Chapter 103: Invasion (3)

With the familiar notice, Phantom's vision washed dark. A moment later a barren desert came into view, and after it the dead—corpses beyond counting, sprawled where they had fallen, still clad in armor.

What is this? Zombies?

His first thought was that they might be zombies lying still, concealing their presence. He had seen something similar in the last rift. The short of it, though, was that they were not. The corpses did not move at all.

Then—

The world before his eyes seemed to flush red, and a warning flared into being. He had been discovered by something called a Rift Stone—identity unknown. That was not the only change.

A creak. A grinding crack. The motionless corpses began to twitch. Hundreds of them, thousands, rose one after another, and each seized a weapon—dead men returned to zombies in an instant. They flung themselves at Phantom in a frenzy, but Hanseong was faster.

The body rose, light as a breath, and Phantom shot dozens of meters into the sky. The zombies could only gape up at him like dogs that had chased a chicken up a tree, helpless to do a thing.

All right. What now?

He could do as he always had—slaughter the zombies carpeting the ground, raise a Temporary Base and a map, and hunt the enemy from a distance. Or he could stay in the air and search for the rift's owner that way. The first would be more of a hassle, but it was certainly the more efficient. He was just about to act on it when something caught his eye.

"Huh?"

A green flame glittered in the distant sky, flying this way at a fair speed. Toward Phantom, to be precise.

It came shearing through the wind. Hanseong hauled Phantom higher still. The flame, it seemed, had no homing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to it; it tore through the empty air where Phantom had just been and plunged to the ground.

And then it detonated.

The roar swallowed the blameless zombies. Wrapped in green fire, they thrashed and fell. At the sight, Hanseong knew at once what the flame was.

Magic.

From a distance he hadn't been sure. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Up close, there was no doubt. The formula etched clean at the heart of the flame was proof.

Then...

Whoever had cast it was very likely the rift's owner. No ordinary zombie could wield magic of that power. Another green flame came flying, and the sight changed his mind.

I'll find him like this.

Phantom's position was already pinned. Raise a base now, and he would likely be buried under concentrated fire. Hanseong turned Phantom toward the place the magic had come from.

How long he flew that way, he couldn't have said. By the time he had slipped a fifth attack—

Found it.

He had the coordinates where the magic was being born. A green crystal driven into the dry earth. Beyond it, an enormous magic circle of unknown make. And there, decisively, a formula was being constructed in front of the crystal.

All that's left...

was to find the one building that formula—the mage spinning the green flames. The method proved surprisingly simple. Watch the instant mana was poured into the formula, and trace where it came from. That was all.

Before long the formula was complete. Flame roared in and whoomed past; he slipped it with ease, then pinpointed the source of the mana that had fed the spell. He tilted his head, blank-faced.

"Huh?"

The mana had radiated from none other than the green crystal. Which meant that thing was the one casting the magic. A mere structure, using magic? Faced with something he could not readily believe, Hanseong frowned on reflex, then cast Detection, wanting a clearer answer.

The targets were the green crystal and the magic circle beyond it. The results opened before his eyes at once.

The green crystal was a Rift Stone—the same name as the thing that had spotted Phantom. And it matched the goal he had been hunting exactly. His purpose was to erase the liberated rift. He moved to ready an attack and break it.

But then—

Information on the magic circle appeared without warning, everything but the name withheld. Curiosity stirred.

What in the world is it, that even the System can't analyze it?

Hanseong slipped the Rift Stone's attack magic as it stabbed for Phantom, then closed on the circle beyond—no, the summoning circle. In the instant he passed the stone, he felt as if he were pushing through some transparent film. With that, an object invisible from outside came into view.

What is that?

Something rose from the center of the summoning circle. The moment he recognized what looked like the hide of an enormous beast, Hanseong's eyes went wide.

"...!?"

He did not know what it was. But the instant he perceived it as a thing, a chill prickled over his whole body. A violent shiver, and with it a revulsion and a fear unlike anything he had ever felt.

I have to run!

He had to leave this place, not a moment later. Instinct hurled its warning. Lips gone blue, Hanseong tried to move Phantom's body—and midway, his vision flooded crimson. A warning followed at once.

Destroy the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rift Stone. Hanseong stared at it as if spellbound, the information from before rising again.

Right. If I just break that—!

he could get out of here. The judgment made, he cast at once.

Blades of wind poured down on the Rift Stone. They could not so much as scratch it. The Wind Cutters drove in like a wave and vanished, stopped dead by an invisible film.

Was it because he could bring no more than twenty percent of his output to bear? The other skills ended the same way.

Then I'll break it in one blow!

Hanseong drew Phantom well back. The moment he had put real distance between himself and the summoning circle, the Rift Stone sprang a magical ambush. He had expected it, and slipped aside with ease, then locked onto the stone's coordinates and called the skill with the greatest destructive power against a single target.

