Chapter 54

No matter what, we weren’t sending the goblins back again.

There were stories circulating that goblins seemed to use their own kind of language, but the issue was that their speaking method was quite different from that of humans.

Sure, a person could imitate it, but if we tried to break down their words and fit them into our own language, it would take ages.

So, we decided to just deploy a lot of scout assets.

We launched drones and the mages used observation magic. They were to keep an eye on the situation up front while we ran.

Plus, just walking through here posed various problems.

Although there was plenty to gain beyond the gate, the area wasn’t explored much because of the dense forests nearby.

While there was indeed enough space between the trees for a person to move about, building something and stationing people there would consume too much manpower and resources. Therefore, this gate was primarily kept open for extracting special ores from the local mine.

That said, it wasn’t suitable for riding something wheeled. Even a motorcycle could cause serious problems if it got caught in vines or something.

…But come on, it wasn’t like the areas beyond the gate were just thick forests for the first time.

Earthlings applied magic in their own way, and they knew how to incorporate technology into it.

What they ended up creating was, indeed, the hover bike.

Some people called it a witch’s broom, but fundamentally, it resembled a mountain motorcycle without wheels.

“Haha, it’s been a while.”

“Have you actually ridden one before? You have a license, right?”

“Don’t worry. There’s no way you’d die.”

As if I wouldn’t be worried about that.

Everything I’ve seen so far has basically been wheeled vehicles. Even airplanes.

“Well, if you can’t trust my reflexes, what can I say… Are you really going to walk? No way would our saint candidate be too scared to ride on the back of a motorcycle?”

“……”

I shot Ria a glare at that comment while putting on the helmet.

Then I tightened the chin strap.

Ria chuckled at me then hopped on the bike.

Well, it looked like a motorcycle, but it was primarily a device powered by magic. It was quite expensive, and you wouldn’t find one running unless it was a hunter association of this scale.

It was probably designed for longer journeys, as there was a cargo space at the back.

Ria’s sword was strapped in front, ready to be pulled out when needed, while I had my shield stowed behind, but my pistol was holstered under my armpit.

Just in case we’d have to fight while on the bike.

“Get on the back.”

Ria said.

“……”

I nervously hopped onto the backseat. Thankfully, motorcycles were generally roomy enough.

I stretched out my arms and carefully grabbed Ria’s waist.

“Hey, that’s not where you should be grabbing—”

“What?”

“……”

Ria fell silent for a moment, then said, “Never mind, just hold on tightly. This will be better.”

“Eh? What? Do you have some sort of handle or something?”

But Ria didn’t answer and looked at the lead hunter.

The rest of the party checked once more to see if everyone was aboard the motorcycle. Most of the mages were in the back, just like me.

Well, they had to use observation magic after all.

No one looked scared. Even Lee Si-yoon and Han Yu-ri were fine.

Glaria wore a slightly dissatisfied expression as she sat behind another female hunter — that alone was a bit amusing.

“Whoa!?”

While I was lost in thought, I felt my body jerk forward.

They said the electric zero-to-sixty was incredibly short, but this anti-gravity motorcycle was even more so.

I unconsciously tightened my grip. To my embarrassment, Ria’s body felt oddly soft and warm in this situation.

Even if my chest touched her back, it didn’t seem to bother her much.

…For some reason, it strangely made me feel a bit irritated that I seemed to be the only one concerned about it.

*

After about five kilometers, a group of goblins appeared before us again.

When they saw us approaching at high speed, all the goblins crouched down, trembling with their hands on their heads.

It seemed like the goblins we had captured before were the frontliners.

Among those frontliners, some already bore injuries from magical attacks. They must have been in such poor shape that they needed to send those out first to scout.

The remaining goblins appeared to be in much worse condition overall.

There was a very old individual lying under what looked like a makeshift cover. Then there were others with longer hair who looked somewhat softer than the rough goblins I had seen before… hmm.

It might be a bit awkward to say in this context, but those goblins seemed to be female. How should I put it? Their vibe definitely matched—green skin, black hair.

But, um. How should I say this…

It gave off the vibe… no, to be nice about it, it looked like the kind of female customization you could choose for the goblin species when playing a Korean MMORPG. Yeah, let’s put it that way.

There was also a female dwarf character from some online RPG I had seen before that gave off a similar feeling—no, never mind that. Let’s stop thinking about this. Delving deeper would probably only make things weirder.

There were about fifty of them. Our numbers were about thirty, so they didn’t have enough to overwhelm us. The majority over there seemed to be the presumed female ones, and the rest were pretty badly injured and couldn’t even stand. Some of them showed signs of wanting to defend their group against us, but most looked quite young.

The hunters exchanged somewhat perplexed glances.

“……”

Glaria had a somewhat ambiguous expression.

I didn’t think it was wise to ask about their opinions here. It would only complicate things unnecessarily.

“First, let’s go up to the front.”

“That’s still not exactly clear…”

Han Yu-ri said that, but we all knew we needed to confirm it.

We had no intention of leaving any hunters behind. If we did, we might lose contact or our numbers could dwindle too much and put ourselves in danger.

We did notify headquarters in advance to inform them of our location and to proceed forward while being cautious.

Then—

“Wait, wait a moment.”

As I hugged Ria’s waist a little tighter, she shuddered and stopped.

The hunters circling around us also halted.

“What? Did you find something strange?”

The mages using observation magic tilted their heads in confusion.

To both me and them, the expansive area in front didn’t seem to have anything large—

“……Ah.”

However, there were a few others who reacted similarly to me.

It was hard to notice while moving quickly, but standing still apparently revealed changes.

…They had said new monsters could be sensed by their magical power.

I got off the motorcycle.

The slightly damp ground felt soft and didn’t hurt at all.

When I reached down to scoop up some dirt, everything seemed fine, but—

I infused a little saint power into the soil.

As I did, something that had been “soaking” the earth suddenly evaporated. The ground dried up and turned to sand, scattering away.

The area ahead was completely contaminated with a large amount of magical power.

“……Oh my.”

Han Yu-ri murmured.

“I think I understand why they were fleeing.”

I said that and brushed my hands off. The pristine sand that had remained was now being blown away, white powdered-like the dirt falling onto the damp ground.

And that sand quickly became stained again by the magic power, rendering it unrecognizable.

Glaria placed her hand on a tree that was still alive. It hadn’t fully died yet, but parts of the tree began shedding like a damp sheet that had dried up.

This area was entirely dead land.

Gradually and insidiously, the magic power was eroding the soil to the point we wouldn’t easily notice. By the time the Hunter Association realized it had encroached upon their territory, it might have been far too late.

Magic power itself can lead to certain phenomena. Although the gate seemed to divide two worlds at a glance, in reality, it was just a passage through which air or liquids could flow freely.

So sometimes, even if no monsters were coming over from beyond the gate, merely opening the gate could lead to disasters.

…Magic power even encroaches upon the land beyond the gate.

It could have rushed in, instantly absorbing living beings on Earth with no particular resistance.

Someone had already contacted headquarters. The gazes of the people turned toward me.

I dug into the earth once more.

And I focused on the deeply saturated soil brimming with magical power.

Ria approached me and silently observed the dirt.

While Ria didn’t say anything to me, I felt compelled to say something.

“This isn’t the end.”

“Eh?”

Ria’s eyes widened as she gazed at me.

The nearby hunters also turned their eyes towards me. Glaria too.

“This is just a phenomenon. A precursor to something.”

Yeah, I had read about this in some novels.

Some people thought of the gate itself as a divine power. And there were those who believed that the gods had bestowed that power “upon themselves.”

The exact purpose was unknown.

But…

Because of that, there were those who desired the existence of the saintess.

“……”

I looked up at the sky.

It felt as if something up there was watching us.

“Oh my.”

While I wasn’t sure yet, a vague sense-inducing feeling started to knit together the scattered puzzle pieces in my mind.

If the act of opening that gate is someone’s power…

If the very existence of that gate began for some purpose…

Then perhaps the act of closing the gate itself was something humanity could not achieve, just a temporary solution.

“Ah.”

My head spun.

Ria stepped towards me with a slightly startled expression.

And as she gently leaned against my arm,

“Wait, wait!”

One of the mages, still vigilant, shouted.

“Over there, something’s appearing! It’s bubbling up…”

And soon, that expression turned into a bewildered one.

“…A mass of magical power?”

No, it wasn’t just that. It was more than just blobs—

“Ria.”

I called out to Ria.

“We have to stop it.”

Yeah. We had to stop it.

‘That thing’ had to be obstructed.

A crisis was necessary in a novel. And typically, that crisis couldn’t simply be one event; it had to be a grand incident encompassing the entire plot of the story.

It was something we absolutely had to stop and fight against.

Such a thing was necessary.

So, it had to be stopped.

If we didn’t, it would inevitably invade our world someday. It would disregard powers that could close the gate and break free.

Was it fortunate or unfortunate that we encountered this before the plan was fully formed?

…If that being up there had a reason for casting me into this world,

I thought it might have been for this very moment.