Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Role
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They survived.
The people.
Those who had been crushed under the debris.
Those who were being buried by leeches.
Those who had been crawling on the floor, their bodies covered in blinking eyes and flailing limbs.
Those who had collapsed, their will completely drained by .
Whooosh—
A blue haze of light blossomed from all directions, evacuating them to a safe location.
[Mass Teleport]
Nearly a hundred researchers were instantly moved to the 'Academic Hall,' where the central seminar room was located.
“Hah!”
Lorraine, the one who had performed this miracle, collapsed on the spot.
Hot blood trickled from her nose, and a boiling fever distorted her vision.
“Lorraine. You really are…”
Kask helped Lorraine up, his expression unreadable—it was impossible to tell if he was moved, angry, or about to burst into tears.
Even if she had drawn power from the mana source, it was Lorraine's own magic that ultimately had to control it.
Her seven circles were completely empty; she was utterly exhausted.
Kask supported her and said, his voice choked with emotion.
“Let's go. We have to get back now, too.”
“Yeah… Please… Kask.”
Kask lifted the limp Lorraine onto his back and ran.
was still draining mana, will, and life from the area, but Kask endured it all, layering [Shield] and [Protect] spells over himself and Lorraine.
“I see it!”
The scenery of the research facility was broken and jumbled, now utterly unfamiliar.
At its end, the 'Academic Hall' with its massive mana cannon came into view.
The central seminar room was inside.
The situation was still dire, but with so many researchers saved by Lorraine, it seemed they could hold out for a while longer.
To get there even a fraction of a second faster, Kask cast [Haste] one more time.
『Gueeegh.』
But was it just a coincidence?
Or was it proof that the massive Apostle was watching every little movement, even from this distance?
raised its head high and spewed out a waterfall of leeches, which rained down precisely on top of Kask and Lorraine.
“Damn it!”
The situation was growing more and more serious.
Leeches rained from the sky,
『Grrrk! Kack!』
and on the ground, researchers emerged to block their path.
Or could they even be called researchers anymore? Corrupted by , they looked more like monsters.
Lorraine, who had managed to crack open her eyes and scan her surroundings, let out a bitter smile.
A dilemma.
Checkmate.
That was the perfect way to describe it.
There wasn't a single ally around them, only enemies.
Leeches pouring from above. Corrupted researchers closing in from all sides.
The sight of the researchers, transformed into monsters, was especially painful for Lorraine to see.
“No wonder their life signs were so strange… That's why I didn't teleport them. So this is what happened to them…”
From Kask's back, Lorraine flailed her arms.
She wanted to be let down.
But Kask only held on to her tighter.
Lorraine struggled and snapped in irritation.
“Let go… you insolent junior. I’m going to clear a path, so let me go.”
At her words,
Kask clenched his teeth.
There she goes again.
Again.
She was going to clear a path in her condition?
“Why? You planning to overload your circles and cast some self-sacrifice spell?”
Kask was seething, on the verge of exploding with anger.
But Lorraine just chuckled.
“It's not out of the question.”
Kask slowly bent his knees. Lorraine's feet touched the ground. She swayed but didn't fall, standing straight on her own two feet.
“Finally listening to me. Good boy, squirt.”
Lorraine ruffled Kask's light yellow hair.
She was a good seven centimeters taller than him, so the picture they made looked quite natural.
Kask, who had been quietly bowing his head to accept her touch, called out to her.
“Sis.”
For the first time in a long time, he used that old title instead of her name.
“Hm?”
Kzzzzzt!
A current of pale yellow electricity erupted from Kask's entire body.
The leeches that had already begun to fall were struck by the current, burning to black cinders and scattering away.
“Remember that time? You were so disappointed when I decided to become a Sword Mage.”
“All of a sudden? Hmm… Of course I was. A pure-blooded mage who graduated early from Mibabar Magic University, the most prestigious of them all, suddenly becoming a Sword Mage.”
“It was because of you, Sis.”
“What? Me?”
“Watching you, I realized. *Ah, magic is something people like her should be doing. No matter how hard I try at this, I'll never be of any real help…*”
“What are you talking about? At your level…”
Tak, tatatak!
Leeches endlessly popped and fizzled within the cluster of electrical currents.
Their numbers had multiplied immensely in just a short time.
Soon, a downpour would begin.
A torrential rain of abyssal leeches that drank human blood and twisted flesh.
But Kask continued speaking calmly.
