Labyrinth City Mesugaki Pawn Shop

28. Extreme Choice (2)

“Password…. 1Q2w3e4r!!”

– Beep, password error (1/3)

“Huh?”

If there was a gap with the first episode, how many times did the password change during that time? A red light appeared behind it and an ominous beep sounded.

It is only natural that the expressions of Yerica and Floren, who followed, would also become anxious.

“Eh, Einheri… Isn’t this wrong?”

“Well… It could be wrong.”

It was within the expected range anyway.

“Oh, then the password, 1q2w3e4r@@”

– Confirmed.

“How can the secrets of the Mage Tower be so…!”

That’s where all the institutional passwords are, an exclamation mark or a simple variation of a golbang special character.

The basement warehouse of the Magic Tower was a very pleasant environment.

The full scent of phytoncide makes you feel as if you are entering a deep broad-leaved forest.

As I passed the entrance, I saw a huge stone pillar and a huge rock giant kneeling on one knee.

The stone statue was surrounded by plants and moss with abundant vitality, and the sight of water flowing under it gave the impression of entering a different world.

“Wow…”

“Giant, scent of forest, richness, sculpture?”

“No, Guardian. If the password was wrong twice, it would have rushed in and tried to tear us apart.”

At those words, Yerica, who was about to put her hand on the stone statue, stepped back and looked around with her trembling eyes.

“Really…?”

“It doesn’t matter if you touch it, but there’s a time limit from when you passed this place.”

An easy password was not given for nothing.

“The time given is only 5 minutes.”

And five minutes is enough time to steal the world.

“Please bring all kinds of accessories. You can also bring anything suspicious or odd looking.”

“What if the thing caught is cursed…?”

It was rather good.

Most of the cursed items are high-risk, high-return, so it might be a useful item for me, who will only be short-lived.

“Everyone is inactive in here anyway. That level of safety is in place.”

“Einheri, inactive, unconfirmed, worn, unconfirmed ability.”

What Floren is trying to say is that if you’re inactive, you can’t check your abilities…

“There is a way.”

I tapped my temple a couple of times and looked up at the ceiling.

A half ability bestowed by a goddess that has never been used before and opens a target’s information window in front of her eyes.

It’s finally time to get to work, you goddamn b*tch.

******

All the teeth of the knife I cherished were gone.

Holding a sword that might better be called the Cowardly Saw now, Captain Lucky looked at the monster in front of him.

During her 40 minutes of time, she and her 30 coalition members inflicted only one solid line on Le Galette’s cheek.

Comparatively, the Union’s damage was devastating.

Although there were no casualties, 10 people were incapacitated and forced to retreat to the rear.

The ranks began to collapse in an instant after one fell, no matter how much Lucky tried, it was too much to change the flow of battle.

All she could do was delay her time a little longer.

‘Should I stop?’

I had the same thought, but I had the feeling that I had already run too far.

And above all, I thought that even if this side stopped, the opponent wouldn’t stop at all.

Those eyes were something full of curiosity about what more he would show, along with the murderous intent to kill all of them.

“Captain, I’ve been thinking about that before the witch… It’s strange.”

“What?”

“Magic, I don’t use anything new.”

When she made a face asking what that meant, Serene pointed at Le Garette with her trembling hand.

“Continuously, they follow us. I’m just familiar with not only my magic but also other skills. All of them are only the skills of our alliance.”

“Completely copying the techniques?”

Even in the labyrinth, it wasn’t that there weren’t monsters that imitated the opponent’s actions.

Even the appearance, behavior, and even trivial habits were copied as if they were reflected in a mirror, but they were generally easy to deal with.

How a replica cannot beat the original.

Copying is the way to show one beat slow action, usually the way to fall out if you compete with speed.

But it was different now.

“…It’s like reading our minds.

“Reading the mind…”

It wasn’t that surprising.

It’s about reading the mind while determining whether or not the subject is lying.

Just…

“That makes no sense. Do you think that’s possible?”

Continuing the battle, while reading the hearts of everyone here in real time?

You have to talk bullsh*t.

If it wasn’t Seren who said it, she might have hit her head right away.

“I don’t think it’s impossible in theory…But it’s strange to say it’s possible.”

No matter how much a witch is, there is a limit, and if she continued to do such things, her brain would not be able to withstand and would have to melt… For some reason, it seemed that Legarete’s abilities were getting stronger and stronger as time went on.

“…Unless you know if the magic corps supports the witch and provides calculation assistance, this is definitely abnormal.”

