Chapter 1065 – Black Resolve

000

“The explosion sound has stopped.”

Someone on the expedition muttered.

Probably it was Aine.

Because she has good ears.

And just as she said, the sound of the explosion that continued to resonate in the distance, flowing in through the wind, suddenly stopped.

Did Schrödinger, who was sent forward first to check what was going on, do something?

It was something that could never be known here.

No matter what, they will all come back together.

Even as he was thinking about that, Artis was already extinguishing his cigarette, which may have been several days old, in the ashtray.

“… Professor. Aren’t you smoking a little too much?”

Someone approached Attis.

She had dark blue hair similar to Artis’s, braided into three braids, and wore round, high-precision glasses. She was a somewhat timid looking girl.

I would never enter a dangerous place like this unless I followed Attis.

Unlike other girls her age, she didn’t seem to have much interest in decorating herself, and she was somewhat plain and was also Artis’ favorite student.

When she asked Attis, whom she admired, as if she was concerned, Attis looked at her for a moment and then-

“Is that so? You usually smoke this much, right?”

─, She answered indifferently, as if nothing had happened.

However, the student shook her head and raised her finger.

“No… No matter how I look at it, you’re blooming several times more than usual…”

While saying that, the disciple pointed to the ground, and there were definitely a few tobacco plants lying around there.

“Didn’t I tell you? At the beginning of the year, up to 3 a day…”

In the end, it was her Attis herself and her disciples who followed her around and tried to stop her as always, out of concern that her health would not be harmed by second-hand smoke. Br〉

“It’s noisy… Are you my mother…?”

Then, Artis looked at the student as if she was a little annoyed, and responded with an expression and words that seemed somewhat annoyed.

Of course, those words and the sentence itself are what Attis usually said to her students.

Even though she did not express it well in her attitude, she was not unaware of her students’ concerns, and she never listened to what they said half-heartedly.

Having said the above, Artis was sure to rub out her tobacco and sigh, going back to her studies or digging.

So, normally, that reaction would have been a grumble to cover up her embarrassment.

But now Artis didn’t even put back her newly taken out tobacco, and her expression showed her genuine irritation towards her student.

“Well, I’m so worried about the professor…!”

So, her student also raises her voice as if she is embarrassed, but then closes her mouth for a moment as if she is speechless, and then lowers her body as if she is feeling frustrated.

Then she coughed, as if spitting out something that was clogged in her throat.

It was a reaction that I had never seen before, as if it showed that something was unwell, so Artis must have said ‘oops’.

Just now, why did he react so nervously?

The moment when I approached her and tried to check her condition, thinking that I didn’t know much about her.

“… Why… Are you always like that…!”

Sudden! The student who raised her head was looking in this direction with bloodshot eyes behind her glasses.

Although she was somewhat disorganized as usual, she seemed to be caught up in a torrent of emotions bubbling up from inside – the complete opposite of the girl who understood Artis’s intentions best.

Seeing her like that, Artis had no choice but to take a step back, holding her breath without realizing it.

“We’re saying this because we’re really worried about you! You always ignore our opinions! Do you think we’re just good workers!?”

“Oh, no… That can’t be true—”

Something is strange.

Artis, who thought it couldn’t be normal for his student to be so upset, tried to step back once again.

The disciple pulled something out of her belt and pointed it at Attis in front of her.

Puck!

“Ugh…!”

With a fluttering sound, the student who had rushed forward fell helplessly in front of Attis.

If the sharp part of the fountain pen had come into contact with Artis, he would have suffered quite a deep wound, if not worse.

Attis, in a cold sweat, met her fallen disciple and-

She looks at her quartz, the thing that made her who she is.

“What is this?”

“She is not only her.”

As Quartz said that, he glanced around her.

Then, the three sisters of Bangwidae were walking around knocking out Attis’ disciples one by one.

“I guess this stench… Didn’t just make people uncomfortable. Maybe it’s because I’m young, but it took me a while to notice it.”

“Is there a problem with the gas…?”

When Artis heard that, she covered her nose and mouth with her hands, remembering that she too had pulled down her mask to smoke a cigarette.

“Yes. It seems to have the effect of making people impulsive and losing their patience. Even if they don’t go near the source of the odor, if they keep smelling it, they will become emotional like this. Before something big happens, I will knock out all of your students. .”

In response to Artis’ actions, Quartz’s expression did not change at all, and she just said what she had to do.

Thank god. If it weren’t for Quartz, she would have been wondering what to do and would have been delayed in responding.

“Mr. Quartz and Banguidae don’t seem to be affected by the odor… Who else is okay?”

“Shu-ko-“

Instead of Quartz, it was Fleur who raised her hand to answer Artis’ question.

I guess she has to be okay because she has a gas mask on her face.

“I have no problem either.”

And Kshat, standing proudly next to Fleur, also seemed unaffected.

“… It’s astounding that you smell better than others.”

“Hehe.”

