"Go on my signal."

My fourth-order magic, Gaia, was complete. Cracks formed in the ground as mana spread out from my palm, flowing across the surface.

"Now!"

'Thump!'

Stomping the ground with tremendous force, Yeon shattered the earth and shot forward. A moment later, red mana crackled and spread through the air like electricity. She was advancing alone against the surging tide of monsters.

Calculating her trajectory, I used Gaia to reshape the ground. The ground she was running on began to sink.

"Maintain that speed! Keep it steady!"

"Got it!"

I was creating a trench for her. She was now effectively running alone through a narrow, sunken channel. The walls continuously receded, creating new space.

'Screee!'

The monsters on the surface struggled to attack Yeon due to the terrain, and it was impossible to surround her. All she had to do was run and deal with the enemies in front of her. Even if monsters jumped down into the trench, she was already far ahead.

It was at that moment. A massive monster, overwhelmingly larger than the others, trampled the surrounding creatures and lunged forward, stretching out its arm.

"The escort ends here."

She jumped from where she stood, ran up the monster's arm, and sliced off the massive creature's head.

"Hup!"

Landing back on the ground, her body shot forward, kicking up sparks. The longsword, wreathed in red mana, split the world, and the monsters caught in its path were split along with it.

Her feet never stopped moving forward. Like a winding snake navigating around obstacles, even the smallest gap became a breakthrough point for her. When necessary, she carved a path with her slashes, ran across the monsters' torsos, or leaped off their heads. It was different from just plowing through with brute force; it was a breakthrough that demonstrated the pinnacle of efficiency.

And everywhere she passed, a red flash flickered, and the monsters' bodies were rent asunder.

'Thanks to her, I've got a clear path.'

Meanwhile, I was running through a narrow tunnel I was creating underground using Gaia. If I were alone, the noise and traces would have given me away, but right now, Hong Yeon was drawing every last bit of aggro. Every time she took a step, the ground shook, and every time she swung her sword, the sky roared.

"Tower Master! Be careful!"

A hole opened in the ceiling of my tunnel, and monster claws descended. The more perceptive ones were reacting. I jerked my head aside to dodge and kept pressing forward.

I pushed Deva's Eye to its maximum, giving me a view of the surface. Hong Yeon was still breaking through on her own, but her movements were gradually slowing under the sheer number of monsters. In that time, I'd caught up to her.

"Tower Master. You have now reached the maximum range of the fourth-order Gaia."

'Okay.'

Directly above me, Yeon was fighting, swinging her sword. I raised a hand to my earpiece.

"Hong Yeon. I'm coming up from below, so don't be surprised."

"What?"

I momentarily pushed the output of the Gaia magic circle to its absolute maximum.

'Slam!'

The entire ground erupted, the earth turning into a landslide that pushed the monsters back. In the center of the upheaval, a massive Earth Claymore erupted, launching both Hong Yeon and me into the air.

"Hong Yeon! Come straight down!"

I pressed my back against the earthen sword, brought my knees to my chest, and pointed the soles of my feet upward. Seeing this, she descended.

The moment our shoe soles touched, I activated the magic.

<Light Devastar>

As black mana exploded from both our feet, I extended my legs. With a deafening roar, her body shot forward like a railgun, leaving a single streak of light in her wake.

Feeling the raging shockwave, I stared straight ahead. Her propelled form was a distant speck.

And then.

'Crack!'

That enormous plant was split clean in two. My god, in a single blow.

"Plant down confirmed!"

"Surrounding monster forces are rapidly weakening!"

The plant not only spawned monsters but also continuously supplied nutrients to the surrounding creatures, providing a buff effect. But with the plant gone, that effect vanished.

I fell to the ground and just lay there, spread-eagled.

'Ugh, I'm exhausted. A fourth-order spell really consumes a ton of mana.'

"Tower Master! You must not let your guard down!"

Monsters were closing in on me as I lay on the ground, baring their teeth and claws. From my prone position, I pointed my index finger upward.

Soon, Earth Claymores erupted in all directions, impaling the monsters.

'I'm not letting my guard down.'

I pulled out a Blue Elixir, chugged it, and got to my feet. My finger was still moving up and down. Every monster that charged was skewered, and soon, a hill of Earth Claymores and corpses had formed around me.

"Hong Yeon. You alive?"

As I asked, I heard the sound of red mana exploding in the distance. Monsters were flying about as if caught in a storm.

"You should worry about yourself."

"Yeah, yeah."

I clenched my fist and swung my arm to the side.

<Fire Cannon> x20

Countless magic circles blossomed across the sky like a field of flowers. The monsters instinctively looked up. Blazing fireballs charged with energy, their maws gaping.

'Launch sequence, begin.'

With a downward sweep of my palm, fiery punishment rained down upon the densely packed monster formation. In an instant, the ground was engulfed in a sea of flames.