After falling silent for a moment, Seren cautiously continued.

“If it’s not that, then there’s only one, but no, because this doesn’t make sense.”

“What is it?”

“The Possibility of Our Mental Pollution.”

She almost missed her sword because her pulse was knocked out by the ridiculous sound.

“It is possible enough if we assume that Nana, the captain, and all other members of the alliance suffered from mental contamination. You might be mistaken as if you were reading your mind because you would match your actions according to the target’s intentions. And even more so if you assume you’re looking into the hearts of a few, not all…”

“Is that possible?”

“It’s higher than reading everyone’s mind, but… Quite low.”

The feeling of embarrassment still lingers in my heart.

Even if mental contamination is the cause, when the hell did you get it?

And even more troubling was Legarete’s behavior.

“Collect… Collect… Collect again…”

It was clear that if something like that fell, it would cause damage to the extent that the things that had happened so far would look like grime on one’s fingernails.

An illusion as if a small sun were floating.

“Seren, can you stop that?”

“If you mobilize everything you have, it might be dangerous. From the outside, it looks like light-field magic, but from the inside, it feels a little uneasy… I don’t know.”

Actually, this request was a failure.

Nevertheless, it was close to a kind of wandering thought that Lucky continued to hold on to this request.

The stubbornness caused by the wish for the 21st floor, maybe if you had given up and stepped down early, you wouldn’t have had to endure such damage.

Like a monkey who put his hand in a box, holding onto it until the end without giving up.

“First of all, after blocking that thing, I take all the wounded and bounce to the other side of the city.”

“…It can’t be helped. Okay.”

Did he even notice that Seren was preparing a defense spell? Legarete grinned.

“Ah, are you there?”

There were rats hiding there as I watched through the covered building.

It looks like they’re preparing for a final defense using what they have, but there’s nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, the preparations for this side have been completed.

An ancient magic that has now disappeared, created by recombining the memories of that wizard named Seren and other wizards in the alliance.

[The rising sun]

It was in an incomplete state due to lack of time and materials, but it didn’t matter.

Anyway, with just this, they will disappear without a trace like ants swept away by a flood.

When I pointed my finger at the hiding place, I saw a confused look.

How could a person stop the sun? One of the two suns in the sky began to fall like an arrow.

“Now then, bye everyone-“

What a delightful sight it was, Le Galette smiled broadly and shook her hand.

“Go-“

“Who is going?”

A slender, pure white spear rose from the ground, drawing a white trail towards the falling sun.

The spear, which was so feeble that it seemed like it could be swallowed up, was sucked into the sphere and disappeared.

Legarete frowned at the unplanned, sudden change.

“What is it…?”

The suddenly stopped sphere soon began to condense into a single point.

Originally impossible, everyone’s eyes gathered and the sun, which turned into a dot, soared toward the sky in an instant-

[Beep]

It exploded.

There was no sound that reached this place right away, all I could see was an enormous amount of light and a small amount of heat felt on my skin.

However, an earthquake several times stronger than the one that occurred during the first engagement with Legarete instantly hit the ground, and no one was able to stand.

The massive shockwave that caused the clouds to dissipate and crack the ground, the Spatial Distancing Magic that had been deployed for the battle with Legarete had evaporated without a trace.

“What is that-“

“Wow!!”

Citizens who were evacuating from the outside were also unable to avoid the aftermath and rolled over, while water pipes in various places ruptured and spewed water incessantly into the air.

The feast of red and blue flames that embroidered the entire sky over the city was an irresistible disaster.

“The rising sun…”

It was only then that Serene realized what that witch had spread.

Although imperfect, those traces that appeared in the sky are unmistakably traces of ancient magic, the rising sun.

Seren only had a fragment of that information, but it was a high-level magic that he never thought he could actually implement.

She’ll stop that. She said she herself? Far from blocking it, it almost evaporated into the city as soon as it touched it, leaving not even ashes behind.

As she was about to let go of the trembling staff, she heard a familiar voice from behind.

“Tsk tsk, I can’t stop that one and it’s like this.”

Took, took.

It was none other than the one that appeared in front of Seren with the dull sound of the staff hitting the sidewalk-

” Aren’t you ashamed, disciple?”

A wizard with a white beard wearing a long, gray cone hat.

“Where can I retire because all of my disciples are lacking?”

And even the wizards who are in the same ranks as the military behind such wizards.

“Yerica and Seren, you all look like this… When should I set up a day and give a lecture again…”

“Master?”

