Songs in the Void

Arifureta Universe, Tortus, Orcus Great Labyrinth, Upper Labyrinth, Unknown Floor.

Unfortunately, by the time Meld noticed the Behemoth on one side of the bridge and the skeleton soldiers on the other, it was too late. Even so, he was an experienced knight. So, he quickly decided on his next course of action.

"Kouki! Tatsuo!" Meld shouted. "Lead your teams to clear those skeletons. We'll hold back the Behemoth."

Naturally, when Meld said we, he meant himself and the rest of the knights in the escort team. And while Tatsuo was quick to run towards the skeleton soldiers along with Sumire, James, and Hajime, Kouki looked at Meld as if he had said something incredibly stupid.

"How can we do that?" Kouki asked angrily. "You really expect us to leave you to die, Meld-San?"

Hearing Kouki's voice from nearby, Meld looked in its direction. And when he saw Kouki and Ryutaro still standing in the same place while Shizuku and Kaori, who had started immediately running towards the skeletons when they received the order, stopped to look back at Kouki with incredulous expressions, was exasperated.

Meld really wanted to scold Kouki for not following orders. However, there was no time for that. Instead, only shoved Kouki towards the skeleton soldiers before pulling a folded piece of paper out of his pouch.

When Meld unfolded the piece of paper, it was revealed to be a magic circle that was about 6'6" in diameter. Then, once the paper was unfolded fully, Meld and two other knights held it as they began to chant in unison.

During that time, the Behemoth, which looked like a purple triceratops wearing a black, metallic helmet, began its charge. And with every step, the stone bridge trembled under its weight. On top of that, the black metallic helmet started turning red as if it were being superheated.

"Repel all Malice and Enmity, Absolute Providence from the Son of God, Herein a Sanctuary, The Enemy of God Shall not Pass, [Absolute Virtue]."

As soon as the chant ended and the knights said aloud the name of the spell, the magic circle on the paper began to glow in a sky blue light. A moment later, a translucent, sky blue barrier appeared between the knights and the Behemoth.

Even so, the Behemoth did not seem to care, as its speed increased, increasing its momentum along with it. Then when it was about fifteen feet away from the barrier, the Behemoth leapt into the air and aimed its horns towards the barrier.

*Bang!*

Upon impact, the Behemoth's momentum was killed completely. Unfortunately, the impact was too much for the [Absolute Virtue] barrier to withstand. As a result, the barrier crumbled. On top of that, Meld and the two knights that supported the barrier with their mana were hit with a backlash, as their bodies stiffened.

Not only that, but the Behemoth's attack had not fizzled out. So, when the barrier crumbled, its horns slammed into the surface of the bridge not far from the three knights.

*Boom!*

The force of impact was so great that it caused a shockwave, sending the three knights flying. Luckily, Kouki was saved by Meld's shove. So, he was still able to fight.

"Meld-San!" Kouki shouted angrily. Then, he looked towards the Behemoth, which was pulling its horns from the bridge. "How dare you! Ryutaro, Shizuku, let's take this thing down!"

As Kouki was the leader of their party, Ryutaro immediately ran to his side. Meanwhile, Shizuku shot a glance at Kaorri that she was sure her best friend would understand before also joining Kouki.

And Shizuku was correct. Instead of following Shizuku or running towards the students dealing with the skeleton soldiers, Kaori ran towards Meld and the other two knights to start healing them.

"What's the plan?" Ryutaro asked while pounding his fists together.

"By me a little time." Kouki said as he raised his sword, the Holy Sword of the Holy Church, above his head. "I'll take care of this thing in one go."

"Roger!" Ryutaro shouted as he dashed forward.

"Understood." Shizuku replied calmly.

Meanwhile, Tatsuo and James were rampaging through the skeleton soldiers, destroying as many as they could. Sumire on the other hand, was defending the other students, who were still too panicked to mount a proper defense. Unfortunately, for e very one they destroyed, it seemed as if two of them took its place.

"Damn... These things never end." James muttered as he split a skeleton soldier in half from head to crotch. "Who the hell came up with this trap."

