Chapter 87. Master of Explosions (3)
I descended deeper into the water.
I glanced around. This was a place that had been submerged in the past. It seemed to be the location of the fortress gate entrance at one time.
Perhaps it was because the ground of the island where the fortress city stood had sunk beneath the lake? Even though this place was submerged, it didn't seem very damaged.
As if time had stopped since the past.
I continued to swim down.
As the collapsed fortress walls of the ruins passed by and the shimmering water reflections on the surface disappeared. Enoch's eyes widened as he cut through the water and descended.
Deep underwater.
The massive entrance of the submerged fortress gate. On the land of the past, submerged in time and devoid of sound,
A silver knight was kneeling.
A knight who had met his end quietly, kneeling as if praying to something, with his long two-handed greatsword plunged into the ground and held together with both hands.
A silver helmet and armor. He was a knight wearing a blue cloak. Judging only by his armor, his physique seemed quite slender.
And the light blue mana that Enoch had followed was flowing from the greatsword the knight was gripping.
So, was that knight a Sword Saint?
Enoch swam closer to the knight.
Even though he must have been underwater for a long time. Strangely, the metal surface of the knight's sword and armor was completely free of moss and wasn't corroded by the water.
Come to think of it, the Emperor's Supreme Sword also didn't corrode despite being neglected in the Underground Prison. Perhaps the metal used by those who projected unique mana didn't rust.
Enoch reached out and grasped the greatsword that the silver knight was holding together with his gauntlets.
Clank-
Then. Perhaps the leather joints of the armor, which had been corroding underwater, came undone from the slight impact. In the clear lake water, the various parts of the armor scattered into pieces and began to float quietly.
The knight thus slowly began to lose his form.
Through the ages.
The silver gauntlets, helmet, pauldrons, and breastplate that had been sleeping underwater. All traces of that shining steel passed by the past and floated quietly around Enoch.
And the next moment.
Suddenly, the world underwater, which had been entirely blue, reversed.
Enoch realized that the World of Impermanence had begun to activate immediately after. Enoch, who had been staring blankly at it for a moment, instantly snapped back to reality.
He was currently submerged.
If he entered the World of Impermanence here, he would surely drown.
Just as a chill ran down Enoch's spine—
? Glass Shard of the Inner World Activated: Inheritance Temporarily Suspended
A short message flashed for a moment. The vision that had just reversed sharply returned to reality.
Enoch let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
Perhaps he still couldn't control the Inner World, but it was a good thing he had acquired Persona's magic gear.
"Ugh."
However, his breath was already becoming short.
Clutching the knight's sword scabbard, which was floating upwards in the water along with the armor fragments, Enoch, who had sheathed the sword, began swimming towards the light of the surface with all his might.
The breath he had taken was already reaching its limit. His lungs were running out of oxygen and blurring his vision. But before his strength ran out, fortunately, the light of the surface was visible.
Splash.
He barely managed to touch the ground and pull his body out of the water onto the surface. He was gasping for air, as if he had been submerged for too long. But there was no time to rest.
At this rate, it was obvious that it would collapse soon.
Pasususu.
Looking around, small rock fragments were already falling. It was clearly a situation of imminent collapse.
It was probably due to the explosions in the passage earlier.
Enoch wrapped the sword tightly in the explosion-proof robe to hide it.
As planned, he had secured the Sword Saint's sword. Now, he had to get out of here as quickly as possible. Just as he thought that and took a step forward—
─Click!
Under the foot he had just stepped forward with.
A chilling sound of a mechanical device being pressed echoed. His movement stopped for a moment. A chill ran down his spine.
Only then did Enoch slowly look around.
-Swoosh
The ruin site, in the process of being submerged.
The old central part of the ancient Rhodes fortress.
The darkness of the massive passage, like the eyes of a gigantic monster, stared at him blankly.
A place where there should be no people according to the original work.
However, in the corridor that should have been...
'It's a trap.'
In the deep darkness. The red LEDs of artifacts installed to surround him flickered, watching Enoch, whose escape route was completely cut off, as if mocking him.
Glancing around, countless bomb artifacts were installed throughout the dark passage.
Unknowingly, he swallowed dryly. It was clearly a meticulously designed trap. There wasn't even space to take a proper step.
The moment Enoch realized that fact—
"How about this. Shall I ask you a quiz?"
Someone's voice pierced his ears.
It was a voice from above.
Enoch slowly raised his head.
The top of a half-collapsed massive pillar in the corridor.
A girl was sitting on the edge of it, propping her chin on her hand with her legs crossed, looking down at me.
White skin, and jet-black hair flowing down.
A girl with bright yellow eyes that seemed to draw people in, illuminating the darkness as she stared down at him.
