Chapter 86. Master of Explosions (2)
Step. Step.
The submerged ruin site of Rhodes. Inside the underground passage. The sound of mages' footsteps wearing tactical robes emblazoned with the Elsyde crest echoed.
Dionil and his follower families, following him to rescue the stranded individuals.
They had uneasy expressions due to the investigation going deeper than expected.
"We're going deep."
"We can definitely get a fix on the location of the stranded individuals with detection magic. It's not far now."
The member using exploration magic tried to reassure them.
The underground of the fortress city ruin was essentially a place difficult to call underground. In the past, when it wasn't submerged, it would have been a passage facility on the ground-level fortress walls.
However, perhaps due to the sinking of the naturally weakened ground.
The interior of the fortress wall, partly submerged beneath the surface of the lake, was no different from an underground area where water flowed from cracked areas here and there.
Water streams poured out from various parts of the passage, falling into the abyss below the distant fortress wall.
Seeing that, Dionil said briefly.
"I know nothing about Rhodes. Be careful."
"It is suspicious. Even the Academia Expedition Team hadn't set foot here until now. And suddenly, an explosion magic of unknown origin in such a place."
Anyone could see this was no ordinary matter.
The sudden appearance of Magical Beasts and the explosion. It was natural to feel doubtful about what was currently happening in Rhodes.
However, there was currently no way to know that. Then, all they could do was their best to complete the mission given the circumstances.
Aspis, keeping watch of the surroundings, spoke.
"According to Lord Enoch's advice, he said to be extremely careful of surrounding structures when rescuing hostages. That there might be a risk of collapse due to explosive traps."
"Yes. That's not wrong. We'll be careful."
"Come to think of it, although Lord Enoch also wanted to act separately earlier. I confirmed the skill of the Beast-kin girl named Sirocco with my own eyes. Wouldn't it have been better for her to come along just in case?"
"It's just advice. Perhaps if it were training. But in real operations like this, where lives are at stake, Enoch cannot be trusted."
Just then, another follower family member glanced over.
"I understand that the Young Master is wary. But exactly what aspect of him are you wary of...?"
Immediately, glares from those around him pierced him.
He was a newcomer who had recently joined as a follower family. The man's expression shifted to one of realization, perhaps feeling he had asked the wrong question, and he scratched his head.
However, Dionil spoke with a calm expression, as if he didn't care.
"He's always been selfish. Even if a crisis strikes during an operation, he'll only think of a way to survive alone."
At his words, some squad members in the moving formation quietly agreed.
The past events were already too famous.
In the past, when Enoch was only 13 years old.
On the family's official training ground. As if to show off, he had thoroughly overpowered Dionil by physical force.
Winning or losing in the official duel was not important. However, the fact that 'official duels between direct lineage members attract public attention' was very important.
The official duels of the Main House, open to outsiders, were not merely events to watch fights of winning and losing.
And precisely in such an official setting.
Thirteen-year-old Enoch, as if advertising that he was not a mage. He blatantly abandoned his magic gear. And overpowered Dionil with his bare hands.
Pressing Dionil's head down with one hand. Crushing his back with one knee,
Towards the spectators watching the duel. Enoch Elsyde slowly raised his deeply沉 dark eyes.
And that day.
The unprecedented outrage committed by a non-mage direct lineage member in a public duel decorated the headlines of all media outlets and the news on building billboards.
"I don't know exactly what Enoch was thinking at the time... but one thing is certain."
Dionil said, spitting out the words.
"Enoch's actions had a significant negative impact on the family's reputation at the time. It harmed the entire family's members."
"...I see."
"Anyway, as far as I know. Enoch is a selfish person who, when faced with a dangerous situation, might choose to sacrifice everyone else to survive alone."
Regardless of what happened in the past. There was no room for personal feelings in a mission. In operations, it wasn't just his own life, but also the lives of the members who trusted and followed him more than anyone else that were at stake.
Above all, completing the mission was the priority. That's why it was even more imperative not to be with Enoch.
Judging from past experience, he was selfish.
If something dangerous happened during the operation, no matter how strong he was. Someone who didn't care about others would not help.
Dionil had also learned that fact bitterly from the countless operations he had participated in so far.
And what kind of 'endings' those who were with such selfish people met.
Dionil sighed as he walked.
"Talking about the past isn't very pleasant. Let's stop."
Aspis glanced away.
"Well. In my opinion, it was perhaps childish desperation due to despair over being a non-mage."
"That might be true. However."
Dionil replied, slightly biting his teeth.
"As long as you are born into the direct lineage of a Main House. There are feelings and actions that are not permitted from the start."
"Direct Lineage" referred to those with Elsyde blood.
However, this term by no means only referred to the current family head's direct descendants.
