Chapter 5 - The Heart to Trust Comrades and Hope『Fourth Hour Period ---
Lesson on selecting the magic to kill the girl』
When we return to the cla.s.sroom, our homeroom teacher, Honjou Tsukasa isn"t there.
On the blackboard in large letters.
『Self-Study! When you are ready to infiltrate the labyrinth, we"ll deploy the choppers, so call me then!』
Is written.
Well, indeed, during the fourth and fifth periods, the students will discuss among themselves the tactics for raiding the labyrinth and there probably isn"t a need for the homeroom teacher to be there.
Right now, inside the cla.s.sroom, the self-proclaimed top of cla.s.s 3, Santou Taisuke, and a girl I don"t know are seated.
Santou turns in our direction.
"Ah, you"re finally back. Where did you guys go?"
I ignore him and enter the cla.s.sroom. And sit at my seat.
Kiri again sits beside me.
Himi and Yousuke remain standing.
And Shiro then stands in front of the blackboard --- on the platform, and says.
"Then let"s begin the fourth hour period, shall we? I"m your commander, Hishiro Shiro."
He looks at me, Kiri, Yousuke and Himi, then continues.
"Well, the fellows from the Hero Team already know me. So, as for the two new people...... one of you is Santou Taisuke right?"
Santou then stands up.
"Yeah. Top of cla.s.s 3."
"Your grades don"t matter. And, the other person......"
He turns his eyes to the brown-haired girl who has been keeping quiet all this while.
The girl looks up. Looks at Shiro.
"Kamiuchi Miko."
She gives her name.
Shiro then asks.
"So, which cla.s.s"s top are you?"
The girl called Miko answers.
"I"m not the top or anything...... I"m actually at the bottom of cla.s.s 4."
"Hm. Why is someone like you here?"
"I have my reasons."
"What kind of reasons?"
Miko then shrugs her shoulders.
"It"s not like I caught the labyrinth disease or anything, so I don"t really feel the need to divulge my personal information."
Shiro then nods and says.
"You"re right about that. But I did a small check. And there isn"t anyone named Kamiuchi Miko in cla.s.s 4."
"Oh, is that so? That"s troubling."
Yousuke and Himi look down at Miko as they remain standing.
"Not really. In the first place, we won"t trust a person we just met. And, right now, you are going to activate your 《Headphone Fuzz》 but it"d be futile. My comrades who are right behind you have already activated magic that will crush you."
Yousuke and Himi look down at Miko as they remain standing.
"............"
A murderous intent swells up from the body of Miko.
However, it doesn"t seem like she"s going to fight Shiro, Himi and Yousuke.
Shiro says.
"Let me ask you again. Who are you?"
Miko says.
"And if I don"t tell you?"
"We"ll kill you."
Miko stands up smiling.
"Meh, you guys are sure nosy."
She lapses into Kansai dialect. Miko then jumps. Fast. Towards Shiro.
Miko thrusts her palms out and hollers.
"Bomb Curtain switch."
The s.p.a.ce before her hands warp. Compresses. Expands, about to explode.
"Shiro!"
Yousuke yells but Shiro smiles in delight.
"Penitence Severance switch."
He murmurs.
His magic activates.
An abnormally gigantic knife that normal people can never possibly swing appears in his hand that has been raised in advance.
Before that knife, the magic conjured by Miko explodes.
But the force from that explosion is unable to penetrate that bulky knife.
Shiro jumps. And grabs that hand of Miko from which the explosion arose. He twists it vigorously and press it aganst her face. And further goes on to bring her down to the floor.
"Well, try making that explosion again."
"Guh......"
Miko tries to raise her other free hand, but Shiro steps on it down with his foot.
But even with that, Miko"s mouth opens,
"...... Self-explode swi......"
Shiro forcibly stuffs her mouth with her fingers. Preventing her from saying the trigger code.
"Guh guh guh."
Miko can no longer use her magic.
As expected, Shiro is strong. Overwhelmingly strong. He was able to invoke that gigantic specialized offensive magic, which is difficult to wield, in this cramped cla.s.sroom, and without causing any damage to the cla.s.sroom, render a relatively skilled opponent helpless.
Shiro turns towards us.
"Just now, she wanted to say Self-explode switch, but is that really a self-exploding magic, I wonder?"
I shake my head.
"No. I know that magic. It should be a magic brought back from the "Magnetic Bomb 8" labyrinth. It"s something that causes explosions to erupt from her entire body indiscriminately."
"I see. Then it"s not like she was trying to risk her life and kill us all...... so, who are you? Though since you lapsed into Kansai dialect halfway, I already have a rough idea."
"...... fuh-guh-guh-guh."
"Oh well, you can"t answer with a hand stuffed in your mouth."
Shiro then takes off her 《Headphone Fuzz》 from her ear. With that, even if he liberates her mouth, she won"t be able to use magic.
"Hoih."
He throws the headphone behind him. I catch it.
It"s a Mitsutomo heavy industries made 《Headphone Fuzz》.
Mitsutomo group again.
I look down at it with half-opened eyes,
"...... probably a comrade of that 『Valor Team』 from earlier."
Shiro nods. He pulls out the fingers from Miko"s mouth, stands up and says.
"Did you come to hinder us?"
Miko glares up at Shiro and says.
"Return my headphone."
"You heard her. Shinnosuke."
I throw up the headphone. Following that,
"Demon Sword switch."
I murmur. while holding a knife in my hand. From the center of the knife, a sword with the color of darkness starts extending. This magic will confer its magic to any object touched, and transform it into a demon sword.
The power that would be conferred is dependent on the nature of the object that is touched, and has an infinite variety. One would not know what kind of power it is unless one tries it. That is why this is a magic that is extremely difficult to use but, because it is possible to invoke all its different powers by changing the target object each time, if one has the time to test this general purpose magic, it could possibly make up for the limitation of having only six slots of magic.
And right now, the power of the demon sword I"m using ---
"...... a.s.sa.s.sination property."
A power that allows the user to find the point where one can deal a fatal blow to the opponent with the strength of this sword,
A red target point appears before my eyes. The point finds the easiest place to break on the Mitsutomo heavy industries made 《Headphone Fuzz》. The reason why I am doing this explicitly is because I fear that many of the members of the 『Valor Team』 would be wearing Mitsutomo heavy industries made 《Headphone Fuzz》.