Enoch immediately recognized her identity.
Flare.
A short skirt and tank top that showed off her feminine curves without reservation, just like in the original work.
Half-hanging over her shoulders and chest, revealing her brightly, was a black jacket. She was quietly smiling as she looked at Enoch from the darkness.
"Well, try to guess."
Her bright yellow eyes shone clearly.
"That thing you're stepping on. Is it a bomb?"
Flare tilted the leg she had crossed on the pillar and smiled faintly, as if teasing her prey.
"You never know. Maybe it's not a bomb, but just a surprise gift that's empty inside. Don't you think?"
Enoch stared at her with a calm gaze.
Silence flowed for a moment.
Flare was still looking down at him with the same faint, meaningless smile, looking intrigued.
A gaze like a researcher observing a laboratory mouse. It was slightly chilling.
"Alright, it's time to choose."
She slowly raised one arm to the side.
In that hand, she held her magic gear.
─Detonator.
A firing device activated by gripping it with one hand.
A modern metal magic gear, similar in form to that.
In the original work, that was certainly the trigger for activating magic. Just like detonating a real C4 bomb, she activated powerful explosion magic by gripping it.
Flare asked again with a meaningless smile.
"How is it? Do you think you know the answer?"
"Well, I think I have a rough idea."
"...Huh? You think you know?"
Enoch's calm reply. The moment Flare tilted her head at that unexpected immediate answer.
Enoch lifted his foot and stepped down hard on the explosion artifact he was standing on.
In an instant, a sharp electronic mechanical sound erupted.
The explosion magic was immediately deployed and activated. A powerful shock erupted from beneath Enoch's foot, and a shockwave swept through the passage.
Kwooouuung!
A strong vibration spread throughout the surroundings.
Stone fragments shattered and flew around with a roar. Dust rose, and a violent tremor shook the massive underground cavern, causing rockfalls from the ceiling.
Clearly, judging from his action just now, it could be seen as Enoch having self-detonated in a baffling manner.
However.
Flare's gaze, which had been looking at the center of the explosion without even caring about the rockfall from the ceiling, had narrowed slightly.
"...Unexpected. You are."
After the aftermath of the explosion subsided and the dust cleared.
Enoch stood there unharmed. His clothes were quite tattered, but there were no major visible injuries. Flare said, narrowing her eyes.
"To just step on it so suddenly. I never imagined it."
It was only natural. Enoch glanced at his feet.
This wasn't, to begin with, an artifact with real lethal power imbued with explosion magic.
「...What Flare installs beneath her opponent's feet to toy with them is always a mine artifact imbued with explosion magic whose power is minimized.」
「According to her commando subordinates, that seemed to be Flare's way of greeting people...」
Flare, the Commando Captain of Vendetta who appeared in the original work.
Her capricious nature, enjoying playing with people, was already fully known to him.
Therefore, there was no reason to waste time. And no desire to do so.
"Ahahahaha! I like you!"
She laughed with her chin propped on her hand, as if amused.
"Usually, everyone just trembles after stepping on it. How did you know it was fake? You didn't seem to deploy any defensive magic. Even if the power was reduced, your ankle should have been blown off, but you're perfectly fine?"
"No need to know. What do you want?"
"Of course, I'm interested in you."
Flare uncrossed her legs and stood up.
Then, placing one hand on her hip, she gestured with her chin towards the bomb artifact that had disappeared, leaving a large scorch mark at my feet.
"Honestly, I wondered how great you were to be so famous these days. Are you really missing a screw or something? Normally, people get so scared they even wet themselves."
"Public urination is not my preference. What a pity."
Flare, seemingly pleased with the answer, smiled broadly once and then shrugged.
"Well. Anyway, if we're going to get along in the future, introductions should come first, right? My name is..."
"Flare. Let's stop wasting time. Get to the point."
Flare's eyes narrowed for a moment.
"...You know?"
"To some extent."
"As expected, it seems you belong to Elsyde and have good information gathering skills? That's right, it's a codename, but everyone calls me that. I belong to Vendetta. For now, anyway."
"Let's both stop wasting time. There are things I want to ask as well."
Enoch glanced back.
"Coming here, other paths were blocked by explosions and collapsed. Were you guiding me?"
Indeed, the other passages I saw while following the Sword Saint's mana line had their entrances collapsed by the installed explosives.
Flare smiled slightly as if amused.
"Well. I won't deny it."
"What's the reason?"
"Well, personally, I was curious about you. Photos you see in the media and news just aren't satisfying, are they? You have to see a rising celebrity in person at least once."
Flare smiled sweetly and lightly touched her lips with her index finger.
"Oh right! I hear that Vendetta itself is also showing considerable interest in you recently?"
"Vendetta, in me?"
