Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Hell
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We have to hold on.
If we hold on… Lansen will slay the monster.
His promise had become like an article of faith.
It was seared into Lorraine’s mind.
So she had to hold on…
‘It’s only moving three of its heads so far?!’
Just three out of seven.
The central head was spraying a gray powder that blotted out the sun.
And from the left,
The first head was firing a beam of annihilation.
The fifth head was causing spatial distortion.
That alone was overwhelming.
And there were four more like them?
‘Stay sharp.’
Lorraine steeled herself.
Being crushed by fear would only make it impossible to do what needed to be done.
She raised her voice.
“Rebuild the shield, now!”
“Yes! The Mana Spring is entering cooldown!”
The Mana Spring, having withstood the immense recoil of the annihilation beam, was boiling in an overheated state. It had to be stabilized before the shield or the mana cannons could be used again.
Seven mages from the heat dissipation team stepped onto the heat dissipation magic circle and began to stabilize the Mana Spring.
Though anxious, Lorraine coolly observed the Apostle.
‘The one good thing is that it also looks exhausted…’
The first head, the one that had just fired the annihilation beam—dubbed —had its head hanging slightly, breathing in ragged gasps.
It was thanks to the Annihilating Angel landing its “Final Wedge.”
Because of that, the Apostle still hadn’t recovered from its temporary exhaustion.
Lorraine didn’t know this for a fact, but she sensed it intuitively.
‘It’s probably… going to get tougher as time goes on.’
Therefore, she had to press the advantage now.
“Ki Cannon operators! Deploy the Ki Cannons! Fire at will! We’re counting on you until the shield and main cannons are back online!”
“D-Deploying Ki Cannons!”
The Ki Cannons were far less powerful than the mana cannons, but they boasted a superior rate of fire and, most importantly, could be operated with their own power source, independent of the Mana Spring.
The researchers, scattered at their respective batteries, channeled their mana to operate the Ki Cannons.
“Fire!”
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
It wasn’t just the central control room.
Lorraine’s voice was currently being broadcast in real-time throughout the entire facility.
While many mages had yet to reach their posts, the Ki Cannon operators who had luckily made it in time unleashed a simultaneous barrage from various points on the research facility’s buildings.
Magical projectiles, imbued with fire, lightning, or ice, depending on each operator’s specialty, were fired.
*Kreeeeeeee—!*
Once again, it was that blocked them.
Whipping its long neck back and forth, it fractured and shuffled space, sending the projectiles flying in completely different directions.
Of course, given the sheer number of projectiles fired, and with some designed to explode on proximity, it wasn’t entirely without effect.
Smooth flesh was torn, and gray smoke erupted like blood from various spots.
But it wasn’t enough to stop the colossal monster.
*Geeeeck!*
The second head from the left began to move.
When it opened its mouth, Lorraine christened it .
What spewed from ’s mouth was like a gray avalanche.
Lorraine screamed out her orders.
“Everyone! Take cover under the shielding barriers! Deploy your shields!”
*Rumble-rumble-rumble!*
The smoke, pouring out like an avalanche, enveloped the research facility, its main shield now gone.
The indoors were relatively safe. Each building had its own separate shield.
The problem was the researchers still outside.
Following Lorraine’s command, they took cover under the shielding barriers installed throughout the grounds.
But the gas spewed by seeped through the small gaps in the barriers with ease.
“Ah…?”
The eyes of the scrambling researchers glazed over for a moment.
*Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.*
*Creeak! Creak!*
Bizarre auditory hallucinations suddenly filled their ears.
Chilling apparitions appeared before their eyes.
The madness that had filled the lowest level of the ruins.
It descended upon the researchers, amplified more than tenfold.
However,
“Ugh, get a grip.”
“There’s no way something like that would suddenly appear. It’s not logical.”
The researchers, who had been momentarily startled and confused, began to regain their senses one by one. They cast [Shield] and [Wake] in layers to break free from the delirium.
When all was said and done, each of them was an exceptional mage.
Their mental resistance, at least, was formidable.
But,
Even they were helpless.
*Thud-dud-dud!*
In the brief moment their minds had gone blank from ’s attack, the sky had become filled with abyssal leeches, spewed forth by the sixth head, <summoning>.
“Aaaargh!”
“What is this?!”
