< Chapter 119: The Fluttering of a Butterfly (1) >
Alone in the control room, monitoring the battlefield, Maiden let out a hollow laugh.
She was so flabbergasted that words failed her.
“Crazy bastard.”
―Isn’t “crazy bastard” a bit too harsh?
“Then, slightly less crazy bastard.”
―……
It felt as if she was seeing a hallucination that was compelling her to run away to America.
Anyone who saw the spectacle unfolding before them would probably think the same.
“‘The Archangel’s Cross’ unique ability ‘Archangel’s Blessing,’ is it?”
―Yes, that’s correct.
“…Heh.”
Maiden shook her head in disbelief.
“No matter how ancient the relic is, isn’t this too overpowered?”
―It is overpowered.
The main screen hovering at the center of the situation room displayed the landscape of the Grayed-out regions centered around the Korean peninsula.
It was footage captured from an artificial satellite.
“What kind of buff skill covers the entire range of the Grayed-out areas, you crazy bastard.”
A mysterious light was enveloping the world.
At first, it was illuminating only Kang Seo-yul, but in an instant, the radius expanded to such a degree that it even reached China and Japan.
The entire area illuminated by that light falls under the effect range of the ‘Archangel’s Blessing.’
“And what? A crazy range like this increases all stats by 50%? If this isn’t crazy, what is?”
―Is it my power? No, it’s the power of this cross.
The power of the cross.
“So the longer the power is accumulated, the larger the range and effect?”
―Yes. It’s been accumulating power for ten thousand years, so expanding to this range is natural… Ah!
Kang Seo-yul suddenly let out a cry.
At the same time, the pillar of light that had been shining down from the sky began to disappear.
“What’s going on? Is something wrong?”
Maiden’s expression became serious.
―No, it’s nothing.
It had been just a minute since he held the Archangel’s Cross, and an error occurred. The light began to disappear for the same reason.
“What do you mean it’s nothing? Did the buff end?”
However, for Maiden, who was unaware of this fact, it was a big deal.
―No, it’s fine. Only the visual effect is gone; the applied buff should still be active.
Maiden let out a sigh of relief.
“Is that so? How long will it last?”
―Roughly 30 minutes?
“…That’s vague.”
Maiden stroked her chin.
“It would be best if the raid team can successfully clear the gate and come back before that.”
Even so, that seemed a bit difficult.
―Well, we’ll have to hold out somehow. How’s the situation since the blessing was activated?
“Don’t worry about that. At this pace, we should be fine until the Archangel’s Blessing disappears.”
Both Maiden and Kang Seo-yul prayed for the safety of the members inside the gate who were in the middle of the raid.
* * *
Inside the main Erosion Gate.
The team of 4 people + 2 creatures was progressing through the raid more smoothly than expected.
“Si-yeon, get back!”
“Yes!”
“Jia, use Rain of Arrows when Goldie and White Tiger retreat! Don’t forget the silver arrows!”
“I’ve already got it ready!”
Yu Hwa’s orders were near perfect.
Based on the information she received from Kang Seo-yul, she had successfully reverse-engineered the internal structure of the gate.
The result was her almost flawless command strategy.
‘It’s somehow going well.’
Of course, not everything was going as Yu Hwa had planned. There were two miscalculations.
The first was underestimating the difficulty of the gate.
It turned out to be a level higher than what Yu Hwa had anticipated.
“Additional forces from the skeleton army confirmed!”
Shin Jia shouted.
Dul-dul-dul, dul-dul-dul,
From afar, a formation of skeletons was rushing towards them.
“How many?”
“At least 100!”
Yu Hwa bit her lip lightly. 100 was a bit much, but…
‘It’s still not something we can’t handle.’
Then what could be the reason they were still able to proceed according to plan, even though the difficulty of the gate was higher than expected?
The answer was the skills of the team members.
‘Everyone is more skilled than I thought.’
As much as the gate was more challenging than anticipated, the skill levels of the team members were also higher than expected. The result was their current smooth progress.
‘Goldie and White Tiger are as formidable as I thought.’
