17. Haven's Counterattack

Thump thump thump. I tapped the penguin statue with my small hand. It felt like nothing more than an ordinary ice sculpture. Aside from its cute penguin shape, it didn't seem useful for anything. What the heck could I even do with this?

"If you do it like this..."

The penguin grew huge in an instant, picked up the statue, and waddled over to the kitchen table with a great view. It set it down there.

"Now let's head back inside!"

Following the penguin into the room, I saw it blowing cold breath at the blank wall.

"What are you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠doing?!"

I panicked and tried to stop it, but the penguin had already finished.

"All done!"

"...?"

What it had made was an ice wall-mounted TV. No, what was I supposed to do with something like this? The words were on the tip of my tongue when the screen flickered to life.

"What kind of structure is this anyway?"

There was no electricity, and it was just stuck to the white wall—an ice TV. I had no idea why a screen would appear, but first, I checked what it was showing.

"...Inside the house?"

The screen displayed a dark interior. But the layout of the living room and kitchen, the placed objects—they were all extremely familiar.

"It's our house?"

"That's right, nyang!!"

"What an amazing power this is!!"

"I'll step out for a bit."

Mae flapped his wings with a whoosh and headed to the living room and then the kitchen. And sure enough, it was captured perfectly on the screen.

"Can you see well?"

"Dance in front of the statue!!"

"...Understood."

At my command, Mae wriggled awkwardly in front of the penguin statue. His dancing skills were predictably terrible.

"I can see it great!!!"

"Then that's fortunate."

"Come back quick."

"Wait a moment, falconer. There's more."

"What?"

"My voice is coming from quite far away, yet you can hear it clearly, no?"

Thinking about it, the kitchen and my room were a good distance apart. Yet Mae's low voice came through perfectly. I'd thought this was my Druid power?

"I pride myself on projecting my voice far when shouting, but for such quiet speech to reach all the way..."

"So the screen carries sound too."

"Likewise, the falconer's voice reaches here. It seems we can communicate in real time."

What? So this penguin statue was a real-time screen that transmitted both video and audio?

"This is totally cheat-level stuff?"

"This is nothing special!"

The penguin puffed out its chest proudly, hands on hips. Meanwhile, Mae returned and perched on my shoulder.

"Whoa, amazing, amazing."

Patting and praising the penguin made its shoulders rise even higher with pride. Ah, I was starting to get a feel for how to handle this guy.

"So you can make multiple penguin statues? Adjust the size?"

"Of course I can adjust the size! But right now, I can only connect one screen!"

"Can companions level up too?"

"No. Companions grow stronger in proportion to their master's power and level, or gain new abilities."

I'd been worried I'd have to level each one up individually.

"Then make a small one."

"Got it!"

The penguin exhaled a shoooo of icy breath, and soon a small penguin statue formed.

"But won't it melt?"

"It'll hold for about a day no problem!"

"Great! Mae, launch!!! Relay Haven right now!"

"As you command, falconer."

Haven had just encountered something new. From the potato fries that healed wounds to the bizarre seeds that exploded when monsters stepped on them—they were plants with such overwhelming power that they couldn't shut their mouths. And now, surprisingly, a bunch of fresh carrots arrived, accompanied only by the words:

Seola Han kept reading the exchange diary Hayun Seong had sent. The writing seemed pretty excited, with a different tone than usual. Was this the influence of the Ark? But that wasn't important right now. They were already surrounded by orcs, brainstorming ways to break out. One plan had been guerrilla tactics using a few awakeners with good night vision. But there weren't many assassin-class awakeners, and it wasn't flashy, so it had been pushed back. Now, these carrots solved that problem perfectly.

That's why Haven's leader, Kanghyuk Choi, made the bold call.

"...The house stays defended with bomb flowers. And if any intruders slip through, I'll handle them alone."

It might seem reckless, but they needed a bold first move to turn the tide. Every awakener except Kanghyuk Choi—and even normals who could use mana-loaded guns—mobilized. Each carried carrot sticks, boiled potatoes for emergencies, and a single bomb flower seed for the worst case. Were these actually combat rations? EX-rank Druid combat rations.

Seola shouted to the prepared Haven awakeners.

"Don't embarrass the girl who helped us!! Wipe 'em all out!!!"

The response was a roaring cheer.

The night in Donghae City, relayed by Mae, was dark. Dark to normal eyes, anyway. I didn't know if this amazing penguin statue shared the viewer's vision or reflected the penguin's state, but with my carrot-boosted eyes, it was bright as day. If the moon weren't up instead of the sun, I'd swear it was daytime.

In that Donghae City, countless people were on the move. Awakeners moving incredibly fast, like us, with bright night vision. Of course, I couldn't track every one, so I needed a special correspondent from here on.

"Mae, special correspondent. Relay the most exciting stuff from now on."

"As you wish."

The first thing Mae's special correspondent showed was, predictably, Seola. Racing through the city at the front. She spotted torches in the distance. Their owners? The orcs filling the city.