In that case, it"s better to find its weak point first.
After looking at it, I swing my demon sword.
The 《Headphone Fuzz》 breaks.
However, I do not dispel my magic. The target circle has continued to find the point of destruction on another 《Headphone Fuzz》.
The guy called Santou Taisuke from cla.s.s 3.
The outward appearance of his 《Headphone Fuzz》 does not resemble that of Mitsutomo heavy industries made one but for some reason, it has the exact same weak point ---
"...... you too huh."
On hearing that, Santou turns around.
"Oh my, how did I get found out......"
Seems like this is the real spy. He probably intended to remain among us, but he got found out.
Santou says.
"Well, it"s fine. We"ve completed our mission anyway. Let"s go Miko."
He lapses into Kansai dialect. Together with Miko, they run towards the window. Break through the window outside.
We don"t chase after them. There is no time, nor need to.
However, while turning around, Santou says.
"Ah, in the meantime, let me undo the magic ~. Time Difference Befuddling switch, release ~"
Instantly, the atmosphere in the cla.s.sroom becomes lighter. It seems like a magic has been placed on the cla.s.sroom --- no the entire school premises.
A trap magic.
And, the moment that magic has been undone, an unbelievable thing occurs.
The hands of the clock hanging on the wall of the cla.s.sroom starts advancing quickly.
No, not just the clock hanging on the wall. Even the numbers displayed inside my mind from my 《Headphone Fuzz》 starts advancing rapidly.
Just a moment ago, the time remaining before Gunjou turns into an eternal labyrinth was 200 minutes, but --- right now, that time rapidly decreases.
The number of minutes remaining has dropped to 77 at one go.
I don"t know what has happened. However, that Santou Taisuke has probably continuously activated that magic called Time Difference Befuddling switch of unknown origins while he was in the cla.s.sroom.
It seemed like it was a magic that messed up the hands of the clock and the sense of time.
"...... they got us."
I groan.
That was the worst kind of traps.
It was probably to buy time for the Kansai team to acquire the knowledge on the labyrinth since they arrived.
Several engines resound from the outside.
The few Kansai choppers parked in the schoolyard start moving. Both Santou and Miko board one of the choppers.
They are planning to go kill Gunjou.
And we have yet to decide on our magic slot composition and team make-up.
Our homeroom teacher Honjou Tsukasa dashes into the cla.s.sroom.
"What are you guys doing! The guys from Kansai are already departing!"
After the Time Difference Befuddling switch was undone, our homeroom teacher also had her sense of time restored all of a sudden.
Shiro looks at me. Then,
"...... all right. Even though it took a while, we managed to purge all the pus before entering the labyrinth. And, well, our composition isn"t going to change much I suppose. Since we are left with the usual group."
Indeed, it"s kinda funny that no one else is left.
Shiro continues.
"This team has already raided a number of labyrinths together. Do we still need to spend time hammering things out?"
On hearing that, Yousuke raises his hand.
"Hn ~, before we set off, can I say something?"
"Go ahead, Yousuke."
"...... all this while, there is a formation that we should have been using but yet had never used before. Though everyone is strong, it"s a pity that we never got along and never could properly cover for one another."
Shiro smiles and nods.
"Especially the brats Gunjou and Shinnosuke really suck at teamwork......"
"Yeah yeah. But, since Shinnosuke has finally grown up......"
Unable to stand their irritating chatter anymore, I cut them off and say.
"Ah ah I got it, I got what you"re trying to say, so let"s. .h.i.t it. We have no more time right? Let"s do our strategy meeting inside the chopper on our way there."
Every one nods in acquiescence.
Most importantly, we can"t be discussing our true plan in front of our homeroom teacher.
Because the knowledge of my possession of a magic that can be used to sever the labyrinth disease from a diseased girl must never be leaked out.
At that moment, Honjou Tsukasa says.
"Then I"ll immediately deploy the chopper."
On hearing that, we exchange looks with one another and nod simultaneously.
♦
♦
♦
A thunderous roar resound.
The sound of a chopper ascending into the sky.
At an alt.i.tude of 1200 meters.
We are about to insert into the abnormally gigantic blue tower born out of Gunjou from the 100th floor.
The noise of the military transport chopper is deafening.
Since only us, the Hero Team, and our homeroom teacher Honjou Tsukasa are in it.
But yet, for some reason, the seats around me are all jam-packed with people.
In front me is Himi.
Diagonally in front Yousuke.
With Shiro beside him.
Topping that off, Kiri is on my right, beside me.
"...... why, is everyone cl.u.s.tering together?"
Kiri then smiles.
"Because I want to be with you."
"I don"t want that."
"And we have to come up with a strategy."
But that was done as soon as we boarded the chopper. Since there aren"t a lot of strategies available to a team of only five people.
There are 6 available slots to load magic in a 《Headphone Fuzz》 for each person, and that amounts to just 30 slots for 5 people.
Furthermore, one of these slots is taken up by the Holy Sword switch for the purpose of saving Gunjou.
With that, we have 29 slots left.
Himi is on all support.
Yousuke on all defense.
Kiri is on a balanced configuration that places more emphasis on defense.
I am on a balanced configuration that places more emphasis on offense.
Shiro is on all specialized offense.
Our choices to employ the most effective strategy from this composition are limited. But well, the less choices we have the better.
Since we have no time. We are really too short on time. Thanks to Santou Taisuke"s trap, we have lost a lot of time.
25 floors separate us from Gunjou.
And right now, we have 71 minutes remaining.
Even with the remaining 70 minutes for the raid, and if we were to leave 20 minutes to fight Gunjou, we have to clear each floor in 2 minutes.
One floor in 2 minutes.
Only 2 minutes.
2 minutes to clear a floor of a rank 42 labyrinth --- it"s like a ridiculous joke in fantasy story.
But we have to do it.
Snap, snap, snap, I snapped my fingers slowly, slowly, at a speed that"s not fast enough to activate the 《Headphone Fuzz》.
In order to stabilize my brain waves, in order to calm my beating heart, in order to erase the small vibrations of the chopper, I snap my fingers.
Honjou Tsukasa says.
"Everyone, activate your headphones. We"ve reached the insertion point."
We are at an alt.i.tude of 1200 meters. That, per se, is already out of the ordinary. Even with the current advancements in science, there is no technology with which a 1200 meter tall building can be constructed.
