Black Badger

“Are you a [N O V E L I G H T] Special-duty Badger?”

She was one of Hilde’s people.

Shu recognized her the moment she saw her. One of the individuals Hildebert had brought here during the meeting.

A tall, slender woman with a model-like figure.

Naturally, Shu had assumed she would have followed Hildebert. Honestly, among those he brought that day, she had seemed the most attached to him.

Shu’s mouth fell open at the unexpected appearance, but Rose simply smiled and helped her to her feet.

“The defensive barrier covering the portal zone below is starting to destabilize.”

She spoke calmly while looking down at the dazed Shu.

“Well, it’s only natural. You can’t maintain a teleportation array and a defensive barrier at the same time.”

This time, Shu couldn’t follow at all.

“...What?”

“We need to have the space opened.”

The red-eyed woman said it as if it were nothing.

“So that the Captain can cross over.”

Why does Hildebert need to come over?

Shu was about to ask, but at that moment, Rose flung the door open.

A beat too late, Shu realized something was wrong.

The door leading to the stairs had been completely blown away earlier. It seemed Cecil had recreated and sealed it in the meantime.

The moment Rose opened the magically formed door, a violent gust and deafening noise rushed in.

Shu took in the scene beyond her.

Magic circles engraved in the air and across the ground.

Some were shattered, others looked half-erased as if abandoned mid-casting.

One wall was warped, covered in countless protruding hands. All of them belonged to that mage.

From the ceiling, strange white flowers bloomed upside down. It was as if a field of white blossoms had been bent into the shape of a ceiling.

Before Shu could even process the surreal sight, the white flowers began to grow downward.

Their stems elongated rapidly, petals blooming in an instant.

Powder drifted down like falling pollen.

“...Sleep powder?”

Shu muttered, staring at the pale dust.

“Or... anesthetic?”

“Oh my.”

At some point, the red-eyed woman had pulled a mask up over her nose. She looked down at Shu, amusement flickering in her curved red eyes.

“Don’t you think you’re underestimating a Grand Mage a little too much?”

Seeing another mage maintaining a barrier, Shu knew instinctively that getting hit by it would be bad—but she had no idea what it actually was.

She was about to say as much—

BOOOOM!

RUMBLE—!

The lobby exploded.

The floor collapsed entirely. With a cloud of white smoke, a massive hole opened beneath them. Fragments broke off and fell like shattered glaciers into the depths below.

Shu silently thanked her luck for having recalled her hoverboard the moment the flower powder started falling.

Part of the staircase had collapsed as well.

Now, instead of Cecil, she was riding the board together with the red-haired woman.

Shu stared blankly at the enormous sinkhole, overwhelmed, then turned her gaze toward the mages.

“That’s basically a kind of explosive.”

The red-eyed woman explained casually at her side.

“Grand Mage Cecil is a healer, but her combat ability is nothing to scoff at.”

“...You said her mana circuits were twisted.”

Shu muttered, staring at the exposed steel framework.

Rose nodded.

“It’s not easy to wake someone in a mana feedback state. Nabarate may be a Grand Mage, but he’s not a healer, and his own mana circuits weren’t intact. He probably couldn’t fully awaken Cecil.”

“Then... doesn’t that mean she can’t use magic properly?”

“That’s why she can’t control her power very well.”

Rose said,

“She’s usually not this rough.”

RATATATAT!

Even as they spoke, the battle continued.

The enemy—bleeding from the explosions—was still standing. The mage created multiple hands in the air. Some wrote symbols midair, others blocked Cecil’s golden arrows with their palms.

Thud! Thwack!

Hands pierced through by arrows.

Blood streamed from the severed palms, yet the one who created them remained completely unfazed.

Bang!

The clash didn’t pause for a second. Both of them floated diagonally in the air, firing golden arrows and something like energy cannons at each other.

But something was off...

Shu noticed the mismatch in rhythm.

They were clearly aiming at each other—but their trajectories were subtly wrong.

The golden arrows frequently veered off in strange directions, and the palms swung through empty air.

“Their accuracy is terrible.”

The red-eyed woman murmured.

“If it’s like this... asking them to handle the Captain might be a bit risky.”

Shu turned to look at her.

Then why?

They had been ordered to gather at the top-floor portal zone after successfully linking the portal to the battlefield.

And she had heard that Hildebert was currently fighting that black-haired knight.

What possible help could connecting the space provide?

When she carefully asked, the woman gave an unexpected answer.

“We want to drop the two Swordmasters into the place where Grand Mage Cecil stayed.”

...Into that ashen world?

Shu’s eyes widened, but Rose continued calmly without even looking at her.

“I don’t know if it’ll work, but right now, that’s probably what the Captain wants. He must want to stop the opponent’s rampage... and face Sir Kyle himself.”

“Is that even possible?”

Shu asked.

“Can something like that actually be done?”

“If we have a Grand Mage’s help... maybe.”

“...Maybe?”

“When you’re desperate, you have no choice but to use desperate methods.”

After saying that, the red-eyed woman fell silent for a moment.

She watched the mages’ battle, then muttered to herself.

“I need to ask the Grand Mage for a favor...”

Her tone was oddly casual for such a tense situation.

“She won’t hear me if I shout... Guess there’s no helping it.”

The pixie-cut woman leaned her body out toward the lobby.

Then suddenly stopped moving.

As if she were communicating telepathically.

THUD—!

The building shook.

A thunderous roar slammed into their bodies.

