Chapter 297: The Colosseum Effect (2)
“What is this? Why has time stopped?” Ice Dragon Tirannus was taken aback.
It was inevitable.
He had been sleeping well until then.
Enjoying the bone-chilling cold of the glacier cave as always.
Then suddenly, time had stopped.
Yet he was unaffected within the frozen moment.
‘What’s going on here?’ Tirannus rose abruptly from his place.
Rumble… CRASH!
270 meters in length.
Weighing a whopping 10,000 tons.
He hauled his massive body out of the glacier cave.
“….”
The world was still.
Snowflakes over the polar region seemed pinned in mid-air.
A deep furrow formed between Tirannus’s brow scales.
He could finally sense it.
‘Someone used the Heart of Winter.’
It seemed likely.
An unusual chill, different from the usual, spread throughout the world.
The mana felt all too familiar to him.
It emanated from the Heart of Winter.
‘Now I understand. Someone has used the Heart of Winter to freeze time. That’s why I am the only exception to this freeze. After all, I created it.’
The furrow on Tirannus’s brow deepened.
‘Then, the one who caused this must be… yes, the human who absorbed the Heart of Winter recently. Has he dared to meddle with it?’
The thought was offensive.
That human was misusing someone else’s property.
‘After all, it’s mine. I made it as a gift for Michael and his descendants when they established their kingdom.’
He recalled how grateful Michael had been when he gifted it during the founding of the Magentano kingdom.
He had been pleased.
Sure that Michael and his descendants would prosper thanks to the Heart of Winter.
He had been so proud of that thoughtful gift.
‘But now, someone unrelated to Michael or his descendants has swallowed it up and is using it recklessly without permission?’
The more he thought about it, the more unacceptable it seemed.
He couldn’t just let this go.
Tirannus made up his mind.
‘I need to reclaim it.’
He would take back the Heart of Winter.
As he resolved this…
ROOOOOAR-!
Tirannus’s giant legs slammed into the glacier.
His mighty wings stirred the icy polar air as he took to the sky.
But his speed was not as fast as usual.
‘Gah! Is it because time is frozen? Even I am slower than normal.’
Tirannus grumbled.
Thanks to being the creator of the Heart of Winter, he was exempt from the freeze.
But he wasn’t completely unaffected by the freezing phenomenon.
His movements, his wingbeats, and his flying speed were all frustratingly slow.
‘Tsk. It’d be nice if I could just teleport, but with time frozen…’
The flow of mana in the world had changed.
Especially, the temporal coordinates were all tangled up.
This meant he couldn’t recklessly use teleportation.
The only option left was to fly slowly, like a worm.
‘At this rate, it will take months to reach that human.’
Tirannus grumbled again.
He would not let the human who had absorbed the Heart of Winter get away.
Fired up with a renewed sense of enmity, he flew in slow motion through the frozen world.
Heading towards the northwest plains of the Lorasia continent where Lloyd was.
♣
Meanwhile, in the heart of the Klamas Plains in the northwest of the Lorasia continent.
The only area not affected by the time freeze.
Here, the circuit-type Colosseum construction was in full swing.
“Alright, Yongyong?”
Crack!
“Do you see those shiny blue lines on the ground nearby?”
Crackle!
Bone Dragon Yongyong nodded its large skull.
Just as Lloyd had said.
Looking around, blue, sparkling lines and planes were etched everywhere.
“Good. Just flatten, fill, and smooth out the ground following these line and plane patterns. Think you can handle that?”
Crack!
Yongyong nodded again.
Of course, he could.
Though it covered several kilometers.
Even for Yongyong, this was not a difficult task.
ROOOOAR-!
With a tail bone charged with destructive power, Yongyong swept the ground.
It was like using a giant broom to sweep the earth.
Just three or four sweeps were enough.
“…Cough, cough! Well done.”
After a massive cloud of dust had settled, Lloyd nodded in satisfaction.
He had created a construction guideline that projected his designed blueprint onto the real site.
The area was flattened according to the specifications the option had displayed.
The dense undergrowth that had been there was completely removed—an added feature.
‘Hmm. The elves would have a fit if they saw this.’
