LTTH C79

Chapter 79

“Impossible….”

Kassie’s blue eyes quivered faintly as they met the Tower Master’s. Without exchanging a single word, the two mages traded conclusions through nothing but their gaze. Then—almost by reflex—each of them cast a spell, one of wind and one of water, hurtling straight toward an unfortunate monster in front of them.

“Kkeek—!”

“…There’s nothing wrong with our magic.”

“Strange indeed.”

As the monster collapsed with a shriek, Kassie and the Tower Master exchanged equally dissatisfied looks. Their magic was functioning perfectly. And yet—every attempt to relocate Hansol using teleportation magic had failed.

“So only teleportation is being blocked…?”

“Those newly appeared creatures must have done something.”

The two mages reached the same conclusion at nearly the same moment, nodding in grim unison.

“Hansol, let’s get you inside the Tower first.”

“…No. I will remain here.”

“Hansol.”

Hansol pulled free of Kassie’s grip. Kassie hadn’t even tried to hold on with real force—his hand slipped away too easily. Ignoring Kassie’s anxious stare, Hansol turned inward, rapidly running through scenarios.

He had enough remaining skill points to declare Sanctuary. But that alone wouldn’t be enough.

His eyes moved to the status window. Divine Power: 16. Enough to invoke Descent once—perhaps. Whether a single use would be sufficient… there was no telling.

Pessimistic thoughts started to form, but Hansol shook them away. If he fell into despair now, nothing would change. What if he spent only half his skill points? A compromise—temporary, but workable. He drew a steady breath and opened his mouth.

“S—ugh!”

“Hansol, wait, it’s dangerous!”

Before he could even shape the first syllable, Hansol’s body lurched, losing balance.

Kwaang.

They were facing monsters—but still remained within the Tower’s barrier. A few more steps and they would have been exposed, but for now they were technically safe. Which was why the thing that brushed past Hansol’s side should not have been possible.

“…Ah…”

A shapeless, wobbling monster—without a face, without features—extended one of its purple-stained tendrils through the inside of the barrier. Normally, the barrier would have repelled it instantly. That was the purpose of the barrier.

But the tendril pierced straight through and wrapped around the bodies of the people behind him.

“Aaaagh!!”

“P-please—let me go—!”

The thing lifted people—hunters and civilians alike—with no discrimination, dragging them outside the barrier and hurling them into the ground like broken toys. Had Kassie not pulled Hansol back in time, he would have been flung skyward with the rest.

This… this is too much…

A monster capable of bypassing even the Tower’s proudest defense? Was such a creature even killable? Hansol looked instinctively toward the Tower Master. As the master extended his hand, the once-translucent barrier thickened rapidly, its blue sheen deepening to near opacity.

“…Is there such a thing as a monster immune to barriers?”

“…Not until now.”

The Tower Master’s expression hardened. Even with the barrier thickened to the point that the outside world was blurred, that grotesque limb reached through it effortlessly. Five people had already been seized. And the tendril kept wandering, as though selecting its next prey.

“Move—move! Get away!”

“To where?! There’s nowhere to go!”

“…T-there!”

The panicked crowd turned toward the purification zone Hansol had created outside the barrier. Coincidence or not, even the tentacled monster seemed disinterested in that area. All the monsters were bypassing it entirely, pushing instead toward the Tower.

Naturally, the purification zone wasn’t large enough to hold everyone.

“M-move—!”

“No—me first!”

“My baby—!”

It was hell. Those who failed to reach the purification zone rolled across the ground in desperation. Passing monsters butchered those sprawled outside. To them, humans fleeing the barrier must have seemed like prey presenting their throats willingly.

Within moments, more people died outside than had been taken by the tentacled creature.

“Hansol, save Sanctuary for the right moment.”

“…Huh?”

Wasn’t it already too late?

“You can’t use it indefinitely, right? Now is far too dangerous.”

Hansol’s lips trembled. He had been seconds from declaring it—and Kassie had stopped him. Mages were, by nature, highly intelligent; the class required it. A foolish mage was as useless as pearls around a pig’s neck.

But that didn’t mean Kassie was always right.

Hansol’s eyes traveled to the fallen bodies outside the barrier. Were they all dead? Most likely. But Sanctuary could restore the dead—he had seen it before. Could it not work here?

Despair and hope tangled violently in his chest, and Hansol made his decision.

“Declare Sanctuary.”

Please designate the number of skill points to consume. (Available Skill Points: 9)

“All of them.”

Using only half… was nothing but self-deception. Half the skill points would have produced an area no larger than the purification zone. Too small. Far too small to save everyone remaining.

Sanctuary has been declared.

The area is centered on the caster.

Current radius: 45m

Duration: 180 minutes.

His remaining skill points dropped to zero. Hansol’s level—51. No more accelerated leveling. No easy growth. But no regret.

The metallic tang of blood. The damp, rancid odor of monsters. A street turned battlefield. Survivors clinging to life.

And through all of it—a sweep of golden light cut across the world.

Hope radiated outward, surpassing the Tower’s barrier and flooding the purification zone.

The tentacled monster, still reaching for victims, touched the expanding edge of the Sanctuary. Would it survive? Hansol watched, breath trembling.

The golden earth did not tolerate impurities. The moment the creature touched the light, its body dissolved upward—from feet to torso to outstretched limbs—into shimmering particles. In an instant, the harbinger of despair vanished completely.

“It—it died? For real?!”

“…Of course. It was the Messiah. We weren’t mistaken!”

Not only the tentacled monster—every humanoid creature within the radius evaporated, leaving no trace.

As silence fell, Hansol searched for movement among the corpses lying on the ground. None stirred.

…Why is it different?

At Berthel’s laboratory, they had risen again. What had changed? Was it because that was inside a Gate? Because they were Rankers?

Whatever the reason, these deaths were on him. They had died because he hesitated.

Hansol swallowed the bitter swell of self-hatred and quietly closed each fallen person’s eyes.

“……”

A silent, grief-stricken funeral. Kassie, the Tower Master, and James stood beside him without a word. When Hansol approached the final body, something pitch-black crawled across the corpse’s skin.

“What—what is that?”

“Hansol, step back.”

James and Kassie immediately blocked his path. Even as he stepped backward, Hansol couldn’t take his eyes off the spreading blackness. He knew it. He recognized it.

His eyes darted upward. The sky was clear—bright blue. Nothing was falling. And yet the oily black substance covering the corpse looked exactly like the black snow Berthel had scattered across London’s ground.

“This is… from back then…”

Kassie’s brows furrowed as he examined it. He recognized it too.

Hansol turned. Every corpse he had passed—each one bore the same black substance.

…Damn it.

Hansol repeated the thought endlessly.

Sanctuary is here. I’m safe inside it. Safe. Safe.

But his hands trembled.

Had Berthel not died? Were there two Berthels—one in England, one here?

“Hansol, it’s alright.”

Kassie’s firm hand enveloped Hansol’s shaking one, and the tremor stilled instantly.

There was no Berthel here. Nowhere. Not even a shadow.

He was dead.

Hansol exhaled slowly.

The black snow that had consumed people vanished the moment it touched Sanctuary’s light—just like in England. Relief washed over him.

Yet unlike before, nothing remained afterward. Not even the bodies the black snow had enveloped.