Eternal Gate
“Split into teams of five and search.”
“The target is Ttanttani!”
Following Han Seongmin’s orders, the Association Keepers scattered into the Eternal Gate. They meant to survey the Gate and stake their claim before any other reconnaissance teams could arrive.
‘Oppa, I’m heading back. Take care of yourself. Uncle William, please look after my oppa!’
Suyeon returned to Seoul. This place was far too dangerous for an ordinary person. I also sent back every Association staffer who had been investigating Death’s Land. That left ten of us, counting my own party. All ten were Keepers, and three of them were even ranked S-class. Under normal circumstances it would have felt rock-solid. Right now, though, a nameless unease sat heavy in my chest—and I wasn’t the only one feeling it. The leaden sky, thick enough that rain might fall any second, only made the mood worse.
The calm before the storm.
We put out more calls for backup wherever we could.
“The Shinyongsan Keepers will arrive this afternoon. Most of them are already inside other Gates, so the numbers won’t be huge.”
“We’ve requested reinforcements from the Association again. Even the ones still investigating Villains have been pulled in. Fifteen should be able to make it.”
“Everyone from GGC is coming. The director’s already on the road—about two hours.”
Everyone was cooperating. With that many S-class Keepers on the way, we ought to be able to hold until they arrived.
“If nothing major happens for the next two hours…”
The words were barely out of my mouth when the “major” thing happened.
“The light from the magic circle is gone!”
Elena spotted it first. The white characters of the circle turned black, then simply dissolved into nothing.
“Keira?”
“The circle’s lifespan just ran out.”
“Meaning?”
“Whoever set it has already achieved their purpose…”
A low hum rose between Keira and me. A blue door appeared. The first thing to step out of that small Gate was a bare, skeletal foot.
Clack. Clack.
Bone striking bone sounded perfectly at home under the gloomy sky.
“…Skeleton.”
I named the familiar monster. The skeleton turned its empty sockets toward me; purple light leaked from inside the skull where eyes should have been.
And that was only the beginning.
Whirr, whirr, whirr, whirr.
Dozens of doors opened at once. Skeleton warriors, mages, archers—every variety of the skeleton series poured out.
“Everyone, get up top!”
There was almost no room to fight at the bottom of a pit already packed with doors. The surface was no better. Doors were spawning across the whole of Death’s Land as if they meant to fill every inch of it.
“Jungmin! This way!”
Elena was already carving a path, cutting down skeletons as she went. The ones that had just emerged never even got the chance to orient themselves before her blade reduced them to flying fragments. I ran along the corridor she opened.
Whirr, whirr.
Doors kept appearing without pause. Within moments the entire fifty-meter radius of Death’s Land was solid blue. Fresh doors opened right on top of the path Elena and the Keepers had cleared; more doors opened above the skeletons’ heads and dropped still more of them down. In less than a minute the whole of Death’s Land rang with the clatter of bone.
How many in total? A thousand? Two thousand? It might already be past ten thousand. Even ten thousand D-grade skeletons would force our current numbers to run. And mixed among them were plenty of Skeleton Knights and Wizards.
“…We pull back. This may be our last chance.”
William Park didn’t spell out what that “chance” was, but every Keeper present understood. The skeletons still seemed disoriented, merely looking around. If we moved now we could put distance between us.
“Agreed. Fall back and reassess.”
We retreated swiftly to the foot of the mountain. Fortunately the skeletons showed no interest in us and simply stood where they were. Even from a distance the army occupying the mid-slope looked formidable.
“There are only a few outposts higher up; I’ve already ordered them to evacuate immediately. Beyond the mountain is the DMZ, so that side should be fine for now.”
Park Sena, who had been on the phone the moment we reached the bottom, filled us in.
“But we cannot let that army come down this mountain and head for the cities. We need your help. Please.”
She bowed at the waist. She seemed to take Han Seongmin’s decision to enter the Gate as her own responsibility. She wasn’t entirely wrong—they belonged to the same Association—but the issue ran deeper than that. As fellow humans, as fellow Keepers, walking away from this was simply not an option.
“Of course. Let’s stop those piles of bones together. Right, William?”
“Yes. Whatever the question of blame, stopping them comes first.”
“Thank you. Your cooperation will be repaid—not by the Association, but by me personally.”
Park Sena’s face looked bad. Skeletons alone were enough to scramble anyone’s thoughts; catching even a glimpse of the Association’s true face on top of that had clearly left her reeling.
“Forget that for now. Do you have a plan?”
“The nearby armored brigade is mobilizing as we speak. We only need to hold until they arrive. Keepers are already en route as well.”
Tanks would turn a skeleton horde into scrap. Even the Knights and Wizards wouldn’t stand a chance. The real problem was that this almost certainly wouldn’t end there.
“Keira, can you observe the situation up top?”
“I was just about to.”
Keira closed her eyes and stretched both hands forward. Mana stirred; a blue ripple formed in front of her. Within that ripple the view of the mountain appeared. The skeletons still stood milling about, exactly as we saw them from below. The magic-circle pit that had been hidden from our line of sight came into view as well. Inside it, bone constructs bulkier than Skeleton Knights ringed the Eternal Gate.
“…Those are Skeleton Princes. Twenty A-class monsters…”
William Park let out a groan. Twenty A-class monsters were a heavy load even for an S-class Keeper.
