Chapter 203 - 203 Sudden Impending Doom

Words : 1081 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

203: Sudden Impending Doom 203: Sudden Impending Doom Almost identical to what happened whenever he extracted a mana crystal from the alien carcasses, a blue haze engulfed the man’s deceased body. As seconds then flowed, I observed as the illuminant haze washed over the corpse like fire, melting it and deconstructing it, shaving it down gradually like a candle, or perhaps some old parchment that was set alight. Unlike those aliens, an ordinary human body was not tough enough to resist or endure the effects of the Protagonist’s Extraction, and thus, as ugly and horrific as it was, it grew progressively more deformed and unrecognisable as time went on. Ultimately, it didn’t take long for everything to vaporise, leaving nothing but a ping pong ball-sized mana crystal in the Protagonist’s hand. Almost all of the mana crystals extracted from humans had been around that size, probably because none of them had been anything more than ordinary. Incidentally, those extracted from the aliens that had attacked the base over the past week ranged from being roughly the size of a golf ball to the size of a baseball. I heard it depended on the magic energy of the alien, which made too much sense for me to deny, but I reckoned it was also probably related to the ‘rarity’ of the alien in the original game. I mean, it would make sense for those two figures to correlate anyway. Either way, once the mana crystal was obtained, the Protagonist made an action of putting it in his pocket, but I couldn’t help but feel he was using some sort of spatial inventory like my Storage. If I could interact with mana and my General Magic Ability wasn’t Nonexistent, I bet Heightened Senses would be able to tell for sure by sensing the fluctuation of magic energy in the air, but anyway, once he was finished with that, I opened my mouth to continue where he dropped the conversation prior. “It would be smart to talk to them individually. Simply having me stomp on every weed that emerges puts the flowers in danger too.” “Oh, wow, that’s an interesting way of putting it. As expected of the... A-ahem. Sure, I see what you mean. I made a quick announcement before coming here, but I’ll make sure to speak to everyone soon. Anyway, don’t you think it might give those two confidence if you talked to them too?” Catching him glance my way as he said that last line, I immediately recognised what he was trying to do. By getting me to talk to the two survivors with the affliction that I defended earlier, the Protagonist probably knew they would thank me and was trying to build a stronger connection between me and the rest of the Sanctuary, giving me reason to stay for longer and protect them, perhaps even for a cheaper price than presently. Not only that, but the way he said it made it seem as if they would gain confidence purely because of the fact it was me who was talking to them. ‘Which means the character he thinks I am definitely has that same affliction after all.’ Turns out that guy was right in that. Well, it wasn’t a particularly difficult guess to make. “I’ll consider it.” Either way, knowing implicitly that I had to be careful with my words and actions, I just said that, postponing the matter for now. Fortunately, it seemed to be enough for the Protagonist, who smirked to himself as if pleased. Feeling like there was no more reason to stay here, I was about to exit again through the back of the tent when, all of a sudden, I sensed something. Instinctively snapping my head in a certain direction, it seemed to catch the Protagonist’s attention. “What’s wrong?” “...” Ignoring his question, it wasn’t even because I wanted to maintain the character I was playing that I said nothing. Rather, that presence, and if I focused, that ever-so-fant, almost imperceptible quivers in the ground... “Ah! Hey, wait a second! Tsk...!” Without wasting time, I rushed outside. I could hear the Protagonist chasing and calling out from behind, but there was no time. Climbing the stairs as fast as possible, I ascended the wall and stood looking out, in the same direction that the vast strip led out from the Sanctuary’s entrance. The sun was already beginning to set over an hour ago, and because of all the grey clouds, the sky was dark. Thankfully, I could see fine despite that. Narrowing my eyes, I peered into the distance of the strip, all the way to the horizon. There, I saw the silhouette of a mountain. ‘...No. That’s not it.’ It couldn’t have been. After all, it was hard to tell, but I could’ve sworn I saw it. The mountain――it was moving. Rising slightly higher and higher above the horizon’s periphery each second that passed, matching the timing of the subtle tremors that I already knew few would be able to notice. “...Alarm. Sound the alarm already!” Raising my voice at one of the nearby golems, which must have simply not recognised the threat yet, it quickly spurred into action, releasing an ear-splitting noise like an air raid siren. I couldn’t get a proper visual of the monster approaching, but it had to at least match the frost giants from the Seventh Floor, if not in height then without a doubt in width, taking up the entire breadth of the strip the Sanctuary sat in. At that moment, it made all the more sense to me. What it was that could even do something as crazy as demolishing and utterly levelling an entire multi-mile-wide stretch of city. Of course, it was that. “Tch...!” At the pace it was going, there was likely only a few hours left until it reached the Sanctuary. By that time, midnight would have passed, and the only one capable of putting up a fight would be me... but what could I do? Even with the White Death, wouldn’t it just be useless? As my brain ran at light speed, trying to think of anything that might put a stop to the approaching wall of death, I heard everyone rushing about on the ground below, hurrying to prepare for the colossal threat. Grasping the reality of the situation, I knew I had to make a choice.

Chapter 203 - 203 Sudden Impending Doom

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