The rear hatchway of the chopper starts opening slowly.
A sudden gust of wind, and thunderous roar.
Totally dark night.
The blue tower stands, as if it were sundering the darkness of the night.
Right now, the chopper is at a point that is 1200 meters high --- which is supposed to be where the 100th floor is at but, the tower continues to extend upwards to the sky.
The tip of the spire can"t be seen at all.
Shiro looks up at that tower created by his comrade.
Himi looks up at the tower.
Yousuke looks up at the tower.
Kiri looks up at it, and squeezes my arm.
But,
"............"
I turn my eyes not to the tower but further down --- to the lands beyond. In the direction of another labyrinth that seems to line up side by side with Gunjou.
My little sister Saki"s labyrinth.
Both Gunjou"s tower and Saki"s labyrinth are almost like they just next to each other. Even from this distance, I can see that they seem to be lined up perfectly side by side without overlapping into each other"s turfs.
Honjou Tsukasa says.
"Now ~, it"s finally time to kill the girl! It"d be fine! If you deal with it coolly, it"d be a walk in the park for you!"
There"s no way it"d be fine right? It"s rank 42 after all. But the words just now are the same as what Honjou Tsukasa says each time, as if they are standard lines memorized by heart, perhaps.
"Well, let"s do a final check. Prepare your 《Headphone Fuzz》 for insertion. And also, don"t forget your armband."
The armband refers to a tool that will allow one to ascertain the number of cla.s.smates remaining in the labyrinth.
I look at the armband with 『Cla.s.s 5』 written on it, worn on my arm. On it are 5 red ☆ marks. By the way, when a full cla.s.s of 20 are raiding the labyrinth, there will be 20 ☆ marks but, right now, 15 of them have already disappeared.
Honjou Tsukasa continues.
"I"ve always said this, but when 4 stars are gone, it"d be impossible to kill the girl so give up on the raid and Esca...... bufuhfuh."
She breaks out into laughter halfway.
Since, even though she said "when 4 stars are gone", there are only 5 of them to begin with.
Looking around the roaring chopper, Honjou Tsukasa says in delight.
"Well, do your best."
I wave my fingers. I activate a song that has been loaded as a fundamental software different from the slots inside the 《Headphone Fuzz》.
It"s the intrusion magic.
The remaining time limit is 68 minutes.
We no longer have 2 minutes to clear each floor.
"Well, we"ll be at the insertion point in another 30 seconds. Prepare yourselves ~. And, our cla.s.s will win this time again. Don"t let the other cla.s.ses...... the guys from Kansai get the credit."
Shiro stands up and looks at me.
"All right. Let"s get going. There"s only one thing you must promise. Don"t die. Don"t get hurt. Escape when things get rough. Ok?"
Everyone nods.
Following that, Himi says.
"Once we enter, I will use the Picnic switch, and search for the shortest route not found on the map. Then I"ll employ trap detection magic. When that happens, I have to close my eyes so......"
I cut her off.
"The same routine right? Shiro will be the one dragging Himi along. And everyone will protect you guys. Let"s do it. Is there anything else?"
Shiro then says.
"No, none. And let"s win, come back, and go to karaoke together."
"No thanks to that."
"Even though you"re really thinking, "it"s great to have friends"."
"No way."
"Let"s have fun together."
"............"
At that moment, Honjou Tsukasa says.
"It"s time."
Then,
"Dive switch."
He says the trigger code for the purpose of activating the intrusion cursed song.
Instantly, Shiro"s body is transported into the labyrinth and he disappears.
Following that, both Himi and Yousuke say.
"Dive switch."
"Dive switch."
Finally, Kiri looks at me,
"...... hey, Shinnosuke-kun. Are you really going?"
She asks and I turn to her and reply.
"Of course I won"t be going to the karaoke."
"Haha......"
"Then, see you in the labyrinth. Dive switch."
Instantly, my body disa.s.sembles, and gets transported into the labyrinth.
♦
♦
♦
I enter the labyrinth.
I enter the inside of Gunjou.
My cells that were disa.s.sembled by magic are rea.s.sembled.
"............"
Zuhkihn, Zuhkihn, a pain a.s.saults my head numerous times. The pain from the backlash a.s.saults my brain which is awash with the cursed song.
My eyeb.a.l.l.s regenerate, and colors enter my dark vision.
White light.
Red light.
Blue, yellow, green, black.
My headache is gone.
My consciousness clears up.
I can see my surroundings.
Right now, I am inside the labyrinth created by Gunjou.
Gunjou"s labyrinth is a world filled with vibrant blue.
The ceiling is so high that you can"t see the end.
The wall is filled with paintings of the sky, clouds, oceans, and horizon. No, I"m not sure whether we can call those paintings. Because those paintings are moving like a movie. Because they are moving inside the wall.
But they aren"t real paintings.
Like a picture book, an oil painting, the scenery of sky, clouds, and ocean slowly, gently, flows.
Occasionally, migratory birds fly in that wall painting.
Water splashes, forming a faint rainbow.
From afar, the roar of the ocean waves can be heard.
I look intently at that and think.
"............"
Maybe Gunjou really loves such tranquil things.
Or, maybe she"s strongly attracted to the peaceful, ordinary, safe, tranquil world.
Or at the very least, she can"t deal well with a world where she has to desperately risk her life to kill girls.
I thought. And I feel a slight pain in my chest. Is it because I felt a touch of concern for the Gunjou who has manifested the disease? Or, is it because I realize that a part of me also yearns for that tranquillity?
Well, anyone would have those kind of feelings.
"............"
I look in the direction of my comrade who has already started using her magic.
While moving her fingers, fuh fuh fuh, Himi blows out gently.
The magic she"s using is a difficult one. A complicated magic that only someone who excels in support magic can employ.
Because what she"s using is a powerful magic that can bring just a little change to both the fates of the labyrinth diseased girls and humans.
"...... Picnic switch."
Himi murmurs.
She murmurs the trigger code to activate her magic.
A magic code appears before Himi"s eyes and she perceives the world through it. Different from her usual timid self, a look delight appears on her face,
"Ah, ah, now now ~ which place is more fun?"
She says.
She looks around her with a terribly delighted face.
This is a route-finding magic which allows her to find a detour en route to her destination and that detour will turn out to be a better route.
"It"s better if it"s more fun."
Even her tone of voice is different.