<Fire Cannon> x10

<Fire Cannon> x10

<Fire Cannon> x10

New magic circles appeared where the old ones had been. An unending supply of fireballs continued to bombard the ground. The horrid stench was cleansed by the flames. The flames burned the monsters, and then the living field on the ground. The writhing biological terrain gradually disappeared, revealing Tanzania's original soil.

The thick smoke stung my eyes, and the smell of burning choked my nose, but for the first time in my life, I found that smell satisfying.

'Keep it up, Ea.'

"As you command, Tower Master."

Savoring the feeling of letting loose for the first time in a while, I slowly began to walk. Everywhere I went, flames erupted, and monsters turned to ash.

* * *

With the plant destroyed, the battle became manageable. There were no particularly strong individuals; most were just rank-2 to rank-4 monsters in large numbers. There seemed to be a couple of Captains, but Hong Yeon had taken both their heads.

Watching hundreds of monsters being dispatched so cleanly, Squall and his squad members were left speechless.

"...Captain Squall."

"Hm?" Squall grunted.

"What exactly have we been fighting all this time?"

Squall let out a short laugh and lit a cigarette. "A war of attrition. You just have to endure, and sometimes, a miracle like this falls out of the sky."

Listening to their conversation, I sat on a rock, downing one Blue Elixir after another.

"Yusin."

Hong Yeon appeared beside me like the wind. Despite having fought and swung her sword in the heart of the monster horde, she looked no more disheveled than when she started. She had even blasted away the monster blood splattered on her with a light burst of mana.

"What is it?"

"What is that?"

She pointed to a small, island-like patch of living field where about ten monsters were growling, unable to get out.

"Ah, I was running a few experiments."

"Experiments? In a situation like this?"

She glared at me, displeased, but I just smiled playfully. "So, you don't want to hear about it?"

"...Tell me."

"You said the taves can't leave the living field, right? That wasn't entirely accurate. I tried burning the living field they were standing on first, but they still moved around and attacked just fine."

But the strange thing was, when I had carved a trench for Hong Yeon's breakthrough, the monsters couldn't cross that line directly and had to go around. The rule unique to monsters in a restricted area, that they couldn't leave their territory, was definitely in effect.

So this time, I trapped the rampaging taves with earth magic, burned away all the surrounding living field except for the patch they were standing on, and then released the barrier. And just like now, they couldn't leave it.

"So, here's the thing. They can normally move outside the living field, just with a bit less power. But the moment they 'recognize' the ground beneath them, they can't leave it."

"Hmm, that seems somewhat unnatural."

"Right? It's not a natural biological process. They're definitely not an ancient monster, more like a recently created species. I plan to investigate further."

I turned my head and looked at the group of monsters standing on the living field. If I just burned the ground with Fire Cannon from here, they would charge at us. Instead, I used Ice Javelin to finish off the trapped monsters, piercing them through. Afterward, I dropped a Fire Cannon to eliminate the last patch of living field.

With the cleanup finished, I looked at Squall.

"Let's move on. Our mission isn't over until we take out Plant B, right?"

"Ah, yes! We'll escort you."

Squall picked up his radio.

"This is Team 3. We've lost Tomcat-2 but have eliminated Plant A. Proceeding to Plant B with the hunters. Over."

"This is HQ. Good work. Proceed to Plant B."

'Static!' Just then, the voice on the radio changed.

"This is Charles, a rank 4. How are the newbies holding up?"

Squall paused, looked at us, and then grinned.

"They're good enough to turn the entire tide of the war in Tanzania."

* * *

After destroying Plant A, we moved swiftly toward Plant B. Plant B was the very core, guarded by a centurion commander. With four of the five plants neutralized, taking out this last one would significantly change the state of the war.

Squall and his commandos were all non-combat class players. They were capable of running quickly using mana, so we matched their pace as we cut through the jungle.

"Hah! Hoooh!"

Squall, breathing heavily, brought the radio to his lips. "This is Special Ops Team Three. We've arrived at the location of Plant B."

"Well done, team three. Other support units are en route. What's the situation?"

Squall and I looked ahead.

"...It's empty."

Around Plant B, which was writhing as if it were alive, were only about fifty monsters. Compared to Plant A, which had been guarded by hundreds, the security was lax.

And most importantly.

"The centurion commander is nowhere to be seen."

Just then, the radio crackled with a new voice.

"Th-This is DF-1! A large force is pushing into the city! The—the centurion commander itself is leading the troops this way!"

Hmm. The monsters had abandoned Plant B to make a decisive move. Their entire force was attacking our main base. I'd heard they were intelligent, but I didn't expect this.

Squall communicated again. "This is team three. We will quickly eliminate Plant B and head to DF-1. Over."

"Permission granted."

"All units except team three, move to DF-1 immediately."

The directive was set. Hong Yeon, who had been listening to the radio transmission, stood up.

'Shing!'

The dazzling sword slid from its sheath, reflecting the sunlight.

"Five minutes."

"Excuse me?" Squall asked.

"I'll finish this in five minutes."

"E-Excuse me?"

With only those words, she shot toward the enemy line like an arrow.

* * *

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