Dinosaur, Part 5
The absolute recovery herb's energy surges through your body.
Effect:The effects of the Ten-Thousand Ice Herb have been activated.
I stood upon the ramparts.
My condition was absolute perfection. Never in my life had I felt so completely whole, so utterly prepared.
Mana surged from my dantian like a geyser, and the flow of energy racing through my veins was more vivid and intense than ever before.
A single misstep, and I would suffer a deviation of qi. I needed to expend this energy, and quickly.
"..."
Taking a deep breath, a method to release this overflowing mana came to mind. I opened my eyes wide and stared into the distant sky.
Instantly, the mana began to unravel. Like loose threads of silk, it stretched up into the heavens, riding the wind.
The air currents gradually grew stronger, thickening with power. In the empty air, the mana swirled, condensing into a massive, solid wheel.
And finally, directly above the heads of the countless monsters stretching into the distance—
It unleashed an azure typhoon.
Rumbleeee!
This was no ordinary gale. Embedded within every single gust of wind was a "bullet." Deadly blue particles spun at ultra-high speeds.
Magic bullets collided with magic bullets, clashing again and again, triggering a violent chain reaction. The monsters caught in the path of these projectiles were shredded to pieces, as if thrown into a blender.
I controlled the currents.
Just as Kim Jeong-uk—who had once shown me this spell—had said: not to kill, but to protect.
I poured my mana into the spell.
It was an unspeakable overinvestment.
An insane waste, closer to squandering it all.
Yet, my mana did not deplete. For every drop I unleashed upon the battlefield, it was instantly replenished in its rawest form. It recovered naturally.
Whoosh!
Moreover, I was not alone on this battlefield. There was Im Hae-jun and his summoned Kesu-abi firing rapid volleys of arrows to intercept the aerial monsters, Smeshion unleashing heavy artillery fire, and Akiman alongside the elite soldiers cutting down the beasts clinging to the walls... I had plenty of reliable backup.
Time remaining: 4 hours and 17 minutes.
This was entirely survivable.
The walls of the western outpost had already collapsed.
Yet, everyone fought on with united hearts. In any case, we only needed to protect the crystal. From here on, it was urban warfare.
The civilians had already evacuated deep into the outpost. Narrow alleys and ruined buildings became our new defensive lines. Battle unfolded in the dust-choked streets.
"Hah!"
Kate swung her long spear. A bluish electric current flowed along the blade, discharging in a crescent-shaped arc.
Zzzzt!
She completely pulverized the monsters in front of her, but her back was exposed.
A monster resembling a piece of wrapping cloth lunged at Kate's back. Flapping like a sheet of black fabric, the creature—
Boom!
Was incinerated by a blazing fist. The monster's flesh scattered as ash. Kate spun around, startled.
"Watch your back, Master."
It was the S-rank mercenary, Min Seok-jae. A man with an obnoxious mustache who pushed the absolute limits of her patience.
Grinning, he punched the empty air.
Fwoosh!
A torrent of flame erupted. Swept up in the blaze, the monsters melted into piles of sludge.
"You could have helped like this from the very beginning."
"Look at you, complaining even when I help. What a haughty lady~"
Min Seok-jae swung his fist grumpily. Boom! Heat seeped into his shockwaves.
The other S-rank mercenary, Kellinic, was firing rapid volleys of arrows from high ground. It was rapid-fire brought to its absolute peak. Dozens of mana arrows rained down like a torrential downpour every single second.
Swishhh!
Lee Jun-ho's sword cleaved through the air. Flashing sword light sliced the bodies of the monsters to ribbons.
Kang Hyun moved nimbly between the beasts, piercing their cores. His footsteps were so swift that even his own shadow could not keep up.
Seo Ji-woo pulled the "lines" she had set up in advance. Invisible threads sliced through the air, tearing apart every monster in their path.
"Hah!"
Kim Dong-ha hurled his hammer. Crash! Crash! Crash! The hammer bounced around like a boomerang, bursting dozens of monsters before returning to his grip.
Boom!
Behind Kim Dong-ha, Ryu Yeon-hwa swung her fan. A gale of ultra-high pressure separated the monsters' flesh from their bones.
And so, everyone's battle raged on.
The timer that had started at six hours had dwindled significantly.
The six hours that felt like they would never end now had a mere seven minutes remaining.
The effects of the Ten-Thousand Ice Herb had worn off long ago, and I was on the verge of fainting.
But the real problem was that there was no end to the monsters.
The insane horde filling the horizon, and even stretching to the edge of the sky, showed no signs of thinning out.
If the rules were so absurd that we had to slaughter every single remaining beast...
"Not much longer! Hang in there, everyone!"
Even so, Lee Jong-su shouted with vigor. True to his class as a warrior, his stamina was impressive.
Perhaps it was because Lee Jong-su only looked one step ahead. He couldn't see past the horizon.
Neither could I. There was nothing but monsters in sight.
"Three minutes!"
"Three minutes!!!"
Im Hae-jun echoed Lee Jong-su's time briefing like a megaphone. He continued to loose arrows right beside Kesu-abi.
When Im Hae-jun shot to the right, Kesu-abi shot to the left.
Before anyone realized it, the two had become true brothers-in-arms.
Three minutes.
The monsters battered the walls. The spells that had protected the ramparts until now began to waver. The cracks widened.
The timer before my eyes grew blurry. My mana and my physical strength were both reaching their absolute limits.
Two minutes.
The walls crumbled. Sound began to fade.
Beeeeeeep...
Along with a sharp tinnitus, my hearing temporarily cut out. I clung to my fading consciousness, gripping my staff tightly.
One minute and thirty seconds.