Probably the effect of the magic.
"Not yet ~, it"d be nice if it"s even much more fun ~"
I then say.
"Not done yet?"
Yousuke then raises his hand in an attempt to silence me.
"Be quiet. Himi is expanding her search to increase the number of routes."
I look at Yousuke.
Yousuke continues.
"Himi must have judged that the first route won"t let us reach Gunjou within the time limit, so she has boosted the magic and is doing another search."
Himi seems to be staring at some misdirected way and says with a smiling face.
"Ah-ha ~, no no, we want to...... adventure even more ♪."
Her eyes are bloodshot. Blood flows from her right nostril.
Shiro says.
"Himi, that"s enough. We"ll take that route. If you go on further, your brain will......"
"Not yet ♪ that"s just too boring. I really love something more amazing, so ~ ♪"
Then, at that moment, something large jumps out of the ocean from the wall.
A shark.
A shark with a long sharp horn.
The shark jumps out of the wall onto the floor. Splash, the blue floor undulates. Seems like that shark is able to swim across the floor.
And it"s terribly fast.
I count.
One.
Two.
Four.
Eight.
Eighteen.
"...... d.a.m.n, that"s a crazy number of them."
I let my fingers dance. I choose my song and activate my magic. Melody flows in my head. A cursed song flows.
【Sliced, shredded light ♪
Shredded, ripped-up light ♪
Abnormal, ruthless, extraordinary light ———】
"Demon Sword switch ---"
I hold a blade of darkness and ready my Demon Sword.
Following that, I immediately activate its power.
"a.s.sa.s.sination property."
A target point appears before my eyes, searching for the sharks" weakness. I search for the place where I can kill a shark in one swing of my sword.
The weak point is their stomach.
Other than their backs, the sharks"s bodies are submerged into the floor as they swim.
In other words,
"...... c.r.a.p, can"t pierce their weak point."
I scowl with a troubled face, to which Kiri asks.
"Where"s the weak point?"
"Their stomach."
"Uweh, that puts us in a fix huh?"
"Very much."
Then, from behind us,
"Stomach huh? All right. Then, I"ll use a magic that will create a large opening and I"ll leave you to deliver the killing blow."
Shiro jumps.
And activates his magic.
"Fate Reversal Hammer switch!"
What an exaggerated name, but I suppose it"s a magic that would probably conjure a hammer.
He raises both hands.
And with that, he swings down.
"Dohn!"
He verbalizes it.
Instantly!
Right before Shiro"s eyes, an abnormally gigantic mallet with a sharp tip appears. It slowly, slowly, swings down. It"s so slow that one of the sharks is on the verge of attacking Shiro.
"Jeez, Acceleration switch."
Activating both Demon Sword and Acceleration switches side by side, I jump. I thrust my sword into the stomach of the shark which is a.s.saulting Shiro.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah."
The shark howls and is annihilated.
Its stomach is its weak point as expected.
At the same time, Shiro"s mallet strikes the floor on which the sharks are swimming.
Then,
"............"
Nothing happens. But, the mallet melts into the floor and disappears.
"What the h.e.l.l is that magic!"
But Shiro says.
"Fate reversal!"
In that instant, goh goh goh goh, from underneath the floor, the hammer returns as it pierces the floor back and it jumps out with a dohn.
At the same time, all the sharks are thrown up into the air.
"Do it Shinnosuke!"
"No, you should have explained things...... aah whatever, I"ll do it."
I jump. Swing my sword.
I cut the stomachs of the upturned sharks; cut, cut, cut, cut, cut.
Including the one that had a.s.saulted Shiro, I"ve killed a total of seven. The remaining eleven look at me. My body"s acceleration ends.
An a.s.semblage of horns threaten to pierce me all at once. I gauge the time for reactivating my Acceleration switch.
I listen to the song.
I listen to the song.
The cursed song fills my brain.
Before I reactivate my magic, the horn of one of them reaches me.
"a.s.sa.s.sination property!"
With the 『a.s.sa.s.sination property』 of my Demon Sword switch, I search for the weak point of that horn where I shall receive the attack. Found it. I receive the attack at that angle.
Giihnn, the high-pitched sound of metal striking metal reverberates. I barely parry the horn, but also receive an outrageous amount of impact.
If I hadn"t searched for the weak point with the a.s.sa.s.sination property and had received the attack just like that with my sword, my arm would have been broken and I would have probably been impaled.
"...... guh, hurry up...... get the curse filled up."
Another three come at me.
"a.s.sa.s.sination property!"
I yell again. I search for the place where I can receive the attack from the three horns. Found them. Small. If I can get my sword in there, that"s where I can receive the attack.
However, there is only just one point. If I make a mistake, my sword will get flung away and death will visit me readily. That"s how strong the sharks brought forth by Gunjou are.
I look at those horns.
I look hard at the point of intersection of those three horns which only happens for an instant and strike my sword upwards.
Then, the horns strike against one another and stop. I slip through them.
Then at that moment,
"All right, my curse"s filled up! Acceleration swi---"
But, that is the end of my words.
The migratory birds that had been flying in the wall suddenly fly out. Looking down at me. They start to spin like a drill. The drill descends as if it were lightning.
I have to dodge that.
I have to dodge those birds with my Acceleration switch.
"............"
I react, but it"s fatal mistake.
Just a moment of hesitation, indecision, hard-headedness will turn everything to naught.
That"s the kind of place a labyrinth is.
One of the sharks that had been submerged which I was unaware of jumps out. About to impale me.
I raise my sword to block that. Of course I can"t do that effectively. I"m in mid-air. If I am in mid-air, I can"t jump to the side.
Then, the migratory birds descend. I can"t dodge that.
I really can"t raid this labyrinth all by myself.
So,
"d.a.m.n, Yousuke!"
I holler.
Yousuke then answers.
"Which way?"
"Bring me close to the shark!"
"Reverse Force switch!"
Yousuke bellows. My feet are then pulled by a strong force. Pulled by a virtual force conjured by Yousuke. My foot lands on the head of the shark.
As I got my foothold,
"Acceleration ..."
At that moment, Kiri says. While swinging her j.a.panese sword at the horn of the shark that I am standing on,
"I will stop all the sharks, so get the birds!"
I look up at the sky.
Widen my eyes.
My eyeb.a.l.l.s shake.
Moving back and forth.
