[Shortly After, U.S. Department of Defense Headquarters, Secretary of Defense’s Office]
“The President has issued a special directive.”
As the U.S. Secretary of Defense spoke with a serious expression, the faces of those gathered in the office also began to stiffen.
“He wants a ‘dropship’ prepared.”
“What?”
“A dropship?”
“…What kind?”
The secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force tilted their heads at the mention of a ‘dropship’.
“…Surely, he’s not talking about a dropship capable of carrying Illinois, right? Haha.”
“You’re not joking, are you?”
“Well… If it’s just an aircraft capable of transporting the Master, then there’s no big issue.”
The Air Force Secretary chuckled nervously.
“At least this time, we won’t have to scramble Air Force One in a hurry like last time. Hah.”
“You’re still holding onto that?”
“…I still can’t forget the moment I got hauled before Congress and scolded. Thankfully, the impromptu hearing ended as soon as a photo of the Master surfaced on social media. Anyway, a dropship, huh?”
The Air Force Secretary licked his lips and started scrolling through his smartphone as if he were browsing a list of cars he wanted to buy.
“A fighter jet? A transport plane? No, maybe even an old-school airship…”
“He said dropship. That means it has to be an aircraft at the very least…”
“…Excuse me.”
One of the younger officials in the room—though still appearing to be in his mid-to-late 30s—raised his hand.
“Mr. Secretary of Defense, did the President personally use the term dropship, or did the Master say it first and the President relayed it?”
“The latter, Tower Secretary.”
Tower Secretary.
To some, it might sound odd, but in modern times, as Towers and Hunters became a global issue, countries had started creating new governmental bodies to handle them.
“What’s your take on it?”
“Considering what I’ve heard from the Hunters returning from Panama… No, before that.”
The Tower Secretary tapped his wristwatch.
“Do we have enough time for a meeting?”
“The President… or rather, the Master, wants us to identify the most suitable dropship and report back within three hours—along with full preparations.”
“Then… isn’t this urgent?”
“It is.”
“…What?! Then we need to decide within an hour and give orders to the units—!”
“We also need to consider air traffic control from the Master’s current location to another Tower. And even if we manage that in real time…”
“What if the Master takes one look at the dropship we prepared and says, ‘Eh,’ or ‘This isn’t what I wanted’?”
Gulp.
The secretaries swallowed hard. The Tower Secretary picked up his smartphone and played a video.
In the pipe, five by five.
“Huh?”
“What’s that…?”
“That, gentlemen, is the dropship the Master is looking for. Or, to be more precise… the Boxer’s dropship.”
“Wait, what model is that?! And who the hell is this ‘Boxer’ pilot?!”
“It’s just… something that exists. Now, gentlemen, it seems like you’re at a loss, so how about trusting me this time?”
The Tower Secretary pointed to the badge on his suit.
“Army, Navy, Air Force. Each of your departments will select the best transport aircraft you have within the next 30 minutes. Then, Mr. Secretary of Defense, you will report all three options to the President.”
“Shouldn’t we be selecting just one?”
“In the end, the Master will be using all three. It’s just a matter of sequence, and we’ll justify it as giving him a ‘variety of experiences.’ One will be an Overlord, one a Dropship, and one a Shuttle.”
“…???”
The secretaries glanced at each other in confusion, but the Tower Secretary met the Secretary of Defense’s gaze with confidence.
“This isn’t about passing the responsibility onto the President or the Master. We’re simply presenting diverse options, and if any are too complex, the Master will make the final decision.”
“So, what you’re saying is…”
“I’ll take responsibility. Trust me on this.”
“Hmm…”
After a brief pause, the Secretary of Defense exhaled through his nose.
“We’ll leave it up to fate which of the three the Master chooses. Get moving. Make sure everything is prepared, covering the West, Central, East, and South of the U.S.”
* * *
“So this is turning into an interdepartmental pride contest?”
“What are you talking about, meow?”
“I’d be fine with any aircraft, but they’re each pushing their own picks.”
“Then shouldn’t it be the Air Force by default?”
Kiharu, in her cat form, nestled into my arms.
I scrolled through the list the President had sent.
“So, basically…”
“We just need to decide the order. And… the missions tied to them seem pretty interesting too.”
Was this an example of the flexibility that came with establishing a dedicated department for Tower-related operations?
Or had they been thinking about this for a while and were simply seizing the opportunity?
“Kiharu, take a look at this.”
“…Are two of these transport aircraft decoys?”
“At this rate, we’re going to end up confusing the entire world.”
I set my smartphone down and turned to the computer, pulling up a map of the United States.
“We’re currently in the Northwestern U.S. And the Towers that are easiest to target next are three.”
Central U.S.
“Delicate Arch, Devils Tower, and…”
“New York. The Statue of Liberty.”
