Chapter 175: Episode 175

The living dungeon gate—the disaster known as Immortal—began to move in earnest. The tank division’s shelling was continuously blocked by the swarm of monsters pouring from its body.

“Focus fire on the monsters! The hunters will handle Immortal!”

“Do not let it reach Busan!”

The hunters hurried to surround the beast.

Immortal swung its arm, and the electric net we had laid out tore apart in a shower of sparks. The cutting-edge technology meant to hold the Disaster in place had bought us mere seconds. Now, Immortal was breaking out.

“…Huh?”

“That direction is—!”

Immortal was running in the complete opposite direction of our formation.

“Tch! Stop it!”

Hunters who had bravely blocked the Disaster’s path unleashed a barrage of firepower. Flames erupted from their hands, flashes of light burst forth, and gun barrels spat fire, but Immortal simply broke through the attacks with its body and breached the encirclement as if it didn’t care.

Everyone watching stood with their mouths agape. It had all happened in an instant.

“Don’t just stand there! Move!”

“If we let that monster-spewing thing go, it’ll be a catastrophe!”

The hunters desperately began their pursuit, but Immortal was shockingly fast. The human-shaped being made of thin air sprinted at full speed, swinging its arms wildly. There was no way a human could catch up to a giant over sixty-six feet tall.

The battlefield was in utter chaos.

“Chase it!”

“Catch up!”

The roar of battle was deafening. The earpiece communications were a mess, too. News of Immortal’s unexpected behavior was coming in not just from Miryang, but from almost every region.

’What’s going on, Ea?’

-This is strange. The basic properties of this disaster are identical to the Immortal incident in Mexico.

’Then why is it going in a different direction instead of toward Busan?’

If the disaster’s properties were the same, what was the difference between Mexico back then and Korea now? As I pondered this, an idea sparked in my mind.

’Ugh, so that’s what happened.’

[Upon appearing, the Disaster Immortal will prioritize attacking the city with the largest population.]

Through media reports, the entire nation was somewhat familiar with Immortal’s nature. This was a common characteristic found in many disasters, so people were used to it.

When news broke that a gate would appear in the Gyeongnam region, what must the people in Busan, the most populous city nearby, have thought? While the consensus was that staying in Seoul was safe due to the concentration of Korea’s military might, the people of Busan must have felt anxious relying solely on the Gyeongnam defense line.

So they got in their cars and evacuated.

As a result, now that the disaster had struck, the population numbers in the Gyeongnam region had reversed.

-Tower Master! Based on Immortal’s direction of travel, its destination is estimated to be Changwon!

’We’re in trouble.’

The Disaster’s target had shifted from Busan to Changwon. Currently, most of the Gyeongnam defense line’s forces were deployed here in Miryang. There were defensive forces in Busan as a contingency, but Changwon’s defenses were extremely weak.

-The civilians are also unprepared. This could lead to a major catastrophe.

’I’ll report it.’

I quickly contacted headquarters to report my conclusion. A moment later, a broadcast came through.

“This is HQ! We have confirmed that Immortal’s primary target has changed due to the movement of evacuees!”

Their response was fast. It seemed that even without my report, headquarters had reached the same conclusion. It was a deduction that could be easily made with a little thought.

“Immortals in the Gyeonggi area are all heading toward Seoul as expected! However, in regions outside of Seoul, reconsider priority targets. The Yeongam gate is predicted to target Mokpo, the Miryang gate Changwon, and the Odaesan gate Yangyang!”

“Hunters in charge of gates in other regions, please report the situation promptly. Over and out!”

I couldn’t just stand by. I activated my wing golem and was chasing Immortal at top speed.

“Yusin! What should we do?” Jin Bora’s voice came through the comms.

I put a hand to my earpiece, connected to the Magic Tower channel, and said, “Samia. Are you there?”

“I’m listening, Hunter Kim Yusin.”

“How long will it take to set up a warp magic circle to transport all the Magic Tower members?”

“An instance magic circle to move nine people… would take about twenty minutes.”

“Then I’m counting on you! I’ll hold it off for those twenty minutes.”

“Alone?”

“I have to try.”

While flying with the wing golem, I pulled my knees to my chest and activated Devastar on both feet. Then, I triggered the magic on my right foot first.

<Devastar>

Trailing black smoke, I shot forward hundreds of yards in the blink of an eye. As my speed decreased, I used Devastar on my other foot. The hunters following behind were also rushing forward using their own Unique Abilities or booster equipment, but none could match my speed.

’The Darkness Affinity trait has lessened the side effects, but I still need to be careful…!’

After repeating this a few times, I easily caught up to Immortal. The transparent monster was running, smashing through trees as it swung its arms back and forth.

’This thing really runs like a person.’

I pushed the wing golem’s speed even higher while taking out the demonkin-capturing chains from my subspace pouch—the same item I used to transport Hong Yeon in Africa. I had bought one thinking it might come in handy.

First, I needed to pin it down and buy time for the Magic Tower members and other hunters to set up a defensive line in Changwon.

’Let’s do this!’

I kicked off with Devastar and flew in front of Immortal’s head. Faster than it could turn to register me, I kicked its head with a full-power Devastar charged in my left foot.

