Chapter 118
Our number.
Five.
Their number.
Seven.
But seeing that two were caught due to internal strife, it was effectively five, same as us.
It was Blobel, wasn't it?
So this was the urgent matter she mentioned.
I had anticipated the presence of Abyss Worshippers, but this was quite unexpected.
However, considering that this place was an arrangement left by the founder of Golden Intellect, it wasn’t an entirely meaningless connection.
It was said that Naturalis was called heretical, but that was only within Golden Intellect.
They were also strictly members of Golden Intellect.
They, too, held the qualification as Cordelia's successors.
I understand that.
But...
Why are they with them?
I didn't quite understand, but trying to understand would be a waste of time.
They had already classified us as enemies.
Blobel ranted as if we were her prepared trump card, and we actually pretended to know her.
That settled the identification of friend and foe.
"Get back!"
Regardless of misunderstandings, they thrust blades rather than words from their side.
Thanks to the body enhancement I reflexively raised, I barely caught up with Lana's movement.
The motion of blocking the blade with the shield she brought forward from her back, followed by extending her lance to counterattack, happened in a spark-like instant.
Screech—! Bang!
The harsh sound of the blade scraping Lana's shield and the sound of Lana's lance striking the air erupted almost simultaneously.
However, there was one fact the guy didn't know.
That I wasn't just standing still either.
Crack-Thud!
From the moment we entered this space, from the instant the prior visitors observed us, the magic bullet had been waiting for the moment to fire.
The Smite broke through the swordsman's aura armor and sent his body flying backward.
Screech—!
One round ended with the pushed-back swordsman's feet touching the ground and sliding back.
But that was just one round between me, Lana, and that damned swordsman.
It was the same for the others excluding us.
The exchange outside, erupting with mana that seemed to swallow the light from the magic trees, painting the area even more brilliantly.
Rei's Argentooth's silver flash pierced through the flying sparks, and the wind blades shot by Leaf's summoned Aerial were blocked by an invisible wall.
Meanwhile, Mea engaged in a quiet standoff with the one who seemed to be the core, but the fluctuations transmitted through mana detection suggested hidden torrents beneath the surface.
As if this was just a greeting to confirm each other's abilities.
They readjusted their stance, showing genuine wariness towards us.
"There's a curse mixed in. Detoxify."
"Already did. I can see such things, you know."
Detoxify?
My toxin was a special product made by the Great Marquis of Hell.
Even Hecate, said to be the best in the city at Devil Magic, stuck out her tongue at its potency, but no matter how much poison these Abyss Worshippers might guzzle down, detoxification shouldn't be easy.
These elves...
Shadow.
There were many Abyss Worshipper groups, but nine out of ten elves who became Abyss Worshippers gathered in one place.
I thought I'd meet them someday, but I didn't expect it to be now.
I was worried about Leaf, but I forced myself to stare straight ahead.
Not only could another attack come at any moment, but such a small action might circuitously put Leaf in danger.
"Hey, Roman. What are we going to do? Just attack?"
"What do you think, Lana?"
"I think we should prioritize rescuing Blobel first. She's a definite asset."
Lana awkwardly explained—despite her current state.
"Be careful. We might be able to catch that one, but the other side is impossible."
"The other side?"
It wasn't hard to guess who Mea was referring to.
The man still observing despite the clash that had already occurred.
Indeed, only three from their side had moved earlier.
The elf swordsman that Lana and I faced.
The elf mage who blocked Leaf's support.
The alchemist who checked Rei with flames.
And the one guarding in front of Blobel only exchanged checks with Mea, so only those three actually moved.
Not good.
The fact that three of them blocked four of us meant their skills were that excellent.
Of course, neither we nor they went all out, so it would be different in a real fight, but it was certain we would be sorry if we were to underestimate them.
It would be good to have more information—just as this regret arose.
Suddenly, Blobel, who had been tied to some kind of tree, shouted, "Those elves are from Shadow! Expert rank! With the traitor from our branch! The one in front of me is Gephardt! And that guy is... mmph!"
"What a loose mouth. Should I rip out your tongue?"
"Mmmmph!"
Blobel shook her head frantically at the vicious threat to rip out her tongue.
Still, she had done her part sufficiently.
Two Experts and one Senior. And Gephardt.
"He's a former branch head who defected to the Abyss School."
"...Seems he's famous."
"The defection of such a figure is rare."
"Combat ability?"
"I can cover him."
If he was a branch head, wouldn't he be Master rank?
At least according to my sample of one, the only branch head I had seen, he should be around that level.
"...Probably."
Though that last comment was a bit unsettling, I understood now
Mea would cover this Gephardt guy.