“So I changed my path. To a Sword Mage. Because a Sword Mage of Orocera can cast certain combat spells faster than anyone else. I thought… I could be helpful that way.”
“Helpful? How?”
Kask smiled bitterly.
Was she pretending not to know until the very end, or was she just really that dense?
Shhhng—
He drew his sword.
Kzzzt!
He slashed the air with the blade, which crackled with pale yellow electricity.
A mage's mindscape is a vessel that contains the world.
He drew out only the most brilliant flashes from within that vessel and reacted them with his sword spirit to create a new amplification.
This was the secret art that only a certified Sword Mage of Orocera could use.
“So, the reason I chose the path of a Sword Mage… was for this very moment.”
Thud!
The moment Kask plunged his sword into the ground,
Kzzzzzzzzzt!
The overflowing pale yellow current covered the earth and sky.
『Keeeeeegh!』
『Grrrrr!』
The researchers who had become monsters were caught in the chain-like currents, their bodies trembling.
Ch-jijijik—!
The leeches that had begun to pour down in earnest were caught in the net of lightning that covered the sky and were all burned away.
“Go, Lorraine.”
Kask said, his sword still planted in the ground.
“You must have one, right? A potion that can restore your stamina and mana, even temporarily.”
“Kask, you…!”
“Go, quickly. If you don't go now, I'm going to get really angry.”
Lorraine knew. She knew what an immense strain it was for Kask, a Sword Mage, to unleash such a large-scale spell.
If she left him here…
“I won't die. I'm a Sword Mage. We're much tougher than combat mages. If my mana runs out, I'll use my sword. If my sword breaks, I'll fight with magic again. So,”
Kask smiled. Brightly.
“Hurry up and go, you idiot. Everyone's waiting for you.”
A surge of emotion. What was this feeling welling up inside her?
Lorraine reached out as if to caress Kask's cheek, then bit her lip and pulled her hand back.
Right. This was the logical choice.
Right now, she was the one best suited to command this battle.
She had promised, hadn't she? Promised Lansen.
That she would hold on, no matter what…
And yet,
And yet,
Why did she feel like she was about to shatter?
“You… We're having a talk later.”
“Yes, yes, Senior.”
That's all she could say.
Because there was nothing else to say.
Lorraine sniffled, her nose tingling, and turned her back.
She ran.
Without looking back.
Because moving as quickly as possible was the best way to help Kask.
* * *
The command and control center—the central seminar room—was in utter chaos.
“Loading team! Faster, faster! We have to land at least one more shot before the shield goes down!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Firing team, what's your aim?!”
“We're working on it!”
“Hurry! Hurry up!”
“Mana gunners, what are you doing! That damn orb has already multiplied to three!”
“Sorry! But 's interference range is expanding…”
After Lorraine had rushed out, the researchers had returned one by one to their posts.
They thought things would get easier…
*Why is that thing getting stronger by the second!*
The senior researcher who had taken command from Eodran sighed inwardly.
It felt like facing an insurmountable wall.
A wall that grew taller and taller the higher they tried to climb.
At this rate…
At this speed…
*Five minutes? No, can we even last three?*
Despair crept in.
And it wasn't just the senior researcher.
Everyone felt it.
The shadow of death, slowly closing in on them.
KABOOM!
Lorraine shattered that despair as she kicked the door open.
It took only one second.
One second for Lorraine to survey the wall, enhanced with clairvoyance and magnification magic, and grasp the situation.
She immediately dashed forward and took control of a mana cannon battery.
“Move!”
“Who— Aah! Director?!”
As soon as she shoved the gunner aside and took his place, her mana cannon roared to life, firing a solo blast of light.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The magic enchanted on each and every shell was [Purify].
She also enchanted the mana cannon itself, pushing its rate of fire to the absolute limit.
“'Purification' type magic works well against those things! Everyone, enchant your shots with it!”
It was something Lorraine had learned firsthand while fighting the leeches outside.
As she shouted, the shots she fired were all perfect hits.
Even when defended by scrambling space, Lorraine calculated through it and shot down all three gray orbs. Five seconds per orb, a total of exactly fifteen seconds.
“Insane…”
“I knew the director was amazing, but…”
“Is that even humanly possible?”
The researchers here were all elite mages, respectable anywhere they went.
Only after displaying a feat that left even them in awe did Lorraine stand up.
Or rather, she tried to stand up.
She swayed.
“Ugh…”
This was her limit.
The awakening potion she had drunk to escape.
