Phase 3 (4)

A flock of crows appeared without warning.

They swept through the zombies like a wave. Caught in a sight none of them had imagined, Jihun and his companions could only stare.

Not long after, the zombies hidden all through the jungle were cleared in a flash. The flock drew together into a single mass and, within moments, took on a human shape.

"Looks like that's most of them cleaned up."

A clear voice followed.

A moment later the crows were gone, and a woman stood where they had been.

Black heels, a black dress, a veil, a black umbrella, and a crow-faced mask that hid everything but her mouth.

The owner of that peculiar appearance walked toward Jihun and the others.

"Is everyone all right?"

"And you are...?"

"Kurogane Kotori. On the boards, I go by the name Crow."

Kotori caught the hem of her skirt between her fingers and offered an elegant bow. At her introduction, the clearing stirred all at once.

Of course it did. To ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anyone who used the boards, Crow was a considerable celebrity.

Even Jihun knew her well enough.

That was when Kotori spoke to him.

"May I ask your name?"

"...Seo Jihun."

"And on the boards?"

"I go by ICBM."

"Oh my. Is that so."

Kotori covered her mouth as if startled.

The corner of her lips lifted, just slightly.

"So you're the Frenzied Rider."

"..."

The nickname had stuck early in the Cataclysm, back when he tore down the roads on a motorcycle and mowed through zombies and monsters like a madman.

He had never much liked it.

He offered neither denial nor confirmation, only silence, and Kotori spoke again.

"You know it too, don't you?"

"Know what?"

"That the situation is bad."

Of course he knew.

A jungle made for hiding. Fewer than a hundred of them on this side, and an absurd number on the other. The zombies Jihun himself had already dropped numbered in the dozens.

Had she read that off his face?

Kotori answered without being asked.

"The enemy is at least three thousand."

"...What?"

"Th-that many?"

"Yes. That's what I saw from the sky."

At her words, Jihun and his companions alike failed to hide their dismay. Kotori went on, unbothered.

"I didn't look over every stretch of ground, so there may be even more than that."

The added explanation only made it bleaker. A shadow of despair was settling over Jihun and the others when Kotori clenched a fist.

"It's all right. There's still hope."

"And what are you basing that on..."

"According to a post the mage wrote, if we take down the owner of the space, the whole thing resolves itself."

The Fire-Lightning Mage.

A survivor of level 50, no less. He didn't show up on the boards nearly as often as Crow, but the alias itself was enormously famous.

Jihun had read that post too.

Once Phase 3 began, multidimensional spaces would open, and if you killed the owner of one, every enemy inside was supposed to vanish on its own.

"So, about that..."

"...?"

"How about we work together for now?"

"You want to join hands?"

"That's right. I'll use my scouting to find the owner of the space. Then we put our strength together and bring him down."

There was no reason to refuse.

They had already seen what Crow could do in a fight. His companions all nodded, and Jihun took the hand she offered.

"I'll take the offer. I'm counting on you."

"Hehe. Likewise."

The two of them had just clasped hands when a notification suddenly appeared before their eyes. The moment they read it, every one of them went wide-eyed.

"Wh-what? How is it already..."

"Whoa. He's actually insane."

"Guess that's what level 50 gets you."

Jihun was silently impressed as well.

What caught his eye was the contribution. It meant the man had faced essentially every enemy alone.

"As expected of the Fire-Lightning Mage. Incredible."

Kotori was no less awed.

While the exclamations were still dying down, a question crossed Jihun's mind.

"Don't you have a party?"

"I don't. It's easier on my own."

"...You wander around without a single ally, and you still had the nerve to walk in here."

"It's to protect my village."

"Village...?"

"The mage said that if we don't get rid of this owner of the space, a great calamity hits wherever the anomaly occurred."

Right. He had written something like that.

Jihun nodded in silence. A new question followed almost at once.

Then why not just abandon the village and leave?

If a calamity was coming, you fled somewhere it wasn't. Why risk your life walking into this?

The doubt rose and he meant to voice it, but he never got the chance.

A dry rustle. Leaves scraping against leaves.

Then presences, one after another, from every side. His face hardened. He snatched up the shield he had dropped and muttered.

"Enough talk."

"Agreed. I'll leave this place to you."

Kotori's role was scouting and search.

