“Three minutes remaining until detonation.” The time limit was close.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect such all-out obstruction.” Chatani’s words didn’t sound apologetic in the slightest. There wasn’t any need for him to be blamed over it, and even if there were, they didn’t have the time for that.
“Could we escape by breaking through the ceiling?” When Maria suggested a shortcut…
“It’s no use. There are even more hordes outside. It’ll end up making the situation even worse!” Linus, who sensed what was happening outside, turned her suggestion down. The passage became wide at this point. However, at the same time, a wide area meant that there would be more Chimera to deal with. A wall-like horde of Chimera were approaching from ahead, and there were even some large-sized Chimera among them.
“At any rate, looks like there’s quite a few in the group ahead.”
“Isn’t there… Isn’t there some other means of escape…?!” No matter how much Eterna and Flum racked their brains to think of an idea, they couldn’t come up with anything good. All they could do was continue to fight the Chimera, with all their being.
“Two minutes remaining until detonation.” And the countdown that they could hear caused even more anxiety than the missile launch itself. At that moment, though, something unusual happened to the horde of Chimera.
“Gugyaaaah!”
“Kukeeeeee!”
“I can hear cries from Chimera from further away!” It wasn’t just Sara. The others could hear those cries, too. Then the cries gradually drew closer to Flum and the others. And finally…
“Chaos Penetrator!” Rotating white and black spheres pierced through the horde of Chimera. Beyond the hole in their numbers that was opened, Tsyon could see a girl.
“Sheitoom!” However, other Chimera quickly moved to fill that hole. To stop this from happening, an extremely thick band of light pierced through the enemy this time.
“Blaster!” The Chimera were blown away by an enormous mass of magical power that emitted a brilliant glow. However, the mass was also gradually drawing nearer to Flum and the others.
“This is bad. We’re gonna get caught up in it! Dodge to the side!” Linus shouted to everyone. Flum and the others hurriedly avoided the magic by sticking to the walls on the left and right sides, in a panic. When the light that passed by them disappeared, more than 90 percent of the Chimera blocking the path had been blown away.
“Awesome…” Flum unintentionally muttered that word. When they saw the two figures on the other side, smiles appeared on the heroes’ faces, even on the stern face of Gadhio.
“Looks like the Hero and the Demon Lord have appeared.”
“Aren’t they trying a little too hard to look cool?” When Neigass said that mockingly, Gadhio let out a soft chuckle, “Heh,” and agreed. Cyrill and Sheitoom had made a stylish entrance, but the first words to come out of each of their mouths were…
“Flummm!”
“Big Brotherrrr!” Pitiful voices, sounding as if they were each about to cry at any moment. Sheitoom raced over to Tsyon and threw her small body into his chest.
“It looks like you’re safe, too.”
“The Chimera stopped, so we were able to come here! But they started moving again as soon as we arrived…”
Meanwhile, Cyrill had finally reunited with Flum, and waved to her. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be of any help at all this time.”
“No, just coming here to help right now is plenty! Thank you, Cyrill.” However, there was no time to leisurely enjoy their reunion.
“One minute remaining until detonation.” They didn’t have any more time left.
“Cyrill, can you use Return?”
When Flum asked her that question, Cyrill emphatically replied, “Yes. That’s why I came here. I’ve set the return destination as the Demon Lord’s castle, so we can go back right away.” Upon hearing that, Linus and Eterna were relieved as well.
“Just escapin’ from here alone would be enough, but we can even get all the way back to the Demon Lord’s castle!”
“I’m surprised at myself for feeling relieved at hearing that we can return to the Demon Lord’s castle.” However, during that time, the next wave of Chimera was approaching from the outside.
“These things still haven’t given up yet?! They’re pointlessly getting fired up with this burning obsession of theirs!” Tsyon enveloped his fists in flames and prepared to intercept them. Maria, standing nearby, stopped him.
“As long as they don’t interfere with Return, that’ll be enough. You’ve done enough, Mr. Tsyon.”
“I understand. To be completely honest, deep down, I just wanted to beat the hell out of ’em with everything I got.”
When Cyrill shouted, “Everyone, get together!” all of the heroes stopped fighting. She closed her eyes and prepared to activate Return. Then they heard creaking sounds coming from up above, as if something was collapsing. Flum and Milkit looked up at almost exactly the same time.
“The ceiling’s collapsed!”
“Chimera are rushing in from above!”
Then Sheitoom shouted at Sara and Maria. “Maria, Sara, please, with me!”
“Understood.”
“Got it!” The three of them raised their hands toward the sky and simultaneously activated their magic.
“Divine Protection!” The triple-layered wall protected Flum and the others from the rubble and from the large number of Chimera pouring in from above. However, it was only a defensive measure, not an offensive one. In the blink of an eye, the area around the barrier was filled with Chimera. Origin’s vanguard forces gathered their strength, trying to crush Flum and the others with obvious killing intent. It would have been easy to attack with the Reversal cores, but the Chimera’s powers were still going strong. Cracks would soon appear in the barrier. It probably wouldn’t last long. Then Cyrill’s preparations were complete.
“Let’s go! Return!” Flum and the other heroes vanished in an instant, leaving behind only the horde of Chimera, who had lost sight of their targets.