Searching for their weak points, my target point capture the birds one after another ---
"Switch!"
Instantly, my body accelerates.
One instant, one second, one moment.
My speed surpa.s.ses even that of G.o.d.
My body zips past 6 migratory birds. By the time I zipped past, their lives were already gone.
I look down.
11 sharks are a.s.saulting Kiri at the same time, but with just one sword,
"Ooof!"
She blocks against the horns. She cancels away all the impact in an instant. It"s that kind of magic. Bracing herself, she raises her sword. The stomachs of the sharks appear from the floor.
And ---
"Penitence Severance switch."
Running from behind Kiri, Shiro attacks with his magic.
Shiro is dragging a large knife in his hand. He raises his long bulky knife that a normal human being can"t lift.
"Cut them aaaaaaalllllllllll!!"
That knife splits apart the stomachs of 8 of the sharks. And with that, those sharks die.
The remaining 3 sharks then quickly turn their dorsal areas toward us, hiding their weak points. Their backs are hard. At the very least, a fast fragile knife like mine that has a special characteristic won"t be able to go through them.
However, the knife cuts into their backs, and pull away from the floor.
The sharks take damage, and roll onto the floor. Jumping from the floor.
By that time, I have already landed. My acceleration has yet to end. I kick the floor and jump. Swinging my demon sword. And split the stomachs of the 3 unsightly, flapping sharks one after another.
At that moment, my acceleration ends.
"...... zeeh, haah."
I restart my halted breathing, letting go of my held breath, then breathing in.
I then turn around.
Looking at Shiro and the rest.
Even though we have annihilated the sharks, we have yet to move from the entrance.
Even though we won"t make it if we don"t clear a floor in 2 minutes, already 4~5 minutes have gone by.
If Himi can"t find the shortcut route, then it"s time to Escape.
However, Himi raises both hands and says.
"Found it ♪."
Perhaps, as a result of her forcing herself unreasonably, a trickle of blood can be seen from her mouth. Her knees buckle to the floor.
"Himi!"
Yousuke helps her up. Himi makes a weak but somewhat pleased smile,
"I, I did it...... I found it!! Five floors below here, there"s an elevator!"
I ask.
"How much time will that save us?"
But Himi does not answer. While standing up unsteadily, she closes her eyes. And then waves her fingers,
"Overprotective switch."
She murmurs.
Then, before her, an eyeball as large as a rugby ball appears, floating in the air. Looking around its surroundings.
It"s a trap sensing magic. In other words, she has yet to give up.
With her eyes closed, Himi says.
"This floor probably has no hidden traps. Please run!"
Yousuke grabs Himi"s hand,
"Let"s go!"
And starts running.
I also start running.
I have already memorized the map. The route is completely imprinted into my mind. If we run at full speed, we should reach the descending staircase in 15 seconds.
Provided if there are no hindrances.
The wall has a peaceful scenery drawn on it as before.
Rainbow.
Sky.
Clouds.
Sea.
Gentle waves on the sea.
The beautiful melody of the roar of waves.
Then, from the other side of the sea, several sharks start popping out, swimming.
"The stairs! Let"s go down! Ignore the sharks!"
Shiro yells.
With that, we descend the stairs.
♦
♦
♦
95th floor.
We finally reached it, and are before the elevator.
"Pant, pant, pant, pant, pant, pant."
I"ve already lost my voice.
I can"t even sigh.
I heave my shoulders, breathing.
Behind me, is an normal looking elevator like those you find in a department store, but it"s locked and won"t move.
Himi is trying to undo the lock with her magic.
We are protecting Himi here, relentlessly killing the sharks and migratory birds.
We already know their weak points.
We already know their movement patterns.
So it"s easy to deal with them.
It"s easy but ---
"...... how many on earth do we need to kill?"
I groan.
We have already been fighting here for close to 30 minutes. Shiro and Yousuke in one team, and Kiri and I in another team, taking turns to hold the line.
Right now, with Yousuke on defense, Shiro is killing off the monsters.
While trying to catch my breath, I look at them. In order to calm my beating heart. In order to rest my body. And in order to fill my brain with magic again, haah, haah, haah, I pant.
From beside me, Kiri says.
"Are you okay? Shinnosuke-kun."
"............"
"Shinnosuke-kun, your magic puts a lot of burden on your body and if you continue to use it......"
"Shut up. You should rest while you"re able to. We"ll switch with them in a minute.
Before my eyes, Shiro throws his spear.
"Pierce through them, Thousand Deities Flash Of Light switch!"
The drill swallows the sharks.
Killing several of them.
But, the remaining few a.s.sault Shiro. In an attempt to protect him, Yousuke raises both his hands,
"Bamboo Grove switch!"
He yells.
Several green pillars appear before his hands. The sharks crash into them, and get infected with a green, sticky poison. The poison slows them down, but can"t kill them. While retreating backwards, Shiro shakes both his hands. The sharks crash into the green pillars one after another.
"Guh."
Crash into them.
"Uwu......"
Crash into them,
"d.a.m.n, Shiro!"
Shiro then bellows.
"It"s all right. Duck Yousuke. Penitence Severance switch.!"
His knife appears and he raises it overhead.
But, zeeh, zeeh, Shiro pants, and his chin starts bobbing.
It"s no good.
He can"t last any longer.
I say.
"............ fuh, haah...... all right, it"s our turn. Kiri."
"Uhn."
"Once Shiro steps back, we"ll switch and jump forward."
"Uhn."
"We"ll stick to the same plan as before."
"I got it. Hey, Shinnosuke-kun."
"............"
"Did you realize it? The time is already......"
I look at Kiri.
Of course I realize it.
At the time we infiltrated the labyrinth, the time limit to Gunjou turning into an eternal labyrinth was 68 minutes.
And we took about 6 minutes to repel the attack of the first sharks.
We then took 10 minutes to reach the 95th floor.
And on top of that, we"ve been fighting here for 30 minutes.
In other words, that"s a total of 46 minutes.
The remaining time displayed is just 22 minutes.
But right now, we"re still on the 95th floor.
According to intel, Gunjou is on the 75th floor.
Even if the elevator were to take us directly to the 75th floor, and we were to board it right now, we would have only 15 minutes to fight Gunjou.
To face off a rank 42 labyrinth diseased girl, that"s really too little time. Even if it weren"t so, it"s still too tight. Compared to the number of enemies, we have too few members.
