Chapter 151
Chapter 151
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Rift
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Colton, who had taken the private soldiers from Erhan, ordered his subordinates to start looting the supplies inside the bunker as well. Since he was taking them anyway, he decided to confiscate their mountain-like piles of food too.
"Damn it, Colton! Stop this! No matter how much you're the City Lord, you can't just do whatever you please!"
"Don't worry too much, Erhan. I swear on my name, I won't let you lot starve to death in there."
Colton easily brushed aside the resistance from the defeated men and emerged from the bunker carrying various foodstuffs and supplies.
That made five sites in total. This one had hidden away quite a substantial amount of goods compared to the others.
A satisfied smile crept across his lips. Especially the well-trained private soldiers—they were a major score. All the more so in these dire circumstances.
"Is this the last one?"
"Yes."
"Hm."
Colton nodded. His subordinates were ransacking the other bunkers in real time, but as for the big ones that required his personal touch, this was the end of the line for now.
"If the magic beasts reach the center, crack open those bastards' bunker entrances first."
"Bait, sir?"
"Exactly."
They were the type who tried to use the citizens as bait to save their own skins. They'd probably love it if the roles were reversed.
"The magic beasts are swarming in from the east. If they make it all the way here, we toss those guys out as bait... and bolt west. That'd be our best bet."
Of course, if the magic beasts reached the center, it would basically spell doom for the city, so he prayed that would never happen.
"What's the situation?"
"Magic beasts have already reached the outskirts. The heroes stationed there managed to evacuate some citizens to shelters... but it's only a matter of time before the lines break."
"And the heroes on the front lines?"
"They've scattered to spots across the outskirts. Most are still alive, but they've effectively lost all stopping power."
This is insane. Colton let out a groan.
The front-line heroes had scattered and fallen apart. With the front collapsing in an instant, the heroes on the outskirts had no time to prepare before facing the magic beasts, and the beasts came pouring in like an avalanche.
The "evacuated" citizens on the outskirts were little more than isolated in their district shelters.
"Wait—most of them are alive?"
"Yes. Word is Anis Harper blasted them all far away."
"...Why?"
The last report Colton had received was that Anis had shown up in front of the heroes, gone berserk, shattered their lines, and that's when the magic beasts started flooding in.
So he'd assumed all the heroes were dead. But they were alive?
A question arose. After all, forcing them to retreat alive was twice as hard as just killing them outright. And yet she'd bothered to send them all flying? Why?
'...Did she do it on purpose?'
Even if so, it didn't resolve the mystery. Why?
She was a traitor. It was already concluded she was on the demons' side, not humanity's. And yet she'd deliberately spared them?
"Apparently... she was yelling stuff like how they started it, she wasn't drunk yet, total nonsense while she sent the heroes flying."
"They said her mental state was unstable, and it looks like she's all over the place."
It wasn't entirely implausible. He'd seen Yeriel in her unstable states a few times himself. Her memory was a jumbled mess, and her moods swung wildly, so capricious.
This was probably just another one of her whims. Either way, it was a positive whim for humanity.
Having roughly settled his doubts, Colton decided to take immediate action with what he could do right now.
"Send reinforcements first. All of them, including the Hero Association reserves—right now."
"...But that'll leave the center's defenses thin."
His adjutant's concern was valid. Betty was on the demons' side. Teleporters were that much of a pain.
A horde of magic beasts could drop from the sky at any moment.
But they couldn't just abandon the outskirts like this. Why was the center the center? Because the outskirts existed. Without them, the center ceased to be a city's heart.
Surviving in the center alone after ditching the outskirts? That wasn't a hub anymore—just cowards surrounded by magic beasts, waiting for the end.
"...She's not got infinite magic power either. Send them all."
Betty had appeared and vanished repeatedly to spy on the heroes, then suddenly stopped showing up.
Colton figured her magic had run dry. If she'd had any left, the magic beasts would've appeared inside the city, not out on the outskirts.
So he had no choice but to roll the dice. Screwing things up out of fear of unseen magic beasts would be the real disaster.
"Relay it to Lady Yeriel too. Tell her the situation's at its worst."
He needed to brief her fully. She was holed up, not in her right mind at the moment, but once she knew, she'd step up somehow.
Colton merged the reserve heroes and private soldiers into a relief force. Hastily assembled from the front lines, they were united by a sense of duty and headed for the outskirts.
