BXBX NOVEL Chapter 67 – Sleepwalker V
Chapter 67 – Sleepwalker V
7
Let’s point out one obvious fact: Homo sapiens don’t have wings.
In other words, most people have no intuition about flying.
Unless you’re a pilot who considers the sound of airplane engines like your heartbeat, or a paragliding enthusiast who feels the parachute as an extension of your own arms, humans, as a species, don’t really get much thrill from flying.
And where intuition is absent, fear is born.
“Uwaah! I’m flying! Flying!”
“How high do we have to go?”
Amidst the seven hundred Awakeners shooting up into the air relying on a single broomstick each, screams erupted from all directions.
“Mommy! I really hate this!”
“I’m falling aaah!”
“Waaaah!”
Of course, we had gathered several times for joint training sessions beforehand. Awakeners with acrophobia had been excluded from the combat unit early on.
But even so, the cheap broomsticks didn’t inspire much confidence as humanity’s new wings.
Even the owls flying in the night sky looked at us with eyes that seemed to say, “What’s up with these new suicidal hopefuls?”
[The Saintess of Salvation reports.]
[The vanguard has surpassed an altitude of three hundred meters.]
In a sense, the owls’ gaze was accurate. What else would you call a group that makes non-existent wings and charges at a top-tier anomaly to defeat it?
Only members of the Three Thousand Worlds Guild were skillfully demonstrating the intricacies of flight.
[Six hundred meters.]
Ah, by the way, I was quite proficient in broomstick flight myself. Back in the Three Thousand Worlds, I even ranked second in the guild’s flying competition.
With the screams of numerous Awakeners stretching out like shadows, I, accompanied by Tang Seorin, a perennial winner of the flying competition, led the charge at the forefront.
[Fifteen hundred meters.]
It started getting chilly.
“Aaah—.”
But it didn’t matter. Tang Seorin was already singing another verse of her invocation.
Fourth melody, Physical Enhancement.
It was a comprehensive gift set developed by Tang Seorin by combining existing “temperature control” and “respiratory support.” It provided assistance to endure unfavorable environments for humans, such as cold depths, scorching deserts, or vacuum.
Sure enough, as soon as Tang Seorin’s invocation ended, a pleasant warmth spread throughout my body.
[Two thousand two hundred meters.]
Higher. Higher.
[Two thousand nine hundred meters.]
A flicker—
Looking down below, the ground had already become tiny. I lightly ignored the instinctive dizziness. I turned my head to look up at the sky again.
There, the Meteor Shower awaited.
When looking up from below, the starlight felt like it could fall at any moment. But from the moment we started flying until now, no matter how high we went, the starlight didn’t seem to grow any larger.
An optical illusion. A mistake of the world. It felt like my brain’s sense of distance and size proportional to the stars was breaking down from constantly looking up at them.
But this, too, was just a mistake within a mistake, and we were undoubtedly getting closer to the Meteor Shower.
[Three thousand five hundred meters.]
At last.
[Four thousand one hundred meters. Enemy contact, in close proximity.]
[Engage.]
Shoooom—
A noise, like the crashing of waves, echoed out. At an altitude of 4100 meters, it was a sound that couldn’t be heard, and shouldn’t be heard.
As we pierced through the surface of the noise, suddenly, darkness enveloped us from all sides.
Rather than calling it “night sky,” it was more fitting to say that a pitch-black darkness covered the heavens and the earth.
Shooom, shoooom—
With each Awakener following behind me, darkness surged. They lowered their broomsticks and hovered momentarily in the air.
The Awakeners gaped in awe at the unfamiliar sight.
“This… is unbelievable…”
“It’s a void!”
Before the confusion of the combat unit could spread, I grabbed the radio.
“We’ve just entered the Meteor Shower’s domain! There’s no need to be surprised or tense! It’s just the emptiness we’ve experienced endlessly, now spread out in the sky!”
“Ah.”
“Proceed with the operation! Regroup your formations! Each of you, form up with your fellow combat unit members! Regroup and charge as trained! I’ll give you 40 seconds!”
“Group 8, assemble! Group 8, assemble!”
“Group 11! Why are you over there! Hurry up and gather here, kid!”
The momentarily scattered Awakeners quickly regained their composure amidst the emptiness of the night sky.
Meanwhile, I kept a close watch on the direction where the “Meteor Shower” was located.
The illusion that we might fall immediately to the ground. No, the hallucination that we were already falling.
Yet, this creature remained crouched, clearly observing us.
Beyond instinct and reason, as a Regressor trained through dozens of repetitions, my instincts fiercely sensed its hostility.
Contrary to my instincts, the surroundings were eerily calm.
