192 - The Beast Beneath Eastwatch

The eastern wall of Eastwatch shook beneath the force of the approaching disturbance, and the sound rolled across the city like distant thunder. Guards rushed onto the battlements while civilians gathered in the streets, trying to understand what was happening beyond the walls. The migrating creatures that had been crossing the eastern plain were no longer moving in an orderly direction. Herds collided with one another, smaller monsters scattered between the larger ones, and several powerful beasts abandoned the road entirely to escape across the open fields.

Subin stood near the eastern gate with Yerin, Jae-hyun, Liu Wei, Rafael, Ara, and Kael. Lady Seraphine had joined them with a group of Eastwatch's strongest warriors, her expression becoming increasingly serious as the ground continued to rise and fall.

"How far away?" she asked.

Ara checked the readings on her device.

"Approximately four kilometers."

"Size?"

"Unknown."

The ground trembled again.

This time, the vibration carried something else.

A pulse of mana.

It passed beneath Eastwatch and continued through the city before disappearing toward the western mountains.

Subin immediately recognized the pattern.

"The eastern channel."

Ara looked at him.

"Yes. Whatever is beneath the ground is moving along the mana route."

Seraphine's face hardened.

"That route runs directly beneath the eastern districts."

"How deep?"

"Normally, more than two hundred meters."

Subin looked toward the eastern plain.

"Normally?"

Seraphine nodded. "The route has been sinking for the past several weeks."

Another tremor interrupted them.

A section of farmland several kilometers beyond the wall collapsed.

The soil disappeared into a widening depression, carrying crops and irrigation channels with it. A group of horned creatures barely escaped the collapsing ground before continuing westward.

Then something struck the bottom of the depression.

The impact sent a wave of dust into the sky.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then a massive claw emerged.

The ground around it fractured.

A second claw followed, and the creature began forcing its enormous body through the broken earth.

Its hide was dark gray and covered with thick plates of black crystal. Four enormous limbs pushed against the collapsing soil while a long, armored head emerged between them. Two curved horns swept backward from its skull, and faint orange lines of mana pulsed beneath its armor.

The creature was not merely large.

It was enormous.

Even from several kilometers away, its shoulders rose above the surrounding trees.

Ara's scanner finally registered its presence.

Subterranean Crown Beast

Level 244

Rank: A+

The soldiers on the wall fell silent.

Seraphine stared at the creature.

"We've never recorded that species."

Subin watched it carefully.

The beast didn't look toward Eastwatch.

It wasn't attacking the city.

Instead, it was turning its body toward the eastern mountains.

Then the ground beneath it collapsed again.

The creature roared and violently struck the soil.

The roar carried enough mana to shake the walls.

Several weaker monsters immediately fled.

Subin understood what was happening.

"It isn't coming for the city."

Seraphine looked at him.

"Then why is it here?"

"Because something is forcing it out."

The beast tore through another section of earth and began moving east.

But the underground route beneath it collapsed with every step.

The creature stumbled.

Its massive body slammed into the ground.

A wave of dust swept across the plain.

Then it rose again and continued forward.

Ara stared at the readings.

"The mana route is collapsing behind it."

Subin's expression changed.

"That's the problem."

He pointed toward the creature.

"It's not causing the migration."

The others looked at him.

"The migration is following the collapsing network."

Seraphine understood immediately.

"If the underground route fails, the creatures living around it lose their territory."

"Exactly."

That explained why so many different species had been moving in the same direction. They weren't being chased by a monster. Their environment was becoming unstable beneath them.

The Subterranean Crown Beast was simply one of the strongest creatures caught in the collapse.

Seraphine turned toward her soldiers.

"Open the eastern gate."

Kael looked at her.

"Are you sure?"

"If that creature remains near the city, the damage will be worse."

The gate opened.

The expedition moved onto the plain.

Eastwatch's warriors followed.

Subin raised one hand.

"Don't surround it."

The soldiers slowed.

"Keep the western side clear. Give it a path toward the mountains."

Seraphine immediately understood.

"You want to guide it."

"Not control it."

Subin looked toward the beast.

"We just need to stop it from turning toward the city."

The plan worked initially.

The creature continued east as the combined force positioned itself behind and to the sides, preventing it from drifting toward Eastwatch.

But after several hundred meters, the beast suddenly stopped.

Its head lifted.

The orange mana beneath its armor brightened.

Ara's expression changed.

"Something's happening."

The ground beneath the creature began glowing.

A circular pattern appeared beneath its feet.

Subin felt the mana immediately.

The pattern wasn't natural.

It was part of the underground regulator network.

"The route is activating."

Before anyone could react, a burst of concentrated mana erupted beneath the creature.

The beast roared and staggered.

Its crystal armor cracked.

Seraphine stared.

"Why would the regulator attack it?"

"It isn't attacking."

Subin's eyes narrowed.

"It's malfunctioning."

The regulator was trying to redirect the enormous mana flow beneath the beast, but the creature's body was blocking part of the channel. Energy accumulated beneath it until the pressure became unstable.

The beast responded instinctively.

It struck the ground.

The resulting shockwave tore through the plain.

Subin moved.

He didn't attack the creature directly.

Instead, he cut into the ground several meters away, opening a narrow channel for the excess energy to escape.

The pressure shifted.

The beast stopped roaring.

Another strike opened a second channel.

Then a third.

The mana began flowing away from the creature.

Ara immediately recognized what Subin was doing.

"He's creating temporary relief channels."

Yerin moved to the opposite side.

"Then I'll help."

Her spear struck the ground repeatedly, widening Subin's cuts and directing the flow toward an empty valley.

Jae-hyun and Liu Wei followed, cutting through sections of unstable stone while Rafael protected the workers and Eastwatch soldiers from falling debris.

For several minutes, the battlefield became less like a fight and more like an emergency engineering operation.

The Subterranean Crown Beast remained at the center of it all.

Every time the mana pressure shifted, its body moved instinctively with the flow.

Subin realized something important.

The creature wasn't resisting their efforts.

It was cooperating without understanding what they were doing.

Once the pressure dropped sufficiently, the beast turned toward the mountains again.

But before it could leave, the eastern ground split open.

A much larger crack appeared.

It stretched from the collapsed farmland all the way toward the city.

Seraphine stared at it.

"That's underneath Eastwatch."

Ara checked the readings.

"The main route is failing."

Subin looked toward the city.

If the channel collapsed beneath Eastwatch, the city wouldn't simply lose its mana supply.

The ground itself could become unstable.

"How long?"

Ara swallowed.

"Maybe twenty minutes."

Seraphine immediately began issuing orders.

"Evacuate the eastern districts. Move everyone toward the western quarter. Shut down the underground water channels."

Kael ran toward the city with the soldiers.

Subin looked at Yerin.

"We need to reach the regulator."

"Where?"

Ara pointed toward the largest crack.

"Under the eastern district."

Subin nodded.

"Then we're going underground."

The expedition descended through the newly opened fissure.

The passage below Eastwatch was unlike the tunnels beneath Cinder Crown.

This one was enormous.

Ancient stone pillars supported the ceiling while streams of glowing mana flowed through channels carved into the floor. Parts of the structure had collapsed, but the main route was still functioning.

They moved quickly.

After several hundred meters, they reached a large underground chamber.

At its center stood an enormous regulator.

Unlike the damaged structure near the Blackstone Gate, this one was still intact.

But something was wrong.

The regulator was receiving far more mana than it could distribute.

Ara stared at the readings.

"It's overloaded."

Subin looked at the eastern channel.

"Where's all this coming from?"

Ara pointed deeper into the chamber.

"From the east."

A massive stream of mana was entering the regulator from an unseen route.

Too much.

Far too much.

The regulator's crystalline core began glowing brighter.

Jae-hyun looked around.

"If that explodes—"

"It won't," Subin said.

He stepped toward the core.

"But if we don't reduce the pressure, the city will lose the entire eastern foundation."

Yerin looked toward the eastern passage.

"Can we redirect it?"

"Yes."

Ara examined the structure.

"There are three emergency channels."

Subin looked at them.

"Where do they lead?"

"One toward the mountains. One toward the lower valley. The third..."

She stopped.

"Where?"

Ara looked at the map.

"The third goes directly beneath Eastwatch."

Subin immediately rejected it.

"Then we use the first two."

Ara shook her head.

"They aren't large enough."

Subin examined the regulator.

"Then we make them larger."

The team began working.

Jae-hyun and Liu Wei widened the mountain channel while Yerin opened the lower valley route. Rafael stabilized the collapsing pillars as Subin focused on the central regulator.

The pressure continued rising.

The crystalline core began vibrating.

A warning appeared on Ara's device.

"Three minutes."

Subin placed his hand on the regulator.

He could feel the mana moving through it.

The system wasn't broken.

It was overwhelmed.

There was a difference.

He drew Simple Edge.

Instead of cutting the core, he traced the sword along the outer crystalline housing, following the existing mana pathways.

One cut.

Then another.

Each stroke opened a small auxiliary passage.

The pressure began falling.

Ara watched the readings.

"Thirty percent."

Another cut.

"Forty."

Subin continued.

The regulator's glow slowly returned to normal.

Then the entire chamber became silent.

The underground tremors stopped.

Above them, Eastwatch was safe.

At least for the moment.

Ara looked at the eastern flow.

"It's stable."

Subin sheathed his sword.

"Not fixed."

"No."

She looked toward the eastern passage.

"Something is still sending excessive mana into this system."

Seraphine arrived several minutes later with Kael.

She looked around the chamber, then at the stabilized regulator.

"You saved the city."

Subin shook his head.

"We bought time."

Seraphine followed his gaze toward the eastern tunnel.

"What is beyond there?"

Ara answered quietly.

"We don't know."

Subin looked into the darkness.

The same mana route that connected Cinder Crown to Crossroads continued far beyond Eastwatch.

And now they knew something else.

The flow wasn't merely weakening farther east.

It was increasing.

Something beyond the known territories was sending an enormous amount of mana backward through the network.

Subin tightened his grip on Simple Edge.

"Tomorrow, we go east."

Seraphine stared at him.

"How far?"

Subin looked at the ancient passage disappearing into darkness.

"As far as the network goes."

No one argued.

For the first time since entering the World Dungeon, the expedition had found a problem that could not be solved by repairing the nearest damaged structure.

The source lay beyond Eastwatch.

And somewhere far to the east, the ancient mana network was still carrying power toward them from a region no map had ever recorded.