Chapter 32: Moon Base Lighthouse (3)
Fragments of the exploded lighthouse came raining down toward the café.
Pitch-black chunks of stone pounded against the reinforced glass like hail.
Some of the massive fragments broke through the glass and crashed inside, slamming into people.
“꺄아악……!”
Screams erupted from all directions.
As if it had detected the shattered glass, a blocking bulkhead covered the ceiling, plunging the interior into darkness.
At the same time, the Moon Base’s internal lighting flicked off.
“W-what is this supposed to be?”
“The lighthouse exploded!”
“Director! The director was hit by debris……!”
Before long, the backup power kicked in and the lights flickered back on.
But perhaps because the output was poor, everything was far dimmer than before.
That was when Little Sister spoke over the closed channel.
[The witch has moved, so now it’s my turn. Everyone ready?]
[Yeah.]
[I was wondering when it’d start.]
[Let’s begin.]
After checking the situation of the Ghostcatchers, Sis issued an order in a serious tone.
[Commencing the operation.]
With her words, a heavy ultra-low-frequency wave slammed into the entire Moon Base.
As the sound wave swept through the surroundings, sparks crackled from the port plugs beneath people’s ears.
“Ugh!”
“What is it this time?”
“Suddenly we can’t connect to the Electrosphere……!”
“Communications…… all communications with headquarters are cut off!”
“Assistant Manager Kim! Go check what’s going on!”
“Y-yes……? What am I supposed to do…….”
“What do you mean, what do you do! Just go directly to the situation control room or something and find out!”
“A-alright…….”
Taking advantage of the chaos inside the café, Diesel moved his body toward the exit.
“Mr. Yuri! Are you crazy? It’s this dangerous right now—where are you……!”
Kang Da-hee called out to stop him, her voice trembling.
‘……This could get troublesome later…….’
Diesel quickly formed a spell in his hand and projected it onto Kang Da-hee’s glabella.
It was a weak hypnotic spell that erased a brief memory, adapted from the mental magic Isabel had demonstrated.
“Ahh! What are you doing……! Ah…… hmm……? What just……?”
Leaving behind Kang Da-hee blinking with vacant eyes, Diesel calmly exited the café.
The long corridor of the Moon Base, now dimly lit.
As Diesel walked down the hallway, he plugged a communications chip into the port beneath his ear.
Immediately, a low-quality, frequency-based communication connected.
[Raksha, where are you?]
[Almost there.]
[What about Diesel?]
[Looks like he’ll arrive right on time.]
[Good. Everyone, listen carefully. Just remember this one thing.]
After asking about the whereabouts of the team members, Seriel emphasized one last point.
[Do not run into Kaztikan.]
[That troll bastard is over by the lunar hot springs. Why would he come to the server room?]
[Still, you never know. It doesn’t hurt to be careful.]
[Hmph, needless worry.]
“Uaaagh! No! No!”
Hearing a man’s scream as he moved through the corridor, Diesel stopped in his tracks.
Looking closer, it was Assistant Manager Kim from the Magic Engineering Department.
‘What is this?’
At the same time, a certain presence brushed faintly through the air.
It was a negative mental image he had experienced once before.
‘This is…….’
Sensing it immediately, Diesel reported through the comms.
[Wait a second. Something’s off.]
[Why?]
Before he could answer Seriel, Raksha suddenly shouted.
[Crazy! What the hell are these things?]
Along with Nachal’s cry—
The source of the negative mental image Diesel had just felt appeared before his eyes.
‘…….’
A blunt torso with long claws attached.
The form of a grotesque lifeform, its needle-like teeth packed densely together.
‘Don’t tell me…… is that a ghost……?’
It was extremely similar to the aura emitted by ghosts.
But Diesel reached a conclusion almost immediately.
‘No. That thing isn’t a ghost.’
It wasn’t hard to be certain.
The aura coming from that thing didn’t even reach the level of a real ghost’s toes.
‘It’s ridiculously weak, but the feeling itself is oddly similar.’
“Ar-are you security personnel!”
Spotting Diesel’s silhouette in the dim corridor, Assistant Manager Kim crawled toward him, nearly dragging himself along the floor.
At the same time, the bizarre lifeform lunged forward.
“P-please save me……!”
Without hesitation, Diesel drew up his mana.
Then, a spell secretly preserved by the Electrosphere Magic Tower formed in his hand.
Electrically charged energy manifested through formulae, scattering blue sparks in all directions.
Diesel skillfully gathered the raging power into a single point.
‘They called it the Sphere of the Brain Dragon.’
It felt like holding a small power plant in his hand.
Soon, the aberration spread its needle-lined mouth wide toward the fallen man.
“Hiiiiiik……!”
Diesel projected the Sphere of the Brain Dragon straight into the monster’s gaping maw.
The violently spinning electric energy let out a grinding sound as it shredded all of the creature’s teeth.
“……!”
The sphere burrowed deep into the aberration’s body, crackling as it completely destroyed its interior.
Finally, with a loud noise, it triggered a small explosion.
“My god…….”
Chunks of blackened gore and flesh splattered in all directions.
The filthy things that splattered toward Diesel bounced off the defensive barrier he had already deployed, making ticking sounds as they ricocheted away.
“Thank you. I don’t know who you are, but……. Uh……. Uh……?”
After casting mental-type magic on Assistant Manager Kim, Diesel left the spot.
[What happened?]
Diesel replied to Seriel’s question.
[There are things wandering around inside the facility that are giving off an aura like ghosts.]
[What? Ghosts?]
[They’re not ghosts. Just something with a similar feeling.]
