Chapter 264: Ignition (6)
Chapter 264: Ignition (6)
Translation: Godtl
There was another advantage to the process of the Barrier being Restored.
It forced Manggot's hand.
Once it became certain that the Barrier was being Restored in a clockwise direction, Manggot wouldn't just sit back and watch.
They would rush to hasten the attack of the Monsters from the Outside.
"......Hmm."
And that very sight—
"So that's how they do it."
—was what Frondier confirmed.
He was moving directly toward Manggot but was still not too far from the Barrier.
He could have moved faster, but there was something he absolutely needed to verify.
If Manggot truly could control the timing of the Monsters, what exactly was their method?
Back when he was a player, Aster couldn't leave the stage due to his character's limitations, so he hadn't been able to figure it out.
Frondier's 'Sixth Sense' was far more precise than any detection ability on the continent.
And with the mana-concealing technique he'd learned from Dier Aiger, he successfully remained hidden. He had already spotted the vanguard of Manggot.
'It's like the Monster version of how Gregory controls small animals.'
Frondier observed one of the Monsters behaving strangely.
It whispered something to the Monsters around it, and soon, that whisper spread into murmurs, then into violent roars that shook the earth.
Frondier took out his Phone.
"......Yes, Mother. Confirmed."
[All Barriers are in the same situation.]
Malia's voice came through.
She was currently sharing her vision with everyone who had attended the Imperial Palace meeting—just like during the School Trip. Her ability was indispensable to prevent anyone from Manggot from secretly crossing the Barrier.
Frondier nodded at Malia's response.
"Then it's certain."
As Frondier replied and put his Phone away,
"What the hell are they doing?"
Renzo, who had been quietly standing beside him, cluelessly butted in.
Renzo had zero detection ability but excelled at concealment. The fact that he had bypassed all surveillance during Constelle's midterms and appeared before Frondier and Aten was proof enough.
"They're exchanging attack signals. The small Monster that gave the initial order is spreading the word. Most of the Monsters surrounding the Barrier are probably in a similar situation right now."
"What? How do the Monsters know what's happening elsewhere and coordinate like this simultaneously?"
"One of Manggot is observing the entire situation and leaking information to the Monsters."
The ability to control other lifeforms expands in range the weaker the target is.
The reason Gregory, currently imprisoned, could still assist Frondier was because his ability was limited to small animals.
Among land-dwelling creatures, the most he could control were rats, and among flying creatures, crows were his limit.
'That ability must be similar. The lower-tier Monsters, almost useless in combat, are the ones transmitting information.'
The Monster Frondier had seen was like that, and the information Malia relayed matched. The information relay among Monsters always started with the weakest in the group.
"But how do the other Monsters trust what the lower-tier ones are saying?"
"No, they probably already know humans are controlling the lower-tier Monsters."
"What?"
"The Monsters from the Outside aren't stupid. They've likely figured out that the human side is using them."
And despite knowing they're being used, they're complying.
Because they know a simultaneous attack would deal the greatest blow to the Empire's Barrier.
From the Monsters' perspective, whether it's Manggot or the Empire, they're enemies to be killed either way. As long as the information Manggot provides is useful, they'll act as Manggot wants. Because that aligns with the Monsters' own desires.
"In that sense, the two are undeniably in an 'alliance.'"
"Indeed."
As Renzo nodded behind him, Frondier stretched out his hand.
Fabrication, Black Heaven
Grade - Common
Iron Shield
Frondier created a shield right in front of Renzo.
"What's this? I already have a shield. A divine shield called 'Rinotoros' that's beyond comparison to this shoddy thing."
"This isn't a shield for defense."
"What?"
Frondier laid the shield flat horizontally.
"Get on."
"Huh?"
"You don't know how to fly."
As Renzo blinked at Frondier's words, he soon understood their meaning and broke into a radiant smile.
From Frondier's perspective, it was an almost frighteningly joyful expression.
"Do you remember what I told you? I'll drop you at the most dangerous spot on the battlefield."
"Of course! How could I forget!"
"If I were to show you on a map—"
"Who needs that?! You'll just drop me wherever you damn well please!"
"......Right."
Having nothing left to say, Frondier shook his head.
"Pull off the most spectacular stunt you can. Make everything around you desperate to kill you."
"Was already planning to."
"Good."
As Renzo stepped onto the shield, it rose into the air with a whoosh.
Renzo, who could conceal his mana naturally, and a common-grade shield that might as well have no mana signature—it was impossible for the monsters and Manggot forces to detect him first.
Once the shield had risen high enough to disappear even from his own sight, Frondier took out his phone again.
"How's it looking?"
[They're about to swarm any moment now. Looks like they're gauging each other's timing.]
"Perfect timing then."
Frondier could sense where Black Heaven was without even looking at it. This allowed him to defend and attack omnidirectionally—truly like wielding it as an extension of his own limbs.
The shield carrying Renzo flew steadily toward the edge of the sky until it reached a certain point.
The Manggot forces maintaining distance to avoid unnecessary clashes with the Outside monsters. The empty space between them. Renzo was positioned right above it.
Hoo— Frondier exhaled deeply.
The roars of monsters shaking the air, the thunderous stampede trembling the earth. The killing intent of the Outside monsters coalescing, piling upon itself before surging toward the Barrier.
Every defender manning the Barrier would be tasting this overwhelming tension right now.
It reminded him of his time at Tyburn and Yeranhes. Back then too, countless soldiers had trembled in fear.
The knights endlessly rallying them, the division commanders surveying the battlefield and issuing orders.