Suddenly, a translucent blue barrier materialized. The barrier blocked the monsters that were about to surge in.
It was an unexpected event of unknown origin, but I soon realized the cause.
Yun-suabi.
The summon had squeezed out every last drop of its own mana to form a final defensive line.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The barrier held for thirty seconds. It was a thoroughly heroic achievement.
The soldiers, the mercenaries, Lee Jong-su, and Im Hae-jun threw their entire bodies into blocking the encroaching monsters. Casting aside their dulled swords, they struck the beasts with bare fists. Determination was etched onto their blood-stained faces.
Their armor was caked in blood and soil, and their shields were already shattered. Yet, they did not retreat.
"Just thirty more seconds!"
The soldiers roared in response to Lee Jong-su's shout. Squeezing out the very last of their strength, they bellowed the number "Thirty!"
And then...
Zero seconds.
Whirrrrr!
From the town hall where the crystal was kept, a beacon-like flash of light shot straight up into the sky. Pulsing like a heartbeat, it scattered fragments of light in all directions.
Whoosh—
A ring of pure light expanded in an instant, enveloping the entire land.
Ssssshh!
Every monster touched by the ring dissolved. Not a trace remained. Leaving behind no flesh, no blood, and no debris, they were reduced to absolute nothingness.
Finally...
"It's over!!"
Lee Jong-su bellowed. The soldiers threw down their weapons and embraced one another.
Standing there, I looked up at the sky.
It was ridiculously clear.
The labyrinth was over.
However, their home was ruined.
I wasn't just talking about the walls and the village.
The entire infrastructure of this region had been shattered by the monsters. The wild beasts had been devoured by humans and monsters alike, and the fields were completely devastated.
Of course, this was a future I had no need to concern myself with.
"Oh! It worked, it worked! Let's start with the main beam again!"
Even if I left them like this, even if I abandoned this place, it was a world destined to halt before long anyway.
Because a labyrinth was, after all, nothing more than a labyrinth.
And yet...
"It's done!"
A new town hall was built. Around it, houses began to line the streets.
A spellcaster was a highly convenient existence at times like this. I took charge of the foundations for all the construction and opened up underground waterways.
For Mr. Yoon, who had suffered so much managing the food supplies, I built a new chicken coop. For Hyeon Dan and Hyeon Seon-ah, I personally designed and gifted them a house on a particularly prime plot of land.
The things I had intended to do only until this labyrinth disappeared—only until then—kept stretching on and on.
"Well... now."
I pulled out the beads. They were items I had acquired while defending against the final rush.
"Go."
I gathered two-thirds of the beads and threw them.
One became a wild boar and dashed into the forest, while another became a tiger and vanished into the mountain slopes. Other beads turned into snakes slithering through the grass, grasshoppers leaping into the air, crickets hiding between the rocks, and dragonflies fluttering over the pond.
Nature was coming back to life.
Since I had used my Flame of Cognition to visualize a "sustainable ecosystem" with dozens of beads, they had likely been designed with an appropriate population balance.
I entrusted the remaining third of the beads to the village chief.
The chief was a man of excellent judgment. He was also a good leader with plenty of experience who knew how to manage people.
He would use them well for the sake of the community.
"...No, that's not right."
I shook my head, only now realizing what I had been thinking.
There was no future for this world.
Because it would end. Because it would not continue any further.
"You have worked hard. It was worthwhile."
Akiman. Even he, an outstanding swordsman, was no exception.
"I thoroughly enjoyed consuming your mana."
Smeshion. Even he, who looked exactly like a modified human from the mercenary streets, was the same.
All of them would disappear.
"I'm glad."
The labyrinth will close shortly. Please prepare for departure.
It was time to leave. Leaning on my staff, I walked forward. Im Hae-jun and Lee Jong-su were waiting at the entrance of the village.
"Master!"
"Hyung-nim, let's go."
Both of them wore bittersweet expressions.
"Yeah."
"...Inspector! Wait a moment!"
Someone called out to us as we stood before the wall. It was Hyeon Dan. Behind her stood a large crowd of soldiers.
Before I knew it, their faces had become familiar. I felt as though I could even recall some of their names.
First, the village chief stepped forward.
"Inspector. And to your deputies as well."
The chief's voice trembled. Tears welling in his wrinkled eyes glistened in the sunlight.
He smiled. It looked as though he might cry from sheer emotion.
"For people as humble as us... meeting you all was surely the greatest fortune we could ever hope to encounter in this lifetime."
Im Hae-jun sniffled. Lee Jong-su smiled with pride.
"Everyone!"
The chief shouted. The soldiers lined up in a neat row. Their formation was flawless.
"To the Inspector and his deputies who have suffered so much for us!"
They raised their arms in perfect unison. Hyeon Dan, and even tiny Hyeon Seon-ah right beside her, raised the backs of their hands with surprisingly solemn faces.
—Loyalty!
A salute I had performed thousands of times, and heard thousands of times before.
Facing them, I looked down at my own hand.
Worn and calloused, a hand without a single unblemished spot.
A hand that might have ended dozens, perhaps hundreds of lives, or even an entire world...
"Yes."
I raised that very hand.
Though I hadn't done it in years, it felt as natural as if the motion were engraved into my bones.
"Loyalty."
I returned their salute.
They were people who deserved it. They had earned it. They had been brave enough, and they had triumphed so beautifully.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, sunlight burst from behind the village. It was an excessively brilliant, radiant light.
A massive glow wrapped around me, you, us, and this entire world like a gentle breeze. It was so blindingly bright that everything around us began to fade into obscurity.
Would their time grind to a halt now?
Would they remain frozen within this memory?
Or...
I quietly closed my eyes.