I went down to the underground city and filled the warehouse to the brim with supplies brought from Earth.
I had gathered all the supplies belonging to the US government in Djibouti and the supplies stockpiled by the Korean government at the Baekdu Mountain base, bringing them all to Trappist.
Now that I could use magic freely, the size of my magic box had grown tremendously.
It was large enough that there was still room left over even after emptying the warehouses both countries had prepared.
I filled the remaining space with weapons and military equipment.
Earth’s firearms didn’t work very well against Akzar monsters, but heavy firepower like autocannons and artillery shells could still deal a certain amount of impact.
Besides that, equipment like drones and armored vehicles were plenty helpful on this planet.
I packed all those things I had brought into the underground city’s warehouse.
Earth’s supplies like clothes, home appliances, and food.
It wasn’t like there was nothing to eat in the underground city, but people who had enjoyed modern civilization on Earth needed Earth’s supplies.
Especially for luxury goods like alcohol, coffee, and cigarettes, people dove for them with a fiery glint in their eyes.
After distributing supplies to the people, I met up with the Spirit and the nuclear technician.
Calling the two to a large warehouse where only vehicles remained, I took out the nuclear warheads I had extracted from the submarine.
The nuclear technician had looked troubled upon seeing the first warhead taken from the box, but his expression turned incredulous as warheads kept pouring out.
As I emptied out the warheads, I added one more thing.
“You must have heard that monsters are pouring down from the moon. These warheads will be the decisive move in the battle. Please hurry as much as possible.”
Now the nuclear technician was looking at me as if I were absurd.
I knew it was an unreasonable request, but it couldn’t be helped if we wanted to put the warheads to use.
“I’m a Chinese nuclear technician, and these are American nuclear warheads. The codes and systems must all be different…….”
“We have the Spirit Shamilla. If Shamilla isn’t enough, I can help too.”
Seeing the Spirit place her hands on her hips and show off, the nuclear technician let out a sigh.
“If the Spirit-nim helps with magic…… I suppose I’ll have to try.”
She might have shown off like a child, but the Spirit’s magical skills were the real deal.
On the Ice Planet, Spirit Shamilla was the strongest mage after me and Soph.
The two of them already had experience modifying even hydrogen bombs, so they should be more than capable of modifying these American warheads.
After leaving the hundred warheads to the Spirit and the nuclear technician, I headed this time to the terraforming ruins in the desert.
After people had left, defensive magic activated, making it a desert always filled with sandstorms.
But within the oasis at the center of the sandstorm, not a single breath of wind blew.
A lake wider than before, and lush grass and trees blooming thickly around it.
The oasis seemed even more mysterious because of the sandstorms filling the surroundings.
I had come underground to the terraforming ruins beside the oasis.
The underground control room of the ruins, with a greenhouse in the center.
Untouched by human hands, the greenhouse had transformed into something like a jungle.
It was a shame, but I had the giant farms around the underground city.
There was no need to send people to these ruins while taking risks.
That said, it wasn’t like there were no people here.
Two scientists brought from Earth had remained here at the ruins until the very end.
While I worked in front of the control panel, the two boasted of their achievements up until then.
“The energy source called dark energy, and the purification magic this ruins deploys, are both hard to understand, but we were able to figure out how this ruins is changing this planet.”
They had asked me to install all the equipment brought from Antarctica at these ruins, and it seemed they had obtained more information than expected.
“It’s increasing oxygen, removing harmful gases, and increasing water molecules in the atmosphere. If I tell you the annual increase rates…….”
At first, Dr. Miller had chattered on holding a pad full of graphs, but I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
Perhaps realizing I didn’t understand, Dr. Ella stepped in midway.
Fortunately, she explained it in a way I could comprehend.
“The area around these ruins and near the lake base will change within a few years, and in a hundred years, the entire planet will have an environment similar to Earth.”
As expected, changing the entire planet would take time, but even now, bringing people here and settling them on this planet different from Earth seemed feasible.
Of course, that would be after dealing with the monsters on the broken moon.
It had been worth bringing the two scientists.
Then, Soph’s voice rang out.
[It’s done. That’s the last black stone.]
The shelf split apart, and several black stones rose up from below.
They were all black stones modified to be usable in artifacts.
[We’ve used too much of the ruins’ energy. For the time being, it’ll be difficult to modify black stones too, and the terraforming will be considerably delayed.]
It couldn’t be helped.
The black stones modified this time weren’t just the ones that had come up now.
Soph and I had modified all the hundreds of Akzar black stones collected from the Sanctuary.
Modifications carried out by draining the terraforming ruins’ energy dry.
The sandstorms had nearly stopped due to the lack of energy.
Anyway, the black stone modifications were all finished.
The modified black stones could be used for my spear too, but these stones were all intended for use on the moon.
We planned to move the halted magic circle using black stones instead of mages.
After putting the black stones into a box, I spoke to the scientists.
“Both of you, come with me to the underground city.”
“But there’s still so much research left to do…….”
“You can come back after the matter is finished.”
I couldn’t leave the scientists here while I was heading to the moon.
In fact, it wasn’t safe even now.
The sandstorms had been hiding the terraforming ruins, but the sandstorms only worked on ordinary(?) Akzar monsters.
They probably wouldn’t work on controlled entities or magic beasts.
Dr. Miller’s resistance was immediately suppressed by his assistant, Ella.
I returned to the underground city with the two of them.
Time passed.
I helped my brother who managed the underground city, and met with exploration team members and others to hear their stories.
