Chapter 267: Moonlight Festival
A city in South Korea under a dark sky looked like the shape of some kind of inferno.
“Kaaaaaahhhhhh!”
Numerous gates dotted the black skies, glowing with a bizarre light and hundreds of monsters were pouring out of them, some resembling wild beasts while others were flying through the air like birds.
Hundreds of them were rampaging through the city, tearing down buildings and setting the sky on fire.
It was a sight to behold, a sight of true destruction.
…Yes, that’s what it looked like on the surface.
Until you look closer.
*
[Laugh if you realize you’re being fucked in real time]
No, it’s not just my country, it’s everywhere else.
=[Comment]=
[Laugh (with tears in his eyes)]
[Laugh if you’re huddled with your family in the underground bunker, the sound from above is so fucking scary]
[No it’s not like it’s some fucking fantasy movie and monsters are raining down from the sky]
[Hey but I’m watching the news broadcast and there’s hardly any people out there, what’s going on?]
[Didn’t they all just get eaten and die?]
ㄴ[No, it was too empty for that…?]
*
Yeah.
So there were fewer people than they thought.
Despite the sudden catastrophe, there were no people on top of the city.
*
[Are these all the Association’s underground bunkers?]
[Uh, yeah.]
*
[As soon as that gate was opened, the association broadcast came and everyone ran away]
[That’s why there are so many people here]
*
And the reason is, of course, that most of them fled underground.
Thanks to the disaster preparedness underground bunkers that the association has been building like crazy all over the country this year.
But even so, it was far from reassuring.
Because this was the real beginning….!
“It’s a mess, it’s a mess.”
The rooftops of tall buildings under a sky as black as coal, as if to suggest the end of the world.
I sighed as I watched the contrasting pink and purple floating gates spewing out monsters.
…Again, it was a bizarre sight that gave me goosebumps, even though I’d only seen it once in a manga.
“Eh, what’s all the fuss about?”
I said, and flicked the bomb down the building.
Poof. Poof.
[Crackle!]
The monsters collapsed after being hit by the bomb with telekinetic precision.
It’s still early in the wave, but the guns and chemicals seem to be taking care of business.
So far, the beasts were all pretty weak and just their quantity was high.
I can see it in the video through my mask.
*
[Eek! Die, die, die!]
[Kahahahaha! Now is the time for death, Ogre!!!]
[Line up… shoot!]
*
Floating in front of my eyes, I see the members of Egostream and the news.
While they were maneuvering those beast waves, I was here, acting as a field control center, giving orders, and protecting Eun-Woo behind me.
Thanks to the many drones in the sky, I have a bird’s eye view of what’s going on in Korea right now.
So far, we are holding up pretty well, probably because the monsters are a bit on the weak side.
However, the problem would be the next one.
“…Soon, the second wave will begin.”
I muttered to myself.
This is not the end and soon, the second wave would come.
In most areas, especially in Seoul, more boss-level beasts will begin to appear.
They’re bigger than the others, much stronger and more powerful, and unlike the others, they spawn from a large black gate.
Yeah. Like that black gate over there…
“…Wait.”
I muttered, and hurriedly threw the bombs down.
As I said that, I called out to Eun-woo, who was doing something with her eyes closed behind me, surrounded by all sorts of magical circles.
“Eun-woo, are you still here?”
“…Yes.”
“Okay.”
It doesn’t happen right away.
I thought so, and stood up.
My cloak fluttered in the cold wind and as I did so, I checked my plan once more.
The Moonlight Lord opened the gate, unleashing the monsters and the main problem with this is that gates are proportional to the number of people. There are a lot of them in big cities, but very few by the sea.
The problem is that even if the Moonlight Lord dies, these gates will exist for a thousand years. They’ll still be there, spewing out monsters.
…So, at first glance, what I’m doing may seem like a futile endeavor.
I’ve already evacuated the people to an underground bunker, but it’s not stocked with food, and they’re going to have to go outside at some point, but the world it’s going to be infested with monsters.
Even with the best of intentions, heroes can’t fight 24/7. Eventually, the number of monsters will outstrip the heroes’ ability to eliminate them.
Eventually, there will be carnage on Earth.
…So.
I thought that if we can’t stop the gate in the first place, those beasts are destined to keep crossing over.
‘The Moonlight Bridge’s gate generation mechanism is such that they appear in populated areas in proportion to the number of people…’
Shouldn’t the gates be inversely proportional to the number of people, so that they only spawn in unpopulated areas?
Yes.
And just like that, my whole plan was born.
It’s mostly mountains and such, but the biggest area is the ocean.
That is, if I could somehow tweak the gate creation mechanics so that they would only appear over the ocean.
With all due respect to Atlas, wouldn’t that be fine? I already have his permission.
“…..”
This seemingly impractical plan was an idea I had shortly after falling into this world until I met Eun-woo, a priestess of the Moonlight Church.
We studied together, discussed methods so it started to take shape, and here we are.
“….Phew.”
That was why I was currently guarding Eun-woo, who was sweating in front of me and manipulating the magic circle.
It was also the reason why we had traveled around the country and laid the magic circle.
We used Eun-woo power to hack into the Moonlight Church magic system and change the gate generation mechanism. The magic circle itself is filled with all kinds of magic circles that interfere with the Moonlight Church rituals.
…Of course, there was a problem with this method.
It could only be used after the Moonlight Church had opened the gate and it would take a considerable amount of time.
That’s why I’ve been herding people into underground bunkers to hold out.
For now, the monsters can be stopped by the heroes and my lines. Once I cut off the extra supplies, the rest of the country will follow suit.
But
“That’s… That’s a problem.”
I clicked my tongue as I stood on the rooftop, watching a few black gates float ominously in the air.
[……]
Unlike the other gates, these were much larger and more ominous looking and unlike the others, which had a constant stream of monsters, these were fairly quiet.
Not surprising, given the long intervals of particularly strong boss-level monsters.
And finally
[gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle gurgle].
A huge, black, red-eyed giant appeared.
I held my tongue and immediately contacted Lee Seola.
[What? Da-in, what’s going on?]
A bombardment sounded next to her.
Apparently, she’s in the middle of the mess too.
Anyway, I got to the point.
“Are those things you were talking about ready?”
[Soldiers? Yeah, I’ve already dispatched them to the provinces]
“Okay. I’m sending them all to Seoul now.”
[Ha! Ha, ha, ha. Yes!]
After cutting off contact with Lee Seola, who seemed to be so busy, I immediately summoned all the members of our Egostream.
[To Seoul again? Okay!]
[Hmph. Ha, ha, ha. Okay, we’re on our way~]
[Da-in! We can go this way, right?]
[…I see. I’ll take the east side]
[Yes. All four of us will go that way]
They all went to the provinces and then came back to Seoul.
Obviously, it was a prearranged behavior.
The creatures that emerged from the Black Gate were variants that could not be damaged by conventional weapons.
They could only be defeated with psychic powers, and even then, they were very strong.
And their numbers.
“That’s a lot…”
I muttered, looking around at the black gates, purple gates, and quite a few in between.
That thing is unstoppable unless the powerful people work together. It’s the number one agent of destruction, as I explained before.
Anyway, they’re all spawning in Seoul at this time because the Moonlight Church is in Seoul, so I’m going to call the Egostream back to Seoul to stop them.
That should be enough.
I thought to myself.
“…”
Finally, I turned to Stardus on the screen.
“…Good fight.”
As expected, she was flying alone on the far side of Seoul, near the location of the Moonlight Church.
…I should join her soon.
Just as I was thinking that.
“…Da-in, it’s over!”
“Really?”
I turned my head at Eun-woo’s urgent shout.
“Now, haha, I just need to do the last thing.”
Breathing heavily, Eun-woo said.
…Yes, there is only one last task left, dealing with the Moonlight Church Lord himself.
…I can almost see the end.
Thinking that, I said to Eun-woo.
“Okay, Eun-woo, let’s go!”
“Yes!”
With that, I ran off with Eun-woo to face the Moonlight Church.
And then…To see Stardus.
Oh, but first.
This is the last part, I have to turn it on.
With that thought, I powered up the camera I’d prepared in advance.
Okay. Here we go.
*
[?????]
[Huh?]
[Broadcast ON ㅋㅋㅋ ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick! Mangostick!]
*
The chat window is already up.
Realizing that the broadcast was on, I looked at the camera and smirked.
“Hello, everyone. It’s Egostic!”
Let’s live stream.
“First of all, does anyone know where Stardus is?”
I’m looking for Stardus. Yeah.
***
[Stardus!]
“Heh, heh, heh. Why?”
In the middle of a bizarre city center filled with pink air, Stardus, holding another monster, gasped in response to the association agent’s words in his ear.
As she listened, Stardus said.
“…Understood, yes.”
Then she cut off the contact.
“…Ha.”
With a short chuckle, her first of the day, she punched another monster in the face.
“Egostic…”
He said he was coming…As always.
