Chapter 67 : Hell

Chapter 67: Hell

I had to endure.

If I endured... Ransen would cut down the monster.

His promise had driven itself into my head, like some kind of faith.

So I had to hold on...

‘That thing has only moved three heads so far, hasn’t it?!’

Out of seven, only three had moved.

The middle head scattered ash-gray powder thick enough to blot out even the sun.

Then, from the left—

The first head unleashed an Annihilation Beam.

The fifth head distorted space.

That alone was overwhelming.

And there were still four more of those left?

‘Get it together.’

I steeled my resolve.

Crushed by fear, I wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.

I raised my voice.

“First, rebuild the shield!”

“Yes! The Mana Heart is entering cooldown!”

The Mana Heart, which had endured the tremendous recoil of the Annihilation Beam, was boiling in an overheated state. We had to stabilize it before the shield or even the mana cannons could be reused.

Seven magicians of the Cooling Unit stepped onto the Heat-Dissipation Magic Circle and began stabilizing the Mana Heart.

Even while anxious, I observed the ‘Apostle’ with cold clarity.

‘At least the fortunate thing is... that thing looks pretty exhausted too.’

The first head, the one called <Annihilation> that had just fired its beam, now drooped slightly, shuddering as it struggled for breath.

Of course, that was thanks to the Annihilation Angel striking it with the 「Final Wedge」.

Because of that, the ‘Apostle’ had yet to recover from its temporary exhaustion.

I didn’t know what happened for certain, but I sensed it instinctively.

‘Most likely... it’s only going to get fiercer with time.’

Which meant I had to gain as much ground as possible now.

“Qi-gunners! Deploy the Qi Cannons! Saturate the enemy with fire! Until the shield and main cannons are back online, you’re all we can rely on!”

“D-Deploying the Qi Cannons!”

Compared to mana cannons, the Qi Cannons were far weaker, but their rapid rate of fire made up for it, and above all, they could operate solely on their own power without being linked to the Mana Heart.

Researchers scattered to each battery, infusing the Qi Cannons with their energy to manipulate them.

“Fire!”

Tututututututu!

It wasn’t just the Central Control Room.

My voice now resonated across the entire research facility in real time.

Many magicians still hadn’t reached their proper stations, but the qi-gunners who had managed to take position in time poured out their fire in unison from various corners of the facility.

Depending on their specialty, sometimes the shells blazed with flame, sometimes sparked with lightning, or else gleamed with the chill of ice.

『Kiiiiiiiieeek—!』

But once again, it was <Distortion> that blocked them.

Whipping its long neck side to side, it shredded and jumbled space, deflecting all the bullets wildly off course.

Of course, with the sheer number of projectiles fired—and some types exploding the moment they drew near—it wasn’t as though there were no effects at all.

Torn, slick flesh, and ash-gray smoke spurting up like blood from every side.

But such things couldn’t possibly stop that colossal monster.

『Geeegh!』

The second head from the left began to move.

When it opened its mouth, I named it <Delirium>.

What spewed from <Delirium>’s mouth was like an avalanche of ash.

I screamed out my command.

“Everyone! Take cover under the barriers! Deploy the shield!”

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!

The smoke, gushing out like an avalanche, swallowed the already-collapsing research facility whole.

The interiors, at least, were safe. Each building had its own independent shield.

The problem was the researchers who were still outside.

Following my command, they scrambled under the barriers that had been set up across the compound.

But the gas <Delirium> exhaled seeped right through the smallest cracks of the barriers without resistance.

“Ah...?”

The eyes of the panicked researchers turned hazy in an instant.

Ssak-ssak-ssak—

Kkiririk! Kkirik!

Suddenly, bizarre hallucinations echoed in their ears.

Horrid visions rose before their eyes.

The madness that had once filled the lowest layer of the ruins.

Now, amplified tenfold, it engulfed the researchers.

However—

“Whew, pull it together.”

“There’s no way something like that could suddenly appear, it makes no sense.”

Startled and shaken for a brief moment, the researchers gradually regained their senses one by one. Layering [Shield] and [Wake], they freed themselves from <Delirium>’s influence.

For all things said and done, each of them was an exceptional magician.

When it came to mental resistance, they were formidable.

But—

Even they could not help what came next.

Hrrrrrk!

While their minds had been clouded by <Delirium>, the sky had already been filled with Abyss Leeches, spewed out by the sixth head, <Summoning>.

