-Blackout and Silence
When I turned around, I saw a huge man with an enormous hammer in hand striding across the boulevard in a blatant jaywalk.
There were hardly any cars passing through the area, so it was not exactly something to criticize him for.
Still, for someone coming to help with an assault, his steps were remarkably light.
“Oudin! It’s me! I’m here!”
“Thor. Welcome.”
I had half expected it, and sure enough, as soon as Thor reached me, he practically threw his bear-like body at me and hugged me.
The impact made my chest ache.
Buried in Thor’s embrace, I looked over his shoulder and saw two other men crossing toward us as well, also jaywalking.
“Welcome. Did anything happen on your way here?”
Yu Jaeseon went to greet them.
They were the foreign mages who had agreed to come help.
“We took the subway, so there was no trouble. It seems the chimeras haven’t learned how to ride trains yet.”
One of the mages answered with a joke.
They were all large men, and apparently they shared a sense of humor similar to Thor’s.
In any case, I was glad Thor had come.
“You came at the right time. I guess Incheon Airport being blocked has its good points. You couldn’t leave the country, so you came to help, right?”
“What are you talking about! This is my friend’s country, so of course I have to help! So how was it here? Did you catch a lot of chimeras?”
“We did. Anyway, let’s head to headquarters first. I’ll tell you the overall situation there.”
This was not the sort of situation where we could stand around leisurely in the street.
I did not know about the mages who had just arrived, but our group was exhausted as well.
“Let’s do that. First, we will all return to headquarters together. It is not far from here. Please scout the surroundings as we go.”
Yu Jaeseon said this to the other mages too.
We gathered the group and had just started walking in the direction of the Chinese school.
Flick! Flick! Flick! Flick!
One after another, the streetlights went out, and darkness began spreading all around us.
When I looked around, the lights that had been on in the buildings and houses were also going out one by one, swallowed by pitch-black darkness.
“What is this? A blackout?”
“Why all of a sudden? At a time like this, of all times……”
“Wait. Is this part of the terror attack too? The black mages caused a blackout before, didn’t they?”
“That is possible. I will check.”
Yu Jaeseon took out his communication device and began contacting people here and there.
The other mages lit magical flames and illuminated the road.
For mages, it would not be an immediate problem, but if a blackout occurred in a situation like this, the residents would surely fall into panic.
There was also the question of how the chimeras would react.
We walked while keeping a thorough watch on our surroundings.
“As expected, this is not ordinary. It seems a blackout has occurred throughout the entire Incheon area. They are still investigating the cause, but the government is also treating it as terrorism.”
Yu Jaeseon said after finishing his communications.
“That is serious. The residents were already trembling in fear as it was.”
“For now, let us hurry back to headquarters.”
We quickened our pace.
Still, we could not afford to neglect our vigilance, so I said to Thor,
“Thor, I’ll ask you to handle detection magic. We’ve used up a lot of mana in the assault so far, so to be honest, we’re a bit worn out.”
“Okay. Don’t worry. Our mana is filled up nice and full right now.”
Thor boasted in an exaggerated, comical way, and I let out a small laugh.
Even so, I felt reassured. Right now, even the smallest bit of breathing room was precious.
Because our group was walking with magical flames lit, the surroundings felt even darker.
Moreover, despite the blackout, there were no screams, nor was there anyone looking out to ask what was going on.
A silence so deep it felt bizarre continued, and the world was drowned in darkness.
‘Is it because everyone in this area has already evacuated?’
If so, that was fortunate, but after seeing the Hwang family, who had turned into chimeras earlier, I could not shake the unpleasant feeling.
Before long, we arrived at the Chinese school.
Until then, we did not encounter a single chimera or person.
The school must have had its own generator, because one of the buildings was lit. It was the building where the situation room was located.
Military and police vehicles were still coming and going, perhaps continuing to evacuate residents from the area we had assaulted earlier.
“You’re here!”
When our group entered the situation room, An Guktae greeted us with delight.
“You’ve worked hard. Ah! The foreign mages who came to support us are here as well? Welcome. But mages, please have a meal first. You must be hungry, so let us talk while you eat. We have prepared food.”
An Guktae guided us to the school cafeteria.
Thor and the foreign mages said they were not hungry, but for the time being, everyone decided to go to the cafeteria.
We took our seats and exchanged brief greetings first.
Yu Jaeseon and An Guktae introduced themselves first, then expressed their gratitude to the foreign mages who had come to assist as government mages.
After that, Thor stepped forward and introduced the mages who had come with him.
“I’m Thor from Sweden. This is Balder from England, and this is Heimdall, a mage from Norway. These two are very close mage friends of mine. All the other mages went to the airport, but I told these two to come here. Because my friend Oudin is here!”
He introduced them so brightly that it sounded less like they had come for an assault and more like they had come to visit.
“Thank you. Thank you both for coming as well.”
I greeted them on behalf of the group.
“No need for thanks. It’s only natural between friends. Anyway, everyone knows Oudin. And these two?”
