Chapter 176: Episode 176

Snow fell. It kept falling. It fell endlessly, until the whole world turned white.

“…Ugh.”

I fought against the biting cold and pushed myself up. White snow had settled on my shoulders and all over my body. In front of me, the transparent giant, covered in snow, was kneeling on the ground—motionless, silent.

Because its body was transparent, it looked as if a thick pile of snow was just floating in mid-air. Countless monster corpses were visible around it. Immortal had writhed in agony, spewing monsters from its body, but they were all caught in the deathly blizzard as soon as they emerged.

’Fifth-order spells are all insane…’

A fifth-order elemental spell: one spell, one blackout. The power was immense, but my mind felt distant. I thought I had grown a little from my time in Africa, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the backlash of using a rampaging fifth-order spell. In fact, my level of immersion had increased, making it even more agonizing the deeper I went.

’My brain feels like it’s rattling in my skull.’

-Tower Master! You must stay conscious!

’If I could just close my eyes… it would be so peaceful.’

I had done this much; I’d done all I could. Immortal’s movements slowed when it took damage, and now that I had dealt it extreme damage, it wasn’t moving at all. I had surely incapacitated it for longer than the twenty minutes I had told Samia.

’…Still, fifth-order magic was overkill.’

My brain, pushed to its limit, screamed for rest. My eyelids felt as heavy as lead.

Just as the blizzard subsided, a few monsters popped out of Immortal’s body. A red hound, a ratman, and a hobgoblin. All rank-3 monsters.

’I’m screwed…’

-Tower Master!

The monsters charged while I was still in a daze. Just then, a magic circle drew itself beneath my feet.

<Leap Boots>

’Thump!’

My incapacitated body shot into the sky. It broke through a few cushion shields before landing on a shield in mid-air and stopping.

“…Mmm, Ea. Rough driving.”

-Tower Master! Please! This is no time to rest!

The monsters swarmed after me. Ea wanted to keep running, but if I lost consciousness, her connection to me would be severed, and she wouldn’t be able to use magic.

-Tower Master!

Just as the monsters opened their maws, gathering flames…

They collapsed simultaneously, vomiting blood.

As the other monsters looked around in confusion, mid-sized cars suddenly rained down on them. With the sound of flesh being crushed, their bodies were flattened.

“Sorry to be late.”

Samia, who had appeared out of nowhere, sat in her wheelchair, her arm extended toward the monsters. “Hunter Kim Yusin. I’m here now. You can rest.”

Seeing Samia’s smiling face, I felt an immense sense of relief.

“…Then I’ll leave the rest to you, Samia.”

My eyes, pushed to their absolute limit, slowly closed. The shield in the air vanished, and my body fell. Samia used teleport to catch me effortlessly.

Samia smiled at the monsters swarming from all directions. She waved her arm elegantly, and the debris of a collapsed building came crashing down before her.

* * *

“This is an announcement from the Hunter Association! Changwon is now within the Disaster’s sphere of influence! We urge all citizens to evacuate immediately!”

The citizens of Changwon, who had firmly believed it would head to Busan, were now fleeing the city in terror. The roads were already jammed, and some people, deciding it was hopeless, irresponsibly abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot. As time passed, the traffic congestion grew severe.

The Magic Tower members were the first to arrive in Changwon, using a warp gate Samia had created. After hearing Ea’s SOS message, Samia had dropped the members off and immediately rushed to my coordinates. Everyone was waiting anxiously for news.

“This is Samia. I’ve safely extracted Hunter Kim Yusin from the site.”

“…Haaaah.”

“What a relief!”

Everyone who heard the transmission sighed in relief.

“I’ll take Hunter Kim to a safe location and then rejoin you.”

“Good work, Hunter Samia!” Na Daeyong said. After finishing the call, he smashed his fists together. “Our master is out of commission. He trained us, the Fourth Floor Team, to be the Magic Tower’s strength for this very reason!”

He looked back at Cha Doyeon, Seo Shimhee, Kim Sarang, and Jo Yonghee, who all nodded in agreement.

“This is our chance! Let’s show him what our team is worth!” Daeyong shouted.

“Yes!” the team cheered.

While the Fourth Floor Team was getting fired up, Jeong Seojin was reviewing the directives from Association headquarters.

“Your attention, please,” he said, taking command. “The Tower Master has bought us some time. It will take a while for Immortal to arrive, so let’s focus on guiding the civilians to evacuate for now.”

“Yes!”

Everyone dispersed to help. Although the Association was broadcasting large-scale warnings, there were still people who didn’t understand the situation. More importantly, the hunters had to control the chaos that arose from the disorder.

“A Disaster is coming! The roads are congested, so please evacuate on foot!”

“This way! Give me your luggage!”

“Any injuries?”

Everyone had drilled evacuation protocols for their rank-5 certification exam, and they moved with smooth efficiency. Their certified badges inspired confidence, and no one refused their guidance.

