The hover car kept moving closer to the gate. Along the way, Park and Sofie got out of the vehicle.
"See you later. Be careful, alright?" Senior Park said as he was carried on Sofie's back. I watched them dash toward the distant ruins.
I figured Senior Park had discovered something over there, though I couldn't tell whether it was civilians or monsters.
'As long as Senior Sofie's with him, I'm sure they'll be fine.'
That left just me and Senior Lurker, who continued driving the car. He parked the hover car on the rooftop of a tall building, some distance from the battlefield.
From here, I could see the combat zone clearly.
Near the gate, I spotted Team Leader Eric and Senior Oscar, along with the other heroes, trying to push back the waves of monsters toward the gate. Not far from them, the technical division was preparing a portable spatial stabilizer to temporarily seal the gate.
Seeing them so focused on their tasks, maintaining coordination amidst the chaos, left me in awe.
'They really are true veterans.'
Meanwhile, Senior Park and Senior Sofie were darting across the shattered battlefield. Watching Senior Park being carried by the smaller-bodied Sofie left me with a strange feeling, yet I couldn't deny how effective their combination was.
With Park scanning for signs of life and Sofie's incredible physical strength, they rescued trapped civilians while cutting down monsters hiding in the debris.
While everyone else played their part, all I could do was wait until the battlefield settled. Sometimes, I lamented my lack of talent. I wasn't skilled in casting spells or enchanting. The strongest magic I could muster was tier 2—and tier 3 if I really pushed myself.
'Well, my role doesn't demand that much mana anyway. A second-circle mage is enough.'
And so, I waited for the battle to end while Senior Lurker vanished somewhere without a trace.
******
About forty-five minutes later, the battle was finally over. The category-2 gate had been sealed, and the remaining monsters exterminated. It was time for me to fulfill my duty.
Just as I turned around to look for Senior Lurker, I nearly jumped when I found him standing right behind me.
'I swear he wasn't there a second ago…'
"Are you ready?" Senior Lurker asked in his gloomy voice.
"I'm ready," I replied. Without another word, Lurker placed a hand on my shoulder, and the two of us were swallowed by shadows.
When the shadows receded, I found myself atop a tall building overlooking part of the battlefield.
'No matter how many times I go through this, I'll never get used to Senior Lurker's teleportation…'
Taking in the scene before me, I readied myself to work. Activating my smartwatch, I invoked the innate magic I possessed.
In an instant, the world before my eyes shifted into shades of green, and a flood of information surged into my mind—damage spread, the number of destroyed buildings, percentages of infrastructure lost, estimated economic costs, and countless other details my eyes could perceive and my brain can process.
Swiftly, I typed everything onto the holographic screen projected by my watch. After about a minute, I deactivated my innate magic and continued logging the remaining data.
Once I finished, I gave Senior Lurker a nod, and he teleported me to another location where I repeated the process.
After several rounds, I had gathered all possible battlefield information and sent the compiled reports to the field division's central database for follow-up.
By the time I was done, I was panting heavily, drained both mentally and magically. Even though I'd used my innate ability for less than ten minutes, as a second-circle mage with such limited mana reserves, it had nearly wiped me out.
After a brief rest, I signaled Senior Lurker, and he teleported us back to the hover car. On the ride to rejoin the rest of the team, I couldn't help but compare the insignificance of my role to theirs.
The tasks I performed could easily be handled by a magictech machine with advanced AI. Sure, the gate's magical fluctuations disrupted their functions, making the process slower—but still, I felt easily replaceable.
'Come on, Raphael, don't think like that. There must be a reason the head of division forced you to transfer into this division,' I told myself, shaking my head to clear the negativity.
Before long, we arrived at the rendezvous point where the rest of Team 10 had gathered.