The Anchor's Scream
The figure inside the glass cylinder was human, yet so horribly mutilated that calling it one felt almost disrespectful. Countless wires and tubes pierced its skin like blood vessels, and the body submerged in transparent nutrient fluid was a grotesque silhouette—parts swollen abnormally while others had shriveled, creating a nightmarish outline.
“This… what the hell…”
Yuna, who had witnessed the same horror, let out a shocked voice without meaning to. I glanced down at the transmitted message once more.
[Helpmehelpmehelpmehelpmehelpme……]
It didn’t take long to realize that the scream filling the screen was the death rattle pouring out of the glass cylinder before our eyes. The sight was dizzying enough to make one’s mind reel, so Yuna and I stepped back for a moment and sent a message to the others.
“Anchor located. It’s not a pretty sight, so brace yourselves.”
Not long after my message, the rest of the party arrived, kicking up clouds of sand. Elly, who ran ahead, frowned at the wreckage of the massive steel whale before stepping inside and stopping in front of the glass cylinder.
“I don’t even need to investigate who made this.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope. It’s exactly the Factory bastards’ style.”
“Is there any way to save the person inside…”
“There isn’t. That’s not a person anymore—it’s just a component. Its citizenship was revoked a long time ago.”
“……”
One of the worst possible endings a person could meet in this city was right in front of us. Being treated as a machine part and meeting such a miserable fate.
“Ugh, this is…”
“Hoo, this is…”
While I was talking with Elly, Hwa-ryeong and Orca arrived. Even Orca, who had seen all kinds of horrors in the back alleys, recoiled in disgust. Only Hwa-ryeong remained expressionless, observing with what looked like interest.
“…Anyway. We still have work to do. If this is the anchor, can you check the summoning circle?”
“I’ll try. I can definitely lock onto the signal, but…”
Elly summoned mist from the surroundings and carefully wrapped it around the anchor. She squeezed her eyes shut and began her analysis. A moment later, she let out a sigh and shared the results.
“…Anchor structure analysis complete. Just as we deduced before, it’s clearly acting as a fixture for the summoning circle.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I considered interfering midway to forcibly seize control, but since it uses biological components, major interference isn’t possible. My magic manipulates mist, not living beings.”
“Biological components…”
“The structure is simple. It continuously sends out a signal to keep the summoning circle anchored.”
So its purpose was to keep sending signals nonstop. That meant the structural signal still being transmitted to me right now was what was holding the summoning circle in place?
“…So. Did you find a way to interfere with the summoning circle?”
“That’s not easy either. To interfere with the circle, we have to go through that anchor. The compatibility is terrible.”
“You need magic that can interfere with living things?”
“Exactly. It’s too slow. The firewall goes up before I can get any proper information.”
“Hmm…”
Even if we destroyed the anchor completely, it would be pointless if we couldn’t manipulate the summoning circle. But here, Elly, who had the magical knowledge, found it difficult to interfere with biological matter due to the nature of her mist. This was going to be a problem.
Just as I was thinking that—
“Um… excuse me…”
“Yeah?”
“I… I learned a little. I might be able to help.”
Yuna cautiously raised her hand and offered her opinion.
“Ah. Your magic activates centered on yourself.”
“Y-yes. I can’t handle a very large area, but… a close range should be possible.”
“Really? Then would you try? You know how to read magic circles, right?”
“Yes. By using the returning wavelengths…”
“Good. That’s all I needed to know.”
“Okay, then…”
Yuna carefully placed her hand on the glass cylinder and activated her magic. A cold chill slowly emanated from beneath her feet and seeped into the cylinder.
“Mmm… mm…”
While examining the inside of the cylinder, Yuna’s voice quickly grew strained.
“Ugh…?!”
As if she could no longer endure it, she yanked her hand away from the cylinder and collapsed.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
“…I’m sorry. The signal was too fast. I couldn’t catch it.”
“Ah…”
Was it because of the nature of Yuna’s ability that nullified friction? It seemed the anchor’s information had flooded into her at an incredible speed. Looking unwell, Yuna staggered back and apologized.
“…I’m sorry. I wasn’t any help at all.”
But I shook my head at her apology.
“No. Thanks to you, I see a possibility now.”
“Huh?”
Yuna tilted her head in confusion, but I carefully activated Hand Mode.
“Try again. Don’t be afraid—go at full power.”
“Ah… yes.”
Yuna still looked terrified, but she must have read the certainty in my eyes. She placed her trembling hand back on the glass cylinder.
“…Here I go!”
As Yuna focused her magic power again, a far stronger chill than before enveloped the entire cylinder. An enormous amount of signal surged toward her. I reached out with my right hand, Hand Mode activated.
Hand Mode Activated.
Converting magical data into Mental Image.
Transmitting Mental Image via email.
This was Hand Mode’s original function. I’d only ever used it for punching and brawling, but it was originally built for tasks like this. I lacked the magical knowledge to extract magical signals myself, but converting signals extracted by someone else was perfectly doable. The emails整理 the data that Yuna couldn’t handle began piling up in my inbox.
Subject: Help
Subject: HelpHelpHelpHelp
Subject: HotHotHotHotHot
Not every email contained proper information, but—
“Found it.”
Subject: Anchor Signal Transmission Status Report
Useful information was mixed in among them.
“That’s enough. You can stop now.”
“Yes…”
“Elly. I’m sending you the data—analyze it quickly.”
Thousands of emails were transferred at once from my device to Elly’s. Her device vibrated violently as if screaming under the sudden data bomb. With a clearly flustered expression, Elly began scrolling through the holographic screen.
“…You standardized and extracted magical data like this? Without any magical circuit interpretation?”
