Ch.133Magicant+

# 133. Magicant+

“I understand the plan. But if we carry it out as is, the demon…”

“Didn’t I tell you before? We came here to hunt demons in the first place, remember?”

“…”

“I don’t know what’s causing the city lockdown, but it’s definitely because of the demon.”

To summarize the plan:

My raid team and Rahan’s nomadic group of 16 would enter through the west gate. Why the west gate? Because while the church was in the center of the city, it wasn’t exactly central but slightly biased toward the west. There was also an underlying belief that even if the demon’s appearance had been accelerated, the church’s location wouldn’t have changed.

Additionally, the Magic Tower—the culprit behind the demon manifestation—was located slightly to the east of the center. That’s why we chose the west gate.

We would break through using Subin’s magic and Sister Yehyun’s spirits. Since it wasn’t fire directly spewed by the demon, the two of them should be able to extinguish it sufficiently.

After that, we would move stealthily between buildings to reach the church. Once we delivered the fragment of Edenic to the church, the nomadic group would hide while we confronted the demon.

It was a plan riddled with holes, but we had no choice. Not only was this an unexpected situation, but it was also a hastily improvised plan made within minutes of seeing the city’s condition. Neither I, Subin, nor anyone else had memorized the layout of Magicant, so we had to rely on improvisation.

“I’ll leave the detailed command of the nomadic group to you. Have you memorized all the signal systems?”

“I have.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

The sixteen-member transport team for the Edenic fragment sprinted toward the west gate of Magicant.

5 minutes before entering Magicant.

**

“Is there still no solution?!”

“We’ve tried to request support, but the messengers simply cannot get out of the city…”

BANG-!

“Stop repeating the same things like parrots! I’m asking if there’s no way to deal with those abominable mages and the demon!”

“…I apologize.”

In the basement of Magicant’s lord’s castle.

The lord’s family, who had tried to escape through an emergency underground passage only to discover it was impossible, had hurriedly returned to the castle.

They could catch their breath momentarily since the burning demon wasn’t heading directly toward them and was indiscriminately burning everything, but considering the aftermath, this was by no means a good situation.

“What happened to that damned Magic Tower?”

“The tower itself could collapse at any moment. However, there are mages trying to stop the demon, mages trying to interfere with or kill those mages, and mages who are either indifferent or trying to escape—all tangled together. Meanwhile, the demon is burning everything regardless.”

“Cursed creatures! Even if I chop them into pieces and feed them to dogs, my anger won’t be quelled, those arrogant bastards…!”

You’re not exactly a good lord yourself. You immediately thought about escaping, abandoning your citizens.

The knight commander didn’t make the mistake of voicing his inner thoughts. After all, this was his lord, and no matter how incompetent, he wasn’t as bad as the Magic Tower that summoned a demon and reduced the city to this state.

“Then what about the church? What is the church doing during this chaos?! Shouldn’t the church be at the forefront of confronting demons?!”

“The Magicant branch replied that they are too weak compared to other major city branches to handle the demon alone—”

“After all the money we’ve given them and all the support we’ve provided, they dare say such things?!”

The lord clutched his head. The knight commander gritted his teeth.

Feelings of helplessness, fear, and the unjust sense of losing everything swirled within them.

At this rate, they would burn to death.

The lord wasn’t a fool. He knew that if the mages from the Magic Tower and the clergy from the church united, they could fight back instead of helplessly watching like now.

But knowing something intellectually didn’t make it easy to put into practice. It was nearly impossible.

His third son had become a lost soul because of a wicked mage and had become the spark for the demon’s manifestation… How could he join hands with them? Perhaps if more time had passed…

“My lord, what if we open the doors of the mansion to those who are fighting or trying to fight the demon, and join forces with them?”

“…”

“We must first defeat the demon before there can be an ‘after’.”

“…Do as you see fit.”

The lord, whose hair had already half-turned white, nodded weakly. The knight commander hid his gloomy feelings as he withdrew from the office.

**

After running and running, we arrived at the west gate of Magicant.

Seeing it up close was different from seeing it from afar.

Even without getting too close, an immense heat was blocking our way.

‘Without us, I don’t think they could have entered. They might have spirit summoners or mages, but they don’t seem equipped for this.’

By now, I was more curious about how the nomadic group knew about the situation inside Magicant, but there was no time to ponder such things.

