Beneath the gray mountain range lay a vast ruined city.
It was an ancient ruin, broken and worn away.
There were almost no buildings still standing properly, but it was a larger city than expected.
If it were in Korea, it looked like a city where hundreds of thousands might have lived.
[I remember around three hundred thousand people living there before it fell.]
That great city had been reduced to ruins.
We were hiding on a rocky hill some distance from the city, observing it.
Unfortunately, the eastern side of the city was a wide-open plain with only a few rocky hills remaining.
If we wanted to watch the city from hiding, it would have been better to go to the mountains on the opposite side, but those mountains were covered in dark gray permafrost.
After experiencing the poisonous swamp, I had no desire to experience that strange permafrost as well.
Unfortunately, from the rocky hill, we could see the city’s overall view well enough, but not what was happening inside.
The humanoid monsters moving between the buildings looked fainter than dots. Even then, only Hanna and I could see them; the others, lacking dark energy, could not.
It was also too far to confirm anything with my senses. If we got closer, I would be able to grasp things accurately, but this time we really had to be careful.
The line pointing to the control object was aimed toward the city.
Perhaps because it was close, the line was shaking wildly, but in any case, the thing was somewhere near that city.
[Since we cannot see it from here, it must be underground.]
Even in Soph’s memories, the control object had been underground.
In those memories, Soph had used magic to drag the thing underground up to the surface.
‘That’s impossible now.’
Unlike now, the Soph in those memories had been a true archmage.
He had been a strategic weapon capable of collapsing a city on his own.
[Fortunately, there are no walls surrounding the city.]
They had not collapsed. That city simply had no walls meant to defend it.
[There was no need for them. The native creatures did not even require a mage to step in. Ordinary people carrying combat artifacts dealt with all of them.]
The monsters called native creatures were nothing more than prey even to us Earthlings. In the world of mages, they must have been mere ordinary beasts.
[We were far too arrogant. We thought there was no being on this star that could stand against us mages.]
That arrogance must have been swept away by the Zahar monsters, just like that city.
Still, the lack of walls was helpful to us.
Thanks to that, we could see all the way into the city from here.
“It would have been nice if we had binoculars……”
I had put about two pairs in the box when we left Earth, but when we arrived, they had all vanished along with the other weapons.
Next time, I would have to put more than ten pairs into the box.
We had no binoculars, but we did have Hanna.
Her eyes, strengthened by dark energy, could see far farther than mine.
“What should I look for?”
“Start by telling me the number of humanoid monsters moving around.”
Hanna, crouching beside me, narrowed her eyes and examined the city.
“The number I can see is around three to four hundred.”
I had expected there to be quite a few, but there were more than I thought.
“If we include the ones we can’t see, maybe over a thousand.”
At my words, Sergeant Woo furrowed his brow.
“That is too many. The city may be large, but with that many of them, the chances of being discovered are high.”
I thought the same.
However, we could no longer return after confirming only this much.
[I did not think a factory would have already been built. My prediction was wrong. There may not be much time left. To know how much time remains, we must see how far their work has progressed.]
According to Soph, that city had now become a factory.
The humanoid monsters were the factory’s workers, and what was being made in that factory were combat soldiers meant to kill humans.
[I failed to consider that they no longer needed to hide while making them like before. But to think they would use an entire city…….]
Soph blamed himself for his incorrect prediction, but now was not the time to dwell on that.
Right now, we had to enter that city and conduct a detailed reconnaissance.
“Wouldn’t it be fine as long as we can get out of the city even if we’re discovered? It’s quite a distance from here to the new base, so I think we could shake them off or avoid them somewhere along the way.”
Tom, who had been listening to the conversation, offered a fairly decent opinion in his own way, but Hanna, who was watching the city, immediately refuted it.
“I don’t think that will work. There’s a scout in the city.”
On the roof of a building at the city’s outskirts, where Hanna was pointing, I saw a black lump. Several tentacles were swaying above the lump.
