“All right! Off we go!”
Earlier, in the underground mine at the southern edge of the royal capital, the teleportation circle full of prisoners had overflowed with pale blue light. Everyone had toiled day and night to mine the stones supplying the mana for the circle, and now light swirled like a whirlpool, spinning counterclockwise with great force.
“Hee hee hee,” Carmilla chuckled. “If this fails, we will all be trapped underground for the rest of our lives.”
“Don’t say ominous stuff like that,” Zenos snapped. A moment later, though, he chuckled lightly. “But hey, this is your handiwork. We’ll be fine.”
“Wh-Wha—”
The wraith’s cheeks flushed red just as a roaring wind surged and everyone vanished from the magic circle. Just as before, they passed through a prismatic space, and when they came to, they were all standing on another magic circle.
“Wait...”
“We got out?”
“It... It worked! We’re out!”
“Yeaaaaah!”
The prisoners hugged each other with uncontained joy, but their celebration was cut short by the sounds of shouts, screams, and beastly roars coming from outside. This circle was located beneath the Royal Guard’s headquarters, and yet the place was damaged all over, as though countless monsters had ravaged it.
Through the cracks in the structure, they could see parts of the surface. Black dragons swarmed the darkening sky, and pillars of flame rose as though scorching the heavens themselves. And atop a tower which looked like it was part of the royal palace stood yet another dragon—one as massive as a small mountain.
“Holy shit,” Aston muttered, his face pale. “The surface is even worse. What the hell is that thing?”
That had to be Galhamut, the king of fell dragons that Carmilla had mentioned.
“Arty!” Zenos shouted.
By consuming the saintess, Galhamut would reclaim all of his former power and return to his complete form. Artemisia had to be in that tower—and if so, both her life and the kingdom’s future were hanging by a thread.
But the palace was quite far from the Royal Guard’s headquarters. Even with enhancement magic, crossing the debris-filled streets, fending off the small dragons, and climbing the tower to get to Arty would take time. He wasn’t sure he could make it.
Just as Zenos was about to take off running, Carmilla called out to him.
“Do not panic, Zenos. There is mana in the circle yet. I can adjust the teleportation circle’s rotation to take you directly to the spire.”
“What?” Zenos said. “You can send people to places without an exit circle?”
“These circles were devised to traverse space. If the destination is far out of sight, you need a landing circle to set an exit point, but the tower is within visible range. I can modify the circle’s coordinates and send you there.”
“Wow, Carmilla. You’re seriously something.”
“And you should have noticed much sooner!”
Zenos asked the others to step out of the teleportation circle, then said, “You guys help keep the city safe. Please.”
“We’ll handle it, Zenos,” the White Tiger replied, gazing at the setting sun.
The others straightened their postures and shouted in unison, “You got it, boss!”
“I keep telling you, I’m not your boss!”
As the circle began glowing pale blue once more, Aston grabbed Zenos by the collar.
“Hey, Zenos!” he shouted.
“What?”
“You know, I always wanted to be the hero of a story. You know, rise from the lower class, become respected, get everything I’ve always wanted... But I’m not the real hero. In the end—”
“Look, can you get to the point? I’m kinda in a hurry here.”
“Ugh! Just go already, dammit!”
Zenos smiled wryly as Aston turned around before looking over to two of the people he considered family.
“I’m off then, Lily. And thank you, Carmilla.”
“Take care!” Lily said.
“Hmph! You owe me,” Carmilla declared. “I expect to be paid back in full.”
“You will be,” Zenos promised.
The light coming off the circle began spinning clockwise at high speed as the glowing mana reached its critical point. Then a strong gust of wind blew in every direction, and Zenos vanished.
“He’ll be all right, won’t he, Carmilla?” Lily asked worriedly.
Carmilla glared at the tower and replied, “The opponent being what he is, I cannot say anything too optimistic. Either way, should Zenos fail, this kingdom is doomed.”
The kingdom’s future now rested on the shoulders of a mere back-alley healer. And yet the man in question had shown no signs of distress—whether because he didn’t fully grasp the stakes or something else, it remained unclear. But his behavior was as nonchalant as ever.
“I could not see it before, but...perhaps those two are more similar than I thought...” Carmilla muttered.
“‘Those two’? Who do you mean?” Lily asked.
“The first man to ever change me,” Carmilla said, her gaze seeming far away. “A certain hero.”