“Subin, Yehyun.”

“Preparing.”

“Molang-ah!”

“Fire when ready.”

Cold energy gathered around Subin, and a water spirit appeared beside Sister Yehyun, circling around her.

Shortly after, an extremely compressed ice spear and an artificial waterfall began pouring onto the demon’s fire that was consuming the west gate.

Tssssssss-

The ice and water engaged in a fierce tug-of-war with the demon’s fire, and the steam generated in the process spread uncontrollably in all directions.

But I know Subin and Sister Yehyun. Their skills aren’t so weak that they can’t suppress mere fire left by a demon, not even the demon itself.

Someone who doesn’t know might ask if it’s still dangerous, but…

“Get ready.”

“On it.”

Because I know and trust them, and they know and trust me…

“Now!”

KWAAAANG-!!!

As soon as I gave Rahan the order to charge and leaped forward, the west gate collapsed.

We shot through the narrow gap created by the rising water streams and ice walls that barely held back the demon’s fire closing in from both sides. As soon as we passed through, the water evaporated and the ice walls shattered.

It was a close call.

Despite the protection of water and ice, and despite the brief exposure to the fire, all our skin was reddened and scorched. Only after Subin sprinkled ice powder over everyone’s heads and Sister Yehyun added more water did the heat subside.

Of course, the heat was unavoidable.

“Shit, everything’s on fire.”

“What can we do.”

“Over there.”

I pointed to a building that was burning less than the others.

“Even though the church is biased toward the west, it’s still in the center. We can’t waste all our energy protecting ourselves before we even get there, so let’s take the least hot route even if it means going a bit out of our way.”

“Understood.”

“Let’s move.”

Seyeon and Rahan led the front, breaking through obstacles with their bodies. Subin positioned at the 1/3 point protected the front and middle, while Sister Yehyun at the 2/3 point similarly protected the middle and rear.

“One o’clock!”

“Three o’clock!”

“Two o’clock!”

“Eleven o’clock!”

The deeper we went, the hotter the air became, and the less hot areas were horrifically tragic.

Debris, and corpses.

And the smell.

Mages (presumably) with terrible burns covering most of their bodies, soldiers, and citizens tangled on the ground… it was extremely horrific.

Seyeon and Rahan, who had been breaking through like bulldozers, couldn’t bring themselves to push through these people and slowed down without my order, but…

“[Yuri, Arang. Clear the path.]”

At my command, the two quickly moved forward, repositioning the few people blocking our way before returning to formation. A glance at their expressions showed they weren’t pleased. I felt sorry.

“Stop when I tell you to stop. Every second counts.”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

The number of corpses, or critically injured people in the process of becoming corpses, began to increase exponentially. Following my example, members of the nomadic group also came forward in twos and threes to clear the path, but the frequency was so high that progress was difficult.

To make matters worse, injured people who were still conscious saw us and begged to be saved, to be taken away, making it even harder.

‘Damn…’

It left a bitter taste in my mouth. This was different from killing Albs. Different, but…

“Rahan.”

“I’m listening.”

“Hand over the Edenic fragment.”

“…”

“Hand it over, and have the nomadic group move the injured to safer locations.”

We might encounter crazed mages if we went a bit further, and the absence of the nomadic group might be keenly felt then, but I decided to separate them early to prevent moral collapse.

“Only two of you stay here. You two clear our path, and the other six evacuate the injured.”

“It still seems far to reach the church. Are you sure this is okay?”

“It’s enough.”

“…Alright. We’ll do that.”

Rahan quickly began giving various instructions to his members. The situation had deviated significantly from the plan we had made before departure, which was regrettable, but I believed this was still the best decision.

With fewer people, the area Subin and Sister Yehyun had to protect also decreased—I chose to think of it positively.

“Here. Handle it carefully.”

“Thanks.”

After sending six nomadic group members back, Rahan handed me the Edenic fragment. I pretended to put it in my chest but actually placed it in my inventory, then ordered us to move out again.

After passing over countless corpses…

“There! I can see the church’s symbol!”

“Oppa! Over there!”

Rahan and Yuri pointed somewhere simultaneously, and everyone’s gaze turned in that direction.

But.

Crack-

Crumble-

“Wha- shit?”

The church was collapsing.