before turning around and shouting.

  “Back row! Aim your plasma shots in the 3 o’clock direction!”

  The soldiers turned towards the area Ark indicated and fired their plasma bullets. The plasma bullets flew towards the object but didn’t hit it properly. However, two of the shots exploded and hit the target. Sparks flew and a small, round object was revealed after the explosion. Basak shouted with a surprised expression.

  “Fly Ranger!”

  “Set! It is Set’s Fly Ranger!”

  It was the first time he heard those words but Ark could tell what it was for straight away. A Fly Ranger was probably similar to a UAV. And the one monitoring the expedition with the Fly Ranger was the rebellion leader Set!

  “Shoot! Shoot before that information is submitted to Set!”

  Pajijijik! Pajijijik! Pajijijik!

  The soldiers simultaneously fired their plasma shots. However the Fly Ranger was a considerable distance away.

  It had changed directions and ran away as soon as Stealth was released. It was hit by 1 plasma bullet but the Fly Ranger only wobbled before flying out of range. The expedition was surrounded by Ants so they couldn’t pursue it.

  “T-This is serious!”

  “We deliberately chose the Valley of Darkness to avoid Set’s eyes…..”

  “In the end, all that effort was in vain?”

  Kuhwen and Tot sighed with disappointment.

  Tutung! Tutung! Tutung!

  The successive sound of gun shots suddenly rang out in the darkness. Then smoke started to pour from the escaping Fly Ranger.

  At that time, hundreds of people surfaced along the mountain ridge. And one of the guys jumped down towards the smoking Fly Ranger. There was the sparkle of two swords of light!

  Snap! Snap! Pepeng-! Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

  There was a roar as the Fly Ranger exploded. The shattered fragments of the Fly Ranger scattered as the person landed on the ground. Ark looked at the moving cloak with a sinking feeling.

  “Eek? Y-you?”

  This voice is?” Are you Ark?”

  The man turned towards their direction. The one eyed man wearing the cloak with a blue skeleton was clearly Hawk.

  Space 6

  Ark x Hawk

  “Look!”

  “The 3rd Corps marching south have knocked out the fifth city.”

  “Majimakaji resisted until the end but it was taken.”

  “The 1st and 2nd Corps are currently engaging in the north and west.”

  “Among the 3
0 major cities, 22 have currently been taken over by our revolutionary army.”

  There was a stone hut with dozens of pillars. Soldiers circled in front of the pillars showing 3D images and continuously made reports.

  A man was sitting down in the centre of that stone hut. Wearing a helmet in the form of a bizarre beast, the man was Set the rebel commander.

  “Now there are 8 cities remaining…..”

  Set stroked his jaw and muttered. The communication officers were reporting successful coups to Set.

  He couldn’t destroy all the Murat fleet floating in space even after occupying all the cities. But the original military power on Muratio Star was trivial. The whole planet was unified and there was the absolute space ward Abraxas so a large military presence on the planet wasn’t needed.

  Muratio Star only had the Zodiac Garrison that was fully equipped. Yet the Zodiac Garrison was the one that rebelled. Naturally the coup proceeded steadily as planned.

  The beginning of the coup took care of Horus and the Elim at the same time. And now 22 out of 30 cities were taken. If they occupied 8 more cities then the coup would succeed. Muratio Star would then fully fall into Set’s hands. If only there wasn’t one variable.

  “Abraxas….”

  Abraxas was a double edged sword to Set. Set was able to start the coup thanks to the presence of Abraxas. But if Prince Kuhwen released Abraxas before all 30 cities were occupied then the rebellion would fail. Set and the rebel army would be turned to dust by the space fleet.

  ‘My mistake. I should’ve taken care of Prince Kuhwen first. I never expected that Horus would give an order for the prince to go on a pilgrimage. That means Horus must’ve noticed my plans to a certain degree.’

  “Set-nim!”

  A communications soldier turned his head and shouted.

  “The signal of Fly Ranger no. 32 has just been cut.”

  “The reason?”

  “That information isn’t confirmed yet. Show the last video sent by unit no. 32.”

  The communications soldier activated a symbol carved on the stone pillar. Then sand particles gathered and formed a 3D image. The video showed hundreds of Ants. And dozens of soldiers were fighting against the Ants. Set narrowed his eyes as he looked at the video before shouting.

  “Prince Kuhwen!”

  In the centre of the soldiers was a boy. He was the only person who could reverse the coup right now, Prince Kuhwen.

  “The location is X-289, Y-3029. It is the north side of the Valley of Darkness!”

  “The Holy Land around there?”

  “The closest Holy Land is Tri-Force.”

  “Tri-Force….is the 2nd Abraxas control unit there?”

  A red light emerged from Set’s helmet.

  “Who is guarding Tri-Force?”

  “The 2nd unit belonging to Colonel Nemet is stationed there.”

  “Tell Nemet that Kuhwen is heading there. And gather my unit immediately.”

  Set turned and walked out of the stone hut while shouting.

  “I am coming to Tri-Force directly!”

  ————————————-

  On the other hand.

  “Dammit!”

  There was a man who failed in a coup. The man who frowned while sucking on a cigarette was Lee Myung-ryong.

  A few days ago a lid had opened for Lee Myung-ryong. The reason Lee Myung-ryong had thrown himself into the Lucifer Hunting was because the country was at stake. He didn’t doubt that the group was working to hunt Lucifer. This was related to a nuclear power plant explosion. Who would let their personal circumstances interrupt?

  He was mistaken. There was a fierce war going on between the Prime Minister and Nation Defense office so the two teams didn’t exchange any information. Lee Myung-ryong only noticed it after reading some reports.

