Magic Monopoly: Reborn as the Sole Magic Tower Master-Chapter 280: Episode

The voice on the other end of the radio sounded flustered. Then, a sharp "Let me see that!" was heard, and the voice changed.

"Who is this? How did you access this channel?"

"My name is Kim Yusin, the Tower Master."

Five seconds. There was exactly five seconds of silence.

"That is not a name for the likes of you to speak."

The furious voice surprised Yusin this time. ’It really is me, though. Do they think I’m a demonkin?’

"Pardon me, but it is me."

—"Prepare to fire—"

"Ah, wait. Just a moment!" ’Have these people only ever been deceived?’

Yusin clicked his tongue and briefly switched channels. "Yerin, stop the Sky Castle for a moment."

At his words, the Sky Castle’s movement slowed to a complete halt. Yusin switched back to the direct channel. "There, we’ve stopped. Give me a chance to explain."

—"Humanity does not negotiate with demonkin."

"First, I am not a demonkin. Second, fighting amongst ourselves during a disaster is a loss for both sides. And even if you could shoot down the Sky Castle," Yusin said, his gaze, enhanced by Deva’s Eye, falling upon the city below, "if it falls from here, the entire city of Cheonan will be wiped out."

"I want only one thing. Connect me to hunter Im Namjin. I will explain the situation to him."

—"What? Who do you think you are to demand...! Hunter Im Namjin is—!"

"Hey," Yusin’s voice turned cold, his patience wearing thin from the wasted time. "Think carefully before you run your damn mouth. The Sky Castle, the Cataclysm, the city of Cheonan. Is this a situation you can handle?"

"Get me Im Namjin. If negotiations fail, then you can fight at your own risk or do whatever you want."

He could hear the frantic murmur of conversation on the other end. A moment later...

—"This is Im Namjin."

Im Namjin’s characteristically calm voice echoed in his ear. It had been a long time, and it was good to hear him.

"Hello. This is Kim Yusin."

—"State your business."

Yusin let out a bitter laugh. It was clear he wasn’t believed. It seemed he would have to prove himself. Yusin recalled his past interactions with Im Namjin.

"After the Frost incident, do you remember us eating jajangmyeon together in the interrogation room?"

"Between jjamppong and jajangmyeon, you chose jajangmyeon. And for sweet and sour pork, you prefer to pour the sauce rather than dip. You complained a lot about former Association President Hong Yul in front of me back then."

Yusin recounted the details of their gossip about Hong Yul, things only the two of them could have known.

"You said that whenever the former Association President drank, she would..."

—"Enough."

After a heavy silence, a reply came.

—"Is it really you?"

"Yes. I’ve returned after being in a coma for five years."

—"...This is hard to believe."

"You’ll have to. We’ll take care of the Cataclysm disasters. I’ve hacked the Sky Castle and brought it here. We’ve already cleared Pyeongtaek and are on our way to Jeonju."

—"Your debut was one thing, but your comeback is just as surprising."

The two quickly discussed their strategy.

"Have all military and hunter teams cooperate with me," Yusin said. "I’ll take the shortest route to destroy the disasters, then head up to Paju and enter the Red Gate myself."

—"I’ll follow your lead," Im Namjin replied. "But we’ll have you monitored. I trust you, but it’s my job to eliminate even a one percent chance of uncertainty."

He was considering the possibility that Yusin might be a demonkin. ’A wise precaution,’ Yusin thought.

"Do as you see fit."

—"Thank you. If communications can reach, I’ll report to the Red Gate as well. When the Association President hears you’ve returned..."

"Please don’t report it to Hong Yeon."

—"Is there a reason?"

Yusin paused for a moment. Both Jeong Seojin and Jin Bora had immediately pointed to Hong Yeon as a likely demonkin suspect. He wanted to observe the situation and confirm her true nature if he could. But he couldn’t say that.

"I heard Hong Yeon is fighting inside the Red Gate."

—"That’s correct."

"If she hears I’m alive, she won’t fight with all her strength. She’ll fight to survive."

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Yusin trusted that Im Namjin would understand the implication.

A moment later, Namjin spoke.

—"I won’t report it to the Association President."

"Thank you."

—"Having you back feels like we’ve gained an entire army. We can talk more after this is over."

"Yes, sir. Carry on."

As soon as the call with Im Namjin ended, the situation outside was swiftly brought under control. The air force units that had come to attack the Sky Castle were now escorting it, and Im Namjin had even given Yusin his own command code. Yusin immediately switched to the command channel on his earpiece.

"This is A-1. We will now commence the attack on Jeonju."

After relaying the report, Yusin gave the order to Ha Yerin.

—"Should I fire?" she asked over the comms.

"Yes."

A section of the Sky Castle’s ground opened, revealing a battery of cannons that began to fire. A massive particle beam tore through the Cataclysm’s barrier over Jeonju, followed by a colossal explosion. A moment later, the boss monster’s annihilation was confirmed. The Jeonju Cataclysm had been shattered.

"This is A-1. Jeonju is clear."

—"It’s confirmed!" a voice crackled over the channel. "The Jeonju Cataclysm has been neutralized!"

—"Excellent work, A-1!"

