Mutated Gate (2)

A large number of military and police personnel were deployed.

At the same time, the Awakener Association also dispatched several master-class Awakeners and began examining the mutation state of the Red Gate.

Kim Dae-man and Cha Jin-yeong entered the Red Gate, looked around the surroundings, then discovered a group of Kobolds and began observing them.

“They are big. There are a lot of them too.”

“You saw the arrows when they came through the Gate, right?”

“They were large enough to be called short spears, so it is impressive. To fire arrows that large, the bow would also have to be large, and it means their physical strength is tremendous as well.”

“But there is one strange thing.”

At those words, Cha Jin-yeong tilted his head, and just then Kim Dae-man pointed at a tree and used aura to pluck off a single leaf.

Then he pulled on it with his hand, checked it, and spoke.

“Have you ever seen a maple leaf this large?”

It was a maple leaf commonly as large as an adult’s head, and sensing that something was strange, Cha Jin-yeong looked around.

“…Rather than the monsters having mutated… did we become smaller? Is that what you are trying to say?”

Kim Dae-man calmly nodded.

“It was a Grade 5 Gate, right?”

“That is right. Judging by the ratio, it feels as if we have shrunk by at least about 1.5 times. If we were to quantify it simply, it would be more accurate to say it has become close in size to a Grade 6 Gate.”

“That is troublesome.”

In combat, size was an extremely important factor.

The reason their bodies felt heavy could also be confirmed, and whether the world had become larger, or there was something making them smaller, the current situation was no exaggeration to call the worst.

“What matters is whether those Kobolds can maintain that size when they cross over to Earth, or whether they return to their original size. Depending on that, the situation will change a lot.”

“What shall we do?”

“Is not checking it directly the fastest way?”

At those words, the two men ran toward the Kobold group they had been observing, and with a level of skill truly befitting the title of ‘master,’ they slaughtered the Kobold group with astonishing neatness, captured one alive, and left the Gate.

And when they came outside the Gate, they were able to realize that the abnormal mutation was more serious than they had expected.

“This bastard is over 3 meters, is it not…?”

“We become smaller, and the monsters become larger?”

Kim Dae-man looked around and called over the government officials, and several people who had been waiting approached, checked the captured Kobold, and were horrified.

“D-did you bring back a boss monster?”

“It is an ordinary Kobold. Please inform the government immediately and convey that the situation is serious. The monsters…. They must be prevented from leaving the Gate as much as possible.”

At those words, the people hurriedly began moving.

“It is chaos over the Red Gate these days, is it not?”

Just as An So-mi said, things had been in an uproar day after day lately with articles saying the Red Gate had to be subjugated.

“I heard the internal and external situations are very different.”

“They say we become smaller while the monsters become gigantic, so I am curious.”

First of all, it would have to be subjugated before research could proceed.

On top of that, there was talk that the estimated number of Kobolds had reached ten thousand.

They were not considered strong monsters, but there was also talk that they seemed to have been strengthened due to the mutation.

In any case, for now, the situation was not an easy one for subjugation, so there was talk that the state would also gather masters and deploy them together with the military.

‘If they took several master-class mages, they could clean it up quickly….’

Was there a separate objective?

If not, it only left me wondering whether there was some reason they needed to deploy manpower on such a large scale.

Still, it was true that strange things had been happening frequently lately.

Within days after a Red Gate appeared in our country, Red Gates had begun appearing in countries all over the world.

Some people were even expressing concern that this situation itself might mean a second Great Cataclysm was about to occur, and just then, a startled An So-mi ended up turning on the TV, telling me and Go Yu-jin to look at this.

And after checking several channels, she pointed to it and said,

“Are we really in serious trouble?”

An urgent report had begun coming in from France, where the first Red Gate had appeared.

The Gate had caused something like a Break phenomenon, but the problem was that it had gone beyond spewing out monsters and had begun mutating a certain surrounding area.

In other words, the environment around the Gate had begun changing, and abnormal phenomena were occurring.

Then photographic material was shown, and I was left speechless by the pictures of monsters roaming around, along with plants that looked as though they belonged inside a Gate.

“Did they not say the subjugation inside France’s Red Gate had already been completed?”

“Yes, that is what I knew as well, but what is going on there?”

“It feels like the Gate has gone berserk.”

Just then, the state of the Gate was shown, and seeing that the Gate, which should have maintained a round oval shape, had become a ruined form as though it had been torn apart in every direction, I could tell it was not a simple situation.

“Ours is going to end up like that too, is it not?”

“How is the Yellow Gate progressing?”

Just then, curiosity rose up, and at that question An So-mi began searching the internet. But there was no news related to the Yellow Gate, and for some reason that made me feel even more uneasy.

‘There will be no such thing as a meaningless Gate.’

“Since France will become the sample case, the government will somehow find a way to manage it.”

“Are you not curious?”

As An So-mi said, there were things I was curious about. But I had no intention of getting deeply involved. To begin with, Gate raids themselves did not come to us.

