🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 166
Carido Beltran.
One of the drug king Nayeli’s most trusted butlers.
Clicking his tongue, he peered through binoculars at the warehouse district now engulfed in flames and smoke from the heavy bombardment.
“Tsk. Spending that much money just to catch one little rat.”
Collapsed buildings, twisted metal beams, and clouds of dust and fire—
An airstrike always eats up a massive amount of money, far more than people think.
Even getting your hands on aerial bombs in the black market isn’t easy.
But Carido was a man who pursued perfection. He never did anything half-heartedly.
That’s why he had called in Black Maria and even mobilized the cartel’s army.
“Yet he’s still alive?”
From the radio report Katrina had sent earlier, Carido instinctively knew—
The target was still in one piece.
“Well, I suppose he’d have to be that tough to dare challenge our cartel.”
Because the rabbit-hole gates were closed, Carido had come all the way here by plane and ship.
He smiled wide enough to show his teeth.
“But I won’t let him run wild any longer.”
To Carido, battle was a ritual—
A ceremony to offer sacrifices to the god he served, and to Nayeli, who stood equal to that god.
The more the prey struggled, the more perfect the ritual became.
Chzzzt.
『It’s not over yet. Deploy the tanks.』
Carido’s low voice crackled through the radio.
Kukukukuk!
The ground began to tremble.
Armored vehicles appeared in lines over the ruined roads.
Their black-painted turrets rotated, aiming into the fire.
Then black-uniformed soldiers marched forward, filling the streets.
Despite their gang tattoos and gold chains, their movements were mechanical and precise—
Deserters from regular armies, remnants of collapsed PMCs, now reforged as the cartel’s special forces.
Carido raised one finger and pointed to the sky.
『¡Adelante! (Advance!)』
At his command, the tank guns roared. The army charged forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Just as the dust in the warehouse district began to settle—
Bzzzzzzzt!!
A violent wind tore through the haze, and a blinding light shot up toward the heavens.
A colossal pillar of lightning, pure white like compressed sunlight.
Thousands of electric strands unfurled from it like tangled threads, arcing through the air.
Pupupupupung!!
Tank shells exploded midair, vaporized by the lightning. The tremendous heat and thunder rattled the harbor.
Arcs of current curved down, striking the soldiers and armored vehicles below.
[“Arrows of Perm” unleashes an aerial bombardment!]
『Raise the shields! The god Chaac will protect you all!!』
The shield unit rushed forward, forming a wall.
They carried bronze shields—
An odd choice for modern warfare—but their surfaces gleamed ominously.
[Maya’s Guardian Talisman]
Shields engraved with the storm and rain god Chaac, designed to store enemy firepower and convert it into usable energy.
-
Type: Shield, Talisman
-
Origin: Legend of “Chaac”
Knowing that the target, “Thunderstrike,” used lightning magic, Carido had brought these specially to counter him.
In Mayan myth, Chaac was the thunder god who blessed the crops and gave life—
Thus, those shields would act like lightning rods, absorbing every bolt Thunderstrike unleashed.
Other defensive artifacts and spells were also activated.
‘As expected, Thunderstrike. Acting exactly as predicted—
Never realizing it’s all tightening the noose around your neck.’
He reasoned that the man must have spent an enormous amount of mana fending off the earlier airstrike,
and had now dumped the rest of his magic into this one final attack.
But—
Carido had forgotten one truth:
Even the best plans mean nothing in the face of overwhelming power.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KWAANG!!
The white lightning shattered the shields as if they were paper, sweeping through the army.
“—!?”
Kwarung! Kwarung! Kwarururung!
『Aaaagh!』
『It’s too strong! The lightning output exceeds the shield’s absorption limit—! Gahk!』
『Someone—ugh!』
The force of the white lightning was so immense that even Carido was stunned.
Barriers shattered like glass. The shields melted, the soldiers turned to ash.
[A “White Tsunami” begins with a chain of explosions!]
The sparks ignited one another, spawning waves of fire.
White electricity and blazing flame ripped the army apart.
Their tight formation only worsened the carnage.
Boom! Boom! KWA-KWA-KWAANG!!
Tanks went up like landmines, roasting in the explosions, smoke curling into the air.
Some turrets spun helplessly in place.
It was a bombardment.
Exactly what Carido had done to the warehouse—
Only this was stronger. Far more vicious.
The current ran through the ground, detecting movement and detonating on impact.
No one had time to react.
“Damn it!!”
Grinding his teeth, Carido surged forward.
The warehouse district was still far away—he hadn’t even seen Thunderstrike’s face yet.
He couldn’t fall here.
‘Thunderstrike’s power… it’s way beyond the cartel’s projections.
He’s spending mana like water. To sustain this much firepower, even high-rankers would need to chug elixirs nonstop!’
The greatest flaw of the lightning attribute was its mana consumption.
Lightning mages specialized in short, explosive battles—not prolonged ones.
But Thunderstrike was different.
His defenses, his attacks—both overwhelming, both sustained.
Carido couldn’t know that Lee Hyun was burning through stored soul-essences like nutrition packs.
Originally, Carido had planned to strike only after Thunderstrike was exhausted fighting the army—
‘But now, before that happens, I’ll have to—’
[“Trail of Radiance” manifests!]
Carido’s thoughts ended abruptly.
A flash blinded his eyes—then came searing heat.
He leapt back instinctively—
BOOM! KWA-KWA-KWAAANG!!
A geyser of dust erupted where he’d stood.
Through it stepped a man draped in a coat of dazzling platinum light.
“Thunderstrike!!”
A mage, appearing at the front lines himself?
Even a veteran war-mage would never do that lightly.
Was it arrogance?
Or a ploy to bait Carido into overreacting?
Either way, it was an insult—
Not only to Carido, but to the cartel and Nayeli herself.
Carido’s eyes flared with rage as he reached for his holster.
But—
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWA!!
The ground beneath him split open, rising into a wall of blinding energy—
A cage forged from lightning itself.
―ᚻ.
The Rune of Hail activated. The cage collapsed inward, engulfing him.
KWA-A-A-ANG!!
He struggled desperately to escape, but it was useless.
As Nayeli’s favorite butler, he possessed many sacred relics.
‘Palo Mayombe! If I can just invoke Mayombe—!’
Latin American black magic that used the souls of the dead—his cursed bullets were powered by it.
He thought he could line up one last shot into that arrogant mage’s forehead—
But Lee Hyun’s attacks always struck like a storm before the opponent could react.
―ᚦ.
[“Chains of Lightning” bind the target!]
Zzzzzrakk!
From the whirlpool of white energy, chains shot out and pierced Carido’s body.
Then—
Crunch!
“—!!!”
He was crushed instantly.
Killed before he could even draw on his relics or spells.
Fwoooosh!
Yet Lee Hyun showed no joy.
It was as if this outcome were obvious—inevitable.
He turned his gaze southward.
Toward Hagatna Black Zone—
The holy land of decadence, where only Guam’s elite Brahmans were permitted to dwell.
Tap.
He struck the ground again with his rune staff. The amethyst orb rotated once more.
―ᛇ.
[“Thunder Whale” summoned!]
Fwoooosh!
Kukukukuk!
A storm rose.
Lightning and flames spiraled around him, swirling into the sky.
“Ah—ahhhh!”
“Carido’s dead! Holy f***, that monster!!”
“Run! Run for your lives!!”
Even the cartel’s disciplined soldiers broke ranks, abandoning their weapons.
Before such a being, discipline meant nothing.
“Uwaaagh!!”
“Arrows of Perm” rained down on the deserters’ backs.
Most were obliterated; a few escaped.
Lee Hyun let them go.
The farther they ran, the farther the rumors would spread—
And the more his name, Thunderstrike, would shake not just Guam, but the world.
His goal was to carve into history an infamy equal to the City Cartel itself.
And for now—
He needed all his focus to complete the summoning.
Kwoooooo!!
The vortex condensed into form: a colossal Thunder Whale, stretching dozens of meters long—
A size rivaling that of a blue whale, Earth’s largest creature.
Its heat distorted the air; every flick of its fins unleashed crackling bolts of lightning.
“Let’s go.”
Standing atop its head, Lee Hyun tapped the staff lightly.
Kwoooooong!!
The Thunder Whale responded, sweeping its massive tail.
The air split apart as it soared upward, lightning pouring in every direction—
A fallen sun searching for new prey.
Heading south—
* * *
“…Good god.”
“At that level… he’s among the top of the high-rankers. Practically a Dominion.
How has someone like that stayed under the radar?”
The businessmen watching Thunderstrike ride the whale toward Hagatna were left speechless.
Esteban’s hands shook as he lit a cigarette.
‘If I’d made the wrong choice back there… I’d be dead.’
“Dominion”—a title reserved for high-rankers powerful enough to control entire nations or continents.
Such beings were walking weapons of mass destruction—
And one had just appeared in the middle of Guam.
The island’s stagnant balance of power—unchanged for nearly a decade—
Would be completely rewritten today.
It was certain.
He’d gambled his life and his organization’s future… and somehow, the bet had paid off.
Despite his shock, a faint smile crept to his lips.
The other businessmen felt the same.
Their minds were already spinning—calculating how to expand their empires under their new superstar’s name.
Ramon watched them and smiled slyly.
The more united they became under Thunderstrike’s banner,
the more easily they could seize the power vacuums left by the City Cartel and Black Maria.
“But…”
“Hm?”
“…??”
“It’s good that you’re doing business math, but shouldn’t you also be warning your associates?
Anyone who clashes with Thunderstrike now is courting disaster.”
“…!”
“…!!”
“I—I’ll go make some calls!”
“Me too! Wait for me!”
Ramon’s casual remark snapped them to attention.
They realized that even a few well-placed warnings could become a priceless asset later.
Their eyes hardened—
The eyes of businessmen who had just met a benefactor of fate.
