Ch.120120. Raid (2)

The monster was fast. The stream of fire Nella shot missed the monster and split the air, blowing up an innocent laboratory instead. Dodging was within expectations. Nella stood in place, stomped her foot hard, and sharp ice spikes burst through the floor. The monster, approaching unaware, stopped its advance as its body was impaled.

“What on earth is this?”

A dark, viscous tar-like liquid was flowing down the ice spikes. Nella adjusted the height of the spikes to examine the monster more closely.

“A synthetic? Some kind of chimera… Who would create such a disturbing form.”

It had a human head, but no hair whatsoever. No, not just no hair—not a single body hair like eyelashes. Its eyes were rolled back white with no pupils visible, and inside its jaw, pierced by the spike, were hundreds of tooth-like protrusions arranged in a spiral.

“And this mana…”

Nella shuddered at the ominous feeling. It was a magical energy she had felt before. One year ago, at that sea. Even among thousands of magical beasts pouring down, its magical energy had felt distinctly etched into her skin like a knife. Nella gritted her teeth as she stared at the several tentacles attached to the monster’s limbs. This was, without doubt, the mana of the Calamity.

“What exactly is happening right now.”

The sporadic screams had now turned into the noise of intense battle. Even the least experienced mage of the magic tower would be disqualified as a mage if they were still just screaming at this point. If that was the case, there was no need to worry about the lower floors; the problem was the upper floors where the first explosion occurred.

Just as Nella made that decision and looked up, monsters landed on the floor through the hole in the ceiling. Nella pulled up her magical power again with an expression like she’d bitten into a bug.

Gweoeoeo.

With a sound like a corpse might make, the monsters immediately turned their heads toward Nella.

“Looks like I’ll be making octopus sashimi.”

She wasn’t just creating a fireball. Nella began to increase the size of the flame in her hand. The fireball that had been the size of a fist soon became a surging wave of fire, creating heat haze. Before the monsters could charge, Nella shot the wave of fire forward.

“Die-!”

A wave of flames that could burn down the entire floor and more swept across the front. What little equipment remained on the destroyed floor was completely incinerated by the magical flames. The monsters caught in between collapsed into ashes without even having a chance to move.

“…Dealt with for now.”

Half of the 10th floor had melted away, but a victory was a victory. Nella approached where the monsters had fallen through and looked up. She wondered how they had managed to break through the magic tower’s floor, which had only partially melted even under her magic.

“Who’s behind this?”

With narrowed eyes, Nella could see the gaping hole in the ceiling. Smoke rising from the 10th floor was being sucked into the hole on the 11th floor, and Nella could faintly see what was happening there.

“…We need to put out the fire…! Where are all the documents…!”

“…Where are the teaching assistants! Call them here immediately! …Where did the professor disappear to in all this chaos?!”

The sounds and moving shadows indicated utter chaos. The professors seemed to be running around frantically trying to manage the situation, but from the occasional desperate screams, things didn’t seem to be going well. Nella clicked her tongue and approached the hole in the ceiling, creating a strong whirlwind. Her light body floated up into the air, ascending to the 11th floor.

“Professor Nella-!!”

As Nella arrived, dispersing the smoke with wind, the teaching assistants greeted her with tearful faces. Their usually pale indoor complexions were now covered with soot and wounds, looking no better than any soldier.

“Where are the other professors?”

“Most of them rushed to the 11th floor to search for intruders. The first person to report was found dead, so we don’t know what’s happening. We don’t even know who the intruders are. Right now, we’re prioritizing catching the monsters roaming throughout the tower.”

One assistant explained the situation, squeezing out every breath from his lungs. Then he coughed as if he had inhaled smoke.

“What kind of monsters are they, Professor? Even the professors don’t seem to know… They look somewhat human but definitely aren’t, and they’re not magical beasts either. We’ve never learned about such creatures.”

“How would I know? I’m seeing them for the first time too. They’re much stronger than ordinary magical beasts, but they’re not unkillable. It would be difficult for mages below 3rd circle to handle them…”

The feeling of magic penetrating them wasn’t particularly good. Those monsters were strong. One would need to be at least 4th circle to handle them reliably.

“For now, we can’t let those monsters escape the tower. Academy students wouldn’t stand a chance. They’d have their throats slit instantly by those creatures. Have all the exits been sealed?”

The assistant nodded grimly as he got to his feet.

“Fortunately, the automatic containment system is working well, and all exits including the emergency stairs are blocked. I’ll help as much as I can, Professor. What should I do?”

Nella looked at the assistant with sharp eyes. A perfectly ordinary 3rd circle mage. There was nothing the assistant could do in this situation. At best, they could hold the monsters back from going somewhere. With luck, they might hold out until reinforcements arrived or escape, but if unlucky, they’d be brutally killed like any academy student.

“What happened to the research data?”

She was about to tell him to at least protect the data, but the assistant’s expression crumbled indescribably. Nella could tell what had happened to the data without hearing his answer.

“You have backups, right?”

“…Of course we do, but the incident happened just the day before backup… Most of the data from the past week has probably been incinerated. I’m deeply sorry…!”

The assistant apologized with his head nearly touching the ground, but Nella waved her hand dismissively. The most important data would be with Daphne anyway. Observation data could be recollected after the incident…

Wait, recollection?

Nella’s thoughts froze. This was the 11th floor. The place where all the data and tools needed for observing and researching the approaching comet were gathered. This was no time to be relieved just because one countermeasure was in place. Seeing Nella’s face turn pale, the assistant began to tremble with anxiety again.

