Moon's Labyrinths

Even before, everyone had known the Moon was approaching Earth. They also knew the ones behind this were Grenoid and his underlings. However, no one had been worried. After all, at that pace, it would've taken the Moon a very long time to reach Earth.

However, the prospect of the Moon falling on Earth was right in front of them now. The calamity was imminent.

The Mayor gathered all the important figures to discuss the future course of action.

Russell spoke up.

“… Something weirdly felt out of place when we fought Udocus. It seems the sensation we felt was the Moon changing its trajectory.”

“I thought I had been mistaken, but I guess that wasn’t the case.”

Bruce leaned his head backward as he sighed. He then continued to speak.

“What happens when the Moon falls to Earth?”

“Do the details matter? It won’t change the result. If it falls, all humans will die. At that point, does it matter if other phenomena occur as a consequence?”

Russell bluntly answered Bruce.

“Are you sure everyone will die?”

Bruce wanted a confirmation, so he asked the Mayor this time.

“We can only hypothesize. However, it's true that Earth will be faced with a catastrophe. One or two people dying will look like child’s play in comparison. No, I feel no need to tiptoe around this subject. Let’s just say everyone will die.”

Bruce slapped his thigh in anger.

“Of course, Earth won’t be fine since such a large mass would be hitting it.”

“To be precise, the Moon won’t directly collide with Earth.”

“Huh? Didn’t you say the Moon is falling toward Earth?”

“Do you know about the Roche limit?”

Bruce shook his head from side to side, then looked at the people around him. Many others also looked puzzled by the question. Since he wasn’t the only one ignorant about the Roche limit, he inwardly sighed in relief. Above all else, it seemed Russell was the same, and this amplified the relief Bruce felt.

“No, I do not. What is it?”

Therefore, Bruce was able to confidently ask the Mayor.

“When a large satellite approaches a primary body, the internal gravity holding the satellite together can't hold it together anymore within a certain distance from the primary body. That distance is the Roche limit.”

Most of the Connectors still had a question mark hanging above their heads. Connectors' jobs were to put their lives on the line to fight monsters; most of them didn’t bother getting an education.

“If I simplify it, the Moon won’t be able to maintain its shape once it reaches a certain distance to Earth. It’ll be obliterated into pieces, and the debris will revolve around Earth like rings. Scientists theorize this is how the ring around Saturn formed.”

“What? Doesn’t that mean the Moon won’t directly impact Earth?”

As if Bruce had seen hope, excitement entered his voice. The faces of other Connectors also brightened with hope.

However, the Mayor drenched them with cold water.

“It won’t collide with Earth, but that doesn’t mean humanity will survive. When the Moon gets close to Earth, it’ll cause all kinds of natural disasters. The Moon's gravitational pull will cause changes to the tides. Tsunamis will wipe out civilizations. Moreover, the shattered Moon will form a ring around Earth, but some fragments would still fall toward Earth as if a shotgun pellet were shooting them. It’ll be like being hit by multiple asteroids.”

Bruce’s face crumpled. He had found hope, but in the end, it turned out to be false hope. At that moment, he heard someone contradict the Mayor's theory.

“No. The Moon won’t break apart.”

It was Plu-El.

“Gravitational… pull? Roche… limit? I have no idea what those words mean. However, I’m guessing your researchers did a study and determined the Moon will break apart before crashing into Earth?”

“That's correct.”

“That's under the assumption that the Moon is an ordinary celestial body?”

“… Correct.”

“The Moon isn’t an ordinary celestial body. It's a large mechanism created to seal Grenoid. Like many of the Connectors here, I couldn’t comprehend much of the words you said. However, I can say for sure that the Moon won’t break apart so easily.”

It took a lot of effort for human consciousness to fathom how space worked. That effort paid off, and the humans learned that the laws of physics still governed space. However, there was an exception to the laws of physics: magical energy. Anything related to magical energy went beyond those laws.

‘It's a possibility.’

The Mayor thought Plu-El’s words made sense. However, that brought on a host of different problems. If the Moon didn’t break apart and collided with Earth in its original shape...

‘Earth itself might be destroyed for good.’

The despair that the Mayor felt deepened. However, he quickly changed his perspective on the new information.

‘Humanity will be wiped out in both scenarios.’

If humanity was gone, there was no reason for him to worry about whether Earth existed or not.

Sungyoon then asked the Mayor a question.

“Is there any way we can stop the Moon from falling toward Earth?”

“Every country on Earth is trying to come up with a solution. However...”

“It effectively means that humanity has received a death sentence.”

It was a provocative statement, but no one disagreed with Sungyoon's words.

‘Calm down, Woo Sungyoon.’

Sungyoon inwardly repeated this sentence a couple of times. However, his restless heart refused to calm down. He now knew that humanity might go extinct, and that meant Shinhae and Jimin would die too. Sungyoon could never accept that.

“It's not like we have zero recourses.”

Everyone in the room, including Sungyoon, turned toward the voice. Everyone had whipped their head around at the speed of lightning.

The one who spoke was Plu-El once again.

“Do you have any solution?”

The Mayor immediately asked her.

Plu-El's words were a ray of light shining within the darkness. Everyone felt as if turbulent waters had swept them up, but she had thrown a lifeline toward them.

“If the Moon falls toward Earth, humans won’t be the only ones to die. It won’t be good news for those on Grenoid's side, right?”

“If someone can find a way to focus the energy created by the collision to wipe out only the humans, that person would win the Nobel Prize.”

Plu-El frowned a little as she tilted her head in puzzlement.

“Nobel…Prize? What's that?”

It seemed she felt a bit stressed when others used terms she didn’t understand.

“Mmm. Anyway, you're saying that they can’t make it so that humans will be the only ones to get wiped out. Am I correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then it solidifies everything. We have hope.”

There was a possibility that all living creatures including humans would be wiped off the planet. That was why it was incongruous to use the term hope. Yet, ironically, this piece of information made Plu-El feel hope in the face of the gloomy future.

“Grenoid’s goal is to destroy humanity. It's motivated by the hate it feels toward humans, who created it. It wants to get rid of humans and rule over Earth. I don’t know why it wants to do that, but we know what Grenoid wants. We also know something that’ll guide its actions.”

“What is it?”

Russell asked.

“Its own survival.”

After answering Russell, Plu-El looked toward the Mayor once again.

“If Earth and the Moon collide, the shock generated will be immense, right?”

“I’ll have to get the specifics from the scientists. According to my limited knowledge, we’ll be lucky if Earth doesn’t break in half.”

“Only attacks using magical energy work on Grenoid, but I don’t think it can survive a collision of that magnitude. Moreover, we have no idea how magical energy will react when faced with that much energy from the collision. I’m guessing magical energy will merge with the energy created by the collision, and would only amplify the destruction. The collision of the Moon and Earth has the potential to kill Grenoid, and Grenoid prioritizes its own survival when it moves.”

“However, Grenoid is actively pushing everything toward the collision. What if it has its back against the wall? What if it blindly chose to carry out this plan in desperation?”

The Mayor wanted to believe Plu-El’s words of hope, but he had to coldly dissect the situation. He desperately wanted someone other than Plu-El to push back against his assertion.

“No. I don’t think they are desperate enough to accelerate the Moon to cause mutual destruction.”

The Mayor's face brightened when Sungyoon rebutted his words.

“It's not an exaggeration to say that our opposition believes that they have won after the unraveling of Grenoid’s seal was hastened. It wasn’t a move to bring about reprieve. The seal will break only if enough magical energy remains on the Moon. If Grenoid destroys the stake as soon as it revives, the transfer of magical energy to Earth will stop.”

More so than those living on Earth, Plu-El and the other descendants of Planote knew how terrifying Grenoid was, so they nodded.

“They’ve already turned the tide of the war, so why would they accelerate the fall velocity of the Moon? It means they have an ulterior motive.”

“What do you think that ulterior motive is?”

“What if Grenoid just wants an easier time moving to Earth?”

Plu-El came up with a theory.

“Grenoid itself possesses incredible amounts of magical energy. Our records say that Grenoid had such incredible control over magical energy that its mere movement caused a disturbance in magical energy. I don't believe a being like that can pass through a portal. The portal will become unstable. Moreover, according to the information our ancestors passed down to us, Grenoid never used portals to move around.

“Are you saying that Grenoid is just trying to decrease the physical distance between the Moon and Earth?”

“I believe so.”

“Isn’t the scale of its actions too large? Even if it wants to move to Earth, isn’t there a chance that it might kill itself? If the Moon collides with Earth, Earth would most probably be gone.”

“That means they have a way to prevent the collision.”

Silence descended in the room once again.

Everyone went over the hopeful words of Plu-El.

“… At the end of the day, it's merely a possibility.”

Russell spoke.

“However, we have no choice but to gamble on this possibility.”

“You're right.”

Russell let out a sigh once again as he looked toward the Mayor.

“That's the only theory we can pin our hopes on.”

“I think so too. We’ll continue to try and come up with other plans, but we have to find out whether Ms. Plu-El’s theory is correct or not.”

It was too speculative and optimistic to call it 'hope.' However, even if it was flimsy, it gave people something to work toward. It was a testament to how cornered they felt right now.

“I think I know where we can find our answer.”

“Where would that be?”

While they had some hope now, it didn’t change the fact that they had no idea what the monsters could do to stop the collision. It was all vague. Nevertheless, it seemed the Mayor had his suspicions.

“I’m not sure if it's the right answer, but it's one of the reasons I gathered all of you here. Even an incompetent person would get suspicious if something like that suddenly appears out of nowhere.”

The Mayor switched on the big screen on the wall.

A picture appeared on the screen.

“What's that?”

“It appeared exactly on the opposite side of the stake. We believe it arose when Udocus carried out his ritual. We believe it belongs to Grenoid's side.”

The picture had been taken from a satellite, so it showed an overhead view. At a glance, one could tell that it was a picture of a large building.