The Shadow Gate Siege
Gate. While Eclipse’s training was proceeding smoothly, Yusoha had reported to Hwanryeong and was handling her regular duties. Her title was Team Leader of the Awakened Team 2. Like Yu Danha, she led one of the guild’s Awakened teams. The position came with a heavy workload, so she could not devote every waking hour to Eclipse’s education. At least she had been diligent as usual; there was no backlog, and she expected to finish everything by the end of the day.
As Yusoha considered whether to finish Eclipse’s lessons after work and ask him to teach her some combat techniques, a bomb suddenly dropped on her plans.
“Team Leader.”
“Mina? What’s wrong?”
Lee Mina belonged to Yusoha’s team and also served as her personal bodyguard. She was one of the few people who knew Yusoha had contracted Eclipse. Her complexion was ashen as she delivered the news.
“We’ve received a deployment order.”
“Ah.” Yusoha’s own face began to darken.
“A gate?”
“Yes.”
“Rank?”
“They say it’s B-Class.”
“Damn it.” A curse flew from Yusoha’s lips. Why did it have to be today? Annoyance flickered across her features.
“Is Team 1 joining?”
“Team Leader Yu Danha said that since Team 1 took the last gate, this time Team 2 should deploy and build up our own record.”
“Ah. Right. The previous gate was handled by Team 1… I wish they wouldn’t show that kind of consideration here. This gate appeared inside our jurisdiction, correct?”
“Yes. Confirmed.”
“Then our goal is to end it quickly. Move out.”
“Yes!” Lee Mina answered with crisp military sharpness.
A B-Class gate normally required around thirty B-Class Awakened. Hwanryeong Team 2 was already composed of exactly that number, so no extra personnel were needed. Moreover, their leader, Yusoha, was a monster who had reached A-Class even without a Guardian Star. Because of this, even with a gate outbreak, their expressions showed no tension—only the mild irritation of having to deploy.
“Have the clear conditions been identified yet? The rank is definitely B-Class?”
“Yes. The mana readings confirm it as B-Class with zero margin of error.”
“Zero margin of error is reliable. Good. Let’s go. Have the team prepare.”
“Yes!”
Yusoha tossed her remaining paperwork aside and immediately began preparing for deployment.
“This is the place.”
An ominous ripple floated in the air. Members of Hwanryeong’s gate-tracking team stood nearby in complicated equipment, inspecting the gate’s initial state. Yusoha approached them and began asking for details.
“What kind of gate is it?”
“It appears to be an open battlefield from another world. Looking at the images rippling inside, we can see castle walls… so it’s likely either a siege or a defense battle.”
“A siege? Or defending?”
“We can’t be certain, but the sight of demonic beasts swarming toward the walls suggests a defense scenario.”
“Then the other side should have reinforcements somewhere, right? In situations like this, support troops usually exist.”
“…That, we cannot confirm.”
“Tsk. Will thirty-one people be enough for this?” Yusoha clicked her tongue softly. “Should we request additional personnel from Team 1?”
“No. I don’t think that will be necessary. The mana values you measured are textbook B-Class, and I’ve confirmed them with my own eyes… This should be manageable.”
“There could be unexpected variables inside.”
“Variables don’t matter.” Yusoha spoke with absolute confidence. She had no intention of struggling against a mere B-Class gate. “Understood. Are you ready?”
“Yes. Mina, is the team prepared?”
“Yes! All members of Team 2 are ready! We await your command!”
“Good. Let’s move.”
The moment Yusoha gave the order, the waiting Awakened of Team 2 moved toward the gate with determined expressions. Yusoha took the lead, stepping into the gate first. One by one, the rest of the team vanished beyond the threshold.
Harsh sandy winds blew across the battlefield. The castle walls reeked of blood. Yusoha opened her eyes and took in the sight before her. The walls were in a wretched state, scarred by countless battles.
“A defense battle, then.”
