Ch.7070. Time Limit

Sherry looked up at me.

“….”

In the ensuing silence, she lowered her gaze and pressed her lips tightly together for a moment.

It was an old habit of hers.

She always did this when hesitating to say something.

“Don’t come any closer! If the Association branch director’s daughter dies, you’ll be in trouble too!”

I did my best to play the villain.

“Don’t provoke him right now! We need to rescue the hostage!”

Unfortunately or fortunately, the knights surrounding me began to panic one by one.

Just as I was wondering if this hostage act was working…

“…Mmph!”

Sherry made a sound, pretending to resist.

I guess she was going with the concept that she couldn’t make proper sounds because I was gripping her throat.

‘…Your eyes tell a completely different story.’

She was sending me sparkling eyes.

A response that I was doing well.

Even though her face was hidden by my body, if our act was exposed, it would be over.

“Stay still! Make a sound and I’ll kill the hostage immediately!”

So I immediately frowned and shouted.

I meant it as a warning to be careful, and she seemed to understand.

Fortunately, she seemed to get it.

‘It should be almost over now.’

Only then did I feel relieved and look for an escape route.

The knights couldn’t pounce on me right away as they were waiting for their superior’s orders.

In the meantime, I thought about how to break through the knights and escape.

The way to break this situation…

‘There isn’t one.’

There was simply no answer.

The knights had already blocked all the paths.

Moreover, I had no equipment, so if I tried to break through the knights, I’d end up becoming a giant skewer.

‘What a shame.’

Unfortunately, I had many regrets.

After all my desperate struggles to survive.

It was frustrating to die so meaninglessly.

…Still.

‘At least I’ve protected this person, so that’s enough.’

I decided to be satisfied with saving my benefactor.

“So, when are we escaping?”

Sherry whispered very quietly.

She was still frowning, not wanting to give away our act.

‘…Escape?’

But something seemed odd.

Why did she mention escaping?

“…”

Looking at her eyes, genuinely waiting for my answer, I realized one thing.

Sherry thought I was using her as a hostage to escape.

‘I couldn’t explain.’

It was a situation where she might misunderstand.

Sherry didn’t know what was happening up there.

So naturally.

She couldn’t know that a person’s life could be trampled so meaninglessly.

‘I’ve created another thing to be sorry about.’

I continued my silence without answering Sherry’s question.

After a few minutes had passed.

“…Ugh.”

As time went by, my strength was fading.

In a situation where even moving was difficult, putting on this hostage act, it wouldn’t be strange if I collapsed right away.

Moreover, as time passed, more knights gathered around me.

With over 10 knights occupying the street just to capture me.

“Orders have come in! Evacuate the surrounding civilians!”

The civilians who had been watching were pushed back by the knights, and now silence fell over the street.

However, that silence didn’t last long.

“Adel! There’s nowhere left to run!”

A knight who looked like the captain shouted.

“If you release the hostage and surrender quietly, this will end with a simple arrest. You don’t think you can resist the Imperial Family, do you?”

Bullshit.

Once they rescued Sherry, they would cut my throat without mercy.

“…”

Still.

What if I pretended to believe them and released Sherry?

‘Sherry could live.’

My only concern was her dying along with me because of our connection.

Since my death was practically confirmed anyway.

“…Mr. Adel?”

Just as.

I was slowly about to let go.

“-The hostage’s life doesn’t matter anymore! Another fugitive has appeared! Quickly deal with him and support the control operation!”

“…!”

A shout was heard.

-Boom!

The knights immediately rushed at me as if they had been waiting for the order.

‘So the hostage doesn’t matter!’

Knights charging from just a few meters away.

I made a quick judgment.

‘I need to put Sherry down and fight.’

But if I didn’t use her as a shield and safely evacuated her, they might suspect it was a fake hostage situation.

So.

“-You’re in the way!”

“Eek!”

I threw Sherry over the knights.

She might get a little hurt, but it was much better than dying.

‘She’ll probably be fine.’

I prepared for my last resistance, hardening my arms.

-Clang!

After blocking an incoming sword strike, I threw myself forward and rolled on the ground with a knight.

I succeeded in breaking through the encirclement.

But now I would surely die, unable to dodge the sword coming from the side.

‘I couldn’t even say my last words to Shiro.’

As my heart filled with regret.

A blue light enveloped me.

-Clang!

The sword strike aimed at me was blocked by something.

“Wait, from above-“

At the same time, I heard a knight’s brief cry.

Before I could think about what was happening, I felt a powerful impact through the ground.

It seemed like someone else had fallen from above.