“Ack!”
Those who had made it under a shielding barrier were better off.
For the researchers who hadn’t found cover in time, hell unfolded.
“Get off! Get off me!”
“The shield isn’t working!”
“Kuaaargh! Die! Flame Spear!”
The number,
The number of leeches falling from the sky was just too great.
*Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!*
The leeches latched on in an instant, sucking them dry of blood.
A researcher who tried to defend with a simple shield was instantly drained, his body shriveling like a mummy.
Those who cloaked themselves in spheres of roaring flame lasted a little longer, but…
*Slurp! Slurp!*
“G-Get away from me!!”
The leeches eventually devoured even the flames and latched onto their bodies.
Even those who managed to endure couldn’t help but have their minds shatter.
*Blink. Blink—*
*Roll—*
The sight of eyeballs and small arms sprouting on their own arms, on their colleagues’ cheeks, on the backs of their heads, all moving erratically, was enough to induce vomiting.
The researchers who had been scrambling to fight began to break down at a rapid pace. Morale hit rock bottom.
Lorraine watched the pandemonium, her fists trembling.
“The shield! Is the shield ready yet?!”
“We don’t have enough personnel… The cooldown still has some time left!”
If only they had the shield, they wouldn’t be suffering like this…!
Lorraine’s fists were clenched so tightly they had turned white.
She had to do something.
If the best option wasn’t available, then the next best…!
“We can’t stop them like this! Unleash it! Cover the sky with flame magic so they can’t even get close!”
Her timely command echoed throughout the entire facility.
And the ones who immediately carried out that order were,
“Hurry! You’ll be fine once you get inside the building!”
The senior researchers.
That is, the elderly, veteran mages.
*Fwoooosh—*
The flames they unleashed blanketed the sky.
The leeches, which had been raining down, were incinerated.
Even as they burned, the creatures stubbornly tried to suck up the flame magic, but the immense mana of the veteran mages withstood even that.
“Quickly! Get inside!”
Only then did the researchers stop screaming and start running.
But not everyone left the veteran mages behind.
“Sir!”
“No! Why haven’t you gone!”
“How can I just leave when you’re covered in so many leeches, sir!”
Courageous young mages remained, beginning to weave spells to melt the leeches and undo the curses.
A white radiance spread from various locations.
The leeches on the ground melted away, and the mutated bodies were restored.
It seemed as if hope was on the horizon.
“Done!”
Lorraine, who had been watching the entire scene, spread her hand and swiped it through the air.
“Shield! Reactivate!”
“Shield activating!”
*Vwoooom—!*
At last, the Mana Spring, its cooldown finished, once again enveloped the entire facility in a shield.
“Phew…”
“We’re saved…”
Thanks to the dome-shaped shield covering the entire facility, the abyssal leeches no longer fell.
Only then did the researchers let out sighs of relief.
“There are still too many researchers outside. Get them to their posts, quickly!”
Lorraine snapped at the slightly relaxed researchers, re-emphasizing a battle-ready posture.
But just then, the observation team screamed.
“M-Movement from detected! A second strike! It’s coming!”
“What?!”
They had just restored the shield… and it was attacking again at this timing?
*Fshaaaaa!*
It happened again.
Again,
The painstakingly rebuilt shield shattered, and a portion of the outer buildings and the researchers hit by fragments of the annihilation beam were simply erased from existence…
And from the sky, the leeches began to pour down again.
On top of that,
“M-Movement from the third head detected!”
When it rains, it pours.
Lorraine sighed in resignation.
‘Ah… right, there are still two more heads.’
The third head from the left was named .
It retched and spat out a large gray orb, which rose like a moon and scattered a halo of light in all directions.
The leeches enveloped in the halo of light became astonishingly tough.
*Thud-dud-dud!*
The leeches now withstood even the flame magic blanketing the sky and continued to fall.
And that wasn’t all.
“The Ki Cannons have no effect!”
The Ki Cannon operators screamed.
Just moments ago, the Ki Cannons had been steadily dealing damage and keeping the enemy in check.
But once the orb spat out by began to shed its light, they could no longer damage the Apostle.
Lorraine shouted urgently.
“That orb! Intercept the orb first!”
To Lorraine, it was clear that the gray orb that had just appeared was broadcasting some sort of defense buff in all directions.
