Ch.9292. Reversal (8)

Orders from outside come in to hold up the collapsing building again.

It means they’ve properly received the signal.

‘It’s thanks to these guys’ hard work that we can even send such signals.’

As the determined group rallied together, the time needed to break through the second floor noticeably decreased. Thanks to that, they were able to send signals and buy a little more time.

Now, they were in the final stages of dealing with the monsters on the second floor.

“We’ve almost got them all…!”

“That’s the last one! Just take care of it and we’re done!”

“Don’t lose your rhythm, and don’t let your guard down—there could be more.”

“Sorry. I’ll focus.”

It wasn’t as if they had maintained perfect poker faces without making mistakes like this. At first, some were so terrified they froze completely, but despite such incidents, no one cowered—they all got back up.

Thanks to that, they covered each other’s weaknesses and successfully eliminated the monsters on the second floor without breaking formation once.

This seemed sufficient, but they immediately faced another problem.

“Wait here. We’ll rest before continuing.”

“Rest… here?”

“Yes. The upper floors will be harder to handle, so we need to be fully prepared.”

In the middle of a burning, collapsing building, with the Splash Out potentially spreading further—does it make any sense to rest?

It might be hard to understand, but from the third floor up, things are different.

Even berserk monsters are still Normal grade. Normal grade monsters might have special traits, but nothing too threatening. Any deficiencies can be overcome with sufficient numbers.

However, what will pour out from the third floor cannot be dealt with by simply charging in recklessly.

“What is this?”

“Something you’ll need to survive here.”

“…This shabby thing is supposed to save us?”

They’re not distrusting Junon, but everyone has a similar reaction. Just wondering what use a simple cloth could have on the third floor.

Outside the Dube Building, those fighting are painfully discovering exactly why it’s useful.

“Urgh?! This… my attacks…!”

The man’s sword strikes aren’t even effective. Something shaped like murky flames with no fixed form is trying to devour him.

At that moment, Goden appears, thrusts his sword in, infuses it with mana, and detonates it from within, finally causing the entity to dissipate.

“Fall back. You don’t seem to have experience fighting elementals.”

“I can still fight. Elementals, you said? If you just tell me how to defeat them…”

“Look here. You’re already showing symptoms of magi poisoning at your neck. You need to neutralize it immediately.”

“Huh…?”

“Corrupted elementals must have their cores—the source of magi, not mana—destroyed, which causes an immediate magi storm. Once you’ve inhaled it, you must neutralize it quickly.”

“…I see, so that’s what it was.”

Entities that had climbed all the way to the roof are now falling one by one from the building.

“Elementals… corrupted ones at that.”

They were elementals—beings commanded by elemental mages, who like healers, are rare cases.

Life forms that attack humans are called monsters. But conversely, there are beings that work with humans to defeat monsters—not quite life forms, but close to it.

Elementals are representative of such beings.

However, their only distinction from monsters is the presence of intelligence; their origins aren’t much different from monsters. The difference is paper-thin.

In other words, elementals covered in magi are no different from monsters.

‘Since elementals emerge when the host’s magi is completely depleted or full monsterization occurs, they must be dealing with them inside too…’

Black smoke continuously escapes through the third-floor windows as elementals disintegrate, suggesting someone inside knows how to destroy their cores.

Not only that, but they seem to understand the precautions needed when dealing with elementals, as their processing speed hasn’t decreased.

They must know that the black smoke generated when elementals disappear is pure magi, and they’re minimizing its effect on their respiratory systems.

‘I don’t need to worry about Senia.’

Now that his comrade’s safety was confirmed, Goden began to wonder who inside possessed such knowledge.

Whoever it was would be an incredible asset to have on the team.

Back inside the building.

One by one, the magic barriers disappear, and those fighting with whatever they had manage to rescue the elemental mages on the third floor.

All that remains is to reach the designated escape point and exit one by one according to the signal.

Outside, preparations have already been made to ensure students can safely jump from the building if necessary.

However, Junon still had business to attend to here.

“Junon? Where are you going?”

“Downstairs. I just remembered—you guys used monster blood to make artificial mana stones but didn’t dispose of them properly.”

“Oh… did we?”

“My memory’s a bit fuzzy… we were so focused on fighting.”

“Ugh, if we leave them, they could cause chain explosions and become a real problem…”

They’d been told there was plenty of time for the building to hold up from below, and with no more elementals emerging, they only needed to focus on supporting the structure.

It wouldn’t be difficult to quickly go down and check to prevent any danger.

However, no one would want to go all the way down to the first floor when escape was so close at hand. That’s why everyone was making faces of disgust.

But Junon cleanly lifted the burden from their minds.