"More importantly, who the hell was dumb enough to set it off?" Tatsuo asked as he ducked under a sword swing from a skeleton soldier. Then, as he swept his dagger and cut off its head, he continued. "I mean, seriously? Why would someone be so desperate to show off that they ignored the warning we received before we entered the labyrinth."

When Tatsuo turned to take down another skeleton soldier, he pointedly glanced at Daisuke, whose expression had darkened to the point that it was clear he was contemplating murder.

'Good.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Now, there's no chance that he won't try something to get rid of me. I just need to make sure everyone is in the right position before he does so.'

At that moment, a skeleton soldier had snuck up behind Daisuke.

'Oh, this is even better.' Tatsuo thought as his eyes lit up.

"Hayama! Behind you!" Tatsuo shouted.

Hearing that, Daisuke shot a glare at Tatsuo. Still, he turned around to see what Tatsuo was yelling about. And when he did, his expression turned pale immediately.

"Ah~~~~!" Daisuke shouted as he hastily raised his spear to guard from the incoming sword slash.

Unfortunately, there was no chance that Daisuke's spear would be raised in time to save his life.

*Swoosh!*

*Thwack!*

Luckily, Hajime, who was not fast enough to keep up with his teammates, reached the rest of the group around that time. When he did, he heard Tatsuo shout for Daisuke to be careful. Then, without thinking, he slammed his left hand onto the bridge.

"[Transmute]." Hajime chanted.

In the next instant, the bridge under the skeleton soldiers feet swelled abnormally. As a result, its aim was thrown off by a considerable amount. Then, Hajime aimed at its skull and fired his crossbow, killing it before it could recover.

Unfortunately, having his life saved by Hajime did not lessen Daisuke's hostility towards him. Instead, it only led to him feeling humiliated, resulting in his hostility rising even higher than before. Still, he had at least kept enough rationality to not attack or start scolding Hajime immediately.

*Boom!*

At that moment, another impact that was strong enough to shake the entire bridge occurred back where the Behemoth was. And when the students looked back to see what happened, Kouki, Ryutaro, and Shizuku were all lying on he ground with varying levels of injury.

"Damn it." Hajime muttered as he turned around to try and help.

"James, you hold it down here." Tatsuo said. "I think Nagumo and I can do something about that thing."

"Tch!" James clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Fine, just go."

With that, Tatsuo smiled in James direction. Then, he, too, ran towards the battlefield with the Behemoth, beheading a few skeleton soldiers along the way. Before long, Tatsuo caught up to Hajime, whose speed was more than just a little slower than his.

"Get ready to transmute." James said as he grabbed Hajime by his shoulder.

Having seen Tatsuo's ability to manipulate space, Hajime nodded in understanding.

"[Blink]." Tatsuo chanted as a magic circle engraved on his belt buckle lit up.

In the next instant, Tatsuo and Hajime appeared in front of the Behemoth, which was pulling its horns out of the bridge. Then, they both dropped down to one knee and slammed their palms onto the ground.

"[Transmute]." Tatsuo and Hajime chanted in unison.

With the two's chant, the ground around the Behemoth's horns rose before hardening around them. As a result, the Behemoth had a much harder time digging itself out of the bridge.

"Nagumo-Kun!" Kaori shouted in a worried tone when she saw Hajime appear on this battlefield.

"Don't worry about me for now!" Hajime shouted. "Get those three out of here and help secure our escape route."

"Yeah, there's no need to worry about us." Tatsuo added. "I can get us away from this thing if anything goes wrong."

"They're right." Meld, who had been healed by Kaori said as he patted her on the shoulder. "The most important thing for us to do right now is make sure they can run when its time."

Hearing that, Kaori glanced at Meld before looking back at Hajime with worry. Then, she bit her lower lip and turned around to start healing Kouki and the others. At the same time, Meld and the knights picked up Kouki, Ryutaro, and Shizuku, who were unable to move due to shock, and started running towards the skeleton soldier battlefield.

"Damn... I never thought I'd be fighting something like this when I woke up this morning." Tatsuo said once he and Hajime were the only ones left near the Behemoth.

"I know what you mean." Hajime replied while smiling bitterly. "Meld-San said that we would only be fighting beginner level mobs on this trip. But this thing, the Behemoth, from what I read, shouldn't show up until the 65th Floor."