Not to mention the physical abilities of Goldie and White Tiger. Ha Si-yeon, who synced well between them, was also excellent. What’s impressive is her ability to objectively assess her skills and not overreach.
‘Officer Cadet Ha Si-yeon doesn’t have an ounce of arrogance. That’s surprising, given she ranked first in the officer academy.’
She felt humble, if anything. She is completely focused on backup, as if she believes she is nothing special.
‘The same goes for Shin Jia.’
Shin Jia is no different. Her stats might not vary much from what Yu Hwa had initially thought, but her movements are incredibly sharp.
‘Perfect positioning, perfect backup, and concentration that doesn’t lose track of the external battlefield.’
On top of that, her coordination with Goldie, White Tiger, and Ha Si-yeon is also perfect.
“Si-yeon, get out!”
“I know!”
The movement of the two was as perfect as well-oiled gears meshing together. The same person probably trained Ha Si-yeon and Shin Jia.
‘I wonder if Seo-Yul trained those two?’
It seemed highly likely.
‘And then…’
Yu Hwa finally looked at the farthest back.
‘Rena.’
Just like Kang Seo-yul, a survivor of biological experiments. A cute girl who has silver ears on her head due to a fusion with the beast tribe. She had completely misjudged that girl’s abilities.
“Princess!”
Yu Hwa signaled Rena.
“Clear the way!”
In response, Rena shouted in awkward Korean.
On that signal, Goldie, White Tiger, Shin Jia, and Ha Si-yeon left the area.
Yu Hwa did the same while waving her hand in the air.
Swoosh!
As she leaped backward, she placed magic swords in the paths of the monsters.
Blocked by the swords, the monsters could no longer pursue. The sword barrier was complete, cutting off the monsters from the team.
‘Complete annihilation.’
She gathered all the scattered monsters in one place and blocked them with her magic swords.
Everything went according to Yu Hwa’s plan.
Then, the next moment.
Whoosh!
A fireball several times larger than Rena appeared, rushing toward the concentrated monsters.
Boom!
A deafening explosion followed, and the heat brushed everyone’s skin. Just feeling the residual heat was enough to know how powerful the magic was.
Everyone stared at the site of destruction, their faces pale.
‘…This kid might actually be stronger than me.’
Yu Hwa recalled what Kang Seo-yul had said before. That this girl Rena could be the joker card, the key to their tactics, and might even be stronger than Yu Hwa herself.
She had thought it was a joke, but maybe it was serious.
Moreover,
‘First wind, then water, now fire.’
She was at a loss for words.
‘How many types of elemental magic can she use?’
Kang Seo-yul, who had dual elements, was already considered one of the world’s top prospects.
But three elements?
And she’s an original mage at that.
‘If this gets out, it’ll be chaos.’
A genius mage who can handle three elements. The versatility and utility don’t even need to be discussed.
“It’s over.”
Rena approached the stunned three with a serious face that strangely contrasted with her cute tone.
“Yeah, I saw. You did great.”
Yu Hwa grinned in response. Rena smiled back as if proud, her expression saying, ‘This much is obvious!’
If she had spoken in the language of the Beastmen, she probably would have shouted that.
Unfortunately, no one here understood their language.
“Hmm.”
Eventually, Rena tried to say something but couldn’t find the right words, and silently returned to her position.
Watching her, Yu Hwa came back to her senses.
“Let’s move on.”
There was no time to waste. The Gate was larger than expected, taking up more time.
“Yes.”
Anyway, the Gate raid was proceeding smoothly.
‘So the things to watch out for are mutated monsters and… maybe the boss?’
With this in mind, Yu Hwa started moving.
* * *
About 10 minutes have passed since the use of the “Archangel’s Blessing.”
The 50% increase in all stats was powerful. All areas are said to have an overwhelming advantage.
For the next 20 minutes at least, we’ll be fine. The best scenario would be to complete the capture of the main gate in the meantime, but that will probably be difficult.
In the original story, it took the main character about an hour to capture the main gate.
30-40 minutes were spent just moving, and another 20 minutes were spent killing monsters.
Let’s calculate the estimated time for our raid team based on this information.
We will likely move faster. Given the information we have about the gate’s interior, we should be at least 10 minutes faster.
So, we can assume that moving will take about 20-30 minutes.
Next is the time for dealing with monsters.
Since the original story’s main character was stronger than all of our current members combined, we will probably need an additional 10-20 minutes.
So, dealing with monsters will take about 30-40 minutes.
Therefore, the estimated raid time would be around 50-70 minutes.
Since 20 minutes have already passed, we have 30-50 minutes left.
In other words, we’ll have to hold on for 10-30 minutes after the “Archangel’s Blessing” ends…
“…This is cutting it close.”
Given the increasingly fast and strong nature of the gate, we’ll start to be pushed back like crazy right after the buff from the Chief Justice ends.
10 minutes would be more than enough time for the front lines to collapse.
After another 10 minutes, the death rate among the superhumans will increase exponentially.
And if another 10 minutes pass, even the bunkers where the civilians are taking refuge will be affected.
Of course, compared to the original story, this is nothing.
In the original, not this many superhumans were dispatched, and there was no skill like the “Archangel’s Blessing.”
In the original, half of the Korean superhumans died, so that says it all.
However, just because there are fewer deaths compared to the original doesn’t mean there are no casualties.
Superhumans shouldn’t die in a place like this. Considering the future, every superhuman is precious.
We have to save as many as possible.
Suddenly, this thought occurred to me.
“…Where do you see this as a munchkin novel? It’s an apocalypse.”
In a munchkin world where the munchkin main character is gone, it’s just the brink of human extinction.
To overcome this crisis, we need as many allies, superhumans, as possible.
It’s also our moral duty to save anyone we can.
To do that, we have no choice but to do our best with what we have now.
“Sigh.”
I took a deep breath for the last time.
I’m ready.
I picked up the radio.
“Maiden, I’m ready.”
―Already?
“Yes.”
Actually, there wasn’t much to prepare for.
I had already placed the prepared ingredients at specific locations.
All that was left was to draw the magic circle. It was a simple task.
―Okay. Got it. So, give the signal when you feel it’s getting dangerous after the Archangel’s Blessing ends.
“Yes, I’d appreciate it.”
I walked toward the center of the magic circle.
―Kid, I won’t ask where you learned such a skill. You wouldn’t tell me anyway.
Such a skill, meaning the magic circle I’ve drawn on the ground.
I learned this magic circle from the princess, just like the previous magic amplification circle. The princess had developed this magic circle herself. It doesn’t have a name yet; we just haven’t found a suitable one.
―So if you’re right, in about 15 minutes, all the Gates will be funneled to that location?
“Yes, that’s correct.”
The effect is an increased frequency of Gate appearances within the range.
Precisely, it is a spell that reverses the effects of “Gray Out” to concentrate magical activities in this area.
She really is an amazing princess. Understanding the structure of the Gates and even figuring out Gray Out at a glance.
―So, no backup is really needed, right?
“Yes, it’s fine. Otherwise, they might get caught in the range.
Having more people could be problematic. ‘Distorted Balance’ doesn’t have a method to target specific individuals, unlike Efreet’s Blessing.
―Okay, understood. No more talking.
Silence followed.
After some time had passed, the Archangel’s Blessing ended.
Soon, it’ll be time. The time when the front lines start to collapse one by one, the balance breaks, and when I start my actions.
―Kid, now!
I took a final deep breath.
“Let’s start.”
As I said that, I stomped my foot.
Thud!
Along with the sound of hitting the asphalt,
Whizz!
The magic circle emitted light.
Rumble!
As if resonating, the sky trembled. Even the earth, as if it could not lose, trembled.
I could feel it.
The Gates were being drawn here.
Feeling the gradually intensifying vibration, I equipped ‘Distorted Balance’ on my arm.
Whoosh!
I spread my angelic wings and soared high into the sky.
Standing in the sky, I extended my arm with the bracelet toward the center of the magic circle and muttered softly,
“The Wrath of Nature.”
At that moment, the earth shook.
< Chapter 119: The Fluttering of a Butterfly (1) > End
