Chapter 97
I decided to lead the people trapped in the gymnasium to the station and leave the city.
In the midst of the pure-white blizzard, dozens of survivors were walking in a long procession.
When we first went to the gymnasium, riding on the golem's back instead of walking across the icy roads had been a wise choice.
Every time the golem took a step at the front, its tremendous weight shattered the icy road, allowing the people following behind to advance by stepping only on the broken path without worrying about slipping.
"My goodness..."
"Are all these monster corpses?"
The people were left speechless as they saw the corpses of white-furred apes strewn horribly across the road.
Some had lost their entire heads, some were charred black, and some had their chests pierced through.
They had died in all sorts of ways.
"Mid-grade mana stones..."
When I casually picked up one or two mana stones and pieces of leather scattered around my feet, the survivors following behind watched me for a moment before immediately taking action.
"W-We can do it."
"You must be cold..."
Although their own hands had turned red, they scrambled through the snow and picked up the loot for me instead.
They were clearly trying to repay me somehow.
"It's all right..."
They repeatedly thanked me, but at the same time, they kept glancing at one another and whispering among themselves.
Perhaps because I had mentioned the train in passing, some of them were cautiously speculating that I might be the assistant mod of the Survivor Gallery.
There was a slight suspicion in their eyes.
They were wondering whether that person would suddenly come all the way here to save them.
I thought the golem and spear would be enough to prove it—but
"He doesn't have a drone..."
"Right, he said it was always around him... What was that nickname again...?"
"Was it Drone Mage... or Drone Enthusiast...?"
"..."
So that's why.
The only thing capable of operating in this blizzard was the sniper drone, and even that sniper drone was high in the sky, sniping monsters in the surrounding area, so there really wasn't a drone nearby.
After we escaped the frigid city, the station finally came into view, and a massive train appeared there.
"Ah!"
The survivors who saw the train opened their mouths wide, forgetting even the cold.
Even when cold snow entered their open mouths, they didn't close them.
The turret and enormous ballista mounted on top of the train.
And the crusher on its front.
It was a terrifying appearance that would have made ordinary people recoil and flee, but now, it seemed to give them a sense of security instead.
"We're saved!"
"A train! It's a train!"
Without anyone needing to prompt them, the people began embracing one another and celebrating right there.
With transportation, escaping the blizzard and reaching somewhere safe would be quick and easy.
"All right, everyone, get aboard. It's cold outside."
I opened the passenger car door wide and quickly guided the people inside.
Since I had turned the air conditioner on at maximum output in advance, warm air flowed out the moment the door opened.
The survivors repeatedly bowed as they boarded the warm train as though being sucked inside.
[Many Constellations are pleased to watch your benevolent actions.]
[The Constellation, Guardian of the Forest, is moved and sponsors you 1,000 credits!]
[The Constellation, the Merciful, sponsors you 500 credits!]
[...]
"I'll collect these later..."
Positive messages and sponsorships from the Constellations appeared one after another in a corner of my vision.
They said some Constellations were utterly heartless, but thanks to the considerable number of benevolent Constellations among them, even this good deed was financially worthwhile.
I brought water and chocolate-containing snacks that could serve as a light meal from Car 2 and handed them out to the people.
The people seemed embarrassed, but they must have been very hungry, because as soon as I handed out the snacks, they began eating carefully so as not to drop a crumb.
Nabi put up a little resistance when I took the snacks, but she stopped resisting once I told her there were plenty of them.
I turned back toward the train door.
"Where are you going?"
When I tried to leave, the male Incarnation urgently asked me, his shoulder wrapped in bandages.
"Oh, there's something I forgot to get."
I tightened the winter scarf around my neck once more, then stepped outside with my back to the warm air of the passenger car.
I had no intention of simply leaving like this.
It was only a hunch, but there was still something here I needed to take care of.
The culprit that had suddenly changed the season and created this anomalous phenomenon throughout the area.
I had found it with the drone: a boss-like monster that, with a high probability, held a high-grade mana stone.
"So you found it?"
Whirr-!
The sniper drone nodded.
That was the command I had entered in advance.
If it found a boss or anything unusual, it was to immediately descend and report to me.
Since the sniper drone had descended all the way to eye level, it meant that it had found something.
The sniper drone shook its body up and down as if nodding, then once again took the lead and advanced into the blizzard.
"Let's follow it."
I followed closely behind the sniper drone with the golem.
***
Before long, we arrived at a massive outdoor parking lot covered in snow.
In the middle of it, I saw a gigantic figure lying on a bed made by crudely joining several crumpled cars together.
"...It's big."
Its basic appearance was similar to the white-furred apes we had hunted in front of the gymnasium earlier.
But when I looked more closely, its size and bodily structure were somewhat different.
It was easily five meters tall, and its fists were unusually enormous.
Its arms were nearly as long as its entire body, making it look more like a gorilla than a monkey.
