Everyone looked at me as if they were asking what I was talking about, and it was understandable. If a monster like that broke free, it was obvious what would happen. They were probably thinking about what would happen afterward, but this was the only way for us to survive.

‘We have to destroy it.’

It was impossible for Max to break the system installed in the Rift Museum, and it was the same for us players. If you asked if there was someone who could interfere with the system, then I would say yes.

‘You can do it, right?’

The Fragment of the Ancient God could do that. It could smash the exhibition hall where the mythic-ranked weapons protected by the system were stored, and it could even create an exit in the dungeon where escape was impossible unless you captured it. If things went wrong, then it would be our fault for releasing this large threat to the continent, but there was no guarantee that this guy was even bad in the first place.

‘Ancient God! I believe. Shit!’

“What the…”

“I won’t listen to any objections. Currently, we have the highest chance of surviving with this method,” I said.

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” I replied.

If the Fragment of the Ancient God was crazy, then it was only right for us to sacrifice ourselves here for the sake of the continent. If things did go wrong, the continent would be covered in a sea of fire, and everything would fall apart. However…

‘First, I need to survive.’

It was a typical lower middle-class way of thinking, but I couldn’t help but think that way. Kim Hyun-Sung was the type who would be willing to put his life on the line for the sake of the continent, but I wasn’t some great figure like him. My life was the most important for me, while the lives of those around me were very valuable. I had no intention of getting myself killed for the sake of others, and to be frank, the people around me were more important than the entire continent.

‘Screw sacrifice.’

My way of thinking may be shitty, but I couldn’t help it.

“There has to be another way…”

“There is no other way. Let’s think about it after breaking the seal,” I suggested.

Kim Hyun-Sung bit his lips lightly, but he must have thought I had a plan because he nodded energetically. Obviously, I didn’t have any good ideas. Basically, what that meant was that I was going to figure out the situation as we go from now on. Everything would fall apart with one wrong step, but of course, I didn’t explain any of that to them.

I was bothered by Kim Hyun-Sung’s sacrificial personality that I couldn’t suggest and say...

‘We have to survive first.’

Obviously, the expedition party wasn’t the only one shocked by my suggestion. Even the Manage Max was shocked as he stared at us while we were looking at the Ancient God. Actually, he seemed to be the most shocked out of everyone. The chances of a mythic-ranked monster appearing were low, to begin with, and I was sure that there hadn’t been anyone crazy enough in centuries that they would try to remove the seal completely. I was confident that we were the first ones to even attempt such a thing.

- What do you… think you’re doing?

“What do you mean? We’re doing this so all of us can survive. There’s nothing we can do about it. The dungeon guide is just an idiot, so there’s no way a bunch of expeditioners will have a plan.

- This is dangerous. Please don’t…

“Pfft. Your way of talking has become quite polite, Mr. Manager. If you don’t like it, then stop it,” I told him.

- As I have told you before, I don’t have that kind of authority. A-As I mentioned before, the rates aren’t rigged and… and…

“What?” I asked.

- If you believe that my words had been rude, then… I apolo—

“Where should I accept your apology? Should I accept it when I’m in heaven after I’m dead? Just shut up, you useless manager. If I die, I won’t be dying alone,” I said.

- D-Do you have any idea what you’re doing?

“Shut up, you bastard. You think we want to do this?” I asked.

- Selfish humans. You corrupted humans! Do you really think you can break the seal the guardians put on that monster?

“Who knows? In my opinion, I think it’s a lot easier than fighting the Fragment of the Ancient God with a sword… Huh? I wonder what the Museum Manager Max, thinks.

- Dialugia! You know, don’t you? Do you really think it’s okay for that monster to exist in the outside world?

“...”

He tried to bring Dialugia into it because he and I weren’t seeing eye to eye, but even Dialugia looked gloomy. I didn’t know much about dragons, but this boy had mentioned that they correct the balance, so it was possible she didn’t want this monster to exist in the outside world as well. As expected, Dialugia tried to talk to me…

“I—”

“If you don’t want our Smartie to be made fun of for not having parents, do whatever you want, woman,” I interrupted.

Mothers were strong, and I saw Dialugia biting her lips. After seeing that, Max started yelling again and seeing him so shocked like that was amusing. It was good news that he was frustrated.

‘There’s a chance.’

I wasn’t sure how much impact the seal that the Rift Guardians had placed was going to have internally, but externally, it had to be weak.

‘We have a chance… I’m sure there’s a loophole.’

The Rift Guardians had sealed beings like this monster, and they used them to test the museum explorers. Even if they were mythical beings just like the Fragment of the Ancient God, there was no way that there weren’t any flaws when they built the system here. My thoughts were obviously just assumptions, and even if I were right, it still wouldn’t be easy to defeat that thing, but as Max had mentioned earlier, enduring the test for an hour was a lot better than fighting it.

Ordering the party first was more important.

“Ignore all the bullshit Max told us. I want Dialugia to get ready to use Breath and use spells that have the most power. If possible, once the explosion ends, I’d like Mr. Hyun-Sung and Miss Yeon-Joo to—”

“Got it.”

“I understand.”

I was basically asking them to commit suicide, but the two nodded for now. That was when we heard a familiar voice.