Thor asked, looking between Cheon Danbi and Gil.
“They’re my team members. This is Cheon Danbi, a healer, and this is Gil, a mage. He awakened recently, so he has not registered yet and has no affiliation.”
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Nice to meet you all. Let’s do our best!”
“Yes! Let’s win!”
“Let’s wipe them all out! Fighting!”
Because of Thor’s group’s cheerful attitude, the atmosphere ended up feeling like a sports day at a workshop.
It was enough to make me forget that we were in the middle of an assault.
“Now, since the introductions are finished, please eat first. These are foods the residents prepared for the mages. Please eat as much as you like.”
“Understood!”
“Thank you for the meal!”
Food had been set up like a buffet along one wall of the cafeteria.
There was rice and soup, all sorts of side dishes, and sandwiches, bread, and the like piled up in abundance.
Since the entire surrounding area was practically filled with restaurants, there must have been many cooks among the residents.
Perhaps because this was Chinatown, I could see a lot of Chinese food, but there was Korean food as well.
The bread and other snacks seemed to have been provided by nearby bakeries.
Returning to headquarters had brought an unexpected joy.
Since I had not eaten a proper meal all day, my stomach let out a noisy cheer.
Yu Jaeseon and our team, having just returned from the assault, piled food up like mountains and began eating as if possessed.
Thor and the foreign mages, who had said they were not hungry, brought over this and that as well and ate no less heartily.
“While you are eating, I will give you a brief briefing on the overall situation.”
An Guktae explained the situation in Chinatown to the newly arrived mages, and to us, who had been cut off from the world for a while fighting chimeras, he delivered news from outside.
“Chimeras appeared in Bupyeong, Bucheon, and the western part of Seoul as well. It seems some of the ones that escaped from Guwol-dong got out after all. Fortunately, there were not many of them, and I am told the Hall mages eliminated them.”
“The Hall mages? Did they not all deploy to the airport?”
“There were a few mages who remained. They could not leave Seoul completely empty, after all. Since there was a chance a terror attack could occur in Seoul as well, some had been assigned to guard it.”
“Did the aura of disease not spread to those places?”
I lifted my head and asked.
Even if the chimeras had been eliminated, if the aura of disease had spread as far as Seoul, it could become a serious problem.
Moreover, in a situation where most of the mages had gathered at Incheon Airport, if a new terror attack occurred in Seoul or the aura of disease spread there, it could lead to a catastrophe.
“They say they did discover the aura of disease during the operation. However, once they annihilated the chimeras, the aura of disease disappeared as well.”
It had been the same here. If we had finished the assault in time, the aura of disease might not have spread.
If only the red portal had not opened.
If it was just chimeras that had crossed over from Incheon, it might be all right.
“How is the situation at the airport?”
“It seems unchanged. They are struggling because giant unidentified life-forms keep appearing. I am told the airport building and runways have also suffered heavy damage.”
It seemed it would take a long time before Incheon Airport opened again.
It was a serious situation, but for now, we had no choice but to focus on this side.
“Have all the Chinatown residents been evacuated? When we were coming here, the whole area was extremely quiet.”
Thor asked with his mouth full of bread.
“Most have been evacuated here, but it seems there are still residents hiding in their homes. The soldiers and police went around and brought in everyone who responded, but the numbers are far short.”
Hearing An Guktae’s answer, I thought the missing number must correspond to the people who had turned into chimeras. There must be some who had already been annihilated by my own hand.
Still, it was fortunate that most of the residents had been evacuated.
“Have you done another drone reconnaissance? From what I saw on the way here, I did not see many chimeras gathered near Incheon Station.”
This time, Yu Jaeseon asked.
Even if we had cleared out all the chimeras in the northern area, that would not be all of them.
After all, the number had been smaller than the number of chimeras we knew about before going out for the assault.
“We are actually checking again with drones right now. Because of the blackout, both the military and police are withdrawing to headquarters. From what those returning say, they also do not see any chimeras. Not in the northern area, nor near Incheon Station.”
“Where did they all go?”
“I suspect the area around Jayu Park. The chimeras have been rampaging for quite a while, so perhaps they are resting for a moment.”
As Cheon Danbi listened to An Guktae, she suddenly let out an “Ugh!”
When I turned to look, Cheon Danbi lowered her head and muttered,
“After we finished eating, I was going to slip over to the park to recharge my life force, but if those things went all the way there and contaminated it……”
“Let’s wait until the drone reconnaissance analysis comes in first.”
As a gesture of comfort, I lightly patted Cheon Danbi on the shoulder.
Cheon Danbi forced a smile.
By the time the situation briefing ended, we had more or less finished our meal as well.
Now it was time for all of us to move to the situation room together and begin preparing for the assault in earnest.
The mages were just about to leave the cafeteria.
From somewhere, a sharp scream rang out, followed by the sense of a commotion. Then more screams burst out one after another.
The sounds were coming from inside the school building.