It was a concept that included 'even distant collateral relatives' with whom there was almost no contact and were practically strangers.
Even distant collateral relatives who would normally have never met face-to-face, if they bore the Elsyde name, were part of a system where they received inheritance rights and competed as "Direct Lineage".
In a way, it was only natural.
Ultimately, the one who led the Empire's Main House was not chosen by lineage, but strictly based on ability.
Among those who bore the name of the next generation Elsyde. To select only those with outstanding ability.
This was the reason why each Main House was able to reign at the pinnacle in modern society, which was full of outstanding mages.
Dionil added, spitting out the words.
"Enough chatter. We'll reach the target point soon. Focus on quickly rescuing the stranded individuals and escaping."
***
After that, things progressed smoothly.
"Here, here!"
"Ah! Thank you! We're saved!"
The place found through the information Enoch obtained from the girl named Emma and through detection magic.
There, they found the Academia stranded individuals, whose path was blocked by collapsed debris and were unable to move, and rescued them without incident.
Everything went without a hitch.
Even though they didn't proceed with the operation with Enoch, it wasn't wrong to ask for his advice. Dionil also had to admit it to some extent after experiencing it.
That there seemed to be a reason why Enoch had suddenly risen to become a hot topic recently and was receiving everyone's attention.
"These are the Academia's stranded individuals. Their identity matches the list and photos."
Dionil nodded to the member who reported beside him. They had encountered and secured the rescue targets.
Now, only the escape remained.
"We will move. Please follow us."
"Ha. But. The ex-, explosion here...!"
However, the Academia personnel seemed to be terrified, perhaps because they had been caught off guard by the explosion of unknown origin.
But there was no presence felt in the surrounding passage.
The floor of the passage was solid, and there was no accumulated debris. Nothing could be hidden. The passage was also quite wide, making it difficult to install explosion magic on the walls.
Dionil's other members also seemed to have judged similarly.
"We are just going back through the passage we came through safely. We cannot waste time when there is no threat."
"That's right. The Magical Beasts would have been attracted by the explosion underground earlier. Rescuing them will be difficult if they chase us."
Ultimately, it was a race against time.
That's why it was also an operation where mobility until extraction was important. Dionil put his finger on his communication earset.
"Stranded individuals secured. Moving to the extraction point. We'll retrace the passage we came out of just now—"
Just then.
Before Dionil's voice, which had just briefed them, could disappear from the passage.
Piiiiiing!
Suddenly, with a sharp metallic operating sound from the side, something small flew into the air in front of him.
The eyes of the Elsyde mages who saw it widened.
─A cylindrical metal can, bounced into the air.
The LED attached to it blinked intensely. A magic circle glowing on the can's body unfolded like a ring.
Bleep— A ominous mechanical sound instantly pierced everyone's eardrums. In an instant, all of Elsyde's members recognized its identity.
"Bouncing Mine Type Artifact"—!
Aspis reflexively raised his shield. Simultaneously, other members quickly lay down with the stranded individuals.
And the next moment. The Bouncing Mine's powerful explosion magic activated. At the same time, a violent tremor, enough to shake the entire passage, ran through.
"Kuhap!"
Aspis, supporting the shield with his shoulders in addition to holding it with both arms, groaned in pain as he was pushed back by the explosion.
"Damn it, everyone stop for now! At this rate, we might get caught in the installed explosive traps!"
All members of the squad immediately stopped with stiff expressions.
Sweat was running down their jaws as well.
[Bouncing Mine Artifact]
An artifact that detects an enemy's approach, leaps up, and detonates by deploying explosion magic in the air.
This passage was the one they had come through earlier to return. But the reason the Bouncing Mine hadn't activated when they entered was obvious.
It was a bait-type trap magic, a type that activated when the number of people within a specific radius was fulfilled. A cleverly set trap.
In other words. They deliberately created stranded individuals. Then aimed to target the rescue team along with them.
Bleep!
Just then. This time, another mine fell from the ceiling above their passage, and a strong explosion occurred.
Screams from the Academia personnel followed one after another.
Aspis, who was pushing the shield forward and protecting them as much as possible from the front, shouted urgently.
"The ground and walls are shaking continuously because of the explosions! The underground passage will collapse soon!"
At this rate, they would all be buried alive here.
They had to find a way somehow.
As if to indicate that there wasn't much time left until the passage collapsed. Sand and rock fragments fell from the ceiling of the passage like a death hourglass.
Dionil gripped his sweating fists.
Such powerful, high-power magic that emitted tremendous power for anti-personnel killing.
Who could this high-power trap setter be? Their affiliation and identity? What was the purpose of installing them here? But, the questions were soon swallowed by the despair of facing reality.
"D-Damn it, if it comes to this, there's no way...!"
