episode_0048

“Fog is coming! Everyone, stay relaxed and prepare!”

As soon as I finished speaking, a black fog entered the parking lot and engulfed us all.

“Kuhhh!”

“Aaagh!”

“What! what! This feeling!”

The hunters each covered their faces. It’s just a fog, but I know it’s just a fog made of demonic energy.

The feeling of that magic energy touching your skin is like someone spraying coarse salt mercilessly in your face, causing a tingling sensation that makes you let out a small groan.

“Create magical power! Circulate the mana in your body throughout the Mana Road!”

My whole body felt heavy. It felt like the entire air was pressing down on my body. This is also true for the strong bodies of dragons, so what would the situation be like for my disciples who, even if they have awakened mana, still have weak human bodies?

When I glanced at them, I saw that they were all desperate, as if they were forcibly squeezing out magical energy to minimize the strain on their bodies.

For now, the priority will be to retreat to the academy with my students.

You can handle the dimensional anchors later. First, let’s take these kids and go home.

Other screams were heard from ahead. It was probably the screams of the soldiers who had run away earlier.

The screams heard in the darkness, where all the hotel’s electricity was turned off due to the dark fog, were so cruel that they remained as a personal trauma.

“Retreat to the academy. Everyone returns to the magic circle location.”

He said to them while activating the light magic. A bead of light rises above my right shoulder, slightly illuminating the pitch-black darkness.

As if a flashlight had been turned on in the dark, the blood-stained parking lot, illuminated only by light magic, was so gloomy.

As soon as possible, her remains were recovered. Was her name Ellen Morhaime? It is a sad death.

He had a friendly personality to everyone and was a guy that the Gideonites often relied on. Plus, he was a talented player in the top 20, but I never thought he would get there so quickly… .

As her body was levitated in the air, blood flowed from her severed neck. Woeful voices came out from all directions at the cruel sight.

There is a sound of rubber on the soles of hard shoes hitting the floor. We were almost running back to the hotel shelter.

We can hear the howling of monsters behind us. Some people bit their lips at the creepy sound that felt like scratching inside their bodies.

─All the monsters must have been dealt with, but what about this noise?

─Are they appearing again? What happened? Is that anchor or something summoning monsters?

─It can’t be possible. That’s ridiculous. How did we deal with them?

The guys were talking in voices full of anxiety.

─Bang!

He kicked open the closed iron door of the shelter and stormed into the shelter.

Okay, let’s get these guys back to the academy. I can take care of the anchor later.

A decaying bone was seen in the corner of the room. It seemed to be the body of the staff member who first greeted us. All of the flesh had melted away, leaving white bones exposed.

The voices of the hunters who discovered something at that time tremble. I also frowned when I heard that voice.

─Light… Disappeared?

A trembling voice rang out in the narrow shelter. Although they were ignorant of magic, they seemed to instinctively know what was going on.

A normal magic circle always emits a weak light. However, the current magic circle has changed to a dark color similar to the color of the fog.

I placed my hand on my forehead in deep fatigue.

Teleportation is impossible─, my reason concludes.

“… Enter the hotel. First of all, you need to find a place to take shelter.”

*

First, we took refuge in the second floor of the hotel. A large hall that seemed to be used as a wedding hall was located on the second floor.

All the miscellaneous items, such as chairs and tables, inside the hall were lifted up to block the stairs leading to the second floor.

It was erected as a barricade, but everyone knows it. The monsters are like glass shields that will shatter with a single swing of their claws. It’s hard to give it any meaning beyond just annoying them for a few seconds.

“Is everyone okay? What is the state of magical power?”

“… Mana is being consumed rapidly. I don’t think I can last long.”

Gideon opened his mouth with an unhappy expression. It seemed like the other guys felt the same way. There was also a guy who was gasping and clutching his chest as if he was out of breath.

With those words, he generously took out a potion from his inventory and held it out.

“Is that a dimensional anchor? I heard about it during the professor’s lecture, but I think this is my first time seeing it. Um.”

“It’s rewarding to teach you. But why was the written test so bad?”

In response to Han Sejun scratching his head, he said it as if he were joking. A few chuckles can be heard as if the efforts to turn the atmosphere around were effective.

Even though my mouth was speaking, my eyes continued to trace the source of the mana. The black flash of a dimensional anchor rising from the square.

It clearly didn’t exist before, so what happened?

“When seen before, the anchor did not exist. But I don’t know where it suddenly appeared.”

In a way, the fact that I am standing here now is like receiving a prophecy about an event that will happen”.

Before coming, I clearly received information from GDO that a dimensional anchor was being installed, and the main goal was to destroy it.

Hunters filming? Of course, there was that, but the biggest goal was to recapture Tbilisi.

‘I was foolish.’

I felt a rush of self-reproach. The battle between monsters so far has been a simple annihilation battle where you just storm in, cut down the monsters, and burn them.

It’s a battle that can be completed by simply hitting with force. It was a mistake to think that this would simply be the case this time.

Why did I ignore this omen even though there were omens like the present? And he even has disciples with him.

“Professor. Could it be that the place where the anchor is installed is underground?”

Someone’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. A firm and cool-headed female voice. Jang Ah-hyun was looking over the second-floor railing toward the reception hall on the first floor.

What you see beyond the hall with the broken glass on the outer wall is the black light rising from Tbilisi Square. She was glaring at it.

“Light is coming out, but the object at the center of it is not visible. I think it might be located under the ground. So it was captured in the satellite photo that the soldier mentioned. When we arrived, I think they had paused their activities for a while.”

“Underground?”

“… It seems like a possibility. There is a story that a fortress city was built underground in Tbilisi in the past to prepare for an invasion by the Ottoman Turks.”

The guy with glasses nodded and said, as if he finally understood.

Of course, it was my first time hearing this story. Not only did I have no interest in world history, but even if I had, I would not have delved deeply into the history of the Caucasus region.

─Kwaaah!

The sounds of monsters are heard again from afar. As if he had instinctively sensed this direction, the resounding footsteps were getting closer and louder.

“Damn it!”

With the sound of glass breaking, monsters rush into the hotel lobby. I fired a magic missile and knocked them down, but the monsters kept coming after stepping on their corpses.

The monster wave at dusk unfolded again in the black fog.

“Battle! Ready for battle!”

At the urgent cry, the guys grab their swords again. But I still feel a slight tremor.

Slasher’s claws. With that single swing, the sloppy barricade breaks into pieces and flies away, and the guy charges towards us in triumph, rubbing his claws together and making metal.

Even I got goosebumps as I ran in the dark space with a short discernible distance.

Obviously, this was an open space called a hotel, but it felt claustrophobic.

“I’m dying!”

A muscular guy swung a bastard sword turned into a mana weapon and smashed the guy’s head. My brain ruptured and blood flowed out like a pumpkin that had been hit by a tractor.

“Wow!!”

Muriel moves the shadow. Their shadows illuminated by my light magic rush towards the owner and cut off their legs.

She uses her spear to stab monsters that have fallen and lost their legs.

Everyone was doing their best to spread propaganda, but

There are too many monsters.

If you hit two guys, four guys will rush at you. If you cut down four guys, sixteen will come running. Everyone here was trapped in an infinite race that continued endlessly, leading their exhausted bodies and cutting them down in a trance.

‘It can’t go on like this.’

Our physical strength and magic power are limited, but they kept coming out of the darkness. I don’t know if their numbers are truly infinite, but it is clear that this side will run out of stamina first.

Measures had to be taken. So, is there only one solution now?

“I will break the anchor. It seems like that is the only solution to the current situation.”

“Professor?”

“10 minutes. I’ll be back in just 10 minutes. Just hold on for a while. gray! Ramirez! Li Jiyuan! Jang Ah-hyeon! Don’t leave it up to you.”

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the great sword again. Yes, that is the only way in this situation.

If it is certain that it exists underground, destroying it will be a piece of cake.

He generously took out various potions from his inventory and placed them on the floor. Most of the various potions I had saved were all used up today.

But now is not the time to save it.

“The red one is a recovery potion and the blue one is a mana potion, as we saw earlier. Don’t be sparing and use it right away if you need it. Then I will… ”

“Professor! Please let me go too.”

As I was putting down the potion boxes on the geometrically patterned carpet on the hall floor, I raised my head when I heard someone’s voice.

Jang A-hyeon was looking over here and conveying her opinion. I frowned at that boldness.

Just as I was about to say something, Han Sejun’s surprised voice stopped my mouth.

“What? What would we do without you! You should lead us—damn it!—you should!”

The guy’s words are briefly cut off by the monsters. He continues to shout as he slashes the waist of the guy who interrupted him with a long sword wrapped in red flames.

The light magic illuminated his face, which was as red as the color of his supernatural ability.

“I will leave the conducting to you, Sejun. If it takes about 10 minutes, you will be fine. You all agree, right?”

“Yes. You can trust Sejun.”

“If it’s Jun, I’ll trust it too!”

“He may be a bit unsavory, but he still does it when he has to.”

“Hey you guys… .”

Han Sejun, who was about to say something, turned his body and swung his longsword sharply, cutting one of the tods into two.

The severed upper body fell over the railing and fell alone, and the lower body made a comical crashing sound as it hit the wall.

I closed my mouth for a moment and looked at her with bold brown short hair. She also looks at me with determined eyes.

There is no particular opinion that Han Se-jun will take command of her team for a while. Han Se-jun is not that big, but perhaps because of his intelligence, he is so superior that he can throw a small car with one hand.

Although his somewhat childish and timid personality is problematic, he has great trust in his colleagues, so he will not do anything unreasonable.

But that’s a separate story from her following me.

“If you think that you will be safer next to me, you are mistaken. It is entering the depths of enemy territory. Much more dangerous than here─”

“I never thought about that. And the lack of citizens in the city is also suspicious. It must have something to do with the dimensional anchor I suspect is underground.”

And I can help you with that. He confidently appeals to me about his need.

I scratched my chin in contemplation for a moment. In my heart, I didn’t want to take him. Are you saying that he took her because he knew something bad would happen in the deepest part of it?

This is because I did not want to see the main character of the original work get hurt.

But this time, my senses were sending me a feeling that was contrary to my emotions.

‘Is it right to take her?’

Rationally speaking, taking her would have been counterproductive. Rather, there was a high possibility that it was a fight with baggage attached.

But this time my senses were sending me positive feelings about her.

My head said no, but I was even more worried because I was a bit intimidated by the unfortunate incident that occurred a while ago when I ignored this sensation.

‘Yes, the more you think about it, the less time it takes.’

When that thought occurred to me, I decided to move quickly. As soon as he made his decision, he raised one hand and hugged her.

“Ahh, ah!”

She let out a small, stupid sound as if she was embarrassed by the sudden action.

She struggled slightly at the feeling of someone wrapping around her waist, but I held her tighter against my side.

A few guys look at this for a moment and laugh. But that only lasts for a moment, and in an emergency situation, everyone quickly returns to their original position.

“It will fly through the air using fly magic, so hold on tight so it doesn’t fall. And be careful, as brushing against the scales in the opposite direction can cause injury. There was a foolish guy who got his own way and got a big scar on his face.”

After briefly giving instructions and lightly swinging the staff in my left hand, the skill is used and my body begins to float in the air. The woman in my right arm also began to float.

She was amazed by that unusual experience. And let out a small exclamation.

As I climbed over the railing and floated higher, I gave instructions to those left behind.

“Leaders of each team. Take care of your team. I will trust you guys and go.”

“Yes, Professor! I will accomplish the mission you have entrusted me with.”

“Of course. Today is a day of endless fire, wow!”

“Yes, I will definitely do that.”

And the gaze is focused on the last guy.

Han Se-jun, who suddenly received attention, blinked while holding the sword, but opened his mouth in surprise when Muriel stabbed him in the side with a shadow.

“Ah, yes! Yes! that… I will hold on for 10 minutes, Professor.”

Han Se-jun straightened his bent body and looked embarrassed at Muriel, who had stabbed him in the side.

Muriel shrugs her shoulders, as if this wasn’t the first time she’s shown this lack of attention, and Nakajima narrows his eyes and looks at him. Tania was bursting into laughter.

I felt a small sigh come from my side, and with a small smile on my face, I flew higher into the sky.

It was very dark outside the hotel. Even though the light sphere was floating next to me, I couldn’t see an inch straight in front of me, as if it were a darkroom where photos from a film camera were being printed.

The cries of monsters coming from the dark, unseen space below are eerie.

When the staff was shaken, several fireballs flew towards them. It was a spell cast with the purpose of lighting a fire rather than a specific target.

There is heavy drinking in the street and a fire on the floor brightens the view a little more.

A disgusting number of monsters, resembling a swarm of cockroaches, were glowing in this direction, illuminated by the burning flames.

“Can I attack you too?”

“Of course. But try to preserve some magic power.”

She grins at my words. Soon, a large amount of light bullets, like a meteor shower, began falling to the ground from her.