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[Chapter 170]
[Falling Wings (7)]
Why did Ye-gyeong appear here!?
It was an unexpected situation.
Eun-ha, who barely survived the bombardment, spat out the dirt that had entered his mouth.
Gift <Unknown >
Though he took the bombardment directly.
He was somehow able to reduce the bombardment by deploying Burst Counter.
However, it was still a shock that nearly made him lose consciousness.
Fortunately, his gift activated and Eun-ha was able to hold onto the thread of consciousness.
"Ugh..." "...Kuhek...cough cough...!"
The war situation completely reversed.
Eun-ha, who emerged from the building debris, couldn't help but feel nauseous seeing the situation before his eyes.
The surroundings had become a wasteland.
Not only had the road collapsed, but fallen buildings blocked the road.
People buried under piles of debris were unable to regain consciousness.
Those who survived relatively unscathed were becoming food for the monsters.
"Kyaaaah!!" "S-Save... urgh...!!"
Swarms of grasshoppers fly in groups, eating people's flesh.
Some people try to face them but are helpless before the countless horde.
Monsters poured in overwhelmingly, violating people.
Bububububu
Perhaps they discovered a shelter somewhere.
He wondered if there were this many people nearby.
Some creatures caught fleeing people and killed them by dropping them from the air.
Eun-ha gritted his teeth seeing that sight.
Familiar Transformation
Phoenix's Cloak
Peeeeek!!
Buldak was badly injured too.
Nevertheless, it responded to Eun-ha's will and raised flames.
Whoosh!
From where Eun-ha was standing.
Flames rose.
As Eun-ha waved his hand, the flames moved as if alive and immediately pierced through monsters.
Damn... There's no end to this.
There were just too many monsters.
Killing them one by one wouldn't work.
Moreover, people were mixed in, so it wasn't easy to control the flames.
Above all─
─Whiiiiieeeaaaaaaooooooo
That creature in the sky.
It was looking down at Eun-ha.
Gift-imbued artifact
<Resistance >
It applied jamming.
Eun-ha used the artifact to counter its power.
He drew his sword and swung.
Blast Cross
Flames soaring into the sky.
Eventually the flames that spread in a cross tried to engulf it.
But it didn't seem to inflict much damage.
Does it not work from this height?
Unless he launched a sword strike from a building rooftop like last time.
There's no way a sword strike would reach it so far away.
Eun-ha clicked his tongue.
─Whoosh!!
Then flames rose again.
It wasn't flames he created.
It was Lim Chae-sung who regained consciousness and emerged from the debris.
"Is Blaze Clan alive!?"
"We're alive!" "Seok-ha seems to lack blood but he's still alive!"
Lim Chae-sung who appeared supporting with his greatsword.
He raised his voice and called Blaze Clan members scattered around.
They raised flames as if answering.
Soon the flames that gathered into one burned monsters flying around the area.
Right then─
─Swish
Caesar Hopper revealed itself.
It suddenly attacked them with its two arms spread horizontally.
"This thing is so annoying...!"
"Just die already!"
Lim Chae-sung immediately threw his body.
He blocked its attack with his greatsword, dragging his injured body.
Then nearby Players swung their swords at it.
Nevertheless, they couldn't make any scratches on Caesar Hopper's armor.
Eun-ha was about to join in when─
─Whiiieeeaaaaooooo
Ye-gyeong prepares to bombard again.
Eun-ha who was running towards Caesar Hopper immediately changed course.
"I'll leave Caesar Hopper to you!"
Eun-ha entrusted the rear to Lim Chae-sung.
Among the Players here now, he was the only one capable of aerial combat.
So he was the only one who could stop the creature bombarding from the sky now.
Familiar Transformation
Phoenix's Wings
Eun-ha spread wings of flame.
He immediately soared into the sky.
He who soared with his wings neatly folded infused mana into Winter Blooming Coldly.
Though he was still not used to swinging a sword in the air─
─Blast Cross
It wasn't the time to worry about that.
Though less power went in than expected, with the power of gift <Unknown > overlapping, huge flames arose.
The flames that spread in a cross rushed towards the creature's magic circle.
Boom boom boom boom!!
A thick beam of light heading straight.
Magic clashing with magic.
Eun-ha tried hard to keep his eyes open in a world turning bright red.
He exerted all his strength not to be pushed back by the fierce wind blowing from the front.
He wouldn't be able to block it all.
But if he blocked the bombardment, Players should be able to block the small bombardments falling to the ground.
Blast Cross
Therefore, he focused his consciousness and launched magic again.
The beam of light that was about to engulf him was quickly pushed back.
A huge cross spreading in the night sky finally drove back the creature's magic.
The night sky that seemed about to burn bright red regained its original color.
Just as he felt relieved─
─Crackle
Wheeee
"Crazy..."