Seeing the surrounding blizzard swirling in time with its breathing, it was definitely the culprit behind this anomalous weather.
"Hmm..."
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it seemed even colder around here.
Seeing ice pillars forming around the sleeping creature, however, made me think it might not be my imagination.
"Aim for its head."
No sooner had I given the order than the sniper drone's smooth front armor opened, and a beam shot out from the hidden barrel.
Pew-!
A sound like a suppressed gunshot rang out, and the blue trajectory struck the gorilla's head perfectly.
I expected its head to burst like a watermelon, just like the apes earlier.
But what happened next defied my expectations.
"Kroar-!!"
The gorilla sprang to its feet with an ear-piercing scream.
A deep, lengthy gash had been carved into the side of its head, exposing the skull and spilling blood, but it had not suffered a fatal wound.
As befitted a boss monster, its toughness and skeletal strength were on an entirely different level from those of ordinary monsters.
Woken abruptly from a deep sleep, the creature's eyes glowed red with extreme fury.
The moment it spotted me, it hoisted one of the cars it had been using as a bed with one enormous hand and hurled it at me like a shot put.
Shwoooong-!
A mass of metal came flying through the air, tearing through it.
"Golem—!"
It was just as I was about to call the golem.
Before the golem could even lean its body forward, the sniper drone hovering in the air instantly blocked my path.
The drone's body whipped ninety degrees to the side, and with a clack of machinery, its side armor plate spread wide.
Then, perhaps in preparation for the impact, powerful blue flames burst from the bottom of its body.
KWAANG-!
The car collided head-on with the drone's shield.
With an enormous crash, the vehicle crumpled like a sheet of paper.
The drone was pushed several meters backward by the impact, but it spewed blue flames wildly and somehow managed to regain control of its posture.
The result was good.
Blocked by the shield, the car lost its direction and slammed helplessly to the side, while the sniper drone floated slowly in the air and aimed its gun barrel once more.
"It's tougher than I expected."
I marveled.
I hadn't thought the Shield Drone could really serve as an actual shield.
Seeing it withstand an impact like that, I understood why it had been given that name.
Of course, it didn't look capable of blocking an attack like this repeatedly, but this was more than enough.
"Kwoooar-!"
The enormous white-furred gorilla roared toward the sky once more.
The fact that its attack had been blocked seemed to have provoked its bestial nature.
It raised both arms high, then slammed them into the parking lot floor with its tremendous weight.
KWAANG-!
As the concrete floor shattered, a burst of pure-white cold spread outward from its two fists.
Zzzt, crackle-!
In an instant, everything froze. The fierce blizzard sank to the ground and turned the surrounding space into a sheet of ice.
It was so slippery that even standing upright was difficult.
"Urgh..."
Without a place to plant my feet, I couldn't put my full strength into a leap.
If I slipped even slightly, that creature would not miss the moment and would charge at me.
I immediately lifted my foot from the ground and shouted.
"Golem!"
Thud-!
This time, the golem answered my call by forcefully smashing through the ice with its heavy legs and stepping in front of me.
Rather than the slippery ground, I roughly stepped onto the golem's solid steel back armor thrust before me and leaped.
Bang-!
Using the recoil, I shot high into the air.
I intended to attack the creature from there.
But it wasn't simply going to stand by and watch.
"Grrr-!"
Fwoosh-!
Having spotted me in the air, the creature tore an ice pillar from beneath its feet and swung it like a baseball bat.
It was an attack that perfectly exploited the fact that there was nowhere to evade in midair.
I was about to cut through the ice pillar with my spear when I suddenly remembered.
I could still evade it one more time.
"Drone, foothold!"
Shwoooosh-!
The waiting sniper drone flew over.
The drone positioned itself precisely beneath my feet, then tilted its body horizontally and spread the shield on its side wide.
It had created a foothold in midair.
Although we had never discussed it, it responded immediately to my brief command.
Just before the ice pillar reached my waist, I stepped on the shield deployed by the drone and kicked off it one more time.
Fwaaaang-!
Thanks to that, I narrowly avoided the incoming ice pillar while taking up a favorable position above the gorilla's head.
"Hup!"
"Krrk?!"
Sensing the crisis, the gorilla dropped the ice pillar and hurriedly crossed both arms to defend itself.
A thick layer of ice formed over its arms.
But it was useless against my spear, whose strength had been reinforced by skills as well.
Clang-!
The tip of my spear shattered the creature's ice shield in a single blow.
It didn't stop there.
It pierced through the thick forearm and drove straight into the forehead of the enormous gorilla.
Thrust-!
The spear pierced the creature's skull and drove in a straight line all the way into the earth.
"..."
It couldn't even scream.
Its red eyes merely faded to gray, and it dropped to its knees on the ice like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Srrrk—thud.
The moment it died, the fierce blizzard subsided as though it had never existed.
Plop.
Rumble.
And, just as I had expected, a high-grade mana stone appeared.