At least recently, it was true that requests for low-grade Gate raids were being passed to the Black Mage Association and the Black Tower, but Gate requests of Grade 4 or higher were being handled by the Association and the guilds.

The Black Mage Association and the Black Tower were at least thinking that this was better than nothing, but even so, there was nothing to be done about the fact that it still displeased me.

Just then, Go Yu-jin asked me,

“You have to go out again today too, right?”

“Yes, because I have to confirm whether it was handled properly.”

“Is there really a need to be that serious about defensive magic?”

At An So-mi’s question, I explained why I was going out.

“It is because I want it to become a building that can serve as an evacuation facility and protect many people. When problems arise, have there not in fact been massive losses of life due to the lack of proper evacuation facilities?”

After hearing my words, An So-mi nodded.

There had been damage during the Great Cataclysm because they had failed to respond properly, but in the end, the evacuation facilities had not fulfilled their role.

There might not be many evacuation lines capable of responding to monsters, but even so, the world had changed now, investments were being made into many facilities, and the government was also eager to expand evacuation facilities.

That was partly because it was a fitting policy to show that it had the capability to secure the safety of the people, but also because it was a necessary element in a world like this one.

So if, in the facility that trained and educated black mages, such facilities were also secured on a large scale, then beyond simply being an educational facility, it would also have the appearance of a facility capable of protecting many people in an emergency, with the aim of improving its image.

“At this point, I can set up a 6th Circle defensive facility in a short period of time. That is why I am going around in person.”

“…It is not like you are building some kind of national security system, and yet a 6th Circle setup for an evacuation facility. If others heard that, they might laugh at you.”

“Let them laugh. Anyway, I will be off.”

It was already not long before the end of the workday. Nothing would change whether I left a bit early, so I left the company feeling unburdened.

‘The underground facility itself has been prepared well in the form I wanted. And the Magic Stones have also been properly placed in suitable positions.’

After releasing mana and checking the grade of the Magic Stones and the size of the power they could contain, then confirming once again that the construction company had not played tricks, I headed toward the center of the underground facility.

It was the place where the ‘main’ magic circle had to be set, and after looking around the empty space, I released mana and targeted the entire space.

After that, I began engraving the pattern in the form I wanted, coating the entire wall with mana, and when the three-dimensional magic circle was completed and emitting a brilliant light, I activated the ‘Burning’ spell and literally engraved it into the wall.

It was a neatly completed first draft of the magic circle, and after flowing mana through it and confirming that it had been properly implemented, I placed Magic Stones in the designated positions, pushed them into the grooves prepared in advance, and activated the spell.

Mana burst from the Magic Stones set one by one in the proper positions, and watching as they soon resonated with one another and connected into a single wavelength, I walked to the very center of the main magic circle, took out a Magic Stone the size of an adult head from sub-space, and infused it with mana.

Then I guided the mana and magic formulas emitted from all the Magic Stones and the magic circle so that they would resonate with the large Magic Stone and exert their power.

‘Resonance is not difficult. The key issue is whether the Magic Stone can endure all the magic formulas.’

And the completion of the main space was not the end.

In order to defend the entire underground facility, several sub-facilities were also necessary, and those prepared sub-facilities and the main one must not clash.

None of that linkage was easy, but neither was it impossible.

Once the main one was completed, the difficulty would sharply decrease afterward.

Now, signs were appearing that it would take shape in the form I wanted, and the shape of the Magic Stone began to change.

It changed into a total of thirty-two faces, and I began engraving various kinds of magic formulas and patterns onto each face.

Afterward, the mana flying in from the Magic Stones embedded throughout the main room connected to each face, and by that force the central Magic Stone floated in midair, suspended aloft.

“Is it complete?”

The powers compressed and spread as they resonated with one another.

They created a fixed wavelength, and defensive magic was set over the desired range.

It was only a simple ‘Barrier’ spell, but the power contained within it boasted enough defensive strength to endure even 8th Circle Hell Fire for over an hour.

This was enough.

After that, I sealed the main room and moved my steps toward the sub-rooms for the next task.

‘It would be good if it could be linked to the defensive magic on the surface, but if that happens, the shock could reach underground when the surface barrier breaks. It would be wasteful, but this method is the best.’

I estimated the total evacuation capacity at roughly twenty thousand people, and since it had been structured to descend to the third basement level, I planned to store food on the lowest floor and preserve its condition with a permanent preservation spell.

The purpose was to make it capable of protecting people for a long time, beyond merely saving their lives, and although I wondered whether there would ever really be a need for this, the mere fact that such a facility had been built nearby would likely win tremendous support from the residents of the surrounding area.

I strongly felt that I should not have to do politics, but in the end, the humiliation we had suffered while being oppressed in this miserable state may have been because there had been no black mage doing politics.

‘I should gradually drive those old men and make them work. As for the money, I can earn it myself.’

Even if I were dying, I had no intention of doing it myself.