To find the owner of the space, she became a flock of crows again, rose high, and scattered in every direction.

Jihun drew a few short breaths, then shouted to the companion setting the defensive line.

"Jinsu!"

"Yeah!"

"Look after the wounded."

"Leave it to me!"

Until the others had their formation set, he meant to handle every enemy himself. So long as he wasn't surrounded, he had a real chance.

A rustle.

Jihun strained every sense toward the approaching presence, and at the same time took stock of what he was carrying.

A shield in one hand. An axe in the other.

A specially modified rifle, and grenades fixed to the bandolier. He was just finishing that check when it hit him.

Front!

About fifteen meters ahead.

He had barely spotted the zombie soldier.

Jihun kicked off the ground and rushed the zombie soldier like lightning. In a blink he took its head and crushed its chest.

That was the signal. The fight began.

"Graaaaaah!"

"Graaah!"

Jihun's way of fighting was simple.

What he could dodge, he dodged. What he couldn't, he took on the shield. Past that, he kept the attack going in movements with nothing wasted.

A rattling volley of arrows hammered the shield.

From that, Jihun picked out the zombie archers' direction at once.

Five archers, six o'clock.

Fifty meters, give or take.

Too far to close with Instant Acceleration.

So he chose the instant they were nocking the next arrows. He brought the rifle up fast and sighted them.

Crack! A stuttering burst!

Dozens of rounds turned the zombie archers into sieves. In the moment the shooting left him open, zombies that had been hiding behind brush and trees came down on him.

He didn't need to worry.

He had already prepared for it.

With every archer down, he snatched the shield back up just before Damage Immunity ran out and shut the zombies' attacks off cold.

Some time after that, the fight finally ended, right around when his breath started to shorten. He had cleared every zombie and was leaning his back against a tree, catching it, when a familiar voice came out of nowhere.

"Wow. You really are something."

Kotori. She had hidden herself by turning into crows.

"Did you find the target?"

"I did. But..."

"But what?"

"I think we need to fall back."

She wore an awkward smile.

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

Jihun couldn't make sense of it.

"Run? Why?"

"The target is coming this way. With at least a thousand underlings in tow."

"...What?"

Jihun's eyes wavered.

The target coming here was not, by itself, a problem. They had to fight it anyway.

A thousand zombies moving with it was another story.

"We should pull back first and work out a..."

Kotori proposed retreat again.

She never finished the sentence.

A heavy, punching impact.

From beyond the brush, out of a place where he had sensed nothing at all, a huge arrow punched through her head.

Thud. A patter of small bodies.

Crow corpses dropped to the ground.

He was still staring blankly at them when a pressure he hadn't felt until that moment crushed down on him.

Instinct turned his gaze, and there was something that did not look like the zombies.

"...!?"

Human above the waist. Horse below.

A monster that called to mind a centaur glared their way with an enormous bow in hand. The instant Jihun saw it, he knew.

That was the owner of the space.

The moment he faced the centaur, Jihun triggered a taunt, pulling its attention onto himself.

He left his companions with an order to get their formation set, then ran the other way with everything he had.

"Hah! Hahh!"

His breath climbed to his chin almost at once.

He wanted to drop and rest right there, but he couldn't. To keep his companions out of danger, Jihun tore through the jungle as hard as he could.

Then it came.

A roaring crash, and the arrow meant for him struck the ground and blew it apart. He rolled clear by a hair and looked back.

The centaur was still coming after him.

Proof the taunt had taken.

If the skill works...

Then the gap between their levels wasn't ten or more. That was a relief. It did not mean he had the advantage.

The crow shaman who had offered to work with them had died for nothing, and what remained was the advance party. Fifty, including him. That was all.

If the main force had just gotten here...!

He wouldn't have been driven into a corner like this. The thought of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Oh Jeongho, leader of the Busan Alliance, crossed his mind, and Jihun ground his teeth, face tight with rage.

He was still running when something burst out ahead of him.

A zombie soldier.

"...!"

It swung its axe with no warning at all.

Jihun slipped it by a hair, hit the ground, and rolled hard enough to change course. For an instant that opened a gap, and the centaur chasing him did not miss it.

A shrieking impact, then a blast.

"Kh—!"

The arrow landed right in front of him.

It wasn't a direct hit, but the explosion that followed threw his body into the air.

