Ark The Legend Vol 9 Chapter 8

You have met Chief Barakin, the leader of the Kusan clan that is native to Rakunka. Decades ago, the s.p.a.ce monsters called Myutal appeared along with a fallen meteorite and drove the Kusan to extinction after capturing the pyramid. You have decided to help them retake the pyramid.

Difficulty:  B+

A quest was registered after Barakin’s words! The 50 Kusan warriors crossed the desert until they reached the beginning of the red earth that was the habitat of the Myutal. But Ark was still tired. It wasn’t from training for a day but because of the heat. Rakunka didn’t have a sun. However the nebula gas surrounding it meant the temperature on Rakunka steadily rose.  The Murat pyramid had intercepted the heat for a long time but it hadn’t been working for decades so now the heat was no joke. It was to the extent that even the Kusan found it difficult.

“Messenger-nim, are you alright?”

“I’m okay. Are all the preparations finished?”

“Yes, you can give the command at any time.”

Ellain nodded and replied. Behind him were the Kusan warriors riding camels. They crossed the desert that was sizzling like an oven but the though Kusan warriors showed no signs of it! They looked dependable but the exact number of enemies was unknown. It was clear that the Myutal hiding in the earth would be dozens of times their number.

‘I have to reduce the burden as much as possible.’

“Tori, are you ready?”

-Yes, Hyung-nim.

“Okay. Then let’s get started!”

Ark raised his head and exclaimed.

Wuuuuong! Wiiiiii!

There was a warrior and a huge object rose up from behind the warriors. The object reflecting light in all directions was the Silver Star! The Silver Star rose 10 metres before flying towards the red earth. At the same time, red lights shot up from all over the ground. It was the Myutal’s weapons that had attacked Ark as soon as he entered Rakunka. Tori stuck close to the ground but was still hit several times by the light. As expected, it was impossible to reach the pyramid from the sky. It would be shot down before the s.h.i.+p could even land.

‘The Kusan fought the Myutal dozens of times and never saw the red light being shot out. That means it must be an anti-aircraft weapon. It is fortunate that the monsters aren’t carrying anti-aircraft guns themselves.’

Despite that, the reason why he had the Silver Star head to the red earth……

‘It came out! The Myutal!’

Monsters were rising from the ground near the Silver Star.

‘This place is closest to the pyramid but there is still a distance of 80 kilometres. It doesn’t matter how weak the opponent is. Having 50 Kusan warriors killing hundreds of monsters for 80 kilometres will be tough. The success or failure of this mission will depend on how long the troops survive. I can’t afford to lose even one of them!’

That as the purpose of the Silver Star. To ease the burden of Ark and the Kusan warriors.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa! Kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Particle sh.e.l.ls poured out from the Silver Star towards the Myutal. The Myutal’s body shattered once it was. .h.i.t.

“That is G.o.d’s s.h.i.+p, the Silver Star!”

“G.o.d’s messenger! He truly is the Murat’s Elim!”

Ellain and the warriors looked at the Silver Star with wors.h.i.+pful gazes. Pioneers might’ve visited Rakunka but that was more than 100 years ago. Barakin was the oldest and he had never seen a s.h.i.+p before. The grandeur of the Silver Star really made it seem like G.o.d’s s.h.i.+p in their eyes. Although it was correct that the Silver Star was a Murat s.h.i.+p.

“Now!”

Ark looked back at the Kusan warriors and yelled.

“Now while they’re all concentrated on the Silver Star! Plunge into the red earth! Kusan warriors, raise you swords! Now is the time to reclaim the temple and repay your ancestors’ deaths. For the future of the Kusan!”

“For the future of the Kusan!”

“G.o.d’s messenger is leading us!”

“For the honour and future of the Kusan!”

Ellain and the warriors pulled out their swords as they cried in unison. At the same time, Ark raised his lightsaber above his head.

“Charge!”

“Waaahhhhhhhh!”

Ark dashed forward on his air board. 50 Kusan warriors riding camels followed behind him as they entered the red earth. However the Myutal didn’t attack them. The Myutal were chasing the Silver Star that was flying around and attacking. There were remnants of Myutal destroyed by the Silver Star scattered around. In some cases the Myutal were still breathing……

Ku ku ku ku! Snap! Snap!

