An attack had taken place overnight, but we were never mobilized for duty.
In truth, we were only staying here; we didn’t belong to this garrison.
Strictly speaking, we weren’t even soldiers. Though, in practice, our situations weren’t all that different.
In any case, considering the uproar, we greeted the day in relative peace.
“Ah!”
…Until I ran into Kim Jihu, who jumped in shock the moment he saw me.
“You have two pairs of wings now!”
Apparently he could see them even from afar; Kim Jihu shouted from outside the building.
I happened to be getting my meal in the soldiers’ cafeteria, so it was hard to react properly. I just gave him a rough nod.
“So that was true. Your wings increased.”
“Amazing. How did this happen?”
The orc man and Elder Owlbear, who had followed after him, each added a word.
Since I had just finished receiving my food, I shrugged and answered the question.
“I just had some help.”
“Oh? Then is the rumor I heard last night true as well? That you flew down from the sky and swept away the monsters?”
“Mm, it’s not like there wasn’t some exaggeration… but it’s true to an extent.”
Of course, flying through the sky was still impossible, and what I had dealt with had only been the head grapes…
‘Even that alone is quite an achievement.’
From what I heard, other units had suffered considerable damage because of the head grapes.
It was fair to say I had done something big.
“Ooh, then that means we’ve taken another step closer to our goal.”
“Ahem, well… I suppose so.”
Seeing my teammates sincerely happy made me happy too.
“Then may I ask what more you can do now? From what I heard yesterday, it was rather difficult to tell.”
“Of course, but… before that, let’s get our food first and talk afterward.”
I said that while gesturing toward the mess soldier waiting for us to receive our meals.
We were served later than the other soldiers.
It seemed they had arranged it so we would have fewer chances to run into the other soldiers, but thanks to that, the burden on the mess staff appeared to have increased.
“Ahem, then…”
The other team members seemed to realize that as well and hurried off to receive their food.
I led Min Aji and Yu Inha to a suitable spot and sat down.
As I was forcing down rice that didn’t go down easily, the team members who had finished getting their meals took their seats.
“Then could you explain what happened?”
Perhaps he had truly been curious, because Elder Owlbear asked the moment he sat down.
‘…It’d be best to embellish it appropriately.’
After all, there were parts about the demon that were difficult to mention.
I briefly explained what had happened.
How I met again the being I had encountered on the first day of the incident. How I had been promoted to archangel and obtained a new pair of wings, and so on…
“Truly, truly incredible…!”
Of course, the one who reacted most intensely to this story was Kim Jihu.
As if the reason he had kept his mouth shut ever since we first met was for this very moment, he expressed his admiration loudly.
He even went so far as to shed tears and try to pray, and I barely managed to stop him.
“No, no. How could I possibly refrain from offering a prayer? It has been proven that God has, at last, sent an archangel like you to this hellish land and is watching over us!”
He seemed moved to the marrow of his bones. When I dissuaded him, he did stop praying, but there was no stopping that fierce look in his eyes.
“Come on now, calm down.”
Of course, that sort of worship was more bewildering to me than pleasing.
Honestly, even after everything that had happened, I was still living a life far removed from religion.
I had nearly been converted, but in the end, nothing had happened.
“So, how strong do you think you are now?”
The orc man cut in at a suitable point and asked.
Right. If I had to say how much stronger I had become…
“I feel like I could probably handle an Incubator on my own now? Of course, it would depend on who I’m fighting.”
Compared to its endless regeneration, the Incubator’s weakness was relatively clear.
Against an enemy with a clear method of attack, I could probably win easily.
“However, it’s not like I have no limits, so I’d still need help dealing with ordinary mimic beasts.”
Their help wasn’t unnecessary yet.
Honestly, my body was still frail, and among the things I had learned from the demon, there wasn’t any proper wide-area technique.
“…I’m glad to hear I’m still of use.”
“Come on, why would you put it like that?”
As we talked for a while, we finished our meal before we knew it.
Since there were many stories that had piled up in just one day, time passed quickly.
“…But, you know.”
Just as we were about to get up, Yu Inha suddenly spoke.
“The situation lately feels a little ominous.”
“Well, I mean, that’s true.”
It was true that things had been unsettled recently.
The country was now planning to loosen information control to some extent, and in the middle of that, there had been a large-scale aerial assault by monsters.
But we were still holding firm.
They said a nearby unit had suffered heavy damage, but in absolute numbers, it was still on the smaller side.
“We just have to focus on what we need to do.”
I shrugged as I said that.
To be honest, even if we worried about the country, nothing would change.
They had handled things fairly competently so far, so surely they would manage somehow.
“If everyone’s about done eating, let’s get up…”
[Hoo, hoo, ah. This is the administrative office.]
Suddenly, the speakers for the internal broadcast crackled to life.
Wondering what was going on, I listened, and unusually enough, the message was directed at us.
[A briefing for the Special Response Team is scheduled for today, so please gather by 15:30.]
*
After eating, we gathered once again in the briefing room.
Originally, today’s schedule had only included training, but for some reason, everyone had been called together.
‘…Well, do they still have more to explain?’
I wasn’t sure. Most of the news worth hearing had been explained in yesterday’s briefing.
Or maybe it was that Captain Kim would be heading down soon?
Honestly, that wasn’t something worth gathering everyone to announce.
I understood Captain Kim’s choice, but it could also feel a bit like teabagging.
‘Then what is it?’
I couldn’t quite guess.
Especially since the next operation had been scheduled for next week.
—Bang.
This time, the one who entered the briefing room was an agent. Captain Kim did not come in with him.
It seemed we were the only ones attending this briefing.
As soon as the agent set up the equipment, he got straight to the point.
“I won’t explain at length. At present, we do not have much time.”
The agent’s words felt somewhat sudden.
Not much time? Weren’t we relatively relaxed, all things considered?
Moreover, we had now begun using the weapons we had been saving… I didn’t think there would be a problem.
—That thought was shattered by the agent’s next words.
“Within the next day, we expect additional Blackout Zones to appear beyond the currently occurring ones in Gangnam-gu, Yongsan-gu, and Gangdong-gu. The target range is global. Among them, one is expected to occur in our Republic of Korea.”
“……”
Even the murmuring stopped.
Blackout Zones. To everyone here, they were like a trauma button.
Everyone had lost their families overnight because of a Blackout Zone.
And now there would be more of them?
That was not a statement anyone could simply let pass.
‘I want to ask if there’s evidence, but…’
In truth, it was a meaningless question.
No doubt that demon had pulled some sort of trick.
Instead, I decided to ask a different question.
“Is it possible to know where the Blackout Zone will occur?”
“Unfortunately, it is impossible.”
The agent answered firmly.
Well, if that had been possible, there wouldn’t have been victims in Seoul in the first place.
If they had even known the location, they could have responded completely.
Considering the principle behind the occurrence of Blackout Zones that I had heard from the demon, it was only natural that predicting them would be impossible.
“The Blackout Zone expected to occur this time is estimated to be on an entirely different scale from before.”
“Exactly how large?”
“If the existing Blackout Zones swallowed areas at the district level…”
The agent fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“We expect it to grow to the city level.”
The sound of someone clicking their tongue echoed through the briefing room.
Compared to now, the scale was far too large.
Elder Owlbear pressed his head as if he had a headache and spoke.
“…So, what are we supposed to do? Surely we aren’t being deployed to the newly expected Blackout Zone instead of the Gangnam Blackout Zone…”
“That is not the case.”
The agent cut off that suspicion at once.
“You will continue to be responsible for the Gangnam area. However, it is true that time has become tight…”
“You’re moving the operation up?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The agent caught his breath for a moment, then continued.
“Today, you will enter the Blackout Zone and make contact with the survivors inside.”