And as I was dealing with monsters falling on the Ice Planet, I heard word that the warhead modifications were finished.
Modifications quickly finished utilizing Ice Golems and Flame Golems.
On one side of the warehouse I hurried to, modified nuclear warheads were stacked in abundance.
“Good work.”
Stowing the warheads into empty boxes, I spoke to the Spirit and the nuclear technician.
At my words, the Spirit acted smug as always, while the nuclear technician waved his hand with an exhausted face, looking as if he would pass out.
“We didn’t have time to install timers or linked devices to detonate them simultaneously. If you detonate the black stone installed in the warhead, that warhead will explode immediately.”
That was enough.
I had set up magic circles on the black stones installed in the warheads.
So they would explode upon receiving a magic signal even from far away.
We hadn’t been able to make time bombs, but this much was enough to serve as remote-controlled nuclear bombs.
As I put all the warheads into the boxes, the Spirit asked.
“Since it’s all done, now we celebrate, right?”
The Spirit asked with sparkling eyes.
I nodded at her question.
“Yes. Since all preparations are finished, now we must begin.”
I had decided to use the goods I had brought in bulk from Earth this time to hold the first festival.
A festival to console the expedition members who had suffered until now and the people who had crossed over to this planet and were frightened by the unfamiliar environment.
Catherine and the others were bewildered at the uncharacteristic word “festival” coming from me, but they too agreed with my opinion.
The festival would begin at the time when all preparations were finished.
Right now, with the warhead modifications completed.
Exiting the warehouse, I saw a street filled with flowers before my eyes.
People crowded the flower-filled streets.
They were people who had poured out into the streets upon hearing the word “festival,”
Koreans and Americans, and people of other nationalities as well.
They all had faces full of worry, but even so, they all tried to put on bright expressions.
The nearly thousand people who had come out to the streets were all heading toward the park at the center of the city.
I too headed for the park, following them.
Though it had only been a few days since my return from Earth, the park had already transformed into festival streets.
There were various shops handing out things I had brought from Earth, and even ability users putting on shows with abilities and magic.
Seeing children watching shows and running between shops, it already felt like a festival even though it hadn’t started yet.
As I approached the park, people recognized me.
People who bowed their heads upon seeing me.
There were also those who, seeing others bow their heads, bowed to me with bewildered faces,
or expressed gratitude or fear.
People’s expressions varied, but one way or another, they all acknowledged my authority.
Returning their greetings, I headed inside the park.
Toward the podium erected at the center of the park.
Catherine and David were on the podium waiting for me.
I climbed onto the podium and looked around at the surroundings.
The countless people gathered in the park.
Surviving hunting teams and their families, and people who had crossed over from Earth, were all looking up at me on the podium.
Everyone was waiting for me to start the festival.
Any other time, I might have passed the speech to someone else or simply shouted for the festival to begin, but today I could not do that.
I amplified my voice with magic and opened my mouth.
The first thing I brought up was words of consolation for the expedition members.
“Advance team, follow-up team, and all expedition members who have fought until now—I commend your efforts. Thanks to your sacrifice, we have obtained land where families and others from Earth can take refuge.”
After that, words to give everyone hope and vision.
“To all of you, this place may be unfamiliar land, but now it is our new homeland. Starting from this underground city, we will purify the entire planet above and cultivate a new civilization.”
After saying those words, I scanned the crowd.
The expedition members and their families grew solemn, but the others still couldn’t let go of their worries despite my words.
It was expected.
People’s worries wouldn’t disappear with a single word from me.
My words just now were merely a preface for what followed.
“For that reason, there is something I must tell you all.”
From here on was my main point.
“The people who lived on this planet in the past, and what they did.”
I had stood here and organized this festival in order to say these words.
“I will tell you the story of the magic kingdom that once spread across this planet, and the mages who fought until the very end to prevent its destruction.”
I told everyone the story of Soph and her group.
“… Thanks to their sacrifice, the Demon Lord was sealed for ten thousand years, and eventually, the Demon Lord was destroyed not long ago.”
Unfortunately, there weren’t many who believed my story.
Though several made surprised expressions, more people listened to my story as if hearing an old tale.
It didn’t matter.
I simply wanted to inform everyone of their sacrifice.
Soph remained silent until I finished my story.
“…… Thank you for listening to this long story. Now, I will begin the festival.”
After finishing my words like that, I announced the start of the festival.
“Waaaah!”
The people cheered at the words that the festival was beginning.
Along with the cheers, the light illuminating the underground cavern darkened.
The city and cavern darkened like night.
The stones embedded in the ceiling began to shine like stars.
Along with that, the Spirit shot up toward the sky.
She soared into the sky, scattering shining powder like an ice fairy.
Above, the Spirit cast magic.
A fireworks show unfolded above the city, beneath the ceiling of the cavern.
Boom! Bang! Bang!
A firework show unfolded with magic instead of firecrackers.
Flames burst forth, and instead of drones, magic embroidered pictures in the sky.
Various pictures spread across the sky.
People hunting monsters and children running through the city were drawn in the sky.
Wow!
At the amazing sight, people gazed up at the sky, entranced.
As various pictures were being created like that, one unfamiliar picture was drawn in the sky.
Inside the picture were people wearing mage robes I was seeing for the first time.
Elderly male mages and a beautiful female mage who looked exactly like the Spirit.
Watching that picture, I got into the elevator.
Now it was time to go to the broken moon.
As I left the underground cavern, Soph’s voice reached me.
[Thank you.]
Battle of the Broken Moon (1)