Efforts Against The Calamity...

The method for closing Red Gates began to become known.

The whole world paid attention to that method, and some moved swiftly, locating places presumed to have had the “core” inside the Red Gates and beginning to dig beneath the ground there.

As a result, in many Red Gates, they were able to discover eggs on the verge of hatching, with giants sleeping inside them. Many Awakeners rushed in and killed them before they could fully awaken, resolving that issue, and then they were able to discover the core below, eroded by a black sphere.

But the problem came next.

It was good that they had discovered it, but the problem was that approaching it to deal with the black sphere and the core was not easy.

“Sam, how do you think we should handle that?”

Sam Hemingway spoke to several nearby Awakeners as though there was no need to think over his comrade’s question.

“Get Peacemaker ready, and call over the grand mages who can operate mana.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“We have to stab Peacemaker straight into it. In the first place, to be at a level where you can recover something like that intact, I’d say you’d have to be an 8th Circle black mage or a 9th Circle mage. Doesn’t everyone agree?”

Just as Sam Hemingway said, because of the powerful resistance that did not permit people to approach, some Awakeners had taken quite a shock and withdrawn.

The fortunate part was that they knew in advance that it would resist and approached, so it had not led to anyone dying. Sam Hemingway thought that if they had been careless, it could have led to a serious situation.

And the “Peacemaker” that was being prepared was a certain “spear” that commonly appeared in the Christian Bible. Called the spear that killed God, after it Awakened as a relic and manifested its power, it passed through several owners and had now crossed over to America.

Because of that, large Christian-related groups, including the Vatican, had been continuously requesting that the spear be returned, but the power of the country that actually possessed it was not greatly different from before the Daegyeokbyeon, so in the end, the matter only concluded as requests.

And now they intended to bring it and use it.

The reason was simple. Korea’s Black Magic Academy had disclosed information about that sphere.

It was because they had disclosed the fact that it was a kind of “egg” created to conceive something, and several otherworld religions had claimed that it was possibly a sacred relic of the Cultists of Ruin or the Church of Ruin.

So the United States federal government, which had concluded that a sacred relic should be handled with a sacred relic, was leading this operation.

Many people rushed over and spurred on the preparations, and they eventually came to attack the black sphere by mobilizing all kinds of equipment, relics, and personnel.

“Let’s begin.”

Sam Hemingway, who had put the Spear of Destiny, or rather the relic they called “Peacemaker,” at the forefront, exerted his full strength and prepared to throw the spear. While they created a powerful mana force field and continued to prevent the black sphere and the core from resisting, at the signal that everything was ready, Sam Hemingway threw the spear. The rough-looking spear flew straight through the air, instantly piercing the black sphere’s resistance and shattering the core.

Crack, crack, crack—the sound continued to ring out, and at that moment, the entire Gate began to shake and change.

“These are precursor symptoms of Gate closure!”

Just then, at the same time as a Gate Management Bureau employee shouted, Sam Hemingway retrieved Peacemaker with his will.

‘The resistance was no joke, but we still ended it easily.’

Looking only at the forces mobilized, it felt as though they had faced an absurd monster, but precisely because this operation had to be handled carefully, it was a scene that showed just how much attention America was paying to it.

“Everyone, withdraw. The byproduct recovery team must be careful when approaching, and work together with the Holy Order in preparation for any unexpected situation!”

After that, the Awakeners quickly withdrew from the Gate.

There were a total of three countries capable of destroying Red Gate cores.

Most countries had been blocked at the Red Gate core.

In the end, the situation had even led to them sending official requests for cooperation to countries that had conquered Red Gates and asking for help, but around this time, a disaster finally occurred.

“How are we supposed to kill a monster like that!!”

A shout close to a desperate scream burst out, and Beral, who was laughing with all his might as though enjoying the sight, full of mockery, ignored the countless human barriers blocking his path and shifted his gaze to the red Gate visible in the distance.

The moment everyone immediately realized that Beral’s objective was definitely the Red Gate, they had to buy time somehow. The Awakeners clenched their teeth and braced themselves as they thought of their comrades who must still be fighting desperately inside the Red Gate even now.

[ Would anything change even if insignificant vermin like you resisted? ]

With a single light gesture from Beral, some of the physical Awakeners blocking the front were crushed as though being pressed flat, spraying blood and chunks of flesh in every direction.

It was an utterly horrific death and unmistakable despair, but the people’s will did not break easily.

“Hold out even if everyone dies! We have to endure until the攻略 succeeds!!”

Most of the master-class Awakeners had gathered, and among them, utility-based Awakeners had headed to the Red Gate and begun working to expel the black sphere.

Perhaps this act itself might be meaningless.

After all, even if they did something about the Red Gate, if they could not do anything about Beral before their eyes, it might be a resistance with no use whatsoever.