It hadn’t even taken a few minutes to conquer one Cataclysm. The Sky Castle’s particle cannon was a weapon powerful enough to change the entire paradigm of modern disaster warfare. A Cataclysm’s dome-like barrier drastically reduced the effectiveness of aerial bombardments.

Only a nuclear warhead could reliably penetrate it, but no sane country would use one on its own territory due to the risk of radioactive fallout spreading to other cities. The Association’s strategy had always been to send in elite hunter teams to quickly assassinate the boss and withdraw.

However, the Sky Castle’s particle cannon, firing like a flash of light in a straight line, effortlessly pierced the barrier and detonated with ferocious power upon reaching its target. There was no need to deploy hunter teams or risk using nuclear weapons. They just had to move from place to place and crush the disasters from above.

’I was originally planning to use a fifth-order spell to destroy one field at a time, but this is much more convenient,’ Yusin thought, gripping his earpiece. "This is A-1. Proceeding to the next target: Suncheon."

* * *

Inside the Red Gate disaster.

"This is Snow! A rank-8 monster has appeared!"

"This is Team Ayla! Requesting assis—Gah, aaargh!"

The interior of the Red Gate was a scene of utter chaos. Faced with an endless onslaught of monsters, the hunters were reaching their physical and mental limits. The infiltration team’s objective was to find and eliminate the boss monster before the Red Gate destroyed South Korea.

But the dungeon was impossibly vast, and the monsters were all difficult to deal with—some were poisonous, others heavily armored.

It was a large-scale party of over five hundred elite hunters from the Association and the top ten guilds, but casualties were already mounting.

"This is insane!"

"My arm! My arm!"

Agonized screams erupted from all corners of the battlefield, but the fighting was so fierce that no one could afford to even glance at the fallen. Everyone was struggling just to deal with the monster directly in front of them.

"This is MZ. The situation is critical."

"Are we really going to keep fighting? We’re all going to die!"

Even the guild masters of the top ten guilds were beginning to think it was hopeless. The Red Gate was, as scholars had predicted, incomparably more horrific than any Blue Gate.

"...Yeon." At the forefront, Yoon Seulah, who was guarding Hong Yeon’s flank, spoke quietly. "Shouldn’t we retreat? Everyone’s breaking down mentally. And you..."

Hong Yeon’s side was stained crimson with blood from a deep wound. She calmly opened a red elixir and poured it over the injury.

"If we retreat now, the Republic of Korea will be annihilated."

"...But at this rate, we’ll be wiped out!"

"Rank-3 hunter Yoon Seulah, even for you, I will not tolerate insubordination."

Yoon Seulah bit her lip. After healing her wound with the potion, Hong Yeon struggled back to her feet.

"Team Leader Chu Ilho."

"Yes, ma’am."

The man beside her bowed his head respectfully.

"Prepare it."

"Understood."

The team leader walked over to a supply vehicle and dragged something out from the cargo bay. It was a metal box on wheels with a handle at the back for someone to pull. There was a hole on top of the box, and from that hole, a person’s head was sticking out. The person’s head was fitted with a complex-looking mechanical device connected to various pipes. The horrifying sight sent a shiver through the onlookers.

"Is that...!"

"So the rumors were true?"

Team Leader Chu Ilho dragged the man before Hong Yeon.

"It’s been a while, Frost."

Frost stared at Hong Yeon with vacant eyes. It was obvious he was not in his right mind. She took a syringe from the team leader and plunged it directly into Frost’s neck.

The sound of the needle piercing his skin was audible. After the liquid was injected with a soft hiss, she pulled the syringe out.

"Frost. Are you with us?"

Focus slowly returned to his hazy eyes.

"Uh, ughhhh... ah, ahhh. Y-You are..."

Frost looked at Hong Yeon, his gaze scanning her from head to toe. It paused at her vivid red hair before finally meeting her golden eyes. His face contorted in terror.

"Ho-Ho-Ho-Ho, Hong Yuuuuuul!"

Frost began to seize inside the metal box, letting out a crazed shriek. "Save me! Save me! Save me! Don’t do this! Please!"

"I believe you’re mistaking me for someone else, but it doesn’t matter." She gestured coldly. Technicians inserted additional needles into Frost’s body. "Fight, Frost," she commanded.

"Ugh, uh, Aaaaaaaah!"

As if her voice triggered a hallucination, Frost screamed. In his frantic struggle, an ice dragon formed before him and surged toward the monsters. It was Frost’s signature skill, Ice Dragon Rush.

The onlookers were stunned by Frost’s firepower, which instantly froze the monsters in front of them, but they also trembled at Hong Yeon’s cruelty, using a fellow hunter like a tool.

"Isn’t that a bit much?"

"The Hunter Human Rights Commission is going to have a field day with this."

"She’s even worse than her sister."

"Hong Yul was reckless, but she wasn’t crazy."

The murmurs swirled around her, but Hong Yeon paid them no mind, watching Frost with a detached expression.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Frost roared, firing one ice dragon after another. A path was instantly cleared through the hellish swarm of monsters.

"Now," Hong Yeon said. "All units, break through."

Team Leader Chu Ilho grabbed the handle of the rampaging Frost’s container and pushed forward. The entire force advanced, with Frost leading the charge.

"Association President!"

Just then, a man with a flushed face pushed through the hunters and strode toward Hong Yeon. She turned and spoke indifferently.

"What is it, Blackjack?"

* * *