A heavy silence hung between us as we ate a late breakfast after finishing our morning romp.
"…Hey."
"Huh?"
I felt like I was dying of awkwardness when Choi Hyena finally broke the silence with a complicated look on her face.
"Last night was an accident. Forget everything that happened once we get out of this gate."
Even as she said that, I could see Choi Hyena's face growing red, as if she was reminded of what happened last night.
Judging from the way her eyes were trembling, it was obvious who would have a harder time forgetting.
"So, does that mean when you said to me, 'Honey, I'm so tired, can't we rest for a bit?' that was an accident too?"
"Aaaaaaack!!"
Thwack! I got hit by the spoon Choi Hyena threw.
"Forget it! Forget it! I said forget it!!"
As punishment for running my mouth, I had to endure a barrage of angry kicks.
After two rounds of furious kicking, Choi Hyena seemed to have calmed down a bit as she carefully picked up the spoon and silently continued eating.
"So, what about the Wendigo?"
"…It's asleep."
Choi Hyena said that she was currently in a temporary contract with the Wendigo.
She didn't know how she managed to make a contract with the Wendigo, considering she wasn't suited to spirit magic.
"Well, at least the Wendigo won't attack us like last time."
Well, judging from its reaction at dawn, it seemed like it wouldn't attack us even without a contract.
"Are you going to make a formal contract?"
"I don't know. I'm a complete novice when it comes to spirits… I'd like to make a formal contract if I can, but I don't know if it'll agree…"
To begin with, spirit magic users are extremely rare.
So rare that there were less than thirty spirit magic users in the country.
As such, there were very few people who tried to delve deeply into spirits, and it wasn't a required field of study, so even if you were born into a prestigious magical family like Choi Hyena, you wouldn't be taught about spirits specifically.
"Anyway, even a temporary contract is still a contract, right? Can't you borrow some of its power until we escape the gate?"
"…I don't know about that either. It seems like we don't know the details of the contract. Well, the Wendigo might know, but even if it lends us its power, it won't do it without a worthy price."
"I have a price."
"What is it?"
I proudly pointed to my crotch.
"…You're probably the only human in the world to have a relationship with a spirit."
"It seemed to love it?"
"…It's my body!!"
Smack!!
***
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that there are only two days left until the gate opens, and the bad news is that the appearance of the Wendigo means that this gate is likely to be at least B-grade or higher.
We won't be fighting the boss, so it doesn't matter, but if another B-grade beast shows up, then one of us could really die.
'We can't just hide in the shelter until the gate opens.'
The opening of the gate means that a gate break will occur, and the beasts inside the gate will all rush to Earth.
Of course, countless skilled people will already be prepared outside to deal with it, but the problem is us.
To minimize combat during the escape process, we had to periodically clear out the monsters around the shelter.
Of course, we considered the option of waiting for all the monsters to leave and then targeting an empty house, but Choi Hyena insisted that it would be crazy.
-The outside world must be in chaos right now due to the sudden appearance of a B-grade or higher gate in the middle of the city.
Choi Hyena picked one method as the best way to handle a gate break while minimizing property damage and casualties.
A full-force bombardment.
I'd seen it on the news from time to time.
Mages and hunters surround the gate, and the moment the gate opens, they unleash a simultaneous attack to reduce the number of monsters in the early stages.
If we escaped too early, we would either be turned to ashes in the bombardment, or if we escaped too late, we would be discovered by a boss-level monster and die.
In the end, escaping the gate one step ahead of the other monsters was practically the only way for us to survive.
The outside world must know that we're trapped here.
Moreover, with Choi Hyena's existence and Choi Youngok's influence, we should have at least a few minutes of leeway after the gate opens.
We had to take advantage of that time.
However, a gate break is the disaster that people fear the most.
Even Choi Youngok wouldn't be able to buy us much time.
The first condition was to escape before the other monsters; otherwise, the probability of dying would increase exponentially.
It was a marathon of death where we had to reach the finish line before anyone else if we didn't want to die.
"The Wendigo still isn't answering?"
"Haa… I guess not."
The Wendigo was practically our key card for this escape.
Due to Choi Hyena's inexperience as a spirit magic user and the flimsy connection of a temporary contract, we wouldn't be able to fully unleash the power of the B-grade monster, but that was enough for now.
If the Wendigo could draw the attention of the monsters while we escaped, it would make our escape much easier.
The problem was that the Wendigo was either still asleep or deliberately ignoring us; it wasn't answering Choi Hyena's calls.
And it had been almost 2 hours.
"I guess we have no choice. Let's wait until this evening, and if it still doesn't wake up, we'll have to break through on our own."
"…No, if it doesn't wake up by evening, I'll force it awake."
"Can you do that?"
"I think I can somehow."
I decided not to question Choi Hyena's confident expression any further.
Because there was something more important.
"5 o'clock, about 200 meters."
"Confirmed."
As soon as I finished briefing, Choi Hyena composed herself and began preparing her magic.
Thump- Thump-
After 10 seconds, and then 30 seconds, a giant monster revealed itself beyond the increasingly intense vibrations.
"That's an Ice Troll… Isn't it too big?"
It was a C+ grade monster known to be larger than a White Yeti and more ferocious than an Ice Bear.