They were crushed by a camel’s foot. Ark and the Kusan warriors steadily advanced. It was no different from crossing a wasteland. The situation changed once they crossed 30 kilometres. They could relax because of the Silver Star. However there were more red lights the deeper they entered so it would eventually be shot down. The Silver Star’s support only lasted up to there.

–Hyung-nim, the Silver Star’s s.h.i.+eld only has 20% durability left.

“Leave before it is too late!”

–Yes!

Kuwaaaang!

Tori replied and the Silver Star flew upwards. The lights from the crater stopped once the s.h.i.+p left the atmosphere. Now there was only Ark and the Kusan warriors left.

Kikikiki! Kikikiki! Kikikiki!

Ark’s group had proceeded through the centre while the Myutal had been lured away. Now the Silver Star had disappeared so the Myutal were heading towards them.

“Prepare for a collision!”

Ark shouted while moving his hand in a complicated pattern. The last day he spent in the Kusan village had been really tough. However the Kusan warriors weren’t the only ones to grow during that time. Ark had also obtained something. He wasn’t talking about Sonic Sword’s 10% proficiency. Ark had obtained two things from the village. One of them was the greeting of the Kusan. Barakin had made some strange hand motions when he first recognized Ark as G.o.d’s messenger. Since then Ark had seen the Kusan repeat the action many times. He was curious so he asked Barakin for the answer.

“They are hand gestures meant for blessings. The Murat handed it down to us and sometimes exhausted people would jump up energized after receiving the blessing. Since then the Kusan uses it as a gesture of respect for the opponent as well as a greeting.”

Ark had a sudden thought.

“Does it have a name? Is there a name for this behaviour?”

“We call it Kuon.”

“Kuon……”

Then Ark started learning the hand motions. Of course he didn’t want to use it as a greeting. The Murat was the ones who pa.s.sed down that hand motion. And Ark’s guess turned into certainty when he made the gesture. The reason for Ark’s behaviour.

“Come out, s.h.i.+re!”

He added the s.h.i.+re to the hand motion! When he moved his hand in the complicated gesture taught to him, a character was engraved in the light. Once the character as completed, it was crushed into fine pieces like sand and absorbed in the bodies of the Kusan warriors. That’s right. The gesture used for blessing was a Murat rune!

“The character carved is called Kuon!”

Rune Carving- Kuon (User, Pa.s.sive): the runes used by the Murat have the ability to extract the potential of the photon life form s.h.i.+re. Therefore the s.h.i.+re can store the memory of the runes. The s.h.i.+re rune Kuon is the symbol of Isis who was wors.h.i.+pped as the G.o.ddess of life. If the Kuon rune is used then a strong vitality and willpower will be imparted to nearby allies.

Mana consumption: 150

This was the effort of the Kuon rune! It was a buff that increased health and defense by 20%. The buff showed significant effects when granted to allies. But this wasn’t the only effect on the Kusan.

“Ohhh! This is the Murat’s blessings?”

“G.o.d is blessing us. It means the G.o.ds are watching us!”

“Kusan warriors, don’t be afraid! We have G.o.d’s messenger who inherited the will of the Murat!”

“This blessing is evidence that this crusade is meant to be!

Apart from health and defense, their courage also soared! They weren’t scared because they were with the G.o.ds!

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

The moment the Kusan warriors collided with the Myutal. There was a ringing sound and the bodies of the Myutal flew in all directions. The power of the Kusan warriors was more than Ark expected. He only saw it for a brief moment but the warriors possessed similar strength to Ellain. Indeed, they were the warriors that survived countless battles with the Myutal. In other words, they were the strongest warriors! On the other hand, the Myutal was only a level 50 monster. They were no match against the Kusan warriors in combat.

“Hot Air Sword!”

“Desert Wolf’s Fang!”

“Welcome to the alter ego! Warrior’s Blade!”

The Kusan warriors overwhelmingly pushed the Myutal back. And the Myutal’s health dropped to the bottom once there was an engagement.

“Khafra Fencing 3rd style! Galaxy Sword!”

Dozens of swords swept through the battlefield like a storm! Tens of dozens of Myutal had already died. Then a black air current swelled around the Myutal. Red eyes flashed from inside the tornado.

“The Umu!”

