Chapter 241

Chapter 241. Scheme (3)

– Pudding: Then, what about the other civilians…?

Instead of answering, I remained silent.

It was a topic that always made me uncomfortable, no matter how many times it came up.

As I had thought earlier, it was truly fortunate that we could leave behind the sly high-ranking officials of the Order here.

Unfortunately, not everyone in Biharin was cowardly and cunning.

Karmant Ephenel, the Supreme Commander of the Central Order Army’s 1st Command and the apostle of Finelpenia.

Greg Tembon, the Supreme Commander of the Southern Order Army’s 3rd Command and the apostle of Temoria.

There were also others, like Rashar, affiliated with the 3rd Command and the apostle of Palao, as well as Shamel Perlota.

Some went out with the mission, stating that it was unfair to burden all the risks onto the Beastfolk.

The Marquis Ephenel even died in that battle.

‘In my heart, I’d want to take such people with me.’

They would undoubtedly be helpful in protecting Earth.

But unfortunately, they weren’t ones who would abandon innocent civilians and leave.

Moreover, hundreds of millions of refugees without combat abilities wouldn’t aid Earth.

‘They’d actually be a burden.’

The system wouldn’t take the risk to bring them along.

‘The only lives it must protect are those of Earth’s humans.’

Even under priority, players come before ordinary people.

Because players have a higher chance of survival.

‘If they only survive, they can multiply again and reconstruct humanity.’

The system’s priority order doesn’t stray far from this logic.

Regrettably, I had acknowledged that the decision of the Damned System was the most rational and wise.

‘Above all, I lack the ability to relocate them despite the system’s opposition.’

Concerning this matter, there was truly nothing I could do.

Thus, I remained silent like a loser, refraining from additional explanation.

At the end of my silence, Yang Taeho gulped with a heavy expression.

“Is there a problem?”

At that moment, Horfe fixed his gaze on me and spoke.

“I hear outsiders can communicate with each other without being noticed…”

I replied before any misunderstanding could build up.

“I did have a private conversation, but there’s no problem with the Beastfolk’s migration. I stake my neck on it.”

Yes, the migration of “Beastfolk” posed no problem.

If Horfe continued to inquire, I was willing to provide more detailed explanations.

‘Once we move to Earth, there’ll be those who try to abduct the Beastfolk.’

Trust had to be firmly established before that could happen.

However, the opportunity to extend the conversation with Horfe didn’t arise.

“Oh! Hyung, you’re out early?”

Because Kim Yul woke up at just the right time.

I looked away from Horfe and asked Kim Yul.

“This time it ended quickly. Did you see anything?”

“Not much about divinity… But this guy and that guy.”

Kim Yul placed the body of a general-rank down as he spoke.

“There’s a player in another record. Brown hair, back of the head, height in the late 170s, if you look at the physique, it’s definitely the same guy.”

Though the monster didn’t directly converse or mingle with him.

‘Saw the player passing by from afar, huh…’

What on earth was he doing amongst the monsters?

“And the face?”

“No one spotted him that closely. They were about two to three hundred meters apart. That human was on the wall, and they were waiting in the field outside.”

So the physical appearances were just brown hair and a build.

Crossing my arms, deep in thought, Kim Yul stood up and spoke.

“Want to see for yourself?”

He even handed me a permission ticket for authority.

“You didn’t use it in Santorna and returned it. Use it if you want. There’s still one left anyway.”

After a brief hesitation, I shook my head.

‘It’s not like I can see the face clearly.’

I couldn’t waste authority just to view information already confirmed.

But Kim Yul stayed persistent, practically foisting the ticket on me as he spoke.

“Still, hold onto it.”

Seeing me not taking it, he elaborated.

“If I faint like last time, you can’t browse through records. Meanwhile, the captive you caught might escape, or I might die.”

What kind of change of heart had the previous incident caused in him?

Currently, Kim Yul was talking about the worst-case scenario.

Honestly, I didn’t view this as a bad habit.

Picturing the worst allows you to prepare, preventing anything from crumbling swiftly.

Yet it wasn’t pleasant hearing others talk about worst-case scenarios in front of me.

“Oh, now that we’re on the topic, take this too.”

Tak-

Yang Taeho also took out his ticket and handed it over.

It was to be used if something from last time happened again.

I accepted the tickets they gave, feeling somewhat peculiar.

‘Having them is better than not, in case of the worst.’

But that worst-case wouldn’t come.

I intended to make sure of that.

‘Once is enough for worrying about someone dying.’

Moments after steadying my mind, a loud cry, “Beeeep!” was heard from above.

A shadow swiftly skimmed past the clearing, clearly having wings.

Simultaneously, dark dots began appearing at the edge of the map.

Monsters were approaching within the detection range.

I exhaled a brief sigh and raised my spear.

‘First, I need to deal with them.’

Unlike Karlos’s authority, which is used once and done, Finelpenia’s authority lasted for a certain period of time.

Therefore, Kim Yul decided to continue reading through the records.

Since moving while perusing records was inconvenient, he stayed behind with Yang Taeho by his side.

Thus, I ventured out on a hunt alone.

‘Breche, who came with Horfe, wanted to join, but…’

I declined.

I wished to test the new state I had just entered.

This battle would serve as a good stage to push my limits.

Horfe and I covered the west and south individually, while Breche, along with other Beastfolk, took the south.

The north had giant cliffs, making access difficult.

It was enough for the winged Beastfolk to patrol lightly and maintain vigilance.

Heading south, where I was assigned, approximately tens of thousands of monsters swarmed in.

Usually, being faced with such a horde alone would be quite pressuring.

‘And yet, I don’t feel tense at all.’

