The Djibouti base, several kilometers from the ruins, was eerily quiet.
Outside the buildings, no human figures could be seen; only armored vehicles and military trucks stood here and there, guarding the base.
The inside of the base was quiet as well.
The researchers and technicians who would usually roam the corridors were nowhere to be seen; only soldiers wearing yellow armbands patrolled the area.
The entrance to the passage connected to the ruins was uncharacteristically deserted, too.
It should have been packed with refugees, but now only selected personnel were passing through, allowing for a leisurely time.
Along with the other soldiers, the two Marines guarding the entrance were equally at ease.
“How much time is left until the shift change?”
At the senior’s words, the junior checked the time.
“Three hours left, sir.”
At the junior’s reply, the senior let out a big yawn.
“We still have a while to go. Being underground, you can’t even tell what time it is… I’m starting to get bored.”
Despite the senior’s words, the junior’s tension did not ease.
“I don’t know, sir. It’s been less than a day since the operation began, and the operation isn’t even over yet, is it?”
At the junior’s unexpected reply, the senior scratched his head.
“Well, you’ve got a point. I guess it’s because it ended so much more easily than expected. I never imagined the operation would end without us firing more than a few shots.”
He had expected fierce combat like the other wars that had broken out recently, but this time there had been almost no fighting to speak of.
If there was any, it was just neutralizing soldiers within the unit who opposed the rebellion.
Even their numbers had not been great.
“It seems those upstairs prepared well. I never thought they’d capture the President and government officials the moment the operation began. I suppose we had quite a few people on that side, too.”
If that weren’t the case, there would have been no way to capture the President and the cabinet members so easily.
“How many people do you think aren’t dissatisfied right now? The world is ending as we speak; we don’t care who takes charge as long as we get our tickets to Paradise.”
The two had joined the rebellion because they had been promised tickets to Paradise for themselves and their families.
“But I wonder if we’ll be able to bring all our families from the mainland. I heard the mainland is in chaos right now….”
Though it was said to be better than other countries, most regions in the United States were no different from a state of anarchy.
At the junior’s words, the senior shrugged.
“They said they’re confident about finding people. They said they even sent the families of everyone dispatched to other planets to Paradise.”
Having said that much, the senior tapped his rifle.
“If they can’t bring them, we’ll just have to flip this around again. That’s why we pointed our guns the other way.”
Watching that, the junior nodded.
He looked at the seemingly endless underground passage and asked the senior something he was curious about.
“But why doesn’t the President, now a hostage, order the other units to surrender? The refugees, the ruins, the base, the government—they’re all in our hands….”
If only the confronting units would surrender, there would be no need to maintain this tension.
The senior shook his head.
“How should I know? I just hope we don’t have to fight in this heat. Wearing fire-resistant gear and moving on the surface is hell itself….”
Click.
The senior stopped mid-sentence and gripped his rifle.
The senior frowned. The startled junior looked in the direction the senior was staring.
The senior was looking at the guard post up ahead.
Unlike the small post where just the two of them were stationed, it was an official post where an entire squad was staying.
An officer had stepped outside that post.
The officer stood there holding a radio, furrowing his brows.
“What’s wrong?”
“Check the radio first.”
“Sir?”
Puzzled by the sudden order, the junior picked up the radio on the floor and tried to make contact.
“This is Guard Post B in front of the underground passage, requesting response. …This is Post B, do you copy?”
Static.
Nothing but static filled the line. No matter how many times he called, only an ominous silence returned.
“Why isn’t it working?”
The senior pulled the puzzled junior, who was still holding the radio, down.
“It’s radio jamming. We’re under attack.”
He grabbed the machine gun mounted at the post.
The startled junior pressed close to him and looked around.
“There’s nothing here?”
The surroundings were quiet. The officer who had been outside the post seemed to have gone inside; he was nowhere to be seen.
Though everything looked as peaceful as always, the senior held the machine gun and spoke to the junior.
“You heard the briefing before the operation started. They said impossible things might happen.”
The junior had heard those words, too.
“But the officer giving the briefing said it was a one-in-a-million chance. Everyone laughed when they heard it.”
Stories of people flying through the air and raining down fire, moving like lightning and cutting people down with swords and spears.
It was the kind of story that made soldiers laugh upon hearing it.
The senior shook his head at the junior’s words.
“And the world changing into this mess makes sense to you?”
He held the loaded machine gun and aimed it toward the passage.
“Whether it’s true or not, the fact that comms are down is certain, so we have to follow orders.”
The junior had heard that briefing, too.
Back then, the officer had given one final order.
—If something incomprehensible happens, open fire immediately. Direction does not matter. You are to signal to others that something is wrong through concentrated fire.
Recalling those words, the junior grabbed the ammunition belt, and the senior pulled the trigger.
Srrrk.
He pulled the trigger, but instead of gunfire, a different sound rang out.
The sound of tearing metal, together with the sound of flesh being sliced.
Splurt!
Blood poured down over the junior’s face.
