By Zephyria “Charlotte, maintain your strength. Hold on!”
Isabella’s desperate and urgent voice circled the crater’s sky. The five connected lines twisted more and more precariously, signaling the unstable situation.
The core at the center was caught in a poorly formed trap and couldn’t get out, but it twisted its body madly and continued to circle a certain radius above the crater. Occasionally, it would fly in front of one of the commanders and savagely snap its jaws as if to chew them up.
Hugo, who was also pulling on the five threads wrapped around his forearm, also had a clear vein popping out on his forehead.
As soon as Leonardo’s figure disappeared into the smoke, he jumped into the center of the Pentagon created by the commanders. Then, he connected the threads containing Magic Power to each of the five people to maintain the overall balance, but it was difficult to adjust the power evenly because the difference in gravity generated by each individual was greater than he had expected, and his own condition was not very good.
In addition, since Leonardo, who would launch the final attack, was above, Hugo naturally had to be located below the five commanders. But there, lava spewing flames was overflowing, and the surrounding area was filled with a pungent gas that smelled like burning lungs.
In the meantime, the unanchored core was struggling violently as if it would jump out, and its strong resistance caused unbearable pain to all the commanders, including Hugo. As a result, their minds, which were barely maintaining the magic, were already pushed to their limits.
“…Ha.”
But Hugo couldn’t show any signs of difficulty. The core, which was circling around as if testing the waters, was particularly targeting two people persistently.
It kept circling near the Southern Branch Vice Commander Bruno Amos and the 12th Battalion Commander Isabella Roslin. The reason was that the force pulling them to the opposite side was relatively weaker than the gravity they generated.
And at the intersection of the two lines located on the opposite side was the 9th Battalion’s Vice Commander, Charlotte Hastings.
The fact that a vice commander-level was enduring together in this place was actually a remarkable thing, but the current situation was a merciless real battle.
Because the force pulling toward her was weaker than average, the core, which had been pulled to the opposite side, was snapping its teeth in front of Bruno and Isabella.
Bruno, whose sweat was flowing like rain, tilted his head up and squeezed his eyes shut as the monster roared savagely in his face at a position where he felt like his hand would disappear if he stretched out an arm.
If Hugo, who was below, hadn’t shifted the power toward Charlotte to prevent it from moving forward, one of them would have already been crushed between its teeth without leaving a trace.
“Hastings, just a little more!”
The voices of his superiors, encouraging him and struggling, flickered around him, but Charlotte was not in a situation to come to her senses now.
Her two arms, spread out to both sides, were pulled so tightly that she even felt like her muscles were rupturing and her bones were being pulled out. She could clearly hear the sound of something being crushed, but her senses were so dulled that she couldn’t even tell which part it was.
Her chin was trembling and a salty liquid was flowing from her nose. Judging by the fact that her eyes were gradually turning red, the capillaries in her eyeballs seemed to be bursting.
Charlotte chuckled, blowing away the fallen hair with a sigh. Her vision was gradually blurring.
At that time, the core, which had been attached to the edge all along, suddenly flew to the center of the pentagon. The others thought that the power had been drawn out more from Charlotte’s side, but Hugo, who was coordinating the overall power from below, saw it as a somewhat strange movement.
It was hovering in place, increasing the range of its wings. It was as if it was gauging the limit of how far it could move.
‘That movement is….’
The moment a bad feeling flashed through Hugo’s mind as he watched it, the core, which had been retreating for a while, rushed toward Bruno with all its might.
“Vice Commander Amos!”
Kugung— Kung—
Kyak!
The whip that Hugo swung flew and wrapped around the monster’s neck as it moved quickly. The monster stopped in mid-air as if its Leash had been pulled, and was pulled back to a precarious point.
Its frantic howling seemed to have dealt quite a blow, but the magnetic lines between the commanders shook violently, as if the transparent barrier that the giant had collided with had been damaged.
The shock was transmitted to everyone connected by the binding spell. As a result, the tension that had been taut was felt to have loosened a little, and the core seized the opportunity and threw its body once more.