“Something’s coming out of the Gate.”
Just as Park Sena said, a vertical Gate opened above the Eternal Gate. What stepped through was not a skeleton but a woman. One glance told us she was no Association personnel—her outfit was completely wrong for the situation.
“…A maid uniform?”
The woman turned her head the way the skeletons had, then lifted her gaze and looked straight at us—as if she knew we were watching. Through Keira’s magic her vivid red eyes held no spark of life. No emotion of any kind showed on her face. That emptiness made her terrifying. No real person should look like that. She was simply too alien.
“More Gates are opening.”
A dozen more Gates bloomed among the Skeleton Princes. The red eyes that had been fixed on us dropped again.
“Han Seongmin! The Association Keepers!”
Park Sena’s cry was almost a scream. Exactly as she said, Han Seongmin and the others came tumbling out of the Gates. Combat erupted at once. Light flared from Han Seongmin’s sword; the Princes swung their weapons with vicious force. The first clash went to Han Seongmin, of course—but within moments he and the Keepers vanished beneath a tide of skeletons too numerous to count.
“We have to—”
“We have to go save them!”
Park Sena started to speak and stopped; I finished the sentence at full volume. Whatever the circumstances, I could not simply watch people die in front of me.
Before we could do anything, blue light erupted from among the Skeleton Princes. Flash after flash followed, and half the skeletons—including the Princes and the maid-uniformed woman—vanished from the mid-slope.
“…Huh?”
“…Spatial transfer magic.”
The blue ripple that had been showing Death’s Land faded; Keira answered the question on all our faces.
“Spatial transfer? Just like that? To where?”
“Two mana pulses. One was probably Han Seongmin; the other was the skeletons chasing after him.”
“There’s a spatial-transfer Keeper? How? Sena, where did Han Seongmin go?”
“I—I don’t…”
Park Sena’s face was pure confusion. Spatial-transfer ability users and spatial transfer itself seemed to be news to her.
“Jungmin, I think I know. Look at this.”
William Park held out his smartphone. An SNS video was playing.
In the violently shaking footage, hundreds of skeletons filled the frame. Above them, floating in mid-air, stood the woman in the maid uniform.
“Seoul…”
The video was being filmed in Seoul—right in the middle of City Hall Plaza.
“Jungmin! The skeletons are moving!”
Elena spotted it first and shouted. The skeletons that had remained on the mid-slope were advancing. Their numbers were still in the thousands—far beyond what ten people could handle.
My mind went blank for a second. We had prepared as best we could to hold Death’s Land, and every preparation had failed. Worse than failure: the absolute worst-case scenario we had never even imagined was unfolding. We might still find a way to hold this mountain, but Seoul? We had just pulled every free Keeper here. Were there any left in the capital who could stop those skeletons?
“Jungmin?”
Keira’s husky voice pulled my eyes to her. She was looking at me. So was everyone else—Elena, Sena, William Park. Without realizing it I had become the de-facto leader; they were all waiting for my word.
Slap.
I struck both cheeks with my palms.
“Keira, can you spatial-transfer us to City Hall?”
“Up to three people…”
“Good enough. Start right now. Elena, come help her.”
“Yes!”
Keira began drawing a magic circle; Elena moved to her side to assist. I turned to the remaining two.
“Sena, William—I’m leaving this place to you. With the Skeleton Princes gone, the two of you should be able to buy plenty of time.”
“We’ll manage somehow here. But what about Seoul?”
“Exactly, Jungmin. Three people…”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll make it work.”
A method had flashed through my mind like lightning. Success was uncertain, but right now it was the best we had.
“Jungmin, it’s ready.”
“Then we’re going. Stay alive, all of you.”
I took Keira’s hand and stepped onto the circle.
A rush of blue light swallowed my vision. When I opened my eyes again I was standing on a building rooftop.
“…Where are we?”
“Over there.”
Keira pointed. City Hall Plaza, packed solid with skeletons, stretched out below.
“Run!”
“Kyaaa!”
The streets were noisy, yet there still seemed to be no casualties. On a weekday afternoon the plaza itself had been empty of civilians, and the skeletons had only just begun to move. Their direction was straight toward City Hall. The maid-uniformed woman stood at the very front.
“Elena, think you can hold them?”
“When I am with Lu’s Love, I do not lose.”
Lu’s Love. The words meant exactly what they said, but they were also the name of the armor-and-shield set she wore. The pure-white armor still shone brilliantly. Like her sword, it was forged of Orichalcum. Skeleton attacks would not even scratch it. The maid woman’s power was a concern, yet if Elena claimed she would not lose, the woman was at most S-class. In that case Elena alone could hold this plaza for hours until reinforcements arrived.
But holding was not enough. Buying time would not win the fight. A single Skeleton Prince that slipped past Elena and ran wild here would kill hundreds. Elena had to overwhelm hundreds of skeletons that included S-class and A-class threats. And that was possible only when she was with Lu’s Love.
“All right, Elena. Go. Go and win.”
I channeled the Essence I had gathered through days of sex into my left arm. Ttanttani responded at once; lust exploded outward in a surge. Riding that power, I opened the Gate only I could open—the Gate linked to Keruon.
A soft pink radiance enveloped Elena.