This time, the shock was immense. Shu immediately pushed her hoverboard’s output to the maximum and held on. She could barely keep her eyes open as she resisted the shockwave. The board rivaled the output of Ami’s boots.

Even so, they were pushed back, nearly crashing into the stairwell wall.

The wall rushed toward her in an instant. Shu kicked off it.

Thud!

She barely avoided being swept away and slammed into it.

The moment the violent shock subsided, Shu didn’t hesitate.

A worrying rattling sound came from beneath her feet, but she ignored it and pushed the output even higher.

Then, riding the now heavier hoverboard, she burst into the lobby.

Under the wide-open ceiling, the scene had completely changed.

“...!”

A small gasp escaped her.

“The portal zone...”

The lobby was now connected directly to the underground.

Floating in midair, Shu Diamond stared downward in shock.

The lobby floor had completely vanished.

Not just the marble flooring—steel beams, pipes, wiring—everything had been erased.

The entire structure that once formed the building’s floor was gone.

In its place—

The portal zone.

That familiar, sterile space lay beneath her feet. Normally wide, white, and empty—a place that felt like it would slowly erode your mind if you stayed too long.

Now, a massive magic circle was drawn across it.

At the glowing boundary of the circle, a blond man lay collapsed.

People stood tightly packed on the white tiles. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

With belongings slung over their backs and in their hands, dressed in unfamiliar attire, they lined up quietly, stepping one by one into the magic circle.

Shu lost the ability to speak as she took in the surreal scene.

She looked between the magic circle and the mage.

Then at the people standing in line... and the man controlling them.

Creatures gathered around them as if protecting them.

And beside a massive three-headed dog... a single boy sat.

They tilted their heads back to look up at Shu.

At the same time, Cecil’s voice rang out.

“How uncultured.”

Her voice carried a hint of irritation.

“I understand it was urgent. But transferring emotions without consent is practically a crime.”

“I apologize, Grand Mage.”

Rose smiled sweetly, placing a hand over her chest.

“I thought you wouldn’t hear me if I shouted, so I committed a breach of etiquette.”

Her light-colored hair swayed gently.

The golden-eyed Grand Mage shot her a displeased look.

But before Rose could respond—

Nabarate dove straight into the portal zone.

“Meierbold!”

The mage shouted as he descended toward the teleportation array.

“Hold on!”

***

The sky opened.

Center Core began to reorganize itself.

The newly installed Core device activated. An AI voice rang out clearly across the battlefield, announcing the progress.

RATATATATAT!

Badgers fired relentlessly from their assigned positions.

Overall command was handled by Ska Owen, but frontline command fell to Yehyeon.

Because Richard Green had fallen in battle.

“Lee Seunghyun!”

Yehyeon shouted.

Standing beside the most critical Core device, Yehyeon directed nearby Badgers to their positions while pouring out suppressive fire.

A few steps ahead, Lee Seunghyun turned sharply.

Kneeling behind cover, he had been precisely shooting down Creatures.

Without a communicator, Yehyeon raised his voice to relay the order.

“The central device—!”

The Core device that had to be protected at all costs.

“Protect it—!”

BANG!

Lee Seunghyun shattered an approaching Creature and turned back.

Yehyeon froze for a moment as he saw the man approaching silently, having understood the order.

Because he noticed the four wills attached to one of Seunghyun’s hands.

Four gray fingers reflecting the light.

But after that brief shock, Yehyeon quickly looked away.

This was a power struggle among the highest-ranking Elders. In a chaotic battle like this, anything could happen.

Just like now.

So the moment he confirmed Seunghyun was following orders, he dismissed it.

There was no time to dwell on it anyway.

As the Core fully opened, the Creatures seemed to recognize this as their final chance and charged like mad.

[Air support incoming!]

The sound of suicide drones filled the sky.

[Requesting additional turret support!]

Mines were deployed. Turrets were repositioned.

The Badgers split into defense and assault teams, moving in a coordinated formation around the device.

The humanoid Titan was left to Igor.

Among them, the strongest opponent was assigned to him.

CLANG!

Igor’s sword clashed with Seth’s.

The knight who had reached Swordmaster level just hours ago grinned.

“You’ve improved a lot since I last saw you!”

“You lunatic.”

Seth ground his teeth.

“You were always insane, even back in the Empire.”

“Still as narrow-minded as ever.”

Igor tightened his grip on his sword, smiling.

“I thought maybe age would’ve mellowed you out.”

CLANG!

The two blades rang sharply.

The knights Igor brought with him took on the other Titans.

Amid the fierce battle, some began carrying the wounded back.

The task of evacuation fell to junior personnel. They carried those whose injuries couldn’t be healed even by enhanced bodies—and wounded allied Titans—on their backs as they ran.

Nana carried Kairos.

She was practically on the verge of tears as she sprinted up the ramp.

“I’ll get you there soon...!”

Hearing her trembling voice, Kairos let out a faint chuckle with his eyes closed.

“Be careful. I’m not dying just yet.”

Artillery fire.

Death cries.

The buzz of suicide drones.

The roar of engines.

Gunfire and fortification blasts.

Amid the heavy noise, the Core steadily took shape.

Busy protecting the device, the Black Badgers couldn’t pay attention to the battle between the two Swordmasters for a while.

They endured, focusing entirely on defending their territory.

As they moved through a battlefield lit by explosions and flames—

At some point, the pitch-black sky began to brighten.

The darkness thinned.

The Core, rising toward the sky, gradually covered the now-blue horizon.

Aircraft descended in altitude.

[Core device generation complete in 10 seconds]

At last, the countdown began.