Even if we know how to kill the sharks, we"ll wear out if we have to keep fighting. And as our fatigue piles up, the chance of making mistakes will increase. In a labyrinth where you will die in an instant if you make even a mistake, we can"t afford to tire ourselves out.
If this were an eternal labyrinth, we could first use support magic to find a safe area, and rest there for a night if we got tired.
But this is no eternal labyrinth.
This is a time-limited labyrinth.
Thus we can"t rest.
Since we are few in numbers, we also can"t conserve our energy.
Right from the start until now, all of us have been going all out in listening to our magic without stop.
Kiri says.
"...... I think, it"s better for us to Esc......"
But then, Himi yells from behind us.
"It"s open! Everyone, please come here!"
I turn to face her. I can see the elevator door opened. I can see a single horn inside that elevator.
The horn of a shark.
"Acceleration switch!"
I use my magic. Accelerating my body, grabbing Himi"s arm. And pull her back.
"Kya."
Himi gets flung back. The horn that was aiming for Himi threatens to stab into my shoulder. But it"s slow. Such a slow horn won"t be able to touch the accelerated me ---
"............"
That"s what I thought.
But, my movements are slower than before. Slower than the time I entered the labyrinth. The tip of the horn pierces into my left shoulder. Impaling it.
"Gah, d.a.m.n."
Kiri swings her sword at that horn. Stopping the force of the horn. Thanks to that, I manage to escape death.
At the same time, I stab the stomach of the shark with my sword.
The shark disappears.
"Shinnosuke-kun!"
Kiri looks at my shoulder worriedly. Blood flows out from my shoulder. It"s not a fatal wound. But if the blood flows out, my stamina will further decrease.
"Hey, let me see......"
But, just as Kiri wants to touch my shoulder,
"Don"t touch it. I"m fine."
I say to her.
But Kiri,
"This is no good...... is there any need......"
Her words stop there.
I know what she wanted to say. Is there any need to go this far, to the point of receiving such a wound, to save Gunjou? Is there any need to go through such danger to advance in this labyrinth?
About that.
"............"
I too don"t understand. What in the world am I doing? What am I doing right now?
Looking at my own wound, I find it interesting and smirk without thinking. I myself don"t even know what I am so desperately fighting for.
Why are these fellows putting their own lives in so much danger? I don"t really get it.
Jeez, what the h.e.l.l is this?
Is this a world full of such good guys?
Kiri looks intently at my shoulder, anxiously, sadly.
"............"
At that moment, Shiro and the rest run up to us.
"You got wounded!?"
He is worried.
Himi looks at my wound, and uses her magic.
"Band-aid switch."
While saying that, she presses on my wound. The name sounds dumb, but it"s probably a curative magic. A magic that stops the bleeding. My pain rapidly subsides.
Himi says with a teary face.
"I-I"m sorry...... I let my guard down. I...... I"m always dragging you down......"
But I cut her off, glare at Himi with half-opened eyes, and say.
"Jeez, that"s true."
"...... awuh."
"You really are dragging me down too much...... frankly, if you weren"t here, I really don"t feel like saving Gunjou."
Pohn, I give Himi"s head a tap, and pull away from her. My bleeding has stopped. In that case, it"s enough. I enter the elevator.
An instant later,
"...... eh."
Himi turns around in surprise, and behind her, Yousuke and Shiro have grins on their faces.
Yousuke says.
"Shinnosuke, you are kinda roundabout these days......"
"Hurry up and get in, idiot."
Pohn, I give Himi"s head a tap, and pull away from her..
I say in disgust.
Then, while saying,
"The one who calls others idiot is an idiot ~"
Yousuke smiles.
Shiro also smiles happily.
Jeez, this isn"t the time to be chattering idly right? Are these guys really idiots?
No, they probably are.
They probably are idiots.
And slowly, I have caught that idiocy germ, I think. Scary. Dangerous. If I continue to get myself involved with them, I might just die.
While thinking those things,
"...... my, even though we"ve come all the way here, we might already be too late......"
I mutter to myself.
Kiri looks at me.
Then, Shiro looks at us.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
But, maybe because he misheard the words, "too late", he asks Himi.
"Hey Himi. Will we be in time?"
While manipulating the elevator, Himi answers.
"From the map I saw, this elevator will reach the 76th floor in 10 minutes."
"Slow."
I say, and Himi nods apologetically.
"Sorry. But, during the time when we are riding this, we won"t be attacked."
In other words, we can rest for 10 minutes.
And when we reach there, we will have 10 minutes left.
We have to clear the last floor and enter Gunjou"s room and save her in 10 minutes.
But, this is probably the shortest, the safest, and the most efficient route that Himi has chosen with the Picnic switch.
If we were to continue clearing each floor as before, we would probably run out of time by the time we are done with 8 floors. Or, we would have died from getting caught in several traps.
As I thought, if Himi weren"t here this time, we couldn"t even proceed, and even outside of this country, it"s hard to find a magician who can use such a wide range of support magic like her.
I look at Himi, then Shiro and Yousuke. They are really an amazing team, probably. If they really become my comrades --- no, given how we have entrusted our lives to one another all the way up till here, we may already be able to call ourselves comrades though --- if they would really become my comrades,
"............"
I might be able to move forward and save my little sister......
For me to be able to think about that, that"s how good they are.
And that goes the same for Kiri.
If she weren"t here, I would have died many times in this labyrinth.
Normally, she will keep a safe margin and avoid making unreasonable moves while helping me out.
She knew very well that this is a labyrinth where she shouldn"t have come. With her logical mind, she probably knew that she shouldn"t ride on the hype and come, but yet she followed me here.
"...... u~hn."
I fold my arms.
All this while, I have never done anything as disgusting as making comrades so I don"t really know what I should do now
On top of that, for 10 minutes in this elevator, nothing is going to happen as we continue to descend.
Spending 10 minutes with my comrades in this tight s.p.a.ce.
It"s quiet; nothing is happening.
It"s getting terribly suffocating.
Then, Yousuke says.
"Since we have nothing to do, let"s play Shiritori."
Are you an idiot? Go to h.e.l.l. I look at Yousuke with such a thought in my mind, then sit on the floor. To rest my body.
But Yousuke smiles, and really begins a game of Shiritori with Himi and Shiro; are these guys for real? I thought.