It felt like being stranded in the vastness of a calm ocean at night.
“…This feels odd, Doctor.”
Tang Seorin whispered softly, leaning her broomstick next to mine.
“The air feels quite heavy. Breathing has become a bit difficult. It’s as if we’ve submerged not into the sky, but into shallow water.”
“Perhaps the monster is of the water attribute, trying to make it rain. What did you expect? The emptiness was just as empty as ever.”
“True. That’s a valid point.”
“Leave the last song to me.”
“Sure. I trust you. …I’ll be counting on you. The operation can’t proceed if you collapse.”
“Of course.”
At that moment, the voice of the Saintess resonated in my ears.
[Be careful, Doctor. The altimeter is malfunctioning.]
Malfunctioning?
[Before entering the void, it recorded an altitude of about 4100 meters, but now it’s fluctuating between 7182 meters, -9699 meters, 21337 meters, 0.01 meters, constantly changing in real-time.]
“….”
[It’s not just the altitude. Other metrics like pressure are also constantly fluctuating. Please take care.]
I nodded.
Exactly 40 seconds.
I glanced behind me. The perfectly groomed 700-strong aerial vanguard was looking at me.
“Proceed with the operation! Charge! Charge!”
“Uwaaaaah!”
Boss Battle Phase 2, commence.
With me at the apex, the 700-strong aerial vanguard followed closely behind like spears. Tang Seorin, who had been at the forefront with me, switched to the rear here and formed up as agreed upon beforehand.
Still, there was no response from the starlight.
It was our best opportunity.
“Aaa―aaaah―aaa―――.”
From the rear, Tang Seorin’s voice pierced the night sky.
Fifth melody, ‘Mirror of All Creation.’
This was also a highly advanced grand magic recently developed by Tang Seorin. By integrating [Concentration], [Absorption], [Reflection], and [Amplification], Tang Seorin had finally synthesized them into one song.
Its effect was obvious.
Shhhhhhh—
Transparent mirrors formed around the 700 Awakeners. Countless mirrors circled our aerial vanguard like planets orbiting the sun.
Without hesitation, I issued the command.
“Pour all your power into it!”
The Awakeners, as if waiting for the command, approached the mirrors and emitted their mana.
The mirrors faithfully reflected the Awakeners’ aura towards “other mirrors.”
Ching—
Having fulfilled their duty of reflection, the mirrors shattered immediately. Countless mirror fragments scattered in the air like white blossoms.
The procession of auras reflected from the rear gradually distorted into more and more reflections as it bounced off larger mirrors.
Ching— Ching— Ching—
Each time, the mirrors shattered, and each time, the auras overlapped and multiplied, transmitted to the larger mirrors ahead.
The glass, resembling the colors of the auras, poured out like stained glass onto the pitch-black night sky, tinted by the deep darkness.
The radio buzzed loudly.
“Team 12, fully charged!”
“Team 11, charging complete!”
Indeed.
The role of the ‘Mirror of All Creation’ in this battle was none other than firepower concentration.
Although there were some deviations, the 700-unit division averaged about one team per 60 members.
In other words, as many as 60 Awakeners were concentrating their auras, strikes, and mirrors.
“Team 6, done! It’s done!”
“Loss rate, about 5%!”
Krrrrrr—
As a mix of different-colored auras and waves mingled, thunder resounded, like a giant beast growling.
From Team 12 to Team 1.
Passing through the winding twelve organs, the roar of the beast known as the Korean Federation had already boiled up to their throats.
“Team 4, completed—.”
“Loss rate below 3%. Within the calculated range so far. Reporting.”
“Team 3! We’ve passed through!”
The auras surged like a storm.
Occasional screams erupted as Awakeners unfamiliar with flight staggered in the torrent of auras.
It was to be expected. Therefore, I positioned less experienced Awakeners in the rear teams and skilled elite soldiers in the vanguard.
There were no issues.
In the rear, Tang Seorin controlled everything, while at the forefront, I commanded everything.
“Team 2… passed! Somehow, we did it!”
“Go! Go! Go!”
Some Awakeners exclaimed in awe. Like the ancient Egyptians who worshiped the pyramids they built, they couldn’t help but be thrilled by the torrent of auras they created.
And then.
“Team 1! We’ve done it! Doctor!”
The team leader of Team 1 shouted. Yoo Jiwon. In the distant past, she was an Awakener who had served as my deputy when I was affiliated with the Three Thousand Worlds World.
“Now―― Now! Reporting!”
“Loss rate less than 1%! Less than 1%!”
“Doctor!”
Quarrrrrrr—
At last, the 700 auras reached right in front of me.
