Compound Collision (5)
Pan Lien recalled the various contingency protocols he'd heard ad nauseam during his Central Army training and put them into practice. When facing an opponent with hallucination, illusion, or mental interference abilities, activate your full-body mana and keep it circulating. Humans who possess mana have an instinctive resistance to external mana, but deliberately directing that power can strengthen the resistance even further. The theory itself didn't matter right now. The point was simply to avoid repeating his stupid mistake from earlier.
He still didn't know exactly what the opponent's ability was, but this should prevent him from getting caught off guard again. So why were his hands, gripping the sword, trembling like this?
'Damn it, is this thing even working?'
The masked figure wasn't doing anything special. They simply held the girl in their arms and approached them at a leisurely pace. That made it all the more maddening for Pan.
The distorted mask was ambiguously shaped, making it hard to discern any features, and the loose clothing obscured their build. The masked person's appearance itself hadn't changed from when he'd first seen them. But the aura they gave off was completely different.
The strangely comforting, intimate quality that eased one's wariness was still there, but if before it had felt like looking at a small animal on the street, now it was dozens of times more intense. It was the joy of meeting an old acquaintance in a distant foreign land where not a single word was understood. The relief of waking from a terrible, horrifying nightmare and finding yourself in your parents' arms. The peace of escaping the gloomy, terrifying darkness of night and returning to the home where your family waited.
His training-honed reason told him he could cut them down right now, but his instincts screamed that he mustn't do such a thing.
"O-oh...!"
Thud. Thud. Thud!
The warden who had brought the enigmatic masked figure here kept slamming his head against the floor in reverence, as if beholding something sacred. Why did that deranged-looking behavior seem so comfortable?
"Sorry for the disturbance. We'll be going now."
Even as the opponent casually walked past them, offered a polite greeting as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and slipped out the door, Pan ultimately couldn't move. He couldn't understand what had just happened at all.
The unreasonable situation didn't end there. The other troops who arrived after hearing the blaring alarm were equally unable to harm the mysterious figure. The soldiers couldn't block their path, the knights couldn't point their swords, the mages couldn't cast their spells, and even the commander who should have been barking orders at them couldn't open his mouth.
It was an ironic sight: over a hundred elite personnel watching helplessly as the culprit staged a brazen prison break right in front of them.
"...Did my eyes go bad? In all my years, I've never seen such bullshit."
With a crude curse that sounded like something a back-alley thug would spit out, a blade danced through the air.
Kagigigigigigik!
A dazzling white shield clashed with a greatsword so massive that an ordinary person would struggle to even lift it, let alone swing it, producing a bizarre metallic screech.
While everyone was still reeling from the sudden turn of events, the assailant who had swung the greatsword didn't follow up with another strike. Instead, he leaped backward, creating distance from the masked opponent.
He appeared to be in his twenties or thirties. The black-haired man with a solid build clenched and unclenched his right hand, examining it, then frowned as if something didn't add up.
"C-Commander of the Eastern Legion?"
Someone who recognized the man asked in bewilderment, but Dietrich von Draug paid them no mind and addressed the masked figure instead.
"What the hell did you just do?"
The masked person seemed slightly surprised by the previous blow as well. They spoke with a hint of admiration.
"Impressive. If you'd been even a little slower, I would have been sliced clean in two."
"Cut the crap. If I'd done it properly, there's no way that pathetic shield would've stopped me... Wait. Never mind. Just don't say anything."
"Pardon?"
The bizarre behavior of asking a question first only to immediately tell them not to speak left not only the masked person but everyone around them with question marks floating in their heads. But Dietrich didn't care. He simply readjusted his grip on his weapon and replied casually.
"Asking an opponent what their ability is while fighting is pretty damn stupid. Besides, you've got a tongue that seems way too slippery. I'd rather just cut you down."
"Hmm, that's—"
As if further conversation was unnecessary, Dietrich swung his weapon again. When the greatsword and shield collided once more, sending sparks flying, the ones left bewildered were the onlookers.
This wasn't some one-on-one duel. The opponent was a vicious criminal who had escaped from prison along with their accomplice. And the one fighting them was one of the five Legion Commanders representing the Imperial Army.