And.
Now.
[————They're coming.]
Malia's quiet murmur.
Boom, boom!
The first footsteps were heavier than anything else, and as if it were a signal, all the monsters began advancing toward the Barrier.
The ground's tremors became an outright earthquake beyond any metaphor, making everyone standing atop the Barrier shake uncontrollably.
A dust cloud tangled together, chasing after the monsters, enveloping them, merging into one as they marched toward humanity.
Killing intent approaching from every direction, from everything.
The Empire's seamless, all-encompassing wave of assault from the Raid.
It was a tsunami.
"Aah, aah...!"
The faces of the soldiers on the Barrier turned deathly pale.
They were veterans who had repelled Outside monsters many times before, but they instinctively knew this monster assault was different.
The Outside monsters were certain of victory in this attack.
An omnidirectional assault preventing humans from concentrating their forces in any single location. The Barrier would inevitably break. The Outside monsters had that conviction, and conviction became morale, morale became aura.
And aura finally bared its fangs as a crystalline killing intent directed at humanity.
This was the Barrier's position closest to Manggot. Naturally, breaching here would bring Manggot the greatest advantage, so their offensive was somewhat concentrated here too.
While the monster forces were evenly distributed, Manggot's were not.
That's why.
"......Now."
Frondier had chosen precisely this spot.
The monsters charging mindlessly toward the Barrier, shrouded in dust clouds.
Their "rear."
The Manggot forces watching the monsters assault the Barrier, waiting to join the attack the moment an opening appeared.
Their "front."
A single spear filling that void—
Kwaaaaaaaang!!!
Crashed down like a meteor, violently shaking the entire area.
For an instant, the gazes of both monsters and Manggot forces snapped toward the fallen spear. Some charging monsters turned to look back, while the waiting Manggot soldiers' eyes flew wide open.
It was a moment too brief to even call silence,
Yet there undeniably existed an instant where no one could make a sound.
"Heya."
Holding the spear and shield of a god,
Humanity's worst villain stood with a menacing aura, scattering crimson energy.
"WHAT A FINE DAY IT ISSSS!!!"
A shout brimming with aura pierced through the air, electrifying and resonant. Even more of the monsters charging toward the barrier halted their advance.
"......That,"
A member of Manggot who confirmed it—
One of the Shepherds of the Round Table leading this assault—shouted.
"Kill him!! It's Renzo!!!"
The command was precise, wise, and the swiftest decision he could make in the current situation.
But the fact that this was the "current situation" already meant it was far too late.
THUD!
Renzo slammed his shield down in front of him.
Rinotoros
Shield of the Horizon
The moment the shield revealed itself, it inscribed a law unrelated to its size, centered around Renzo.
Arrows and spells from Manggot poured toward Renzo all at once, but—TATATATATA!!
Not a single attack aimed at Renzo could surpass Rinotoros. Every strike from the "front" was blocked by the shield. Its size was irrelevant in this moment.
Ignoring the deafening barrage entirely, Renzo turned his back and observed the monsters still charging toward the barrier.
Enkesphalos
Spear of Infinite Attempt
His muscles bulged as he gripped the spear, swelling with Ares's divine power and his own aura concentrated at its tip.
"'Don't break the barrier,' he said."
Frondier's one and only request.
The difficulty of that single request was so absurd that Renzo had spent days agonizing over it after hearing it.
How the hell do you throw a spear at monsters without breaking the barrier?! Even someone called the Sage, Osprey, would obviously fail to find an answer.
But then, something flashed in Renzo's mind. A stroke of genius so bold, no one else would dare think of it.
I really am a genius.
"JUST STAB IT INTO THE GROUND!!!"
SWOOSH!
KWAHAAAAAANG——!!
Renzo's spear shot forward, slaughtering every monster even slightly grazed by its tip or the trajectory around it before embedding itself into the ground ahead, creating a massive crater.
Of course, no monster within that radius survived.
He had aimed at the monsters—but deliberately missed by striking the earth instead.
Because he hadn't hit the barrier—
CLICK—
The Spear of Infinite Attempt returned to him.
"HAHAHAHAHA!! HOW 'BOUT THAT, FRONDIER?! YOU CAN'T CALL ME A BLOCKHEAD NOW!!"
Renzo shouted Frondier's name, knowing full well he wouldn't hear a reply.
And far away, Frondier, who clearly heard that voice—
"......Well done, blockhead."
—could only stare with an utterly dumbfounded expression.
With all eyes now on Renzo,
Frondier spoke into his phone.
"Mother, I need your help."
[......The burden will be heavy.]
"Everyone is feeling the burden."
At Frondier's reply, Malia let out a sigh.
[Don't drag it out too long.]
The moment those words ended,
Frondier's vision changed.
Dozens of shared perspectives—all of them.
Just like when he had seen Constelle through Malia's eyes from the Tower of Elysia.
Theoretically, this idea was possible, but reversing Malia's shared vision—which handled dozens of perspectives—was dangerously taxing.
Because this ability wasn't Frondier's own, it was like forcing a mismatched puzzle piece into place.
"......My eyes sting a bit."
Fabrication, Black Heaven
Rank - Divine Authority (Protagonist's Divine Seat)
Khryselakatos, Iokheira
After confirming the shared vision—each pair of eyes witnessing the horde of monsters surging from the barrier—
——A shot that never misses its mark,
——Let it become rain.
He fired a dark cloud into the clear sky.
A warning broadcast across the entire Empire.
"Even if we can't strike first, we can defend first."
This was humanity's first line of defense.