All the mirrors created by Tang Seorin shattered. The magical mirrors fell to the ground, scattering countless shards.
Except for the largest mirror that covered my vision.
In the transparent concave mirror, a hurricane of auras swirled.
“Ugh…!”
My whole body trembled.
A sensation akin to becoming an almighty deity surged through my spine. Who among mortals could possibly wield such power, let alone properly control it?
That’s why I stood at the forefront.
I infused my aura into the torrent of auras that seemed on the verge of exploding, painting them with the color of my soul.
Ink black. That was the color of my soul.
The swirling torrent of auras, in various colors, was instantly infected with blackness, as if all the water in a beaker had been tainted by a single drop of ink.
Thud, the flesh of my right hand peeled back to my forearm. It couldn’t withstand the output of the auras.
“….!”
My ears felt stuffed. I couldn’t hear anything. Thunder incessantly roared around me, and my vision was engulfed in pitch-black darkness.
The pain of bursting blood vessels.
But still, there was no problem.
“Saintess! The position—.”
[Adjust 3cm to the right.]
A voice silently resonated in my mind.
[Again, 11cm downward.]
[Too far down. 2cm up.]
Though unaware as a 42nd turn, the Saintess meticulously corrected the errors using ‘time stop.’
She must have scrutinized and calculated whether firing the aura now would hit the meteor shower or not, from the perspective of countless Awakeners. Perhaps over the course of several days.
For me, that long time was just a moment, and I endured all the pain to withstand that moment.
[Yes, just a little. Just a bit more……]
[Now.]
Finally.
[Now, Doctor.]
The Saintess’s time and mine intersected.
At that moment, I screamed as I unleashed the storm of auras gathered before me. I couldn’t hear my own scream.
Quarrrrrrrrr—
Just the roar of a giant beast.
The roar of that ink-black scream, piercing through the souls of 700 Awakeners and the twelve organs, shook heaven and earth.
– Huh?
At last, the meteor shower, which had remained silent, reacted. Like a creature waking up from a deep slumber.
Boss Battle Phase 3, commence.
– Blink, blink, Little Star.
I could feel the meteor shower trembling.
– Indeed, it’s shining brightly.
– From the eastern sky, and from the western sky too.
A familiar melody. The lullaby of the meteor shower that always led the earth to destruction from the 23rd turn to the 41st turn pierced through the storm.
They must intend to put us to sleep like this.
“Ah—Ah, Ah—Ah, Ahhh—.”
And right at this moment, Tang Seorin pulled out her last card.
The song began to spread from both the eastern and western skies simultaneously. But at the moment when the two wavelengths collided in the center—
– Huh?
――― The song vanished suddenly.
The Sixth Melody, Counter Resonance.
An applied magic of [Silence], nullifying all noise by emitting sound waves that precisely counter the sounds emitted by the opponent.
Filled with exhilaration, I shouted, “The ability to work miracles with a song is not exclusive to you alone!”
The point where the emptiness of Meteor Shower and the magic of Tang Seorin intersected was precisely the position where I was flying.
The black waves emitted by Meteor Shower and the white waves emitted by Tang Seorin constantly clashed. Black and white. The colors of the song of humanity. The coloring of the song of the eerie.
In the battlefield of the night sky filled with human and void songs, only I charged ahead on the front line of silence.
Guided by the Saintess, constantly targeting the storm of auras.
– Huh? Ah?
Was it confusion because their finishing move didn’t work? Amidst the lullaby sung by Meteor Shower, unidentified noise crept in.
But it was too late.
Hundreds of battle teams and non-battle teams had trained for this one strike, this one ambush, to be aimed at you.
Tang Seorin developed three top-tier magics and prepared radios, imbuing them with individual magic.
The Saintess, in order to instill trust in the messages of the Constellations, concealed her existence until now and stayed silent.
The time the Saintess poured into rallying all the Awakeners of the Federation over the past seven years would have been close to eternity. The few days spent until just now for precise aiming were just the final seasoning of that eternity.
And I had 150 years.
The optimal route. The best strategy.
– Huh? Ah? Ah? Huh?
Therefore, this is the first and final strike.
The single moment where Meteor Shower let his guard down. The moment with the least experience, never having landed on any earth, destroyed any nation, or killed any Awakener.
Literally, the finishing move of the regressor.
– Huh? Ah? Ah? Huh?
It’s unfair to blame it.
After all, that’s how you’ve fought until now.
You too, die in your sleep.
Eerie bastard.
– Ah! Aaaah! Mamaaah! Ahmaaah!
Flash—.
The starlight, soaring from the earth, pierced through the starlight falling from the sky.