Something Keeps Appearing in My Subspace - Chapter 159

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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159. Mercury War Gate at Karako Village (2)
The enemies were in no rush.
Between the Forest and the Village’s Wooden Barrier stretched roughly 150 meters, and they lined up before the Forest as if to make a show of their numbers.
“For a monster horde, they look more like an organized army, don’t they?”
“It doesn’t feel like an ordinary monster wave.”
They appeared to have a command structure. Whenever Grendel roared orders, the monsters moved in response.
The monsters themselves were diverse—werewolves, orcs, and various beast-type creatures, not just the standard varieties.
-It’s not uncommon. Occasionally, intelligent monsters will dominate those around them and establish a command hierarchy.
Chun-bae answered in my stead.
‘Is that so?’
-Of course, a scale this large is rare, but it’s possible in the aftermath of the Gate incidents.
‘So they’ve awakened too?’
-Affirmative. Awakening occurs among monsters as well. In this chaotic society, they’ve simply formed larger swarms.
That made sense. The world within the Gate was a reconstruction of a world being invaded or having been invaded.
Even calling it a village, the name “Mercury War Gate” wasn’t arbitrary. This was a clash between factions.
-The villagers likely aren’t ordinary people either.
‘Right. Hunters alone couldn’t hold back all of that.’
There were definitely awakened individuals among them. As we approached the Wooden Barrier, I could sense mana emanating from several people.
Still, it was best not to expect too much. If we weren’t the core of this situation, the Gate wouldn’t have opened in the first place.
Well, the small fry weren’t really a problem. Yong-yong, Mister, and Min-jae would handle them.
The real problem was Grendel.
‘Fifteen of them won’t be easy.’
Grendel were monsters that hunters in the 36-40 level range—before the standards changed—would form teams to hunt.
Having fifteen of such creatures mixed into the monster horde objectively meant this Gate’s difficulty was severe.
It was the kind of thing that made you understand why village defense operations were so unpopular. Though not all of them would be equally strong, of course.
If they were all second-awakening Grendel like the one that chased me during that emission-type Gate, we’d have had a rough time too.
‘Then again, I’m not the same person who used to flee from four Grendel anymore.’
To be honest, facing fifteen Grendel itself wasn’t the problem. What worried me was the survival of the villagers.
Wasn’t our Guild’s objective this time to ensure that not a single villager dies?
‘Chun-bae. You said these creatures have intelligence, right?’
-Only the alpha individual possesses it.
‘So what happens to the rest if we deal with them?’
-That’s unknowable. They might charge blindly, or scatter in confusion.
Hmm. If they charge blindly, things could get rough.
-Either way, it’s better than leaving the alpha alive.
‘Understood.’
If Chun-bae said so, then that was how it was.
“There’s no helping it then.”
They were equivalent to Ogres in power, but specialized in agility rather than raw strength.
Waiting for them to charge and then blocking each one individually was nearly impossible.
“We don’t necessarily have to wait for the Mercury War Gate to attack us, do we?”
“That’s true.”
“Let’s go first.”
What I’d conceived was a preemptive strike. Why not attack as if we were defending the Forest instead of letting them take the initiative?
That way, the villagers would be as safe as possible.
“The basic framework remains the same. You three provide support from here, and only Mister and I will….”
“Okay.”
“Mister, be careful too. These Grendels have jumping power beyond what you’d expect.”
“I know. I saw them chase after you by climbing up that building back then.”
Even with Lee Shin-hee and Han Chul here, anything could happen.
Since they could leap to Yong-yong’s height, I’d warned Mister to stay vigilant.
“Let’s go.”
“Let’s move!”
There was no need to wait. While they were still positioning themselves, I vaulted over the Wooden Barrier and leaped down.
“Huh?”
I could hear the villagers standing atop the Wooden Barrier gasping in surprise, but I paid them no mind.
Right after, Mister riding Yong-yong soared into the sky.
* * *
“…?”
What was amusing was that the villagers weren’t the only ones shocked.
As Mister and I charged past the Wooden Barrier, the monsters themselves froze and tilted their heads in confusion.
A laugh escaped me. Well, they must be bewildered too. They’d only meant to attack a small Village, yet….
Now it looked like madmen were charging straight at them instead.
‘This is genuinely insane, though.’
It was something only possible if we were considerably stronger than the Gate’s level.
In all the Gate subjugation cases I’d heard of, I’d never once heard of a charge during a defensive siege.
If this were a true siege, it would’ve been brutal for us too, but since it was a Village siege, it was manageable.
Either way, it meant we were strong enough to pull this off.
I had no concerns whatsoever.
I wasn’t going alone. Mister and my teammates’ support was planned.
‘First, buffs.’
The moment Lee Shin-hee’s buff settled into my body.
“Kyaaaagh!”
One of the Grendels shrieked and pointed at the sky. Toward where Mister was riding Yong-yong.
Hmm. My pride was slightly wounded.
Was the Red Dragon more terrifying than me? I wasn’t about to let that stand.
‘Chun-bae. The one on the center-left is the strongest, right?’
I pointed out the Grendel that appeared strongest among those standing.
-Negative. That one is second. The one behind it is the strongest.
I was slightly surprised. The aura was different, and I’d picked based on the one giving orders earlier.
‘Small in stature, though?’
-You need to sense their mana. Feeling their aura is far more accurate.
‘Understood.’
I learned something new here as well. In any case, I set my sights on the target Chun-bae had designated.
“Auuugh!”
Another Grendel finally noticed me. A portion of the lined-up monster horde began advancing toward me.
But it didn’t matter. I’d already covered ninety meters.
“…?”
I used Leap once. Through my spatial awareness, I could sense the confusion of the monsters who’d lost their target.
With a single Leap, the alpha Grendel Chun-bae had designated came into view. Its eyes were wide open as well.
The moment our eyes met, I unleashed Blaze through the Windflow Blade. The intense heat felt like warmth to me.
I swung the Windflow Blade forward.
-Whoosh!
Flames spread in a fan pattern, but it was merely a feint.
Behind the flames, another Leap.
Now I was behind the alpha. I reversed my blade and slashed diagonally downward.
“Kyaack!”
True to its role as the alpha of this horde, the Grendel reacted swiftly, but it wasn’t enough.
I was someone who’d trained attacking after Leaping against Shin Chang.
-Crunch!
-Crackle!
I felt the weight at my fingertips. The sound of flesh and bone splitting, along with something burning, reached my ears simultaneously.
“…?”
With a single strike, I’d cleaved through the Grendel alpha, and I could sense the surrounding monsters’ sudden panic.
-Screeeech!
And seizing that opening, Mister dove down from the sky. The breath Yong-yong exhaled fell upon the heads of the monsters standing before the forest.
As they melted away with a crackling sound, Mister deployed Flying Dragon Island.
Boom-!
Flying Dragon Island naturally had different destructive power than before. It was a skill deployed from atop a rideable dragon.
“Keeeek!”
Dozens of monsters were caught in the weight of the Red Dragon and Mister’s spear, sent flying backward.
In other words, the results were unfolding exactly as we’d anticipated.
It was the Mercury War Gate, but we weren’t defending. The enemies had to stop us.
Moreover, those in the rear weren’t idle either.
-Rumble!
The distance was too great to use water magic with the Heart of the Sea, but Min-jae used the recently acquired Lightning Scripture to cast lightning magic.
The monsters on our opposite side writhed in the electric current.
In truth, we’d come to this Gate to raise Min-jae’s magic proficiency, but there was no helping it. Once we could aim for a Hidden dungeon, we had to pursue it to the fullest.
Once the situation became a melee anyway, an opportunity to use the Heart of the Sea would surely arise.
-Crunch!
In the meantime, I was dealing with another Grendel. The mobs’ charges would be handled by Mister and Min-jae anyway.
The Grendels that could harm the villagers came first.
“Keeeeek!”
Another Grendel’s head flew skyward.
The monsters, stripped of control and thrown into chaos, targeted me, but they couldn’t reach me.
-Whoooosh!
As I swung the wind-flow sword wrapped in scorching flames, they couldn’t even approach me.
All I did was leap once more in the meantime.
“Auuuuu!”
It was instantaneous. The remaining Grendels let out a long cry.
Were they issuing a charge command? That’s what I was thinking.
“Huh?”
At that very moment, the monsters began fleeing into the Forest. In other words, the enemies attempting the siege were retreating.
I was so bewildered that I couldn’t even move for a moment.
“What, what is this?”
“They’re running away?”
Mister, who had been flying through the air, scratched his head and approached me.
“Why do we run into so many creatures that flee whenever we meet them?”
It wasn’t just me who thought of the Dark Mage.
“Should we chase them?”
“As far as we can go? Just don’t go in too deep. It could be dangerous in the Forest.”
Lee Shin-hee and Han Chul’s line of sight couldn’t reach that far, and if the Grendels were climbing trees, Mister could be attacked.
Even as we attacked the fleeing creatures, they simply ran without any resistance.
“What is this?”
“Isn’t the Mercury War Gate supposed to just push through? I didn’t know they could flee.”
After capturing an appropriate number and returning, the other Guild members let out hollow laughs.
“Does this count as a successful defense?”
“The Gate hasn’t closed yet though.”
“Aren’t they going to bring more later?”
Of course, while we were having this conversation, the villagers were cheering.
“Yaaay! We held them back!”
“They’re running away!”
Seeing them embrace each other in joy was heartwarming, but my bewilderment didn’t fade.
‘I mean, I did cut down the leader first, but….’
I never expected them to flee like this.
If Chun-bae was right and the Grendel had scraped together monsters through sheer force, it could happen, but isn’t this inside the Gate?
“This is frustrating….”
Min-jae expressed his disappointment. After all, combining the Heart of the Sea and the Thunder Scripture was supposed to be the main objective of this Gate.
That wasn’t my intention. I felt slightly embarrassed, having been the one to propose the preemptive strike strategy.
‘Who could have known they’d run away?’
I’d chosen this strategy believing that if I cut down enough of them, their command structure would collapse and the monsters would charge in disarray.
I hadn’t anticipated there were still so many Grendels we hadn’t captured.
“Huh?”
It was then that a middle-aged man, who appeared to be the focal point of the cheering villagers, approached us.
“I never expected you all to do this well! Thank you so much.”
“It’s nothing. We were just doing our job.”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying this—I think you all could strike their main base. What do you say? Are you interested? I can offer more generous compensation.”
At the middle-aged man’s words, we exchanged glances without thinking.
“The thing is, now that those creatures have established themselves in the Forest, this conflict won’t end like this. Once you leave, they’ll attack again. We need to root them out completely.”
There was no choice in the matter—this was also a branch of a Gate mutation.
We’d taken an aggressive stance at the Mercury War Gate, but I never expected it would turn into a siege.
‘Though there’s probably no actual fortress in the Forest.’
I exchanged silent glances with my guild members. Everyone seemed to agree. The battle had ended far too easily.
Of course, the difficulty would increase. If we’d simply defended normally, it wouldn’t have mutated like this.
“Sounds good.”
I nodded readily. Weren’t we the Dinosaur Guild?
“Offense is especially our specialty.”
Moreover, since they were offering generous rewards, a Gate mutation was actually something to welcome.
I also needed to help Min-jae achieve his goal.
“Excellent. Then let’s prepare for the assault!”
The moment the middle-aged man smiled, the Gate transformed.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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