Chapter 153

The Red Gate (4)

The Earthlings, Goransha, and Tongel units observed the scene from the highlands overlooking the plains. They bore witness to the sight of the empty land splitting up and bleeding out red light.

The red cracks gradually expanded into a smooth circle. Nate raised a question as he watched the event unfold.

“Is it similar to dungeon breaks?”

Based on the color and size alone, one could conclude that they were exactly the same.

The difference was that Blue Gates would only ever suddenly change like that during dungeon breaks that the system controlled, and it was summoned like that from the beginning. Looking at the scene, I began to have doubts about the system.

‘Are dungeon break phenomenons imitating the Red Gate?’

The Tongels cried out.

“They’re coming out!”

The Gate finally stopped expanding after a while. However, a monster immediately broke through the surface afterward, revealing its entirety to the Awakened beings.

‘Huh…’

It was different from any monsters I’d seen in the dungeons so far.

Thud! Thud!

With every step, heavy vibration was transmitted to the top of the cliff where we Awakened beings had gathered.

The beast put its enormous body in full display, causing its gait to look like a mountain moving.

Its overall shape was similar to that of humans, but its skin was gray, and there were only six sharply torn eyes, glowing with different colors, on the head where the eyes, nose, and mouth should be attached.

In addition to that, it also had features that were only visible to my eyes.

‘I really don’t see a Mana Core. I’ve never seen anything like that. There’s no core, but its body is full of Mana.’

It was completely different from normal Awakened beings and dungeon creatures.

It didn’t have a Core that pumped and sprinkled Mana all over the body like the circulatory system.

Instead, its body was full of Mana that was in a calm and stable state, almost like a water tank.

Noticing the monster emerge out of the red door, the Tongel Awakened shouted.

“Type 629! He’s a type 629 monster!”

“The Gate is already closing. There’s only one monster to be killed today!”

“What, today’s quest is going to be eaten cold?”

The Alliance categorized the various types of monsters that appeared from Red Gates and shared them with the affiliate dimensions.

According to the data that my party and I received before coming that day, 629-type monsters didn’t have powerful offensive abilities but had formidable defensive traits.

It was the type that unconditionally approached its enemies and attacked without hesitation.

The beast turned around, its neck reverberating a strange sound.

It was as if it was looking for something.

“…!”

Not long after, its gaze locked on over the cliff we were standing on.

It easily identified the traces of life or, more precisely, our location.

Euclid wriggled her eyebrows.

“Is it staring at us?”

The patterns in which the Red Gate behemoths behaved had something in common.

When they came out of the Gate, they would first find and attack Awakened beings, and if there were no Awakened around their vicinity, or if they had already killed them all, they’d attack intelligent non-Awakened.

Why were they attacking? Why did they aim for the Awakened first?

No one could answer those questions.

Among the types that had been discovered, there were monsters who ate the prey they killed, but not all of them behaved like that.

If monsters in dungeons created by the system attacked randomly in a frenzied state, the Red Gates’ monsters maintained a relatively calm attitude.

They killed their prey without succumbing to anger.

“It can only attack close-range! Use the distance to your advantage! Attack!”

The Tongels lined up along the cliff and aimed at it.

were hidden inside their robots connected to the fish tanks.

Chiik! Cheek!

When the two arms of the bipedal robots changed shape, muzzles were revealed.

They wanted to intercept the monster from the cliff we were standing on, which was one kilometer from the Gate.

“Fire at will!”

Artifacts were fired one after another.

Blue energy bullets poured down like rain from the barrels connected to their forearms.

Papapat!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

While that was going on, I watched the process of the Tongels manipulating their robots with interest.

The starfishes in the fishtanks conjured their Mana and transmitted it throughout the robots’ circuits.

Then it underwent a procedure that converted it into mana shells.

‘Hmm…’

I spoke.

“It’s less powerful than the multi-caliber cannons of the [Imperial Guard Program]. I think it’s an artifact they created themselves.”

Hibiki replied.

“But I think its advantage is that its firepower is maintained even if the target is at a distance.”

The behemoth on the plain shrank as if tormented by the bombardment. Its charge had been stopped.

“Good! It works!”

The Gorangsha, the owners of that world, didn’t remain on standby either.

Like the scholars taking the Jangwon exam, they sat at regular intervals with their eyes closed as they meditated.

The metal plate they were sitting on then absorbed the Mana of the Gorangsha tribe and concentrated it in one direction.

My eyes lit up.

‘It’s an artifact version of the [Mana Legacy] skill!’

They were collecting hundreds of Awakened Mana and sending them to the center.

The Gorangsha in the middle of it received the horizontal flows of Mana.

The fluffy horns on its forehead quickly stiffened, showing the extreme tension it was feeling.

After a while, the Gorangsha, who had absorbed enough Mana, reached out.

The metal cube lid in the front then opened, and black sand flowed out of it.

The fine particles quickly agglomerated in the air and formed the shape of a giant.

“Go!”

The giant’s body was made out of special metal that accepted Mana, and the fuel that moved its body was the Mana transmitted by the Awakened.

The giant, who took a form similar to the enemy, glided through the air and collided with the beast.

Chur!

A melee broke out.

The sand giant wrestled against the beast, bit down on it, and struck it with its fist.

In the meantime, the Tongels continued to fire a rain of blue bullets against it, not bothering to identify between friend and foe.

As if an arrow passed through the gap between a flock of birds, the bullets penetrated through the giant’s body without damaging it and hit the monster directly.

Bang! Kwakwang!

Both the giant and the bullets constantly struck the monster’s body, but its skin remained undamaged.

The giant broke a part of its own body, creating a sand blade.

Using its newly acquired weapon, it swung against its opponent, trying to cut and pierce, but it was to no avail.

Even if the metal sand was aimed for the eyes, which seemed to be the beast’s only weakness, its mana barrier deflected it like an iron shield.

‘Its defense is stronger than I thought.’

It didn’t take long for me to come to another realization.

‘That monster is learning.’

The mana shield wasn’t fixed the same way it was first unfolded.

With the attack of the giant pummeling down on it and the rain of bullets pouring over the cliff, it became thicker and more sophisticated, creating a shocking pattern.

Its improvement reduced mana consumption and maximized its defense even more.

Meanwhile, the different races felt a little embarrassed.

In particular, The Tongels’ embarrassment grew even more as they watched the opponent while shooting from the edge of the cliff.

“What? How is it still fine? I can’t even see any signs of exhaustion…”

“Well, it is a monster with high defense power…”

“Even so, shouldn’t it have a few wounds by now?”

Witnessing their predicament, I took out the artifact from the snake inventory.

“I urge you not to intervene, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help.”

[Imperial Exclusive Artist’s Flute (Rank: SS)]

-A musical instrument that can play a psycho-reactive score approved by the imperial court.

Through it, I played the score he acquired from the Tactical Fortress.

– Whiri-ri-ri-!

The notes I produced using the instrument reached the beast beyond the fields without fail.

It reacted almost immediately.

“Huh? The beast’s movement has become dull!”

“Psycho-reactive sheet music?”

Even while in battle, some turned their heads to see where the sound was coming from.

“I was right! That’s an Imperial artifact!”

“It’s good to be talented. You mean your newly-joined dimension already has such a treasure?”

At that moment, the perception of the Awakened beings about Earth changed slightly.

Then…

Kur-r-r-r-r!

The monster, whose hands and feet were tied helplessly because of the endless assaults, suddenly showed an abnormal reaction.

“Mana?!”

According to the data they received in advance, that monster shouldn’t have much talent other than defense.

But at that moment, the shape of the Mana swirling in its body became weakened.

I turned and looked at the aliens. They seemed to have thought that if they attacked while its guard was down, we’d be able to finish the battle quicker.

– Stop!

As mentally commanded, they prevented themselves from coming any closer to the beast.

My message deeply permeated the minds of everyone who gathered there.

– Be Careful!

He urgently delivered a warning message through telepathy.

– It’s trying to use its skill right now!

– What? What are you saying now?

At that moment-

– No!

The awakened beings of the Tongel species, who were firing from the cliff, shouted in amazement.

– What just happened?!

Ignoring the attack of the giant who struck its body, the monster raised both arms into the sky.

When interpreted as a global culture, it was an indication of the intention to surrender, but that wasn’t possible.

The aliens were astonished by the light that flashed from the two gray pillars that struck through the sky.

– I-it’s peculiar species! It’s a peculiar species!

The monster lowered its arms vigorously as if conducting an orchestra.

At the same time, a bolt of snake-like red lightning thundered through from the sky.

An explosion of light followed as the current hit the sand giant directly.

-Kwareung!

-Kwarreung!

The fine particles that made up the giant’s body were, of course, not ordinary.

Its small metal fragments were materials that and physical interferences and destructive powers.

However, the thunderbolt that electrocuted it wasn’t ordinary either.

After the violent current passed through the earth…

– Most of the artifact has been lost!

The Goransha in the middle of the Mana flow screamed.

On the field we were looking at, I noticed the sand giant had become much smaller than before.

That last attack melted some of the metal away.

However, there was a much bigger problem than its smaller size.

-Joe, you can no longer control it!

The summoned being had entered an awkward state where it had become too small to be called a giant.

However, whenever they tried to reform it, its lost sands would swarm like bees in an attempt to merge but would fall and scatter before the process could be completed.

It twisted and crumbled on the blazing plain that had been hit by lightning.

It was stuck in a constant cycle of breaking down its shape, sticking to each other, and forming a round sphere. It seemed that their control wasn’t working well.

I clicked my tongue.

“The attack just created magnetism in the fine metal.”

The tiny powders had gone out of control, pushing and pulling against each other like a magnet.

– No way! If it was aiming for that, then it has an intelligence that cannot even be compared with most dungeon monsters!”

At that time, My eyes caught another peculiarity.

If one were to think about it, the beast immediately found the Awakened beings on the cliff right after exiting the Red Gate, and even while being beaten hard by the giant, its gaze constantly watched us.

‘Ah!’

It raised both of its arms, stained with gray color, into the air once more.

But that time, its target was a little different.

I read the mana pattern wriggling on its arms.

“!”

I then immediately sent another telepathic message to all of the Awakened.

I had to inform them immediately or else it would be too late!

– Stop it! Stop what you’re doing and defend yourselves! It’s aiming for us now!

– What?!

My party and I hurriedly created shields while activating all operable shield artifacts.

On the other hand, the other two races…

-What… What are they doing?

Genograche asked as if it were absurd.

Most of them only activated their own artifacts, but I could only find a few that spread their skills to protect their bodies.

It didn’t take long for our surroundings to be covered in red flashes.

Kurreung!

Bang bang!

Great explosions of light decorated our vicinity.

Flashes and electric currents hit the ground, bouncing from place to place.

Due to my thorough preparations, I didn’t suffer any damage.

However, the same couldn’t be said about the aliens with a much larger number.

“H-help!”

All of them had more than 40,000 active Mana, and they were all Awakened that would be in the SSS-class based on Earth’s standards.

However, many of their members refused to use their own skills and depended solely on artifacts and their bodies, allowing electric currents to electrocute them when they could’ve been prevented.

‘They only depend on long-ranged artifacts when attacking that monster instead of magic or ranged skills.’

I finally understood.

Just as tools were used instead of raw brute strength when societies that had reached modernization hunted, their tendency to rely on self-made artifacts had grown even more since entering the Main Quest.

The number of their Awakened beings would be much higher than that of Earth, so it wouldn’t be strange for the number of their skill cards to be insufficient.

As a result, there were a lot of Awakened beings that hadn’t mastered their skills properly.

I clicked my tongue.

“I tried to warn them, but it looks like they still got annihilated.”

I raised my sword and issued a quiet order.

– “Go.”

At that moment, the Awakened individuals from Earth jumped into the battlefield in earnest.