Normally, they should deploy detection magic, remove all surrounding traps and explosives, and then move.
But now it was a situation where every second counted until the collapse. There was no time to leisurely secure safety.
Aspis shouted loudly from the front.
"Traps laid on the passage ahead! If we don't somehow remove those in advance, we can't advance!!"
"Can't we somehow proceed while blocking the ex-, explosion?"
"Impossible! Judging by the scale of the explosion just now, my defensive magic and magic gear have limits! Besides, we don't know where it will fly from and detonate!!"
Extremely tense, Aspis, who was pushing his deployable shield forward, shouted, sweating profusely.
Then, a woman from the Academia Expedition Team with a terrified expression behind him shouted urgently.
"B-But, among us, there are many personnel who don't know how to use magic that can block damage from explosion magic of this scale! At this rate...!!"
"Tsk. I know. Calm down."
Dionil ground his teeth with a frustrated expression.
Most of the Academia expedition team members were non-combat personnel.
It was only natural that they didn't know how to use professional combat defense magic enough to defend against explosion traps of this scale.
All members of Dionil's squad gripped their magic gear.
An ominous feeling was creeping up their spines.
The power of trap-type magic varied greatly depending on the user's combat sense and magic ability. However, the most terrifying fact was something else entirely.
When trap-type magic like this was installed.
Usually, it wasn't just one magic buried nearby—
Bleep!
The next moment. As if to confirm that fact. Another Bouncing Mine popped up from the passage beside them.
With the consecutive explosions, the ground shook again with a roar, and flames swept through the entire passage.
"Kuugh!"
Aspis somehow threw himself forward and twisted his shield. But this time, the Academia personnel were not unharmed by the shock.
"Kuugh, ho-, hot! Aaaah!"
"Kyaaaak! My, my arm!!"
A man was clutching one shoulder and screaming, apparently burned by the explosion, and a woman was staggering in pain, seemingly with a broken arm.
In the midst of that, should I call it fortunate? No one had died yet. But this was clearly not the end.
Once the detonation condition for the explosion magic had been met, all the surrounding mines must have already been activated. There was no knowing where they would come from.
Dionil ground his teeth so hard they might break and muttered.
"Damn it, trap magic of this power. What is this?"
But as if that wasn't important. Aspis, holding up his shield, shouted urgently.
"The explosion magic is activating! Everyone get down! We can't possibly withstand the next explosion—!!"
Bleep!
The next moment.
A sharp electronic sound piercing their ears rang through everyone's minds. Everyone's heads simultaneously turned to the side.
Another Bouncing Mine activated in the passage to their side. The red LED blinked with an eerie speed. The cylindrical can instantly expanded.
Just then.
As Aspis quickly pushed the shield forward, trying to somehow prepare for the impact of the explosion.
Whoosh!
A figure leaped off the ground and charged, suddenly inserting itself between the explosive and him.
In an instant, the bomb hit right in front of the figure that had unexpectedly intervened. Dust and a roar erupted in all directions, shaking the entire dark passage.
However, blocked by someone who had positioned themselves directly in front of the Bouncing Mine, the impact and flame of the explosion were significantly reduced.
After the aftermath of the explosion subsided a little.
Aspis, who had identified who had intervened in front of him, slightly lowered his shield and shouted loudly.
"L-Lord Enoch...?"
But at the same time as his shout.
Piiiiiing!
This time, the Bouncing Mine Type Artifact in the left passage activated. The gunpowder ignition fuse operated. It bounced out with a roar and leaped high to people's eye level.
But Enoch also reacted almost simultaneously to the sound, throwing his body towards where the artifact was flying.
Again, a fierce explosion vibrated in all directions. But this time too, the explosion was blocked by Enoch's body, and the Academia stranded individuals suffered no damage.
Everyone looked at him with stunned expressions.
Enoch, wrapped in a thick protective robe that covered his entire body, taking the full impact and flame of the explosion head-on.
He glanced back at those behind him.
"Huh, huh. Lord Enoch? Why are you here?"
Seeing that, Dionil and his squad looked at him with expressions even more shocked than before.
Not to mention the agility to react to the situation in an instant even while wearing that heavy explosion-proof robe.
The reason they were surprised was simple.
That Enoch, would he actually save them by taking the explosion head-on?!
But disregarding their thoughts, Enoch glanced away and said calmly.
"All the trap magic here are mine..."
No, a mistake.
"...I'll trigger them. Escape in the meantime."
"Wha, what? Are you serious, you bastard?"
"I'll count to three. Jump on three."
Enoch's dark blue eyes shone coldly as he said that. Dionil saw it and inhaled sharply for a moment.
"Th—"
"Three."
"Huh, what?"
Without waiting, he kicked off the ground as is. In an instant, Dionil's blank expression, realizing he didn't know I meant literally counting to three and jumping, flashed by.
