The monsters were like a stream of water as they flowed into the portals . All the portals were connected to a single location .

  It was a vast plain .

  The Connectors tried their best to keep the monster in place, but there were too many monsters passing through the portals . There weren’t enough Connectors to stem the tide .

  It reached a point where the monsters filled the plain .

  So many monsters had passed through the portal that the flow of monsters was starting to decrease .

  It meant most of the monsters, who had attacked the Connectors in Armstrong city, had passed through the portals .

  In the short term, it looked like a defeat for the Connectors, who were present here . In the longer term, it felt as if this signaled the eventual defeat of earth .

  “They are almost all through . ”


  There was a tall mountain across the plain . The army was in formation in this place .

  The man, who looked to be the commander, put down his binoculars .

  “Shall we proceed with the plan?”


  “Yes . Give the signal to the Connectors . ”


  He brought up his binoculars once again when his subordinate went away .

  With the zoomed in view, he was able to see the Connectors disengage from the monsters that they had been holding back .

  The monsters tried to chase after the Connectors, but there were too many monsters in the plain . They were having a hard time moving .

  This meant most of the monster remained on the plain as the Connectors moved to safety .

  “Boom!”


  The commander spoke out loud .

  After a short amount of time had passed . . .

  Kwahnnnng!

  A similar sound to the one made by the commander’s mouth rang out .

  However, the intensity of the sound was very different .

  There were explosives buried underneath the plain, and they all exploded at the same time . The size of the explosion was oppressive .

  ‘It is basically like using a nuclear bomb . ’


  It wasn’t as if there weren’t some people, who wanted to use a nuke . However, those suggestions were turned down .

  The commander had been one of the more aggressive people, who wanted to use a nuke if needed .

  ‘However, a nuke is necessary if the explosion is this powerful . ’


  A nuke would have been an overkill .

  Of course, one couldn’t damage the monsters using regular gunpowder .

  At the very least, one had to make the monsters use a lot of their magical energy in a location with no ambient magical energy . Only then would regular weapons work on them .

  However, they didn’t commit such an outrageous act for no purpose .

  Too-kwah-kwah-kwah-kwah-kwahk!

  As the explosions exploded outwards, something flew through the air alongside the dirt and rocks . They were refined Mana Knights shaped like sharp needles .

  Poohk! Poohk! Puh-uhng!

  Ggoo-ehhhhhhhk!

  Kee-ahhhhhhhhk!

  The monsters screamed . However, the continuous explosions drowned out their scrams .

  The Mana Knights continued to pierce through the monsters .

  “Wow~!”


  The Connectors had run away far from the blast radius . They expressed their admiration as they watched the explosions from safety .

  The flame and heat was impressive, but the result was what they liked the most .

  “It is working very well . ”


  One of the Connectors standing off to the side spoke up in satisfaction .

  It was as if the fires of hell had descended in front of them .

  However, the monsters were suffering from it, so the Connectors laughed as they watched the hellish sight .

  After a while, the explosions came to a stop, and the loud noises receded away .

  However, the intense heat remained .

  However, heat of that magnitude wasn’t a hindrance to the Connectors .

  The Connectors carefully advanced through the heat .

  “They were cooked very well . They look scrumptious . ”


  The monsters nearest to the Connectors were untouched by the explosion . However, the monsters packed into the plain were mutilated by the explosions . Most of them were dead .

  Even if there were some alive, their bodies were in rough shape .

  Despite the injuries, the monsters hadn’t lost their will to fight, so they bared their teeth as they growled towards the Connectors . However, the Connectors didn’t take them seriously since the monsters had suffered critical wounds .

  “Let’s clean this up . ”


  A spear-wielding Connector stabbed a monster that had escaped the explosions . He killed it with one strike .

  The Connectors started killing all the injured monsters .

  The Connectors were like grim reapers with scythes as they harvested the lives of the monsters .

  ***

  The sword struck against the nails once again . Russell jumped backwards .

  ‘She’s a tough one . ’


  His palms felt numb . He had almost lost his grip on his sword several times .

  ‘Didn’t they say she’s an officer?’


  He was going one on one against her, but he was barely hanging on . Still, Russell’s mood was getting better as time passed .

  The expression on the face of the monster in front of him was worsening as time passed .

  ‘It seems our plan was a success . ’


  Most of the Connectors and the monsters passed through the portal, so the war within Armstrong city had cooled off .

  The only thing left were the silence and corpses . Only a few monsters were left roaming around the city .

  Only a very few number of Connectors were fighting by themselves in the city including Russell . However, Connectors started charging out of the portals once again .

  Flames had flickered out of the portals, but it was instantly extinguished since there was no air on the moon .

  However, it was enough for Russell . He was able to ascertain that the plan had been a success .

  Since most of the monsters within Armstrong city were gone, the Connectors were able to recapture Armstrong city very easily .

  ‘How……!’


  Things weren’t turning out as Glaia had expected . She could only look on in shock when it happened .

  Russell’s foot dug into Glaia’s stomach . Her enormous body flew through the air to embed itself in a building .

  “Ggoo-oohk!”


  Her scream rang out clearly .

  “Huh? I guess this building had some air left . ”


  Russell had followed her into the building . The remaining air was being sucked out of the building .

  Red lights were flashing within the building as one could hear the emergency siren .

  It was a small building, so there weren’t a lot of oxygen within . However, air was continuously being pumped in from somewhere .

  “Did they install an oxygen inflow machine here? They were very thorough in building this place . ”


  Ooh-roo-roo!

  Glaia stood up . The debris over her body fell away .

  “You . . . bastard!”


  “Mmm . You have a beautiful voice . If I was 20 years younger, I might have proposed to you . ”


  Russell shook his sword once .

  “Normally, I would drape my cape over a nude lady, but I guess I don’t need to do that for you, right?”


  “You’ve been barely hanging on against me . You are acting arrogant just because the situation changed a little bit!”


  “Ah . You speak the truth . I’m embarrassed to say that I’m not able to win against you . ”


  Russell scratched his chin .

  Unlike his words, he looked very calm .

  “However, the situation is turning advantageous for our side . More and more of our people are coming here . Do you know what that means?”


  Boom!

  Another wall of the building was demolished . More air started to leak out .

  Even if there was an emergency oxygen inflow machine, the building didn’t have an infinite supply of oxygen .

  This was why the conversation came to an end after Russell spoke the next words .

  “That miserable old sod has come to help me . ”


  Bruce, who had entered through the broken wall, frowned .

  ***

  “We did it! We killed most of the monsters that we baited!”


  Sungyoon’s finger, which had been anxiously tapping against his arm, came to a stop .

  The mayor quickly asked a question to his subordinate .

  “What about the casualties to the Connectors?”


  “I was told it was minimal!”


  “How many monsters are left within Armstrong city?”


  “Almost none! We received a report from Sir Russell that the officer named Glaia has run away! We won!”


  A large cheer erupted within the situation room .

  The mayor was very happy, but he tried his best to calm his heart . He clapped his hands to get rid of the excitement .

  “Our work is not done yet! We’ve only finished the 1st step! We have to immediately move our supplies and set up the defense!”


  After reigning in the euphoric feeling in the air, he gave his orders . Then he turned to look at Sungyoon .

  It was time to hammer home the last part of the plan .

  “I’ll leave the preparation to you, Mr . Sungyoon . ”


  “Understood . ”


  Sungyoon pushed off the wall that he had been leaning against .

  A portal appeared in front of him, and he passed through it .

  ***

  A massive amount of supply had been prepared beforehand, and they were being piled up at the Aldrin spaceport .

  They were in the midst of installing massive cannons and machine guns around the spaceport .

  Then they paid special attention towards the entrance to the Beginner’s labyrinth and the Great Labyrinth within Armstrong city .

  As this was occurring, Sungyoon and his party members including Plu-El were on standby inside the Mage city .

  “Now that I think about it, we never heard how this place was created . Why did a labyrinth develop around this place?”


  Plu-El answered Emily’s question .

  “It might have to do with the large magic circle below the Mage city . It has stopped working, but it still possessed the power to command and absorb incredible amounts of magical energy from outside . This was why the flow of magical energy around the city changed, and powerful monsters congregated towards this place . It caused a Great Labyrinth to form on the floors above . ”


  At that moment, a person exited the portal . He was the subordinate with the order from the mayor to activate the pillar .

  Plu-El guided Sungyoon towards the front of the pillar .

  The Royal Gem in Sungyoon’s Device glittered .

  Everyone’s curiosity filled gaze was fixed on Sungyoon as he approached the pillar .

  ‘This is the greatest legacy left behind by those that had sacrificed themselves for humanity . ’


  He pushed his magical energy into the Royal Gem . As he got closer to the pillar, he could feel the will of the people, who had sacrificed themselves for humanity .

  It sounded nice that they had sacrificed themselves for humanity . However, if one looked at it from those that had to make that sacrifice, it had been a shitty experience .

  When he placed his hand on the crystal, the magical energy felt very warm and peaceful . Of course, he could feel resolve and stubbornness too .

  Sungyoon did as instructed by Plu-El . He let his magical energy flow into the pillar at the same time as he poured his magical energy into the Royal Gem .

  Ooh-oong!

  Oooooooooooong!

  The Royal Gem and the crystal reacted to each other . It was as if a separated child and parent had reunited . Both the Gem and Crystal let out a cry to each other as if their dreams had come true .

  Kooooooooohng!

  The magical energy started to move . It flowed out of the maze-like tunnels .

  In a flash, there was a uniform flow of magical energy within the basement .

  Moreover, the flow of magical energy filled the entire city and it moved the magical energy around the city .

  Koo-roo-roo-roo-roong!

  The ground started to rumble as the city shook .

  “This is quite the impact!”


  “Be careful everyone! I don’t think it’ll happen, but debris might fall from the ceiling!”


  Everyone lowered their stances as they became vigilant towards any accidents that might occur .

  In the beginning, they all thought it was just the after effect of the machine activating, so everyone wasn’t worried .

  However, the vibration never went away . It got steadily worse . This caused everyone to become a bit tense .

  “Are you sure this is fine?”


  Tim asked the question to Plu-El . However, Plu-El had no idea what was going on either .

  “I . . . I think it should be fine . ”


  “Do you know what’s happening?”


  This time Grace asked the question .

  “No . The pillar only describes how to activate it and the result . It doesn’t describe the process at all . ”


  “It means something might happen in the middle . ”


  Tim lowered his stance further .

  The vibration became worse . Sungyoon looked down towards his feet . He felt the intense vibration, but he also felt a bit of a buoyant feeling .

  “M . . . Mr . Sungyoon . ”


  Emily, who stood close to Sungyoon, called out to him .

  “It feels as if we are rising . Am I imagining it?”


  “No . I feel it too . ”


  Grace lightly kicked the floor . It seemed she was trying to get rid of the buoyant feeling through that action .

  However, the buoyant feeling wasn’t an illusion, and her kicking the floor couldn’t stop what was going on .

  Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!

  “It . . . it is rising!”


  Someone yelled out loud . The sound of rocks falling away could be heard in the distance . As they pushed through the dirt and rocks, they could hear the screams of the monsters .