Sinner System-Chapter 500: Soon Find Out
Point-of-View: Lachlan Bollinger
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"All bombs have been deployed. Based on our satellite readings, the number of remaining Monsters ranges between one point eight to two point five million in each Sanctuary’s jurisdiction, with the exception of Sanctuary Alpha, of course."
"How many remaining in total?" I inquired with a grimace.
"A little under fifteen million, sir."
"What about the Calamity Level Monsters?"
"Confirming now...it looks like there are still eighty-one left."
"Well, that’s not good. I was really hoping we’d at least be able to bring their total numbers down to about ten million, and maybe fifty Calamity Levels, at most," One of the other HUC members sighed wistfully.
Even fifty Monsters on that level is a tremendous amount. I miss the times where we would only see Calamity Level Monsters once every few decades or so.
"Unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough time to construct enough of the bombs."
"We’ll just have to hope everything else falls into place."
Well, today’s the day, the 13th of January, 2171. I was currently at HUC HQ, along with the other members of the HUC and a team of analysts.
We had been working on constructing bombs based on Ciel Campbell’s Magic, using a new technology that can mimic different Magical signatures and replicate the effects.
But that technology is still very, very new, it was expected to take at least another year before it could be used reliably.
But our research teams pulled through and managed to advance its development just far enough, but we were still very short on time, only managing to create five hundred bombs based on Ciel’s Explosion Magic.
We did consider conserving a few bombs by the Sanctuaries, but decided against it, after coming to the conclusion that our best chance of eliminating as large a number of the Monsters as possible in one go would be to bomb them the instant the Dungeons disappear, while they’re still bunched up and before they have a chance to spread out or scatter.
We had initially considered using Kai’s Obliterate Skill as the basis for these bombs, but we weren’t able to replicate the Mana signature, so we settled for Ciel’s Explosion Magic instead.
We’ve done everything we possibly could in what little time we had, and we only have one shot at this.
If we fail, that’s it, it’s game over for all of us...
"The Monsters are closing in on the Sanctuaries! At their current pace, they’re less than a minute away!"
"Then, it’s almost time."
"Yeah, notify the team, tell them to get ready."
"Right, as planned, we’ll deploy them immediately after the Monsters reach the Sanctuaries," I nodded, clenching my fists as I tried to keep my nerves under control...
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Point-of-View: Vaszel Vos Kealfaos
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Ah, there they are, the Sanctuaries! They are well-within sight of the Monsters now, mere seconds away.
Hm, a translucent shimmer surrounds each of the Sanctuaries, some kind of barriers? No matter...barriers have limits, they can only absorb so much force before falling apart.
Go, attack, destroy the barriers and-...what the...?
As several of the Monsters launched attacks at the barriers as they closed in, their attacks abruptly vanished, before pained roars rang out.
What is this? Reflection? No...it’s teleportation.
Ah, I see. These barriers, any Magical attacks that come into contact with them get teleported back, by approximately twenty-five meters or so.
Alright, those among you with significant brute strength, attack the barrier with physical strikes. Those with ranged attacks, move further back and fire.
The Monsters followed my instructions, some of them moving in close to the barriers while some backed away.
As they attacked in unison, the ones attacking at close-range got teleported back the instant they made contact with the barriers, while the ranged attacks continued to get teleported as well.
So, it isn’t just Magical attacks, but living creatures as well. Or perhaps creatures that possess Mana?
I suppose it makes no difference...either way, these barriers react to both physical and Magical attacks. However...
Keep attacking, do not let up. These barriers cannot possibly last forever, so keep attacking.
"What’s happening out there, my Lord? You seem a bit displeased."
"The humans have come up with a rather annoying barrier, with a short-range teleportation effect. Clever, but futile, they are only delaying the inevitable, how pointless-...oh? Well, now...," I trailed off with a slight scoff.
"What it is now?"
"It appears we have guests, Spektar. Several presences just entered the Final Dungeon. I see now...the humans have bolstered the defenses of their Sanctuaries to keep the other Monsters at bay, while their strongest have come here to eliminate me," I surmised in amusement.
"Perhaps we ought to recall some of the Monsters on the outside here?" He suggested in response.
"No, that would be pointless. It would take them far too long to travel here, and even if that wasn’t the case, Monsters cannot enter this place from the outside."
"It seems the humans refuse to go down without a fight. How many of them have entered the Final Dungeon?" He asked me.
"Eleven of them."
"What? Just eleven? That seems woefully inadequate."
"They’ve likely only deployed their strongest, large numbers would be pointless if the majority of them are too weak to survive this place."
You’re here, aren’t you, Kaivel Intrix? You escaped me last time, but there is no escape this time. I shall kill you without fail...well, assuming you survive long enough to make it this far, of course, the Sentinels will make sure that is no easy task.
"Hm...as powerful as the Sentinels are, if each of them have to fight all the strongest among the humans at the same time, they could end up defeated. The Final Dungeon splitting the seven of them and you into separate floors may prove to be a problem," He responded warily.
"Oh, there is no need to worry about that. Yes, it is true that this Final Dungeon is rather restrictive to us. But the same will apply to them as well, as they shall soon find out," I smirked, as I felt a rising sense of anticipation...