But this time, the direction it was rushing was not where the humans were. It was between Bruno and Isabella, which was exactly the opposite of Charlotte.
It was the moment Hugo, who had noticed its intentions, was about to shout loudly to the commanders.
Kwaaaang!
The core’s head touched the magnetic line, and the air in that area lost gravity and exploded. At that moment, the gas and dust that had been clustered in the center of the pentagon burst, and about 5% of the edge of the crater was lost along with a huge impact sound.
At the same time, Bruno and Isabella, who were on that side, were thrown out of the crater, and all the commanders connected to them were pulled in that direction. It was an event that happened in an instant, so much so that they couldn’t even scream.
“Supreme Commander!”
“Maintain formation!”
In the moment when shouts were exchanged, a similar thing to a flashback flashed through Charlotte’s mind, who was being dragged helplessly.
‘No, I absolutely can’t fail.’
She had joined the operation, boasting that she could do what her superior could do. If this happened, many more people would die, and she might be placed at the root of the operation’s failure.
If that happened, even if she survived in the future, she would have no face to show her superiors, subordinates, and colleagues. Even if her arms were really torn off, she had to succeed in the task she was assigned.
Maybe that’s why. They say that people exert superhuman strength just before they die?
Suddenly, an unknown power began to gush out of her body.
“Aaaaaah!”
Charlotte, who almost screamed, pulled out sticky threads from her arms and shoulder blades. Then, she quickly covered the edge of the crater and tied it tightly to the cracks in the Boulder as if connecting a lifeline.
Thanks to this, her body, which had been dragged, stopped in mid-air, and Bruno and Isabella, who were on the opposite side, were also pulled by the reaction.
The two commanders, who quickly regained their senses, barely maintained the generation of gravity. Then, the pentagon formed by the magnetic lines was spread out again over the outside of the crater.
Although the situation had flowed differently than planned, this was an opportunity for Hugo. As the position was shifted to the outside of the crater, his breath, which had been squeezed by the volcanic gas and heat, was finally relieved.
He connected the threads of Magic Power more firmly and wrapped them around his arm once more, sending gravity to Charlotte’s side as much as possible and distributing the power evenly.
Then, the movement of the core, which had been shaking due to unstable gravity, gradually stopped, and the shadow of the giant, which had been biased to one side, was slowly pulled to the center.
At the same time, the shock waves and debris that had spread out were also blocked by an invisible wall and gathered in one place. As the dust cleared and the view opened up, the faces of his colleagues, who were just enduring with evil, became clear.
Soon, at the moment when the roaring core was placed in the very center, the influence of the renowned Pentagon began to act strongly enough for all the commanders to know.
Clearly, the force acting inside was the tension pulling in all directions, but inside the pentagon, the air and sound were distorted as if compressing space-time.
At the same time, a sharp energy that felt like twisting the internal organs flowed through the commanders’ entire bodies, stabbing each cell deeply.
It was as if they had been hit directly in the solar plexus, making it difficult to breathe, and their eyelids were fluttering and their pupils seemed to be turning over.
But there was not only pain. As if proving their hard work, the core’s skin was being pulled in all directions, and its volume was expanding. Like the root of evil being subjected to dismemberment, its limbs, which had been stretched out, were fixed in the air.
The frantic flapping of its wings slowed down like slow motion, and the giant’s head, which had been slowly turning, was now a taxidermied obstacle in the sky.
When everything, including the muscles, protrusions, and eyeballs, stopped completely as if it were really trapped in a photograph, Hugo, who fully realized the completion of the Pentagon, shouted urgently toward the sky.
“Leonardo!”
At that moment, the sky, which had been filled with hazy steam, miraculously split to both sides.
At the same time, a mysterious light that had been hidden along with a sacred aura poured down on the commanders’ heads.
The six members of the Council squinted for a moment, but soon their gazes were all fixed on one place.
Soon, five pairs of eyes, dyed in mysterious colors, widened as if they couldn’t believe it.
In the meantime, even Meterion, who was frowning alone, let out a word that was like a sigh.
“……Holy Spear?”