With its powerful strength, excellent regenerative ability, and skin resistant to physical attacks, it was definitely a tricky opponent.
However, unlike higher-grade monsters like Ogres, it didn't have strong magic resistance in its skin, making it nothing more than a walking target for us.
I confirmed its position, direction, and speed, and then began to draw out my magic power like Choi Hyena.
Water element had the disadvantage of being the weakest in terms of power among the elemental types, but it had the advantage of being versatile and adaptable to various situations.
On the other hand, the fire element had the disadvantage of not being able to change as flexibly as the water element, but its power was by far the highest among the elemental types.
[Thought Acceleration]
When I used the newly acquired skill, everything around me, including the surrounding objects and environment, slowed down significantly.
The snow falling from the sky, the breath flowing from my mouth, even the movements of my own body.
I finally understood what 'Thought Acceleration' was.
In a moment where everything slowed down, I was the only one who could think as usual.
'To think that I can cut the magic casting time by almost half… If this is a rare grade, then is Weakness Detection really epic??'
Now that I had 'Thought Acceleration', I could perform twice as well, or even better, than the magic I had shown in previous battles.
[Fire Spear]
The magic I'm casting now is the Fire Spear I used in the underground dungeon last time.
Of course, its power and speed are now so much greater that it's almost embarrassing to compare them. The current Fire Spear is emitting enough heat to melt all the snow around it.
Due to the increased amount of magic power compared to last time, the increased casting time, and the fact that I had a refreshing release of sexual desire last night, my condition was even better.
"I'll admit it if you regenerate even after your head is blown open."
Before Choi Hyena's magic was completed, I launched the spear first.
After all, water and fire are opposing elements, so launching them together would only negate each other's magic.
Whoosh!!
The Fire Spear, tearing through the air with tremendous speed, went straight into the Ice Troll's forehead.
-Keeeuuuugh!!!
The Fire Spear exploded at the same time as it pierced the forehead.
I was surprised by the tremendous power, but the title of C+ grade monster wasn't just for show; it couldn't be defeated with just one spell.
However, I had definitely inflicted damage.
[Aqua Rage]
The finish was up to Choi Hyena.
Thump-
The troll was blasted by the high-pressure water laser, scattering its brain matter everywhere before collapsing.
After that, we collected the magic stones and gradually hunted down the approaching monsters one by one.
Until the sun went down.
Another day in the gate had passed, but the Wendigo still hadn't answered.
***
There were only a day and a few hours left until the gate opened, but the schedule for the last day wasn't much different from usual.
Hunting the monsters around the shelter and checking the route to the gate.
We finished our work today, having dealt with quite a few monsters, and returned to the shelter.
Even though we had safely passed another day, there was no conversation between us.
It was partly because we were exhausted from hunting monsters, but it was mostly because the sight we had seen during the day couldn't be forgotten.
Choi Hyena, in particular, seemed to be in shock.
As we were hunting monsters as usual, we felt as if the ground was shaking, and we rushed up the hill to look around.
-What, what is that…?
-…Bullshit.
There, not too far away from us, we saw a horde of at least 100 monsters marching in an orderly manner toward somewhere.
It was unbelievable that so many monsters were gathered, and they weren't even attacking each other.
It was unbelievable to me, but Choi Hyena explained that it was thanks to the boss monster's control.
I finally understood why so many hunters gathered in front of the gate on the news screens showing the gate break.
It was a disaster.
A disaster that would easily wipe out a city if it couldn't be stopped.
"…Will we be able to return alive?"
Choi Hyena's shoulders were trembling slightly as she lay with her back to me.
I quietly pulled Choi Hyena into my arms.
Normally, I would have been punched, but Choi Hyena quietly nestled in my arms and fell asleep without saying a word.
When the next day dawned, we would have to break through that army and escape.
I didn't show it, but I couldn't help but be a little scared.
***
Late at night.
Thwack!!!
"?!"
"Eek?!"
A huge earthquake occurred.
We, who had been in a deep sleep, rushed out of the tent.
And we couldn't believe our eyes.
"…What the hell is that now."
A small mountain was moving, and its glowing blue eyes were directed at us.
"I-Ice Golem… It's a B-grade boss monster…"
The moment I saw its huge body, I couldn't even think about fighting it.
Even if it was a stationary sandbag, I wondered if we could even defeat it.
While we were stunned by the sight, it began to walk again.
Thwack!!!
It was just taking a step, but it felt like a huge earthquake had occurred.
In this snowy field and mountain range, if an earthquake of this magnitude occurred, there would naturally be a disaster following it.
Rumble-
An overwhelming and gigantic avalanche that was beyond words was revealing itself.
The sight of an entire mountain range covered in snow being swept away jolted me back to my senses.
"Hey!"
I grabbed the wrist of Choi Hyena, who was still out of it, and ran. Only then did Choi Hyena seem to come to her senses and start running on her own two feet.
We mustered our magic power and ran with all our might in the opposite direction of the avalanche, but considering the environmental conditions where our feet kept sinking and the avalanche's speed reached up to 120 km/h…
"Damn it!!"
Thwack!!!
There was no way for us to escape from that white wave.