* * *
“Esper Dasom, we’ll need to support the combat team soon.”
“Understood!”
“Dasom, Siwoo, and I will go. The rest of you, hold this position.”
“Yes, Team Leader!”
That magma pool didn’t hold just one monster.
Soon, more would crawl out—guardians protecting the core.
Raon planned to eliminate those first before backing up the combat team.
‘Things need to go exactly as expected.’
Up until now, everything had followed the path Raon had predicted.
But from here on out, nothing was certain.
With the final stretch still ahead, he couldn’t afford to relax.
Unfortunately, defeating the monster before them wouldn’t be the end of the Red Gate.
Raon’s expression darkened as he remembered the tricky nature of the dual-gated system from before his regression.
‘The core isn’t even here.’
That massive crater?
A fake.
The combat team had exhausted themselves there, only to fight desperately at the second crater when it appeared.
And even after defeating the final monster… the core was nowhere to be found.
The team had been split on what to do—some even suggesting they search for a third crater.
And then…
‘That’s when the gates suddenly merged.’
The Red and Blue Gates—completely opposite in rank and compatibility—fused into one.
In that chaotic mess, they had to locate and destroy the real core.
They were prepared this time—but how well could they respond under pressure?
“Kreeeagh!”
“Attack!”
The monster clashed with the combat team.
As the magma churned, smaller creatures—lesser core guardians—spilled out of the crater.
Raon pointed at them.
“Siwoo, let’s take those down.”
“Got it.”
Siwoo and Hamin took charge of the small monsters.
They were lizard-like, breathing fire aggressively—but to Siwoo, whose ability was water, they posed no real threat.
“I’ll herd them all into one spot!”
Hamin, wielding wind, gathered the monsters together, making it easier to take them down.
Placing Hamin on the Guide team had been a wise choice.
Raon watched from afar, conducting remote guiding with satisfaction.
“Screeeeech!”
Boom!
From the crater, the dragon-like creature was breathing fire at the combat team.
Fortunately, Yoonchae, Inho, and Mikhail were working together seamlessly to keep things under control.
But even they would soon hit their limits.
They needed to wrap up the fight with the small monsters and assist the others as soon as possible.
“Esper Yeojoon!”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
“Once Siwoo, Dasom, and I leave, you’re in charge of the remaining Guide team. Can I count on you?”
“Of course!”
The Guide team would still have Yeojoon, Hamin, and Espers Jaime and Minjae.
Jaime and Minjae weren’t combat-types, but Jaime was a healer.
That should be enough to handle any emergencies, at least for a short while.
“Then I’m trusting you.”
“Yes, sir! Go get ‘em!”
Yeojoon answered firmly.
Raon nodded and called out to Siwoo and Dasom.
“Siwoo! Esper Dasom!”
“Yes!”
Dasom approached with a flushed, excited expression.
At the Violet Gate, he had accidentally used his powers, so this was the first time he properly used healing to support the combat team until the very end.
Raon, seeing the look of determination on Dasom’s face, joined the battle team and shouted,
“We’re from the Guide Team, here to assist! I’ll begin with healing and wide-range guiding!”
Raon activated his powers at the rear of the combat team alongside Dasom.
Though Siwoo wasn’t thrilled, he still moved forward.
With a side glance, Raon confirmed that Siwoo had safely joined the other S-rank espers, and began channeling his guiding energy.
“He-healing incoming!”
Dasom, visibly tense, cast his healing skill.
Wounded espers, previously in critical condition, began recovering rapidly.
And with Raon’s guiding raising their contamination levels, their firepower intensified.
“Damn, that healing is insane.”
“The guiding’s no joke either.”
The espers who received both healing and guiding exclaimed in awe.
Given that South Korea hadn’t had a high-grade healer esper before, their reactions were understandable.
‘Sure, guiding can help wounds heal a little, but that’s just a side effect from raising contamination levels.’
Espers, by default, had self-healing abilities.
The higher the rank, the faster the regeneration.
But if an esper had low contamination levels, their healing would slow down.
Guiding helped by raising those levels, thus passively speeding up recovery.
Technically, it wasn’t the guiding itself that healed injuries.
But healing?
Healing directly repaired the body—it was a miracle in comparison.
“Injured to the back! Anyone needing guiding, too!”
Raon deliberately kept his distance from the frontlines as he shouted.