However, humanity chose survival, and while carrying nobility on its shoulders, it was thoroughly enduring the ruin that had crossed over from another world.

[ Resist. Stake your everything without fear, even if what waits at the end is despair…. ]

Afterward, Britain’s resistance suggested many things to the world.

Because Britain ultimately succeeded in conquering the Red Gate while suffering extreme damage tantamount to ruin, it made people wonder whether stopping the Red Gates was all they could do. However, with the certainty that if they did not face this despair and allowed the Red Gates to remain, what came next would lead to an even more terrible conclusion, the European Union agreed to join forces and conquer the Red Gates.

In the end, the world came to know.

The monster that had burst out of the Yellow Gate had no intention whatsoever of leaving humanity alone….

And it also became known that, as Britain and France suffered devastating damage, the Cultists of Ruin were flocking toward those two countries.

“The news is in an uproar day after day.”

“Of course it is. Two countries described as great powers have collapsed helplessly….”

Just as Go Yu-jin said, we knew that they had suffered damage close to collapse and were now scattered in all directions.

Countless refugees had emerged, and although I could not help but frown slightly at the movements to absorb Awakeners, who could be called major combat forces, from among them, from the perspective of neighboring countries, they could be the next targets, so I thought they had no choice but to be desperate.

“I heard there are quite a lot of aid requests coming to our country too. How do you think they’ll respond?”

The current government was a fairly conservative group.

If it did not benefit their own country, they would not even glance at it.

Investment for the future?

When signs that their own country might collapse right away were visible, there was no way they could make investments or anything of the sort.

On top of that, the fact that the situations of the two neighboring countries were not good was also one of the causes making them remain silent in various ways.

“Unless China and Japan bow their heads and come to us, there will absolutely be no aid to other countries. If they had at least properly apologized and paid reparations for the recent Second Korean Peninsula War, things would not have continued in the form of us standing by and watching their requests as we are now.”

In truth, China and Japan had failed to conquer the Red Gates within their own countries.

They had succeeded in finding the cores, but they could not move on from there.

As for Japan, the whole country had been torn to pieces, so its power had been divided among warlords, making it difficult to conquer them, which was understandable. But as for China, it was simply surprising that there were no results despite them devoting their full strength.

“They’re way too shameless. So it’s right not to help them.”

An So-mi also seemed to be thinking similarly to me.

The charge our country pointed out most seriously was the offense of being detestable.

“I heard the Association is also receiving a huge number of personal requests. Seong-chan, are there no places contacting you separately?”

Recently, many groups had been contacting me personally.

Starting with scouting offers, inquiries poured in saying that if I helped with conquering their country’s Red Gate, they would transfer over all the benefits gained during the conquest.

However, it was something outside my interest.

Beral?

Whether that absurd monster could come all the way to Korea or not was something no one could know.

That was because there were extremely many hidden powerhouses in the world.

Perverts obsessed with strong beings, lunatics obsessed with wanting to make artifacts using powerful monsters, and so on.

The world had so many mentally deranged people that it was truly difficult to estimate. So no matter what variable occurred, it would not be strange, and since this incident was happening in a place that could be called the opposite side of Earth from us, it did not feel real.

So all we had to do was do our best at what we could do now.

“I’m not interested. Still, there were a few names worth paying attention to.”

“What places were they?”

“The International Craftsmen Association and the Black Market.”

Unexpectedly, the one who reacted to my answer was An So-mi.

“Those two places contacted you?!”

An So-mi showed a startled expression, so when I nodded, she ran over, grabbed my arm, and shook it.

“What did they contact you about? What did they say? Huh?”

I wondered why she was making such a fuss, and Go Yu-jin explained the reason.

“The Craftsmen Association and the Black Market are representative organizations in charge of artifact production. They probably want to inquire about the black sphere Seong-chan is known to possess, don’t you think?”

Thinking about it, I thought that could be the case. However, it was an item with far too much to research, so I had no intention of taking it outside separately. I spoke to An So-mi.

“I’m not interested. There’s no need to tell them either.”

“Heartless human!”

“It’s not like I’ve only been heartless for a day or two, is it?”

An So-mi, dispirited, stepped back, and Go Yu-jin looked at An So-mi with pity before asking me.

“How is the research going?”

“There has been no significant progress. We have merely determined that a slime was mutated into a Chimera form and planted in a state where it wrapped around the ‘egg.’”

“That’s fascinating. I heard slime Chimeras were quite difficult….”

“The method wasn’t that complicated.”

Was it an unexpected story?

I lightly told the two people, who were looking at me with surprised expressions, what sort of method had been applied. As the story went on, the two people’s eyes began to shine, and seeing that, I got excited, leading to proper education and information sharing.

‘Is this the sort of feeling that makes engineering guys go crazy for women who empathize with them?’