Goal: Removing the First Obstacle (3)
High flames suddenly rose between the attack team and the ant monster. The wind raised by Lee Seong-rok encouraged the flames to head toward the ant monster. The giant foot made by the clustered ant monsters trembled and stepped back from the hot energy.
After confirming the monsters had retreated, Hwang Ji-hyun stomped her foot hard. A dome-shaped massive earthen wall emerged from the ground above the clustered ant monsters.
“See? If we just maintain distance, this is easy as pie.”
While Hwang Ji-hyun’s voice was full of confidence, her physical condition was somewhat different. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, slightly panting.
“Now, if the youngest just fills this with water…”
But before Sa Hae-geon could fill the earthen wall with water, the ground shook with a rumbling sound. After several tremors, the earthen wall created by Hwang Ji-hyun collapsed miserably. Hwang Ji-hyun stared helplessly as the wall she created broke apart without any warning. Although it was made of earth, it should have easily withstood most Esper abilities or monster attacks…
“This can’t be…”
The reason was simple. Either the combined strength of the clustered ant monsters was unimaginably powerful, or she had underestimated their strength and built the wall carelessly. Surely it was the former. Fearing a scolding, Hwang Ji-hyun preemptively insisted that she had done her best in creating the wall.
“Team Leader, I didn’t make it carelessly. You know that I hate people who do things half-heartedly more than anything else in the world, right?”
“I know, so step aside for a moment.”
An Jong-hyeok pushed Hwang Ji-hyun aside as she pleaded while blocking his view, and observed the ant monsters’ behavior. What destroyed the solid earthen wall wasn’t the giant foot seen earlier, but an ant monster in the shape of a fennec fox.
“…What is that?”
“Isn’t that a fox? A fennec fox?”
“These monsters seem to be much more intelligent than we thought. They appear to be making judgments according to the situation.”
“Ugh, they’re creepy even when imitating fennec foxes.”
The Espers shuddered at the sight of the ant monsters mimicking fennec foxes. The fennec foxes, estimated to be several thousand in number, completely cleared away the remains of the earthen wall before returning to their original form.
Hundreds of billions of black dots swarmed on the sand. They could cluster into various forms whenever they wanted. An Jong-hyeok had never faced an enemy with such numbers and excellent clustering abilities before, so he had a headache.
To make matters worse, even the method he had thought of collapsed under the ant monsters’ rampage. At this point, it seemed much better to face just one giant monster. An Jong-hyeok fidgeted with his goggles and racked his brain.
There must be some clever solution. As An Jong-hyeok looked around, his eyes fell on Choi Min-jong, an A-class Esper. Choi Min-jong was an Esper who handled telekinesis, and while he had limited field experience, his ability to control his power was quite good. Using Choi Min-jong’s abilities might make dealing with the monsters much easier.
After furrowing his brow in thought, An Jong-hyeok spoke.
“Min-jong.”
“Yes, yes! Team Leader!”
“Would it be too much for you to bind all of them at once?”
“M-me? By myself?”
An Jong-hyeok calmly replied to Choi Min-jong’s pale-faced question.
“You’re the only Esper here who can use telekinesis.”
“Binding each of those numerous creatures individually with telekinesis is difficult. It’s like… think of it as placing dots. Um, if they were clustered together like one large mass, it would be easier to handle…”
“No matter how many there are, it’s possible if they’re clustered together?”
“…Yes. It’s much easier than if they’re separate.”
“Then we need to create a situation where the monsters have no choice but to cluster together,” Sa Hae-geon said.
An Jong-hyeok nodded.
“Right. That’s it.”
As An Jong-hyeok looked around for the right person for the job, Sa Hae-geon stepped forward.
“I’ll do it.”
“You?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t causing a tsunami work?”
Sa Hae-geon spoke calmly. His statement actually startled Hwang Ji-hyun and Choi Min-jong instead. They jumped up in an attempt to dissuade Sa Hae-geon.
“What? Tsunami? Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?”
“Y-yes? What… tsunami? This is a desert…! How could you create a tsunami in a desert without a drop of water…?”
“It’s fine. There’s groundwater here. Even if the groundwater is insufficient, I can create more, so it doesn’t matter.”
“That’s not something you can talk about so casually… T-Team Leader, is this really okay?”
Choi Min-jong looked at An Jong-hyeok with anxious eyes. At that moment, Lee Cheol-min, who was maintaining a shield with Kim Je-gon, shouted urgently.
