Chapter 213 – Back to Pyongyang (2)

After switching boats off the coast of Nampo, we planned to head to Pyongyang by rubber boat, following the Taedong River, just as we had done before.

Back then, we had managed to reach near Pyongyang undetected, and this seemed like the best method again.

However, we had to abandon the river before even getting halfway to Pyongyang.

“I thought we had time?”

I had been told we had a week, maybe even a month, but already, debris was blocking our path.

I couldn’t help but click my tongue at the sight of the building debris blocking the river.

“This area is close to where the magic is being cast. The closer we get, the more extreme the changes will be.”

The building blocking the Taedong River was the Empire’s wall that I had seen before.

It was warped and broken, far from its original form, but it was clear that this debris was from that massive wall.

After climbing onto the land, I touched a fragment of the wall embedded in the ground.

“It’s different from the northern mountain range we saw earlier. It’s not an illusion, and it doesn’t feel out of place.”

The wall fragments, now fused with the ground, looked as if they had always been there.

“These fragments have completely crossed over.”

Then, Yelena, who had approached me, explained.

“The three dimensions are becoming one. Naturally, minor issues will keep arising.

Before the dimensions fully merge, the lifeforms and objects from each dimension will continue to mix and be thrown into other dimensions.

Of course, like this wall, they might break and mix during the crossing, but if they’re lucky, some buildings or lifeforms might cross over intact.”

Was that good luck?

Especially for us, it wasn’t a good thing.

“There’s something over there that crossed over intact.”

“A monster.”

The first moving creature we saw after landing wasn’t an undead.

It was a monster from Ea.

Commonly called a monster, these creatures could manipulate mana, and their bodies were transformed by mana, unlike ordinary animals or beasts.

The creature before us was exactly that.

A monster the size of a large truck, resembling a lion.

Its tail looked like a snake, and it had three heads—one like a lion, one like a wolf, and one like a mountain goat.

It closely resembled the chimera from Earth’s myths.

And like in the myths, it was a terrifying monster.

The monster was glaring down at the ground with bloodshot eyes.

On the ground, there was another monster, torn apart in all directions.

A smaller monster, similar to the larger one.

Was it the monster’s child?

As I thought this, a serious voice came from beside me.

“That monster is rarely seen even in the northern mountain range. How did it get here…? We need to run. Many soldiers and knights have died to that thing. It’s a monster that even a knight order would struggle to defeat…”

After saying this, Hoffman looked around at me and the party members, then awkwardly scratched his head.

“But I guess we’ll be fine.”

We had no choice but to be fine.

After all, the people with me were here to stop the Demon King.

What stood before us was just a monster, no matter how terrifying.

It couldn’t be more formidable than the Demon King and his army.

“Still, be careful. It has three heads, so it can use multiple abilities!”

Even without Hoffman’s warning, I had no intention of letting my guard down.

As we began to gather mana, the monster, which had been staring at its dead child, turned its gaze to us.

Its bloodshot eyes glared at us.

The monster was enraged by the death of its child.

“We met at a bad time, but the outcome would’ve been the same regardless.”

No matter how the monster felt, we had to fight.

Roar!

Like a freight train, the enraged monster charged at us.

As it ran, its snake-like tail shattered the remaining trees, and its three heads unleashed their mana-based abilities.

Water, fire, and a disorienting sonic wave.

Certainly, ordinary soldiers or knights would stand no chance.

But unfortunately for the monster, our party wasn’t weak enough to fall to such abilities.

The sudden sonic wave was blocked by Yelena’s barrier, and the water and fireballs were sliced apart by Zahina’s wind blades.

The snake-like tail, mid-strike, was caught by Seung-ah’s telekinesis.

And the next moment, the monster’s heads were severed by my extended sword energy.

Clang.

As I sheathed my sword and turned around, Hoffman sighed.

“Was I wrong to warn you? Everyone wasn’t this strong at first…”

“No, you did well. We can’t afford even the slightest mistake now.”

There was no retreat or second chance this time.

If things went wrong, it would mean the end of three dimensions.

At my words, everyone nodded.

“Wait a moment.”

Before we headed to Pyongyang, Yelena examined the dead monster.

“It won’t take long. I want to see how this monster crossed dimensions unharmed.”

We had time for that.

While she examined the decapitated monster, I surveyed the area.

In the heat of battle, I hadn’t noticed, but the Taedong River bank wasn’t just littered with the two monster corpses.

There were countless other bodies scattered around, mixed with the wall debris.

Monsters, humans, and undead.

Their bodies were torn apart, mixed together, half-buried in the dirt.

“Did they all die while crossing dimensions?”

At my muttering, Yelena, who was examining the monster, replied.

“Probably. Seeing that this monster crossed over alive, it seems a certain level of mana is needed to survive the crossing.”

She stood up, looking around with a frown.

“To withstand the shock of dimensional travel, you need a significant amount of mana. The bodies scattered here couldn’t endure that shock.”

Her words made me think of an unpleasant possibility.

“So, the monsters we’ll encounter alive will all be strong?”

“Ah, is that how it works?”

Indeed, the unpleasant assumption turned out to be true.

Before reaching Pyongyang, we encountered two more living monsters.

The monsters we saw in the empty North Korean land, instead of undead.

The next monster, like the first, gave us quite a bit of trouble, but fortunately, the last one actually helped us.

The monster we saw near Pyongyang was single-handedly tearing through the Demon King’s army’s defensive lines.

Boom!

The western part of Pyongyang, Mangyongdae Park, was being physically overturned.

Dirt erupted, and undead were flung into the air.

Boom!

Explosions rang out, followed by flames.

“Did the ammunition cause a chain reaction?”

A massive monster with six elephant-like legs charged through the flames.

A monster several times larger than the dump truck-sized one we had seen before.

A monster the size of a whale, or perhaps a dinosaur, was rampaging through the Demon King’s army.

“That looks like the ruler of the southern jungle, a monster said to live in the southern jungles.”

“First, a monster from the northern mountain range, then one from the icy regions, and now one from the southern jungles… Are we going to see every monster we’ve never seen before here…?”

At my words, Hoffman, who seemed to share my thoughts, shook his head with a bitter smile.

Though it had turned into an impromptu monster exhibition, thanks to this monster, we could easily enter Pyongyang.

“But the Demon King’s army seems to be falling too easily. Even if it’s a powerful monster, it’s strange that the Demon King’s army is being breached so easily.”

Indeed, Hoffman was right.

The Demon King and his key subordinates would be staying close to protect him and his magic, but it was unlikely they would fall so easily.

Of course, the monster was gradually tiring under the Demon King’s army’s relentless assault, but the Demon King’s army I knew wasn’t this weak.

“Come to think of it, even without the monster, the defensive line seems too flimsy.”

Outside the park where the monster was rampaging, there weren’t many of the Demon King’s forces.

Surely, they had gathered more undead from China and even brought surrendered humans to Pyongyang. But the defensive line before us was full of holes.

And the reason for this became clear through Yelena’s explanation.

“The undead have decreased because, like the monsters, they’ve been thrown into other dimensions.”

Just as buildings, people, and monsters from Ea had crossed to Earth, the undead on Earth must have crossed to Ea.

That’s why the defensive line was full of holes, and they couldn’t stop the rampaging monster.

Of course, if the Demon King or his key subordinates acted, the rampaging monster would be easily dealt with, but the Demon King likely couldn’t move right now.

A rampaging monster and a breached defensive line.

“Is the sky, or perhaps the gods, helping us this time?”

After a streak of bad luck, it seemed fortune was finally on our side.

At my words, Yerim confidently raised her hand and pointed at herself.

“This time, I prayed hard. The gods will definitely help us this time.”

Had she not been praying properly before?

At the saintess’s sudden confession, I made an awkward face.

Regardless, this was an excellent opportunity to enter Pyongyang, but I first asked Yelena.

“But if everyone is being thrown into other dimensions, aren’t we in danger too?”

At my words, Yelena nodded.

“Yes. That’s why I’ve been preparing a spell.”

Of course, a mage would have thought of what I was thinking.

“It won’t be perfect, but we’re out of time, so I’ll cast it now.”

She began casting the spell on each of us.

“It’s a spell to block higher magic, so I can’t guarantee it will work completely, but I’ve done my best.”

In this situation, expecting a perfect result was impossible.

This much was already a blessing.

As she cast the spell, I felt a strange sensation around my body.

This spell was meant to prevent us from being thrown into another dimension. I silently prayed it would last until the end.

After the spell was cast on everyone, we prepared to rush out of the building where we had been hiding.

Once we left, we would have to run nonstop to the Demon King.

Before setting off, I made the final preparation.

“Now.”

At my words transmitted through the radio, a response came.

[I wish you success.]

With the President’s words, Tomahawk missiles were launched from off the coast of Nampo, Guam, and Japan.