BXBX NOVEL Chapter 23 – Unexpected Situation (3)
Chapter 23 – Unexpected Situation (3)
Chapter 23 – Unexpected Situation (3)
“…”
As dawn breaks over the Cradle, a time when everyone should have been fast asleep.
Luciel remained awake, her eyes open in the darkness.
“Senior.”
She Turned her head and saw Neferti approaching, seeing her fingers toying with her fan.
“Wouldn’t it be better to get some sleep? You’ve been like this for three hours now.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. You’re the leader of the dispatch and our best swordsman. If you show any weakness due to exhaustion, it will be a big problem for everyone.”
Even if one’s ability is invincible, the person wielding it isn’t.
They were also human. If they did not eat, rest, or sleep on time, they would eventually collapse.
“Are you doing this out of a sense of responsibility? Because you think this happened because of you?”
No answer came. Neferti unfolded her fan as if expecting this.
“I heard the news. This strange phenomenon isn’t limited to the Cradle. As you think, the start of this incident was indeed due to the damage to the Seal Stone. But that doesn’t mean everything is your fault.”
“…”
“So, let go of the guilt and responsibility. It’s more important to find a way to overcome this, isn’t it?”
Luciel, who had been staring blankly at her junior, smiled faintly.
Then she began, ‘This is why I like the President so much.’
“Sometimes it feels like the President is the senior, not me.”
“Oh ho ho! Well, not just any student can be the President! Oh ho ho ho!!”
That President had great and all, but they implored her to lower her voice, fearing it would awaken everyone.
she admitted her mistake, apologizing; Ah! You’re right! I’m sorry! I got carried away!
“Besides, haven’t any of the teachers returned yet?”
“No, not a single one.”
“…It’s just that the subjugation is taking a bit longer than usual, right?”
“That must be it. The teachers at the Cradle are no ordinary people.”
They were more skilled than Luciel, possessing dozens of times more experience in the field.
Such were the teachers at the Cradle. Although they had retired from the front lines, they remained as competent as active agents.
No harm would come; it was merely that something had gone awry, which explained the delay.
This was the belief that Luciel and Neferti chose to hold onto.
“Student Luciel!”
“Ah, Mr. Smith?”
“Wake up all the members of the dispatch team immediately!”
At those words, a feeling of ‘Could it be’ arose on Luciel and Neferti’s faces.
“A gate has appeared. Fortunately, it’s a low-risk level and smaller than the previous ones.”
“Are we on standby? Or…”
“We’re leaning towards entering, but since none of the other teachers have returned, we’ll need to assess the situation further before deciding whether to wait or go in.”
The two girls nodded and immediately prepared the dispatch team.
Although they might lack the experience of the teachers, their enthusiasm and sense of duty were no less.
Above all, they were the ones whose skills and abilities were acknowledged even by the teachers!
“That must be it.”
Arriving at the scene, they saw a gate that was indeed much smaller than the others. It was small enough that the students of the Cradle could easily handle it.
“As you said, it’s a low-risk level.”
“What are you going to do? We can enter with the dispatch team.”
“Wait here for a moment. I’ll check it again.”
Mr. Smith approached the gate. Indeed, it didn’t look very threatening.
In his experience, such gates usually only produced small monsters.
For that reason. Just when he was thinking it would be okay to allow the dispatch team to enter.
—Beeeeeep!!
The level-measuring device in his hand suddenly shot up vertically.
Low-risk to past medium then high-risk in an instant. As if that wasn’t enough, it wailed as if it was going to break through its limits!
“Th-this!”
Mr. Smith quickly turned around and shouted to the students of the dispatch team.
“Get back! Quickly! As far away from here as—”
Immediately after, a tremendous roar shook the Cradle.
—Booooom!!
***
“…Are you alright?”
Hunter asked the exhausted-looking woman sitting next to him with concern. The limp Golden Retriever, no, Tiamat, shook her head.
“No… I’m starving to death…”
If he had known this would happen, he would have brought something. The risk level was low, so he thought it would be over quickly.
“I should have brought emergency rations… Sob sob. I should have at least brought some jerky…”
“Let’s make sure to do that next time.”
Though he wasn’t sure if they would still be doing fieldwork then. Hunter gave an awkward smile and fiddled with his sunglasses.
He still had no idea what was going on.
They had clearly entered to destroy the gate and subjugate the monsters. And for the first hour, everything had been going smoothly.
‘The change happened after that.’
The monsters that always drooled yellow saliva and lunged at humans… This time, it was different. At some point, they started to avoid them.
Did they judge that they couldn’t win? Were they intelligent creatures? No, no matter how he looked at it, they weren’t high-risk enough to be considered intelligent.
Even if they were intelligent, they would know in the end.
They had to eliminate them to get to the other side.
But why were they just running away and wasting time?
Sensing something was amiss, the two teachers decided to turn back.
But it was already too late. A thick fog suddenly rolled in, disorienting them.
The gate had somehow turned into a complex maze, trapping them and refusing to let them go.
“Mr. Hunter, no matter how I look at it, this seems like they’re trying to hold us back, doesn’t it?”
“It seems that way to you too, Ms. Tiamat.”
“This is the first time this has ever happened. It’s never happened before.”
He nodded and checked the watch on his wrist.
Several hours had already passed. Outside, it would be past midnight and into the early morning.
“If this is the case… The Cradle will deem this situation dangerous and will organize more teachers into a team.”
“Yes, and although they wouldn’t normally enter, due to the Cradle’s social standing, they won’t allow monsters to roam free, so eventually, those teachers will enter the gate.”
As they exchanged opinions, the current situation became clear.
The Cradle’s forces would be temporarily tied up inside the gate.
There wouldn’t be any significant damage, but the return time would be twice as long as usual.
‘If the real enemy crosses over through the last gate in that situation…’
Both Hunter and Tiamat had the same thought. And the same conclusion that followed made them unable to hide their anxiety.
“We’ll get support from the outside, right?”
“Of course we will. They value the Cradle so much.”
Yes, but why did he have the feeling that it might not happen?
***
“Cough, cough!”
Her head throbbed. A terrible headache followed. She couldn’t hold her body properly. She wanted to lie down like this.
But she couldn’t. She wasn’t an ordinary person.
“Ugh…”
Groaning in pain, Neferti looked around.
The Vice president Kasar was the first to be seen, waking up and groaning similarly.
However, judging by the blood flowing from his head, he was definitely not okay.
With an injury like that, he should at least be worried about a concussion.
‘The others…’
Two dispatch members were still unconscious, a second-year student and a fourth-year senior.
It seemed they had been thrown back by the impact earlier and suffered more severe injuries.
Then, where were the rest of the dispatch members? Where were they?
—Booooom!!
Something whizzed past Neferti and crashed into the ground with a roar.
She turned her head and oh my, it was definitely the fourth-year student, the Vice-captain of the dispatch team!
“S-senior!”
“Ugh… I-I’m fine…! Hurry and provide combat support!!”
Support? Neferti looked in the direction the fourth-year student indicated.
“Senior! Be careful!”
“Student Luciel! I’ll take care of the front, so you back up the other students first!”
“Yes, sir!!”
A fierce battle was raging. Mr. Smith, Luciel, and other dispatch members.
Everyone was gritting their teeth and fighting. Their desperate will was palpable.
And in front of them was a giant monster they had never seen before.
“Resist more. More! More! Only then can it be a battle worthy of this vanguard’s status!”
The monster spoke. She hadn’t misheard. It was definitely speaking.
A monster that could speak human language!? This was the first time she had ever heard of such a thing!
While her mind questioned how this was possible, her instincts led her to the battlefield.
—Swish!
Neferti’s fan unfolded and a gust of cold wind erupted from it. It deflected the arm of the monster, or rather the creature that was aiming for Mr. Smith.
To be precise, it wasn’t to deflect, but a strike meant to cut.
‘This is not good…!’
Mr. Smith was a defense type, well-suited for close combat.
She knew his body had been under a lot of strain from previous activities.
Wasn’t it quite a struggle for him to even hold his ground right now?
Luciel and the rest of the dispatch team were doing their best. But their opponent was no ordinary monster. There were hardly any effective hits.
The only thing they could do was inflict scar whenever the light sword flashed.
“President! Focus on supporting Luciel! The other members and I will try to distract it as much as possible!”
“Ah! Yes! Understood!”
Choosing and focusing. Here, Luciel was the sharpest sword they had.
The others would distract the monster as much as possible, and Neferti would provide wind acceleration.
In the meantime, Luciel would prepare her best strike to turn the tide of the battle in an instant.
However, there was something they had overlooked. No, something they hadn’t even considered.
“Oh?”
Their opponent wasn’t an ordinary ‘monster’ like the ones they had faced before.
“I thought you were just grunts. You’re quite good!”
A dark spear materialized in the giant monster’s hand.
It wasn’t a crude weapon like the few monsters that used tools.
The perfectly sharpened spear was imbued with an ominous aura.
The moment she saw it, Neferti instinctively realized that a direct hit would mean certain death.
—Crash!
—Boom!
“Ugh!”
Mr. Smith, who had been holding the front line as best he could, finally collapsed.
He would have been crushed if Neferti hadn’t moved him with her wind.
With the vanguard down, the other dispatch members were soon reaching their limits.
Their abilities were certainly outstanding, but they still lacked experience.
On top of that, the fact that they were facing an unknown enemy for the first time caused them to shrink back psychologically.
Neither Neferti’s wind nor Luciel’s light could deliver a critical blow.
On the other hand, the creature was wielding its spear with a creepy laugh.
‘There’s no hope for backup. There aren’t any teachers left at the Cradle either…! What am I supposed to do…!’
Ah. A single sigh escaped Neferti’s lips.
Stupid of her to be thinking about something else at this critical moment. Seeing the giant spear coming down at her, Neferti swung her fan.
—Whoosh!
“Ugh…!”
Even though she had created wind at the last moment to deflect the trajectory, Neferti screamed in pain as if her entire body was being crushed.
She was spinning through the air, her consciousness fading. She couldn’t just fall to the ground like this. She had to react somehow.
She bit her lip and tried to activate her ability, but she couldn’t control it. It was impossible in her current state, shaken by pain and shock. Desperate, Neferti tried to protect at least her neck.
—Bam!
“…”
Until she felt something warm and solid instead of the hard ground.