He tumbled across the ground several times before he finally stopped. Pain crushed through him as if his whole body were coming apart, and he swallowed the scream in silence.

A metallic click. The long creak of a string drawn tight.

Far off, he could see the centaur drawing the bow. He had to get up and run now, but his legs wouldn't listen.

The impact must have done something to them.

Jihun's face darkened at once.

...Can the shield stop it?

Even if it couldn't, he had no other choice.

He grabbed the shield lying nearby and braced for the centaur's shot, praying the shield would hold.

That was when it happened.

"Huh?"

On the line of fire between the centaur and Jihun, at the very center of it, a grotesquely shaped steel doll suddenly showed itself. The doll that had appeared from nowhere charged the centaur without hesitation.

At the sudden interference, the centaur twisted its face and loosed the string. The arrow punched through the intruder's torso and exploded.

A crunch, then a roaring blast.

Fragments of the steel doll flew in every direction.

In the middle of that, a piece of luck: Jihun's legs moved. A chance, barely in hand. He clenched his teeth and drove his body with everything he had.

And in that instant—

A flash.

At the moment the arrow-struck doll exploded, starlight glinted in the extreme heights.

It took shape, and before the centaur could even react, it fell toward the ground.

Fast beyond all reason.

In the space of a blink it struck the centaur's head dead-on and punched straight through.

The blow landed all at once.

The shockwave spread through the whole jungle at the same time. It was strong enough that, for an instant, Jihun's body lifted off the ground.

A moment later, the dust thinned.

Jihun stared.

"Th-that's...!"

More than half the centaur's torso was gone.

What remained was a ragged ruin, the very picture of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something about to die. At the sight, Jihun's eyes swelled with a hard hope.

I don't know what's happening, but...

In that state, he could bring it down.

He turned the body that had been trying to flee, swung the other way, and leveled the rifle at the centaur.

In that moment, a familiar voice reached him.

"Looks like the Fire-Lightning Mage is here."

"...!?"

Kotori, suddenly right in front of him.

Her appearance startled Jihun so badly he jerked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Wh-what? Weren't you dead?"

"Dead? As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

Kotori gave a small shrug.

From the way she reacted, it had probably been some skill. A clone, or something like it.

Done guessing, Jihun aimed the rifle at the owner of the space again. The range was too far for a sure hit, and he was about to close in when she spoke.

"You'd better not get any closer."

"What? Why?"

"...I have a bad feeling."

Kotori caught hold of him, her face set.

In the end, her judgment was exactly right. In the instant Jihun stopped, something came flying across the sky.

"Spears?"

They were spears of light.

Five of them came in fast and struck the owner of the space. At the same time, a tremendous explosion hammered the area.

A roaring chain of blasts. Impact after impact.

An indiscriminate bombardment.

The aftermath was considerable. Everything out to a dozen meters in front of Jihun was scorched flat.

If I'd moved forward...

He would have been caught in it and taken serious damage. Jihun swallowed dryly and, without a word, bowed his head to Kotori.

A little later, a familiar notification appeared before Jihun, the advance party, and Kotori.

"...Ha. Haha."

Everything he had been wondering was answered there.

Jihun only laughed, hollow.

Meanwhile, at that same moment.

On a hill a little removed from the battlefield, where the jungle spread out below, a figure in a motorcycle helmet stood straight and still.

"..."

The replica. The living armor, Phantom.

Hanseong, having paused his control of Phantom for a moment, left the subjugation notice floating before him and stared at the place where the rift's owner had been.

It withstood Ether Strike.

The one he had faced in the rift toward Yongsan District had gone down in a single hit. This one had taken the attack dead-on and still hadn't died from it.

Even though the level was the same.

Does each of them have different health? Or is there a skill that cuts magic damage?

He turned every possibility over and still couldn't see the reason. Even Detection hadn't produced a list of the thing's skills.

I'll have to think it through later.

For now, it was enough that the immediate threat was gone. Finished with the thought, Hanseong checked the reward notice that had appeared before Phantom's eyes.

Coins again, and nothing else.

Unlike last time, even the bonus reward had come as coins. Hanseong tilted his head.

So it doesn't give loot separately?

Could you only get coins from a rift?

Or was it because the rank was low?

A few questions rose, and none of them could be answered yet. Before long, Hanseong set them aside.