“P-Professor…”

“We need to protect all the data we can. Mobilize everyone who can help!”

“Y-Yes! Understood!”

As Nella sprang to her feet, the assistant also stood at attention.

“I’ll look for the other professors and find the damn intruder.”

Nella ran across the corridor of the half-ruined 11th floor. Monsters appeared in front of her, blocking her way. Nella’s hand, about to cast magic at the monsters, hesitated for a moment.

“What… are you?”

The monsters that appeared this time were wearing clothes. And that white coat was very familiar to Nella. The clothes worn by people in the laboratory. Nella frowned deeply at the torn and burned coat.

“You think I won’t use magic on you just because of that?”

Nella muttered as if talking to herself and fired her spell. The monster wearing the researcher’s clothes burned away along with its clothes from the magic that burst from Nella’s fingertips. Nella bit her lip hard as she stepped over the monster’s corpse and moved forward. What on earth is happening in the tower right now-!

Amidst Nella’s chaotic thoughts, the face of a man suddenly came to mind.

Ilroy. That damn hero. Where are you and what are you doing right now?

Nella shook her head vigorously. No. How long has it been since she resolved not to rely on him? Nella cast another spell, shaking off Ilroy’s face that was flickering before her eyes.

“I’ve never thought about you-!”

BOOM-!!!

The corridor of the 11th floor exploded magnificently. The terrace she reached, panting for breath, was more intact than Nella had expected. Except for the completely destroyed telescope in the center.

“…I knew this would happen…”

Nella moved toward the remains of the telescope. The telescope had been shattered into pieces as if someone had deliberately targeted it. Pieces of the telescope’s lens dropped from Nella’s hand. Looking up at the ceiling, the retractable glass dome also seemed to have been shattered. Looking at the debris that seemed beyond repair, Nella gritted her teeth.

They targeted it.

Someone had deliberately done this to thoroughly interfere with the strategy against the sixth Calamity. But who? External infiltration was impossible, which meant someone had calmly walked up to the 11th floor and done this—something only an insider could do.

“I don’t particularly enjoy looking at the sky through telescopes. Just like the ancient astronomers.”

At the sound of the voice, Nella quickly turned around. A very familiar silhouette was walking slowly toward her with hands behind his back.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a private conversation, Associate Professor Nella Tarr. You look quite urgent.”

“Edwin Blueb…!”

“My, I didn’t imagine you would be so hostile.”

Professor Edwin chuckled good-naturedly while stroking his beard with one hand. Nella clenched her fist with a distorted face. The identity of the intruder. Nella glared at Edwin, who was emanating an ominously sinister aura unlike ever before.

“Why did you do this? Do you have some grudge against the tower? What sudden wind blew to make you release those strange monsters and rampage?”

“You, you know too little.”

Professor Edwin shook his head.

“Do you know why I entered astronomy?”

“I don’t even want to know…!”

Nella raised magical power in her hand, but Professor Edwin merely looked at her and let out a scoffing laugh. He focused only on what he wanted to say, regardless of whether Nella was preparing to attack.

“I loved looking up at the sky since I was young. With the naked eye.”

Beyond the shattered glass dome, dusk was appearing as twilight devoured the day. A white half-moon peeked out above the stars that were appearing one by one.

“When you see it with your eyes, you feel its vastness much better. It feels closer than looking through a telescope. So, I didn’t particularly need a telescope. I never tried to look at specific stars. I constantly reminded myself that we are just living on one of the hundreds of millions of stars in that sky.”

Edwin’s smile was empty. Nella looked at that hollow face and raised her tension to the maximum.

“Living beings, you see, shouldn’t go against the natural order. No matter how desperately you try to avoid doom, only a more terrible end awaits. The natural order will become even more distorted.”

Nella didn’t listen to Edwin’s words at all. She was only thinking about how to take down and restrain this mage in one go. 4th circle. A full-power spell from Nella, a mature 5th circle mage, might be possible.

“So you did all this because you want us all to die together?”

“We are mortal, Nella. Sooner or later, individually and collectively, we are destined to die. And humanity once defied that fate long ago. Under the name of heroes, they avoided the doom that should have been carried out.”

Edwin shook his head.

“‘We’ are apostles executing that rightful doom, Nella. You alone cannot stop us.”

“‘We’? You’re saying there are more besides you?”

“Of course. If one person cannot prevent doom, how could one person execute it?”

Nella was secretly gathering magical power while stalling for time with conversation. Professor Edwin was absorbed in his story.

“Your thoughts are all written on your face, Associate Professor Nella.”

“Oh really? Then you must be able to block this too-!”

Ice spikes rapidly sprouted from beneath Nella’s feet, targeting Edwin.

“How shallow.”

And then, meat shields appeared to block Edwin. They were tentacled monsters.

“I joked about slaves, slaves, but… now they’ve really become my slaves.”

Besides the monsters that blocked the attack, more monsters appeared behind Edwin. Nella’s face hardened.

“They were all my dear comrades. People gathered for doom.”

Edwin stood firmly behind them like a commander, looking at Nella.

“I tried to persuade you before, but you flatly refused.”

At Edwin’s smile, Nella’s expression soured even more.

“Well? Have you changed your mind this time?”

In response to Edwin’s question, Nella showed her middle finger with a sneer.

“Does that answer your question?”

“…Catch her and tear her apart.”

The monsters charged at Nella simultaneously.