Chapter 498

〈 Chapter 498 〉 Part 1, Chapter 20, Section 30

The old-school smartwatches had fried into uselessness from the constant Dimensional Gate alarms.

But the Magical Gears were still functioning just fine, even with the Dimensional Gate alarms blaring. In particular, the clearer the footage, the higher the S Rank Core content in Heuk Sagal’s samples.

Final Battle on the Moon.

The moon had transformed into a giant tentacle monster and began its slow descent. The unimaginable nameless colossal squid was plummeting towards Earth like a living meteorite.

“……”

Oracle lay alone in the center of the observatory, gazing up at the ceiling through the Magical Gear. The countdown to doom relayed through the gear was now less than ten minutes away, yet Oracle simply closed their eyes.

“…This must be the right choice.”

Oracle picked up a bottle of sleeping pills lying on the table.

“If this fails, I’ll definitely die a painful death.”

The future Oracle had foreseen showed humanity’s impending calamity in vivid detail. The massive squid falling from the moon swallowed entire oceans while scattering its spawn wildly across the globe. The remaining humans turned into Terranists who slaughtered any surviving lifeforms.

And thus Earth perished. Therefore, there was no better time to peacefully end things than right now.

The sedative would take effect before being infected by the Terranists, and timing-wise it perfectly matched the remaining moments until eternal slumber. Though knowing the future allowed insight into possible outcomes, unfortunately Oracle could no longer foresee anything beyond this point.

[Hey, son! You’re really gonna do this?!]

A blond man familiar with Magical Gears appeared. Oracle felt sorry for his distorted appearance but there was nothing that could be done about it.

“Dad, I really don’t know what happens next.”

[Among 14 million futures, isn’t there at least one where we win?!]

“That’s movie logic. …Though I admit I did read this far, but that’s as far as I got. I don’t know what happens after this.”

Oracle raised the bottle of pills. The man’s face contorted like a demon’s.

[You! Don’t you dare! I’ll press the nuclear button or something, I’ll destroy that thing, so don’t you even think about-]

“Me? Why?”

Oracle opened the cap of the pill bottle. The tablets scattered across the floor.

“I’ll explain. I don’t know what happens after this. But similar situations have occurred roughly three times.”

[Then?!]

“I already told you last time. The future where half of America disappears is gone.”

‘Just South America though.’

Fortunately, the current ‘him’ isn’t such an idiot. Of course, that meant several sleepless nights, but Oracle tossed the empty bottle aside and reclined back in the chair.

“So Dad, try to relax. Were you maybe planning to say something embarrassing like ‘I love you, son!’ before the end?”

[C, Ckhem. Son, right now at the White House…]

“I love you too, Dad. Okay? Now let’s quietly watch how things unfold. I’d like to be alone right now.”

Click. Oracle mercilessly ended the call. Meanwhile, the battle on the moon continued uninterrupted, and Oracle popped open a can of soda they had prepared in advance.

“So, what’s going to happen now…?”

Oracle picked up three reports with their free hand. The worn A4 papers each had titles written on them.

Bad Ending – # 000

Normal Ending – # 000 (H)

E.Ending – # 000

“…I don’t know which of these three will happen.”

Oracle watched the screen with worried eyes, searching for any situation that matched the clues they had remembered and recorded.

And then.

“……Damn.”

Oracle took a sip of soda and held their breath.

* * *

“Brahmasutra—!!”

Golden meteors streaked across the sky. The starlight transformed into golden arrows that pierced into the battlefield.

Pewpewpew!

The purple tentacles couldn’t withstand the rain of light arrows and were pierced clean through. However, new tentacles began sprouting like octopus legs where the arrows had passed.

“Tch!”

Karna spat and swung their bow around. One of the returning tentacles tried to wrap around Karna’s waist, but Karna slashed it off with the bow used like a sword.

However, that was a trap.

Ziiiiip!