Eun-ha couldn't help but curse.
The creature was preparing a new bombardment.
This time dozens of magic circles floated around it.
Whiiiieeeeeeaaaaoooo
To make matters worse, it used jamming too.
Players in the area failed their casting.
Even Eun-ha nearly fell to the ground after briefly losing connection with Buldak.
He barely countered the creature's jamming using <Resistance >.
A moment of time.
"...!!"
But that moment created a very dramatic difference.
The magic circles spread in the sky flashed brightly.
──!!!!
A sight that made him feel dizzy.
The magic circles spread in front of Ye-gyeong spat out thick flashes of light.
Sky and ground.
There was nowhere the flashes didn't target.
The flashes roared as if to drive away this night, trying to annihilate the ground.
Right Step
He didn't know how he did it himself.
When he realized, he was using Right Step in the air.
Before he knew it, he had moved to the position where the bombardment was most concentrated.
It was almost instinctive.
When the creature tried to annihilate Jung-gu, he moved his body with the thought that he had to block its bombardment.
Gift-imbued artifact
<Amplification >
─Pride's Counterattack
He had to block it.
Even if it meant throwing his body, he had to block the creature's magic.
Eun-ha focused on the power of his gift.
He used the power of <Amplification > to amplify the power of his gift.
Then he decided to activate Pride's Counterattack to return the creature's bombardment.
Boom boom boom boom!!
The attempt was half successful.
But half failed.
Pride's Counterattack maximized to its limit clearly blocked the creature's bombardment and even returned the attack doubled to it.
Eun-ha saw the creature stagger greatly after taking his attack.
But Pride's Counterattack was insufficient to block all of the creature's attack.
The bombardment he couldn't reflect was rushing at Eun-ha.
Damn it...!!
There's no time to use Blast Cross.
The flash was already engulfing him.
Peeeeek!!
Even the wings of flame can't withstand it.
Buldak screams.
He could feel the connection with Buldak gradually breaking.
There was no way to block the flash turning his vision pure white.
Right then─
──!!
The front pocket suddenly emitted a blue light.
A handkerchief flutters in the air.
The handkerchief that responded to Eun-ha's mana wrapped around him and instantly constructed a magic circle.
Even though there's hardly any mana...!
The sensation of mana draining in chunks.
The handkerchief sucked in his mana and put the finishing touch on the magic circle.
The magic circle activated.
Protective magic enveloping Eun-ha in a sphere.
Blue magic protected him from the intense flash.
☆
...My mana circuits are properly tangled.
I can't manifest mana.
He was already in a situation where fatigue had accumulated from not sleeping for several days recently.
His body was barely holding up.
In such a situation, facing Ye-gyeong, Eun-ha's body was broken beyond repair.
The connection with Buldak is disappearing...
Even the wings on Eun-ha's back now had almost all their fiery feathers fallen out.
Though he calls Buldak in his mind, Buldak's response is very weak.
Buldak took a critical hit while blocking the bombardment just before.
─Pssst
The damage didn't stop there.
Soon after the handkerchief that had fulfilled its role disappeared.
Pride's Counterattack turned to ashes and disappeared in the wind.
It couldn't be helped since he maximized its ability and tried to block Ye-gyeong's magic head-on.
Damn, my insides feel twisted every time I try to manifest mana.
The effect of gift <Unknown > was exhausted too.
On top of the gift's side effects, the side effects of <Amplification > would hit him additionally.
His body grew heavier and heavier.
His consciousness grew hazy.
Nevertheless, Eun-ha bit his lip until it bled and gripped his sword.
Ye-gyeong was still in front of him.
He had to drive it away somehow.
"Burst, Counter..."
It's hard to manifest mana.
Even recalling the magic formula in his mind didn't work as intended.
His body wouldn't listen.
In such a situation, trying to use magic, he felt he couldn't implement his magic formula and imagination.
So Eun-ha, as if whipping his body, muttered the name of the magic aloud.
He told his head, body, and heart to listen well with his voice.
In a state of falling from the air.
Eun-ha painfully swung his sword.
Boom boom boom boom!!
Fortunately, the magic was implemented.
Magic based on little mana stimulated the mana residue in the sky and caused an explosion.
As a result of Ye-gyeong deploying dozens of magic circles and bombarding.
Mana residue was heavily mixed around it.
Those caused a chain explosion.
Whiiiieeeeaaaaaoooooo!!
Endless explosions.
It writhed violently.
The explosions were so fierce and severe they covered its front.
Seeing that, Eun-ha─
"─You take a hit too..."
He grinned while coughing up blood.
Due to the magic he just deployed, his insides shook violently.
His heart ached.
It felt like it was swelling and contracting.
Eun-ha finally couldn't endure the severe pain.
His consciousness faded.
His eyes slowly closed.
He couldn't lift his eyelids.
