Ch.1555-1++++

# 155. 5-1++++

If the forest fire in the Ansila Mountains was a slowly approaching, constricting death that could be avoided with all one’s might…

Then the claymore chain explosion we created here in the Magikant Ruins was….

——————————-!!!

Is this how primitive humans felt when they first experienced thunder and lightning?

Is this how miners felt when they first witnessed the power of dynamite?

Is this how new recruits felt when they first heard gunfire?

It was truly an unavoidable disaster in itself.

The explosion sounds were so loud they became indistinguishable—

KWAAANG—-!!!! KWAGWAGWAGWANG-!! KWAANG-! KWAGWAGWAANG-!!

As if that wasn’t enough, the explosions continued relentlessly.

With each explosion, the ground flipped over.

With each explosion, pillars of flame shot up.

With each explosion, buildings burst apart.

It was a bizarre sight—the overturned earth and building fragments melted in the flames before they could fall back to the ground, fusing together into strange clumps.

‘Holy shiiiit-!’

Did we plant too many?

Something big came, and it was too big.

The firepower was truly beyond expectation.

No human could withstand such an overwhelming disaster. At least not at this moment, even if they were demon summoners.

“…”

The massive explosions that felt like an eternity gradually began to subside.

However, only the deafening explosion sounds and the explosions themselves were subsiding.

The flames and heat that had already been generated weren’t subsiding at all—rather, they were spreading with fierce momentum.

“…Raise your hand if you can’t hear me.”

My voice sounded strange. In response to my nonsense, some peeked their heads up and pressed and released their ear canals, while others remained prone with their ears covered.

‘Two, four, six, seven.’

At least we were all safe. I wasn’t an explosives expert, but I hadn’t set them up without considering the blast aftermath. From the moment I knew what claymores were and mimicked them, not knowing about blast effects would make me a complete amateur.

‘Still… this isn’t a strategy we can use repeatedly.’

Anyone who entered the DMZ must be dead, right? But since we couldn’t ignore possibilities, we needed to confirm in person. The clear message hadn’t appeared yet either.

‘Who should I take with me? Everyone’s in pretty bad shape.’

We hadn’t been wandering through a labyrinth or dungeon for long, nor had we fought demons—we’d simply waited for the explosions to end from a distance, yet everyone was dazed.

‘At times like this, the young ones with good stamina need to step up.’

I called for Seyeon and Yuri. They staggered to their feet, and I told Subin that the three of us would check the site and return, and to send a signal immediately if anything happened while we were gone.

“Ughh… my ears are still ringing…”

“My head hurts so much…”

“Having such good senses is something to reconsider…”

I led them out of the concealment screen as they staggered like drunkards.

And when we saw the fully revealed scene, we all fell silent.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Ruins. Burning ruins.

The battlefield seen from our unobstructed view—not just the minimal visibility we’d maintained for command and remote detonation—was truly night and day different.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Though it seemed there were no survivors from our glimpse on the rooftop, we still went outside the building. Once we reached ground level, the change in perspective made everything feel much more real than when viewed from the roof.

“Let’s start at the initial explosion point.”

“Okay.”

Our footsteps were drowned out by the sound of smoldering fires. With each step, acrid smells filled our nostrils. As we approached the initial explosion point, a strange feeling grew within me.

‘Guilt?’

No.

‘Exhilaration?’

I’m not some explosion maniac who shouts that explosions are art, so that’s not it either.

‘Ah.’

I see.

I’ve felt this gradually for a while now… I’m no longer scared or afraid of things like this.

When I thought earlier that “this isn’t something we can use repeatedly,” it wasn’t because I was afraid of the disaster we caused, but because it required specific conditions, a lot of groundwork, and multitasking that was more stressful than walking a tightrope.

‘My normal human sensibilities have completely gone out the window. Is this why war veterans and mercenaries suffer from PTSD later? Though I can’t call it PTSD since I’m not particularly troubled.’

Even now, rather than thinking our methods were too extreme, I was thinking it was fortunate we wouldn’t need to clean up afterward since we’d move to the next floor once the clear message appeared.

‘Well, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.’

While I was lost in these comfortable thoughts, we arrived at our destination—or rather, near it.

The target area was so devastatingly destroyed that we wouldn’t have recognized it if I hadn’t mapped the surroundings beforehand.

“…Well, there’s nothing here.”

“If there were bodies after an explosion like that, it would be scary in its own way.”

My first thought upon seeing the site was, “Is this kind of inspection even meaningful?” If someone had died in such an explosion, there likely wouldn’t be any traces left, and if they were alive…

“Wait a minute.”

“Yes?”

“Come to think of it, why hasn’t the clear message appeared?”

“…Huh?”

Seyeon and Yuri stopped in their tracks at my muttered question as we mechanically followed the explosion traces.

“That’s right?”

“Looking at this directly, I don’t think any of the mages caught in the explosion could have survived. I don’t think even I could have withstood it if I’d been caught unaware…”

“Ah. That’s it.”

“What?”

“Survivors.”

“What? You don’t mean there are survivors somewhere here…”

“No, not here.”

I pointed to the tower that stood in stark contrast to the ruins.

“In the magic tower. These guys must have brains too. The more evil masterminds. We probably need to take them out too before it’s considered ‘crisis resolved.'”

“Oh shit. You’re right. I thoughtlessly assumed everyone coming this way was all of them. Hah…”

Yuri sighed, holding her forehead at my conjecture. I felt the same way. My head was throbbing, and they must have been physically exhausted. We had set off a grand finale expecting to end it in one go, only to discover there was a separate “boss room.”

“They’ll take one of two stances. Either run away with their tails between their legs, or fortify themselves in that tower.”

“I shouldn’t say this after we provoked them so much, but would guys who chased after us in blind rage from our low-level taunts really run away?”

“I think so too. People who have a lot to begin with don’t easily abandon their foundations. Plus, the magic tower is their home ground, so they might hole up there to buy time for other schemes.”

“Right. You’re both correct. Let’s end our inspection here and return as quickly as possible.”

“Yes!”

“Okay.”

If our guess was correct, I felt we shouldn’t give them too much time. This wasn’t due to any exceptional intuition on my part, but a rather obvious realization.

Looking at the numbers, we’d wiped out about 80% of the mages in one go, yet the completion message hadn’t appeared. This meant the remaining 20% still constituted enough of a threat to keep the mission active.

Giving time to such a force, especially to those who had summoned demons before, was equivalent to increasing the difficulty.

“Huh? Why are you all panting so hard? Did something happen?”

The first to greet us upon returning to the hideout rooftop was Yehyun noona. Though she looked pale from handling the flame magic mines and spirit fire claymores, she seemed to have recovered a bit after resting.

“Noona. Where are the others?”

“Resting in the tent. Ah. Here they come.”

No sooner had Yehyun noona finished speaking than the rest of the team poured out of the tent. I quickly explained our reconnaissance team’s conjecture to their tired, questioning faces, and they all sighed in unison. Subin in particular slapped her forehead—an unusually strong reaction for her.

“I can’t believe we overlooked that possibility.”

“Come on. You’re all human too. And what’s done is done. Let’s focus on the fact that we’ve depleted most of their forces. We may be tired, but none of us are injured, right?”

Yehyun noona comforted Subin. I nodded briefly to noona in gratitude, then clapped my hands to get everyone’s attention.

“From now on, I’ll speak assuming the remaining enemies are fortified in the magic tower.”

The magic tower. The tower of mages.

The fortress of those who prepare, those who become several times stronger on their home ground.

“Honestly, the best option would be to blow up the entire tower from a distance without entering their sphere of influence, just like we did before.”

“But that’s impossible, right?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t make sense that they’d let us do that near their home. So we need to approach this with the mindset of a siege or clearing a tower-type dungeon.”

A dungeon where the difficulty likely increases the more time we give them.

“I’ll explain the strategy now, so interrupt immediately if you spot any contradictions or have better ideas. I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully. Tower-type dungeons like this one…”

At my words, the party members began to steel their resolve, hiding their fatigue.