A bitter smile crossed his face as he thought of plant lovers.
Thanks to Yongyong’s great effort, the foundation work for the Colosseum had significantly progressed.
“Next, Ppodong? Javier?”
“Ppodong!”
“…Yes.”
“Deploy!”
“Ppodong!”
“…Sigh.”
Ppodong ran around the area.
Javier roamed the field with a look full of self-derision.
They meticulously found spots that had not been properly flattened.
Bumps were scraped flat, and dips were filled to even out the surface.
Hamang’s turn came next.
“Alright, Hamang?”
“Hamang!”
As Hamang, who had grown up to 30 meters while roaming a nearby stream, responded eagerly.
“Use the precious water you’ve grown with wisely. Pack it down well, alright?”
“Hamang!”
ROOOOAR-!
Hamang rolled around.
Yongyong had swept with his tail, and Ppodong and Javier had carefully adjusted the ground, which Hamang diligently rolled over.
Its own weight helped press down the earth firmly and evenly.
It took ten days to complete this phase.
Next was Bangul’s turn.
“Alright, Bangul! Give it your all!”
“Bangul!”
Tinkle-tinkle! Poof!
Bangul diligently ate dirt and produced rebar.
Then Lloyd and Javier worked hard to sort and cut the rebar.
The cut rebar was laid precisely on the track.
A running course for the Centaur species.
The concrete to firmly pave this base.
This rebar was meant to support that concrete.
‘This Colosseum’s circuit track will be paved using Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) method.’
Lloyd had planned this in advance.
Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement tends to have a longer lifespan than other pavement types.
It meant less maintenance post-construction, less labor, and lower maintenance costs.
‘It’s used in places like Texas in the USA, which are hot, dry, and vast. A perfect match for such a large plain.’
But that wasn’t all.
In South Korea, this method had been massively deployed on roads like the Central Expressway.
‘Well, most people don’t know that there’s rebar under the roads they drive on. But can you imagine doing concrete paving without it? That’d be troublesome. That’s why rebar is so crucial.’
The rebar within the concrete pavement was like a skeleton.
Environmental changes like temperature or humidity on the road surface.
Or the pressure from cars driving over it.
Such harsh conditions could cause tiny cracks.
The rebar was the perfect support to prevent those cracks from forming.
‘That’s why it’s crucial to lay the rebar thoroughly and meticulously.’
Lloyd laid the cut rebar longitudinally along the road surface to be paved.
It wasn’t an easy task.
They were desperately short on manpower.
‘Tsk! This is when I need the Skeleton Brigade!’
Laying rebar wasn’t a simple task.
It required advanced skills.
‘Of course. The measurements have to be exact, they can’t be crooked, and they must be firmly secured.’
Therefore, he couldn’t entrust this job to the Centaur tribespeople.
Their body structure fundamentally made them unsuitable for such construction work.
‘Those guys can’t even scratch their own horse bodies with their arms!’
Their bodies were heavily adapted for running.
This meant that Centaurs couldn’t even scratch their own bellies or buttocks without tools.
Picking something up from the ground was just as challenging.
Even if they bent their horse legs, their arms were too short.
Their hands wouldn’t reach the ground.
They were literally useless for construction work.
Utterly inept.
Lloyd couldn’t trust them with the crucial task of laying and securing rebar precisely.
Because of this, he and Javier were left to do the rebar laying work by themselves.
“…Sigh, after this job is done, I should visit the Frontera estate. I’ll just load up the Skeleton Brigade on Yongyong and carry them around. They don’t eat, don’t get paid, and they don’t get tired—a pool of high-quality labor available anytime. How great is that.”
The dream team for every aspiring exploitative employer in the world.
The thought of having the Skeleton Brigade available 24/7 to exploit brought a pleased smile to his face.
‘But for now, it’s just Javier and me doing this.’
They sweated through the days.
A day, two days, three days, ten days, a fortnight, a month, two months, three months.
It took a full three months to finish the rebar laying.
‘Well, at least thanks to the time freeze, no actual time has passed.’
That was a relief.
Construction continued intensively over the three months.
Cement collected intermittently from Bangul’s volcanic eruptions during this time.
This was thoroughly mixed with aggregate.