The temporary boost to her stamina and mana had been completely exhausted by that fifteen-second barrage just now.
“D-Director!”
“Are you alright?!”
Lorraine held up a hand to stop the researchers who were rushing toward her in alarm.
“I'm fine.”
Hiding her trembling legs, she took back command.
“Alright! Let's hold on! If we just hold on, we will win! You know, right? We have a hidden blade! So, all we have to do is hold on!”
The researchers, who had been slowly drowning in despair, felt their eyes light up once more.
And then, a storm of time raged on.
“Shields up!”
“One minute until shield regeneration!”
“Too slow! Firing team! Fire at maximum output!”
“Firing!”
Kwwaaaaang—!
When there wasn't enough time to recharge the shields, they bought time by blasting away with the 10-lepim mana cannon.
“Mana source is on cooldown! Th-there's nothing we can do!”
“We could overload the mana source, but… then after that…”
“Movement from detected! It's coming again!”
When the shields were down and the mana cannon was unusable,
“Self-destruct the mana stone processing plant! The explosion should be enough to push back the annihilation beam and everything else!”
“B-but that's…!”
“Just do it!”
They sacrificed the most precious and expensive facility in the research institute.
KRA-KA-KA-BOOM—!
The mana stone processing plant was a facility where immense energy was concentrated to produce mana hearts.
The explosion wasn't a single event; it distorted space itself, igniting a chain reaction of blasts.
Thanks to that, the gray annihilation beam was scattered left and right, sparing the central building, the 'Academic Hall'.
But the state of the research facility as a whole was truly disastrous.
The outer sections were almost entirely annihilated, with only the core barely remaining.
Ten minutes.
That was how long it lasted.
Ten minutes that Lorraine had bought by sacrificing everything.
What came after was checkmate.
Just after they had barely blocked one annihilation beam,
“Gasp! A second shot! A second shot is coming!”
“W-what! Why is there no delay?!”
Until now, would pant and rest for a moment after firing a beam before shooting again… But this time, it was preparing the next beam immediately after firing the first.
It was because 's endless consumption of mana and life force had allowed it to recover somewhat from its exhaustion.
“Th-there's no way to block i—!”
This time, even Lorraine had to agree.
She had used every outlandish method she could think of to defend them until now… but she was truly out of options.
So,
now, all she could do was believe.
“Overload the mana source!”
“W-what? But if we do that, we won't be able to use it anymore…”
“We're about to die anyway, who cares! Overload it!”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“And loading team! As fast as possible! Make this the strongest one yet! Finalize the convergence.”
“Yes! Preparing for convergence!”
At that moment, Lorraine's voice dropped, heavy and low.
“And the firing team.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Pour every last bit of output from the overloaded mana source into the mana cannon.”
“Yes! Every last bit… What?”
A murmur spread through all the researchers.
“Our last bit of mana… you want to use it all on an attack, not the shields?”
“I-if we do that, the mana cannon itself will be destroyed…!”
But Lorraine's resolve was as cold and unyielding as ice.
“Do it. This is our last chance anyway.”
“Th-then we'll all d—”
“Quiet!”
Lorraine's roar scattered through the murmuring researchers like a dragon's breath.
“This! This is our last chance to live. Trust me. Gather all output! Execute!”
“E-execute!”
Was this why it was so important to maintain strict discipline?
Even when ordered to throw their lives away, the researchers moved by reflex.
Watching them, Lorraine bit her lip hard.
*Lansen,*
*This is our last chance…*
I've held on as long as I could.
I really did my best.
So now…
It's your turn!
* * *
Screech—
Scrape—
I dragged my tattered body forward.
My body was a wreck from the ferocious aura, but my senses had become sharper than ever.
I could hear everything.
I could feel everything.
Yes,
So, Eodran is dead. He was a difficult old man, but a pretty cool one.
Missi. I never thought you'd go like that. Why did you suddenly decide to save people…
Kask. You really…
Every single one of them.
I just felt it.
I didn't mourn.
I didn't look back.
I turned away from the last breaths of the dying behind me and walked on.
They did their part, and I would do mine.
I walked on relentlessly, as if crawling, and thought.
*I won't say I'm sorry.*
Instead, I raised my head and looked up.
Finally, the massive, gray mass of flesh loomed before me like a cliff.
Close enough to touch if I swung.
The time had finally come for me to do my part.
Gritting my teeth, I raised Vanroah. I poured all of my will, my unshakeable vow, into the blade.
I will cut it down.
This horrific disaster.