“The power of technology. So, can you analyze it?”
“If I can’t analyze data like this, I should hand back the title of witch. Hmph.”
Elly snorted confidently, but the mist around her swirled more intricately than ever. All sorts of images flickered within the fog before vanishing. Finally, Elly succeeded in refining raw ore from the data.
“…I’ve successfully identified the locations of the other anchors.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. I’m integrating them with the map now, so just a moment.”
A short while later, the surrounding mist moved in various directions to form a map.
“This place is the Machine Graveyard—the whale. The three-way junction is the singularity. The tongue of hell is the abyss. The Gray Outpost is the dawn. The rusted tree is the fig. The western watchtower is the spiral staircase. The locations… you can see them, right?”
“With this, we can go straight to the anchors.”
The map, which perfectly replicated the actual terrain, clearly marked where each anchor was hidden. That alone was an incredible achievement, but Elly brought even better news.
“In addition, I succeeded in calculating the structure of the summoning circle.”
“Wait, seriously?”
“Want me to explain in detail? It would probably take hours if I did it here.”
“No need for the explanation. Just the conclusion. So, can we manipulate it?”
“Of course. I’ve deciphered the structure—how could manipulation be impossible? However, we’ll need to tweak the plan slightly.”
“Go on.”
“The current plan was to destroy all six anchors, right?”
“Correct.”
“But after examining their structure, I discovered that when the descent begins, they self-destruct and concentrate their signals toward the center. That means…”
“If we destroy them all, the angel will immediately attempt descent?”
“Exactly.”
If we had continued with the original plan, we might have actually sped up the angel’s descent.
“We’ll need a few simple modifications, but instead of destroying all six anchors, funneling the signal into a single anchor should produce the result we want.”
“Then…”
“Hwa-ryeong. You stay here. This location is farthest from Sandhill and can minimize the aftermath of the angel’s descent.”
“Leave it to me.”
“Orca and the riders… please destroy the anchors at the three-way junction and the western watchtower. Can you reach them within an hour?”
“It’ll be tight, but possible. However, almost all the riders will need to go together. Our speed only comes out when we ride as a pack.”
“…You can spare one, right?”
At Elly’s question, Orca thought for a moment before nodding that it was doable.
“Of course. One person is fine.”
“Perfect. Spare one and assign them to Helper. Helper, you head to the Gray Outpost, destroy the anchor there, then use the rider’s help to move to Sandhill. Your destruction of the anchor will be the signal to begin.”
“Me? Then what about you guys?”
“Yuna and I will destroy the remaining points together.”
Yuna and Elly? It was a combination I had never imagined. Would this be okay? More importantly, could they actually move within an hour?
“Can you really move within an hour? No matter how much mist you use…”
“Covering that distance with mist alone would be difficult. But with Yuna, it’s possible.”
“M-me?”
“Yes. Miss Blue Dancer. You’re confident in your speed, aren’t you?”
“W-well, yes, but controlling it…”
Yuna fidgeted, clearly remembering the catastrophe that came with infinite acceleration from zero friction. But Elly spoke firmly to her.
“You can do it.”
Elly’s decisive tone cut through Yuna’s hesitation. Yuna still looked anxious, fiddling with her fingertips as if afraid her speed would spiral out of control. Elly gripped her shoulder tightly and added,
“I’ll handle the control for you. My mist will adjust everything in real time. You just focus on running forward. My magic will support you.”
Seeing the confidence in Elly’s eyes, Yuna swallowed hard, then nodded with a determined expression.
“…Understood. I’ll trust you, Miss Elly, and run at full speed!”
“Good. Everyone heard that?”
Elly nodded in satisfaction and turned to us.
“You all heard, right? From now on, we split up and head to our positions. One hour from now, the moment Helper destroys the anchor at the Gray Outpost—that’s when the operation begins.”
“Got it.”
As we left the whale’s belly and prepared to depart from the Machine Graveyard, Orca called out to me.
“Hey. Ride behind this guy. He’s the gutsy and fastest among our crew.”
The rider Orca pointed to with his chin was already warming up the engine of a heavy bike, dressed in a black leather jacket. The rider gave a light nod from behind his helmet shield, signaling me to get on. As I sat on the seat, the heavy engine’s vibration traveled up my thighs and through my whole body. Right before we set off, I turned to look at Yuna and Elly standing beside us.
“Ready?”
“Y-yes!”
At Elly’s question, Yuna took a short breath and nodded. Blue chill began swirling from beneath her feet. Normally, standing on ice with zero friction would have made even keeping balance impossible, but this time was different. The mist Elly summoned gently wrapped around Yuna’s body.
“Let’s go!”
At Elly’s shout, Yuna kicked off the ground. The moment the chill from her toes met Elly’s mist, it created a dazzling white path of snow flowers in the air. Wrapped in frozen snow flowers and mist, Yuna’s figure shot forward like an arrow. It looked exactly like a rocket launching from its pad.
“…At that rate, we don’t have to worry.”
When Yuna erased friction and accelerated infinitely, Elly’s mist would freeze the path ahead in real time to create rails, while simultaneously adjusting air resistance to keep Yuna from being flung away and supporting her from behind. For their first time working together, their coordination was unbelievably perfect. As I stared blankly at the sight, the rider shouted at me.
“We’ll be late, bro! We’re the farthest, so hold on tight!”
BOOOOM—! The bike’s rear wheel exploded sand backward as it shot forward. Leaving behind the Machine Graveyard and Hwa-ryeong’s elegant figure standing guard, we began racing toward the opposite horizon. After racing across the desert for a long while, a gray fortress finally appeared beyond the distant horizon.
“Gray Outpost…”
We had finally arrived at the Gray Outpost.