Ch.119Chapter 119 – Assault (5)

Adriano, who had been facing off against hunters and the Demon King’s army at the North Gate, was caught in a dilemma.

‘Damn it, should I just bail? The numbers don’t add up.’

There were too many monsters. Far too many. After three months of defending the territory against monster waves, he thought he’d gotten used to the volume, but the monsters, which had been quiet for some time, seemed to have prepared thoroughly, attacking with an overwhelming force that defied common sense.

To make matters worse, there was another problem. Until now, they had been able to win battles effortlessly thanks to the mana cannons, but as luck would have it, the mana cannons had broken down today of all days. It was a maddening situation—having to slaughter what looked like tens of thousands of enemies without artillery support.

This was a battlefield with no profit. Mercenaries are typically sensitive about money, and Adriano especially so. Seeing that losses would clearly outweigh gains if things continued this way, she seriously considered retreating.

“Should I just quit this contract and everything? Haah…”

But when it came to actually running away, she felt reluctant. Not for trivial reasons like pride or conscience, of course. Adriano had seen plenty of bloodshed on her way to becoming the boss of the Brazilian cartel. Her actions weren’t constrained by common sense or morality.

Her motivation was singular: money. Money was her life’s purpose, her truth.

Adriano had abused her position as delegation representative to secure numerous business deals. Notable examples included military supply contracts, road development projects, construction projects, and many other smaller ventures. All together, they amounted to enough money to live comfortably for ten generations.

The astronomical figures danced before her eyes, holding her feet in place. Her hesitant steps betrayed her lingering attachment.

‘After investing so much in the Empire… fuck! Am I supposed to just throw it all away?’

Even while conflicted, Adriano was naturally manipulating her mana. S-class—absolute beings of which only seven existed in the world. The title of “Teleporter” wasn’t given for nothing.

Her skill, Spatial Manipulation, opened transfer gates beneath hordes of demons. The other side of these gates was at an altitude of 2000 meters, where clouds form. Demons falling through the gates were instantly space-transferred to the atmosphere, becoming living meteors crashing down on other demon hordes.

She would have preferred to summon actual meteors to sweep away these cockroach-like monsters, but concerns about tectonic shifts, earthquakes, and other aftereffects on the territory prevented her from doing so recklessly.

Expressing her frustration, she tore and reconnected space more aggressively. The space distorted by Adriano’s touch became a weapon itself, brutally crushing demons’ bodies. Even demons with remarkable regenerative abilities were invariably reduced to meat pulp under her touch. Like being put through a hydraulic press.

“Ha. Giving up without even recovering my investment costs goes against my principles. Fuck, fuck. Just my luck.”

When a debtor borrows beyond a certain amount, the relationship between debtor and creditor reverses. That’s exactly how Adriano felt.

Feeling like a creditor, Adriano continued her one-sided slaughter. Yet her furrowed brow showed no signs of relaxing.

Spatial Manipulation was an incredibly powerful skill that had elevated Adriano to S-class, but it consumed enormous amounts of mana. This made the Teleporter vulnerable in prolonged battles, and she typically preferred short, decisive fights. Not this war of attrition.

Redirecting a fireball flying at her face through a transfer gate, Adriano continued to deliberate. Should she continue fighting with no end in sight, risking mana depletion, or prioritize safety? Raise or fold—that was the question.

She was considering flipping a coin when suddenly, a light flashed from the east, changing the tide of battle.

“…! What’s that?”

After the blinding flash disappeared, the monsters’ movements suddenly changed. The monster army marching toward the Empire abruptly halted, as if someone’s command had forcibly stopped them. Unnaturally.

Then the army began turning their heads eastward, as if they had suddenly lost interest in the wall before them.

Adriano could easily guess what had changed the army’s movements. It was obvious. Their attack target had shifted to whoever had produced that light in the east…

But whoever was in the east didn’t matter to Adriano. What mattered was that she now had time to breathe. Looking contemptuously at the people on the wall still struggling to fix the mana cannon, Adriano decided to take matters into her own hands.

‘I should bring Prime Minister Behemdorf. Being the imperial court magician, he should be better than these incompetent fools.’

Adriano calculated the coordinates of the imperial palace in her head and teleported.

***

Shin Jaehyuk was gasping for breath.

An extreme sense of weakness dominated his entire body—the aftereffect of too much divine power draining away like an ebbing tide.

Divine Punishment was originally a spell requiring multiple cardinal-level figures to combine their power, demanding an enormous amount of divine power. Even for Jaehyuk, it was a major spell that depleted his divine power so thoroughly he couldn’t use it twice. He barely managed to support his collapsing legs by activating his mana.

As he leaned on his spear stuck in the ground, surviving knights approached on horseback.

“My lord! Truly magnificent! You’ve succeeded!”

The knight commander jumped off his horse and supported the collapsing Jaehyuk while offering praise.

“To annihilate an entire legion with a single strike! This is a feat comparable to the legendary Master Paladin or Hero!”

“Whew. It would have been impossible without all of you driving the army together.”

“There’s no need for such modesty. Your achievement deserves to be recorded in history books! Truly, on behalf of the knights and citizens, I thank you for your dedication.”

The knights all bowed in respect. Jaehyuk awkwardly scratched his head. The legendary Master Paladin? That’s me…

Unable to bear the embarrassment, he was wondering how to change the subject when help arrived in the form of a messenger galloping urgently from the East Gate.

“Commander! Urgent news!”

“Ho ho, what’s so urgent? We’ve annihilated the Demon King’s army. Calm your breathing and speak slowly.”

The knight commander laughed leisurely. Now that the army marching toward the East Gate had completely vanished, he had regained peace of mind. He felt like no news could surprise him…

“This is no time to revel in victory! We’ve received reports that the Demon King’s armies attacking the North, South, and West Gates are all heading toward the East Gate!”

“W-what?!”

***

“This is the mana collector?”

Kwak Taewoo blurted out, looking at the shattered glass orb. The glass fragments, having lost their characteristic transparency, were mixed with collapsed building debris in a messy heap.

“H-how could this be… the Empire’s precious treasure.”

Marquis August, who had guided Kwak Taewoo to where the mana collector was hidden, was also dumbfounded. Understandably so. The only hope of stopping the Demon King’s army, which had protected the Empire for hundreds of years, was gone.

“Can’t you fix it? Aren’t you a magician?”

“…Do you even know what blood magic means? My field isn’t magical engineering. Or do you stupidly expect that any magician can just fix artifacts?”

The marquis glared at Kwak Taewoo incredulously. Kwak’s request was like asking a science student with no computer knowledge to fix a computer.

Moreover, this was an invention created by a “Sage.” Not just any computer, but something comparable to a supercomputer. Naturally, the marquis couldn’t fix it alone.

‘He can’t fix it? Then why am I here, and why did he bring me here… Should I go back to Jaehyuk now? Or should I deal with the Death Worm first?’

Shin Jaehyuk’s top priority instruction—to reactivate the mana collector—had failed from the start. Kwak Taewoo was confused about what to do next.

While Kwak was deliberating, Marquis August was gathering the crystal fragments one by one with trembling hands. Just maybe. Perhaps someone could fix this… Clinging to a sliver of hope like a drowning man grasping at straws.

“Stop, Marquis.”

A chilling voice came from behind the marquis. A cold sensation touched his nape. As the marquis slowly moved his eyes to check, he saw a sharp icicle pointed at his artery.

“With this level of magic… Behemdorf.”

“Marquis, what is the Emperor’s spy doing here? Did you break the mana collector?”

As suspected, it was Prime Minister Behemdorf threatening the marquis. Like a proper court magician, he had stealthily captured the marquis from behind with an ice dagger, eyeing him suspiciously.

“I’ve long noticed you and the Emperor plotting something suspicious… but to think it was handing the Empire over to demons! I should have dealt with you earlier.”

The prime minister growled with anger.

It was a reasonable suspicion for the prime minister who had witnessed the marquis picking up the broken orb pieces, but for the marquis, it was an outrageous false accusation. Him breaking the mana collector? August shouted in protest.

“What! Drop these absurd assumptions! Why would I deliberately endanger His Majesty?”

“Hmm… a Maein speaking of loyalty. Nothing could be more ridiculous.”

That’s when Kwak Taewoo intervened.

“Wait, I asked this person to guide me to the mana collector.”