“Uwaaaah!”

“What is that?!”

“Aaaagh!”

Those who had managed to duck under the barriers fared better.

But for the researchers who hadn’t found cover in time—hell itself unfolded.

“Get away! Get away!”

“The shield isn’t working!”

“Graah! Die! Flame Spear!”

The numbers—

The sheer number of leeches falling from the sky was overwhelming.

Ssslluurp! Slurp! Slurp!

In an instant, they latched on and began sucking blood.

A researcher who had tried to rely only on a simple shield dried up in seconds, turning into a mummy.

Those who had wrapped themselves in blazing orbs of fire lasted a bit longer, but...

Ssslluurp! Slurp!

“G-Get away!!”

The leeches sucked even the flames themselves, and then clung mercilessly all over their bodies.

Even those who had managed to endure could not stop their minds from shattering.

Blink, blink—

Gurgle—

Eyes sprouting on their own arms, on their comrades’ cheeks, on the backs of their heads. Tiny arms wriggling independently. Just the sight of it alone made bile rise in my throat.

The researchers, who had been running frantically to fight back, collapsed in rapid succession. Morale had hit rock bottom.

I clenched my trembling fist as I watched the chaos.

“The shield! Is the shield still not ready?!”

“There aren’t enough people… there’s still some cooldown left!”

If only the shield were up, they wouldn’t be suffering like this…!

I squeezed so hard my knuckles turned pale and bloodless.

I had to do something.

If the best wasn’t possible, then at least the next best…!

“We can’t block them as is! Spread it! Cover the entire sky with fire magic so they can’t even approach in the first place!”

My timely order echoed across the entire facility.

And those who carried it out immediately were—

“Run quickly! Once inside the buildings, you’ll be safe!”

The senior researchers.

That is to say, the elder magicians who had lived long and steady lives.

Fwoooosh—

The flames they unleashed spread across the heavens.

The rain of leeches falling from the sky burned away into nothing.

Even as they burned, the creatures persistently tried to devour the fire magic, but the overwhelming mana of the elder magicians overpowered even that.

“Quickly, quickly! Get inside at once!”

Only then did the researchers cease their screams and flee.

But not everyone abandoned the elder magicians to their fate.

“Senior!”

“No! Why haven’t you left?!”

“With this many leeches on your body, how could I possibly just go?!”

The courageous young magicians stayed behind, forming rites to burn away the leeches and lift curses.

White radiance spread throughout.

The leeches that had remained on the ground melted, and the deformed bodies of victims were restored.

It looked, for a moment, as though hope had returned.

“We did it!”

Watching the scene, I spread my hand and swept it downward.

“Shield! Reactivate it!”

“Shield, activating!”

Wooooong—!

At last, the Mana Heart, having finished its cooldown, wrapped the entire facility in a shield once again.

“Huuh…”

“We’re saved…”

Thanks to the dome-shaped shield encasing the research facility, the Abyss Leeches could no longer fall within.

Only then did the researchers finally exhale in relief.

“There are still too many researchers outside. Quickly, reposition them at their stations!”

I scolded the slightly lax researchers, forcing them once more into a combat stance.

But at that very moment, the Observation Unit screamed.

“M-Movement from <Annihilation> observed! Second strike incoming!”

“What?!”

The shield had just been restored… and now, at this timing?

Swaaaah!

Again.

Once again, the shield we had barely rebuilt shattered apart, and parts of the outer buildings and researchers struck by fragments of the Annihilation Beam were simply annihilated…

From the sky, the leeches rained down once more.

And then—

“M-Movement from the third head observed!”

One disaster on top of another.

I groaned.

‘Ah… right, there were still two more heads left.’

The third head from the left was named <Protection>.

It gagged, then spat out a massive ash-gray orb, which floated like a moon and spread halos of light in all directions.

The leeches bathed in that radiance grew astonishingly tough.

Hrrrrrk!

They endured even the fire magic that had been covering the heavens and continued to fall.

And that wasn’t all.

“The Qi Cannons aren’t working!”

The qi-gunners screamed.

Up until a moment ago, the Qi Cannons had been steadily inflicting damage and holding the enemy in check.

But once <Protection>’s orb scattered its light, the Apostle no longer took any damage.

I shouted urgently.

“That orb! Target the orb first!”

From what I could see, the ash-gray orb had to be distributing some kind of defensive buff in all directions.