A light fell from a tremendous height. The ferocious blow tore through the clouds and struck the Rift Stone dead on. The result was exactly what he had expected. With a roar, a crack, and the shriek of breaking crystal, the stone caved in around a massive hole. The green crystal lost its light at once, and the summoning circle faded until it was gone.

Afterward the System announced the victory.

Ten minutes remained before it ceased to exist. Hanseong sent Phantom out of the rift at once. He wanted this sickening feeling off him as soon as he could.

The moment he was clear—

Together with the news delivered to every survivor, another notice appeared: he had earned an achievement.

What he was given was a fragment of the Rift Stone, an Ether Crystal, and the Watcher's Ring besides. All three were strangers to him, but he had no leisure to look them over.

That completion notice was the last of it. A sudden, fierce headache crashed over him.

"Ugh!"

Pain, as though his brain were overheating. Unfamiliar knowledge and information crashed through him in waves and filled his head.

A short while later—

"Hah—! Hahh—!"

When the headache broke, the breath he had been holding burst free all at once. Steadying it, Hanseong sorted the information that had risen in his mind.

The time limit System Eden had set upon a rift. Fail to subjugate it within that span, and the rift changed into a liberated rift.

After that, something called a Rift Stone appears.

The Rift Stone inherited every authority once granted to the rift's owner. Beyond that, it managed the liberated rift and poured all its power into the summoning of ■■■. The censored word was never revealed, but by System Eden's consideration a name that could stand in its place rose in his mind.

...the Fallen God.

The third force of the Apocalypse that A had spoken of. The one who had created the multidimensional space called a rift—a being that left common sense far behind. And then Hanseong understood something new. Summoning that thing was the true purpose the armies of the rifts pursued.

He swallowed, throat dry with tension. If the Fallen God were summoned to Earth? A situation too dreadful even to imagine would unfold. No—perhaps everyone would meet their end without so much as feeling pain. It was said to be powerful enough to swallow an entire dimensional realm whole.

Every liberated rift has to be erased.

What remained were the rifts in Russia and Japan. Best if the survivors of each region joined together and smashed the Rift Stones. If that proved impossible, Hanseong would have to go and erase them himself. Leave the liberated rifts as they were, and the Fallen God's summoning would only keep climbing.

First, I tell everyone.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and opened the Information Strategy Board. Then he wrote a post that held every scrap of what he had just learned, nothing omitted—to make the truth known, and to ask for everyone's cooperation.

"Good. This should do."

A short while later, no sooner had he posted than comments stacked up in a rush.

He didn't give them much attention. Most of them had little of substance in them. And for another reason: a familiar notice had suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"Ah. Has it already been a month?"

The VIP auction was held once a month. Hanseong recalled what Jet had said, back when the auction was run before, and opened the invitation.

There was still some time before it began. Go in now, and there would be nothing to do but wait for the start.

I can go in at night.

His mind made up, he left the board at once. Afterward he was turning over how to deal with the liberated rifts in Russia and Japan when a familiar voice reached him without warning.

"Mage! I'm back."

A cheerful whisper, rapping at the inside of his mind. None other than Jihye. Hearing her after so long, he answered without hiding that he was glad.

"You just got out?"

"Hehe, yes! I've got so much to tell you. Are you at the Suwon Base right now?"

"No. I'm in North Korea."

"...What?"

Jihye echoed him, blank. Hanseong explained in brief: he had already subjugated every Champion Monster in South Korea, and so he had moved on. He said nothing of the rifts. To explain that, he would have had to start from the moment Phase 3 began and walk her through it piece by piece. He meant to make time for it later.

"Wow, really? You really are incredible."

Jihye, for her part, spilled over with admiration. Then she went on, bright-voiced.

"Starting tomorrow I should focus on taking the regions back. Champion Monsters were the worst of the trouble, and now it's as if every problem has vanished."

"Even so, you can't let your guard down."

An Elite Monster could still grow into a Champion Monster. The possibility remained. When he told her so, Jihye said she would keep it in mind—then turned the talk elsewhere.

"Then when are you coming back to Suwon?"

He had meant to stay at the Hamhung base for a while, sweeping the Champion Monsters in the area while he looked for a way on to Japan and Russia. But now that Jihye was back, he had to see her at least once. He could give her some of his blood while he was at it. With that settled, he answered at once.

"I'm heading back soon."

"Ah, then I'll go to the Suwon Base. There's something I need to tell you, and something I need to give you, too."

"All right. See you in a bit."

"Yes! Understood."

The exchange ended on that bright voice. Hanseong opened a Warp Gate bound for the Suwon Base, set his wheelchair moving, and started toward it.