Did I overdo it...
His head points downward.
He falls.
Along with that, his consciousness drifts away.
Eun-ha lost consciousness like that.
☆
"─Truly, God should be able to tell us what world unfolds before us when we die. And the fact that He can tell us means He experienced death, experienced the afterlife, and was resurrected."
An army commander appeared in Jung-gu.
People's anxiety reached its peak.
Even air raid shelters were destroyed by monster attacks over several days.
So when night fell, people moved their steps to the cathedral to soothe their anxiety.
"You've probably all heard it before, but Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross, died, and was resurrected three days later. Like that, God can be said to be a being who overcomes death and is resurrected. Mana God is no different. Mana God too can be said to be a being who overcame death."
""""...."""
Everyone gathered there feared death.
What happens if we die like this?
Where do I go if monsters eat me?
In a world where destruction has come, people listen to the words of someone who can give them a firm answer.
Regardless of whether they believe in Mana Church or not.
People who wanted to hear a clear answer gathered at Myeongdong Cathedral late into the night to receive the teachings of <Holy Maiden of the Church> Riya.
"All living beings return to nature as mana after death. That's how we become part of Mana God and wait for the day we'll be born again in this world someday."
""""...."""
"So those of you gathered here don't need to worry about the world after death. Mana God's embrace will be warm, unlike the days of suffering in this life. And Mana God will understand better than anyone what we're thinking."
""""...."""
People prayed.
They prayed to forget that monsters were swarming outside Myeongdong Cathedral.
People who gathered to share their anxiety gradually stabilized as they felt a sense of community that they weren't the only ones trembling with anxiety.
"─Phew..."
Eventually, after finishing one round of preaching.
Riya, who handed over to the High Priest, let out a long sigh.
Her body felt heavy.
Fatigue had accumulated.
Nevertheless, she pushed her body to the limit comforting people trembling with anxiety and treating injured people.
"I hope everyone isn't too hurt..."
Coming out to the back garden for some fresh air.
Riya muttered softly.
As monsters invaded Gangbuk, she treated not only civilians but sometimes Players too.
Their wounds were severe.
She could tell they were protecting Gangbuk by sacrificing their bodies.
On the other hand, all she could do was spread Mana God's teachings to people and treat injured people.
How long will this calamity last?
I hope the army is subjugated soon.
People's sentiment was intensifying, reaching almost the limit.
It seems like it will explode once.
Maybe they'll fall into despair.
They were pushed to the limit that much.
I won't let that happen.
Soon she resolved.
If Players subjugate the monsters and stabilize people's external environment, she will preach Mana God's teachings and stabilize their internal environment.
She will somehow prevent their resentment from exploding.
She was about to return to her room, taking responsibility for her role.
Right then.
She paused.
"─Huh?"
A starless night sky.
She discovered embers scattering under the pitch black night sky.
Something was falling.
Thud
A being that landed on the ground drawing a streamlined shape just before crashing.
Is it a monster?
Riya was wary.
"Huh? That person is..."
But the being that appeared where the sand dust cleared─
─Peee...
Was a man engulfed in flames.
It was someone she knew.
The man who had strongly blasphemed Mana God.
He was lying on the ground.
Riya was startled and ran towards him.
Whoosh...
The flames enveloping the man's body.
The flames gradually weakened.
Soon the flames that became embers went out.
The flames in the shape of a bird that seemed to protect the man went out completely.
But that was only for a moment.
The dying embers gathered on the man's chest.
"His wounds are too severe... No, how did he fight to end up like this... He'll die if we don't treat him right now."
Whoosh.
The embers formed a round shape.
Soon, an egg larger than a normal egg placed on the man's chest.
Riya, startled by the sudden appearance of the egg, quickly came to her senses.
It wasn't the time to be dazed.
Eventually she began to focus on treating the man.
☆
Jung-gu area suffered a near annihilating blow.
That day, people had to feel despair at the army that rampaged through Jung-gu and left as soon as dawn broke.
"Mana God! Now only Mana God can save us in this world! Oh, Mana God..."
"It's all over now. Even <Swift Sword> was no match for Ye-gyeong or whatever, so what are we supposed to do?"
"If Ye-gyeong rampages, it's over! It's over! You all saw it bombarding Jung-gu over and over, didn't you!"
"To think Pandora Clan Lord died... I thought that person could defeat the monsters, how could this happen..."
"The Pandora Clan Lord died!?"
"They say he died yesterday in the joint attack of Ye-gyeong and Caesar Hopper."
""""...."""
That day, the news spread throughout Gangbuk was mixed with joy and sorrow.
The good news was that Pandora Clan defeated two Level 4 army commanders, and <Snow Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa defeated an army commander single-handedly.
The sad news was that Pandora Clan Lord and <Swift Sword> Noh Eun-ha had died.