“I was planning to check anyway. I’ll dispose of them and come back, so you all go ahead.”

“…Is that okay? I know we shouldn’t, but…”

“It feels like we’re dumping everything on you, which doesn’t seem right…”

“The elemental mages have all gone down, and the girls are starting to leave too. What’s the problem? By the time everything’s finished, I’ll be back up here.”

Naturally, he’s human too. He has no desire to stay here any longer than necessary.

Having witnessed the collapse of the Dube Building firsthand, he would want to escape as soon as possible.

But Junon had noticed something.

When they were making artificial mana stones on the first floor and taking out magic barriers to leave the lab, the position of the debris was subtly misaligned.

Certainly, that position was evidence that someone from outside had blocked the exit from inside. The place where such a deed would have been done was all too obvious.

In truth, he had disposed of the monster blood long ago. With each step down the stairs, his footsteps seemed to grow louder.

***

“Yaaawn, why is it taking so long to collapse?”

“I’m sleepy. Wish it would just fall already.”

For a dangerous building like this, there’s bound to be a place to take refuge in emergencies.

This is the underground shelter, the only place in the Dube Building that could be called a safe zone.

Of course, after blocking all exits and entrances, it became a place no one but them could access.

Being trapped here for extended periods is incredibly boring for the nobles.

“I wonder what happened to those bastards by now?”

“Well, if you’re curious, you could always go outside the shelter and check.”

“Hey, asshole. There are things you can and can’t say. That’s basically telling me to go out and die.”

“Hehehe. Just kidding. As if I was serious. The ones who’ll die are those commoners.”

As you can see, they’re quite relaxed.

Being in the safety of the shelter, they neither care nor know what’s happening inside the building.

Their only interest is in the conversations of those who watched others desperately try to climb up, only to fail miserably.

They’re just wasting time, sharing these stories like war tales and chattering about when the building will collapse.

‘Yes. This is it, this is perfect.’

Cayden, having successfully crafted a story, grins with satisfaction.

Under the collapsed building, the nobles merely took refuge in the shelter, while those who were making mana stones would bear all the blame.

This would finally properly respond to the complaints of nobles who had been grumbling about the rising momentum of commoners.

Thinking about what rewards he might receive upon returning to the mansion, his grin kept spreading wider and wider.

Until a human figure appeared there.

CRASH!!

WEEEEEE─!!!

The shelter door shatters, and an alarm sounds. The nobles who turn their heads to see what’s happening lose all traces of their laughing, chattering faces.

“Must have been fun sitting here comfortably chatting and playing, you fucking bastards?”

“Junon…!”

The man who appears through the broken door instills vigilance in them with just his presence.

Cayden reacts most sensitively to this.

Why is that guy here at the Dube Building?

No, was he in the Dube Building to begin with?

If so, how did he reach the shelter, which should be inaccessible with just the power of vanguard and support positions?

It doesn’t matter. What difference does it make if he knows there’s a shelter in the Dube Building?

Even if a variable has appeared, the guy shouldn’t have any idea what’s happening here.

Junon shatters Cayden’s thoughts spectacularly.

“You really went all out, didn’t you? So I’m going to do the same.”

Something crackles and falls to the ground from Junon’s hand, which is filled with mana. Something seems to have broken, but they haven’t noticed yet.

“Pfft, what’s that?”

“If you’re trying to scare us with something strange, you’ve got the wrong idea.”

“Even the most basic research rooms have mana circulation. We’ve used the Dube Building much more than you—do you think we wouldn’t know about something like that?”

“Do you think we’d be intimidated by such a thing?”

They assumed he was just trying to scare them by breaking something with the mana in his hand.

Moreover, if he tried to harm them, they could use it as leverage after being rescued from the shelter, so they felt they had nothing to lose.

But why?

“Things are about to happen. Maybe that will give you a clue.”

“…What?”

Since they’re dealing with such an unpredictable opponent, it’s strange, but Junon’s attitude is unusually confident.

Since he’s saying something is about to happen, their eyes can’t help but be drawn to it, contrary to their previous words.

It’s not because they don’t know what it is. It’s due to the anxiety that he might do something… and that anxiety becomes reality.

***

-Crumble.

“Uh, uhhh…?”

“Is that collapsing? No… it can’t be…?”

“It is collapsing! Get away, you idiot!”

Literally, part of the side of the building and ceiling collapsed.

However, this is a shelter—a place meant to be safe for humans in emergencies, where such accidents shouldn’t happen.

Just as one person arrived, the edge of the shelter collapsed as if on cue. Their eyes naturally turn in that direction.

“Damn it…!”

“The mana circulation device…! So that’s what you broke?!”

“What?! Then this is no longer a shelter…”

The mana circulation device.