Now, there were no significant forces left in the center. Just a handful of guards at the Hero Association. Before long, only his adjutant remained by Colton's side.
"We'll fill the heroes' gaps... with the guards somehow."
The guards were weak. Unlike seasoned heroes, they had zero experience against magic beasts or standoffs with dangerous villains. At best, they nabbed petty thugs who could barely handle magic.
But right now, even that was enough. They could at least calm the citizens and guide evacuations.
As Colton scraped together what manpower he had and deployed them everywhere...
One subordinate came sprinting up, out of breath, shouting urgently.
"C-City Lord! Big trouble! Villains just popped up out of nowhere, causing chaos all over!"
For the first time, Betty flashed through Colton's mind.
Did she teleport villains instead of magic beasts?
Come to think of it, crime rates across the city had plummeted recently, with villains vanishing from sight.
No way she'd been rallying them and planting them in the center since then...
'Nah, impossible.'
If she had the capacity, she'd have brought the magic beasts already. This was separate from the front lines.
"What about the control room? Can't they figure out what's going on?"
"Th-that's... we haven't been able to reach them since earlier!"
The control room monitored and directed everything in the district—not just the center, but the outskirts too. They handled disaster alarms and evacuation guidance.
"........."
The people who should react fastest to crises were unreachable. A bad premonition surged. Long experience told him this feeling always meant trouble.
"How strong are these villains?"
"Not that high-level!"
"Throw every guard at them—hold the line however you can!"
"But the guards helping with citizen evacuations..."
"Pull them all in too. Evacuations... Adjutant!"
"Yes, sir!"
"You're in charge. Even if it's desk-jockeys who can't fight, round up Association staff under your judgment and get them moving."
"Understood!"
The adjutant snapped to attention and dashed off. Colton couldn't help but let out a wry chuckle at the pathetic yet absurd sight.
The control room was about a few hundred meters from the Hero Association. It was at the dead center of the city for the most precise oversight. That way, they could gather intel from everywhere swiftly.
Colton moved quickly. Something had clearly gone down there, knocking it offline. Maybe everyone was dead.
He needed to grasp the situation ASAP, but first came the priority: the unidentified groups rampaging in the plazas.
So as he hurried along, no one was by his side. How long had it been since he'd moved alone like this, after becoming City Lord?
It was blatantly dangerous. If attacked now, no one could protect him.
He could shrink back in fear, but Colton's steps didn't slow a bit.
He'd been through this countless times. To reach this position, he'd weathered endless crises. His life had been on the line plenty. Heading into danger alone wasn't new.
He'd already instructed the adjutant on follow-up measures and decisions. Even if he failed, there were successors. Honestly, pounding the pavement suited his temperament more than desk work.
Arriving at the control room, a familiar crisis scent hit him. Blood. He hadn't even opened the door yet, but the sharp stench seeped through.
Colton drew his revolver, aimed straight ahead, and gripped the doorknob.
"........."
The door swung open to exactly what he'd expected: corpses of the control room staff littered everywhere.
All had neat bullet holes in their foreheads—fairly uniform. But some had their guts ripped open too, spilling entrails. That explained the blood smell leaking out.
He wrinkled his nose for a moment. Then—click—a cold sensation pressed to his temple.
"You're here?"
A woman's voice, neither high nor low, pleasant to the ear. Familiar. Dark blue hair swayed over her shoulders.
"Hey, long time no see? What am I supposed to do? I thought I was gonna die from missing you."
She grinned brightly, like she'd been waiting. So innocently that Colton almost mistook them for lovers.
If not for the entrails coiled around her fingertips, the piercing blood stench, and the revolver aimed at his head.
Their eyes met.
"What're you doing? Lower the gun."
"Tch."
Crack! She chopped the back of his hand holding the revolver. Colton dropped it with a pained grunt.
"How'd you like my gift? To your taste?"
"Human guts are a gift to you? Disgusting."
"Huh? Ahaha. No, not that. My friends running wild outside."
She pointed at the inner screen. No way.
"I let 'em out of the slammer on my way here. Well, truth be told, I was in solitary too, so first time meeting 'em today. But hey, fellow prison grads—friends, right?"
"........."
Colton glared at her, finally understanding. The source of all this chaos stood right before him.
"Whoa. Scary."
The woman took his glare in stride and sauntered to the table.
She plopped casually into a chair, cocked the hammer, and aimed.
"Have a seat first?"
The traitor, Camilla, wiggled her blood-soaked fingers.