In the junior’s eyes, he saw the headless senior collapsing backward.
The junior reflexively tried to grab the machine gun, but it, too, had been sliced in half.
He raised his head in shock, and seeing the person in front of him, his face turned dumbfounded.
A pretty—if somewhat sharp-looking—woman stood before him.
A woman who had appeared out of nowhere, close to his ideal type.
But he was a soldier.
He reflexively grabbed his rifle.
At the same time, he heard the woman’s voice.
“Cut. Wind Blade.”
With those words, his vision distorted.
As if the world had been split in two.
The next moment, his neck burned.
I checked the sleeping soldiers and exited the guard post.
Margareta remained inside the post.
She was tying up the sleeping soldiers with ordinary rope.
Stepping outside, I saw Catherine standing in front of the small guard post up ahead.
She stood before the blood-soaked post, frowning.
While I took the main post, she had been assigned to the small post.
Seeing the blood-soaked post, it seemed things had not gone according to plan.
I approached her and asked.
“You’re not hurt, are you?”
At my question, Catherine shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“Is it because you had to kill allied soldiers? It’s regrettable, but it couldn’t be helped.”
I would have liked to put them all to sleep, but there were limits to sleep magic.
There was a limited area the magic could reach, and a limit to how long it could be used.
We had used magic too frequently while passing through the passage this time, and the distance between the guard posts was too great.
One side had to be handled with a different magic.
That was why Catherine had stepped up this time.
The fact that no gunshots were heard suggested the invisibility magic had been properly cast, and looking at the traces, it seemed she had used her magic correctly as well.
And yet her expression was troubled.
If she was making that face because she had killed American soldiers, fighting alongside her would have been difficult.
Fortunately(?), Catherine shook her head.
“That’s not it. It was because the enemy’s response was strangely fast.”
“Their response was fast?”
“Yes. Even though I was invisible, they tried to fire the machine gun.”
At her words, I examined the guard post again.
One of the dead soldiers was holding the trigger of the machine gun that had been sliced in half.
I frowned at his pose, as if he were about to fire at any moment.
“That certainly seems to be the case.”
I looked closer.
The shattered machine gun, two dead soldiers. And the radio lying between them.
Seeing the radio, the scene from moments ago came to mind.
Before I put them to sleep, an officer had come outside the main barracks and tried to contact someone via radio.
I had spread magic to block radio waves, so communications hadn’t worked.
It had been the same at this guard post.
‘They tried to attack immediately after realizing the radio wasn’t working?’
I withdrew the magic I had spread out.
“Jamming lifted.”
Once the blocked communications were restored, sound came from the radio.
As if someone had been holding down the transmit button the whole time, an urgent voice flowed through the static.
—…Repeating transmission. Contact has been lost with the unit guarding the passage connected to the ruins. The likelihood of radio jamming is high; all forces are to enter alert status immediately. Furthermore, as the mage mentioned in the briefing may have appeared, unleash firepower the moment a suspicious situation arises. That includes small arms and heavy weapons—use everything.
With those words, the radio fell silent.
I clicked my tongue, looking at the silent radio.
“So they were prepared on this side, too.”
Just as demons were no fools, the human enemies were no fools either.
“They may be rebels, but they were originally US military. Commander Hyeon has shown magic on Earth many times, so it’s only natural that someone who knows about it would be here.”
I shook my head at Catherine’s following words.
“Still, there shouldn’t be that many who know.”
There might be some, but the fact that I used magic on Earth was not something that could be easily spread.
As I tilted my head, I heard Margareta’s voice from behind.
“It means there’s someone who knows among the rebels.”
Seeing her grave expression, she seemed to know who the opponent was.
Catherine said with a serious face.
“If it’s come to this, I don’t think we’ll be able to sneak in.”
I nodded at Catherine’s words.
“We just won’t sneak in, then.”
At my words, Margareta’s expression darkened.
“A lot of people will die.”
Instead of answering, I handed Margareta my spear.
“No. Only you two won’t be sneaking in.”
Margareta and Catherine looked back and forth between me and the spear with dumbfounded expressions.
I explained to the two of them.
“The two of you and one Archmage. At this level, no one would doubt us even if we charged in head-on.”
There would likely be no way to penetrate an Archmage’s shield inside the base.
The Archmage’s magic and your attacks would draw people’s attention sufficiently.
“Then what about Hyeon?”
I grinned at Margareta’s question.
“Of course I’ll sneak in. I told you. I never fight head-on.”
While the two of them and Soph drew their attention, I would find the US President.
If I found where the US President was, the rebel leaders would be there, too.
Just as the rebels were using the President as a hostage to threaten others, I planned to capture the rebel leaders and threaten them in turn.
“Soph, I’m counting on you.”
[Understood. I shall protect your beautiful comrades well.]
Putting aside Soph’s greasy response, which I hadn’t heard in a while, I cast magic again.
Feeling my form fade away, I sprinted into the base.
Weeeeeee-ooo!
The base’s alarm blared loudly as it entered alert status.
Rebel Forces (2)