Ch.9090. Reversal (6)

“Hmm… Did I say something wrong…?”

-“…I’m leaving!”

I thought Renias would be in a good mood after I treated her to such a hearty meal, so I tried to be a bit forceful with my words.

Somehow, Renias left with an annoyed expression, her cheeks puffed out.

“Well, she must have worked really hard to reach that level. It was wrong of me to try to get that information for free. I guess I’m in the wrong here.”

Considering how strict the conditions are for academy students to enter the battlefield, that makes sense.

Given that others are struggling in the banquet hall, waiting to hear even one more piece of advice from their seniors, trying to get such valuable experience-related information for just a meal was literally, as they say, a freeloader move.

I should apologize to her next time.

For now, I have no choice.

I should probably head to the Dube Building and put my heads together with those guys, thinking along similar lines.

…or so I thought. At least until I saw with my own eyes the commotion happening at the academy.

-Someone help us over here!!!

-We need to fetch water! This isn’t enough!

-But if we pour water, the building will…!

-Can’t we blow it away with wind magic?!

-This is the Dube Building, unlike other buildings! Magic can’t suppress the flames or splash-out!

“What the…”

What on earth is happening?

“Why… is the Dube Building collapsing?!”

A catastrophe is unfolding before my eyes. The situation is hardly different from before the regression.

BOOM─!

As if waiting for his arrival, the Dube Building was experiencing a series of consecutive explosions.

***

“W-what is this…”

“What the hell did that bastard Cayden do…”

“T-the entrance to the Dube Building is blocked!”

As the thunderous noise subsided, the students finally straightened their hunched bodies. When they opened their eyes, the building was already engulfed in flames and gradually collapsing.

Despite this life-threatening situation, he was intoxicated with a sense of superiority. Senia’s lips quivered crookedly toward Cayden, who was clearly not in his right mind.

‘That bastard is insane…!’

This was clearly done with the hope that there would be casualties.

The explosions following each word from inside the building were like fuses being planted, ready to ignite.

I don’t know what method they used, but this was no longer something that could be overlooked.

*Shing-*

Senia drew the sword at her waist and pointed it at Cayden.

“What are you trying to do? Since you can’t stop us as you please, are you planning to kill us?!”

“Well, this could just be an accident, couldn’t it?”

“Ha, you shameless bastard…!”

It was already too late to gather evidence piece by piece, as the building had suffered tremendous damage. While rescue operations were being conducted outside, evidence would easily burn away.

But there was something more disturbing than that right now.

Why would they create this situation?

“Everyone, get up and prepare to fight. They’ll come at us with full force.”

“What…?”

“This explosion. They caused it. They did this not caring if we died buried under the building debris. Don’t you get it?”

Didn’t he just say it was an accident? If so, then anything could happen here.

They did this not caring if people died, so who knows what else they might do. That’s why Senia drew her sword.

“Well, aren’t you a sharp one. But it’s not strange that incompetent people like you would die, is it?”

“What did you say…?”

“This bastard is really pushing it…!”

“You think we’ll just sit back and take it?! If we just deal with you and escape from here, there are plenty of witnesses!”

As Cayden’s group’s intention to harm them became clear, their bodies, consumed by anger, began to rise one by one.

Driving away these troublemakers was something they could do with ease.

They had grown accustomed to letting criticism and blame go in one ear and out the other.

Even if those with magic armor attacked, they too could counter with people who had manifested their own magic armor.

Even if all that was impossible, they were determined to resist, remembering the possibility shown by one man.

However, now was the time to maintain rationality.

“How stupid. We don’t need to deal with you ourselves. You should have bowed your heads when you had the chance.”

As soon as Cayden finished speaking, explosions erupted from various places once again.

BOOM─!

“Aaaah?!”

“Kyaaak!!”

They were long-range mages and nobles.

They were people who could create threats in this place simply by engraving markers with magical tools in designated locations and infusing them with magical power.

The fuses had already been set in multiple layers long ago. The front entrance, one of the exits from the laboratory, was blocked, and the windows were completely sealed off.

“Did you blow everything up?”

“Yeah. Every entrance should be blocked by now.”

With the front entrance and windows filled with burning debris, all that remained was the back door. There, the nobles were showing composure as if enjoying the situation.

But thinking about it carefully, this was not a situation to be relaxed about.

“Are you insane?! You know that if you blow up parts of the interior like this, you won’t be safe either!”

This was madness unless they were suicidal.

Buildings naturally collapse from the top, and it’s impossible for human strength alone to withstand the weight of the structures.

This applies not just to the laboratory but to any part of the building that collapses.

The risk factor existed not only for Senia and the vanguard students but also for those who used other types of magic.

Yet they laughed with booming voices.

“Don’t worry about that. Unlike you who will leave here as corpses due to various causes, we’re mages, so we’ll be fine.”

“What…?”

“Cayden. You’re talking too much. If we stay in this state, we’ll be in danger too.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll just say one more thing and finish.”

Cayden cleared his throat with a “hmm, hmm” and still without showing any sign of anxiety, looked down at them and said:

“This is punishment for you. Punishment for not knowing your place and rebelling against high nobles, trying to climb up. Of course, the price for that sin─.”

-will be your lives.

With those final words, the back door also collapsed, and the laboratory became a completely isolated place.

***

“Everyone get up!! What are you doing?!”

Senia shouted in frustration, but the students who had fallen into the abyss of despair had long given up.