He was starting to figure out how far he needed to stay from the monsters to avoid being targeted.
With stronger espers clustered in front, the monsters seemed to feel threatened enough to ignore Raon completely.
‘Just hold out like this, and it’ll all be over soon.’
Now that Siwoo had joined, the combat team’s firepower soared.
The magma-spewing monster staggered under the water bombs Siwoo unleashed, unable to counter them effectively.
Even from the rear, they could sense the monster’s growing panic as water bombs exploded all around it.
“Kiieekk! Kiiiaaaek!”
“It’s almost over, isn’t it?”
Dasom murmured as he watched.
Raon nodded in agreement.
“Still, don’t let your guard down. Keep healing.”
“Understood!”
With a vigorous reply, Dasom expanded his healing range.
Raon, too, spread his guiding energy wider, ensuring even the frontmost espers were covered.
In his mind, he pictured an intricate web, threading his energy like strands of silk.
“Keep pushing!”
Yoonchae’s voice rang out from a distance.
Since the monster had fire resistance, it wasn’t taking much damage, so she had stepped slightly back to command the team more effectively.
Everything was going smoothly.
If they could just take down the monster and regroup, then even the chaotic situation afterward…
Crack.
“……!”
Just as that thought crossed Raon’s mind, the sound of something breaking echoed.
Raon jerked his head around in surprise.
Other espers with keen hearing did the same, scanning their surroundings.
“What was that…?”
“T-the sky’s splitting open!”
Murmurs rippled through the team.
They hadn’t even finished off the monster yet.
It was way too early for this.
“Damn it.”
Raon swore under his breath, staring up at the sky as it tore apart like paper.
The sky, blanketed in volcanic ash, split open to reveal a pitch-black void.
A powerful, ominous energy surged from within.
“It’s a gate fusion!”
“G-gate fusion?!”
“It happens sometimes with lower-grade double gates.”
“But this is a Red Gate…”
“There’s no time! The seawater’s about to come pouring in!”
“N-no way…!”
Dasom’s face went pale.
Raon quickly cut in.
“Go to Esper Hamin right now! Tell him to locate the core!”
“T-the core?”
“Yes, it’ll be near the fusion point!”
Hamin, who had wind-based abilities, was the best suited to find the core.
Raon had hoped they’d get a short breather after the monster was dealt with, but just as he feared, this gate wasn’t going to go according to plan.
“Run! Now!”
“Right!”
Dasom barely managed to pass along the command to Hamin and then took off toward the Guide Team.
Though he was a healer esper, thankfully, he was S-rank—his speed wasn’t lacking.
“Siwoo!”
“……!”
Raon shouted loudly.
Siwoo, who had been battling the monster, immediately rushed over at the call.
“Once the monster’s down, gather everyone and—”
Raon’s urgent words caught in his throat as he turned his gaze to the monster.
Crack-BOOM!
“KIEEEEEEEEK!”
The monster screamed as seawater from the Blue Gate slammed into it directly.
The fusion was happening far faster than anticipated.
Raon’s eyes widened, and he bit his lip in frustration.
The seawater crashed down, smothering both the monster and the magma.
Steam erupted violently.
The volcanic ash had already made breathing difficult—now, with seawater entering the area, toxic gases began to spread.
If Siwoo’s protective barrier over the Guides failed, they’d all suffocate within minutes.
“We need to evacuate…”
The crack hadn’t grown too large yet, so even with the seawater pouring in, it wouldn’t flood the entire area—yet.
If they could fall back until Hamin located the core, they’d have a chance.
Of course, some espers near the front might get swept away by seawater or magma, but they had no choice now.
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Ugh.”
“……!”
Raon, calculating coldly in his head, turned sharply.
His eyes widened as he saw Siwoo, hand outstretched toward the crack.
The rushing seawater had stopped—frozen in mid-air.
“Yoon Siwoo, stop!”
“Haa…”
“You can’t hold it back with your current stats!”
The rift would only get larger with time.
If Siwoo were in top condition, maybe he could’ve endured—but right now, that wasn’t the case.
Raon grabbed Siwoo’s arm, trying to stop him.
“I said stop!”
“I’ll hold it back. You all need to get out of here.”
But Siwoo shook his head firmly.
He clearly intended to block the torrent alone.
Gritting his teeth, Raon clung to Siwoo’s arm and turned his head—
* * *