But the Apostle moved even faster.

“<Distortion> is moving!”

The Observation Unit’s cry rang out, and then—

Krrrk-krkkk!

A chilling sound tore through the air as the entire research facility shook like an earthquake.

Stretching its neck out, <Distortion> folded space and rammed straight into the facility.

“My god…”

“This is… hell itself…”

A sight no one had ever seen, nor even imagined.

If things had simply broken and collapsed, they wouldn’t have been so stunned, but—

“What… what is that?”

Like a puzzle scrambled at random—

The entrances of buildings rose into the sky.

High spires drove into the ground.

The earth stood on end.

Trees dangled upside-down.

Before that surreal landscape, everyone was overwhelmed.

Crash!

The warped space shattered, and everything within it crumbled apart.

The screams of researchers and droplets of crimson blood mixed in and scattered with the falling debris.

Shock. Despair. Through that hollow silence, once again, my voice pierced through.

“What are you waiting for! Destroy that orb first!”

The qi-gunners snapped back to their senses and resumed firing.

Fortunately, the orb itself wasn’t all that durable.

Under concentrated fire, it didn’t last long before shattering.

I quickly turned my gaze outward.

With <Protection>’s orb gone, the leeches became easy to eliminate again, and it seemed like the researchers outside could finally catch a breath.

However—

That small reprieve ended before even a single breath was complete.

“M-Movement from the seventh head observed!”

Damn it…!!!

I barely stopped myself from cursing aloud.

The final, seventh head was named <Gluttony>.

The monster’s actions were simple.

It opened its maw wide toward the laboratory and sucked.

Not matter, but the intangible.

Mana, willpower, and life itself…

“Urgh…”

Thud.

The elder magicians who had been holding strong all this time collapsed to their knees one after another.

Their will remained firm, and their mana still endured, but the life force being rapidly drained away was something they could not resist. After all, they were already aged old men…

“Senior!!!”

“Quickly… run…”

From above, the Abyss Leeches poured down.

The senior researchers who had remained for the sake of their juniors, and the young magicians who had stayed behind for the sake of those seniors, were all buried together beneath the swarming leeches.

The bravest of them all became shriveled mummies and fell where they stood.

Kwaaang!

I kicked a desk with all my strength.

‘They weren’t people who should’ve died like that!’

My teeth gnashed.

‘They were people we needed right now.’

The more magicians we had, the faster the cooldown of the Mana Heart, the faster the loading of the main cannons.

And we had just lost precious lives.

‘This won’t do.’

I had promised Ransen. I had promised I would endure.

In the end, I made my decision.

“Rebuild the shield and fire the mana cannons! Keep firing! If we only sit here and take hits, we’ll all die! No matter what it takes! Don’t stop! You hear me?! Even if it kills you! Do it like you’re dying already!”

Having shouted that, I turned, white robe fluttering, toward the door.

“Master Eodran! I’m entrusting you with command from here!”

I intended to rush out into that hell outside and rescue the researchers myself.

Sensing that, Eodran caught my arm.

“You mustn’t!”

“Let go of me!”

“Then let me go instead!”

I shook off his hand.

“They’re my researchers! They’ve followed me this far, watching only me! If there’s a burden to bear, then of course it’s mine to bear!”

Still, Eodran did not step aside.

“Director! No, Lady! You mustn’t—!”

I cut him off coldly.

“Eodran. This is an order. If you still see me as the head of the Scottbean family, then you’ll take command here. As I command.”

Eodran’s mouth snapped shut.

The head of House Scottbean.

Though the Scottbean family had long since collapsed and vanished, Eodran was descended from a vassal line that had served them faithfully for generations upon generations.

For him, there was no way he could refuse that command.

I strode past him without hesitation.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve fought.’

In an instant, I wove mana through my body using my superhuman calculation ability, activating each artifact I carried one by one to amplify my magic.

With a single step came [Protect].

With the next, [Vision], to locate survivors.

With the third, [Flame], to burn away the leeches.

With the fourth, [Kinesis], to lift collapsed buildings.

And with the fifth, [Signal], to guide survivors through the chaos.

By the time I had taken just five steps, magic was coiled around me like chains. Planting my foot clad in acceleration-enchanted shoes, I launched myself.

‘Save as many as I can… and hold on. Until Ransen finishes this!’

Outside the buildings, the hell of chaos swallowed me whole in an instant.

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