“Alright, this way!” Jin Bora, who thrived on this kind of active work, was the most enthusiastic of all, darting through the crowds. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she thought, ’It really takes all kinds of people.’

There was a couple making a scene as if they were being separated for life, a middle-aged man who had bolted out in nothing but his boxer shorts, and a woman who insisted her safe was still at home and demanded they move it for her.

And one more.

“Whoa, guys, this is epic! They’re saying the Disaster is heading for Changwon right now! You see this? Everyone’s going crazy!”

’Streaming… in the middle of all this?’

Seeing the little kid giggling while holding a camcorder, Jin Bora felt a strange mix of pity and kinship.

“What do you think you’re doing? This is an emergency. You need to evacuate.”

“Awesome!”

The kid suddenly shoved the camcorder in her face, and she flinched.

“You’re a certified hunter, right? You’re so pretty! I’m live-streaming right now. Can you say hi to my subscribers?”

“Hey! Stop messing around and get going! You’re asking for trouble.”

“I’m not messing around. I have two hundred thousand subscribers.”

“Two hundred thousand?!”

Seeing the endless stream of comments scrolling across the camera’s screen, Jin Bora found herself speaking in a bright, cheerful voice.

“I’m Jin Bora, a certified rank-5 rookie hunter! Great to meet you all!”

Jeong Seojin, who had just moved a vehicle blocking the road, turned around. “Ms. Jin.”

She flinched and spun around.

“Th-this isn’t what it looks like! When hunters appear calm, it reassures the citizens, right? It’s like that! Now, now, hurry along!” she said, sweating bullets as she shooed the young streamer away.

Jeong Seojin just shook his head. “So, human nature never changes.”

“I was wrong, okay? Just drop it!”

’Chzzt.’

“This is Cha Doyeon! The monsters are coming!”

“Already?”

The evacuation was complete. The administrators and the Fourth Floor Team returned to their defensive positions on the city’s outskirts.

“…Th-there are so many of them.”

Kicking up a thick cloud of dust, a horde of monsters swarmed toward the city. Jeong Seojin pushed up his glasses.

“Just as expected. Ea’s projections were spot-on.”

Changwon was a city nestled between mountains, with limited access from the north. Na Daeyong and Seo Shimhee were already on their way back, having received the Association’s permission to collapse the other tunnels with mana bombs. That left this road as the shortest route into Changwon. This was where they had to make their stand.

Eunsol directed her golems to rip out the road’s guardrails and set them up as a makeshift barricade.

’Thankfully, I don’t see Immortal.’

The creature was nowhere to be seen, likely still recovering from the damage Yusin had dealt it. It was probably just spewing out monsters from some hidden location. Jeong Seojin activated his earpiece.

“This is Jeong Seojin, rank-5. Changwon defense commander, please respond.”

’Chzzt.’

“This is Major Wonjung Shin, Changwon City Defense Commander. Go ahead.”

“Multiple hostiles are approaching. Requesting troop support at these coordinates.”

“Sending reinforcements immediately! We appreciate the hunters’ swift cooperation!”

After signing off, Jeong Seojin turned around. “Then I’ll leave it to you, Eunsol.”

“Okay!”

“I’m starting, Sol!”

As if on cue, Jin Bora opened the subspace of the first-floor storage. From within emerged the drones Eunsol had built.

“Whoa!”

The members of the Fourth Floor Team stared, their eyes wide. Eunsol focused, activating her ’Remote Control’ ability.

’Click! Clack!’

The bottom of the drones opened, and golem balls rained down. As they hit the ground, they activated, and countless mud golems rose to their feet.

’Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!’

A legion of nearly a hundred golems materialized in the blink of an eye. Even as the drones flew about, scattering more golem balls, a variety of machines continued to pour from Jin Bora’s subspace. Four-legged turrets were installed behind the guardrails, and missile batteries took up positions in the rear. They were all specialized equipment—a fusion of golemancy and hunter tech, modified versions of the turrets Eunsol had once used to protect the slums.

“You’re amazing, Sol!”

“So this is the power of the Third Floor Administrator!”

The Fourth Floor Team, seeing her abilities for the first time, stared in astonishment. Eunsol had constructed a defense line almost single-handedly.

Even Major Wonjung Shin and the Changwon garrison troops, arriving late, were shocked to see such a heavily armed position established in so little time.

“What is all this…”

Based on the quantity and quality of the equipment, Major Shin had assumed an entire guild had provided support. But there were fewer than ten people present.

“The monsters are right on top of us!”

Cha Doyeon, who was casting a detection spell, shouted over the comms. Major Shin belatedly snapped to his senses and positioned his soldiers.

And so, the formation was set: golems in the front, soldiers with mana rifles using the guardrails as cover in the center, and Eunsol’s missile batteries and the army’s self-propelled guns in the rear.

“Grrrowl!”

The monsters’ cries made everyone tense up, their mana flaring. The unplanned battle to defend Changwon City had begun.

“Hahaha! Bring it on!” Na Daeyong shouted, clenching his fists as electrical sparks crackled from his hands.

* * *

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep