Sleepwalker V
To state the obvious, homo sapiens do not have wings.
Most people have no intuition for flight.
Unless they are pilots who treat the engine sounds of an airplane like their heartbeat or paragliders who feel their parachutes as extensions of their arms, humans generally don’t find much thrill in flying.
And where intuition is absent, fear is born.
“Argh! I’m flying! I’m flying!”
“How high do we have to go?”
As seven hundred awakeners soared into the air, relying only on cheap brooms, screams erupted from all sides.
“Mom! I really hate this!”
“I’m falling! Ahhh!”
“Waaaah!”
Of course, we had conducted several joint training sessions beforehand. Those with a fear of heights were excluded from the combat team.
However, even so, cheap brooms were far from reliable as humanity’s new wings.
An owl flying through the night sky gave us a look that seemed to say, ‘What are these new suicide seekers?’
[The Saintess of National Salvation announces that the vanguard has currently surpassed an altitude of 300 meters.]
In a sense, the owl’s look was accurate. If not a suicide squad, what would you call a group charging with makeshift wings to take down a top-class anomaly?
Only the guild members of Samcheon World skillfully demonstrated the art of flight.
[600 meters.]
Oh, by the way, I was quite proficient in broom flight myself. Believe it or not, I once took second place in an internal flight competition at Samcheon World.
Leading the vanguard, alongside me, was Dang Seo-rin, the perennial champion of those flight competitions.
[1500 meters.]
It started getting cold.
“Aaah――.”
But it didn’t matter. Dang Seo-rin was already singing another verse of the Cursed Song.
The fourth melody, body reinforcement.
Combining existing spells like ‘temperature regulation’ and ‘breath support,’ it was a comprehensive package developed by Dang Seo-rin. It helped withstand hostile environments such as the deep sea, scorching deserts, and the void to some extent.
As expected, as soon as Dang Seo-rin finished chanting, a pleasant warmth enveloped my entire body.
[2200 meters.]
Higher. Higher.
[2900 meters.]
A quick glance downward showed the ground already a tiny speck below. Ignoring the instinctive dizziness, I turned my gaze back to the sky.
There was the Meteor Shower.
From below, the starlight seemed about to fall at any moment. However, no matter how high we flew, the stars didn’t appear any larger.
An optical illusion. A trick of the world. Staring at the starlight continuously, I felt my sense of proportion between distance and size breaking down.
But this too was an illusion within an illusion. We were undoubtedly getting closer to the Meteor Shower.
[3500 meters.]
Finally.
[4100 meters. Approaching Target.]
[Engage.]
Shhhh—
It sounded like waves crashing. At an altitude of 4100 meters, it was a sound that shouldn’t be heard.
As we pierced through the surface of that noise, suddenly, everything turned pitch black.
It was more fitting to call it a ‘dark abyss’ than a ‘night sky,’ as the inky blackness covered everything.
Shaa, shaaa—
Each time an awakener followed me up, the darkness rippled. They lowered their brooms and hovered in midair.
Awestruck by the unfamiliar sight, the awakeners gaped.
“My god, this is….”
“It’s the void!”
Before confusion spread through the combat team, I grabbed the radio and shouted.
“We have just entered the Meteor Shower’s territory! No need to be surprised or tense! It’s just the void we’ve experienced countless times before, but now it’s in the sky!”
“Ah.”
“Continue the operation! Reform your formations! Team up with your combat units! Reorganize and charge as trained! You have 40 seconds!”
“Team 8, gather! Team 8, gather!”
“Team 11! Why are you there! Get over here, you idiot!”
The formation of awakeners, momentarily disrupted by the ascent into the night sky void, quickly reformed.
Meanwhile, I kept my eyes fixed on the direction of the Meteor Shower.
Starlight that seemed ready to fall at any moment. No, it gave the illusion it was already falling.
But it was clear that it was just crouching there, watching us.
Surpassing intellect and reason, the instincts honed through dozens of cycles fiercely sensed its hostility.
Contrary to my instincts, the surroundings were eerily calm.
It felt like being dropped in the middle of a calm, dark ocean.
“This place is strange, Undertaker.”
Dang Seo-rin pulled her broomhead close to me and murmured.
“The air feels heavy. It’s a bit hard to breathe. It feels like I’ve entered shallow water rather than the sky.”
“The anomaly must have a water attribute and be preparing for rain. What did you expect? The void is just void.”
“That’s true.”
“Do your best with the last song.”
“Yes. Leave it to me. And you, too. This operation depends on you.”
“Of course.”
Then, a small voice of the Saintess whispered into my ear.
[Be careful, Mr. Undertaker. The altimeter is broken.]
Broken?
[It was recording about 4100 meters just before entering the void, but now it’s showing 7182 meters, -9699 meters, 21337 meters, 0.01 meters, changing erratically. In real-time.]
“…….”
[It’s not just the altitude. Other metrics like pressure are fluctuating continuously. Good luck.]
I nodded.
Exactly 40 seconds.
I looked back. Seven hundred perfectly aligned members of the flight squad were behind me.
“Continue the operation! Charge! Charge!”
“Waaaah!”
Boss battle, Phase 2, begin.
Seven hundred members of the flight squad followed me in a spearhead formation. Dang Seo-rin, who had been at the forefront with me, shifted to the rear as planned.
The starlight remained unresponsive.
Which was our greatest opportunity.
“Aaah―aaah―a――”
From the rear, Dang Seo-rin’s voice awakened the night sky.
The fifth melody, ‘Mirror of All Things’.
This too was a recently developed high-difficulty grand magic. Combining [Focus], [Absorption], [Reflection], and [Amplification], it was Dang Seo-rin’s masterpiece, finally unified into one song.
Its effect was clear.
Shhh—
Translucent mirrors formed around the seven hundred awakeners. Like planets orbiting the sun, countless mirrors surrounded our flight squad.
I gave the command without hesitation.
“All units, pour out your power!”
The awakeners, as if waiting for this moment, unleashed their aura and mana towards the mirrors.
The mirrors reflected the awakeners’ auras precisely towards ‘other mirrors.’
Ching—
Mirrors that finished their reflection shattered instantly. Countless mirror fragments scattered in the air like white spring flowers.
The streams of aura, reflected from the rear, bounced off more and larger mirrors as they moved forward.
Ching— Ching— Ching—
Each time, the mirrors shattered, and the aura, superimposed repeatedly, was passed to the next mirror.
The glass, stained with the colors of the aura, poured out every color into the pitch-black night sky.
The radio buzzed noisily.
[Team 12, charged!]
[Team 11, charged!]
Exactly.
The role of the ‘Mirror of All Things’ in this battle was to concentrate firepower.
With slight variations, the seven hundred-member squad formed teams of about sixty members each.
Meaning, roughly sixty awakeners focused their aura, their strike, into the mirrors.
[Team 6, charged! Charged!]
[Loss rate, about 5%!]
Rumble!
The mixing of differently colored and patterned auras created thunderous sounds. Like a giant beast growling.
From Team 12 to Team 1.
Passing through twelve zigzagged intestines, the roar of the Korean Peninsula alliance surged up to its throat.
[Team 4, charged――]
[Loss rate below 3%. Within calculated range. Transmitting.]
[Team 3! Passed!]
A storm of aura swept forward.
Occasionally, a scream of ‘Hic!’ escaped. Awakeners not accustomed to flight stumbled in the aura storm.
It was anticipated. Therefore, I placed inexperienced awakeners in the later teams, and skilled elite warriors in the lead teams.
There was no problem.
Dang Seo-rin controlled everything from the rear, and I commanded everything from the front.
[Team 2… passed! Somehow, we made it!]
[Go! Go! Go!]
Some awakeners exclaimed in awe. Like ancient Egyptians in awe of their self-made pyramids, they too were thrilled by the torrent of aura.
And then.
[Team 1! Charged! Mr. Undertaker!]
The leader of Team 1 shouted. Yu Ji-won. In the distant past, she had served as my adjutant when I was with Samcheon World.
[Now―― Now! Transmitting!]
[Loss rate below 1%! Below 1%!]
[Mr. Undertaker!]
Rumble—!
Finally, the auras of seven hundred were delivered right before me.
All the mirrors created by Dang Seo-rin shattered. The magic mirrors fell to the ground, scattering countless fragments.
Except for the largest mirror right before my eyes.
The transparent concave mirror swirled with the aura storm.
“Huff…!”
Every hair on my body stood on end.
An euphoria like becoming an omnipotent god surged up my spine. Which mere mortal could be granted such power, and who could wield it properly?
That’s why I stood at the forefront.
I infused my aura into the torrent of aura that seemed ready to explode beyond my control.
Ink-black. This was the color of my soul.
The torrent of colorful auras was instantly tainted black, as if a drop of ink dyed water in a beaker.
Pop, the skin on my right hand peeled up to my forearm. Unable to withstand the output of the aura.
“……!”
My ears rang. I heard no sound. Thunder rumbled incessantly around me, and my vision darkened, making everything invisible.
The pain of bursting blood vessels.
But still, there was no problem.
-Saintess! The position――
[Adjust 3 cm to the right.]
A calm voice echoed directly in my mind.
[Now, 11 cm down.]
[Too low. 2 cm up.]
In the 42nd cycle, I didn’t know, but the Saintess was meticulously correcting errors using ‘Time Stop.’
She must have reviewed and recalculated countless times whether the aura would hit the Meteor Shower. Perhaps spending days and nights.
That long time was but a moment to me, and I endured all the pain to hold on to that moment.
[Yes, just a little. Just a little more…….]
[Now.]
Softly.
[Now, Mr. Undertaker.]
The Saintess’s time intersected with mine.
At that moment, I roared and fired the storm of aura gathered before my eyes. My own roar was inaudible to me.
Rumble—!
Only the roar of a giant beast.
The ink-black roar, penetrating through the souls of seven hundred and the twelve intestines, shook the world.
-Wh҉a҉t҉?҉
Finally, the Meteor Shower, which had been silent, reacted. Like an entity just awakened from a deep sleep.
Boss battle, Phase 3, begin.
-Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
The Meteor Shower trembled.
-Shining like a diamond in the sky.
-From the eastern sky, to the western sky.
A familiar melody. The lullaby that had always led the ground to ruin from the 23rd to the 41st cycle resonated through the storm.
It intended to lull us to sleep again.
“Aaah―aaah, aaah――”
And for this very moment, Dang Seo-rin played her final card.
The song, resonating from both the far and near side of the night sky, but the moment the two waves met at the center.
-Wh҉a҉t҉?
―――The song abruptly ceased.
The sixth melody, Antiresonance.
An application magic of [Silence] that nullified all noise by emitting a sound wave precisely countering the opponent’s sound.
I shouted, filled with joy.
“The power to create miracles with song isn’t a patent exclusive to you!”
The point where the Meteor Shower’s void and Dang Seo-rin’s magic crossed was exactly where I was flying.
The black waves emitted by the Meteor Shower and the white waves emitted by Dang Seo-rin clashed endlessly. Black and white. The colors of humanity’s song. The shades of the anomaly’s song.
The battlefield in the night sky was filled with the songs of humans and void, while I alone raced through the line of silence.
Following the Saintess’s guidance, constantly aiming the storm of aura.
-Wh҉a҉t҉?҉
Was it because its lethal move didn’t work? An unidentifiable noise seeped into the lullaby sung by the Meteor Shower.
But, it was too late.
To land this strike, this surprise attack, the seven hundred combat team and nine hundred support team had trained relentlessly.
Dang Seo-rin developed three high-level spells, prepared radios, and enchanted them with medium magic.
The Saintess had worked in secrecy, hiding her existence to lend credibility to the constellations’ messages.
The time the Saintess spent over seven years to unite all the awakeners of the alliance was near eternal. The few days spent fine-tuning the aim were but the final seasoning of that eternity.
And my 150 years.
The optimal route. The best strategy.
-Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉
Thus, this was the first and final strike.
The only moment the Meteor Shower was off guard. A moment when it had not yet fallen on any ground, destroyed any nation, or killed any awakener, and thus was least experienced.
Literally, the regressor’s killer move.
-Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉
You can’t blame it for being unfair.
That’s how you’ve fought all along.
You too shall die in your sleep, anomaly.
-Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉ Wh҉a҉t҉?҉
Flash―――
Starlight ascending from the ground pierced through the starlight descending from the sky.
Footnotes:
