Chapter 103
The elevator's fall.
This was the kind of absurd development that occasionally appeared only in light subculture works such as movies, novels, and manga.
Naturally, it was an accident that hardly ever happened in real life.
For one thing, wire ropes woven from steel could easily withstand loads several times the elevator's weight.
Besides, elevators normally had more than one or two wire ropes installed.
Moreover, even if, through a miraculous coincidence, every wire were to snap, another emergency safety device prepared in the elevator would activate.
The governor positioned beneath the frame would mechanically clamp onto the rails, significantly slowing the falling car.
Thanks to these devices and structures, an elevator falling in reality could be considered nearly impossible.
Of course, I said nearly impossible.
That didn't mean it was impossible.
Gr-rk, ting, ti-ting─.
The taut metal wire ropes made a sound as though they were snapping unnaturally.
At the same time, the elevator car began to shake considerably.
For reference, we were currently at the top floor of an extremely tall building.
Could a hero landing really be possible inside an elevator at this height…?
Looks like I'll be finding out firsthand if I'm unlucky.
Eleanor Crossfell, too, seemed to notice something wrong with the car, and instinctively grabbed the elevator's handrail before speaking.
“I-it'll be all right…. Elevators aren't machines that just fall so easily in the first place….”
Contrary to the confidence of her words, her voice trembled like an aspen leaf.
It seemed Eleanor wasn't entirely ignorant of how an elevator was built, either.
“I doubt it.”
“Huh?”
I could state that with certainty.
I could even stake my entire fortune on it.
This elevator was definitely going to fall.
Definitely.
The situation was an artificial result created by the piece-of-junk system called a “Random Encounter.”
Rather than relying on the optimistic possibility that everything would be fine, it would be better to immediately look for a way to escape from the elevator—or at least survive.
‘…First of all, the floor is already unstable.’
It seemed difficult to open the doors right now.
My sixth sense was screaming loudly.
It warned me that if I recklessly moved to open the doors, I might set off the elevator's departure signal.
But that didn't mean we could stay still like this forever.
Even while we were spacing out, the noise coming from the elevator ceiling was growing louder.
Think. Think….
What would be the safest and best method?
- How about trying to jump at precisely the moment the elevator reaches the bottom? With superhuman physical abilities, it should definitely be possi─.
- …???
The insane idea that had emerged from within was swiftly subdued by the 【Iron Mind】 trait.
I had no desire to test an idea suited to an elementary-school science-fiction assignment with my own body, either.
‘…Right, then perhaps.’
While I was organizing my thoughts alone,
Eleanor Crossfell took advantage of a lull in the noise from the ceiling and moved toward the doors.
My eyes widened when I saw what she was doing.
Wh-what is she doing….
“Why bother thinking about it? …If the elevator looks like it's going to fall, we need to get out quickly─.”
…Step.
As she took one step forward, the elevator suddenly sank downward.
Clunk!!
“Eek!!”
And for what felt like a few seconds.
In reality, after a silence lasting mere milliseconds,
Ting─!!
In a truly miraculous turn of events, all the wires snapped, and the broken elevator plunged toward the basement without a moment's hesitation.
───!!!
I had thought so last time, too, but her screams sounded remarkably refreshing.
Ow, my ears.
A perfect picture of a spoiled young lady.
But I had already anticipated to some extent that things would go this way, so I moved calmly to survive.
Ignoring Eleanor Crossfell, whose eyes were spinning.
I gently closed my eyes.
In the slow-flowing time, everything in my field of vision turned black.
At the same time, red strands belonging to the trait spread in all directions like plant roots.
【Blackness】, 【Radiance】, 【Hellfire】, 【Absolute Cold】, 【Rotation】, 【Bedrock】, 【Torrent】, and so on─.
They were all advanced traits that could be selected only after investing in magic circuits.
Of course, I had only one option available to me right now.
Especially since my goal was to stop the fall of an elevator weighing several tons.
‘In the end, a jack-of-all-trades build that was nowhere in my destiny….’
But unlike me, who seemed capable of surviving a fall like this with only a few broken bones and otherwise relatively unscathed, it was obvious Eleanor would be flattened like a frog dropped onto a building.
Well, what else could I do?
If there was someone I could save, I had to save her.
When I selected one trait, the red root pulsed like a blood vessel, coloring the letters.
The moment the number of remaining points changed to one,
various kinds of knowledge I had never possessed began naturally seeping into my mind.
Mana and magic.
The true way to use that supernatural power I had previously used only to strengthen my body.
For reference, the 【Psyker】 line also had similar traits, such as 【Cryokinesis】,
but I knew that, unlike magic, which could benefit from magic circuit proficiency, that path truly started from scratch, so I ruled it out immediately.
Had about a second passed?
I looked at Eleanor inside the elevator, which had been stationary before beginning to fall, and shouted.
“─Ice!!”
This wasn't a survival game arena, but my voice jolted her back to her senses.
A flow of mana that burst out like an explosion settled along the elevator shaft.
Screeech!!
Thick frost began to form on the guide rails outside the elevator.
If I now poured all my strength into it with the magic I created using 【Absolute Cold】, along with the telekinesis I used secretly,
‘A brake system that looks ordinary, but was made with no fewer than three supernatural-power techniques….’
─Screeech!!
The inside of the car turned as cold as a freezer for a moment,
and the speed of the fall gradually decreased.
We were able to come to a safe stop without plunging all the way underground.
It had been extremely close; if I hadn't selected the 【Absolute Cold】 trait, it could have been dangerous.
“…It stopped.”
Eleanor's quiet mutter broke the silence.
The expression colored by panic changed into one with a hint of smugness.
“Phew, it wasn't anything to be so surprised about after all. It did catch me off guard because it happened so suddenly, but that was all.”
“…….”
“…W-why are you suddenly raising your fist?”
Then someone's rage-filled knuckle rapped toward the crown of Eleanor Crossfell's head!
* * *
The third basement level of the Injustice Building.
Inside a spacious, windowless room that felt stifling, a sullen-faced man with striking ice-blue hair questioned one of his subordinates.
“Didn't you say they got on the elevator?”
“Yes….”
“Then why haven't they arrived yet?”
The man's—Aiden's—attitude was extremely imposing.
A man who had been the dominant party from the moment he was born knew how to pressure people with nothing more than verbal reproach.
Of course, the subordinate employee, who occupied the subordinate position, also knew how to deal with a dominant party.
He also knew about the man's frightening hobbies, which made the subordinate's attitude exceptionally polite.
“…I'm sorry. I looked into it, and apparently the intruders took an elevator inside the building to the top floor.”
First, apologize.
Then shift the blame elsewhere.
Naturally, Aiden's curiosity shifted to why they had headed for the top floor.
“They couldn't have taken the wrong elevator…. Are they planning to join the others at the AV landing pad on the roof?”
“After checking the security cameras at the AV landing pad, it appears there are no others joining them. I'll find out where the intruders went right away.”
“…Hmm.”
Aiden habitually drained the liquid electronic drug—Black Mamba—sitting on the table.
Along with a cooling sensation inside his eyeballs, a faint tremor spread to the tips of his limbs.
“Hooooo─.”
A natural smile formed around his lips.
Aiden's features were as handsome as if carved from ice, but emotions born of violence and sadistic pleasure seethed in his eyes.
“That stupid bitch……”
He had expected her to come after him immediately if he told her to piss off, but perhaps his judgment had been wrong.
Aiden clicked his tongue regretfully.
No matter that he had once been a member of the Crossfell family, he wasn't one anymore.
If he so much as injured the body of the sister who had become the family's sole heir, the family's knights might come after him for another purpose.
That was why he had ordered his subordinates to retreat and arranged things so he could come down here himself.
‘Looks like she can make a level-headed judgment after all.’
Even if he couldn't injure her, he could capture and torment her.
He had also received a report that a man had come with her.
He wasn't her boyfriend, but stripping the skin off that guy right in front of her would probably get a decent reaction─.
At that moment, the subordinate who had been standing guard beside him spoke.
“I've confirmed the intruders' current location.”
“Really? Where? Still on the top floor?”
“…Well.”
Knowing how rough Aiden's temper was, and how much he hated people trailing off, the subordinate quickly finished the report.
“The intruders are currently heading down to the basement via the emergency stairs.”
“…?”
As his subordinate had reported, Aiden saw the two people captured on the security camera by the emergency stairs.
They looked about ready to reach the third basement level.
Then the screen changed again.
The sturdy metal door blocking the emergency stairs crumpled inward and was blasted outward.
Soon, two people who looked strangely tired emerged into the long corridor.
The man looked around angrily, then alternately pointed at the woman clutching the crown of her head for some reason and at the sign pointing the way, babbling on about something or other.
Fortunately, this time they didn't get lost, and burst through the door of the boss's office where Aiden was.
“…Aiden!!”
After confirming her younger brother's impassive face, Eleanor shouted loudly in a way that didn't suit her.
According to Aiden's original plan, he had intended to spew vicious abuse the moment he saw that irritating face, to seize the initiative.
But first, he asked about what had happened.
“I have a question….”
“…Aiden, you weren't kidnapped?”
Instead, he only muttered curses inwardly.
‘That damn personality of hers, which refuses to listen to a word anyone says, hasn't changed at all.’
The way to respond to that was simple.
Ignore her.
Aiden exhaled Black Mamba smoke and spoke to Eleanor Crossfell with a languid expression.
“If you were going to come down through the stairs anyway…. Why on earth did you take the elevator in the first place? And why did you go all the way up to the top floor when you weren't even going to the AV landing pad?”
“…….”
He had asked out of pure, 100-percent curiosity, but suddenly a chill like winter descended into the room.
Apparently, something in Aiden's words had offended her.
“By any chance…. Were you the one who made the elevator fall?”
“…Hmm?”
From Aiden's perspective, it was a difficult question to understand.
Fall?
Naturally, Aiden furrowed his brow and asked Eleanor in return.
“What the─.”
“I didn't believe you had fallen into depravity. But to think you really had fallen that far….”
A vein rose thickly on Aiden's ice-cold forehead.
He hated that personality of hers, which only said whatever she wanted to say.
Her clumsy consideration, her acting however she pleased, the way she dragged out her words like hell, and the fact that she herself interrupted others before speaking.
Aiden quietly rubbed his face, then unconsciously shifted his gaze to the man standing a good distance behind her, watching the two of them.
A large man with sharp features, so much so that he had momentarily mistaken him for another gang member.
“…….”
“…….”
After an awkward silence passed,
Could some kind of telepathy have passed between them?
The man, Abel Anderson, nodded to himself and pointed at Eleanor Crossfell with his finger, just as he had seen on the security camera.
“She really doesn't listen to what people say. You must have had a hard time, being her little brother.”
“…What?”
An odd bond had formed between the two from their very first meeting….