After seeing her smiling meaningfully, Artis nodded, albeit a little nervously.

“I don’t have a problem either. I don’t think it works on fairies.”

And for some reason, Melusine is fine.

No, as a fairy, her body is made of magic, so she is less affected. It wasn’t clear which.

Artis is certainly not the only one who is glad she did not lose her self-control.

Knight of the Fairy Kingdom Melusine.

Because she was familiar with her skills, having heard about them from Cleon.

“Suppose we put all of Attis’ disciples on a cart… What should we do now? To be honest, what awaits those who went ahead like this…”

As Quartz was doing that, she was thinking about it.

“Shuko-“

When Fleur’s voice was heard, she raised her hands as she looked up at the red sky.

At the tip of her finger she pointed ─

There was something about her that was burning and flying through the sky.

“… Meteor?”

“No. Something is different. Meteors don’t follow parabolic orbits like that.”

Quartz, which denies Artis’ opinion, points to the tail of a meteor.

Soon, the shooting star arrives not at the horizon, but at a place a little further ahead from where they are standing—

Kwaang!

And, it caused a loud crashing sound and vibration.

“Wow…!”

The vibration was enough to shake everyone present.

The leaves of the trees growing nearby made a loud noise as they clashed, and several leaves fell.

“Miss, are you okay?”

“Shu, Shukoi…”

Of course, while supporting Fleur, who almost fell, Kshat must have turned his attention to the place where what looked like a meteor landed.

‘What I just did… Really?’

The trajectory traced by the flame just moments ago stimulates memories deep within her.

I think Laplace, who created himself, saw something similar while he was still in the coffin of return.

And obviously, the owner of that item—

“—Let’s move.”

While Kshat’s accident continued, Attis opened her mouth and let out her voice as if she had made up her mind.

When the eyes of her still awake companions turned to her, Attis spoke to her.

“If the environment here affects the human spirit, it is not possible to stay here forever. You must check what is happening in front of you and get out right away, even if it means breaking through.”

“Dividing the personnel in itself was not a bad decision… But what was happening with the environment was not good.”

Quartz nods her head, agreeing with Artis’ words.

Then what’s left –

“Then we will pull the cart. Lord Melusine, provide security around.”

“Ah.”

If Aine says that, Melusine will put her ice sword in her hand.

“Shuko…?”

And in the meantime, when Fleur gives her voice to Kshat, who seems to be a little worried about something.

Kshat says ‘Hot’ and comes to his senses and looks back at his lovely owner.

“It’s okay, young lady. No matter what threat awaits you, I will protect you.”

Fleur seemed reassured by Kshat’s words, and she took a step forward and walked along the side of the carts.

The butler quietly watched the small back of the young lady, clenched her fist and quietly made a promise.

‘Even if it is your precious person.’

001

The source of the rotten internal organs, an explosion of flame that created a flash of intensity enough to fill the homunculus’ pit.

Even though the group’s vision was temporarily obscured, they never stopped concentrating on what they were doing.

Amelia provides defense, Sasha provides evasion, and Kuon provides magical power for Lila.

Finally, Lila, by burning her own body, made a response to the agreement that followed from the firepower of this one-point breakthrough.

And right after the flash disappeared.

Kiang! While making a sound, one shoulder of the black armored automata was torn off.

Of course, the machine-made body didn’t bleed, but black liquid and wires flew out, and his torn off arm fell to the ground.

The guy who doesn’t feel pain quickly backs away as soon as he sees his arm falling off.

“Chee it…!”

Lila clicks her tongue

Originally, this is where the guy’s magical power reaction is strongest-

It was trying to pierce the part that corresponds to the ‘solar plexus’ for humans, but perhaps because it judged that it could not take Lila’s firepower from the front, it twisted its body right before a hole opened in its chest, sacrificing its arm.

Still, just stopping the attack with that arm – the emission of flames towards Amelia and Kuon – could have been considered a significant advantage.

With this, only one arm remains.

The power difference between the enemy and this side is 4:1.

Of course, Amelia consumed a lot of magic while maintaining her shield, so she couldn’t join the fight right away, and Kuon had to focus on sending her magic to Lila.

So, although she had no intention of letting down her guard, she had no choice but to say that she felt more relaxed than before.

Then─

“I have no intention of losing this momentum, even if I die!”

Kagagak! With a screeching sound, Lila kicked off the ground with her heated shoes and rushed forward.

And the black armor probably thought it would be better to deal with Lila directly rather than continuing her attack on Sasha.

The guy who stopped emitting flames returned his hand to its original state and swung his arm in the form of a capital, colliding with Laila’s spear.

Kaang!

With a light sound, Laila’s staff and the guy’s capital collided, and the attack was scattered and bounced off.

“Sasha!”

“Yes!”

However, the difference in acquisition could easily create an advantage.

While Lila repositioned her thrown spear and continued with the next attack, Sasha, who had maintained her magic power as much as possible until now, fired her magic arrow and hit her black armor. 〉

Empty! When I heard a heavy sound, I fired another shot at the guy’s arm that had been thrown away, causing his body to stumble greatly.