The remains of the fallen tentacle latched onto Karna’s ankle like a leech.

“Damn…!”

Lifting the leg wasn’t the problem. But during that time, the massive tentacle trying to smash Karna was the issue.

“Too-”

Suddenly, the wind blew. Karna’s golden hair became disheveled and flew about, while the wind blowing from behind collided with the tentacle.

“WEYYYYYYAH—!”

With an incomprehensible battle cry, the wind soared high into the sky and delivered a dropkick to the center of the squid tentacle. Within the green wind was a maid with cat ears.

Pu—nk!

The tentacle aiming to crush down was deflected. Simultaneously, the maid who charged in with the wind flew towards Karna. Karna quickly shook off the tentacle on their leg and spread their arms wide.

KiGiGiGik!

Karna embraced the maid. The maid gave a thumbs up with a sly smile.

“Thanks, nya!”

“It was dangerous!”

“One hit landed, so it’s all good, nya!”

Kim Penril jumped out of Karna’s embrace while bleeding profusely. Though unable to freely fly in space, Kim Penril was more than capable of moving around the battlefield.

“Are you okay?”

“Licking heals, nya.”

Kim Penril lightly licked their right arm that was bleeding profusely. The waitress-like maid uniform was splattered with red blood.

“…You still don’t know how to dress appropriately for the occasion.”

“This body isn’t Jeolpung, ya know?”

“What do you know? If you wore armor like me, you wouldn’t get hurt so easily.”

Karna tapped on their golden armor. It had a design reminiscent of a galactic warrior, with a cape fluttering behind them as if embroidered with the universe.

“Hehe, you’re still not honest, nya.”

“…Tch. Fine, thanks for saving me. Are we done?”

Karna muttered while picking up Bijaya. Kim Penril tapped their shoes against the ground while releasing magic power.

Whooshhh.

Wind wrapped around their arm, healing the wounds. At the same time, an unsuitable Wind Cleaver appeared in their hand despite the maid outfit.

“A knife is better than a bow for slicing squid, nya.”

“So it’s not the weapon but the outfit that’s the problem, right?”

“Haha, that’s why you simpleton. Even Phoenix approved of this outfit, nya. As they say…”

Kim Penril licked their lips with a wicked grin.

“In a battlefield like this, only those who wear maid outfits can truly be called true healers, nya!”

“…What does that even mean?”

Karna rolled their eyes like stars and took a large step forward. The golden armor shattered into beams of light and gathered into a golden arrow in their hand.

“You were criticizing my attire just now.”

“I’m always like this.”

Karna, clad in a leotard-type battlesuit resembling a meteor, raised Bijaya.

Guruguruguru.

The leg that received Kim Penril’s dropkick completed its regeneration. The torn part of the leg regenerated without a single scar.

“I’m going to unleash a powerful strike. Block it.”

“Leave it to me, nya.”

Kim Penril at the front, Karna at the rear.

■■■■■■■■!!

Amidst the countless tentacles extending towards the two, Karna loaded an arrow into Bijaya while unarmed.

“I can do it!”

While entrusting all defense to Kim Penril.

“Of course, nya.”

Kim Penril gave a thumbs up while releasing magic power.

“The reason this non-Jeolpung body is here, I’ll show you clearly, nya.”

KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!

The green wind transformed into the shape of a giant wolf and began tearing apart the tentacles.

* * *

“The tendency to flock towards the stronger side is similar to the Nuclearian incident, it seems.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Seok Harang opened their bright eyes wide and raised their arm high. Butterfly wings floating in mid-air scattered icy particles in all directions, and the tentacles flying towards them froze instantly upon contact.

“There are eight legs on a squid, aren’t there?”

Baeck Hee-a, whose upper body emerged from the darkness beside Seok Harang, was attentively observing the battlefield. Baeck Hee-a extended her hand towards the cluster of tentacles flying diagonally towards Seok Harang and scattered black mist into the air.