The Umus were the ones controlling the Myutal! They were the cause of the Kusan’s despair as they were impervious to swords. The Umu had no doubt in their abilities and steadily rushed towards the Kusan warriors. However the Kusan warriors were different now.

“Show them the results of our training with G.o.d’s messenger!”

“Concentrate all our attacks on the Umu!”

“Sonic Sword!”

They used the Sonic Sword that Ark had taught them! Dozens of swords caused shockwaves that tore through the bodies of the Umu. The bodies that previously couldn’t be wounded were torn apart. The Umu screamed from the unimaginable blow and retreated. Then an attack shot towards the Umu again.

“Sonic Sword!”

It was from the master who taught the Kusan warriors. Ark’s Sonic Sword had reached the advanced stage. Naturally his attack was on a different dimension from the Kusan warriors. The Umu’s body that had already become ragged was cut in half.

-Roaaaaar!

The Umu gave a scream of pain and disappeared.

“The Umu was defeated!”

“Now there is nothing that can stop us!”

“Advance! Break through the Myutal and reclaim the temple!”

The Kusan warriors shouted as their morale increased and they moved forward. And…..their crusade started.

———————————————————————————————————————–

‘This can’t continue.’

Ark realized that he needed to change his tactics. The Kusan warriors were being overwhelmed by the Myutal and Umu. They had learnt a technique that could handle their enemies after decades of fighting. Therefore they rapidly advanced in the beginning. They literally crushed the Myutal as they moved forward. But they soon hit their limits.

Kikikiki! Kikikiki! Kikikiki!

They killed Myutal again and again without any breaks. They expended a lot of strength rus.h.i.+ng through the Myutal. All they had to do was charge but the numbers couldn’t be ignored when there were hundreds of Myutal. Therefore the Kusan warriors’ health went down to 40~50%. The problem was that there was no healer to help them recover their health.

‘Without a healer the only way to recover health is to rest.’

But Ark had no time for that.

He had set a timer before he entered the red earth. It was the amount of time he had to enter the pyramid, find the Divine Artefact and join the 2nd investigation team. However it had been 16 hours and they’ve only marched 50 kilometres. The Silver Star helped them the first 30 kilometres so they actually only fought for 20 kilometres. And the remaining distance to the pyramid was 30 kilometres. They hadn’t even handled half of the Myutal yet.

‘If it continues like this then I won’t be able to join the investigation team on time. The problem is that there isn’t a solution.’

The red land was the Myutal’s area. They needed to handle the hundreds of Myutal hiding in this area. If they took a rest then there would be surprise attacks from the Myutal. 10 warriors had already died because of these surprised attacks. The combat power of the warriors decreased so the marching speed also slowed.

‘We’re advancing through the centre. Their numbers will increase even further as we approach the pyramid. In this situation, we might be wiped out before we even reach the pyramid.’

There was only one way left. It was to reduce the time required to recover their health. In other words, he needed to reduce the damage taken by the Kusan warriors. The answer he came up with was surprisingly simple. Monsters were afraid of enemies with RPG weapons. They would be the first ones attacked even if someone else attacked the monster first. And this aggro number also applied to buffs and heals. It was natural. If a person was healed then couldn’t that person kill the monster? Therefore a buff or heal would raise the aggro value to 3~4 times that of an attack. The problem was that this was dangerous for the healer. That’s why tanker cla.s.ses learned skills like ‘Taunt’ that raised their aggro value. Anyway……

This was the method Ark came up with.

“Come out, s.h.i.+re! Rune Carving Kuon!”

It was the buff skill that he learnt with the Kuon rune! In the past he had used the buff when the battle was about to start. It was a skill that lasted 30 minutes so he only needed to use it 2~3 times in a fight. Most fights ended within 30 minutes so there was no need for the effect to stack. However…..

“Come out, s.h.i.+re! Rune Carving Kuon! Kuon! Kuon!”

Ark invoked the Kuon rune many times during a battle. One use consumed 150 mana and it also raised his aggro figure! When the Kusan warriors attacked 2~3 times, the opponent’s hostility instantly went to them. But the opponents changed targets to Ark once he used Kuon a few times. It reduced the burden on the Kusan warriors. Of course, Ark was at risk of being attacked so he got on the air board.

‘I’m faster than the Myutal on the air board. I can outrun these guys!’

Bbok bbok bbok bbok! Bbok bbok bbok bbok!