“Flash.”

Along with a woman’s voice.

-Kwaaaang!

A blue light engulfed the area.

***

I opened my eyes with a dizzying pain.

“Ugh, ugh.”

I grabbed my head and looked around.

The street was cratered as if a meteorite had fallen.

The buildings on the street had been incinerated without a trace, and all the knights surrounding me had fainted.

“What is… this…”

It looked like we had been hit by a missile bombardment.

It would be even more miraculous if it wasn’t a missile that had fallen.

“You’re awake.”

A woman’s voice came from behind.

“…Who are you?”

There was a woman with blue hair.

She was rather short. Just over 150 centimeters.

“The person you came to meet today.”

“Are you the Guild Master?”

“Yes.”

She nodded lightly.

“Did you come to save me? And was that explosion caused by you, Guild Master?”

“That’s right.”

…Wait a minute.

“What happened to the woman with pink hair? She should have been a bit further away from the knights.”

I urgently asked her.

If Sherry had been caught in the explosion, it wouldn’t be strange if she died instantly.

If she was critically injured, we needed to treat her quickly…

“That child, you mean?”

She pointed to a spot where Sherry was lying, breathing.

“…!”

She was really just sleeping.

“I wrapped her in a protective barrier before causing the explosion. As expected, she seems to have just fainted lightly.”

“That’s a relief.”

“I protected her because she’s a civilian, but do you know her?”

“Yes. She’s someone important to me.”

“…Hmm. I see.”

She showed a slightly disgruntled expression and approached me.

She turned around and bent her waist.

“Here.”

She presented her back to me.

“Pardon?”

“…Aren’t you going to get on?”

“Ah.”

For a moment my brain stopped, wondering what her intention was. So that was it.

“I was disoriented, so my mind wasn’t working properly.”

“I see. Still, hurry and get on my back. Other knights will be coming here soon.”

The idea of someone with my large build riding on such a small woman seemed quite strange.

-Thud.

As strength left my body, I naturally got on her back.

“…Ah.”

“Seems like you’re out of strength. Well, you don’t know how to handle that power yet. It’s natural to get hurt falling from that height.”

After saying that, the Guild Master lightly moved her feet.

-Boom!

She soared high into the sky.

‘Now my consciousness…’

Unfortunately, that was all I could manage.

…

I opened my eyes again.

This time I regained consciousness on a soft bed.

‘And my body feels better too.’

Perhaps I received healing while I was unconscious.

Although my mind was a bit confused from having my consciousness flicker twice in a matter of seconds, I calmly observed my surroundings.

Walls made of logs. A forest visible through a small window.

‘Not in the city?’

It was a wooden house that looked like it belonged in an elven sanctuary.

“You’re awake.”

I turned my head at the words I seemed to be hearing for the second time.

A woman with blue hair that seemed to contain starlight.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, much better than before.”

“That’s good. It would be troublesome if you died.”

She brought a wooden chair and sat in front of me.

“It must be confusing right now, but did you come to see me because you’ve sorted things out in your mind? Or is it because you’re even more confused?”

“I did sort things out… but I wasn’t certain. That’s why I was going to find you to ask.”

“Hmm. That’s similar to what I expected.”

She sat with her legs crossed. It looked somewhat awkward because her legs were short.

Anyway.

“What do you want to ask?”

“…”

Hearing her words suddenly made me tense.

‘Calm down.’

I’m just asking if my guess was correct. I’ve already prepared myself, and hearing this won’t change much.

I’m already being hunted, so becoming more estranged from the Imperial Family wouldn’t make things worse.

Thinking this, I calmed my mind as much as possible.

“I heard that within 30 years at most, a Demon King could invade the Labyrinth City.”

“Yes.”

“I heard several other pieces of information, and after thinking on my own, I came to one conclusion.”

Finally.

“The Labyrinth is its entrance and the shelter that hides us. Because the Constellations are trying to stop that Demon King, you are following their will to climb the Labyrinth and meet the Demon King.”

I said those words.

“The Imperial Family is trying to stop you. Because you’ll be discovered by the Demon King. Since they think they can’t defeat the Demon King, they’re trying to secure even just 30 years of life.”

“…”

“Guild Master, am I correct?”

Her eyes widened slightly, as if she found my words interesting.

“Mostly correct, but there’s actually one piece of incorrect information.”

“What is it?”

“The 30 years I mentioned to Deneb. In fact, we don’t have that much time left.”

She showed a grim smile.

“After the last purification operation… we probably had less than a few months left.”

“…”

It was a death sentence for the Labyrinth City.