They should have been rushing to help Dietrich take down the enemy immediately, but they simply couldn't bring themselves to do it. The more they tried to treat the masked figure as a foe, the more cold sweat broke out, their entire bodies rebelled, and their hearts ached with the feeling that they were committing some terrible sin. It was like being told to cut down your closest friend, your precious family, or your beloved right before your eyes.
But they couldn't just stand there like decorations and watch, could they?
"Request assistance from the court mages...! Bring the golems and automated devices!"
At the commander's desperate, blood-curdling shout, the masked figure's movements faltered ever so slightly.
Crack!
Dietrich didn't miss the opening. His strike shattered the shield, and just as his blade was about to cleave through their main body—
Rumble!
With a tremendous tremor, the ground split wide open. Something that surged up from the crevice lifted both the masked figure and the girl in their arms high into the air. Dietrich's greatsword failed to reach its intended target.
"A tower!?"
"Everyone, stay alert! This is the same situation as in the Mars Duchy!"
While the surrounding soldiers scrambled in panic, Dietrich glared furiously.
"Oh, really now?"
Running away in the middle of a fight was already infuriating, but to think they could stop him with such a cheap trick? The strange sensation of his strength not landing properly when facing the masked figure had vanished, so there was nothing holding him back anymore.
Boom!
"Huk!?"
The absurd impact—hard to believe it came from swinging a single sword—made one of the nearby soldiers clutch his ears and let out a short scream. But that was only the beginning.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Under the relentless, savage barrage, the tower could no longer maintain its majestic form. It began to collapse on the spot as if its time had come.
"R-run! It's collapsing!"
"Uwaaaaah!"
Awe, curiosity, whatever they felt toward the mysterious being—all of it was forgotten. Nothing motivated people to move faster than the physical threat of death bearing down on them.
What the reinforcements found upon arrival was only the sight of the mad Legion Commander standing atop a massive pile of rubble with a thoroughly displeased expression, scanning his surroundings, and soldiers whose eyes had lost focus, as if their souls had fled their bodies.
And so, the major incident that would later be recorded in history books came to an end. To the Empire's great regret, it ended with the successful escape of the culprit.
Two days later.
"They escaped? And they brought down the prison to do it?"
At Chrome's question, Laila made a pained expression and corrected him.
"To be precise, it wasn't the prison that collapsed, but the tower that suddenly appeared beside it. Unlike the one in the Mars Duchy, it was much smaller in scale and didn't seem to possess much power, but still."
"...Still, you said it was fifty meters tall. How does something like that get destroyed by human hands?"
"Asking me that won't get you anywhere, Chrome."
Laila shook her head, then bowed apologetically.
"I'm truly sorry. After you trusted the Empire enough to hand over the culprit, this is how it turned out."
"No, no, Lady Laila, you have nothing to apologize for. Please don't worry about it."
"But..."
"I really mean it. It's fine. I already squeezed every last drop of useful information out of them anyway, so that's enough for me."
Laila continued to look ashamed, but from Chrome's perspective, it truly didn't matter. After all, there wasn't much use in keeping that Cultist girl from the Chestburster faction around the Midas family any longer, and the means to extract more information from her had been limited.
The Empire was quite competent while the Emperor was still alive, and there had been a decent amount of time between the girl's capture and her rescue. They must have learned everything there was to learn in that window.
The only surprise was that a rescue attempt had even been made. He hadn't expected those people—who treated human lives as nothing more than offerings or fuel—to show such loyalty. Or perhaps, since they viewed everyone else's lives like insects, they formed unusually strong bonds among themselves.
In a way, this incident might have been beneficial. The Empire would now have a much clearer understanding of the Cultists' danger and capabilities. Though that was something he couldn't say in front of Laila.
"By the way, is it alright for you to tell me all this? What about confidentiality?"
"You're one of the people involved, Chrome, so it's fine. Besides, even if I didn't tell you, he would have anyway."
"He?"
Chrome tilted his head in confusion. Laila answered.
"Dietrich von Draug. The Eastern Legion Commander is looking for you."