‘Good! You can’t avoid it in this position!’

Leila was confident of her victory as she was, and she took another step forward.

─ If it were Cleon, she wouldn’t have done that.

Geek!

And then, an unusual sound came out.

That’s the movement of that guy’s waist that a human being can’t do.

So, the upper body rotates 360 degrees above the hips and uses the momentum pushed by Sasha to turn the body once.

In that state, he swung his arm horizontally.

‘Ah─’

Lila’s thoughts stop there.

Quang! With a sound, Lila’s body was hit by the guy’s arm, causing a great impact and sending her flying far to the side and crashing into the wall.

“W-Mr. Laila!?”

Even though Sasha’s voice was flustered, she turned her head this way and tried to fire the next arrow to keep her armor in check.

Sasha led the protest with familiar movements.

However, the blue magic arrow that was caught on the bow—

She crackles and makes noise, then disappears on the spot, unable to maintain her form.

“Ah, magic…!”

Continuing to use the hunter’s brand while not getting enough rest, and the magical power used to chase down the homunculi after arriving here and being gassed.

Neither of these would have been the cause of depleting Sasha’s magical power, as her total magical power was not that high.

And, unlike before, this guy fires a high-temperature heat ray towards Sasha, who is still standing.

Did they decide that they couldn’t follow Sasha’s movements with the flames from before?

The line of flame flew straight through Sasha’s leg.

“──!”

Sasha’s body, holding back a scream of pain, fell to the ground.

It’s a wound that can heal with Kuon’s treatment, but right now I can’t move my legs.

“Haaa!”

The next moment, from behind the black armor that was about to jump towards Sasha, extending her hand.

Lila returned with wings of flame and grabbed him from behind.

“Mr. Laila…!”

However, the wings of flame were also considerably smaller than before, and the wand had also fallen from her hand, possibly due to insufficient magical power to maintain the effect of the incarnation magic.

“At least this arm…!”

The moment Lila said that and tried to melt the remaining joint of the guy’s left arm using her feverish body.

Lila’s burning hot body—

It was back to its original human form with a sound like a faint sound.

“──!”

There is silence.

Lila’s gaze moves quickly to the back of Amelia, who is sitting down─

Heading towards Kuon, who collapsed due to exhaustion of her magical power.

[Confirmation of disappearance of the target’s high heat magic reaction.]

Next moment.

Thud! With a shock, the black armor turns her legs and lifts Lyla, who is clinging to her.

Just like before, I rotate her body 360 degrees and grab her by the neck.

“Gagging, wow…!”

“La, Laila…!”

The moment when Amelia, who had been sitting down from exhaustion, saw her and somehow raised her body and moved her legs to get closer to her.

When you hear the sound of clanging, the guy is on the ground—

He kicked away his torn off arm ─

Boom! It made a sound as if a cannonball had landed, and hit Amelia in the abdomen.

“Ugh…!”

She was able to prevent the impact from reaching her internal organs by somehow squeezing out what was left of her magic, but that was for the best.

As it covers Kuon behind her, she too is driven to the brink of losing her mind.

For all four of them, continuous activity without fully recovering their magic is holding them back—

[First… One thing.]

Now, her own neck is being tightened.

‘Cool, Leon…’

Laila’s spirit is fading due to lack of oxygen.

“Aaaaah!!”

Then, boom! With a slight shock, her armored body moved.

Then, because of that small impact, the joints of the person who had been damaged by Lila’s high fever developed problems, and the strength in her hand that was holding Lila was loosened.

Dump! And Lila falls to the ground, but she has already lost consciousness.

Who on earth interrupted him?

The black automata would turn her head in the direction of the shock.

Then there was Schrödinger, wearing tattered clothes and holding both fists in a fighting pose.

The guy speaks while taking steps lightly with a pretty tearful face.

“Hey, you little bastard~~! You’ve been ignoring me since a while ago~~~!!!”

[… Magic response that doesn’t matter even if you’re not involved]

In other words, they probably decided that there was no need to deal with such a small magical power response.

Various scenes flow through Schrödinger’s mind as he grasps the meaning of those words.

The humiliation I suffered when I was a homunculus in the form of a doll.

And the humiliation suffered by Laila upon entering the Four Dragon Mountains.

There were even several humiliating scenes that occurred under the setting that it was easy to play with even though he was not the main character.

Ppajik.

What further stimulated her anger was the liberation gas that had been sprayed around here.

Her fist is covered with an aura of black magic.

[… Check the increase in the object’s magical power response.]

Next moment.

If you think that Schrödinger’s body disappeared on the spot, leaving only an afterimage—

Quang! With a sound, her fist flew into the head of her black armor.

An automaton that stumbles and retreats backwards.

Schrödinger was shouting at him, with the burning flame of resentment wrapped in his hands.

“You bastard~!! I’ll kill you~!!”