The mixing ratio was based on the concrete used for paving the Central Inland Highway in South Korea.
‘Maximum aggregate size under 32mm. Slump at 4.5. Air content also 4.5%. Water-to-cement ratio at 42.3%. Fine aggregate ratio close to 37.7%.’
He matched it as closely as possible.
Mixed diligently.
Dug a pool-like pit in the ground, mixed the cement and aggregate, and poured it in.
Yongyong stirred it with his tail like mixing rice soup in a giant pot.
The mixed concrete was used to pave the road.
The concrete compacting was also done thoroughly.
Ppodong played a crucial role in this process.
“Alright, Ppodong? Roll!”
“Ppodong!”
Ppodong was wrapped in oiled paper all over its body.
In that state, it rolled sideways over the still-wet concrete road.
Just like the equipment used at a road paving site in South Korea.
Its fluffy belly delivered sufficient weight and vibration to the concrete surface.
Thanks to that, the concrete was compacted perfectly.
Next was the concrete curing stage.
For the first time, the Centaur species played a key role.
“Hey, have you finished making the item I requested last time?”
“Of course, here.”
The Centaur lady smiled broadly.
She led Lloyd behind the stables.
There, a massive tarpaulin was rolled up.
Made diligently by weaving together grass, it was 5 meters wide and 50 meters long.
Dozens of such tarps had been made.
The Centaur lady was exasperated.
“Eh, we’ve been gathering grass and weaving these for three months. None of our village women could properly run. Their fingers are all swollen.”
“Oh dear, thank you.”
“Thank you? This is all for our kids to run safely and well in the future.”
“Of course. I’ll make sure the Colosseum is built properly.”
“Good. Don’t forget that promise.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He quickly took the tarp.
It was placed over the still-wet concrete pavement to block direct sunlight.
‘This is necessary to prevent the moisture from evaporating too quickly. Otherwise, the drying would proceed too rapidly, causing the pavement to crack severely.’
They waited with the tarp in place.
It was a rare leisurely time.
And about a fortnight later, the tarp was removed.
The well-cured road revealed its sleek surface.
Then, a layer of sand, 5 cm thick, was boldly spread over it.
This was to protect the hooves of the racing Centaurs.
‘Well, someone might ask why not just lay sand from the beginning, but having a firmly paved road underneath the sand is completely different.’
There was no need to worry about subsidence or deformation of the ground.
The rebar and concrete paved road would easily last for decades.
Moreover, with a layer of sand on top, it would be less susceptible to damage from solar heat and temperature changes.
‘That extends the lifespan of the road and makes maintenance easier. Just flatten the sand on the track after each race.’
Thus, the construction of the main running track of the Colosseum was completed.
But the final construction tasks remained.
Fences were installed to separate the track from the general areas.
Spectator areas were also set up separately.
Stables for the athletes’ waiting rooms were built.
Another two months passed with these finishing constructions.
Finally, about seven months after activating the time freeze option, construction was complete.
The first running-specific Colosseum on the Lorasia continent was finished.
One side featured straight tracks of 300 meters, 800 meters, and 1.5 kilometers.
Next to it, a complex track with 19 corners, 2.577 kilometers to the north and 1.3 kilometers to the south, was laid out—a genuine running-specific stadium.
‘…I did it.’
As he looked at the completed Colosseum, Lloyd wiped his eyes.
Was it from the emotion?
No.
‘Finally, I’m out of this grueling mess!’
Because he hadn’t brought the Skeleton Brigade.
And the only available labor he could use, the Centaur species, were utterly inept.
He had to roll up his sleeves and do everything from digging to compacting, laying, cutting, and refining by sweating it out.
Part of him was also secretly frightened.
Could this really be built within the one year of frozen time?
Worries constantly chilled his duodenal villi.
‘But I did it. In just seven months! It’s all built!’
So, no more grueling work from now on.
Next time, he would efficiently exploit the Skeleton Brigade.
He inwardly vowed as he swallowed his emotions.
Unbeknownst to him, seven months ago, from an Antarctic glacier cave, Ice Dragon Tirannus had taken off.
This overwhelming presence was about to arrive here.
