The High-Grade Artifact That Was Crafted

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Several Gatekeepers faced the mutant minotaur. The battle dragged on for some time, but the outcome might as well have been decided from the start—most of them were already sprawled across the ground.

"Lek! Stay with me, Lek!"

Cornered, Lek had tried to strike the mutant minotaur only to be hit by its ultrasonic blast instead. Others had taken fireballs full-on, their bodies burned. One monster, and the Gatekeepers were collapsing into pure chaos.

Why… we've fought monsters countless times… this can't be happening…

They were from the Gate Management Headquarters. Back when they worked with Leos, they had joined an enormous number of raids. They had followed him nearly everywhere he went and slaughtered monsters alongside him. That was exactly why this crushing defeat made no sense to them.

Us losing doesn't make sense… even if it is a mutant monster…

Lek gasped for air, refusing to accept the situation. Leos had taken down mutant monsters without so much as a change in expression.

He kept trying to deny it—until one truth forced its way through.

They're on completely different levels… ordinary monsters and mutant ones…

The man stared blankly at the mutant minotaur. The moment their eyes met, the creature grinned like a human and began gathering a fireball.

"Ah… I don't want to die… I don't want to die… please… please…"

He muttered the words as he stumbled backward. But at this distance, already injured, escape was effectively impossible.

The instant Lek squeezed his eyes shut—

BOOM!

A massive explosion roared through the air. Lek looked down at his own body.

Why… why am I fine?

He had been certain his limbs would be blown apart. His hands and legs were still intact. Only then did he lift his head and take in the scene in front of him.

"Enas…?"

The explosion had been the sound of Enas charging straight into the fireball and colliding with it. Lek screamed like a man possessed.

"Enas! Enas! Answer me! Enas!!!"

Instead of answering, she hurled her dagger at the minotaur.

"Guh… ghk…"

The blade struck true, burying itself in the creature's mouth. Its other head tried to spit another fireball, but Enas crossed her arms into an X in front of her face and charged straight in.

It was insane. Blocking a fireball hot enough to melt the ground itself with nothing but your body was something no one would dare imagine. And yet that impossible sight was unfolding right before their eyes.

"Snap out of it! Get in here, now!"

At Enas's shout, Lek scrambled to his feet and ran forward. Belin, Kozarik, and the other Gatekeepers who had been downed nearby joined the fray as well. The mutant minotaur thrashed and fought with everything it had, but it could no longer use its ultrasonic blasts, and every fireball it launched was immediately blocked. In the end, there was nothing left for it to do. After a brutal struggle, Enas drove her blade into the spot where its mana stone lay.

"Hah… hah… hah…"

Gasping for breath, Enas murmured,

"We did it… we really did it… that intel was true after all…"

As she stared blankly at the fallen minotaur, the other Gate Management Headquarters members gathered around her, praising her sheer nerve.

"Enas, how the hell did you do that? Did you use some kind of artifact? How did you take that flame magic with your body—"

Lek trailed off the moment he saw her arms. Massive burn scars had blossomed across them.

"Don't tell me… you actually blocked it with your body? How…?"

The mutant minotaur's fireballs had a particular trait: the farther they traveled, the greater the damage. In other words, if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you pressed right up against the head that was spewing them, you could minimize the hit. Even so, stopping them without injury was never an option.

Clutching her searing arms, Enas spoke to the people around her.

"For now… let's head back… everyone's still alive…"

"Hyung-nim! So today's finally the day!"

"Leos! Is it finally today?!"

Bendict was always loud, so that was nothing new—but today even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Herisia was practically shouting at Leos, her voice thick with excitement. It wasn't hard to understand. For a self-proclaimed artifact maniac, the chance to encounter a high-grade artifact was more thrilling than anything else.

"Wait. Stop pestering me. I'm going to make it."

With that, Leos checked the Interrunner window floating on his Distance.

Even then, Leos glanced at the points that had already stacked back up and gave a short nod. Moments later, something like a blueprint appeared on the Distance screen.

"Whoa—! Leos! Can I—can I just look for a second?!"

Herisia lunged in beside him, cheeks flushed bright red. Leos handed her the Distance.

"Ten minutes. Bendict, if you want a look, do it now."

"I wouldn't understand any of that stuff, Hyung-nim! I'll check it out once the real thing's done!"

Bendict stepped back with that, and Herisia began scrolling through the artifact list ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a long while.

"Wow… this is actually insane… you can make all of these? For real…? Leos, how do you get a post to go viral, anyway? If I save up points, could I buy this too?"

"Don't waste your time thinking about it. Having the blueprint doesn't mean you can make everything."

"Ah… yeah, that makes sense…"

The high-grade artifact blueprint let you select and craft any high-grade artifact you wanted—but only those for which the materials could actually be obtained. Artifacts that required something like an Elf's Tear, which was nearly impossible to encounter these days, were effectively unmakeable even with the blueprint sitting right there. A fair number of pieces fell into that category.

Leos took the Distance back from Herisia and checked what he could realistically craft.

This one I can make. And there are suitable targets nearby.

An artifact with performance similar to a modern drone bomb. What set it clearly apart from a drone was that it needed no separate power source—and that it had no range limit.

It could be sent anywhere the user's gaze could reach, and with enough mana it could rain down devastating mana bombs from the sky. For someone operating from hiding like this, it was the high-grade artifact that had to be crafted first.

They'll be able to use this too.

Leos had thought over and over about what kind of artifact Bendict and Herisia would need to fight monsters if he ever left the bunker. The conclusion was always the same. Handheld weapons were still too much for them. That made the Spirel—capable of both reconnaissance and long-range interception—the perfect fit.

"I'm heading out."

With that, Leos left. Roughly five hours later, he returned to the bunker, both hands full of mutant monster corpses.

"What… is all this? You killed all of these? Wait—you need this many materials? Most ordinary people couldn't make anything even if they had the blueprint…"

Ignoring Herisia's rambling, Leos tapped the Distance window. The moment he hit Craft, the materials outside were sucked into the device, and before long a high-grade Spirel materialized in the real world.

Excellent.

Thinking that, Leos turned to Herisia.

"Herisia, can you mount a recording artifact on the front of the Spirel? So we can watch the feed on the Distance even from far away."

"I can! I've already got one made—I'll have it for you in no time!"

About an hour later, Herisia handed the modified Spirel back to Leos. The moment he touched it and linked his mana, the Spirel recognized its master and rose into the air.

The feed looks clean. This way we can watch the outside from inside the bunker—semi-permanently, until the mana runs dry.

He would have to recharge the mana every day, but that was hardly a problem.

"Huh? Leos? The bombardment function is already active, though. What are you planning to use it on?"

In answer to Herisia's question, Leos turned the Distance screen toward her.

Someone's post, along with photo verification of people who clearly looked like Imperial personnel.

"We got it. Might as well test it—see just how well it performs."