“You won’t be able to escape with something like this!”
“Escape? Do not make me laugh, Flum Apricot. My goal from the beginning has been to liberate Lord Origin. As the preliminary step, I will burn those despicable demons to ashes. Once that is accomplished, I could not care less about my own life!”
“Even if you burn down the Demon Lord’s castle, the seal won’t be broken! There’s nothing you can do without Cyrill!”
“That is true. However, with advanced magic techniques, it is possible to loosen the seal. If we can occupy the area, all we have to do is wait for those techniques to be developed. Even without the hero’s power, the seal will eventually be broken!”
“Do you think that we and the other remaining people will let that happen?”
“The Chimera are not limited to those I have brought here. There are still thousands remaining throughout the kingdom. Even with the power of Reversal, it will be like throwing water on a burning stone. I will crush you with the power of numbers.”
“We’ve already caught Echidna. Even if you return to the royal capital, the church won’t have that kind of power!”
“As a scientist, I am superior to her. I will recreate something like the central core in no time. And the pope and king are not necessary, either. Even if I have to do it alone, I will see it through! That is why I am here!”
“I knew you weren’t the type that would respond to talking!” Flum regretted not at least destroying the control equipment…but in reality, as Huyghe had said, destroying it wasn’t going to stop the missile anyway.
“One minute remaining until launch.” Ultimately, only Huyghe, who had administrative authority, could stop it, and unless something was done about him, the fortress itself was not going to stop. With little time remaining before the missile launch, multiple footsteps could be heard from behind Flum. First came Eterna, bringing Milkit with her, who had been waiting outside. It looked like she had replaced Milkit with the unconscious Herrmann, who was now waiting outside the room.
“Flum, what’s the situation?!”
“I’ve got him cornered, thanks to Milkit, but as you can see, he’s managed to get away.”
“Move aside, Flum.”
“It is pointless, no matter who comes. Your power is formidable, but I can withstand for a minute.”
“You serious about that, asshole?” Next was Tsyon.
“We’ll combine our power, too!”
“That’s right! Let’s just break it first and worry about the small stuff later!” Then came Sara and Neigass. Behind Neigass, Ottilie and Henriette were there, asleep inside a sphere of wind. Four people—Eterna, Tsyon, Neigass, and Sara—hit the bulkhead with their magic. However, the wall, which only looked like glass, was merely cracked.
“It’s too tough.”
“There are things that you can’t break together with three other people, even when there’s a demon in the mix?” As everyone stood there confused, Linus, Maria, and Gadhio also arrived.
“Oh, it looks like everyone else has arrived at the same time, too?”
“It seems so.”
“That makes sense. Everyone must have been guided along via their communication devices in the same manner.” Of course, Werner and Echidna were with them, too.
“We really did arrive here just by being guided by the light. I wonder what’s inside.” As Echidna said, it was no coincidence that everyone had been able to come together, as though they were shown how. While Flum and Huyghe had been fighting, the communication devices had begun to emit a light. By proceeding in that direction, everyone had been able to reach the control room. They were told that they were just devices for transmitting voices, but apparently, they still had some secrets.
“Thirty seconds remaining until launch.” However, there was too little time to consider the finer details. Flum shouted in a loud voice, calling to everyone.
“We’ve gotta destroy that barrier and stop Huyghe!”
“I don’t get what’s going on, but I’ll just follow your lead, Flum!”
“We will give it our all!”
“Haaaaaah!” With Linus and the others joining in, the attacks on the bulkhead intensified with tremendous force.
“I am so delighted to be able to witness the annihilation of the Demon Lord’s castle along with such a magnificent group of people such as yourselves!” There were cracks in the bulkhead, but they hadn’t been able to penetrate yet.
“Ten seconds remaining until launch.”
“Now then, the countdown is over. Let the bells of celebration ring!”
“Time’s not up yet!”
“Nine.”
“Ah, the gun is out of bullets… Please do your best, Master!”
“Eight.”
“Damn it! It’s too small of a space—we can’t bust out the big attacks!”
“Seven.”
“Less talking, more smashing, Tsyon!”
“Six.”
“We’ve made a hole! Just a little more and we’ll get through!”
“Five.”
“We’re not going to let him get his way! We’ll definitely stop him here and now!”
“Four.”
“Damn, he deflected my arrow! He looks seriously injured, but he can still move!”
“Three.”
“We will not allow the church to do as it pleases anymore. I will pour all of my magical power into this!”
“Two.”
“We busted the wall. Prepare yourself, Huyghe!”
“One.”
“It is too late!” Although he had lost the bulkhead that had been protecting him, Huyghe was certain of his victory. Then…
“Zerooooo!” Huyghe shouted in sync with the countdown timer. But what they heard in the next instant was “An error has occurred. The countdown will be reset. Ten seconds to launch.” They were words that even Huyghe could not have imagined.
“Why?! What are you saying? Why did an error occur? This is absurd!” He struck the device, shaking with anger. Flum and the others spontaneously stopped attacking as well. Then, Milkit noticed that the communication device that she had put in her pocket was emitting a faint light. The devices the others had were also glowing in the same way.
“What is happening?”
“They even guided us here, too. Maybe they’re helping us?” Huyghe, hearing their conversation, directed his gaze at their communication devices and his eyes went wide with astonishment.
“That’s… It cannot be. Those are small-scale organic computing devices. Why would people of this era have something like that…?” Huyghe’s voice trembled, as though he were angry.
“Huyghe Pagna. Are these really that frightening?”
“It’s absurd… There is no way. There shouldn’t be anyone else other than me who could make something like that… No!” Without answering Maria’s question, he just shook his head, as if denying something.
“Three, two, one… An error has occurred. The countdown will be reset. Ten seconds to launch.” The warning announcement repeated the same interval over and over as red letters flashed on the monitor. Huyghe slowly turned his gaze to the screen and touched it with his palm, as if to confirm by touch.
“Stop this ridiculous performance! Who is it? Who’s there?! Who hacked into my system?!” When he asked those questions, all of the screens changed at once, in unison. Displayed on the screens was a man wearing white.
“Me.”
“…” Huyghe gasped. It was a man who remained in Flum Watermoon’s memory.
“Chatani.”
“That’s right. It’s me, Chatani, the one who gave you those communication devices.” Huyghe froze when he saw Chatani’s face. The heroes figured that, judging from his reaction, he probably knew Chatani, too. But he didn’t say anything, so, Chatani, tired of waiting, spoke first.
“It’s been a long time, Hirashiki. Apparently, you’re going by Huyghe now, though.”
“Brown… Why are you here…?”
“To do one thing, after coming back from Hell.” Chatani bluntly declared words that he had been preparing to say someday. “I’ve come to punish the great sinner who created Origin.” Just as Huyghe’s dearest wish was about to come true, everything had been shattered by an obsession that transcended time. He bit his lip so hard that blood seeped out, as he trembled with rage.