A sword flashed from Seola's sheath.

"Incredibly fast!!!"

"Looks like I could have a good fight, nyang."

Slash—the neck of an orc holding a torch was severed, the torch dropping to the ground. The orcs panicked in confusion. Unlike us, caught off guard by the sudden attack in the dark.

But that was just the start. Seola melted into the shadows, ambushing orcs. She sliced off the arm of one reaching for the torch, flung sword energy from afar to ignite and kill another. She dashed forward, and another orc's head flew.

Just watching her fluid, natural movements showed her vast combat experience.

"...I can't even see her!!"

"Peng-gong must be frail."

"Unfortunately, I'm not great at fighting."

"No big deal, nyang. I'm stronger, nyang."

Hugging my three companions, I kept watching the relay.

"Seola's fine, show other spots."

"Understood."

This time, Mae showed ordinary awakeners. One with a bow, one with a shield.

"How do awakeners even get their weapons anyway?"

"There must be blacksmith awakeners or such, right?"

Whoa, so even if you awaken gun skills but can't get a gun, you're just a wasted awakener. The world really is ending.

"...They're starting to move!"

As we chattered, the two awakeners encountered orcs—who hadn't spotted them. First strikes give huge advantages in battle, especially ambushes in the dark.

An arrow flew through the dim vision. Not at the orc, but the blazing torch.

Whoosh—the arrow sliced the torch clean away, plunging the area into moonlight only.

Grrr!! Gruk!!

The orcs' fierce voices rang out, laced with panic and despair.

Squeeee!!

A pig-slaughtering screech as one orc fell. But the orcs flailed in chaos. One barked orders, trying to flee desperately—but that direction already had an awakener waiting.

Whoosh—a powerful jet of water burst from the shield, piercing the orcs' bodies. They died instantly.

"W-Water from a shield?"

"Oho, not comparable to this one's water jet, but impressive!"

Turtle subtly bragging. I suddenly wanted to tease him.

"Yeah? You gotta show it off next time then."

"That would be splendid."

"As long as no other friends show up."

"You go too far!!"

While teasing Turtle, Mae shifted to another area. But things weren't going well there.

"Run!!!"

This time, one awakener and two supporting normals. Mae had pointed it out, but I could tell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyway.

"Non-awakeners are so obvious when they move."

Even I, no combat class, had far superior strength and stamina to normals. The two helpers were top-tier normals physically, but still slower than me. That made me curious.

"How do mana-less normals even fight?"

In a monster-filled world, unawakened normals were weaker than walking chickens. Weapons filled the gap, of course. They held service rifles and crossbows. Would outdated weapons work on monsters?

The answer was obviously NO! If normal human weapons did even 50% damage, there'd be no apocalypse. Monsters had mana barriers, high damage reduction—around 90%. Hitting vitals could stun briefly, enough to support awakeners. Awakeners could imbue mana into weapons for damage, but only against basic monsters. Against the larger, armored orc great warrior chasing them? Useless.

"How do we handle that?"

"Indeed, looks dangerous."

I couldn't watch people die in front of me. About to tell Mae to intervene—

"Falconer, no need for concern. They're not that weak."

Mae's confident voice. I didn't trust those three, but I trusted Mae's judgment on them. So I watched.

Nod—they exchanged glances and faced the torch-bearing orc great warrior charging blindly. Narrow alleyway battlefield. As it rushed relying on specs, they drew weapons—

A strong light burst from the awakener's hand. A laser beam shot out, striking the orc—but couldn't pierce its tough skin.

But in the blinding light, crossbow bolts and bullets hit its eyes. Meanwhile, they tossed something from their pockets.

Bomb flower seeds. They rolled aside as the seeds hit the blinded great warrior's foot.

Boom—it exploded in a flash, swallowing the orc. Only shattered chunks remained.

"Must censor!! I'll cover the eyes!!!"

"Me too!!!"

Turtle and Penguin frantically covered my eyes. Hey, I'm not a kid—why? Anyway, it ended easier than expected. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The three hugged in relief.

"We lived!!!"

"I thought we were dead!!!"

Seeing them cheer and embrace made me proud. Without my help, they'd all be goners. As they teared up—

"Thanks for saving us, Fry Girl!!! "

"Fry Girl!!! Fry Girl!!!"

"Potato fries are the world's best food, and anyone who denies it..."

Suddenly praising me. My face burned.

"...Special correspondent Mae. Show somewhere else quick."

"Hehe, understood, falconer."

After that, the guerrilla op wrapped without issues. Massive success, zero casualties. Orcs pulled back in the latter half after learning of ambushes, so no more kills. But expanding territory was plenty. Plus, they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠learned darkness was humanity's domain—they'd hole up in their forward bases near gates.

"All thanks to the falconer. What do you think?"

"Not bad."

But this wasn't "not bad"—it was real results. Namely: