The fight with the control object did not last long.
Of course, at first, it had seemed to properly display the control object’s power.
The monster used magic and lashed about with tentacles like pillars.
The aftermath alone was enough to kill the old man, who had barely been clinging to life.
But that power did not last.
The black stone it had originally possessed had long since run out of energy, and the newly installed black stones were far too insufficient.
The new black stones were soon depleted as well, and the monster lost its strength.
Unable to use magic and unable to move its tentacles properly, the control object was nothing more than a giant sandbag.
Its tentacles were cut away, and its mechanical devices fell off.
Even the three depleted black stones were separated from its body.
Once the black stones fell away, the control object stopped moving.
The monster was dead.
Standing before the monster that had become a corpse, I checked the black stones resting on my palm.
Three black stones that were no longer translucent, but cloudy.
They were the black stones I had just extracted from the dead control object.
“Can they be used?”
Soph answered in a regretful voice.
[They will be difficult to use right away. Too much time has passed without energy.]
“So they can be used. Then that’s fine.”
Unlike Soph, I was satisfied.
There was already a black stone embedded in the spear.
There was no need to revive the new black stones in a hurry.
Since he said they could be revived, I could take my time with them.
As I was putting the black stones into the box with a satisfied expression, Magreta’s voice came from behind me.
“Is it over?”
I turned my head.
Magreta and Catherine were climbing over the pile of rubble.
They looked fine on the outside, but I asked them both.
“Neither of you is hurt, right?”
This time, Catherine answered.
“We avoided it in advance, so we’re fine. But it seems the ruins have been wrecked.”
At Catherine’s words, I looked around.
I saw the ruined underground plaza, and the wide-open sky above my head.
The monster’s tentacles had broken through the ceiling of the underground plaza.
Perhaps because the colosseum was above us, I could glimpse the spectator seats beyond the shattered ceiling.
“But really, you’re incredible. I didn’t think you would be able to fight like that even on this planet, where energy is lacking. It seems I chose the right side.”
At Catherine’s words, Magreta lifted her chin as if she had done it herself.
“That isn’t Hyeon’s only advantage. There’s also the Magician’s Flower, and a base too.”
Catherine looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Magreta covered her mouth and glanced at me with startled eyes.
“Ah… Was I not supposed to say that?”
She looked as if she had made a mistake, but there was no way she had.
This meant she wanted to explain it herself.
There was no reason to stop her. I nodded.
“Yes. She’s one of us now.”
While Magreta explained the awakening drug and the underground city to Catherine, I examined the mechanical devices attached to the control object.
“Compared to the ruins on Earth, these devices are pretty shoddy.”
The electronic devices I had seen in the Baekdu Mountain ruins and the ruins at the U.S. military base in Djibouti had looked like products of advanced science.
But the devices attached to the monster were extremely crude.
There were no electronic devices in sight, only wires and mechanical apparatuses for the most part.
Of course, I knew that electronic equipment was difficult to transport through spatial movement, so it could not be helped.
[Their use of magic is better. They even managed to use forbidden magic that interferes with the mind. Of course, it’s magic that doesn’t work on those Akzar bastards.]
It seemed the magic kingdom of Trappist had also tried mental magic on the Akzar monsters.
Well, when facing destruction, there was no reason to be picky. Forbidden magic was no exception.
While I was checking the machinery, Magreta’s explanation ended.
After hearing the story, Catherine began counting on her fingers.
“So, you are making a drug that turns ordinary people into energy users.”
“The probability isn’t high. It’s about one in a hundred.”
I corrected Catherine’s words, but she did not listen to me.
“And beneath the planet Trappist-5, you have a city where more than ten thousand people can live self-sufficiently?”
“The number of people who can reside in the underground city will increase further. In the end, it should be possible to more than double it.”
I had discussed the resident population of the underground city with the spirit several times.
I had even been told that, given enough time, the underground city’s scale could be increased by dozens of times or more.
But I had no intention of growing the underground city that much.
If I had to relocate a truly large number of people, they would have to be sent to Trappist’s main planet, where the terraforming ruins were located.
Of course, many monsters and demon kings were still sleeping on that planet, but now that I knew Paradise was not intact, I had to find a way on that planet.
While I was lost in such thoughts, Catherine was still staring intently at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
At my question, she brought up something else.
“Boss, you were preparing far more than I had thought.”
The way she addressed me had changed again.
“This time it’s boss…?”
Catherine tilted her head.
“Do you dislike boss? Then master or lord would be fine as well.”
At her words, I hurriedly waved my hand.
If this went wrong, I might be treated like some kind of weirdo.
“Just call me Leader Hyeon.”
“Leader, is it? Understood.”
As I let out a sigh of relief, Catherine asked again.
“Then please tell me Leader Hyeon’s goal. I need to know the goal of the organization and its head accurately in order to decide what I should do.”
After calling me boss, she immediately asked my objective.
It was an unbelievably fast progression, but that too was like Catherine.
It was not a difficult question.
I answered immediately.
“Survival.”
It was the basic purpose and value that had guided me ever since the war began.
Only now, the scope of that purpose had widened a little.
“My survival and my comrades’ survival. After that, the survival of my comrades’ families, and even the survival of more people. That is my current goal.”
It was the dream of an ordinary soldier.
Even now that I had heard Earth would perish, that had not changed.
Catherine nodded.
“Survival… Hunting monsters, gathering black stones, making awakening drugs, building an underground city. Certainly, everything you’ve done so far has been consistent.”
Hearing Catherine say that, it did seem that way.
But I had not done all those things with that thought in mind. Most of it had simply been good luck.
“Understood. From now on, I will proceed with that goal in mind.”
As I nodded at Catherine’s firm words, Magreta’s voice came from afar.
“Hyeon! Come over here!”
While I was talking with Catherine, Magreta had gone beyond the wreckage.
There did not seem to be any particular problem, so I had left her alone, but it seemed she had found something.
Catherine and I headed toward the source of the voice.
Crossing the rubble and going to a corner of the collapsed plaza, I saw a door that was half-crushed and open.
“It’s here!”
Magreta’s voice came from inside the door.
We followed her voice inside.
The interior beyond the door was more intact than expected.
Unlike the wrecked outside, it was a perfectly sound rectangular room.
And inside were things I had never expected.
“I saw this place earlier while avoiding the fight. There was a door in the wall that was half-open, so I just checked it. But look at this. I found it well, didn’t I?”
It was just as Magreta said.
Inside the room, which looked like a storeroom, were many relics.
They were not the shabby relics Catherine’s foster father had shown us, but proper relics.
[Some of them have magic circles drawn on them that I don’t know. I think those relics contain magic unfamiliar to me.]
I could not tell whether he had never known them in the first place or simply did not remember them.
But either way, they would teach me new magic.
“You found well. Let’s take them all.”
Even if I did not use them myself, there were plenty of people who could.
The people who would use those relics would not be limited to the exploration team.
The commander of Trappist was my subordinate.
That meant the other people on Trappist also fell within my domain.
Of course, it was a kind of private organization rather than an official rank or position, but I did not care.
The powerful figures in America, the powerful figures in Korea, and the old man who had just died were no different from me.
It was just that right now, my ability was stronger, and there were more things I could do.
We took all the relics.
My box was once again filled with black stones and relics.
After taking all the relics, I tucked Magreta and Catherine under my arms and went up to the surface.
Standing in the middle of the colosseum ruins, where a gaping hole had been torn open, I scratched my head.
“What’s left is the cleanup…”
As expected, defeating the enemy had not been difficult.
But the cleanup was hard to solve with force like now.
I could not pretend I knew nothing and let it pass, either.
There were more than one or two people who had seen us leave the city with the vigilante force.
In the end, what was called politics was necessary.
Fortunately, there was someone willing to step forward first.
“Magreta has no foundation in Paradise, so I will handle the aftermath.”
I was grateful for her words, but I was also worried.
I asked carefully.
“Will that be all right? Your foster parents are in the same faction…”
At my words, Catherine shook her head.
Her expression was calm and indifferent. This time, even her hands did not tremble.
“It doesn’t matter. However, I think we will need to show our strength a few times, so I will ask for your help then.”
“That much is no problem.”
I answered promptly at her words.
The next day, many things happened in New Eden.
Following the vigilante members who had not been seen since the day before, other vigilante members also vanished one after another.
Among those who followed the Stone faction, several people disappeared as well.
Some of the factions switched over to other factions, and countless rumors swept through the city.
There was a rumor that a monster had appeared, and another that a rebellion had broken out.
Even a false rumor spread that an energy user had gone berserk, leaving the streets deserted.
Everyone was shocked, but there were people who were especially shocked.
The people of the Stone faction.
In particular, the faction’s leaders who had been in contact with the head, Harris Stone.
Since the day before, contact with the head and the vigilante captain had been cut off, and even communication among the leaders had become difficult.
There were some who had disappeared entirely, like the head, and others who strangely avoided contact, leaving everyone uneasy.
Among them were Catherine’s foster parents.
The living room of the mansion where they were staying was incomparably more luxurious than the lodging where Catherine’s group had stayed.
Contrary to its lavish appearance, the atmosphere in the living room was extremely bleak.
The two people in the living room were talking as if they were fighting.
Catherine’s foster mother snapped at her husband.
“Find out what happened. If something has gone wrong here, we’ll have to flee to Earth.”
“What are you going to do there when everyone will be dead soon?”
At his wife’s words, the foster father clicked his tongue.
“Then you should at least find out what happened. I heard Catherine went with the vigilante force yesterday. Ask Catherine. Catherine must know something.”
At her continuing words, the man frowned.
Then the living room door opened.
“Who is it! How dare you come in without knocking!”
The woman shouted angrily, but the person entering did not stop.
“It’s me.”
The person who entered the living room was Catherine.
Upon seeing Catherine, the foster mother’s face lit up.
“Catherine! Where have you been wandering around! We’ve been wondering like this! Hurry, explain everything you know about what happened!”
Unlike the delighted woman, the foster father looked at Catherine with a grave expression.
“Is this your doing?”
Catherine nodded.
“It is my boss’s doing.”
“Surely… Are you saying that Oriental man did this?”
The man’s mouth fell open.
“Yes. Everyone we lost contact with is dead. The monsters the head had prepared are all dead as well.”
“That’s… impossible.”
Even after Catherine’s words, the foster father only looked as if he could not believe it.
“What are you talking about? What boss, and what monsters?”
The foster mother looked at the two of them with a bewildered face, but neither of them looked at her.
“Then, the reason you came here is…”
“Yes. New Eden must be maintained. I came to tell you to hand over the work you are doing to another faction.”
“Another faction, you say…”
“I’m referring to the Sterling faction. Mr. Sterling is here.”
Catherine moved to the side.
Another person entered through the door.
A middle-aged man with an aristocratic appearance.
“I never expected such a seat to be arranged. Should I consider this thanks to my son…?”
The man, who resembled Everrock Sterling on Trappist, spoke with a smile.
Cleanup (2)