Just as Hanna said, it was a scout.
Well, of course. The Akzar monsters were not stupid.
There was no way there would not be a scout at a factory producing combat soldiers.
With this, Tom’s suggestion had no choice but to be rejected.
Scouts were fast. Even I could not shake off a scout.
Even if we got out of the city, we would inevitably be caught by it.
On top of that, we still could not fight and defeat it without outside help.
We had to find another way.
Not getting discovered was the best option, but I could not rush into a monster-infested city with my team members on such a vague hope alone.
A way to escape even if we were discovered……
One thing came to mind immediately.
The spatial movement device said to be in this city.
It was not for long distances, but if we used the movement device that could even take us to another star, we should be able to leave the city without being caught by them.
‘The problem is that there’s no guarantee it’s still intact.’
If we went to all the trouble of finding it only for it to be broken, it would lead to the worst possible outcome.
If only we could know that it was intact……
‘That’s right!’
At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.
I immediately asked Hanna.
“Is there anything like a light in that city?”
With Hanna’s ability to find a path to survival, she should be able to locate the spatial movement device inside the city.
On top of that, she should also be able to tell whether the spatial movement device was all right.
“Ah, wait a moment. There’s an incredibly black mass underground, so I’ve been deliberately avoiding looking at it.”
From a question I had asked just in case, I obtained new information.
As we had expected, the control object was underground beneath the city.
The thing had set itself up underground, then built a production base in the city above its head.
“Ah, there is. It wasn’t easy to find because of the black mass, but there’s one light.”
“According to what you said, that light should be the way to survive, right?”
“Yes.”
If Hanna said we could live, that meant the spatial movement device was still operating.
[As expected, your cunning is no ordinary thing.]
Soph’s praise rang in my head.
I called all the team members over.
Once the team gathered in a small clearing behind the rocky hill, I drew a map of the city on the ground.
“The original purpose of this operation was to backtrack the enemy that sent monsters after us and reconnoiter it. We have succeeded in backtracking them this far.”
In truth, we had followed the magical line Soph had made, but it was not easy to explain while leaving Soph out.
This time, too, I had to tell a white lie.
“We have confirmed the enemy’s main base, but we still lack information. At the very least, we need to confirm what they are doing in those ruins.”
In truth, I knew what they were doing. The problem was how much they had done, and how much was left.
“The problem is our method of escape…… I just confirmed it with Hanna. There is still a functioning spatial movement device in that city.”
At my words, the team members looked at Hanna.
Hanna also looked at me with puzzled eyes.
It must have been because she had no way of knowing how the light she saw could become a spatial movement device.
However, Hanna did not ask.
The same went for the team members.
By now, the team members also knew about Hanna’s ability.
They were all closer to half-believing, half-doubting, but it was enough to add certainty to my decision.
I pointed to one location on the map I had drawn on the ground.
The place where the light Hanna had seen was located.
It was where the spatial movement device was.
“We will modify the operation. We will head straight to the place where the spatial movement device is. Reconnaissance will be conducted on the way there.”
At my words, everyone nodded.
I had joked that I had lost their trust, but the team members trusted me.
Then I, too, had to repay that trust.
Repaying it meant sending them all back safely.
Both to the terraforming ruins, and to their homes on Earth.
Looking at everyone, I made that vow.
Once we had decided, we had to move immediately.
After brief preparations, we descended the rocky hill at once.
From here to the city was a wide-open wasteland.
If we simply went, we would inevitably be discovered.
“I’ll take the lead. Sergeant Woo, the rear. Hanna, stay in the middle and keep watch. Warn us if something seems like it will become a problem. Magreta and Tom, move with Hanna.”
After giving instructions to everyone, I raised my spear and pointed it at the ground.
Soph cast a spell.
[Blow. Rise. Sandstorm.]
Shwaaak.