[3. 2. 1.]

[The battle will now start.]

We had to break it before the monster started attacking, and as expected, the Fragment of the Ancient God started running rampant as it tried to rip off the seal. Just seeing that made me shake, and fear started to fill me up, but it only took a moment for that fear to disappear.

“!!!”

The woman who looked reliable had transformed. Her overwhelming size, horns, and frame were enough to make anyone exclaim. After transforming, she started to take a deep breath, and even I thought that a ridiculous amount of mana was gathering. If the wave of that Breath reached our side, then we would receive damage, but since we had to focus all of our firepower, we couldn’t afford to have anyone cast a defense spell.

‘I need to block the wave.’

I would block the rogue wave by summoning a dragon’s tail. That alone may not be enough, but this wasn’t the time for me to worry about different things. When I inserted my mana into the half-empty Dragon’s Breath Potion, I started to hear a buzzing sound. Jung Ha-Yan also started to recite her spell, and this was my first time seeing her recite a spell with sincerity. She was gathering enough mana comparable to Dialugia. Everyone looked at Jung Ha-Yan in shock. The other mages were reciting their spells, and even priests like Sun Hee-Young were reciting prayers to focus their firepower.

‘It’s possible.’

Dialugia’s Breath would be the signal.

Craaaaaaaack!

Her body was pushed back with that sound as the emitted light gnawed at the ground and rushed toward the chains holding down the Fragment of the Ancient God. On Jung Ha-Yan’s side, an indescribable orb appeared in front of her. The orb slowly moved, and as it got faster, it struck the seal as if it had sunk into it. Other than that, various spells were hitting the chains of the seal as well.

Naturally, we heard a roaring sound. It felt like the sound was going to destroy my eardrums, but Kim Hyun-Sung and Park Yeon-Joo broke through the wave of the explosion. Since they were the ones who could inflict the greatest damage, I was sure that they would find the weak point and take care of it. The others might not be able to see the two, but I could clearly see them. When the holy shield disappeared around them, their skin started to peel, but they didn’t let go of their swords as they focused their mana on one hand. Being able to withstand the shockwave of the explosion was already hard enough, and even though they seemed to be in bad condition, they forcefully swallowed the blood about to come out of their throats and swung their swords. I couldn’t help but be frustrated because the chains of the seal didn’t look like it was going to break.

‘Don’t die, Hyun-Sung!’

“Deok-Gu, get ready to pull Mr. Hyun-Sung and Park Yeon-Joo back,” I ordered.

“Ah, okay! I-I got it,” he answered.

“I want the priests to use as much holy power as you can. Miss Hee-Young, Mr. Ki-Mo! Please focus your holy power on the location that I point at. Mages, be prepared to use defense magic at any moment, and vanguards, move in along with Park Deok-Gu. Dialugia, shoot it as soon as the next one is ready,” I commanded.

“A-Are you going too, hyung-nim?” Park Deok-Gu asked.

“Yeah...”

I didn’t have time to talk because if Kim Hyun-Sung died, then I would die as well.

That was when something massive came at us.

‘Fragment?’

It was one of the giant tentacles. The monster seemed like it just wanted to free its body since it hadn’t targeted us just yet, but that was enough to make us hold our breath. When a large shadow fell on us, I couldn’t help but look up.

‘Are we going to die?’

Thankfully, Dialugia blocked the attack.

‘Shit.’

I felt happy, but sad at the same time because she used her Breath at the tentacles that were flying toward us. There was nothing we could do about it. If those tentacles landed on us, not only would I die, but the entire party would have been annihilated. The resulting shockwave from Dialugia’s Breath caused my body to almost fall backward, but Park Deok-Gu grabbed and stopped me from rolling.

Another wave of spells landed on the chains, and Kim Hyun-Sung and Park Yeon-Joo were still trying to break the chains of the seal. However…

‘It’s not enough.’

We didn’t lack a lot of power, though—just a little more. I thought it would break with just a bit more power, but right now, it wasn’t breaking.

‘Shit.’

Naturally, I thought about where I could bring in more firepower, but I couldn’t think of anything. That was when I looked at the sword I was holding.

“Juliena?”

I thought this was the only way.

“...”

“Juliena! My Juliena!”

“...”

“Wake up, Juliena. Ohh, my Juliena! I need you! Juliena! I need you!” I begged.

I may seem like a crazy person, but this was the only way. It was surprisingly humiliating to try and talk in the tone used in Shakespearean comedies, but this was the only thing I could do right now.

“Ohh, Juliena! My love! Wake up, Juliena. Please! Please save me and my comrades! My love, Juliena!” I called out again.

‘Shit.’

“Juliena! Shit! Juliena, my ass!” I cursed.

It was my mistake to try to rely on an item like this, and when I was thinking about our annihilation, I heard a voice I hadn’t heard in a long time.

- Aaaahhh! Gedric! My Gedric! My Gedric!!

“Huuuh?”

- Aaaahhhh! My love, Gedric! My everything! My all! The light and hope of my life! My savior. My eternal flower! Gedric! Finally! Finally! I finally heard your voice! My Gedric!

Author's Comment:

Max: N-No! My museum! My museum!

Veela: Rofl.