“Come on, make a decision and do something about these things! They’re swarming around like they’re going to eat through the shield…”
An Jong-hyeok looked back and forth between the rapidly approaching ant monsters, Sa Hae-geon, and the shield, then finally nodded.
“Fine. Do it your way.”
He judged that it would be more efficient to end the situation quickly and return rather than waste more time here.
With An Jong-hyeok’s permission, Sa Hae-geon took a deep breath and stared at the swarming ant monsters. He could clearly sense the groundwater deep beneath the desert plains. Of course, being a dry desert environment, it wasn’t a sufficient amount.
But water could be created, couldn’t it? Sa Hae-geon pulled the stagnant groundwater to the surface. Cold water gushing through ant tunnels rose into the air.
Sa Hae-geon gauged the amount of groundwater. It was much less than the artificial river at the private training ground. He created water as he had practiced countless times before. It was much easier than when he couldn’t properly use his ability due to lack of Guiding.
Sa Hae-geon looked at the transparent liquid that had almost dominated the sky, then took a step toward the ant monsters. Simultaneously, transparent streams of water extended toward the monsters. On second thought, it seemed better to cause a tsunami to drive them to one place and then create a water wall like Hwang Ji-hyun had done.
Unlike earth, water was flexible, so even if they escaped, he could just rebuild it. Besides, if he filled the inside of the wall with water, the monsters would clearly find it difficult to escape. Then striking them with lightning would be better.
It seemed more efficient to deal with them all at once with lightning rather than using telekinesis. And they could return to Chae Do-min more quickly. He missed Chae Do-min. Since they started living together, they had never been apart for this long.
His head was throbbing and his body felt heavy like cotton soaked with water. It didn’t seem like he had used much of his ability, but the waves were running wild on their own. But this much was fine because Chae Do-min would calm them down. He just wanted to finish everything quickly and return to rest in Chae Do-min’s arms.
Eventually, a high wave formed behind the ant monsters. As a giant wave that seemed like it would swallow the entire desert appeared, the ants clustered together and began to flee in panic. But as soon as the monsters clustered, a transparent dome formed above their heads.
The monsters, who had stopped fleeing and were looking up at their heads in confusion, soon floated up from their spots and flailed about. An Jong-hyeok was about to give orders to Choi Min-jong as he watched the monsters pressing closer together to survive rather than dispersing.
Boom, rumble, boom. The sky roared with loud sounds.
“What’s that?”
“What’s that sound?”
“Don’t tell me…”
Hwang Ji-hyun looked at Sa Hae-geon with an urgent expression. Simultaneously, the sky flashed and three or four lightning bolts struck the water dome. The ant monsters trapped inside were completely incinerated without a chance to resist.
“…Youngest, are you okay? Your complexion… Hey, youngest!”
“Sa Hae-geon, you…”
An Jong-hyeok, frowning, was about to scold Sa Hae-geon for dealing with the monsters in the way he most didn’t want, without consultation. But when Sa Hae-geon staggered and collapsed, he could only swallow a sigh without saying more.
An Jong-hyeok approached Sa Hae-geon to check his condition.
“How many do you see?”
Sa Hae-geon answered as An Jong-hyeok waved two fingers.
“Three… no, looks like four.”
“It’s two. Sa Hae-geon, why did you handle things on your own?”
“You told me to do it my way.”
“That’s not what I meant. I meant for you to trap them in your own way.”
“Yes. Actually, I knew that.”
Sa Hae-geon replied in a flat tone and held his forehead. The area around his temple felt like it was going to crack, and it was unbearable. To make matters worse, his eyelids wouldn’t obey him and kept trying to close.
Seeing this, An Jong-hyeok clicked his tongue.
“Aren’t you thinking about how Do-min will worry?”
“It’s fine. I’d rather be scolded than disappoint him.”
An Jong-hyeok narrowed his eyes at the puzzling answer, then swallowed a sigh. Then he crouched down and offered his back.
“Enough. Get on.”
“Won’t he dislike it if I get a piggyback from another man?”
“What? Do you even know what you’re saying right now?”
Sa Hae-geon, blinking his eyes, shrugged and obediently got on An Jong-hyeok’s back.
“I’m worried about Do-min.”
“I worry about him every day. So you don’t need to worry, Team Leader.”
“What are you saying?”
An Jong-hyeok let out a hollow laugh as he started walking. Sa Hae-geon, who had been responding to An Jong-hyeok’s words, had his eyes closed before long. He looked asleep, but it was essentially the same as having fainted.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