What was it about landmarks? Did they have some sort of mystical leyline connection?
Or perhaps, are S-Rank Towers deliberately erected over specific landmarks, only to have the monsters pouring out of them destroy those very landmarks—instilling fear and despair into humanity?
There are certain symbols that commonly depict the fall of America.
The Statue of Liberty being destroyed in a terrorist attack.
Or digging into the ground of a new planet, only to uncover the buried remains of a torch-wielding goddess.
Of course, such images don’t just symbolize the collapse of America—they often signify global annihilation, or even the end of humanity itself. But in either case, the destruction of the Statue of Liberty usually signifies that America has fallen.
And this time is no different.
A Tower has risen precisely atop the torch of the Statue of Liberty.
That’s New York, the U.S. East Coast.
By comparison, the other two locations are much closer to where I am now.
One is Delicate Arch in Utah.
The other is Devils Tower in Wyoming.
I don’t claim to be an expert on U.S. geography, but glancing at the map, I get the general idea—those two S-Rank Towers are surprisingly close to each other.
In fact, the distance between the two is shorter than the distance from my current location, Crater Lake National Park, to either of them.
Roughly 1,000 kilometers apart.
Considering we’ll be flying about 2,000 kilometers to reach them…
“This place is ridiculously big.”
“Hey now.”
Seriously—it’s vast.
For someone whose longest business trips involved traveling from Seoul to Busan, covering this kind of distance feels downright bizarre.
Even when I rode Illinois across the Pacific from Korea to America, I thought the same thing—this planet is huge.
Thinking about it that way, Korea is a rather unique place.
In America, the closest two S-Rank Towers are still 1,000 kilometers apart.
But back in Korea, S-Rank Towers had been packed tightly across the country—from Ganghwa-do to Jeju, even Dokdo.
It had the highest density of S-Rank Towers per land area in the world.
But now, that was no longer the case.
Now, Korea’s greatest concern wasn’t the Towers on its land—but the one looming in the sky—Babel.
‘…Though Babel isn’t the only problem.’
It’s a well-known saying—A person thinks differently when they enter the restroom and when they leave it.
No one disputes the fact that I was the reason Korea’s S-Rank Towers were conquered.
No one dares argue against the claim that without the Master, Korea’s S-Rank Towers would still be standing.
Instead…
Now, people were worrying about the remaining S-Rank Towers near Korea.
What if Japan, China, or Russia couldn’t handle the ones near the Korean Peninsula?
In fact, as for China right now…
“Tsk. Forget it. Let’s focus on our mission first.”
“Commander~ The unmanned helicopter has arrived above Illinois. Ready to depart?”
“Yeah. Everything’s set.”
Before worrying about other countries, I had to deal with the S-Rank Towers in America first.
“What about the people?”
“They’ve all evacuated from this area. The problem is…”
“…The moment I started moving, others caught on and started gathering near the Towers, huh?”
“Yup. Reporters and streamers are already setting up near Delicate Arch and Devils Tower.”
“What the hell do they do all day?”
“They were just waiting for you.”
Drei sent some data to my smartphone.
“When you took down the Golden Gate Tower, people were just cheering. But the moment you cleared both the Panama Canal Tower and this national park at the same time, news stations started dispatching reporters immediately.”
“…Don’t tell me.”
“Yep. They were stationed there in advance. Whether it took a week or a year, they wanted to be on-site the moment the Master arrived to clear a Tower.”
“That’s insane—no, ugh. I don’t even know how to argue against that.”
Even when an A-Rank Tower is conquered, people immediately take notice.
For broadcast networks, getting footage of an S-Rank Tower conquest is an absolute goldmine.
Even on U-Tube, someone had uploaded footage of Illinois being summoned, captured by a bird-watching camera installed by the lake in this national park.
That one video alone had already surpassed 1 billion views.
“…Let them film as much as they want.”
Watching the videos spread, seeing the view count climb higher and higher…
“I am the world’s dopamine factory. I am becoming a symbol of peace.”
I felt a new weight on my shoulders.
A growing sense of responsibility for the power I wielded.
“Kiharu. You ready to fit inside the backpack?”
“I’m ready, but… are you really going through with this?”
“Of course.”
I climbed aboard the helicopter and grabbed the prepped suit waiting inside.
“You think I asked for a dropship for nothing?”
Towers.
They’re always floating in the sky.
While the entrance to a Tower is usually at ground level,
there’s no rule saying you have to enter from below.
“Skydiving from 10 kilometers above the ground—straight into the Tower. No parachute.”
And Elaine?
“No. I’ll do it.”
* * *
Shortly after.
From Crater Lake, four aircraft took off into the sky.
(TLN: You can find illustrations for all summons on our discord.)