[There are a few here too! I just took down two of the bastards!]
Raksha spoke as well, his voice slightly heated as if he had just been in a fight.
[For now, gather at the location quickly. Those weird things aren’t our concern.]
‘This feels like things are getting complicated.’
Muttering that to himself, Diesel moved his feet as quickly as possible.
[Diesel, it’s behind you.]
The main lobby was completely empty, without a single person in sight.
From a corner, Seriel sent a transmission to Diesel.
As Diesel approached, the angel spoke in a hushed voice.
“Those strange things that look like ghosts—how many did you see on the way?”
“About five. I dealt with one of them myself.”
“That’s more than I expected. Combat power?”
“The one I fought wasn’t that strong. But at the very least, its hide looked a bit tough.”
“Hm……. And we can’t even contact Sis……. This is troublesome.”
Saying that, Seriel searched for Raksha over the comms.
[Raksha, where are you?]
[I…… just got here……. But these damn…… things……!]
Nachal’s voice grew louder.
At the same time, a massive presence of aberrant creatures could be felt from the distant corridor.
“Uaaah!”
With a shout, Raksha burst into the lobby, followed by dozens of monsters trailing behind him.
“That crazy evil bitch dragging that many along…….”
The angel spat a curse and spread her wings wide.
Then she dropped to one knee and pulled out ornately decorated firearm components from the inside of her thigh, assembling them.
‘That pattern…….’
In an instant, a rifle was completed.
Judging by the markings, it looked like a weapon produced by the ‘Order of Steel,’ one of the many sects of the Yahweh faith.
The angel flapped her ashen wings in place.
A single beam of light descended from the sky.
‘No doubt about it. An Order of Steel miracle.’
A miracle of Yahweh invoked by Seriel settled into the rifle she held.
The angel spoke in a low, murmuring voice.
“Get down.”
“What?”
Before Raksha could even process her words, Seriel’s muzzle spat fire.
With a brisk rattling burst of automatic fire, the bodies of dozens of aberrations exploded one after another.
‘That’s insane. How many miracles did she stack on that thing?’
Those bullets were imbued with countless miracles—ones that increased penetration, triggered holy explosions, and more.
Some of the rounds even twisted their trajectories like whips before striking their targets.
“Hey! I was going to take care of them myself!”
“Take care of what. If it’s an infiltration, you should’ve shaken them off on your own like Diesel. Instead, you bring them all with you like this? Why don’t you just advertise that we’re here?”
“No, what was I supposed to do when they were charging like their lives depended on it?”
Seriel skillfully disassembled the rifle in her hands and slid it back into the inside of her thigh where it had been.
“Enough. Move immediately. We’ve wasted too much time.”
As the angel neatly folded her wings and left, Raksha followed after her, grumbling.
[Right ahead is the server room.]
Pressing herself flat against the wall, Seriel gestured to indicate the direction.
At the end of the wide corridor, a door covered in all kinds of machinery came into view.
Several armed guards were stationed around it, scanning the area.
[What are you dragging your feet for? At worst, it just looks like android guards.]
[There’s a turret hidden in the ceiling behind them. We need to make sure it’s dealt with.]
[What’s so scary about a single turret? The Electrosphere connection’s cut anyway, so they won’t even be able to share vision.]
[……Then you handle it yourself.]
At Seriel’s words, Raksha broke into a broad grin.
He then gently closed his glowing blue eyes.
[That’s more like it.]
Nachal’s eyes flashed open.
Trailing a long sweep of black aura tinged with red, he slipped behind the androids with fluid, flowing movements.
Then, with a straight punch thrust forward like a spear, the machine’s torso was pierced clean through.
‘Miracles are etched all over his body like tattoos.’
Raksha’s body, shrouded in black aura, was densely wrapped in the doctrines of the Fire faction.
Each time, Nachal muttered the necessary miracle under his breath like a chant as he continued his assault.
With movements that wasted not a single inch, he brought down five androids in an instant.
At that moment, the turret finally detected the enemy and burst through the ceiling.
But before it could even fire a round from its barrel, an armor-piercing shell fired from Seriel’s rifle punched through the turret’s plating.
Sparks flickered at the impact point, followed by a small explosion with a bang.
“……I told you I could handle it.”
Raksha muttered as he looked at the fallen turret debris.
“This is why I don’t get along with angel bitches.”
“You complain even when I provide cover. Damn it.”
Seriel suddenly spat out the rough words as she stomped down the corridor.
“I had all of that in mind too.”
“In mind my ass. Just keep watch.”
The angel crouched in front of the mechanical device attached to the server room door, pulled a long jack from the back of her neck, and connected it.
“How long will it take?”
To Diesel’s question, Seriel replied.
“About five minutes.”
Then, from behind them, Raksha spoke.
“Hey.”
“……?”
“What’s that now?”
Turning around at Nachal’s words, they saw something standing there—an aberration so enormous it couldn’t even be compared to the ones before.
Seriel let out a sigh.
“Ha…… I can’t move while I’m doing this.”
“Stay put.”
At Raksha’s words, Diesel subtly stepped forward.
“You stay put too.”
“Raksha, stop messing around and go together with Diesel—”
“No, I’m more than enough on my own.”
Nachal cut Seriel off flatly.
‘Works for me.’
For Diesel, this was actually a good opportunity.
A chance to see how a true demon of the Fire faction fought when he got serious.
For him, observing combat was the same as gaining techniques.
Nachal cracked his neck with a series of sharp sounds, his blue eyes glinting.
“Shall I warm up a bit?”