"Of course. Tantalus also said he saw an interesting kid in Leopold, didn't he? I was curious who this eccentric person was praising so highly, so I came to take a look."
Enoch narrowed his eyes.
"Tantalus, huh. What did he say about me?"
"Haa. That eccentric, share information or data he knows with someone? What a hilarious joke. Even a passing dog would laugh. I just heard rumors."
She shrugged as if bewildered.
Indeed, it was true.
That's how it was described in the original work.
「Tantalus did not actively share his personal research data or objectives within Vendetta.」
Since that was the case from the start, not much was revealed about Tantalus's actions or motives in the original work.
Then at least, Tantalus didn't share information about the Sword Saint or the sword. In that sense, that was fortunate for now.
"You must have known about the Beast-kin village incident, though."
"Ah, the Beast-kin village? Even I, who am not an Annihilation Officer, know roughly about that much. I heard the Vendetta members under Tantalus deployed there were heavily defeated?"
"If you brought up Tantalus's name knowing that, did you come to avenge him?"
"Huh? Revenge?"
Flare's provocative gaze widened slightly.
Then she burst into laughter, heartily.
"Ahahahaha, Tantalus's revenge? Ahahaha...!"
She laughed for a long time, then looked down at me with a chilling smile on her lips.
"That's the funniest joke I've heard recently. Tantalus's 'revenge', you say? There's no need for something like that."
"No need for revenge?"
"Of course. To begin with, it seems you are gravely mistaken about that eccentric. He..."
Kururururu.
The next moment, cutting her off.
The surroundings vibrated greatly with a roar. The collapse of the underground cavern of Rhodes was imminent.
"Well, never mind. I just came to see your face today."
Flare glanced at the hem of the robe in Enoch's hand. Something wrapped tightly in it.
"That. That's your objective, isn't it? I don't know what you pulled out of that water, but I'll give it to you. There was no command to retrieve something like that anyway."
She glanced back at me and lightly waved her hand, then disappeared around the corner.
"Well then, I look forward to your future exploits. See you later~"
Around the time her light words echoed and disappeared down the passage. Enoch slowly exhaled the breath he had been holding.
Flare.
One of the powerful combat mages from the original work. While she was one of the characters shrouded in quite a few secrets throughout the unfolding story...
'I didn't expect to encounter her in a place like this so suddenly.'
If she had intended to fight, would he have won? Enoch shook his head slightly at his own question. He didn't know. At the very least, it wouldn't have ended with just scratched injuries.
Although he said it was for spec-up, he had accumulated considerable fatigue from coming here immediately after the joint mission ended. It was fortunate that it ended without a fight this time.
But just then, the ground beneath his feet vibrated violently. A shocking fact flashed through his mind in an instant.
Oh no. Rhodes would collapse soon—!
And the next moment.
Massive rocks from the ceiling began to fall one after another. Fragments and dust erupted, and the ground vibrated.
Kwaaaaang!
Suddenly, a ripping roar echoed from beneath his feet, and a large crack ran between his two feet.
Enoch's eyes widened.
However, he was wearing a heavy explosion-proof robe and was tired from swimming. It was then that he realized his reaction was just a tiny bit late.
Immediately, the ground and ceiling, which had been weakened by the explosions from the upper level just now, also vibrated violently. Cracks split in a chaotic spiderweb pattern, and the passage ceiling collapsed in unison.
Enoch staggered from the impact and lost his balance, falling backward.
"...!"
In an instant, feeling a void in his back, he turned his eyes to see a massive crater had formed on the floor, opening its maw as if to swallow him as the ground collapsed.
A chill ran down his spine for a moment. The entire surrounding passage was collapsing. In the empty sensation of having no foothold, a threat flashed through his mind for a moment.
At this rate, he would fall straight into that abyss—
─Taaht!
Just then. Suddenly, he felt a soft touch wrap strongly around his side, and a sensation of buoyancy.
And then from beside him, the familiar bright voice of the girl pierced his ears.
"How about it? I wasn't late this time!"
It was none other than Sirocco, who, holding Enoch to the side with her slender arm, kicked off the collapsing floor and leaped into the air.
She leaped upwards, kicking off the consecutively collapsing ground as if playing a jump game.
She soared upwards with Enoch in one go, heading for the ground that hadn't collapsed. The wind brushed against his cheeks like mad.
A moment later, the words Sirocco had spoken came to mind.
[Of course! Last time I was foolishly frozen, but this time, if something like that happens, I can save you properly!]
Enoch couldn't help but chuckle. In the rapidly rising sensation of buoyancy, the wind brushing against his hair felt surprisingly pleasant.
"Indeed. You weren't late."
Recruiting Sirocco as his first follower family was indeed the correct answer.