Chapter 135 – Gate Explosion

A procession of worker trucks drove in a line.

At the end of the direction they were driving, a giant gate structure was visible.

Seeing that it had almost fully taken shape, it looked like a structure that would be completed before long.

Dozens of trucks carrying construction workers from early morning began to gather at the site beneath the gate.

Among them, Rashid, who had sneaked in while hiding his identity, was also together.

‘As expected, it is most comfortable for me to move directly.’

The new Arcane Flower received the day before was currently sleeping soundly in his inventory.

It was a situation where it would be over once he planted it in various places of the gate.

‘They said the power increased by ten times? I am already looking forward to seeing how much that will be.’

According to Luna, that was the case.

That it had become much more powerful than before.

‘Then even one would probably be enough.’

Even the existing explosive power was not at a level to be ignored, let alone ten times the power.

Still, in order to blow it up for sure, it was better to plant several.

Besides.

‘If I am lucky, the fellows of the Dharma Mage Division will be caught in the explosion. If so, the fellows I will have to face later will also be greatly reduced.’

Since Sayaka appeared, the strength of the Dharma Mage Division was in a state where it had been reduced by half.

In this state, if the Arcane Flower only exploded well, the remaining forces would not be able to avoid a devastating blow.

If lucky, Zodiac and the Dharma mages who barely survived might be all that had to be caught in the final phase.

‘For some reason, I feel lucky today.’

As the trucks stopped, the workers loaded in the cargo beds poured out.

Rashid naturally mingled among them, and began to enter the gate site in line with them.

The surveillance was not as lax as expected.

Because at the entrance, supervisors consisting of Dharma Officers were examining the entering workers one by one.

The workers entered the construction site after tapping their identity passes with their safety helmets pulled down, and even during that, the Dharma Officers individually inspected the workers to grasp risk factors in advance.

‘Hiding mana is not even a task.’

First, he hid his mana with several restrictions, and his relatively well-known face was disguised and hidden with Kaiser’s help.

When Rashid tapped his identity pass with his disguised face, the profile of the original worker was displayed on the hologram output device.

The face matched perfectly, and since he had also hidden his mana, there was no reason for the Dharma Officer to be highly suspicious.

Sure enough, the Dharma Officer had no choice but to miss Rashid, and Rashid, who had thus entered the construction site, left the line at some point and began planting Arcane Flowers all over the gate.

‘If I had tried to cross over through a portal to plant the bombs, I would have probably failed.’

It was a construction site monitored by the entire Dharma Mage Division.

If a suspicious portal had opened, nine times out of ten, the Dharma mages would have come, and the secretly hidden bombs would have easily been caught in their surveillance network.

‘It is a result obtained through numerous experiences.’

In fact, this was not the first time attacking a gate.

It was something attempted dozens of times, and there were countless failures and successes.

‘The real problem was Zodiac.’

The gate itself was easy to attack, but.

As expected, the one that became the problem was the main body trying to erect the gate, Zodiac.

‘Still, I am looking forward to it this time. Since it is said to have ten times the power of the existing explosive force.’

Rashid was able to finish installing the Arcane Flowers before lunchtime.

Rashid, eating his lunchbox while mingled among the workers, was one hundred percent sure of success.

‘The point here was not leaving it to the clerics.’

Spies of the Dharma Mage Division certainly existed inside the Order as well.

If he had moved the clerics to lead this matter, there was a possibility that the work would have failed due to leaked information.

However, since there was no exposed information, there was no need to worry separately.

‘That is why it is one hundred percent. Because there are no variables.’

As the day grew dark.

The workers began to exit in droves.

They boarded the trucks they had arrived in again, and Rashid was also among them.

* * *

A dark night.

On a ridge with a clear view of the gate.

Rashid, who was riding a bike, dismounted.

‘It is about time.’

He set the timer for 9 PM.

Casualties would be unavoidable, but.

It was a time chosen to minimize that damage.

The gate, which was almost completed, was being heavily monitored, with the entire structure illuminated without any blind spots by night work lights placed on the ground.

The workers erecting the gate’s skeleton had mostly gone home, but the Dharma mages continuing the detailed processes were spurring the gate’s construction late into the evening.

‘I am sorry, but. The gate cannot be tolerated.’

When Rashid checked the time and opened his armory, she, who was nearby, opened her armory as well.

Wearing her mana armor, she spoke in a slightly concerned voice.

“But is it fine with just the two of us? You could have brought more people like during Professor Kane’s time.”

The only one Rashid brought to stop Zodiac was her.

Rashid briefly explained the reason.

“There are spies inside the Order that I do not know about. Since there is no way to know who the spy is, I had no choice but to do this. Thanks to that, we will definitely be able to blow up the gate.”

Rashid continued.

“Besides, if we are lucky, the number of the Dharma Mage Division we have to deal with might be smaller than expected. The power of the bomb is quite strong, so almost all of those caught in it will die.”

“How many mana bombs did you install?”

“Ten. I just planted all of them.”

Why?

“Because we can just make more bombs anyway.”

“If it’s ten… and the power has increased, isn’t it dangerous to be here? The explosive force seems like it will be quite strong.”

She also knew the power of the Arcane Flower.

Because she had witnessed it directly in front of her eyes when the Magic Tower Academy blew up.

Rashid pointed behind him with a raised thumb.

“If you are really scared, stand behind me. If you cannot even withstand that explosion at this distance, you can never catch Zodiac.”

To call it bravado, his expression looked quite resolved.

Not wanting to lose, she stood side by side next to him.

“The gate was not the problem. Is this thing called Zodiac that strong?”

“Virtually everything. Even though I have collapsed the gate dozens of times, that is not the case for Zodiac. He is an opponent that can only be barely defeated by doing my utmost.”

Just in case.

If he fell short of strength in the decisive battle against Zodiac, Rashid intended to plant even the Immortal Heart.

Normally, he would have planted it unconditionally, but if he failed, it would be the end right there.

So he had postponed it until the final moment.

“It will begin soon.”

A protective barrier made of a blue film unfolded in front of Rashid.

It was a power crafted from intent, not magic formulas.

In line with this.

She also cast all the defense-type magic she knew from her place beside him.

Even though she was preparing this firmly.

She was feeling that even the protective barrier she was casting now was insufficient.

“If I really think it’s too much, I will stand behind you.”

“You can just stand there starting now. There is no one watching, and no one to say anything.”

Before she could answer anything.

Huge explosions and blue flashes of light from all over the gate swept over the area.

Ten of the new Arcane Flowers exploded simultaneously.

Kwoooooong!

After a silence as if pausing for a beat while mana condensed, waves like blue petals spread out in layers.

A huge gale crushing the earth swept over the entire area and bloomed a massive, splendid blue flower.

At the moment she, yielding to the overwhelming power, was about to be swept away as is.

She checked him, who was as solid as a driven stake, and immediately went to stand behind him.

Fortunately, his back was more comfortable than expected.

“The explosive power is enormous.”

She said something, but.

It was not heard in Rashid’s ears at all.

Rashid stared with wide eyes at the gate caught in the explosion.

The gate was temporarily protected by the defensive barrier pre-designed by the Dharma Mage Division, but this was only for a moment, and it was immediately engulfed in the explosion.

The steel structure was torn like paper and collapsed miserably.

Kureureureu~

That level of explosive power was also Rashid’s first time experiencing it.

If nothing else, he gained one certainty.

“There will be almost no survivors.”

That everyone engulfed in the explosion died.

That much seemed certain.

‘Because it was an instantaneous explosion. If they did not run away reflexively, they would have probably all died.’

Dharma Officers could not be an exception to this either.

If they had tried to survive by casting a paltry defensive magic, they would be wailing in the afterlife by now.

Rashid waited for him while looking at the miserably collapsed gate structure.

The extraordinary existence that would absolutely not welcome this.

Kureureung!

Above the destroyed gate.

A thick thundercloud settled down, and a giant yellow dragon revealed its appearance.

The yellow dragon raged greatly as it looked at the miserably ruined gate.

Its rage struck the area and shook the earth.

“It’s here.”

The real deal appeared.

Rashid also quickly took action to respond.

“I will take care of it. You clean up the rest. It is almost finished, but there will surely be survivors. Leaving them will only lead to future trouble, so clean them all up.”

“Will do.”

Since they had their respective bikes they had ridden in on.

Rashid rode his bike and accelerated.

“Alpha, to Ghost Riding.”

-Ghost Riding ON

His bike began to dash through the empty air, sprinting.

Her surprise at the feature she saw for the first time was brief.

The yellow dragon, which was roaming the sky violently, discovered a single magitech bike sprinting fearsomely.

Weeeeeeeng!

The sound of the mana stone engine, which felt like it would burst, revealed its presence without filter, and the yellow dragon, annoyed by it, violently spat breath from its mouth.

Since it was merely annoying, it tried to lightly suppress it with a breath, but.

The blue mana wrapping around the bike transformed into a jousting lance and showed the spirit of piercing the yellow dragon’s breath.

-?!

Sensing something, Zodiac began to fly toward the sprinting bike.

With the breath spitting from its mouth remaining as is.

Rashid, who clad the entire bike with conceptualization, also confronted it without yielding.

At this point, Zodiac could also be certain.

The one who created this incomprehensible situation.

Was that unidentified something running fearlessly toward him right now!

The two clashed as they were, and at that moment, the area flashed with light for a moment.

Immediately after the collision.

Zodiac, who returned to human form, wielded the Black Dragon Saber, leaving a long scar on the earth.

Rashid also sent the bike flying and drove the blood sword into the earth, forcing his backward momentum to slow down.

The two soon stood confronting each other under the chaotic night sky.

-Who are you?

Zodiac, taking his stance, sent a sound transmission to the one who had crossed swords with him in the deep darkness.

The opponent had no answer, but was running at a very fast speed as if folding space.

Moreover, he showed the talent of leaving long afterimages.

-Futile!

Clashing, the two exchanged swords fiercely.

Every time Zodiac blocked his sword and counterattacked, the earth fluctuated as if in response.

In a confrontation that did not last very long.

Zodiac could definitely feel it.

That it was the taste of a proper sword battle after a long time.