TRL 29

Chapter 29

They carefully entered the underground space. Fortunately, there were no traps.

After descending the long staircase and passing through already broken barriers and magic circles, what awaited them was a secret research facility.

“This looks like a wizard’s laboratory.”

“There’s something weird over there!”

Deep inside the lab, they discovered a large orb sealed with multiple layers of magic circles and countless mechanical devices. Inside the transparent orb, something glowing like a star floated, wrapped in an aurora-like energy.

“What the heck is this?”

“Let me analyze it.”

Olli, the squad’s only mage, stepped forward. While the rest of the squad searched the laboratory, Olli studied both the magic circles surrounding the orb and the orb itself.

Even when the others took turns sleeping, Olli stayed awake all night, working tirelessly.

By early morning, Olli and Luka, who had been standing watch, woke everyone up.

“I still don’t know exactly what it is. But I can tell you this much—it’s a mass emitting an unimaginable amount of magical energy.”

“Magical energy? Not ordinary ‘Ord’?”

“Yeah, pure ‘magic power.’ Not natural Ord, which is the force of nature itself, but ‘magical energy’—a distorted, manipulated energy created with specific intent.”

Olli Pascal, pale and with dark circles under her eyes, lightly tapped the glass orb.

“The star-like thing inside is releasing nearly infinite magical energy. Like… the sun. The glass orb is containing the energy pouring out from it. The magic circles and mechanical devices are all there just to hold it back and keep it sealed.”

“Infinite magical energy… Don’t tell me…”

“Yeah, I think it’s exactly that. We’ve found it.”

With a crooked smile, she gestured toward the star trapped inside the glass orb.

“This is the starting point of the magical contamination. The thing that triggered this war, the outbreak of the monsters, and this whole damned apocalypse—it’s this thing.”

Shock. Horror. Satisfaction. Relief. Fear. Fascination.

Each squad member stared at the glowing, aurora-like mass, each with their own swirling emotions. Gide was the first to speak.

“Did you figure out what we should do with it?”

“I’m not sure about the specifics. But one thing’s for sure—we can’t just leave this damned ‘star’ sitting here.”

“We can’t leave it?”

“These seals and devices… they’re already failing. This cursed magical energy is leaking out steadily. That’s why the contamination levels in these ruins are skyrocketing. We have to do something.”

“Can’t we just destroy it?”

“This freaking star may look small—about the size of a kid’s fist—but the magical energy it holds is nearly infinite. It’s like a magical core… and you know magical cores can only be destroyed by an energy equal to or greater than their own.”

“So basically… there’s no way to break it.”

“Take a look yourselves. Maybe you’ll notice something.”

The squad members inspected the orb, each in their own way. Most shook their heads or gagged from the overwhelming magic power. Only Rita tilted her head thoughtfully.

‘This… I might not be able to touch the star directly, but the aurora-like energy surrounding it… I might be able to process it like I would with Ord.’

She glanced around at her teammates.

It made sense that Gide, Ethan, and Luka—all reinforcement-type oathbearers—or Sera and Is, the transfer-types, wouldn’t sense anything. But it was strange that even Olli, another processing-type like her, hadn’t noticed.

‘Olli’s way better at analysis than me… Did I misread it?’

As she examined the star and its surrounding aurora again, Gide—resting his chin in his hand—spoke up with a strange observation.

“Olli, you said this thing is endlessly pouring out magical energy? Like… the sun?”

“Yeah, like the sun.”

“You mean the sun before we were born… before the contamination began? That sun we learned about in our implanted memories? The one that endlessly emitted bright light before turning to ash?”

“Exactly. We all remember from the memories they implanted in us—what the sun was like before it died.”

“Yeah… they told us the sun’s fire went out when the contamination began, and that’s why it looks the way it does now. And… if this light mass is the starting point of the contamination…”

Olli’s eyes widened as she realized where he was going with this. Gide twisted his lips into a bitter smile and continued.

“What if this star is like the sun’s core?”

“…!”

“Maybe… when this thing disappeared, the sun in the sky turned to ash. And the earth was wrecked because the sun that was supposed to stay far away fell down here… You know, like how staying near a fire is warm, but jumping into the flames burns you alive.”

It sounded crazy, like something from a fairy tale or myth—but it also made a twisted kind of sense. Everyone swallowed dryly. The youngest, Luka, spoke up with shining eyes.

“Then… if we send this star back to the sun… wouldn’t that fix everything? Right?”

“Even if that’s true… how?”

“Huh?”

“How exactly are we supposed to send this back up into the sky?”

“I… I don’t know…”

At Olli’s sharp reply, Luka quickly fell silent. At that moment, Rita had an idea.

‘If I process all the aurora around the star into a single explosive force… Treat the star as a bullet… Use the aurora as gunpowder… And trigger it with my own Ord…’

Maybe… maybe she could fire this star straight toward the ash sun. The recoil on her body would be unimaginable.

‘It might work… But with that kind of energy… my body would probably explode and I’d die.’

If she voiced that idea aloud, Gide’s reaction would be predictable. The squad might even restrain her to stop her. So, Rita kept the thought to herself.

‘I’ll mention it quietly to Olli later… If anyone can build a safer method from this idea, it’s her.’

But she never got the chance.

While they remained underground, Is Pascal, who had been sending out summoned creatures to scout the area, gave a quiet warning.

“Everyone… Monsters have entered the ruins.”

“What? I thought they couldn’t get in here!”

“Yeah… I thought so too… But they’re pouring in. Everyone, get ready.”

The monsters surged in like a tidal wave—toward the garden, and toward the underground lab where they were hiding.

It was as if the monsters instinctively knew something important was here. Being born from magical contamination, perhaps they could sense the source of the pollution—like plants turning toward sunlight.

The Beacon Squad decided to abandon the star and escape for now. They bolted out from underground, only to find that the monsters had already flooded the entire ruins.

It felt like every monster from beyond the last defensive line had converged here. Each one was a ‘named’ monster—at least in strength—though they hadn’t yet been officially named by humans.

The Beacon Squad fought desperately, trapped in the narrow garden. But breaking through the endless swarm was beyond even their ability.

“Then toss the star! If we throw it somewhere else, the monsters will chase it!”

At Gide’s shout, Is sent a summoned creature underground. In its bird-like form, the summon grabbed the glass orb containing the star and soared skyward.

At that moment, Rita realized something with chilling clarity.

‘Even if we throw it… we’ll still die here.’

About half of the monsters gazed skyward, following the orb. But the other half kept their eyes fixed on the humans still fighting below.

‘Too many of them… And too many care more about devouring us than chasing the star…’

She looked around at her teammates—exhausted, wounded, on the verge of collapse. Death loomed on their faces.

She calmly calculated. The optimal operation for Beacon, given this situation.

‘I swore I wouldn’t do something like this again…’

Sorry, Gide. This is the only way.

“Get back underground and close the door! It’s the better option!”

Rita shouted. It wasn’t a wrong call. And as their squad leader, her judgment was trusted. Everyone moved immediately—even Gide.

They unleashed powerful attacks all at once to force the monsters back, just for a brief moment. In that small window, they rushed back underground and slammed the door shut behind them, planning to use the summon to throw the orb further and then escape.

‘No… Even that won’t save us. The monsters won’t all leave… And who knows what will happen to the ones that come in contact with the star…’

Gide probably had the same thought. But even knowing that, this was still the least-worst option.

But what she was about to do… was something he could never predict.

“Rita! Come inside!”

Gide was holding the underground door, calling to her. But she turned away.

Instead, she aimed her weapon at the orb clutched in the summon’s claws, now circling high in the sky.

“Rita?”

Her shot struck true. The glass orb shattered into pieces.

The star inside began to fall.

Rita leapt off a broken statue, caught the falling star with one burning, searing hand.

Ignoring the pain, smiling through it, she turned to the wide-eyed Gide and said:

“This… is the ‘optimal operation,’ Gide.”