“Yes, disciple, didn’t you come to the Mage Tower and live in the union, so you forgot your teacher’s face?”

It was Hayden, leisurely stroking his beard, who stepped forward to the half-abandoned coalition.

Of course, the head of the coalition, Lucky, was on the verge of bursting as he looked at it.

“No, f*ck! When is the time to send the request?”

“So, huh? Shall we go back?”

As soon as it looked as if he was going to turn back at any moment, Lucky grabbed onto the hem of Hayden’s robe and stretched out.

It took an instant for his pride to bend.

“No, that’s just what I’m saying… Ah… Why would anyone who knows everything…”

Even right now, it’s hard to imagine what would have happened if Hayden hadn’t appeared.

But now it was different.

Among wizards, if you were to pick the most outstanding ones, they would be witches.

Although they were each dealing with different fields of magic, it was undeniable that they had reached the pinnacle in their respective fields.

According to one’s inclination and the magic handled, different witches were said to be the best.

On the other hand, when it comes to picking the person who has made the most outstanding achievements, everyone has no choice but to name the same person.

The one who is like the teacher of all wizards, the teacher of witches, and the only three elder of the Mage Tower.

Hayden Walker

His standing here meant a lot.

The Mage Tower’s involvement in this situation is no small matter.

The fact that the conservative Mage Tower, which is so heavy on the hips, moved means that this incident was that serious, or that it was paid for it…

“Tsk, I’m trying to eat the 21st floor alone, so I don’t feel like this.”.

Apparently, this time felt like the latter.

If Einheri hadn’t said it, he’d never know.

If this kind of inspiration is enough to get you out of your seat…

‘Did he really have a dragon’s heart?’

That was the only thing the Magic Tower could do.

Rather, in an otherwise inexplicable situation, Lucky opened his eyes wide and glared at Hayden.

“What kind of elf’s eyes are so magical…”

Lucky, who was trying to correct himself, said it was a dark elf, not an elf, but held it back. The only thing I regret right now is this side, not Hayden.

“Even if you stare at me like that, are you sure I can tell you?”

“…So you came to stop that witch, your disciple?”

A woman who seemed to have just entered the 30th line was spitting her dirty words at an old man, but she didn’t say anything to anyone.

Since the age of the heterogeneous tribe is different from that of humans, even the head of the federation has been serving for over 300 years.

Rather, Hayden should say honorifics to Lucky, considering the age difference, but it wasn’t a particularly meaningful act for them.

“First of all, I think you misunderstood, but Legarete is not my student. He was a disciple in the past. About a year?”

“What bullsh*t is that…”

Isn’t that witch you cherished and raised a disciple?

“That means you are in a state of mental contamination…”

“….!”

Everyone couldn’t help but be surprised when the situation Seren assumed was coming out of Hayden’s mouth.

When?

The basis of mind contamination is contact with the subject, but no one has had such symptoms.

“Seren is not to blame for the mental contamination that happened so suddenly that the Mage Tower’s emergency shutoff ceremony was activated. I only knew after the apparition, because I didn’t even notice it until then.”

In this city, there’s probably only one person… Who will notice that in advance.

Jan Estoria.

“It’s not to the extent of giving out compulsory commands like brainwashing because it’s extensively affected, but to guys like you who went through direct combat, it must have felt like the other person knew everything about me. Even though in reality they are planting false memories and perceptions to do so.”

Hayden immediately pointed out what Seren felt.

“Well, it won’t work for me.”

As she swung her staff, Legarete’s upper body suddenly jumped open diagonally.

“Because I couldn’t touch my memory.”

It was a sight as if a huge blade had cut through it. It was a wound that would not be strange even if the internal organs came out all over the blood, but it healed in an instant, as if it had never happened before.

Perhaps even a saintess would come, but the fact that her body was restored as if time were rewinding was more like a miracle than a miracle.

The wounds on the cheeks that Union had inflicted were also neatly erased.

“Ah, it hurts, Master. Really, you are a bad person. You still treat your disciples so severely.”

Legarete descended to the ground and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Who is the teacher? I’ve never had a monster student like you.”

“I am really sad that the teacher can’t remember the student.”

Contrary to the word sad, Legarete’s face was smiling so brightly.

“So, if I tore Master’s limbs into small pieces and pulled out his head, would he remember then?”

That smile contains neither sadness nor happiness, but only huge malice.

“Tsk.”

Hayden clicked his tongue and raised his staff.

It seemed that it would not end easily.