Then what was left was that elf combo and the traitorous alchemist.
"We can handle it."
"Have you finished thinking?" it was Gephardt who spoke.
"Yes."
"You've heard my name and roughly know our strength, so let me make a proposal."
"Go ahead."
"Your goal is to take this child away, right? Rest assured. We'll return her. Be grateful. I'm holding back from ripping out this frivolous tongue after seeing you."
An arrogant attitude confident in his superiority.
Could he really think we were Blobel's prepared trump card?
Her secret guard or something?
Surely not.
If that was the case, it really made the image of that Arcanum branch where Gephardt was head plummet.
Like musty know-it-alls cooped up in a study, that kind of thing.
So this proposal must obviously be a trap.
"So? Should we be thankful?"
"In return, you must withdraw from here. Of course, you'll have to keep quiet about us too."
"Hmm..."
"Don't you trust me? Don't worry. I'll let that child verify it."
"No. That's not what I meant."
If you think I'm doubting, you're mistaken.
I never believed you from the start.
"It doesn't matter."
At my words, Blobel's eyes widened dramatically.
Well, I was grateful for the information, but that was that and this was this.
If she was thinking of pitting us against each other, it meant Blobel was planning to use us from the start.
Why should we act as Blobel's underlings just because we heard a few pieces of information?
If I had to find a reason, it would be Lana's connection with Blobel, but there was no reason to show such a weakness unnecessarily.
But Gephardt just smiled silently.
Unlike Blobel, he neither looked flustered nor disappointed, his expression came closer to a sneer.
"Then there's no choice."
Gephardt stomped his foot.
Simultaneously, the floor, the ground, writhed.
"We'll have to kill you and go."
"Unfortunately, we've already heard that before."
The negotiation broke down.
As the predetermined outcome that was never going to succeed from the start arrived again, light scattered once more.
"Aerial!"
"You're all dead!"
Aerial, summoned by Leaf, transformed Rei into a human bullet.
As Rei's color changed to silver while running on the wind with Azurail deployed, flames rose from the opposite side.
As if there had been a battle of nerves between pairs from the start, though nothing was specifically arranged, Leaf and Rei clashed with the two elves from Shadow.
"Lana, I'll leave it to you."
"Likewise."
The unspoken request to take care of Blobel was conveyed without words.
While countering Gephardt was Mea's role, it was uncertain if she could handle it on her own.
Additionally, we couldn't ignore the situation considering the observer who might suddenly intervene at any time.
Only I could extract Blobel under these adverse conditions.
Everyone shared this thought without needing to discuss it separately.
"It's time."
Immediately after, the observer started to move.
"You're going alone in this situation?"
"My contract condition ended at the point of bringing Blobel."
Declaring his independent action to Gephardt in a dry tone, he pushed the stone wall behind him.
Unlike its massive appearance that seemed immovable, the stone wall opened smoothly as if declaring the time had come.
"Roman! Go first!"
How long had it been since Mea shouted so loudly?
In the moment Mea's two summoned wolves distracted Gephardt's attention along with her shout.
I immediately cast Blink.
Pop—!
Where I appeared was not by the stone wall, but beside it, in front of the captured Blobel.
"Oh no!"
Simultaneously with Gephardt's exclamation, belatedly realizing Mea's shout was a bluff.
I made contact with Blobel.
§
"Senior Baltgren?"
Tap.
The sound of shoes hitting the stone floor stops.
The man turned around.
"You know me?"
"Isn't it mutual?"
The man didn't deny it.
Though he probably didn't recognize me immediately upon seeing my face like I did him, he must have realized at some point.
"I knew who you were from the start."
It wasn’t just because he was a Master-rank Explorer.
I did try to memorize all Master-rank Explorers as advised, but matching information to the actual person wasn't easy, so it was usually difficult to recall immediately without hearing the name directly.
But this time was different because I had actually seen this person's face, no, not actually, but a very similar picture.
"Alice showed me. She said I should at least remember the faces of those who became family."
He probably knew too.
After all, his name was also engraved on one of the seats of the Conference Without Borders.
"It's troublesome, you know. I finally got Enigma as a backer, but that backer is becoming a rotten lifeline."
Having finally gotten Enigma as a backer, only to have that Enigma accused of colluding with Abyss Worshippers?
That was putting the cart before the horse.
It became a situation where the losses outweighed the gains.
Though my time living in this world had been short, there was one rock-solid lesson I had learned in that brief time.
You can't always be a nice person.
This is a world where, if you don't take, you'll be taken from.
"So."
Though I didn't intend to completely melt into that world...
"In the name of Enigma, I'll purge you, Senior."
I wouldn't keep turning a blind eye and avoiding it either.