The Start of the Reversal
The giant that had lunged at Yoo Yeon toppled forward, only for the one charging from behind to trample it and barrel straight toward us. The battlefield was chaos, and the ether had long since scraped the bottom of the barrel.
Reaching Light
In my unprepared state, the second hastily shaped Ether Dynamics grazed the giant's face. Kuooooh—
Since it wasn't a fatal blow, Lee Ha-ryeong stepped in front of me as the beast charged on full steam.
"Leave it to me!"
The moment her ether clump hurtled toward the giant's face, it collapsed flat.
Chantless? No, it didn't even feel like magic.
As I watched her unusual spell in action, I grimaced at my twisting hand. Rushing Ether Dynamics like that had pushed my body beyond its limits. Sharp pain raced up my arm.
"Hah, nice one, kiddo."
The moment her hand touched me, ether drained away in a rush, and my purple-veined hand returned to normal.
"Huh?"
"Just a simple healing spell. Works wonders on ether backlash."
"The Abyssal Wave..."
The clearing I'd glanced at was littered with fallen abyssal entities. Easily over two thousand fresh corpses.
"...You held this off alone?"
"What, you think 7th-level is just for show?"
Lee Ha-ryeong smirked just as mages who looked like 2nd Army reinforcements started arriving in droves. Better late than never—this would make blocking Code Black a lot smoother.
"I-Is this really Code Black?"
"Abyssal entities outside the Abyss!?"
"N-No way."
"Th-The Black Night again..."
Lee Ha-ryeong snapped at the three 2nd Army mages who'd shown up.
"Why are you so late? And only three of you? What about the rest?!"
"Abyssal entities are popping up all over Seoul! We've thrown in the 3rd Army too, but we're short on mages!"
Lee Ha-ryeong bit her lip at the 2nd Army mage's report.
"Abyssal entities...? Damn it, is this Orbis's doing?"
"Yes! Hundreds are already turning into them everywhere. S-Sob. What do we do? Where's the 1st Army...?"
As the 2nd Army mages panicked, new giants started leaping out of the Abyss.
"5th-grade giants!"
"P-Protection spells!"
"Get it together! Those things are insanely fas—"
Before Lee Ha-ryeong could finish, a giant's foot blurred toward the cluster of 2nd Army mages.
Splat—
One mage who couldn't dodge flew off into the distance.
"Defensive battle formation, now!"
"I-I'm number three, right...?"
As everyone flailed in panic at the sudden giant, a groan rose from the ground.
"Urgh..."
Yoo Yeon, coming to, wiped blood from her mouth and stood. She scowled at the wrecked battlefield.
"...Fuck, this is why I'm saying we need the 2nd Army in the Abyss's top floors. What's the situation?"
Lee Ha-ryeong shrugged at her words.
"Hopeless. Still thirty minutes left."
"Haa... Would've been nice if an hour had passed already."
"Then Korea would've been done for."
As Lee Ha-ryeong said, the 2nd Army looked woefully inadequate to hold the line for the remaining time.
"Don't get swept up!"
"Gah! 5th-grade abyssal entity?!"
"I-I don't wanna die!"
"It's a named one! A freaking named!"
"Too fast!"
"The bubble was better than this!"
While Yoo Yeon and I recovered our ether, three mages turned to bloody pulp in seconds.
"......"
"Bullshit."
As we prepared to rejoin the fight amid the 2nd Army's slaughter, massive spells erupted.
5th-level Projection
Heavenly Flower Rain
6th-level Control
Steel Fortress
A colossal steel fortress rose in place of the ruined barricade, while ether crystals rained down like a storm outside.
"Ah, the triad, huh..."
No sooner had Lee Ha-ryeong spoken than Kang Seo-hee rushed to my side.
"Eunha-nim! Are you hurt? Any injuries? Oh god, scratches all over!"
"Hey, I'm covered head to toe in blood here, and you're fussing over scratches...?"
Kang Seo-hee shot Yoo Yeon a what-do-you-want-me-to-do look before hastily erecting shields around us.
5th-level Survival
Tactical Zone Activated
A blue hemispherical barrier enveloped us in an instant.
"Leave the rest to us now."
The moment Kang Seo-hee finished, a metal spear the size of a utility pole speared the giant's crown.
"Oho."
Boom—
The spear exploded, decapitating the giant, which crashed forward. Cheolhyeol approached through the barrier, adjusting his massive metal gauntlets and glancing at Yoo Yeon.
"Dealt with the Gangbuk Abyss bubble, so we were a bit late. We'll handle the next thirty minutes."
Yoo Yeon grumbled at Cheolhyeol's arrival.
"...Tch, coulda come sooner."
"No teleport magic, so yeah."
"Fine, whatever. Can't complain when even the 1st Army's not here yet."
As Yoo Yeon slumped to the ground in relief and exhaustion, a hum reverberated.