The dust rolling across the wasteland shot up into the sky.
From around us to the far distance.
The dust blocked everyone’s vision.
It was nothing compared to the terrifying sandstorm created by the terraforming ruins, but it was enough to obstruct the vision of the monsters in the city.
A cloud of dust gradually spread toward the city.
Hidden within that cloud, we headed for the city.
As expected, we were not discovered before we arrived at the city.
Once we entered the city, I told Soph to scatter the dust.
The Akzar monsters were too smart for us to use this kind of wide-area magic inside the city.
According to Soph, it was highly likely to only heighten their vigilance.
The dust that had been concealing us vanished, but we still had a way to avoid them.
After stopping the team behind a collapsed building, I expanded my senses.
Information about the surroundings, which had been too far away to feel, surfaced in my mind.
A three-dimensional map was created in my head, and I could feel all the monsters’ movements.
“This way.”
I led the team toward places where I could not feel monsters.
I entered a narrow alley, slipped out through a side alley, stopped there for a moment, and then turned back the way we had come.
After moving like that for about thirty minutes, some of the team members seemed to have relaxed.
“Isn’t it really amazing? We’ve passed two blocks already, and we haven’t run into a single monster.”
I could hear Tom whispering to Sergeant Woo from behind all the way up front.
He had probably said it out of admiration, but now was not a good time.
The instant I frowned, Sergeant Woo moved.
Puk.
At the sound, the female monster approaching from behind was stabbed by Sergeant Woo’s spear and collapsed to the ground.
Sergeant Woo covered the fallen monster’s mouth and stabbed it several more times with his spear.
Sergeant Woo’s upper clothes were stained with white blood.
After expressionlessly confirming that the monster was dead, Sergeant Woo pulled out his spear.
When he returned, Tom scratched his head with an apologetic expression.
At Tom’s apology, Sergeant Woo shook his head.
As expected, it seemed I had chosen the right people.
He had not yet obtained a special ability, but Sergeant Woo was still more than doing his part.
The same was true of the others.
Even if I kept checking with my senses, we could not avoid every monster.
We had no choice but to pass through places where monsters were, and each time, I gave instructions to the team.
“Rooftop on the left. Corner of the second floor on the right!”
Hanna fired arrows and killed monsters far away, while Magreta lashed out with her whip and dragged monsters out.
The monsters pulled in by the whip were stabbed to death by Tom and Sergeant Woo with their spears.
Magreta’s whip strikes were far more accurate than before.
Now, her whip bent like a snake into places we could not even see and pulled out enemies.
There was no need to mention Hanna.
She loosed arrows and brought down monsters even before I gave instructions, and she also warned me.
“Don’t go down that alley!”
Tom’s abilities had grown stronger as well.
He stabbed a monster Magreta had hooked with his spear, only to pierce right through the stones on the ground.
He jumped in surprise again because it made a sound, but it was clearly not ordinary strength.
[Since it is primitive magic, I cannot know for certain, but your team members are strange as well. They should not be growing this quickly.]
Soph said it was strange, but right now, it was a great help to us.
After passing through the outskirts of the city and entering the inner area, we saw a building the humanoid monsters were going in and out of.
Unlike the other buildings, it was relatively intact, with a roof still on it.
Old people and children, women and men—many humanoid monsters were entering that building.
But the monsters entering the building looked a little strange.
All of them had swollen bellies, as if they had overeaten, or as if they were pregnant.
[The thing will be inside here. Check carefully.]
After hearing Soph’s words, we decided to enter the building.
The moment the monsters in the vicinity thinned out, we went into the building through a window.
Just as Soph had said, there was another monster inside that building.
No, it had not become a monster yet.
What filled the interior of the building was a huge cocoon.
All the humanoid monsters that had entered the building before us had disappeared.
Instead, an old man was being sucked into what looked like the cocoon’s mouth.
The humanoid monsters were offering themselves as food to that cocoon.