Away from the group of fools who have lost their sanity, beside me, Kiri sits with her legs folded against her chest. She looks at me and smiles,
"...... I"m a little tired ~"
She says.
"But we are really amazing. I thought it"s definitely futile, but maybe......"
"............"
"Maybe with just the five of us, we can clear a rank 42."
"............"
"We really came ~"
I smirk tiredly,
"Even though we shouldn"t have."
I say.
Kiri smiles again.
"Yeah. We shouldn"t have come. Well, we are idiots."
"Yeah. The worst bunch of idiots."
"Ah-haha."
Kiri smiles, and turns to look at me with a really serious face,
"Hey, Shinnosuke-kun."
She calls my name again.
I frown and reply.
"I really want to rest."
But Kiri continues.
"You know, have we really become comrades?"
"............"
"Earlier, I declared that I was a comrade of the Hero Team but...... can I become a comrade of the Hero Team, I wonder?"
She has the same confusion as I did, it seems. Well, when we got caught up with these bunch of fools who are having a game of Shiritori in such a situation, it"s easy to lose our bearings, I suppose,
On top of that, she wears her 《Headphone Fuzz》 on her right ear.
She"s the type who uses her left brain to manipulate her magic.
In other words, she"s the type who doesn"t use her emotions, but logic and rationality to control her magic. In that case, she shouldn"t be able to stand this kind of situation in which she is risking her life for others with no benefit to her.
I look at Kiri with half-opened eyes, and say.
"...... since they are fools, if you were the one who caught the disease, they would come save you too, won"t they?"
"Really?"
"Who knows."
"...... then, what about you, Shinnosuke-kun?"
She asks. Staring at me.
"Shinnosuke-kun, would you also...... come save me if I had manifested the disease?"
"Nah."
"Eeeh, you"re terrible."
Kiri smiles.
"Even though you say that ~, but, even as you keep protesting...... you definitely would still come...... if it"s you."
She tries to touch my hand.
And I am already kind of exasperated at hearing that.
That"s right. She"s probably right.
If Kiri had manifested the disease, I would probably go save her as well.
Even though I shouldn"t be that kind of person. Even though, I have always, always, been the kind of person who would suppress the weak feelings of wanting to save someone.
Since meeting these people.
"............"
No, since seeing the Asahi Momoka who had been thanking me with a teary-eyed expression, I might have become a little weak.
Weak.
Weak.
Weak.
But then, I remember Shiro"s words.
--- At any rate, it"s probably an ambition you can achieve by yourself, right?
I ponder a little about those words.
Is there also really a need to be weak at times? I thought. Isn"t it a weakness to be wanting comrades from one"s loneliness and pain?
I really don"t know. I don"t know for now.
As Kiri tries to touch me, I pull my hand back and say.
"I"ve said this before, but I already have a date for Christmas."
"An imaginary girlfriend?"
"It"s not imaginary."
"How old is she?"
"Hn?"
"What kind of hairstyle does she have?"
"Erhm."
"Right, it"s all in your head."
"I want to close my eyes for a while, so can you stop talking to me?"
"Ah-haha ~"
Kiri smiles.
I close my eyes, the numbers in my head continue dropping.
17 minutes remaining.
Only 17 minutes remain before Gunjou turns into an eternal labyrinth.
The elevator descends.
Descends.
Descends.
Everyone remains silent from the fatigue.
Descends.
Descends.
Descends.
Before long, the elevator reaches the 76th floor.
I have already memorized the map of the 76th floor during our cla.s.s in school. Along the way here, I have also inquired Himi about the position of this elevator.
Thus, the instant the elevator door opens, we just need to run straight to the stairs that lead down.
And at the end of those stairs, will be our diseased cla.s.smate.
Mizuiro Gunjou.
We snap our fingers all together. Activating our 《Headphone Fuzz》.
The elevator door starts opening.
Outside the door, are sharks.
10 of them.
They haven"t noticed us. Defeating them is easy. We have already been annihilating them earlier, and are used to fighting them.
But the time limit is just 10 minutes.
Thus,
"Uwooooooooh!"
We start running with all our might.
♦
We kill sharks.
We kill sharks.
Risking our lives desperately, we fill our brains with magic enough to melt our brains.
Even though it should only take 30 seconds to run to the stairs that will connect to Gunjou"s floor, killing the sharks take time, and we end up losing time steadily.
8 minutes remaining.
7 minutes remaining.
"That"s all of them!"
I bellow. Swinging my Demon Sword. As I split the stomach of a shark.
At the same time, the stairs finally come into sight.
No time.
There"s not much time.
We have spent too much time to reach here.
Sending a command to my 《Headphone Fuzz》 to bring up the time limit in my mind, it shows 6 minutes left.
6 minutes.
Only 6 minutes!
But finally, we can see the stairs that will lead us to Gunjou"s floor.
Shiro yells.
"She"s just below us! Gunjou is just below us!"
But we can"t just descend carelessly. Gunjou has been taken by the labyrinth disease.
She"s a rank 42 labyrinth diseased girl.
If we fight, she"ll be a really strong opponent. Even if we know that her weakness is blood, based on her rank, her strength will be nothing like that of Asahi Momoka, I suppose.
We have already decided on the formation in the chopper.
On who will guard who, who will pour blood, Gunjou"s weakness, on her to stop her.
And finally, I will use my Holy Sword switch to cut the illness away from Gunjou.
If we are successful, then Gunjou will turn back into a normal human being.
Provided if this magic is really complete, just as what Lizel said.
I turn around.
"Himi!"
I say.
Himi has already activated her magic.
She stops running midway, putting a distance away from us, then starts drawing the map on the floor. A magic for predicting to a certain extent the structure and trap locations in the next room.
When using that magic, Himi is defenseless, and Yousuke deploys his protective magic to protect her.
The magic completes.
Himi looks up and shouts.
"The next floor has no traps as well! She also has no guards!"
But there isn"t good news.
There are two types of diseased girls.
- the type that"s protected by a large number of traps and guards.
- the type that"s troublesomely strong.
The later type is more difficult. As there"s a high possibility that the diseased girl"s power will be at an overwhelming, lethal level.
As was largely expected, Gunjou belongs to the later type.
The type of labyrinth diseased girl who"s really strong herself.
Shiro says.
"All right, then let"s go. Himi should Escape here......"
But, Himi runs up to us.
