Chapter 312

“Hope.”

Sungyoon felt his heart lift a little bit when he heard that word.

Humanity was facing an existential crisis. That word was like the bright sun shining its light on humanity.

“It is a word that we need more than ever.”

“Mmm.”

Emily, Tim, and Grace felt the same way as Sungyoon.

No, every Connector here felt the same way when they heard the word. They savored the word.

“The magicians went through all kinds of hardship to make the seed of hope. They didn’t have food or water. The only sustenance they had were the occasional monsters that flew towards the city. They survived by eating the flesh of the monsters. They drank the blood of the monsters. Unlike our people who were able to gather a variety of foods in the Great Labyrinth, the magicians lived a substandard life even when compared to us.”

The water and plants, which existed within the Great Labyrinth, were imbued with powerful magical energy. This was why humans didn’t eat anything from the Great Labyrinth.

If a normal human ate the food from there, they would die. The magical energy would run rampant in their digestive system and crush their organs. Connectors wouldn’t die, but they would suffer from a stomach ache and a decline in physical condition. Since the descendants of Planote had nothing else to eat, they had no choice. They had to eat it despite the negative effects.

However, the people in the Mage city didn’t even have those resources to work with. The only thing they could do was find a way to stop the dead monsters from turning into moonstones.

Of course, the descendants of Planote also knew about this method. They also ate the monsters.

However, they had other choices for food. The people of the Mage city had lived a much more miserable life since they had only one way to extend their life expectancy.

“The magicians, who had been elites of our society, had to become miners. They dug tunnels underneath the tower to create an enormous magic circle. It wasn’t a task that could be finished through a single generation. The survivors started to mingle their flesh to procreate. They did it solely to finish this device.”

The atmosphere around them became solemn. They couldn’t fathom the amount of sacrifice that was needed to carry out such a task.

It wasn’t just the magicians themselves. They fetter their children with this responsibility too.

How desperate must they have been? How much soul searching had to be done to take such measures?

‘Moreover, we didn’t find the remains of any humans or monsters here.’

Sungyoon looked at his surroundings.

When he arrived for the first time in the capital city, he had encountered a Skeleton.

According to Plu-El, the corpses left behind in the capital city were infused with magical energy when the moon was created. The magical energy turned the corpses into monsters.

However, they hadn’t encountered a single Skeleton here.

If so, where were all the remains?

Sungyoon could guess that he wouldn’t find a happy ending here.

“The descendants were born to make this device. They lived to make this device, and they died to make this device. The magicians even ate the corpses of their dead comrades to sustain themselves. This device was the fruit of their labor. However, they realized they needed a core to complete the device. It was the most important ingredient.”

Plu-El pointed towards the large crystal placed in the middle of the pillar.

“It was the heart of the magic circle. It would move the ambient magical energy to activate the magic circle. However, they were short on materials.”

The core must be able to possess and move massive amounts of magical energy. It was impossible to find such base materials in this place.

“However, they didn’t give up. They received inspiration from the monsters. If they didn’t use the special method to kill the monsters, the monsters turned into moonstones. The remaining people of this city used the magical energy within their bodies to create a similar phenomenon. They turned themselves into the materials needed to create what they needed. This was how the heart of the magic circle was created.”

Everyone looked at the crystal. They looked at the remnant of those that gave up everything in the past to eliminate the Grenoid.

Several Connectors made the cross or prayed.

“The only thing left was the powerful magical energy that would be wielded by the magic circle. The only place that had magical energy of that magnitude was the moon. The last remaining magicians changed their bodies into magical energy. They used the power generated to synchronize with the crystal. They were able to change the trajectory of this city to crash towards the moon. The story ends there. Those were the last words written on the pillar.”

Currently, the Mage city was located on the moon.

“They were successful.”

“Yes, they were.”

Plu-El responded to Sungyoon’s words with pride in her voice.

The ones, who had carried out this monumental task, weren’t technically their ancestors. Still, they were akin to distant cousins.

She wasn’t arrogant like Aruwen. However, she was proud of being a descendant of Planote even if she didn’t openly display it.

“They left behind their will within the Mage Gem, and they left it outside the city. After sealing the city, they made it so that the one with the Royal Gem would be the only one to enter this city. They did this because they determined one needed the Royal Gem to defeat the Grenoid. Moreover, only the Royal Gem can properly handle a crystal of that size.”

“That is why I couldn’t open the door.”

Bruce nodded his head as if he had an epiphany. At this point, Bruce’s antics regarding the door was getting a bit old with the others.

“Sung Hyunwoo must have found the Mage Gem by coincidence, and he must have seen the will left behind it. That is why he knew this place had the method needed to defeat the Grenoid. Of course, I have no idea why he would give us this information either.”

Whenever Plu-El talked about Sung Hyunwoo, she had a menacing expression on her face.

“Thank you for the story about the great sacrifice made by the magicians, Ms. Plu-El. We are all deeply moved by their sacrifices. However, you know what our situation is like. Could you please tell us how we are supposed to defeat the Grenoid?”

Russell was very careful, so he didn’t offend Plu-El and the other descendants of Planote.

“I understand.”

It seemed she didn’t feel offended by his words, so Russell inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

“The principle behind it is simple. We have to return all of the moon’s magical energy to earth.”

“We have to do that with magical energy?”

“Yes. It was the reason why the Grenoid was able to trample our civilization, which had been blossoming like a flower. It is its oppressive ability to control magical energy.”

Plu-El rubbed her hands.

“Magical energy can create numerous phenomenons. It isn’t an exaggeration to call it all-powerful. It is an overwhelmingly powerful and endless source of energy. The Grenoid can freely wield this source of energy. Of course, it is almost invincible. It was so deadly against our civilization because we based our civilization on magical energy. This was why we fell so easily. We were so desperate that we exiled all the magical energy from Earth.”

Plu-El turned around to look at the pillar. She spoke as her eyes remained fixed to the crystal.

“If that is completely activated, all the magical energy of the moon will be sucked back towards earth. Even the great Grenoid won’t be able to wield its absolute power. Its domination of magical energy becomes useless if there’s no magical energy.”

“Is there any way we can stop the monsters from attacking earth?”

Defeating the Grenoid was an important problem, but they needed to stop the monsters from invading earth right now. Earth was their home base, and it needed to regain stability.

“Once the magic circle is activated, a force field will be created between the moon and earth. The magicians were worried the Grenoid’s control over magical energy can extend beyond space. This was why they created this method. The force field will block the portals.”

“That means they can no longer send the monsters to earth.”

“That is correct. However, you should think this through. We’ll be in the same boat. We won’t be able to use the portals either.”

“It is a double-edged sword.”

Russell rubbed his chin.

“Still, isn’t it better than hundreds of thousands of people dying on earth?”

“You do have a point.”

Russell didn’t have a rebuttal, so he agreed with Bruce.

“Still, I’m sure there is a way we can strategically use this information to create the best-case scenario for us. I’ll have to discuss it with the mayor first. Moreover, the situation on earth might have changed since we last contacted them.”

Russell didn’t voice out loud that he suspected that things had probably worsened on earth.

“Yes. That’s right. We gained a method that’ll allow us to choke out our enemies. There is no reason to rush this.”

“Anyways, we can head back now that we can come here anytime we want. The Knight can travel here at any moment. I will be able to come here once I’m able to awaken the Mage Gem.”

“Ah. The Mage Gem won’t awaken for a while.”

Plu-El shot down Russell’s words.

“Is something wrong with it?”

“The magicians purposefully stopped the Mage Gem from awakening. All the function of the city was converted into maintaining the magic circle. The Mage Gem can only awaken when the magic circle is awakened.”

“What the hell? That means it’ll be useless for the near future.”

Bruce was disappointed.

“That’s the gist of it.”

Russell didn’t express it, but he was very disappointed.

“We’ll head back as soon as we are done here. We have to relay this information as soon as possible.”

When they heard Sungyoon’s words, everyone started getting ready to head back.

***

“Good! Very good!”

As expected, the mayor was so happy that he was clapping.

“I can sleep a bit better at night now!”

There were black circles below his sunken eyes.

It seemed he hadn’t had a proper night's sleep since he had lost Armstrong city.

“We just need to solve one more problem, then humanity will be out of danger. Of course, the remaining problem is the most difficult one to solve.”

“What are you referring to?”

“I’m talking about the curtain call of the moon falling towards earth, Ms. Plu-El.”

Even if they were able to stop the monsters and defeat the Grenoid, all would be for naught if the cradle of humanity was damaged.

“Do you think the moon might return to its normal trajectory when we defeat the Grenoid?”

The mayor asked the question because he wanted Plu-El to deny such a possibility. However, Plu-El’s answer was cold as ever.

“I do not believe it will. The rituals did their job in changing the trajectory of the moon. However, the moon is currently moving under the law of nature. We need to apply a new power to the moon to revert the trajectory of the moon. Even if we defeat the Grenoid, the moon will continue towards Earth.”

“I see.”

The mayor was disappointed.

“Then let’s do what we can first. It’ll take a long time for the moon to fall to earth anyway. We have to stop the monsters from coming to earth. We have to stop Kevil from performing the rituals, so the moon doesn’t accelerate further. Our time won’t shorten.”

“Should we activate the seed immediately?”

“No.”

The mayor spoke in no uncertain terms as he cut off Sungyoon’s desire to act.

“We have to take back Armstrong city before we do that.”

“Armstrong city?”

“Yes. We cannot use the portal once we activate the seed. If we want to return from the moon, we have to use the spacesh.i.p.s. We need Armstrong city for that. I have no idea how much manpower and resources we’ll need to pull that off.”

Just imagining it was horrifying. The mayor shook his head from side to side.

“I have no idea if we’ll succeed or fail. I personally think the odds are very low. However, we have to keep the portals open until we take back Armstrong city.”

“But Earth will continue to take damage if we keep the portals open.”

Emily’s worries were valid, and the mayor didn’t deny that fact.

“That is why we have to attack it as soon as possible. If possible, we have to do it right now.”