But the Apostle’s move was one step faster.
“Movement from detected!”
Simultaneously with the observation team’s scream,
*Crack-d-d-d!*
With a sickening sound, the entire facility shook as if struck by an earthquake.
, having stretched its neck out, had folded space and charged, ramming into the research facility.
“My God…”
“This is… hell…”
A sight they had never seen, never even imagined.
If things had simply broken and collapsed, they wouldn’t have been this shocked, but…
“What is that.”
Like a jumbled puzzle, a building’s entrance was now facing the sky, a tall spire was buried in the ground, the ground itself rose up, and trees hung upside down.
In the moment everyone was overwhelmed by the surreal landscape,
*Crash!*
The warped space and everything within it shattered into pieces.
The screams of the researchers caught within and their red blood scattered like dots.
Shock. Bewilderment. It was Lorraine’s voice that pierced through the void once again.
“What are you doing! Destroy that orb!”
The Ki Cannon operators snapped to their senses and resumed firing.
Fortunately, the orb itself was not very durable.
Under concentrated fire, it shattered after a short while.
Lorraine quickly turned her gaze outside.
With the Aegis orb gone, the leeches were once again easily dispatched, and it seemed the remaining researchers outside were able to catch their breath for a moment.
However,
That respite ended before they could even take a single breath.
“M-Movement from the seventh head detected!”
You son of a…!!!
Lorraine barely managed to swallow the curse that rose in her throat.
The final, seventh head was named .
Its action was simple. It opened its maw wide toward the laboratory and ‘sucked.’
Not matter, but something intangible.
Mana, will, and life…
“Urk…”
*Thump.*
The veteran mages who had been holding firm collapsed to their knees here and there.
Their will was still strong, and their mana could still hold out, but… there was nothing they could do about their life force being rapidly drained away. They were, after all, elderly men…
“Sir!!!”
“Quickly… run…”
Abyssal leeches poured down from the sky.
The senior researchers who had stayed behind for their juniors, and the young researchers who had stayed with them, were buried together under a tide of leeches.
The bravest of the researchers collapsed in various places, turned into shriveled mummies.
*Bang!*
Lorraine kicked her desk.
‘They weren’t supposed to die like that!’
She gritted her teeth.
‘And they were people we desperately needed.’
The more mages they had, the faster the Mana Spring’s cooldown and the main cannon’s reloading would be.
They had lost such precious personnel.
‘This isn’t working.’
She had decided to hold on. She had promised Lansen she would hold on.
Finally, she made her decision.
“Rebuild the shield and fire the mana cannons! Keep firing! If we just take the hits, we’ll die! I don’t care if it turns to mush or rice! Don’t stop! Got it?! Just die! Do it like your life depends on it!”
After shouting, she herself turned toward the door, her white coat fluttering.
“Master Eodran! You’re in command from now on!”
Lorraine was about to run out into the hellscape to save the researchers herself.
Eodran, realizing this, grabbed her.
“You can’t!”
“Let go of me!”
“I’ll go instead!”
Lorraine shook off his hand.
“They’re my researchers! They followed me! They came all this way for me! If there’s a risk to be shouldered, then of course I’ll be the one to shoulder it!”
Still, Eodran did not back down.
“Director! No, my lady! This is absolutely—!”
Lorraine cut him off coldly.
“Eodran. This is an order. If you still consider me the head of House Scottvin. You will take command here. As I have ordered.”
Eodran’s mouth clamped shut.
The head of House Scottvin.
Though House Scottvin had now fallen and was no more… Eodran was the scion of a family of vassals that had served House Scottvin for generations upon generations.
As such, he could not possibly refuse this command.
Lorraine walked right past Eodran.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve had to fight.’
Using her superhuman calculative abilities, she instantly wove her mana, activating the artifacts she carried one by one to amplify her magic.
With one step, [Protect].
With the next, [Vision] to find survivors.
[Flame] to burn the leeches.
[Kinesis] to lift buildings, and,
[Signal] to lead the survivors through the pandemonium.
In just five steps, wreathed in layers of magic, she kicked off the ground with shoes enchanted with a spell of acceleration.
‘I’ll save even one more person… and hold on. Until Lansen makes it!’
Outside the building, the hellscape of chaos instantly enveloped her.