Chapter 337

Even before, everyone had known the Moon was approaching Earth. They also knew the one behind this was 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 among Connectors to discuss their future course of action.

Russell spoke up.

“… Something weirdly felt out of place when we fought Udocus. It seemed 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?”

“Does 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. It seemed many of the people around him also looked puzzled by the question. He wasn’t the only one ignorant about the Roche limit, so 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 speak confidently to 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. It’ll be obliterated into pieces, and the debris will revolve around earth like a ring. Scientists theorized this is how the ring around Saturn had formed.”

“What? Doesn’t that mean the moon won’t directly impact earth?”

It was as if Bruce had seen hope. Excitement entered Bruce’s voice. The faces of other Connectors brightened with hope.

However, the mayor drenched them with cold water.

“It won’t collide with earth, but that doesn’t mean humanity won’t become extinct. When the moon gets close to earth, it’ll cause all kinds of natural disasters. The gravitational pull from the moon will cause changes to the tides. Tsunamis will wipe out civilizations. Moreover, the shattered moon will form a ring around earth, but that doesn’t mean some fragments won’t fall to earth. It will be like earth being shot by a shotgun pellet. It’ll be like being hit by multiple asteroids.”

Bruce’s face crumpled.

He had found hope, but in the end, it had turned out to be false hope.

At that moment, he heard someone contradict the idea that such a phenomenon would happen.

“No. The moon won’t break apart.”

It was Plue-El.

“Gravitational…pull? Roche…limit? I have no idea what those words mean. However, I’m guessing a study was done, and it was determined the moon will break apart before it crashes into earth?”

“That is correct.”

“That is under the assumption that the moon is an ordinary celestial body?”

“…correct.”

“The moon isn’t an ordinary celestial body. It is a large mechanism created to seal the Grenoid. Like the other 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. However, it was known that space was governed by the laws of physics.

The only thing that went against the laws of physics was anything related to magical energy.

‘It is 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 it collided with earth in its original shape...

‘Earth itself might be destroyed for good.’

The despair that he 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 asked the mayor a question.

“Is there any way we can stop the moon from falling towards earth?”

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

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

It was a very provocative statement.

However, no one disagreed with what Sungyoon had said.

‘Calm down, Woo Sungyoon.’

He inwardly repeated this sentence a couple of times.

However, his restless heart refused to calm down.

He now knew that humanity might go instinct. That meant Shinhae and Jimin would die alongside humanity.

Sungyoon could never accept that.

“It isn’t as if we have zero recourse.”

Everyone, who was gathered there including Sungyoon, turned towards the voice.

It was a joke to say that everyone whipped their head around at the speed of lightning.

The one who spoke was Plu-El once again.

“Do you have some solution?”

The mayor immediately asked the question.

Her words were literally like a ray of light shining within the darkness. Everyone felt like they were swept up in turbulent water, and her words were like a lifeline thrown towards them.

“If the moon falls towards earth, humans aren’t the only ones that’ll be killed. It won’t be good news for those that side with the Grenoid, right?”

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

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

“Nobel…Prize? What is that?”

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

“Mmm. Anyways, you are saying they can’t make it so that humanity is the only one that’ll be 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. This was why it was incongruous to use the term hope.

Ironically, this piece of information made Plu-El feel hope in the face of the gloomy future.

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

“What is it?”

Russell asked the question.

“It is its own survival.”

After answering, Plu-El looked towards the mayor once again.

“If the earth and the moon collide, the shock that it’ll create will be immense, right?”

“I’ll have to get the specifics from the scientists. According to my limited knowledge, we’ll be lucky if the 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 the magical energy will react when faced with that much energy from the collision. I’m guessing the magical energy will merge with the energy created by the collision to amplify the destruction. The collision of the moon and earth has the potential to kill the Grenoid. The Grenoid prioritizes his own survival when it moves.”

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

He wanted to believe Plu-El’s word of hope, but the mayor coldly dissected 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.”

This was why the mayor brightened when Sungyoon gave a rebuttal.

“It is an exaggeration to say that our opposition believes that they had won once unraveling of the Grenoid’s seal was hastened. It wasn’t a move to bring about reprieve. The seal will break while enough magical energy remains on the moon. If the Grenoid destroyed 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 the Grenoid was. They nodded their heads in agreement.

“They’ve already completely 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 the Grenoid just wants an easier time moving to earth?”

Plu-El came up with a theory.

“The Grenoid itself possesses incredible amounts of magical energy. It was said that the Grenoid had incredible control over magical energy that its mere movement caused a disturbance in the magical energy. I do not believe a being like that can pass through a portal. The portal will become unstable. According to the information passed down to us, the Grenoid never used the portal to move around.

“Are you saying the Grenoid is just trying to decrease the physical distance between the moon and the 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 collided with earth, earth will most probably be gone.”

“That means they have a way to prevent the earth from colliding with earth.”

Silence descended once again.

Everyone went over the hopeful words of Plu-El.

“…at the end of the day, it is merely a possibility.”

Russell spoke.

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

“You are right.”

Russell let out a sigh once again as he looked towards the mayor.

“That is the only theory that we can pin our hopes on.”

“I think so too. We’ll continue to try to 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, it gave people something to work towards even if it was flimsy. 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 between the moon and earth. It was all vague.

Nevertheless, it seemed the mayor had his suspicions.

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

The mayor turned on the big screen installed on the wall.

A picture appeared on the screen.

“What is 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 the side of Grenoid.”

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.