Outside the Wall, the land was filled with overgrown vegetation, untouched by human hands.
There were buildings, but they had all been abandoned and become derelict, with weeds and vines filling the gaps between them.
Since no one lived there or even passed through regularly, the concept of roads had disappeared. There were only paths where animals had trampled through.
People who could survive in unrefined mana tried to live in harmony with the animals.
Of course, if you asked what kind of harmony it was, it would be different from what most people would consider harmony.
"...Reika, are you going again today?"
"No, I need to rest for a while. And replenish my monsters too."
The Mysterious Person called Reika.
She was the mastermind who had breached the Wall three times.
Havar, the Mysterious Person watching her from the side, couldn't understand why Reika was so dedicated to her cause.
Despite having the same black hair, same black eyes, and same red pupils, they had different body types, different voices, and different personalities.
Havar scratched her short hair that barely reached her shoulders as if annoyed, then lay down. Settling into a hammock woven from sturdy vines, she turned her head away completely as if bothered.
Reika turned her head toward Havar, who had completely lost interest in her.
"Aren't you angry?"
"About what?"
"Everyone inside there hates us. They despise us."
"I've never been inside, so I wouldn't know."
Reika pointed at the Wall.
She had been staring resentfully at the Wall that divided the world for quite some time. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she had been watching it almost since birth.
Breaking through the Wall required considerable time and many resources.
They had succeeded in breaching the Wall by inheriting preparations from previous generations, but now, with heightened security, it was questionable whether they could succeed again.
That's why Reika had decided to ask for help.
Even if she managed to breach the Wall alone, she wouldn't be able to accomplish what came after. She didn't want to just die alone with nothing to show for it.
She felt wronged for being driven out as someone immune to unrefined mana, forced to live without civilization. She also harbored resentment toward those who had cast them out. It made her almost crazy with the desire to kill them.
So she couldn't stop.
"Havar. Help me."
"...Too much trouble. I don't envy or get angry about things I've never seen..."
As if their personality differences were irreconcilable, Havar turned her back to Reika and lay down.
Unlike Reika, who had scraped together barely surviving records, read them, memorized them, and learned to feel anger, Havar simply acknowledged such information and moved on.
"Why don't you try persuading the others?"
Though Havar had turned her back on Reika, she seemed to think she couldn't completely ignore her and pointed toward the direction of the village.
Reika briefly looked in that direction but soon turned back to Havar.
She needed Havar's ability.
Everyone could handle unrefined mana. But everyone had their own unique characteristics.
Just as Reika could shrink monsters to make them portable, Havar had her own special ability.
Reika desperately wanted Havar's ability.
"Your ability is amazing. I'd really appreciate your help."
"Too troublesome..."
"Then, I'll give you this. Don't you like these?"
She made an interesting proposal to someone who found everything bothersome, who didn't want to care about anything, and who lived day to day with mere survival as her goal.
A purple cube emerged from the pocket of her shabby clothes.
"What is it?"
Havar slightly turned her head at Reika's words.
As she stared at the cube being held out to her, Reika grinned.
"A delicious monster."
"..."
And the hammock swayed slightly.
It had been said many times, but the Wall was originally a structure difficult to destroy.
Even for Mysterious Persons, breaking down the Wall multiple times was problematic.
But what made it possible was the existence of Totems and abilities.
For the first three times, human complacency meant Totems were sufficient to break the Wall, but now that humans knew about Totems, that method was no longer viable.
So what method was there to break the Wall without Totems?
Was it even possible to destroy the Wall without such preliminary work?
When such questions arose, she would simply recruit the Mysterious Person who seemed least interested in the Wall.
That Mysterious Person was Havar.
She found everything troublesome, and her only goal was to eat and survive.
Unlike others, she didn't dream of the future or even look back at the past—a lazy one.
But she did love food, and sometimes she would overcome her laziness for the sake of eating.
Perhaps that's why Havar's power now seemed most significant as she traded with Reika for monsters.