  When he looked for it, there wasn’t just one or two incidents. Team members divided into the NIS or the Prime Minister’s office hid information and sometimes even interfered with each other.

  ‘I need to break that immediately!’

  Lee Myung-ryong wasn’t an irresponsible person to just give up. If he didn’t break it now then the behaviour would just increase. Thus Lee Myung-ryong stayed up several days and nights collecting the related materials. Then he reported the performance of the two teams at a Lucifer Hunting meeting.

  “Please tell me clearly!”

  The answer to Lee Myung-ryong’s effort…..

  I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why are you questioning us about this?”

  “Are you saying that we’re doing this deliberately? We didn’t know about this. It is a problem if there isn’t any unity between team members but shouldn’t you solve the problem? Isn’t that your position as advisor?”

  “Or? Is there any evidence that we gave orders for such a thing?”

  “If you have it then bring it out. We want to see it.”

  A national emergency was being interrupted by a quarrel but now he was being put in a corner. Something broke in Lee Myung-ryong’s mind after hearing those words.

  He wanted to jump onto the table and kick the jaw of the Prime Minister’s Office Director and Department of Defense Director until they got a fracture that required spending 8 weeks recovering. After that, he would beat them in the face until they would become unrecognizable for 12 weeks.

  …..That was inside Lee Myung-ryong’s brain.

  But Lee Myung-ryong had no choice but to endure it. It was because the various problems would probably get even worse. No, to be honest he wouldn’t have hesitated but he had a talk with Kang Ho-cheol before he entered the conference room.

  “Hyung-nim, I know what Hyung-nim is thinking but please be patient. The guys in the meeting room are the ones who hired Hyung-nim. And those cheap bastards won’t agree with you. Then what next? Right now Hyung-nim is the only one that can lead the Lucifer Hunting team. What is they change Hyung-nim? And I belong to the NIS but I also have no choice but to listen to the Prime Minister’s office. The Lucifer Hunting team will become worse if you leave. So please look for other ways. This is a request.”

  ‘Other methods…..’

  Something else appeared in Lee Myung-ryong’s head. There was still hope. Hyun-woo was his beloved student who was also familiar with the game. Lee Myung-ryong wanted to ask him about Lucifer.

  However! However! However!

  -The customer can’t receive your call right now so please call back after a while.

  He heard that message every time he called.

  “Dammit! My temper! It can’t be like this. I should go and visit him directly. If Hyun-woo didn’t lose his phone then he will die by my hands.”

  Lee Myung-ryong put out his cigarette and got up.

  ————————————-

  “H-Hyung-nim?”

  “It really is Hyung-nim!”

  A bunch of guys flocked to Ark.

  Kurakan, Ellain, Hegel, Milan, Berad, Kalliben, Cupa, Hedro and the other employees of Dark Eden ran towards him with tears streaming down their faces. Following behind them was Kaya, Park and Sadain. Slayer, Leon, Melina and Rapid also caught his eye.

  They suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

  “Stop! Who are you?”

  Someone interrupted just before there was an emotional reunion between Ark and his team members. A giant with black skin stood in front of them.

  “Hyung-nim isn’t a person that everyone can meet. Hyung-nim is the leader of the expedition that guards Prince Kuhwen and the Elim’s successor. If you want to meet him then you have to clarify your status and request to me first.”

  “What? This black body?”

  “Why is he acting this smug in front of Hyung-nim?”

  Berad and Cupa who boasted the best body in Dark Eden approached with unpleasant expressions. Then the huge figure held up his shield and replied.

  “I am the guardian Basak! Ark hyung-nim’s most faithful subordinate!”

  “You
can’t just say that.”

  One man pushed between Berad and Cupa while speaking. The man wrapped in a cloak was Ellain.

  “I didn’t have any interest in this matter but I am Ellain, Ark-nim’s most loyal subordinate. No one can match my loyalty to Ark-nim.”

  “What?”

  Basak shook angrily.

  “I’ve been with Hyung-nim for 10 years and I never saw someone like you!”

  “10 years? This bastard…..”

  Ellain shook his head and shouted.

  “I don’t know how you can claim to be with Hyung-nim for 10 years but even if that is true, I am his most loyal subordinate. Loyalty can’t be proven just because of the amount of time. I believe that Ark-nim is God’s Messenger. No other person can top me as his most loyal minion.”

  “I am! I am his most loyal subordinate! I am his most loyal subordinate!

  “T-this bastard! What are you saying?”

  “You don’t apply! Why are you interfering?”

  “Don’t you just have a large body? So I’ll tell you this! The position of Ark’s most loyal subordinate is for Ellain! Wouldn’t you get mad if someone is trying to take your place?”

  “You’re the one trying to take my place!”

  “Say that again you bastard!”

  A loyalty competition between Basak and Ellain started out of nowhere.

  “I can’t talk to this guy. Hyung-nim, please say something to him!”

  “I also want that. Hyung-nim, please say something to him!”

  The two of them couldn’t decide in the end and shouted at Ark. But Ark had no intention of getting between Basak and Ellain. While the two of them were arguing, the remaining employees of Dark Eden circled Ark.

  “Ohuk! Hyung-nim, we thought Hyung-nim was dead!”

  Hegel held onto Ark and spoke while sobbing. It was also true for the other employees. They weren’t hugging him like Hegel but their expressions were thrilled. However not everyone was glad about the reunion.

  “I told you. He isn’t someone who will die that easily.”

  The testy voice belonged to Rapid. Rapid stared at Ark for a while before sighing.

  “If you died so easily then I wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble previously.”