That was when it came.

Caw! Caaaaaw!

A crow's cry, sudden.

The crows that had gathered beside Phantom packed into one place, and soon took on a human shape.

A moment later, the one who appeared was a woman in a black dress and a mask. The instant she saw Phantom, a smile touched her mouth and she spoke.

"Hehe. It's been a while. Or since this is the first time I'm seeing you like this, should I say I'm glad to meet you first?"

Kurogane Kotori, the crow shaman.

Even at her sudden appearance, Hanseong was not particularly surprised.

Before he poured Ether Strike into the rift's owner, Detection and Precise Observation had already told him she was there.

"First, let me thank you for the help. I lived because of you. Thank you."

"..."

"You really are strong."

She clapped her hands together, openly impressed.

Kotori looked Phantom over from one place to another, making a fuss of it.

"I can only feel awe, wondering how many battles you've been through. If you'd had any business ethics, I might actually have respected you."

"...Business ethics?"

What was that supposed to mean?

When he asked it back, plainly puzzled, Kotori snorted as if he were asking something painfully obvious.

"Hmph. I'm talking about last time, at the Auction House, when you stole that high-grade rune with a dirty trick."

"That was fair competition."

"No, it wasn't! You used a discount ticket that cuts the final bid in half! That's cheating!"

It was nonsense, close to pure stubbornness.

She herself didn't seem to realize it. She pouted and kept protesting.

"I had way more coins! If it weren't for that discount ticket, the rune would've been mine!"

"I think you're mistaken about something."

"Huh? Mistaken how?"

"I had more coins than you. If I'd been short to begin with, I couldn't have outbid you."

What Hanseong said was the truth.

The coins Kotori had held then came to 130,000.

Hanseong's had been over 200,000.

And the discount ticket could only be used after the final bid was done and the item had already been won. At that explanation, Kotori's face went blank.

"Uh. That's the first I'm hearing of that..."

"Does it make sense now?"

"Mm. You're right. If you had more coins than me from the start, I can accept it fair and square."

"Then stop bothering me."

He was waving her off as she nodded when a group came up the hill from below.

Dozens of men.

Obviously the Busan Alliance's advance party. Still, he ought to confirm it once. Hanseong turned Phantom's head and spoke.

"The Busan Alliance's advance party?"

"That's right. Are you perhaps..."

"The Fire-Lightning Mage."

The big man at the front.

Jihun's eyes went wide. Surprise crossed his face, and he bowed his head at once.

"Thanks for the help. We're alive because of you."

"Don't mention it. I came on a request."

"Huh? A request?"

"The leader of the Busan Alliance commissioned me. Asked me to bring back the advance party that went in first."

Hanseong gave a brief account of what had happened outside. A moment later, the faces of Jihun and the advance party, who had been listening, hardened in a subtle way.

"Oh Jeongho? That bastard wouldn't do something like that..."

"You don't think he's scheming something?"

"That's right. We can't let our guard down."

Not a good reaction, by any reading.

There was some internal split here that Hanseong didn't know about. Otherwise the advance party would have had no reason to be this suspicious.

They'll collapse before long.

Or they'd replace the leader.

He was thinking that when a red warning appeared before all of them.

A pure-white vortex appeared after it.

Relief settled on the advance party's faces. Hope, at last, that they could leave this place and return to where they had been.

"Let's think it over once we're out."

"Right. Let's go back."

With Jihun in the lead, the advance party went out one after another.

Hanseong counted them, one by one.

Down to the last, exactly fifty.

They actually held out without losing a single one.

A smile touched Hanseong's mouth.

Then he turned Phantom as well.

To report the request complete, and to collect his pay from the leader of the Busan Alliance.

"Ah! Wait. I still have something to say...!"

Kotori grabbed for Phantom in a hurry.

She was already too late.

Before the shout reached him, Phantom had stepped through the vortex.

It'll just be more nonsense anyway.

Hanseong did not stop Phantom's steps. The moment it passed fully through the vortex, his vision brightened, and a familiar scene opened up.

The intersection near Seomyeon Station.

What followed was a puzzling sight.

...And what is this now?

The advance party that had left the rift first, and Oh Jeongho, leader of the Busan Alliance, were squared off against each other.

In an air that looked ready to break into blows at any moment, Hanseong tilted his head.