The one who realized something was hiding near the rocky mountain where the survivors were was Master Sergeant Woo.
With sharpened eyes, he noticed the shadow of the rocky mountain shifting little by little.
Focusing my senses on the place Master Sergeant Woo pointed to, I realized it was an Akzar monster.
The unsettling energy I had seen in the footage and felt from the fossil.
That energy was coming from the nearby rocky mountain.
The moment I realized it was an Akzar, Sof’s words came to mind.
[Akzar monsters are not foolish.]
The warning Sof had given me when I saw the fossil.
I asked Sof again.
[How smart are Akzar monsters?]
[As smart as mages.]
It was hard to believe, but Sof had no reason to lie.
As smart as mages meant smarter than me.
Which meant I had to treat that thing the same way I would when facing an intelligent enemy.
A puzzle began to form in my head.
A hypothetical puzzle for dealing with the enemy.
I recalled an operation from when I had faced an intelligent enemy before.
Back then, too, I had infiltrated enemy lines to rescue someone.
We had thought it was an ordinary rescue mission, like any other, but the truth was different.
That operation had been a trap.
The person we were trying to save was not a hostage, but bait meant to capture the special forces members who came to rescue him—especially me.
If that monster was as smart as a mage, then this situation would be no different from back then.
In that case, this was a trap as well.
Click.
One piece of the puzzle fit into place in my mind.
Back then, even after I realized it was a trap, I had not given up.
The hostage had been bait, but he was also someone who needed to be saved.
So I had decided to destroy the trap itself.
This time was the same.
Click.
The next piece of the puzzle fit into place.
What I would attack was the trap itself.
When destroying the trap, the hostages could not be allowed to get hurt.
So I decided to switch the hostage.
Click.
The final piece fit into place.
I told Sof about the completed puzzle.
After hearing me out, Sof gave me his answer.
[It sounds insane, but… it is not bad.]
It was the best possible answer.
With the completed puzzle, I began the operation.
First, I gave instructions to the team members, then headed alone toward the place where the two people were hiding.
No sound, but just enough movement for the monster to notice.
Pababak!
As expected, before I reached the rocky mountain, the black monster appeared.
The black monster leaped into the sky as if flying.
The Akzar scout spread its thorn-like tentacles wide and lunged at me.
I raised my spear.
I aimed the black stone precisely at the scout’s head as it charged.
[Sof!]
When I sent the signal, Sof spoke in a grave voice.
[This will be the last time. You will not be able to use the black stone until it is repaired.]
Sof would lose consciousness at the same time he cast the spell, but there was no helping it.
The enemy charging at me now clearly would not even feel an ordinary attack.
Against that thing, I had to unleash the strongest attack I possessed.
The black stone attached to the spear shone brightly.
[Electromagnetic force at maximum. Judgment of Lightning!]
Unlike usual, Sof loudly shouted a slightly childish incantation.
Flash!
A single bolt of lightning fell from the sky.
A thunderbolt from a clear sky.
It was a powerful bolt of lightning unlike the others.
It could not even be compared to the bundle lightning spell.
I cast the spell with my eyes nearly closed, but the light pierced through my eyelids and blinded me for a moment.
Even without my sight, I kept moving.
I immediately turned and started running.
Papapapak!
Changing direction and running—in crude terms, a desperate escape.
Rumble!
Only then did the sound of thunder come from the sky.
Riiip!
At the same time, cutting through the thunder, I heard the sound of cloth being torn.
It was the scream of the Akzar monster Sof had mentioned.
The fact that I could hear its scream meant that even that tremendous bolt of lightning had not brought the monster down.
It was as expected.
The monster I had seen in the footage had killed mages and swept people away like fallen leaves in an autumn wind.
Even the fossilized monster had cleared out the stone warehouse ruins by itself.
It was impossible for an amnesiac mage and me, who could not use magic, to kill a monster like that.
Sof had also agreed that with the power we possessed, we could not bring it down.
I had no intention of bringing it down with this attack.
That lightning was not meant to kill it, but to make it angry.
If we were lucky, it was a firecracker that would stop its movements for a moment.
My sight began to return.
While continuing to run, I glanced back.
It worked!
The firecracker had been effective.
Bzzzzzt!
I could see electric current running over the monster’s body.
Black smoke was also rising from it in wisps.
However, the monster’s energy had not diminished in the slightest.
The monster had merely been startled by the firecracker and stiffened in place.
The tentacles that served as legs, as well as the two antenna-like tentacles, were frozen while pointing straight at me.
According to Sof, when those two tentacles pointed at an opponent, it meant the monster was extremely angry.
It was a great success.
I had put enough distance between myself and the monster, and I had succeeded in making it angry.
Karrrek!
The black monster began to move.
Electric current was still running through it, and the smoke had not disappeared, but the monster moved its tentacle legs as if none of it mattered.
Pupupuk!
Whether ground or rock, it made no difference.
The monster began running toward me, punching holes with its tentacles.
The first button had been fastened properly.
The first step of the operation was to keep the hostages from getting hurt while destroying the trap.
The method was for me to become the hostage.
Just like now.
Using the “Body Enhancement” spell Sof had cast on me before losing consciousness, I ran with all my might.
My destination was the terraforming research center we had passed long ago.
Not getting caught by the monster until I reached that place was the second phase of the operation.
Beneath a sunset unlike Earth’s, with a tentacled monster on my heels, I ran fiercely toward the sandstorm.
**
The monster that had made the two tremble in fear disappeared into the distance.
“Did it really leave this time?”
“It seems like it, but…”
As the two stood there bewildered, others quickly approached them.
They were people Huiwon and Sergeant Kim knew: Master Sergeant Woo and Tom.
Huiwon and Sergeant Kim were glad to see them, but now was not the time for greetings.
Tom checked Huiwon’s arm first.
He unwound the cloth wrapped around her arm and administered proper first aid.
Finally, after wrapping a new bandage around Huiwon’s arm, he looked at Master Sergeant Woo.
“It’s all done.”
“It’s gotten troublesome without Captain Hyeon here.”
It was simple English, but Master Sergeant Woo wrinkled his nose.
In the end, Huiwon interpreted for him.
“He says it’s done.”
Master Sergeant Woo nodded and spoke to everyone.
“Then let’s get moving. Night will fall soon, so we need to move somewhere else before then.”
When Huiwon stood with Tom’s support, Sergeant Kim, who had been watching, asked Master Sergeant Woo.
“Did the black monster get lured away by the Corporal Slayer?”
“Call him Captain Hyeon.”
Sergeant Kim scratched his head and asked again.
“Yes. Anyway, am I right?”
“You are.”
As if recalling what had just happened, Sergeant Kim blinked.
“It looked like he launched some kind of incredible attack… But seeing as it didn’t do much, I don’t think it’ll be easy to shake that thing off halfway.”
Master Sergeant Woo shook his head.
“He’ll handle it, so there’s no need to worry. Besides, it didn’t seem like he planned to shake it off halfway.”
It was hard to understand, but this was not the time to ask more.
As the four of them left the rocky mountain, Huiwon asked Master Sergeant Woo a question.
“Wasn’t there a schoolgirl named ‘Hanna’ too?”
At the question, Master Sergeant Woo let out a sigh.
“I told her to stay here, but Hanna said she had to follow the light and went after the captain.”
At Master Sergeant Woo’s words, Sergeant Kim was startled.
“Oh no, was she one of those people? Is that why I had such bad luck? Should I go get a shamanic ritual done when we get back…?”
He rubbed the cheek that had been struck by the bow.
At his absurd words, Master Sergeant Woo frowned and shook his head.
“She was not a shaman. If anything, she might have been a fanatic. She just… seemed to follow Captain Hyeon a great deal.”
That was the end of it.
After that, they ran silently across the field strewn with rocks.
They did not head in the direction Captain Hyeon had gone, but hurried toward the base.
**
By running with magic on top of everything else, the distance that had taken several hours was reduced to a quarter.
It was far faster than when I had run through the cave.
It felt similar to driving in a car.
Even though I ran that quickly, the monster nearly caught me several times.
I had considered slowing down if the monster failed to keep up, but that was nothing more than the reckless bravado of the weak.
Instead, I had to dodge the tentacles flying at me, evade the stones and boulders the monster threw, and run as if my tail were on fire.
On top of that, Sof had lost consciousness and could not use magic now.
I had to escape entirely with my own strength.
After several dozen minutes of frantic running like that,
I reached the front of the sandstorm just as the Body Enhancement spell was about to end.
What I had to do now was enter the sandstorm.
I needed Sof.
[Have we arrived? The probability of being caught midway was quite high, but as expected, you have a talent for running away.]
Fortunately, Sof opened his eyes at that moment.
“I’m glad you weren’t too late.”
[If we had prepared more properly, there would have been no need to do something this dangerous.]
“We can talk about that later. Please guide the way.”
I had no time to listen to Sof.
Kyarrrrk!
The black monster had caught up right behind me.
Thud.
Seeing a tentacle fly in beside me, Sof cast a spell.
Energy was sucked into the spear.
The black stone at the spearhead had been destroyed, but with the energy I possessed, ordinary magic could still be used sufficiently.
[Work as soon as I wake up… You really do know how to work a mage to the bone.]
Though he grumbled, Sof guided the way.
The one and only path that would allow us to enter the sandstorm safely.
Listening to Sof’s instructions, I threw myself into the sandstorm.
Kwa-gwagwagwagwa!
Sand filled my vision.
Even the sky, growing darker by the moment, could no longer be seen.
After entering the sandstorm, I looked back.
The black monster, the Akzar scout, had stopped in front of the sandstorm.
As expected, that monster was not stupid.
First, it pushed several tentacles into the sandstorm.
Chwaaak!
The tentacles stretched all the way in front of me.
They swayed here and there in the sandstorm, but they remained unharmed.
After confirming that its tentacles were unharmed, the monster leaped into the sandstorm.
Thud!
Seeing that, I turned and ran deeper into the storm.
At the same time, the monster also began running after me.
Though it chased me, the monster did not know the path, so it had no choice but to suffer the sandstorm’s attack.
This sandstorm was not an ordinary natural phenomenon.
It was magic created by an archmage to protect the ruins, a defensive spell that used the energy of the terraforming facility.
Kwa-gwagwagwagwagwa!
The sandstorm grew even fiercer.
The enraged sandstorm began battering the intruder.
A short while later, a girl appeared in the place where the monster and the man had vanished.
A girl holding a bow.
Hanna stared into the sandstorm.