“…I remember seeing you. You’re an Earthling. This is a military classified area of the Empire. Why are you here?”

Kwak Taewoo explained the situation to the suspicious Prime Minister Behemdorf.

He was originally assigned to guard the East Gate, and concerned that the Death Worm’s rampage might have damaged the mana collector, he came to check. If the mana collector was broken and the mana cannons couldn’t be used, the risk of the East Gate being breached would increase dramatically.

After a calm explanation and questioning, Behemdorf dissolved his ice dagger. He had dispelled his suspicions through cross-verification with information he already knew.

“Hmm… not a lie. I also just came to check after hearing from Guard Captain Marco.”

“Glad we understand each other. You’re the court magician, right? Can you fix this?”

Behemdorf summoned his mana. Threads of mana extending from his fingertips carefully selected only the orb fragments from the debris pile, lifting them into the air.

“I once spent time researching mana convergence golems and the mana collector. Attempting to replicate this timeless invention created by a genius ahead of his time.”

But the research failed. The golems and crystal orbs were protected by powerful security magic that made reverse engineering impossible. This was to prevent these dangerous weapons from falling into demon hands.

“But the process wasn’t meaningless. During our research, magicians discovered that the golems and crystal orbs were enchanted with more than just security magic.”

The telekinetic magic made of mana threads twisted and turned complexly, moving the glass fragments. He connected smaller fragments around the largest piece. Each piece was a three-dimensional puzzle with irregular sizes and shapes.

The archmage’s brain worked furiously, connecting the complex puzzle pieces one by one in sequence. As each puzzle piece found its correct place, the seams between the fragments glowed and the cracks disappeared as if they had never existed.

“…We found that they were enchanted with restoration magic that would return them to their original state if they found their proper place, even if damaged.”

The Demon King’s army had reached the walls before, and demons had destroyed golems before. But the golems naturally repaired their damaged parts over time. That’s how the golems had protected the Empire for hundreds of years without maintenance.

As the final piece joined the incomplete mass, the crystal orb, now restored to completeness, shone brightly. As all fourteen thousand pieces connected and the torn circuits rejoined, the mana collector regained its original function with a brilliant crystal light.

In Kwak’s perception, the mana in the atmosphere was being sucked into the crystal orb through osmosis. Greedily, like a sponge absorbing water.

Prime Minister Behemdorf, having completed the arduous task of solving a fourteen-thousand-piece 3D puzzle, wiped sweat from his forehead.

“Whew… the situation was urgent so I pushed myself, but my head feels like it’s about to explode.”

“…Impressive. I’m not a magician so I don’t fully understand, but that mana control. Eerily precise…”

“I am the court magician, this much is expected… Foreigner, could you finish up for me? Just place the mana collector up there.”

The prime minister pointed to a pedestal. When Kwak placed the crystal orb on it, the mana rods connected to the pedestal glowed deep blue, supplying the mana charged by the collector to the circuit. Mana flowed fiercely like a river through the two mana rods.

“Now it’s done. One stream connects to the North Gate, and one to the East Gate’s wall, so the broken mana cannons should be functional again. Now if we just deal with the Death Worm in the palace… Oh?”

Before the prime minister could finish speaking, a sudden earthquake struck them. The ground twisted and buildings shook. Was the Death Worm having another fit? They couldn’t tell, and there was no time for leisurely speculation. The library began to collapse again, dropping stone fragments on their heads.

‘No…! I can’t let it break again!’

Fearing the newly repaired mana collector might break, Kwak threw himself over the crystal orb to protect it. Falling stone fragments scraped against his armor, making an eerie metallic sound.

The prime minister, who was blocking the stone hail with a snowflake-shaped ice shield, urgently called out to Kwak.

“Are you alright! Are you injured?”

“I’m fine! Thanks for your concern!”

The mana collector beneath him was also safe. Just as Kwak was feeling relieved, Behemdorf shouted in disbelief.

“Not you! The mana collector and mana rod!”

Mana rod? Kwak turned his head. A large stone was embedded in the floor tiles. And beneath it, the mana rod leading to the East Gate was severed, leaking mana. With the mana supply cut off, the mana rod darkened to an ominous gray.

Feeling a trickle of cold sweat down his nape, Kwak desperately wished he could turn back time.

‘Fuck.’