Staring at the oncoming swarm of demonic beasts, Yusoha murmured to herself. Just as the gate analysis team had reported, this was a siege defense fought with the walls at their backs. She scanned her surroundings. The soldiers stood completely still, as if time had frozen, even though the beasts were closing in.
“Mina.”
“Yes, Team Leader!”
“This gate is a defense scenario. And it looks like a Shadow Gate.”
“A Shadow Gate? Oh my.”
Shadow Gates were gates that recreated tragic events from other worlds, preserving their past as data.
“You’ve experienced a Shadow Gate before, haven’t you, Mina?”
“Yes. It’s been a while, but if this is a Shadow Gate, then these people…”
“They’ve already become guests who cannot return.”
“Then the clear condition is probably…”
“Exactly. We have to protect this castle safely using these shadow soldiers who are standing here like statues. I believe that’s the type of gate we’re dealing with. You heard everything I said?”
“Yes!”
“Then we begin the gate raid now. Long-range specialists, fight from the walls. Close-range fighters, focus on the beasts climbing the walls. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“And Chae Gain.”
“Yes, Team Leader!”
“Use your fire-attribute mana to create a barrier so the beasts can’t easily approach the walls. Can you do it?”
“Yes!”
“Those carrying firearms, snipe the aerial beasts circling above. Can you handle that?”
“No problem!”
“Good. Let’s clear this quickly and go home to rest.”
With those words, Yusoha raised her mana. The instant she gathered her power and the members of Team 2 took their positions, the soldiers on the walls began to move, as though time had finally resumed. When they saw Team 2 stationed along the battlements, bright hope bloomed on their faces.
The soldiers’ roar was loud enough to rupture eardrums. It was a cry filled with desperate longing for life and hope.
Ah. Yusoha understood the situation instantly. In the original world, no reinforcements had ever arrived.
So in the original history, no support came. That fits the exact conditions for a Shadow Gate to appear.
The condition for a Shadow Gate to manifest was when humans trapped in utter despair cried out for futile hope. The gate preserved that past tragedy. And this twisted gate would appear on Earth by showing the moment those hopes twisted into despair, as if testing whether humans could overcome such conditions.
To clear a Shadow Gate, they naturally had to break those terrible odds and help the people who were desperately clinging to hope.
“We’re in combat right now, so stay quiet. I’ll explain later.”
“Understood.”
At Yusoha’s strict tone, Eclipse immediately fell silent. He knew well enough how dangerous casual conversation could be during battle.
Having silenced Eclipse, Yusoha refined the mana she had raised and shaped it into a weapon. Her mana uniquely possessed metallic properties. While it could be used like anyone else’s, she could also manifest solid matter directly from it. In other words, if she wished, she could create any kind of metal weapon in midair—swords, spears, axes, lances, anything.
The weapon she needed now was not for close range, but for long range. She required something that could strike a wide area and shatter the swarm of demonic beasts in a single blow.
In that case, there’s only one choice.
Suddenly, mana resonated around her, and an enormous cannon formed from pure magical power appeared. While ordinary cannons required large shells, the one Yusoha created ran on her own mana. She poured a tremendous amount of power into it. Soon, a massive, dense iron projectile took shape inside the barrel.
Sensing it was ready, Yusoha aimed the cannon at the horde of beasts and…
BOOM!
She fired using her own mana. The house-sized iron shell, carrying incomprehensible mass, shot forward with the cannon’s full propulsion and slammed directly into the center of the demonic swarm. The beasts struck by the projectile were crushed beyond recognition by its overwhelming weight.
And that was only the first shot.
The continuous barrage that followed began tearing the entire horde apart.
“Wow.”
The team members watching from the walls could not help letting out sounds of awe. Thinking they would be able to go home early, they leisurely raised their own mana. The situation was resolved in no time at all. Yusoha’s devastating iron shells blanketed the battlefield. All they had to do was keep the flying beasts at bay and deal with any creatures that somehow survived the iron rain and reached the walls.
Before long, every last demonic beast on the field had been annihilated… and the castle walls, along with everything else in this other world, began to crumble away.
The gate had been cleared.