Regardless. Enoch raised one arm to cover his face and ran through the passage, where traps were laid, like the wind.
Immediately around him, countless bombs activated in all directions he passed. Chain explosions.
Kwaaaaang!
Even while running, the maddening vibration shook his head. The ground kept shaking, making it difficult to balance while running. It felt like his skin was burning from the flames of the explosion.
He instinctively tightened the arm covering his face.
The explosion-proof robe was blocking the fatal explosion damage, but it didn't completely block the pain from fragments or flames.
But.
"It hurts, but..."
A faint smile was forming on Enoch's lips. Naturally, it hurt far less than being killed by the Sword Saint. It was incomparable to the pain of actually dying.
'Besides, it's a matter related to spec-up!'
Enoch's eyes, hidden by his arm, flashed.
What more could be said about that?
An old-timer, or 'go-in-mul' (especially one who is a performance maximizer), loses their mind just at the sight of spec-up.
Why do players spend trucks of money on gacha, no matter how low the probability?
And here, simply running would increase Magic Resistance?
Absolutely couldn't pass it up.
Meanwhile, as he kept running, screams were erupting from behind him, not even drowned out by the sounds of the explosions.
"H-Heugh! What is that person...!"
"Th-the Direct Lineage has gone crazyyyy!!!"
A direct lineage member suddenly charging into the center of explosions.
The sudden reckless behavior of the boy, who was originally in a commander-like position and should have been the safest during the operation.
The expressions of Dionil's follower families, whose eyeballs must have been popping out, were vividly imagined even without seeing them.
And immediately after.
Dionil, who seemed to be the first among them to regain his composure, was also heard shouting urgently.
"Qu-quickly follow where Enoch cleared the traps! This is our chance to escape before the passage collapses!!"
Enoch's eyes glanced back.
Good. They could escape like that and survive.
If it wasn't something that would harm me, it would be better to keep the flow of events as it was in the original work.
Ah. Of course,
I had no intention of giving up these bombs either.
Enoch looked forward in the passage as he ran.
The light blue line of mana from the Sword Saint extended deeper into the passage.
And around it, like laser traps in a movie. The yellow mana lines of the mine artifacts were stretching out in all directions.
But he didn't stop charging forward. He lowered his stance and crossed his arms to cover his mouth and cheeks, bracing for impact.
A faint smile formed on his lips, hidden by his sleeve.
For some reason, there were more explosives installed underground than on the surface. That meant naturally, more spec-up was waiting.
Playing minesweeper with his body in reality.
The exciting spec-up time had just begun.
***
"Hoo."
The frantic minesweeping ended faster than expected.
Somewhere deep within the silent underground of Rhodes. Enoch, who had stopped there, halted his somewhat heavier steps and gasped for breath.
There were no more mine artifacts around.
Perhaps due to the adrenaline, his entire body felt numb, but it wasn't as painful as he had expected yet.
Swoosh.
Enoch took off the heavy robe.
─Pasusususu.
The explosion-proof robe seemed to have reached the end of its durability, its exterior crumbling like brittle cookies.
He wouldn't be able to block any more explosions with this anyway.
Still, he had used it quite effectively.
It was a rather satisfying result.
Surely, I might not know it for certain. But my Magic Resistance had definitely gone up by at least one stage because of this. I could check it when I entered the World of Impermanence.
Thinking that, Enoch turned his head.
More importantly. There was something else that was most crucial.
'It's ahead of here.'
Before Enoch's eyes, the light blue, translucent line he had followed so far was drawn.
A light blue line shimmering clearly like a water reflection.
Following the flow of mana, which glowed faintly in the darkness. Enoch slowly moved his steps.
Going deeper, a square appeared.
There, the final part of the submerged fortress appeared. To be precise, perhaps it should be called the fortress gate entrance. The path of the passage was cut off there.
Except for the large hole in the floor.
And the area below the ruin's massive hole had been deeply submerged in water for a long time, with only deep water whose end was unknown filling it like a small lake.
And the light blue line of shimmering mana extended below the surface of that deep lake.
A trace of the past, connected beneath the deep water of the lake.
"Swoosh."
Without hesitation, Enoch immediately inhaled and jumped into the water. A splashing sound hit his ears as he dived underwater.
Immediately, the sensation of cold water wrapped around his entire body. Sounds became muffled, and opening his eyes, white water spray rose before him.
The sunlight that had been coming in through the cracked fissures of the ruin shone through the transparent water. He dived down into the deep water where the bottom was not visible.
By then, Enoch's heart was pounding loudly.
It had taken some time, but at least everything in the farming plan he had planned so far had been completed successfully.
Now, it was time to obtain the next Sword Saint's sword, which he had been anticipating.