This device, present in each building, activates only when danger is detected and serves to create a minimum safety zone for humans.

Whether a shelter can function as a shelter depends on the operation of the mana circulation device.

And now that he’s thrown it away right before their eyes, panic is setting in as they realize the place could collapse at any moment.

“N-no… we have to escape… gah!”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

I kick the noble trying to escape back inside.

At that moment, fire spreads to the collapsed edge, and flames begin to spread throughout the shelter.

“That bastard…!”

The beaten noble snarls and fires off a spell. Naturally, with my magic barrier still active, dealing with his spell isn’t difficult.

However, this time I don’t counter the spell with my barrier.

-Whoosh.

The cloth burns vigorously in the flames created by the spell. Yes, this is enough.

Having just realized belatedly that I had dropped the mana circulation device, they’re now watching the cloth I threw, wondering what I’ve thrown this time.

Their curiosity was resolved unexpectedly quickly.

-Hissss.

“Ugh, aaaagh!!”

“What was inside… was it mana stones?!”

“W-we’ll be poisoned. The door… ah…”

“Where is there a door in the shelter?!!!”

As black smoke began to rise from inside the cloth I threw, they panicked with horrified faces.

That’s right. I brought artificial mana stones and vials containing monster blood in that cloth, and by destroying the shelter’s mana circulation device, I provided the same environment as inside the laboratory.

Splash Out. Fire. Two conditions, that is.

Thanks to this, a magi storm of incomparable density to the laboratory is raging inside the shelter.

In this confined space, if anyone were to use even a small amount of mana to cast magic in this concentration of magi, they would all experience mass death.

To make matters worse, the black smoke that couldn’t escape through the ceiling continued to enter their respiratory systems. Except for me, who was wearing a hood.

“Y-you crazy bastard…! Do you even know what you’re doing?!!”

“Besides, you’ll die too if you’re exposed to Splash Out for too long. Are you trying to commit mutual destruction?!”

“Mutual destruction? Me? That’s impossible. How could a person aim for death?”

“Then get out of the way, you lunatic!! Everyone here will die at this rate!!”

While saying such things, they strongly emphasize their own desire to live. Truly, they were disgustingly selfish creatures.

“When the people in the laboratory begged you to stop, did you?”

“…!”

The traces that weren’t just naturally collapsed, but deliberately blocked to prevent escape from inside.

The blockage of the two entrances to the laboratory was certainly the work of these lowly beings.

“And you know what? If you didn’t care whether we lived or died in there, you should have been prepared for the same treatment.”

“You… what are you doing…”

The remaining condition. Isolation—I create it with my own hands.

CRASH!!

I destroy one side of the wall by the door. As the weakened debris from above crumbles down, the door can no longer be called an exit.

They will suffer the same fate as the laboratory, engulfed by Splash Out and fire in what was once a shelter.

Go ahead, see how it feels to experience the same thing.

-Kuk, kukukuk…!

Just as I’m about to leave the building, thinking it’s time to escape, one person in the shelter is laughing.

While everyone else is screaming in panic and terror, only one person is laughing. It’s… Cayden.

-If I get out of here… Junon, I will make you pay double for this! With everything at my disposal!!!!

Perhaps it’s a characteristic of the shelter as the safest zone, but they won’t lose their lives.

So he probably thinks he can make a comeback anytime. But I won’t be crossing paths with you again.

“You seem to think you just need to neutralize the contamination in your limbs. And since only one edge of the shelter has collapsed, you’ll naturally survive if rescued quickly. But you don’t seem to understand why Splash Out is so frightening.”

-Hah, this mere magi storm. Even if I’m exposed for a few dozen minutes, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s not over an hour. If I pay enough, I can call a healer and…

“It won’t help. Even if a healer comes.”

-…What?

“Life-threatening exposure to Splash Out does take about an hour, as you said. But just 15 minutes of exposure is enough to destroy your mana circuits due to poisoning. Of course, at this concentration, 10 minutes is plenty.”

-D-don’t be ridiculous! I’ve never heard of such…!

“Think about why I was wearing a hood. Actually, rather than that, you should worry about what career path to take now that you can’t use your mana circuits.”

I can state with certainty that it will take well over 15 minutes to open the shelter and rescue people.

Yes, they’ll probably survive. But they’ll lose something more precious than their lives due to Splash Out.

That confined space filled with Splash Out will completely strip away what could be called their symbol—their mana circuits.

Overcome with fear, Cayden now begins to claw at the exit where I’m standing with his bare hands.

-I-I’ll give you whatever you want. Money? I’ll give you as much as you need!! Anything is fine… h-help me. Open this and help me, I’m telling you!!!!

Stupid bastard.

Would you have helped me?