Flum and Milkit made their way through the labyrinth underground area, marking the walls so that they wouldn’t get lost. They knew the route to the barracks, so they just needed to search the rest of the area, but…
“Wouldn’t it be hard to go about your daily life in such a mazelike underground space like this?” The passages were so complicated that it made Flum want to grumble like that. There appeared to be many labyrinth-like buildings called ruins, and not just here either, so perhaps humans were creatures who tended to create intricate horizontal structures when they built underground spaces.
“Even though there were people capable of creating something like this, they still lost to Origin.”
“Origin’s still trouble even when sealed away, so I can’t even imagine how destructive it was during its peak…” Flum didn’t want to imagine it, but perhaps Flum Watermoon had left some memories behind, because there were fragments inside Flum’s brain. It was a hell that Flum strongly felt must never, ever be repeated.
“I cannot understand why anyone would want to break a seal on that.”
“It’s pointless to even think about it. It’s like with Rischel. I can understand how she was lonely, but her logic, including seeing murder as justice, was completely broken. I think that Huyghe is probably a similar kind of person.”
“Yes, you’re right. And I don’t understand why he would bother letting us know about the launch of that weapon, either.”
“About that missile thing he told us about earlier—when I thought real hard about it, I could vaguely recall what it was, from my memories from my past life. I think that it’s probably a powerful weapon, so powerful that he can’t use it to only destroy the Demon Lord’s castle.”
“Do you mean that it might even destroy Origin as well?”
“It won’t destroy it, but it’ll damage it. That’s why he held onto it until the very end.”
“If that’s true, then the Church Knights may be cornered.”
“That might be being too optimistic. But using the Chimera cores as a power source here seems to be a sub-plan that even Echidna didn’t know about. There’s no doubt that the original plan had already long since fallen apart.” Flum, who had already climbed the ladder, helped Milkit, who has climbing up behind her, pulling her up. They repeatedly went up and down stairs, crawled through suspicious holes that might’ve been passageways, and jumped over paths with broken floors, with Flum carrying Milkit in her arms when she leapt. The pair searched single-mindedly for the control room. As they walked around, they came across a well-maintained path that seemed to be much better taken care of than the others.
“The feel of the walls here is suddenly very different.”
“They’ve been cleaned, and everything’s tidy.” As they walked straight down the corridor, a double door appeared. When Flum focused her mind, she sensed someone’s presence on the other side.
“Master, is this the place, by chance?”
“Yeah. Huyghe is on the other side.” Before charging in, Flum took the communication device from Milkit and spoke into it. “This is Flum. We found the entrance to the control room in the underground.”
“Where are you now? I’ll come join you right away and—” When Eterna asked that question…
“Eight minutes remaining until launch.” An emotionless countdown sounded out, as though interrupting her.
“It doesn’t seem like we’re going to have time to wait. I’ll rush in there and stop Huyghe first. I’ll have Milkit waiting outside the room, so please ask her for clues as to our whereabouts.”
“Wait, Flum!”
“But Gadhio, the time until launch is—”
“Never mind that. Just listen to me. That guy’s Justice Art is something that enables him to slash at an opponent’s neck and behead them when he swings his sword. Even if they’re far away, he can decapitate someone just by swinging his sword. Be extremely careful.”
“An ability like that… Thank you very much!”
“Also, it’s possible that he’ll use Cavalier Arts, too. He looks to be quite skilled. He is a man with a wealth of combat experience, too, so if you think that you can’t win, you stall for time until arrive. Got it?”
“Yes!” With that forceful reply, Flum handed the communication device over to Milkit. Then Milkit tugged at her clothes tightly. Flum, thinking that Milkit was trying to stop her from going, whispered into Milkit’s ear and proposed a certain strategy.
✦ ✦ ✦
When Flum entered the room, she found it to be more spacious than she had imagined it would be. At the back of the room was a metal box with countless windows, and displaying various letters, images, and other information on those windows. Somehow, Flum surmised that it must have been the control device. When Huyghe got up from the chair he was sitting in, he drew his one-handed sword from its sheath.
“The first to reach me is the girl with Reversal, hm. I feel like that is fate.”
“It’s creepy to be told something like that when we’ve only just met.”
“I am interested. I would like to know what kind of person can sway Lord Origin’s heart more than I.”
“I didn’t ask…”
“The moment of judgment is fast approaching. I shall enjoy these moments with you through an acquaintanceship of blood.” Ah, he’s the type of person that talking to won’t do any good. Flum had instinctively realized that. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together, she supposed, and he seemed to be similar to Rischel, who had strong convictions. Then Huyghe exhaled lightly and swung his sword down using both hands.
“Cavalier Arts: Prana Shaker!” What he unleashed was a slash directed at her neck. Two blades came for Flum at the same time.