Though smaller in build than Reika, when she clenched her fist and struck the Wall repeatedly, cracks formed.
As the Wall shook with booming sounds, Reika became slightly anxious.
She needed to rush in quickly and kill people immediately—this was giving them too much time.
But such worries proved unnecessary, as Havar's fists soon brought down the Wall.
"...Monster."
Having drawn out her mana and destroyed the Wall without a Totem, Havar turned to Reika and held out her hand.
Reika flicked her finger with a "thunk" and tossed her a cube.
When the cube's seal was released and it returned to its massive monster form, it was none other than a chicken monster.
Havar nodded after confirming this and hopped onto it.
"Mom will like this."
The monster, which looked like it might crow "cock-a-doodle-doo," walked away on a different path from the collapsed Wall under Havar's guidance.
Reika watched her retreating figure and smiled bitterly.
She had hoped Havar would help next time too, but it was just like Havar to trade exactly what was asked and then leave.
Still, Reika thought this was enough.
After all, she had called other Mysterious Persons too.
By trading monsters, she would draw out their hatred and tear through the inside of the Wall.
Originally, she would have taken more time, but there was someone inside who seemed suspiciously knowledgeable about her and Mysterious Persons, which made her hurry.
It was already irritating enough that someone had revealed information about Totems and the weaknesses of the first monster she had released.
She had considered killing them. But thinking it would be more satisfying to see them wail in despair, to show them that nothing they did would work, she scattered the cubes she had been hiding into the air.
As the seals were released, enormous monsters forced their way through the narrow path in the Wall.
With the rumbling sound of collapse, other Mysterious Persons looked at Reika.
"Can we go in?"
"Are we allowed to kill...?"
Two people, but that was enough.
The "Mysterious Persons," a new human species adapted to unrefined mana, possessed power superior even to exceptional humans.
Reika looked at one man and one woman and nodded.
"Kill them all. Everything you see. And come back when you're satisfied. Then I'll give you more than what Havar took."
"Okay!"
"So we can kill them..."
The two hid behind the massive monsters as Reika had instructed earlier, while Reika walked slowly without hiding, to draw attention to herself.
Perhaps because some time had passed since she had destroyed the Wall and let the monsters in, people were pointing swords at Reika.
While some rushed in to fight the monsters, those who seemed to have some leeway raised their weapons against the Mysterious Person who was like a command tower.
"—Security has increased, hasn't it?"
Seeing how much security had increased, she felt somewhat annoyed.
She worried that if she had tried to enter alone after sending Havar away, she would have failed immediately.
Well, now that she knew she had allies, she felt more relaxed than anxious or worried.
For now, as long as she kept drawing attention to herself, the other Mysterious Persons could ride monsters to other areas and cause havoc, so she just waited and spoke.
"Long time no see, everyone. Not that I remember your faces."
As she moved forward, someone stepped up in front of Reika.
With navy blue hair and dark black eyes gleaming, he approached with determined steps.
It was Asrad, the man who had joined through the station in that brief moment.
"There's no reason to remember you."
Gripping his sword, he drew in a sharp breath between his lips and took his stance.
"Ah, but you remember me."
Reika grinned and extended her hand toward Asrad.
"Like this, right?"
"!"
As Asrad's eyes widened, his body was pushed back.
With a thud, his body was forced backward, and then another explosion of air from the left tried to throw him off balance.
Barely managing to twist his body to avoid falling, he faced Reika, who smiled.
"You managed to stand before me with such an ability. An ability that's nothing but waste after being shown once."
Asrad's gaze wavered.
He had risked his life in place of other heroes, but facing a Mysterious Person who had figured out his ability and was mimicking it exactly, cold sweat began to form.
Reika grinned and pulled out a purple sphere from her pocket.
"Heh, did it seem like the same ability? I just pushed you."
The sphere fell from her hand.
Landing weakly on the ground with a thud, it immediately summoned a monster.