Chapter 136 – Silence

Chapter 136 – Silence

A middle-aged man carefully knocks on his daughter’s door.

Knock, knock-

“What do you want, again-“

Only a sharp reply came from her room.

The middle-aged man carefully asked his daughter.

“Daughter, have you heard?”

“What?”

“The intelligence agency is recruiting again, they say?”

It was at that moment, as she opened her mouth.

Thump! Crash!

A loud noise came from inside her room.

“Ouch…”

“Daughter? Are you okay?”

Her father asked worriedly.

“Uh, yeah! I’m fine! Just a moment, I need to change my clothes!”

The answer came right after that.

And the rustling sound from inside the room. It seemed like she was preparing something properly.

“Father! Where’s the interview going to be?”

“Probably at the Castle again, right?”

“The Castle… When’s the fastest subway? Ugh, where’s that application I wrote down last time?”

The middle-aged man stood in front of her room, waiting for her to come out and kept talking.

“Do you know why they’re hiring this time?”

“Uh, huh? Oh, well-

At Father’s sudden question, The Woman got confused with her answer. Looking at The Woman, Father added as if he hadn’t used Fire Manipulation.

“You saw the newspaper article the other day, didn’t you? They’re mass-producing Observation Ships. Father thinks maybe there aren’t enough personnel to manage The Man, don’t you think?”

“Oh, I know! Of course I do!”

“Really?”

“Uh, huh!”

Clunk!

The Man and the opening door.

Daughter barely acknowledged the loyal Father waiting at the door and immediately headed for the entrance. With the internet down and manpower being urgently replenished almost daily these days….

What was most important to pass the public examination was to reach The Man position before others did and pass first.

Father’s expression darkened slightly at The Woman’s disappointed attitude, but The Woman didn’t seem to notice.

The Woman then hurriedly ran to the entrance—.

“Father! Where are my shoes?”

“Look in the left drawer.”

“Ah-ah! I told you not to touch them!”

After throwing all the tantrums she could, she stood at the entrance, put on her shoes properly, and finally turned around without even looking properly at The Man’s face….

“Oh! Um, well… The Man, Father! Thank you!”

She added shyly, as if she had forgotten.

It was the moment a wide smile bloomed on The Man Father’s face.

***

“It seems like things are finally settled.”

I was satisfied seeing the decreasing number of Monsters.

After all, Partisan Tactics, perhaps, was truly their last resort. Following the annihilation of the Giant Nests, the number of Monsters in East Asia and North America was rapidly decreasing.

Of course, that didn’t mean sporadic Monsters weren’t appearing. And My Legion’s role was also immense.

Meanwhile, Seongjae, who had been exercising on the Bridge, looked at the battle map next to me and clicked his tongue.

“Wow, isn’t this practically taking over the hunting ground?”

Seoyeon frowned at his words.

“Seongjae Oppa… What nonsense are you spouting now?”

“Uh… about that…”

Perhaps embarrassed, Seongjae began to explain his joke.

“Even if monsters respawn… you’re still catching them faster than they respawn, right? So that means—”

But Seoyeon was a shut-in with deep knowledge of games.

“That’s not taking over.”

There was no way she wouldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Ahahaha… you’re right. That’s true.”

At her words, Seongjae awkwardly ran a hand through his hair. Taking over, of course, referred to obstructing others from hunting.

‘Well… if there are no monsters to hunt, is that considered taking over?’

That’s what I thought, but I decided not to dwell on it. If there were no monsters, it was a good thing anyway.

Besides my faction, there was no one else leisurely hunting monsters in my sphere of influence. If they weren’t part of my faction, they would eventually be busy dealing with monsters within their own factions.

Then again, something else came to mind.

‘And anyway, there aren’t many left outside my faction.’

The survivors in Europe were almost annihilated, and the situation in South America, Australia, and Africa wasn’t much different.

It was a shame I couldn’t save more people, but it wasn’t something to despair over. I had already saved far more people than in my previous life.

And besides, the preservation of the human species itself owed much to me.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t the time to bask in my achievements. I immediately began setting my next goal.

“So now… only Archmage Villain is left in North America, right?”

I thought deeply.

Archmage Villain.

Unknown even by name to the survivors, he was a figure who had caused considerable trouble in the previous rounds with his ever-changing abilities and equally impressive applications.

Ironically, however, The Man was also the only villain among those with the Essence of Forgotten Knowledge that I could capture in my Previous Life.

The reason The Man was Water was because The Man’s abilities came with a fatal flaw. It was so simple that when Seongjae pointed out The Man’s weakness, everyone shook their heads in disbelief, saying, ‘No way.’

But that was only the story of the previous round.

Now, I knew exactly what The Man’s weakness was.

‘This Artifact was a tremendous help.’

With that thought…

For a moment, I looked at a corner of the Bridge.

At my action, Minju looked at my gaze, puzzled.

“Siwoo? Why are you staring into space like that, it’s scary.”

“Well, there’s something like that.”

“A ghost?”

“Hmm… something like that.”

I grinned.

If it’s a ghost, then it’s a ghost.

Specifically, it was nothing short of a ghost limited to that Archmage.

***

Meanwhile, the Mutants, accompanied by Yujin, used an Observer to monitor the movements of the gradually approaching Fleet. However, such things were currently invisible to ordinary people’s eyes.

This was because Yujin had used her ability to initiate Invisibility. The Mutants, seeing their own bodies become invisible, did not spare any praise for Yujin.

“This is truly amazing.”

“Indeed, if things continue like this, catching him will be a piece of cake.”

“That’s right, Yujin’s ability is truly unique.”

“Such an outstanding ability came from such a low-level dimension. Truly, the harmony of the world is…”

It was while they were chattering incessantly like that.

“Look over there.”

With just one word, Yujin captivated the Men and drew their attention. The Magitech Civilization’s Fleet was now on a path that intersected with where the Men stood.

“They’ll be here soon.”

“But… doesn’t it seem like they’re coming right for us?”

“Hahaha, that can’t be.”

“Haha, of course that’s true, but… for some reason…”

It was at that moment one of the Mutants raised a question.

Ziiiiiing-

From afar, the sound of something vibrating began to be heard.

“W-wait!”

Kwaaaaaang!

A Pillar of Light flew over, instantly engulfing the Men.

“Kyaaaaaaak!”

“Aaaahaaak!”

The Mutants’ screams echoed.

***

A Pillar of Light that seemed to burn everything with Fire Manipulation.

Yet, the Mutants, despite suffering as if their bodies were aflame, were enduring.

“Ha, haaaak!”

“Heug. Heuuheug.”

In a way, they were somehow holding on.

The Men were not even high-ranking Mutants. In fact, some of The Men were still all talk, spouting Fire Manipulation.

“Wh- what in the world!”

“Yujin, what in the world is going on! You said you couldn’t see anything-“

Kwakwaaang!

The Men could not have imagined that the dense traces of mana they emitted from the Observation Ship, floating high in the sky, would be sparkling like fluorescent lights. It was then that The Men began to receive the mighty Artillery Barrage of the Photon Destroyer.

“Damn it!”

Yujin cursed.

‘I should have attacked first!’

Securing the initiative in an attack was paramount. Using Invisibility stemmed from that very thought.

If the opponent approached without knowing their Loyalty, there would surely be an opportunity for an Ambush. But she wasn’t so pathetic as to dwell excessively on what had already passed.

Hwaaaak-

“5th Circle. Wall of Shield.”

Chaeaeeng!

She quickly gathered mana and deployed a Shield.

Jiiiiiing- Kwakwaaang!

The strength of it was such that it could withstand several Artillery Barrages from the Photon Destroyer.

‘I’ll catch my breath with this for now.’

She hid behind the Shield and-

“The situation has changed a bit, but we’ll stick to the plan!”

She began to instruct the Mutants. At her words, the Mutants also realized the gravity of the situation and started running.

“Tsk, I guess I have no choice but to follow!”

“I’ll go first!”

The direction The Men were running was towards the Fleet.

The strategy Yujin proposed was like a Boss raid in a traditional RPG. While the Mutants went ahead to distract and tank most of the Fleet’s Firepower, Yujin would cast high-Firepower magic, acting as the damage dealer.

It was that kind of situation. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Fleet was indeed targeting the approaching Mutants, not Yujin.

Ziiiiiing- Kwaaang! Kukwaaang!

The Mutants took the full brunt of the Artillery Barrage.

“Uwaaaah!”

“K-kuhk.”

Even while suffering like that, the men watched Yujin quietly chanting with one eye.

“D-damn it!”

“Just hold on a little longer!”

“We just need to finish the chant! Just the chant!”

The magic he was about to chant was a ninth-circle spell. It was a high-power spell he had never used before.

The Mutants didn’t fully understand that magic, but they had seen an eighth-circle spell. That was during the White House battle when they eliminated the Aerial Motherships that had tormented them for a long time.

Since Yujin had said he was much stronger than them, it was a level beyond their imagination. Still, they trusted him, thinking of the abilities Yujin had shown so far.

“Damn it, if we just hold on one more time!”

“I-I can do it!”

Kukwaaaang!

Even though Mutants who couldn’t withstand the Artillery Barrage began to die, Yujin’s vicinity was swirling with an enormous amount of mana, as if to not betray their trust.

Whehaaaaaak!

As if to prove his Firepower.

And at some point.

Swoooooosh-

The mana swirling around Yujin…

Ziiing-

It began to condense in his hand. He wiped away a cold sweat and grinned, looking at the low-humming, highly concentrated mana.

Finally, he had succeeded.

“Wow, is it complete!”

“Quickly! What are you hesitating for!”

The moment the mutants saw the man and started urging him, Yujin glanced at the men as if to tell them to stop talking, then pointed his hand, filled with condensed mana, towards the fleet.

“Ninth Circle. The end of the world…”

“…word.”

However, the man couldn’t finish the incantation. He looked at the mana, which had begun to scatter, with a terrified expression.

“W-what in the world is happening?!”

But no words came out.

It was as if he had been silenced… his incantation had been interrupted!

“Who, how, how do they know my weakness?!”

But the man already knew the answer internally. The fleet that his hand, holding the scattered mana, was pointing at. There was no one else he could think of besides its owner.

“Ah.”

A short sigh escaped his lips, as if the silence had finally broken.

But it was too late, far too late.

* * *

Meanwhile, seeing the archmage villain in despair, I smiled, looking at the invisible gladiator hiding behind him.

“It’s an artifact called the ‘Scream-Eating Helmet.’”

It was worth getting it in advance.