“I thought we could finally do something…”

“Mom… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have fought with you then…”

“Father… I should have listened when you told me to learn business instead of going to the academy…”

“I’m sorry, Abel… It seems this is as far as your sister goes…”

Collapsing building. Burning interior. In the isolated laboratory, more and more people began to resign themselves to their situation.

They had tried to combine their strength to escape somehow, but they realized it was too overwhelming for them, with their meager firepower, to break through the two entrances of the laboratory that were blocked from both sides.

“Damn it…!”

*Clang, clang!!*

She swung her sword, trying to cut through the debris blocking the laboratory’s main entrance.

But it was just an ordinary sword. It couldn’t possibly have the power to cut through burning debris.

Even trying to read the grain with her eyes, she couldn’t find any spot weak enough to break through.

Despite putting in all her strength, Senia eventually lowered her sword, gasping for breath.

*Clatter.*

“Huff, huff…”

She had tried to cut through the debris several times, but it was beyond her ability. Far from cutting, she’d be lucky if she could even make a crack. The debris didn’t budge at all.

“Damn it!”

This was the Dube Building.

It was a building full of dangerous materials, with magic practice rooms, research labs, and experimental labs all over.

The distance from this first-floor laboratory to the door might not be far, but those bastards who were determined to bury people here wouldn’t leave the entrance unblocked.

Even if they miraculously got out of the laboratory, it would be the same.

If they wanted to escape, they would have to go up to at least the second floor and jump down, prepared for broken legs.

The second floor was a place for analyzing and researching magical beasts, so they would inevitably encounter magical beasts that had gone berserk due to the splash-out occurring on the first floor.

Could the researchers who were stationed on the second floor handle them? No. That’s impossible.

Hadn’t she experienced firsthand that the Giant Cud Rat was incomparable to the regular Cud Rat? If there were researchers who faced berserk magical beasts without leaving the building, they might no longer be of this world.

The biggest problem was the third floor.

Artifacts being crafted and magical engineering devices could be hastily discarded if necessary, but that was beyond their capacity to handle.

She calculated the chances of being rescued with the help of others, but realized they converged infinitely to zero, and she pounded the floor with her fist.

Still, Senia had to stand up.

If she gave up here, it would be no different from that time.

Moreover, there were those who had pledged blind trust and said they would accept whatever results came, so she couldn’t just sit down.

Those who believed only in her and decided to share their fate would be waiting with their necks stretched out.

‘I will keep my promise to you all.’

She got up and grabbed her sword again. And she swung it down. Even though it was obvious that it wouldn’t even make a scratch.

Even if nothing could be done with her strength alone. Even if no one else would stand up.

Once again, Senia swung her sword with all the magical power she could muster.

“Huff, huff…!”

Suddenly, that scene came to Senia’s mind. The one that came with the message about turning the fourth hand of the clock, which might be her own memory.

It could be considered similar to the current situation. After all, facing death is the same.

Academy students who could barely avoid the humans and magical beasts that were dying all around.

The defense lines had fallen, and even the academy had been breached, leaving only students.

The empire had collapsed miserably, and there was hardly any hope in sight. Overall, that situation was more extreme than the current one. Unlike now, when there might be people outside who could save them, back then they didn’t even know when reinforcements would arrive.

But there was one person who didn’t yield even in that situation.

He took on all the burden and criticism, and never stepped down from that grave and suffocating position.

Even until the final order to split into two, he never put down or passed on that burden.

Why are these memories coming to her in this situation?

‘It’s not like I’m facing a near-death experience.’

She didn’t know. But it was enough to help her make up her mind.

She just needed to follow him.

Even if it was just half of the tenacity of that guy who kept charging back despite being beaten by nobles every time.

Even if it was just 1/3 of the stubbornness that made him practically live in the Mizar Building, trying to improve himself whenever he was pointed at for not fitting in at Tembris.

Even if it was just 1/4 of the effort of the man who secretly woke up every night, not to hold his comrades back but to help them.

Even if it was just a speck of the will of the man who, despite losing his strength, charged at magical beasts with just a shield in his bare hands, prepared to die.

…Wait?

How do I know all this…?

“Se-Senia…”

“How did she…?”

When she came to her senses, the debris had already been split in half.

“Huff, huff…!”

She didn’t know what she had done, and a rough breathing, like a recoil, was pressing on her chest. But Senia was holding her throbbing head, not her chest.

‘This is not the time.’

At least a path had opened. Her head was throbbing, but she needed to move her body right now.

“Let’s go. To somewhere a bit safer…”

At that moment, the front door of the laboratory came crashing down. Between the gaps, a Twin-headed Fenril that had come down from the second floor was licking its lips, having destroyed the threshold.

-Grrrr…

Unlike during the test, there was no magic stone, so no one could manifest their magic armor immediately.

And as for weapons, no one except Senia had brought any. They had been focused on magic armor from the beginning.

Due to using up all her magic power on the debris at the front door earlier, there was no one who could immediately fix the beast in place with magic.

The only person who could face it was Senia.

Senia, exhausted from cutting through the debris, couldn’t handle the Twin-headed Fenril that had gone berserk due to the splash-out.

It was literally a critical moment. They were about to become a meal for the charging magical beast.

But.

-*Cough*!

“Over here, not there.”

The Fenril was knocked down and tumbled down the corridor by a man who appeared with his black hair fluttering.

“Is everyone alright?”

“”Junon…!””