Squish!

The tentacles sucked into this space exited at the angle they entered and collided with other tentacles. The tentacles aimed at Seok Harang’s diagonal disappeared completely and fell to the ground.

“Since two of them are on our side, the strongest individual naturally gets the most firepower allocated, just like back then.”

Baeck Hee-a, the only non-combatant among the spirits, volunteered to assist Seok Harang. Although secretly pleased, Seok Harang maintained a stern expression and pouted slightly.

“Hmph. So you’re saying only one came to me?”

“That’s not true. Since I’m outside the main force, Director Yuinah is handling two.”

Baeck Hea pointed to another part of the battlefield.

Three went to the Karna and Kim Penril pair.

Three went to the Yuinah and Xiao Lin pair.

And three went to the Seok Harang and Baeck Hee-a pair.

As the battle continued, the spirits formed pairs of two, and the raging form of Seongju adjusted the allocation of the giant legs accordingly.

“If you allocate 1.5 each to others, Director Yuinah is handling two alone, isn’t she?”

“…Even if you gild the lily, nothing comes your way.”

“What? Aren’t you the pride of this country? It’s not gilding but natural, right?”

“……I should stop talking because I’m embarrassed.”

Seok Harang turned red and clasped their hands together. The raging form of Seongju lifted one leg up, placed the other down, and began gathering tremendous energy in the middle.

“Whether it’s 1.5 portions or 2 portions, I don’t care, so let’s fight together. This will all be recorded, and you wouldn’t want to hear later that you acted foolishly like Jooma, right?”

“…That’s true.”

The two exchanged complicated glances and looked at Phoenix standing on the head of the Qinghua Crane above.

“Win, win! Ah, Kim Penril! There’s a Terranist appearing on your right!”

“Why doesn’t he just step in when he can solve things quickly as the cheerleader…”

“…He must be in a situation where he can’t intervene. Hmmph.”

Baeck Hee-a glanced at Phoenix and whispered.

“Let him stamp on the marriage registration document later while flirting with women around.”

“Huh.”

Seok Harang gave Baeck Hee-a an incredulous look. However, Baeck Hee-a confidently pointed at Phoenix.

“See? He didn’t hear that, right? His current state is indeed strange.”

“……Your confirmation method is a bit unusual. I appreciate the verification, but that’s quite enough.”

Seok Harang flicked their raised hand.

“He’s like family to me, somewhat like a brother, so if he plans to register marriage, he needs to consult with me and our parents.”

“…Technically, he’s in a position similar to my older brother.”

Seok Harang and Baeck Hee-a glared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. They didn’t particularly like each other, but sharing similar predicaments made the situation somewhat amusing.

“Let’s have dinner with Sister Yuha sometime.”

“Don’t you dislike national dishes?”

“Shut up. Hey, let’s talk about it after the battle ends. By the way, you don’t have any attack moves, do you?”

Seok Harang created a massive ice spear above their head. It was sufficient to intercept one leg, but unfortunately, two legs were assigned to them.

“I don’t have proper offensive abilities, but I can buy you time to create one more. Director Seok Harang.”

Baeck Hee-a tapped on her Magical Gear mischievously.

“The warriors of Korea will support you. Please fight without worry.”

“…Do I look like someone who’s embarrassed to hang out with you?”

Seok Harang hurled the ice spear. Baeck Hee-a chuckled while watching Seok Harang’s beet-red face and opened a dimensional gate in the air.

“Ah, this is Mugunghwa 1.”

Chjerik—!!

An ice spear pierced straight through the center of the leg descending from above. The leg froze solid the instant it was pierced.

“I’ll keep it short.”

■■■■■■■!!

A leg from below opened its suction cups wide. Inside were tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of Terranists ready to unfurl their wings and take flight.

“Baeck Hee-a-!!”

“Fire on command from the prepared snipers.”

Light began to flash brilliantly from the darkness.