With a relaxed expression, I reinforced the mana spooled like thread.

Each time the mana quivered, numerous monsters scattered black blood.

However, the outcome wasn’t quite satisfactory.

“Grrrr!”

“Keek!”

The roars resonating from all around meant many of them were still alive.

In many cases, rather than delivering a killing blow, I gave ambiguous injuries.

There were more than a few parts of monstrous bodies flying towards me across the air.

This time, an insect-like leg came hurtling, shedding black blood with a splat, which I deflected easily with gathered mana.

“Tsk.”

In the process, a few drops of black blood splattered onto my cheek.

Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me much.

The headache was more concerning.

‘The influx of information is overwhelming.’

There were serpentine ones here, mammalian ones there, and monstrous ones resembling insects farther away.

Information flooded in from everywhere touched by the yarn-like mana conjured, and it was taxing to handle without repercussions, being merely human.

‘Perhaps reducing the scope would help.’

Upon severing the mana, which extended hundreds of meters, the headache slightly subsided.

‘Now for a counterbalance…’

By brandishing the nearby mana.

Whoosh!

The mana, which severed a monster’s neck, rocked upward.

Its resonance spread like a wave, reaching monsters farther away.

Regrettably, it stopped short of severing anything beyond an arm.

‘The only answer is practice.’

Luckily, a stage conducive to solo rehearsal was set, perfect for practice.

At times, explosions and booms came from other directions.

But I focused on the immediate combat.

“Hm.”

As time went on, the smell of blood thickened, and more and more monsters perished.

With the practice bearing slow, yet definite fruit, I found a peculiar absorption in it.

‘Once more.’

When the surging mana bisected dozens of monsters, a thrill coursed through me.

At first, absorbing mana felt purely revolting.

But now, it felt somewhat addictively pleasant, not bad at all.

Right on cue, a general-rank monster with high resistance appeared.

Four fireballs arced towards me.

“……!”

Involuntarily, my eyes widened.

I seemed to catch a glimpse of the fireball’s arrangement!

Deciphering someone else’s array meant attempting to break it.

I quickly wedged my mana into the fireball’s arrangement.

“Tsk.”

Yet that first attempt ended in failure.

I could see the array, but disrupting its structure eluded me.

I kicked off the ground and leaped skyward.

Thud, boom!

The fireball aimed at me hit amongst the monsters, spewing fierce flames.

In contrast, I stood on a barrier I created before landing in the throng of monsters.

‘Once more.’

Another fireball soon followed as I briefly waited.

This time, instead of blindly prodding the array, I calmly and accurately severed the connective part.

Snap.

The fireball flying through the air dispersed.

“Aaargh!”

Simultaneously, the presumed magic-using general-rank spewed black blood.

I subdued it in an instant.

During the ongoing battle, a smile lingered on my lips.

The proficiency in Mana Domination had risen by 2% from that single battle.

Of course, these weren’t the only spoils of the battle.

“So now I can break it, huh?”

I muttered as I looked at the two fainted general-ranks.

Having half-given up due to persistent lack of results despite training, the good news couldn’t have been more welcome.

‘I can’t fully see the array.’

Instead, I could grasp the overall shape.

Like a product’s chassis is clear, but its internal components are semi-transparent.

‘This must be why Ahel told me to memorize other magic arrays as well.’

The more you know about basic circuit structures, the more magics you can break.

‘Luckily, I know significantly more magics than ordinary players.’

The magic absorbed through bounty hunting became the foundation for dismantling.

Just as I was about to return upon finishing the battle, I received a message from Kim Yul.

– Kj: When are you coming?

– K: In 10 minutes.

– Kj: Hurry up, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!!

He began this out-of-nowhere cajoling in a text message.

‘What’s with the sudden rush?’

Wrinkling my brow, I scanned Kim Yul’s chat.

With no proper situational report, it seemed unlikely they were under surprise attack or had discovered something new.

Yet, ignoring his hurry left me feeling uneasy, so I hastened my steps.

Making my way back while carrying the general-rank.

As always, my mind was filled with thoughts.

‘The general-rank is not enough.’

Advancing required capturing them.

‘On the contrary, when I’m unprepared and have no need, they pop up willy-nilly.’

Once I’ve prepared and feel the need, they’re nowhere to be seen.

Life often goes that way, but at times like this, it’s understandably frustrating.

‘What to do…’

Though having retrieved divinity, it felt as if there was so much more to gain; withdrawing now seemed regrettable.

‘Surely, they wouldn’t have sent only general-rank monsters.’

No matter how intelligent, general-ranks are intellectually inferior to humans.

This affair involved substantial divinity.

Sending only general-ranks wouldn’t suffice.

‘Surely there’s a general-rank or a proper mage somewhere.’

Yet, locating them through the map remained arduous.

Should I forfeit and withdraw?

‘That can’t be an option.’

We had Horfe, a strong reinforcement, after all.

Since they aimed for divinity, it seemed unlikely they’d quit while I lived.

Therefore…

‘A siege might be necessary.’

Thanks to the gift and auction features, provisioning isn’t a concern.

So, endure until they surface, unable to cope with sustained patience.

‘If they know I and divinity remain here, they won’t easily withdraw.’

By the time my thoughts settled, I’d reached where Kim Yul and Yang Taeho were.

And as soon as I arrived, I came to an abrupt halt.

“Shall we give more potions?”

“Why bother?”

“They should be alive for my hyung to consume them.”

“They’re hardy and hard to kill. If they wake up, they’ll only become a hassle. And they might try eating you before K consumes them. Unlike K, you look scrawny; be cautious.”

The scene before me was vastly, perhaps altogether different from what I’d observed hours ago when I left this place.