The fight to recapture Armstrong city could be the pivotal point in defying the fate of Earth .

  Some people wanted to give up on the city, hole up on Earth, and fight a defensive battle . However, the majority dismissed such opinions . Without a presence on the Moon, humanity could not know what Grenoid was up to . Moreover, they needed the supply of moonstones and Mana Knight . It was also brought up that the Mage city had to be protected even after erecting the force field .

  Since everyone had agreed to reclaim Armstrong city, they could now discuss how to do that .

  “We won’t be recapturing Armstrong city first . ”


  The Mayor sounded a bit depressed .

  “First, we have to recapture the sites containing Mana Knight . The people above me all think that this is the time to bolster our fighting power . Once we start manufacturing Mana Knight ammo, our fighting power will go up for sure . ”


  “This plan was suggested before, but we determined that it was an inefficient use of resources . What has changed now?”


  Someone asked .

  The only ones who could open a portal between Earth and the Moon were Sungyoon and Plu-El . Even if they focused on only maintaining the portal, they could only open portals to two mines .

  However, the Mayor proudly pointed at Sungyoon as if he had a plan .

  “Mr . Sungyoon will solve that problem . ”


  Everyone turned their gaze toward Sungyoon .

  “The Royal Gem has awakened further, and he can now use a new ability . ”


  “What’s the new ability?”


  “He can maintain a portal . ”


  A buzz of excitement appeared in the place . The man who had asked the question continued to ask more questions .

  “Currently, the portal closes once the Knight moves away from it . If it’s as you said, the portal can be kept open, regardless of his proximity to it . Do I have it right?”


  “Correct . ”


  “That changes everything . ”


  Everyone’s eyes twinkled .

  “How many portals can he maintain and for how long?”


  Someone else asked the question .

  “He can maintain two or three portals between Earth and the Moon . ”


  The answer disappointed everyone .

  “Doesn’t that mean we are in the same situation? I don’t think that’s enough to increase our efficiency . ”


  “No . It’s more than enough . ”


  The Mayor was resolute .

  “We’ll connect the portal from Earth to the Moon through the capital city . ”


  “Capital city?”


  “Yes . The capital city is one of the four special cities on the Moon . We’ll open a portal connecting the Moon and Earth in the capital city . From there, we can connect the portals to the labyrinths that we desire . ”


  Basically, the capital city would be used as a command center .

  “Does that mean he can open and maintain numerous portals around the Moon? Am I correct in making that assumption?”


  “You are . ”


  Sungyoon answered the man . The man nodded and gestured at the Mayor to continue .

  “The excavation of Mana Knight won’t be limited to the previous mining sites . In the past, we had discovered a lot of labyrinths with Mana Knight, but we hadn’t excavated there for many reasons; the main reason being we didn’t want to destroy the Golems . This time, we’ll get rid of all the Golems and attempt to gather as much Mana Knight as we can . ”


  “Wouldn’t that adversely affect Grenoid’s seal? Are you sure that’s wise?”


  “According to Ms . Plu-El, the seal is already unraveling . It’s inevitable . Therefore, we decided it would be best to gather whatever amount of Mana Knight we can excavate and bolster our strength . ”


  The Mayor looked at all the Connectors gathered in the room .

  “Well, let’s do this! Let’s carry out the first stage of our plan!”


  ***

  The Golems guarding the labyrinth started to attack . They were extremely powerful beings that only the highest ranked Connectors could defeat . However, Sungyoon cut them down too easily .

  “That’s the last one . ”


  Sungyoon unsummoned his sword .

  “Good job . ”


  His party members had been on standby behind him in case things went sideways . They approached him as he nudged the broken pieces of the Golems with his foot .

  “What’s this power of yours, Mr . Sungyoon? Do Ms . Plu-El and the descendants of Planote know the reason you can do this?”


  “They have a theory . ”


  Sungyoon recalled the explanation given to him before .

  “It isn’t an exaggeration to say Grenoid and the source of magical energy are one and the same . First Gen Connectors are beings closely connected to the source of magical energy . That was why when I came into contact with Kevil, who overflows with Grenoid’s power, I could use the source of magical energy as my own . This is also true for the Golems, who are connected to the source of magical energy . The stench of Grenoid is also stronger on the monsters of the Great Labyrinths, so I can perform similar feats against them too . ”


  “Wouldn’t our fights get much easier if we mobilized the 1st Gen Connectors?”


  Tim excitedly yelled . It sounded like a pretty good idea . However, Sungyoon shook his head from side to side .

  “Did you forget why 1st Gen Connectors can’t enter the Great Labyrinth?”


  “ . . . The fear?”


  “Yes . As someone who had experienced it before, that fear isn’t something that could be overcome with the mind . ”


  Sungyoon’s body shook a little bit . Just the thought of it made him shiver . Ever since he had become an adult, he had never wanted to go crying into his mother’s arms until he faced the fear .

  “First Gens being closely connected to the source of magical energy also means that we feel the presence of Grenoid more strongly . ”


  The beating heart and the overwhelming presence were all from Grenoid .

  “The 1st Gens are exposed to it unfiltered . Of course, they can’t fight back . ”


  They were like a frozen mouse standing in front of a cat .

  The fear experienced by 1st Gen Connectors felt as if someone had been exposed to the sun instead of a fire .

  “According to my mother-in-law, only the most talented 1st Gens can somewhat overcome the stench of Grenoid that emanates from the monsters of the Great Labyrinth and the Golems who guard the labyrinths . It was a problem for me too when I fought monsters like Kevil, but this shields me from the presence of Grenoid . ”


  Sungyoon pointed at his Royal Gem .

  “In the end, Mr . Sungyoon, you’re the only one capable of easily defeating the Golems . ”


  “Correct . ”


  At that moment, someone exited the portal .

  It was a Connector who had been on standby on the other side of the portal .

  “Are you done?”


  “Yes . I destroyed all the Golems in this labyrinth . We also cleared all the nearby monsters . ”


  The Connector re-entered the portal and came back with an object . The object was rather large . It had a long barrel, and it shone with a black light that contained subdued killing intent as if it were waiting to shed the blood of its enemies .

  It was a large cannon .

  The cannon wasn’t the end of the procession . Following it, a considerable number of people poured out of the portal . They were all dressed in the same uniform, and their movements were crisp and in perfect order .

  One could tell that they weren’t Connectors with just a glance . If Connectors were wild beasts, these men were well-oiled machines .

  They were soldiers .

  In a flash, the soldiers made an encampment . They created barriers in the tunnel and set up machine guns in either direction .

  “Thank you for your effort . ”


  The commander saluted Sungyoon . In the past, Sungyoon had been enlisted in the army too, so he knew to respond with a salute .

  “Thankfully, the suppressor is holding up pretty well . ”


  Sungyoon looked at the magical energy suppressor the commander had worn . The magical energy suppressors were crucial if regular soldiers were to work in the labyrinth .

  “Yes! It’s an improved model, so it’ll work even if a Mana Stream occurs within a normal labyrinth . We’ll have no problem killing these monsters!”


  The commander’s voice was full of the desire to fight .

  It was the duty of soldiers to protect their country and its citizens, but they had been powerless against monsters . However, it was different now . The effectiveness of the weapons was limited, but the soldiers could contend with monsters with these weapons .

  “Once we start to excavate Mana Knight, it’s predicted that it’ll give us a lot of breathing room in terms of supply . I’ll leave it to you . ”


  “We won’t disappoint you!”


  Sungyoon returned through the portal . A small number of Connectors were left behind with the soldiers who used Mana Knight bullets .

  ***

  Puh-uhg!

  The large cannon belched out flames .

  The cannon was specially designed for the enclosed environment of the cave they were in, but the distinct sound of a cannon couldn’t be changed . However, the cannon was so effective that no one minded the deafening noise .

  Kwah-jeek!

  The attack blew off the head of the monster charging forward, obliterated the shoulder of the one behind it, and left a hole in the stomach of the monster third in the line .

  Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!

  The machine guns followed up after the cannon . A wave of black bullets flew toward the monsters and honeycombed them .

  “Stop firing!”


  When the order came down, the loud noises from the guns suddenly stopped .

  “What do you think?”


  The commander’s voice contained pride, and his eyes shone as if he were a dog begging for a compliment .

  “It’s amazing . ”


  Sungyoon wasn’t exaggerating . This sight had surprised him quite a bit . He had somewhat expected it, but the effectiveness of the weapons using Mana Knight went beyond those expectations .

  After receiving information that monsters had appeared at one of the mining sites, Sungyoon had come as backup just in case . However, it seemed his presence was unnecessary .

  ‘Of course, it’ll be ineffective against the officers of Grenoid or other powerful monsters . ’


  The soldiers also knew this, but they had taken up this mission despite the risks . They wanted to bolster their fighting power .

  ***

  Haphazard .

  It was the word that best described the current situation .

  The Mayor had set up encampments in all the labyrinths known to have Mana Knight . On top of that, new labyrinths were explored in order to find more Mana Knight . Then, the excavated Mana Knight was processed and made into ammo and magical energy suppressors . This helped the group set up more Mana Knight mining operations in turn .

  “A couple of mining sites were destroyed . ”


  The Mayor sounded depressed .

  “Of course, a lot of people died . ”


  Even though they had made preparations, there was a limit on what they could defend against .

  “Thankfully, I believe our enemies are still unaware of our plan . We saw no signs of them intending to attack our mining operations en masse . ”


  “We are barely using any Mana Knight in defending Earth for this very reason . ”


  Grace spoke in a subdued voice .

  After the mission to find the Mage city came to an end, most of the Connectors had returned to Earth . The massive civilian casualties had reduced . Nevertheless, they could shrink the number of casualties even further if they used Mana Knight in earnest . However, they needed to keep their operation a secret, so all countries had refrained from using Mana Knight weapons .

  “Do you have a complaint?”


  The Mayor asked Grace .

  “No . I know and I understand why we are doing this . Still, I mourn the loss of lives . ”


  Silence descended into the room .

  Sungyoon placed a hand on Grace’s shoulder . She put on a faint smile, but there was no strength behind it .

  “That’ll be at an end soon . Once we erect the force field, monsters won’t be able to approach Earth . We’ll eradicate all the monsters and turn Armstrong city into a safety zone!”


  Boom!

  The Mayor slammed his hand down on the table . His eyes were burning with passion .

  “We’ll take a step toward victory . ”


  They would’ve completely secured their rear by then and could transition to offense .

  “However, you do have a point . We’ve secured enough reserves of Mana Knight . ”


  The Mayor’s voice rose in excitement .

  “We no longer have to wait . We’ll start recapturing Armstrong city!”