Vrrr—
An enormous ether wave hit, painful to the heart—the same intensity I'd felt in the Shadow Room.
"......"
"That just now..."
As I moved to warn them, a familiar radio static echoed from the Abyss.
—Static— Today's signal is clear.
The verdict: Total extermination.
"......"
Chills ran through every mage as they turned toward the Abyss depths.
"That thing."
A black robot emerged from the Abyss. Humanoid in form, sleek like a work of art despite being pure metal android.
You have tilted the Sigma Graph. Adjustment is thus required.
The ether density around it stung the skin—a horrifying volume that sapped the will to fight.
"No way..."
"How do we beat that?!"
"6th-grade? No, 7th-grade at least!"
The 2nd Army mages fell back, screams of terror following.
"We have to hold it off! Just until the 1st Army arrives!"
Even Cheolhyeol's command couldn't stem the spreading panic.
Situation's bad...
No matter how I crunched the numbers, victory wasn't in the cards.
Don't have enough ether to open a portal for the fleet. And even if I did, dumping all our reserves here...
I couldn't imagine how much stronger K would get.
Tch.
My mind raced, but no path forward emerged. The overflowing abyssal entities were bad enough. No one to handle that thing.
Second Ether Dynamics? Still unstable.
Even at peak condition, success odds were low. In this state? Forget it.
As I pondered, Lee Ha-ryeong stepped forward.
"Of all the times, this shit happens on my watch. Or... has it always been like this?"
"?"
She pressed down on my head as I stared.
"Kid, stay inside this barrier, got it?"
"...Calling me 'kid' is creepy as hell."
"......"
She smiled wordlessly and exited the barrier.
"You're the main body, huh."
K responded to Lee Ha-ryeong.
Affirmative. This is Code Zero. Behold the main body's power, you insect mages.
"Good... Perfect."
Lee Ha-ryeong's crown began glowing red outside the barrier.
"Ah. No way."
Yoo Yeon bolted up in panic.
"Sunbae! Wait!"
By their thirties, 7th-level mages were usually frail shells. Pumping ether at such high concentrations was like poison—it chipped away at their lifespan through accumulated fatigue.
"Lee Han, not that I should say it, but maybe take a break?"
Ma Hwa Lee Ha-ryeong said to Hero Lee Han, who smiled faintly.
"I'm fine. My time was always borrowed anyway. Gotta see it through to the end."
"......"
As Lee Ha-ryeong fell silent, the halo mage Cha Suk-jin nearby snickered.
"That's why you shouldn't have followed. Stay back with the barrier, kiddo."
"Who's a kiddo?! I am! Even looking like this, I'm stronger than you!"
"Aww, we know~ How you flew around the league."
"Second place, though."
Lee Ha-ryeong bristled at Lee Han's words.
"Don't call me kiddo! I didn't choose this body! And with more time, I'd have won!"
Lee Ha-ryeong felt wronged, honestly.
"If I weren't a preservation target! I'd be more famous than you lot!"
If not for those idiotic laws, she'd have been the star.
"The towers do pointless crap."
Lee Han chuckled at her grumbling.
"Haha, it's a rule born of past wisdom. Don't complain so much."
Mages preserved to avert catastrophes. After the "Black Night," Korea's Magic Tower Union kept one 7th-level mage in reserve for the final hour.
But that meant the chosen preservation mage spent most of their life in silence, guarding amid comrades' deaths and losses.
"I'm a 7th-level mage! If I can't even save my comrades! Why?! Why me?!"
Lee Ha-ryeong collapsed to the dirt, and Lee Han pressed her head.
"Eek."
She glared up, but he met her eyes with his white ones.
"You have to stay for the future."
"......"
"Your shining day will come."
"Shining day...?"
"The day your pain and loss turn into something necessary."
Lee Han rose with his massive staff.
"So hold on until then."
"......"
"Ha-ryeong, preservation and taxidermy are different."
A brilliant explosion bloomed before him.
7th-level Special
Let There Be Light — FIAT LUX
I hope that's what it meant.
Lee Ha-ryeong gathered ether, listening to her breath. That brilliant light still burned in her eyes.
Stupid bastard, not dead—just missing.
She recalled his frustrating face, then refocused on her spell. Vast battlefield, overwhelming foes, unprepared 2nd Army, thirty minutes of support left.
For this moment...
For this one shining instant, she'd sacrificed comrades, youth, a brilliant life. Preservation was taxidermy.
Taxidermied herself, she'd mounted her generation for display in turn. She never shone, but her era blazed brighter than any.
"Behold! The last remnant of the miracle generation stands here!"
Red light surged from Lee Ha-ryeong's crown.
"The time to fulfill preservation's vow has come!"
Avici Hell
The flower that had waited ten years bloomed. In the devil's hour of disaster, a single bloom for humanity. The flower, taxidermied without even scent, burst open at last.