With a deafening roar, the massive creature’s head snapped back, and it fell on its rear. I had hoped to send it flying, but it was simply too big.

’Now’s my chance!’

I had Ea grab the other end of the chain with a pre-prepared Wind Fort and flew toward Immortal. Just as it was trying to get back up, I quickly wrapped the chain around its neck.

-Tower Master! Immortal is counterattacking!

A hand made of thin air flew at me. It was almost transparent, making it tricky to dodge, but with Deva’s Eye, I could read the flow of mana. To me, it just looked like a human-shaped mass of mana swinging its arm.

’This should be enough!’

After wrapping the chain around its neck twice, I retreated. While Immortal was trying to get up again, I landed on a nearby rooftop, anchored the end of the chain, and activated a magic circle.

<Glue> ×3

It was an applied version of the Sticking Gauntlet, a third-order support spell that maximized the effect of the Rune of Adhesion. I embedded three magic circles into the chain, then kicked off with Devastar to fly to the building on the opposite side and cast Glue there as well.

Immortal fully rose to its feet and charged forward again. Simultaneously, the chains pulled taut. Immortal tried to advance but failed. After stumbling a few times, the monster lost its balance and fell.

Every time the twenty-meter monster collapsed, buildings crumbled like crackers. It was a relief that everyone had already fled this area near Miryang.

’This won’t hold it for long.’

-The limit is estimated to be five minutes.

Immortal thrashed about like a mad bull. Entire buildings shook, and concrete debris rained down. At this rate, it would tear the buildings down to break free.

’Let’s go with fifth-order, Ea.’

-Will you be alright?

’Yeah. This is the only way now.’

I released all my mana at once. Four magic circles materialized around me.

* * *

Unlike the mana helicopters making a beeline for Changwon with hunters aboard, one helicopter hovered leisurely in the sky, filming the situation.

“We are live from the scene of the Disaster!” the female caster, Minji, announced. “We’re being told Immortal has broken through the gate’s defense line and is heading for Changwon! We urge the citizens of Changwon to evacuate to a safe location immediately!”

Beside her, the cameraman filmed the ground.

“Minji! Look over there!” he exclaimed, tapping her arm and pointing.

Her eyes widened as she raised her microphone. “As I’m speaking, we can see Immortal! And… ah! Someone is stopping it!”

She blinked. “It’s hard to see from here! Can we zoom in?”

’WHOOSH!’

A sudden gust of wind violently shook the aircraft.

“The gusts are too strong, we can’t get any closer!” the pilot shouted. “We’re pulling back!”

“Ah, understood! The situation is developing rapidly! Ah, as I was saying, the image of the hunter confronting Immortal is now on screen!”

When the camera zoomed in to its maximum, the hunter who had restrained Immortal with chains became visible. He wore a navy robe with the hood pulled down.

“Hmm, well. With just this image, it’s difficult to identify who it is… Ah, Kim Yusin! In the viewer comments, the name ’Archmage’ is popping up repeatedly! Could it be true?”

It was then. Yusin, drawing in a massive, surging amount of mana visible even on screen, swung his arms like a conductor. A wave of mana scattered throughout Miryang.

“Oh my?”

The caster reached her hand out of the helicopter. A snowflake landed on her finger.

“It’s… snowing?”

White, ordinary, cold snow was falling.

Not just the news crew, but the hunters in other helicopters, the drivers stuck on the highway, and everyone evacuating looked up at the sky.

Floating there was a colossal magic circle.

<Blizzard Area>

The range of this grand magic, which was sprinkling white snow over the entire sky of Miryang, seemed vast. But to be precise, the blizzard was concentrated on the area where Yusin and Immortal were. The area where snow fell gently and the place where a severe cold and blizzard raged were like two completely different worlds.

The helicopter was forced to retreat even further due to the gale. The blizzard was so dense that it was impossible to see anything, even with the camera’s zoom.

“Ah…”

Even the caster, who was supposed to provide non-stop commentary, was at a loss for words, staring at the spectacle. The blizzard formed a colossal pillar of ice and wind, stretching from the ground to the clouds. The surrounding city and buildings were being buried in the deadly snow. Trees froze and died, buildings collapsed.

“W-What are we even witnessing? This is not CG; this is real! No, what kind of CG could possibly create such a solemn scene! If this is also the Archmage’s magic, then we must consider it something that transcends humanity!”

“Be careful not to get hit by the snow,” the cameraman said, pulling her back inside the helicopter. “This isn’t just snow.”

The cameraman, a former provisional player, could tell. This snow directly stole the body heat of living creatures and evaporated mana. The caster touched the finger that the snow had landed on her arm. It was truly cold, as if all warmth had vanished.

“GRAAAH!”

Immortal’s pained roar echoed from within the blizzard. Everyone froze, the hair on their bodies standing on end.

“An unbelievable sight! The certified rank-3 Archmage, Kim Yusin, is single-handedly summoning a blizzard to fight the disaster!”

While speaking non-stop, she glanced at the viewership ratings. They were skyrocketing. The international broadcast was the same. The caster felt her smile would split her face.

“Everyone! Please keep watching! This is the ultimate state a magician can achieve!”

She knew you had to strike while the iron was hot to survive in this business. She threw herself into her reporting with renewed vigor.

* * *

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep