Magic Monopoly: Reborn as the Sole Magic Tower Master

Chapter 330: Episode 330

The march of humanity’s assault squad to hunt Nemesis had begun. There were now less than eighteen miles left until the core area where the entity was located.

And the monsters of the New Continent guarding Nemesis were all of the ’Ultio’ lineage. Covered in white bone from head to toe, with their flesh and muscles contained inside—monsters with an inverted exterior and interior.

Ultios were the demon race that hunters loathed the most, and even their weakest individuals were Rank 7. If they had appeared from a standard dimensional rift, these monsters were more than capable of obliterating an entire city before a Rank 3 hunter could even arrive to stop them.

Ranging in size from small to colossal, their appearances and combat skills were entirely varied. They were by no means easy opponents, but hunters from all across the globe united as one, tearing through the monster offensive and pushing relentlessly forward.

While the battle raged on, Yusin was resting inside the ’Shelter’ of the Lion Fleet.

No one raised any objections. He had already gone above and beyond his role as the Supreme Commander of humanity.

"Are you feeling okay, Yusin?" Hong Yeon asked, staying close by his side.

"I’m fine. Just a little tired."

Yusin had personally requested that Hong Yeon conserve her stamina, declaring her the trump card for the battle against Nemesis. Since the order came from the man who had just pulled off an impossible operation, his request was accepted without question.

From here on out, it all depends on Hong Yeon.

Even his post-Nemesis plans were only possible once the entity was actually eliminated. As a Guardian, she absolutely had to play a massive role in this boss fight.

"Yusin."

"Hmm?"

"Lie down and rest properly." She knelt and gently guided his head onto her lap.

Feeling the soft sensation against the back of his head, Yusin blinked in panic. "Uh, you’re doing this for me?"

"Yes. But this is the last time." She blushed and averted her gaze. "...It’s embarrassing, so don’t look at me. Turn over."

"This pillow is pretty demanding."

Hong Yeon’s ruthless retribution immediately followed, and Yusin rolled away, groaning in exaggerated agony.

Meanwhile, outside the Shelter, the battle was in full swing. The monsters of the New Continent were individually terrifying, but humanity’s momentum was explosive.

"Alright, move it! Get out of the way!" Han Yoonjeong soared into the sky, swinging her arms in wide arcs.

A massive pit of sand materialized beneath her, and a frantic storm of earthen weaponry poured out of it. The monsters were skewered by the swirling blades and blown apart.

—"Mobile battleships, commence firing."

Aerial flagships built with cutting-edge American technology unleashed a devastating barrage of missiles. Mocking the established logic that standard munitions were useless against monsters Rank 5 and above, the sheer volume of firepower blew the Rank 7 creatures apart en masse.

Flying proudly amidst these pinnacles of state-of-the-art technology was an old, gray medieval sailing ship. The spectral cannonballs firing from the Ghost Ship easily surpassed the aerial flagships in sheer efficiency. Any monsters caught in the blasts had their mana completely vaporized, collapsing helplessly and allowing the ground hunters to effortlessly pierce their hearts as they advanced.

"We can’t let them show us up! Let’s go!"

This time, the Magic Tower’s aerial squadron, led by Ha Yerin from the Sky Castle, made its appearance. Mages utilizing the Icarus Ability rained spells down on the enemy as they flew past at breakneck speeds.

The monsters’ bodies burned into nothingness. Above them, the android Adam aimed his staff device, firing particle acceleration cannons to cleanly execute the colossal beasts.

"What the hell is that?"

"...A robot?"

The ground hunters murmured in awe as they looked up. Befitting the final war, humanity’s most advanced weaponry was being deployed on a massive, unprecedented scale.

—"Multiple enemies detected at our four o’clock!"

—"This is the Archbishop. I will take care of it."

White steeds soaring through the sky, reminiscent of the mythological Pegasus, pulled a grand carriage. Ranged attacks rained down from all directions, but the carriage smoothly evaded them, gliding effortlessly to its target destination.

Then, Archbishop Lucia gripped her cross necklace.

A colossal cross descended from the heavens and slammed into the earth, obliterating nearly a hundred Rank 7 monsters in a brilliant, simultaneous explosion.

Passionate cheers erupted from the allied formation.

—"Nice! Nice! Let’s keep moving!"

—"Twenty aerial-type Ultios spotted at our nine o’clock!"

—"I’ve got them."

The world’s strongest telekinetic, Certified Rank 1 Samuel, spread his arms wide.

As if pulled by magnetic force, the monsters violently slammed into one another, their bodies shattering into pieces before dissolving into the air. When it came to aerial superiority, humanity held an overwhelming advantage.

—"Nine o’clock is clear."

—"Air superiority secured! Just keep your eyes forward and run!"

The hunters were completely fired up. They were fighting alongside legends they would be lucky to glimpse even once in their lifetimes. Having this many Certified Rank 1 hunters gathered on a single battlefield was a first in human history.

"The fire support is insane. Isn’t this too easy?"

"Let’s ride this momentum straight to Nemesis!"

However, a new trial soon struck. The hunters, who had been charging forward without hesitation, swallowed hard and ground to a sudden halt.

"...Yeah, there’s no way it’d be this easy."

Thousands of Ultio legionnaires positioned on the ridge were blocking their path. Worse yet, they weren’t mindlessly charging at the sight of humans. Seeing the demons maintain strict formation and execute disciplined tactical movements momentarily overwhelmed the hunters.

—"Do not hesitate."

Gabriel’s voice rang through their earpieces.

—"Have you already forgotten? Five billion people will die. Even at this very moment, our families, our friends, and our neighbors are being slaughtered back home."

The hunters gritted their teeth and tightened their grips on their weapons.

—"Arm yourselves with fighting spirit and harbor absolute bloodlust. Bear the pride of humanity’s final assault squad."

Deeply inspired, the hunters roared in response.

—"All hunters with shield devices, get out front!"

—"Close-combat specialists, move to the vanguard!"

—"Aerial forces, prepare your firepower! U.S. flagships, the Magic Tower, Sky Castle, the Ghost Corps, and the Holy Knights are to stand by in position."

Soon, humanity’s fully prepared army marched forward.

The legion of Ultios stood firm in their positions.

And then.

The shield-wielding hunters violently clashed with the vanguard monsters.

They’re solid!

Their charge was halted by the sheer brute strength of the beasts, but humanity had the sky.

The Sky Castle’s turrets opened, and every gun port on the aerial flagships unlocked. The mages unfurled their glowing magic circles, standing at the ready.

—"Commence firing!"

All of humanity’s firepower rained down at once. The center of the monster formation collapsed, significantly weakening their holding power.

"Move."

Right then, Russia’s poster boy, Certified Rank 1 Grizzly, and the Vatican’s Certified Rank 2, Giant, leaped into the fray.

The bodies of the two men rapidly swelled by dozens of feet in an instant, looking straight out of a monster movie. One transformed into a colossal bear, and the other into a towering giant.

As the two colossi swung their massive arms, the Ultio monsters were sent flying like bowling pins, opening a massive rift in the frontline.

Gabriel, the undisputed king of close combat, wedged himself through that opening alongside the veteran hunters. As they broke through, the enemy lines finally collapsed. Humanity’s army became a single, unified spear, piercing straight through the formation.

"I-It’s working! We’re pushing forward!"

"Don’t miss this chance! Hit them with everything you’ve got!"

The fierce melee that followed was an honest battle of numbers. The momentum belonged to humanity, but the sheer individual power of the Ultios matched the hunters, resulting in a brutal war of attrition. For every Ultio heart that was pierced, a human’s head rolled somewhere else.

—"Additional monsters have reinforced the eleven o’clock front!"

—"We’re blocked!"

—"Shut up and run! If we stall here, we’re totally screwed!"

Everyone knew it. The monsters of the New Continent numbered over five million. The longer they dragged this out, the more enemies would swarm them. Right now was the time to reach Nemesis, even if they had to sacrifice everything to force their way through.

—"The resistance is too fierce!"

With the aerial forces’ fire support hitting a temporary lull, their progress completely stalled.

Even Yusin, who had been trying to rest his eyes, felt too anxious to lie still. He sat up. Beside him, Hong Yeon bit her thumb.

"This won’t do. I really should step in..."

As Hong Yeon tried to stand up, Yusin grabbed both her shoulders and gently forced her back into her seat.

"...Yusin?"

"Wait. I’ll handle this." Yusin tapped his earpiece. "Samia. Please prepare the next phase."

—"The Fifth Floor is always ready. However, whether the global governments will properly cooperate is another matter..."

"They’ll cooperate. Without a doubt."

—"Understood."

Yusin stared out the window.

The assault squad was struggling to find a breakthrough, and casualties were steadily piling up. Worst of all, the enemy forces in the rear had grown significantly while he wasn’t looking.

At this rate, they would be completely surrounded.

—"Hunter Kim Yusin, preparations are complete."

"Good."

Just then, Yusin felt a warm pressure against his palm. Hong Yeon had taken his hand, looking up at him with worried eyes.

"You barely got any rest. If you’re going to overdo it again, you might as well send me out instead."

"Hmm? Oh, don’t worry. I’m not the one stepping up."

Her eyes went wide.

"Aside from your Armageddon... does the Magic Tower have any other firepower capable of overcoming a blockade this dense?"

"Nope."

Looking at her bewildered expression, Yusin chuckled. "I’m just going to borrow some."

—"Master of the Tower, activating ’Otherworldly Garden’ at the designated coordinates."

Once again, the illusion of white sandy shores washed over the battlefield. The hunters looked around with perplexed faces.

The Eighth Floor’s Otherworldly Garden allowed for free coordinate settings. And since the physical distance to the Magic Tower was now relatively close, there was no duration limit, either.

—"Hunter Kim Yusin. It seems I won’t have enough mana to use Warp for a while after this."

"That’s fine. Burn it all right here."

The sky of the other world split open, and a warp gate more massive than anything seen before gaped its jaws.

Yusin silently crossed his arms and watched. If the nations of Earth didn’t answer the call, it would be an astronomical waste of mana.

But, if they did respond...

—"Multiple projectiles detected inside the warp gate! They’re incoming!"

—"This is Administrator Kim Sarang. I will activate an amplification field spell in front of the gate."

Yusin nodded. He connected to the command channel via his earpiece. "All forces, halt in position. Brace yourselves for heavy fire from the sky."

—"...From the sky?"

Moments later, from that very sky, a payload of missiles more numerous than the stars in the night sky breached the portal. The hunters’ jaws dropped.

"What the hell is that?!"

The countless missiles pouring out of the gate passed through the Fourth Floor’s magic field array, amplifying as they cascaded down onto the monster legion.

The vast space was simultaneously transformed into a roaring sea of fire, then completely blanketed in thick smoke. The hunters’ ears rang painfully, and the harsh scent of munitions made it hard to breathe.

"Yusin. This is..."

"It’s the firepower I borrowed."

The principle was simple. He had spread warp gates all over Earth and tethered their exits to this location through the coordinates of the Otherworldly Garden. It was the exact same method used to transport the assault squad to the New Continent in the first place.

Before entering the New Continent, Yusin, acting as the Supreme Commander, had sought the cooperation of the nations with the largest missile stockpiles—China, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Dick Green.

He told them he would notify them of the warp locations in advance, and that they were to unleash their entire non-nuclear, non-chemical arsenals into the gates the second they opened. He specifically banned WMDs since the human vanguard still had to pass through the blast zone.

At the time, the leaders of each country fiercely protested, calling it utter suicide, but Yusin simply stated his terms:

—"The only time I will request this firepower is if the assault squad falls into a critical crisis. If you withhold this strike, you can consider the vanguard annihilated and the raid on Nemesis a pipe dream."

Back then, since the assault squad hadn’t even entered the New Continent yet, it might have sounded like an absurd hypothetical. But things were completely different now. Every nation had thrown their best hunters into the fray, and they were desperately praying for their safe return.

In a way, Yusin had secured their artillery by holding their own citizens hostage.

The United States.

—"Three million Minuteman missiles on standby."

—"All carrier strike groups have reached their designated coordinates! Commence firing!"

China.

—"By order of the President. Fire absolutely everything we have."

—"A-Are we really just shooting into that thing?"

—"Do not question the President’s orders!"

The United Kingdom and Russia followed suit.

All of humanity’s conventional firepower was concentrated on a single point to obliterate the monsters. The Fifth Floor had meticulously calculated the dimensional coordinates, organizing the trajectories perfectly so the missiles wouldn’t collide with one another in transit.

It was a known fact that standard munitions suffered a sharp drop in efficiency against high-rank monsters, but in the face of sheer, apocalyptic volume, no such logic mattered. The thoroughly appalled hunters retreated far into the distance, shielding their eyes from the inferno.

"But why did you have to name the operation ’Plan Half-and-Half’ of all things?" Hong Yeon asked, peeking at Yusin’s phone.

Yusin wagged a finger and replied. "Because it’s a perfect split of magic and science."

Hong Yeon fell silent.

"...Don’t look at me like that. It’s embarrassing."