Chapter 6: Gate
While Eclipse’s training was progressing smoothly,
Yusoha was at Phantom, attending to her duties.
Her position was the leader of Awakener Team 2.
Like Yudanha, she was a team leader for an Awakener team.
As a team leader, her workload was considerable, so she couldn’t dedicate all her time to Eclipse’s training.
Fortunately, since she had always handled her work diligently, there was no backlog, and she could finish today’s tasks quickly.
As she contemplated finishing Eclipse’s training after work and perhaps asking him to teach her combat techniques, a bombshell dropped.
“Team Leader,”
“Mina? What’s up?”
Lee Mina, a member of Yusoha’s team and one of her escorts, was one of the few who knew Yusoha had summoned Eclipse.
With a grim expression, she spoke to Yusoha.
“It’s a deployment order.”
“Oh.”
Yusoha’s face darkened as well.
“A gate?”
“Yes, they say so.”
“Rank?”
“They say it’s B-rank.”
“Damn it.”
A curse slipped from Yusoha’s lips. Why today, of all days? Annoyance crept onto her face.
“Team 1 is joining, right?”
“Team Leader Yudanha said since Team 1 handled the last gate, it’s Team 2’s turn to rack up some achievements.”
“Oh, right. Team 1 took care of the last gate… I wish they wouldn’t be so considerate in times like this. It’s in our territory, right?”
“Yes, confirmed.”
“Then let’s aim to clear it quickly.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Mina responded with a disciplined shout.
A B-rank gate typically required about thirty B-rank Awakeners.
Naturally, Phantom’s Team 2 was composed of that number, so there was no need to bolster their forces.
Moreover, Yusoha, the team leader, was a monster who’d reached A-rank despite lacking a Guardian Spirit.
Thus, even with a gate outbreak, their expressions remained relaxed.
The only thing lingering was the annoyance of having to deploy.
“Has the gate’s clear condition been identified yet? It’s definitely B-rank?”
“Yes. Based on mana readings, it’s confirmed as B-rank with a 0% margin of error.”
“Zero margin? That’s reliable. Alright, let’s go. Get the team ready.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Yusoha set aside her paperwork and immediately began preparing for deployment.
“Here it is.”
An ominous ripple was visible in the air.
Around it, Phantom’s gate tracking team was inspecting the gate’s initial state with complex equipment.
Yusoha approached them and began asking about the gate.
“What kind of gate is it?”
“It seems to be an open plain from another world. From the ripples inside, we can see a fortress wall…”
“A siege? Or a defense?”
“We can’t be certain, but seeing magical beasts rushing toward the wall, it looks like a defense.”
“Then there should be additional forces in that world, right? Usually, in these situations, there’s backup.”
“…We can’t confirm that.”
“Tch. Thirty-one of us might not be enough, then.”
Yusoha clicked her tongue lightly.
“Should we request additional forces from Team 1?”
“No, that won’t be necessary. The mana readings confirm it’s a standard B-rank gate. I’ve seen it with my own eyes… This should be manageable.”
“There could be variables inside.”
“Variables don’t matter.”
Yusoha was confident. A mere B-rank gate wouldn’t get the better of her.
“Understood. Are you all prepared?”
“Yes. Mina, everything ready?”
“Yes! Team 2 is fully prepared! Just give the order!”
“Good. Let’s go.”
At Yusoha’s command, Team 2 moved toward the gate with determined expressions.
With Yusoha stepping into the gate first, their figures began to vanish beyond it.
A harsh sandstorm blew through.
The fortress wall reeked of blood.
Yusoha opened her eyes and took in the scene before her.
The wall, scarred from countless battles, stood in disarray.
“A defense, huh.”
Muttering softly as she eyed the approaching magical beasts, Yusoha confirmed it was indeed a defensive battle, as the gate analysis team had said.
She scanned her surroundings. Soldiers stood frozen, as if time had stopped, despite the advancing beasts.
“Mina.”
“Yes, Team Leader!”
“This gate is a defense. And it looks like a Shadow Gate.”
“A Shadow Gate? Oh no.”
Shadow Gates were gates that digitized past events from other worlds.
“You’ve dealt with Shadow Gates before, right, Mina?”
“Yes. It’s been a while, but if it’s a Shadow Gate, then these people…”
“They’re already ghosts.”
“Then the clear condition is probably…”
“Right. We need to protect this fortress with these frozen shadows. That’s likely the type of gate we’re dealing with. Everyone hear me?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s begin the gate攻略. Ranged Awakeners, take positions on the wall. Melee fighters, intercept the beasts climbing up. Got it?”
“Yes!”
“And Ga-in.”
“Yes, Team Leader!”
“Ga-in, use your fire-based mana to create a barrier to keep the beasts from reaching the wall easily. Can you do it?”
“Yes!”
“And those with firearms, snipe the airborne beasts circling above. Can you handle it?”
“No problem!”
“Good. Let’s clear this quickly and go rest.”
With that, Yusoha began channeling her mana.
As she did, and as Team 2 took their positions, the soldiers on the wall began to move, as if time had resumed.
Seeing Team 2 on the wall, the soldiers’ faces lit up.
“Hold them back! Reinforcements have arrived! We can survive!”
Their roars, filled with desperation and hope, echoed loudly.
Yusoha instantly understood the situation.
In the original world, reinforcements never arrived.
‘It seems reinforcements didn’t come in the original history. This fits the conditions for a Shadow Gate perfectly.’
The conditions for a Shadow Gate.
They appeared when humans, in moments of despair, clung to futile hope.
Shadow Gates preserved such pasts in their form.
And with their twisted sense of cruelty, they materialized on Earth, as if testing whether humans could overcome such situations.
To clear this Shadow Gate, they had to break through these dire conditions and help the humans clinging to hope.
[Intriguing. So this is a gate. It holds past events. Fascinating. Are all gates like this?]
Eclipse’s curious voice echoed in her mind.
“We’re in battle now, so be quiet. I’ll explain later.”
[Understood.]
At Yusoha’s stern words, Eclipse fell silent immediately. He knew well the dangers of idle chatter in combat.
Having silenced him, Yusoha refined her mana and formed weapons.
Her mana was unique, imbued with metallic properties.
While it could be used like other mana, it could also directly form physical objects.
In other words, if she wished, she could create any kind of metallic weapon in midair.
Swords, spears, axes, lances—any metal weapon.
Right now, she needed a ranged weapon, one capable of striking a wide area to obliterate the beasts in one go.
‘In that case… it has to be that.’
Her mana resonated, and a massive cannon, formed entirely of mana, appeared.
While a normal cannon required large-caliber rounds, Yusoha’s cannon needed only her mana.
She poured an immense amount of mana into it, and soon, a massive, solid iron projectile formed inside the cannon, as per her will.
Sensing it was ready, Yusoha aimed at the beasts…
BOOM!
She fired using her mana.
A house-sized iron projectile, propelled by the cannon’s force, struck the center of the beast horde.
The beasts hit directly were crushed beyond recognition by the projectile’s immense mass.
And that was just the first shot. Continuous barrages followed, dismantling the beast horde.
“Wow.”
Her teammates, watching from the sidelines, couldn’t help but gasp in awe.
They relaxed, thinking they’d be home in no time, and began channeling their mana leisurely.
As expected, the situation was resolved quickly. Yusoha’s devastating iron projectiles blanketed the ground.
All they had to do was fend off the airborne beasts or deal with those that somehow made it through the barrage to climb the wall.
Soon, every beast on the battlefield was eradicated… and the fortress, along with everything from that other world, began to crumble.
The gate had been cleared.