"I"ll go too!"
"No you can"t."
But, she protests,
"I"ll definitely go! There"s no more time! I have already activated my Escape. If it becomes dangerous, I"ll get out right away. But, I think it"s better to have more of us. If by chance, Gunjou gets distracted by me, please make use of the opportunity to save her!"
She yells.
But, it doesn"t matter anymore.
To have come so far, it doesn"t matter anymore.
I ignore her, and breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
And then, I listen to the sound flowing from my 《Headphone Fuzz》.
The loud blast of the cursed song, Acceleration switch, jolts my brain matter.
My brain matter shakes.
My brain pressure increases.
My brain stem trembles.
In an instant, in a flash, in the time of a flash.
In an instant, in a flash, in the time of a flash.
My magic has yet to activate.
I can"t activate it yet.
I can only activate it once I reach the next floor.
Our plan has already been decided.
Since we have just a small team.
There aren"t many strategies we can use.
Yousuke and Kiri will enter first.
We"ll run under their protection; Yousuke will deploy AoE defensive magic while Kiri will use her absolute point defense magic.
From behind, Shiro will suppress Gunjou with specialized offensive magic, I"ll observe Gunjou"s movements, and jump out from the very rear.
The problem is that the Holy Sword switch will consume the entire capacity of my brain so I can"t activate two magics at the same time.
In other words, until I terminate my acceleration magic, I can"t use my Holy Sword switch.
I have to thrust my sword into Gunjou as if I am naked, without my acceleration, or my demon sword.
This is something that"s normally impossible.
It"s a fool"s errand to close in on a rank 42 diseased girl naked.
But I shall do it.
The foolish, idiotic me shall do it.
Yousuke waves his fingers, muttering as he manipulates his 《Headphone Fuzz》. As if to repeatedly suggest to himself.
"...... I"ll protect them. I"ll protect everyone. I"ll protect all my comrades."
Kiri stands behind him. And murmurs.
"Nine-fold switch ---"
A j.a.panese sword appears in her hand. She then turns around.
"Shinnosuke-kun, are you ready?"
Not answering.
I merely increase my concentration.
Breathing.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Then, I stop.
Only 5 minutes remain ---
The instant I stop, Shiro stands before me.
"Let"s go! We"ll save Gun......"
But Shiro"s voice is drowned out by the noise of an explosion.
It came from below.
Dohn!
A large noise rings out.
The ground shakes.
Dohn! Dohn! Dohn!
Dohn Dohn Dohn Dohn!
The sound of fighting.
A battle has ensued below.
Yousuke yells.
"d.a.m.n, it"s the guys from 『Valor Team』!"
Himi says from behind us.
"If we don"t hurry, Gunjou-san will be......"
But Shiro bellows.
"It"s just nice for us! With the 『Valor Team』 distracting her, we"ll save Gunjou! Let"s go!"
Yousuke jumps.
Kiri jumps.
Shiro jumps.
I jump, following after Shiro.
My brain has already been engulfed with the curse.
【In an instant ♪ In a flash ♪ In the time of a flash ♪
The flash of time, the flash of an instant ♪ In an instant ♪ In a flash ———】
I descend down.
The floor below is already ridden with a sea of blood.
Covering the whole floor ---
Blood,
Blood,
Blood,
Blood,
In an instant, I thought that the entire 『Valor Team』 has been killed.
But the truth is something else.
There are no bodies lying on the floor.
Then, whose blood is it?
"............"
A girl who I know well stands in the center of the sea of blood.
It"s Mizuiro Gunjou.
Like a puppet hanging from a gigantic black hand resembling that of the devil.
Her face is contorted.
Looking lonely.
Looking sad.
"...... ah............ ah............ ah............ ah......"
She groans softly.
She"s trembling.
She"s trembling in fear.
Before her eyes is a sea of blood.
Blood.
She"s weak against blood.
On the other end, as the girl called Makoto of Kansai"s 『Valor Team』 throws out an entire bucket of blood,
"All right! Just like what the data said, she"s weak against blood! All right it"s the end ~! Burning Bullet switch!"
While saying that, flames engulf her fist. She jumps out right to the front of Gunjou.
Gunjou extends her hands forward as she trembles. A whirlpool of water appears from her hands.
It"s a defensive magic that Gunjou often uses --- Defensive Tyrant switch.
After becoming a labyrinth diseased girl, she can activate her magic instantly without invoking her 《Headphone Fuzz》 or calling out the name of the magic.
But Makoto smiles.
"Just kidding. That"s a feint."
She stops.
Unexpectedly, right behind Gunjou, the girl with deep blue hair, the leader of the 『Valor Team』 closes in.
It"s Mitsutomo Kujaku.
Kujaku has a knife in her hand. As she is about to thrust that knife into Gunjou"s neck,
"All right Gunjou, you can take a rest. It"s the end here."
She says.
If she stabs her, it"d be the end.
At that moment,
"Acceleration switch!"
I activate my magic. I kick the floor and jump.
The formation is broken right away. Gunjou is not attacking us. Instead, she"s on the verge of being killed.
I"m heading to save Gunjou.
To save a diseased girl.
To save the enemy of the world from a human.
However, as if she"s ready for us, Makoto look in our direction. She grins. As if they have been expecting what we would do, they have gotten into formation.
"Tempering Flames Banquet switch ~!"
She raises both hands. From her feet, a wall of flames spurts up.
It"s an AOE defensive magic.
If I burst through it, my entire body will probably turn to ashes.
"d.a.m.n."
I jump to the side, and as I try to dodge the wall of flames, from behind me, Shiro yells.
"Burst through it Shinnosuke! Thousand Deities Flash Of Light switch!"
He activates his magic.
Shiro uses his spear magic.
With its drill-like tip, it zips past my side. Piercing through the wall of flames, it gouges a hole.
On the other side of the hole, 9 enemies are activating their magic, waiting for me. Probably the remaining members of the 『Valor Team』. Both Santou Taisuke and Kamiuchi Miko are also there.
But I am not concerned about them.
Only this thought exists in my mind.
Faster.
Even for just a second.
In an instant, in a flash, in the time of a flash.
My speed surpa.s.ses even that of G.o.d.
I chase after the Thousand Deities Flash Of Light switch, slips through the enemies, and reach the side of Gunjou and Kujaku.
I don"t care about my back.
Even though there are 8 enem