Chapter 160: Academy Heroine's Right Diagonal Back Seat
Chapter 160
A sewer stretching endlessly beneath the city.
Dark and dank, filled with an unsettling odor that clung to the air where barely any light could reach, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed through the sewer.
“Damn it, damn it...”
The owner of those footsteps was none other than Freede, the one responsible for cutting through the barrier and releasing monsters into the city, plunging it into chaos.
Despite having brought such chaos to the city, Freede herself was in a terribly foul mood.
“Tch, to think I... have to roam around in such a disgusting place...”
The reason for her frustration was that she had been forced to move exclusively through the sewer ever since her infiltration of the city.
Normally, with Freede’s personality, she would never have chosen to move through such a place.
‘Hmm, there’s something convenient. If you go down below the city, you’ll find a long sewer. Use it to get to the center of the city. It’s perfect for a weakling like you to sneak around without being seen.’
Unfortunately, she didn’t have a choice.
“That bitch... I’ll get my revenge one day, I swear...”
As she recalled the sneering face of the woman who sent her to this city, Freede shouted in fury.
This situation was completely displeasing to her.
Being forced to follow someone’s orders was infuriating enough, but most of all, having to sneak around like a rat was unbearable.
To the witch once called the strongest, the thought of hiding was unacceptable.
At the very least, if she could have met every human face-to-face at the city’s entrance, like that man did, making them kneel and reclaiming the fearsome reputation that once terrorized the world, she wouldn’t have been this annoyed.
But what was her current state?
She had entered a place where she could showcase her power, only to be reduced to sneaking around without a fight.
Freede could not stand it.
She hadn’t awoken from her long slumber to suffer such humiliation.
However,
‘You better do exactly as I say. I don’t expect a halfwit like you to handle things well, but don’t disobey my words and act on your own. I wouldn’t want you to end up enjoying yourself like last time.’
“...Damn it.”
Recalling the woman’s warning before entering the city, Freede had no choice but to suppress her anger.
The memory of the torture she endured to ensure her compliance sent shivers down her spine.
Had it been the kind of torture that inflicted pain, she wouldn’t have bent, even if it meant dying.
But the torment she experienced brought not pain, but pleasure.
Not just any pleasure, but a terrifying, unimaginable sensation that she had never known existed.
A feeling so intense it seemed to strip away her very sense of self, making Freede feel fear for the first time in her life.
Though she was strong in both pride and self, the sensation of having her existence seemingly erased from this world was more terrifying than anything she had ever known.
When asked if she was now in the mood to obey orders, she had thrown away her pride, begging tearfully that she would do anything to make it stop.
That was why, despite her frustration, Freede was following the woman’s orders.
Swearing to herself that after this was over, she would one day grow stronger and take revenge on those damn women who had humiliated her.
“...Enter the city by cutting through the barrier, move through the sewers to the center, and then destroy the magic circle at the city’s core...”
Desperate to escape this wretched sewer and the commands that bound her, Freede picked up speed.
And just as she thought she was nearing her destination,
“...So, this was the right place after all.”
A red-haired girl stood waiting, as if she’d been expecting her. Freede curled her lips into a smile.
The woman’s smug assurance that no one would think to come down into the sewer since the monsters were rampaging above had been wrong, and the thought amused her.
Feeling slightly better, Freede decided to end things swiftly without causing pain.
With that in mind, she swung an attack aiming for the girl’s neck.
However, her strike sliced through the air, producing a sharp sound as the girl’s quick reflexes allowed her to bend back and dodge in time.
Freede’s smile faded into a scowl at the sight.
That a mere human dared evade her attack was enough to irritate her, but she quickly lost interest in attacking again, withdrawing her claw.
The girl looked weak, unlikely to pose any significant interference.
Thinking it best to ignore her and complete her task, Freede turned her back and started running again.
“...That’s odd. I heard a witch had invaded.”
The girl’s words, murmured as she wiped away a wound on her forehead from the glancing blow, made Freede stop in her tracks.
There was something about the tone of her voice that grated on Freede’s nerves.
Turning back, Freede asked the girl,
“...What’s so odd?”
The girl responded, smiling as if to provoke her.
“I’ve seen other witches a few times before, so I know how terrifying they can be.”
And then, with a smirk,
“You’re too weak to be a witch.”
That taunt hit its mark perfectly.
Those words obliterated any remaining thought in Freede’s mind of letting the girl live.
*
At the northernmost boundary region monitored by Astrape’s 4th division.
The situation room, filled with renowned heroes, was tense, each wearing a grave expression.
The shocking news that a witch had broken through the barrier and unleashed monsters within the city was enough to shake them all.
In the heavy silence of the conference room, it was Yoon Si-woo who spoke first.
“...We have to go, Captain Martina. The city is in danger! We must provide support immediately—!”
“...Si-woo, I understand your anxiety, but calm down. You know well enough that it’s not that simple.”
Martina’s response left Yoon Si-woo with no choice but to fall silent.
“Because of the side effects of the anti-teleportation magic circle, all the transfer gates are currently down. Even though Captain Leon set out as soon as he heard the news, no matter how fast he runs, it will take quite a while to get from the front lines to the city.”
Just as she said, the transfer gates—the only practical means of support—were completely inoperative.
Yoon Si-woo knew that realistically, sending reinforcements was impossible.
But even so, he couldn’t hide his growing anxiety.
If anything happened to Scarlet because of the witch or the monsters…
As Yoon Si-woo’s expression grew increasingly worried, Martina spoke in a deliberately calm voice.
“We’ve already deployed emergency forces around the city in case of situations like this, so try not to worry too much. Lucas, the vice-captain of the 3rd division, is stationed there. No matter how strong the enemy, they should be able to—”
“...Captain Martina. Urgent news. Vice-Captain Lucas Eloise is in critical condition after fighting the witch. He’s currently unconscious and undergoing surgery, but it’s uncertain whether he’ll survive…”
“...Damn it, is this for real...?”
The new report caused Martina’s expression to crumple as she tried to calm Yoon Si-woo.
She was one of the people who recognized Lucas’s abilities better than anyone.
Lucas Eloise was an exceptional man whom Martina had admired to the point of briefly harboring romantic feelings for him, as she had always been attracted to those stronger than herself.
The fact that he had been taken down meant the situation was far graver than they had imagined, and Martina slammed her fist onto the desk in frustration.
The sound reverberated through the room, making Yoon Si-woo flinch.
But it wasn’t the noise that startled him.
It was the strand of Scarlet’s hair attached to the Holy Sword of Truth.
Through it, he sensed that she had been hurt.
“Even now, we need to send reinforcements...!”
“Shut up! You think you’re the only one feeling this way?! I want to go too! But there’s no way to get there, no way! The transfer gates are down! And if we run there, do you think we’ll make it in time?!”
As Yoon Si-woo shouted in frustration, Martina’s voice exploded with the anger she had been holding back.
Yoon Si-woo’s face twisted at her response.
He knew it.
He knew that he wasn’t acting calmly.
But he had promised Scarlet.
He had sworn to her that if she was ever in danger, he would come running to her side no matter where he was.
However, the distance was too great for him to simply run.
With Scarlet in urgent danger, he couldn’t keep his composure.
He had to find a way to help Scarlet, even if just for a moment sooner.
Yoon Si-woo asked urgently.
“Is there... is there any way? Can’t we reactivate the transfer gates somehow...?”
“...To properly synchronize them again would take at least a few days.”
“Then what about... an abnormal method?”
“...It’s not that I haven’t considered it, but the magic circle isn’t that sloppy. If we try to force it open improperly, the dimension will twist, and we can’t guarantee the safety of anyone crossing. Plus, to even attempt that, we’d need a mage on the other side who’s at least as skilled as I am…”
As Martina shook her head in frustration, muttering how infuriating the situation was, Yoon Si-woo’s mind suddenly flashed to the face of a new friend he had made recently.
He turned to Martina and shouted.
“So if there’s another mage on the other side, that other method would work?!”
“...Didn’t I just say? Unless it’s a mage of my level—”
“There is! At least in this field, someone comparable to you exists!”
Yoon Si-woo exclaimed as he pulled out his phone and dialed the most recently saved number.
Please, please pick up.
As he desperately prayed, the call rang, and shortly after, a beep was followed by a distinctively blunt voice from the other end.
[...Yoon Si-woo? What’s going on? Things are hectic here; we’re in the middle of evacuating civilians.]
“Dwight! Get to the gate closest to the boundary area city right now!”
[...What are you planning?]
“I’m crossing over! From here to your side!”
[...You’re not seriously thinking of forcing your way through a disrupted gate, are you? That’s insane. There’s no way you’ll come out of it intact.]
Martina’s eyes shifted to Yoon Si-woo the moment the question was asked.
Yoon Si-woo could see that she was asking him the same question as Dwight.
Even though it couldn’t guarantee his safety, was he really planning to take such a reckless risk?
Without hesitation, Yoon Si-woo tossed his sword into the air, letting it fall toward his arm.
His arm was severed, and Martina looked on in shock.
But Yoon Si-woo, using the power of the Unyielding Holy Sword, instantly regenerated a new arm from his empty shoulder and spoke.
“I don’t care if my limbs are torn off, as long as I’m still breathing.”
So just shut up and send me to Scarlet’s side.
That was Yoon Si-woo’s answer to their questions.
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It's so good
ReplyDeleteBreaking a weakling's pride, heh.
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