"Then, that would make us pretty bad ass if we can't stop it here, wouldn't it." Tatsuo said as he continued channeling [Energy] into his [Transmutation].

At the same time, while Tatsuo and Hajime were having their conversation, the Behemoth was doing all it could to pull its horns out of the bridge. Unfortunately, every time it tried to brace itself by digging its front legs into the bridges surface before pulling back, Tatsuo would cause the rock beneath them to sink, disrupting its balance. Then, Hajime would use the displaced rock to wrap around its feet and ankles, keeping it in place.

And this cycle would continue for the next few minutes.

Meanwhile, once Kouki, Ryutaro, and Shizuku were healed, they, along with the knights, joined James and Sumire in fending off the skeleton soldiers to secure an escape route. And with the inclusion of most of the class's heavy hitters, the students began regaining their courage and confidence, as well.

As a result, everything on that side of the bridge was going pretty well, too.

"Good, keep pushing them off the bridge!" Meld commanded. "Once we've got enough breathing room, I want all those proficient in ranged combat to start preparing your spells. And I want everyone else to keep the skeletons off of them while they make an opening for Tatsuo and Nagumo to escape. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!" The other worlders shouted in understanding.

'Things really are going exactly like Tatsuo said they would.' James thought to himself as he took up a position among the ranged attackers once enough space had been cleared.

And as it turned out, James ended up positioned right next to Daisuke, who wore quite the dark expression at the moment.

'Just give me a reason.' James thought to himself as he glanced at Daisuke, who did not even seem to notice his presence. 'Picking on the poor guy is one thing, but trying to kill him just because you're a sorry excuse of a man is unforgiveable.'

On the other side of the battlefield, Tatsuo having heard Meld's orders, looked back over his shoulder. And he was just in time to see the students get in position.

"How you holding up, Nagumo?" Tatsuo asked.

"I'm almost out of mana." Hajime replied. "What about you?"

"Same here." Tatsuo replied. "But I've got enough for a [Blink] in case things go sideways."

"Then, I'll use up the last of my mana and keep it there for a little longer." Hajime said as the magic circles on the backs of his hands glowed a little brighter.

At the same time, the rock below the entire Behemoth sank by two feet or so. Then, it wrapped around the beast's legs before hardening.

"Okay, that's it." Hajime said while wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Let's go."

Without waiting for Tatsuo to reply, Hajime started running towards the rest of his class. A moment later, Tatsuo stopped [Transmuting] the bridge, as well. Then, in only about two seconds, he caught up and ran alongside Hajime.

Meanwhile, the Behemoth struggled with all its might to free itself. And after only about seven seconds, it was able to do so, greatly damaging that part of the bridge. However, it did not seem to notice as it stared down Tatsuo and Hajime, the two responsible for trapping it for so long.

Then, with its eyes glowing red from anger, the Behemoth started running forward. At the same time, its horns and helmet lit up in an even brighter red than they had before. Clearly, its anger was making its attack even more deadly.

"Magical volley, fire!" Meld ordered after the Behemoth took only a few steps.

In the next instant, a torrent of magic spells, all of different attributes, flew from the long ranged students, passed over Tatsuo's and Hajime's heads, and slammed into the and around the Behemoth. As a result, the Behemoth's momentum was slowed greatly. Though, it still seemed to be completely uninjured.

"Fire again!" Meld shouted once more.

This repeated several times. And just as everyone thought that everything would be alright, a fire ball that was flying with the other spells, broke away from the red lightning it was traveling next to and shot downwards at Hajime.

"Hayama! What the hell are you doing?" James shout echoed through the area just as the fire ball changed direction.

"Huh?" Hajime exclaimed when he saw the fireball flying right at him.

"Are you kidding me?" Tatsuo grumbled very convincingly as he grabbed Hajime and [Blinked] forward.

Unfortunately, because of James' shout, everyone's attention was drawn away from their task. As a result, the Behemoth was able to gather a bit of momentum. And when it did, it threw itself into the air before slamming into the bridge right behind Tatsuo and Hajime.

*Boom!*

As a result of the damage that had been done by the fight from before, the successive magical volleys, the material that was shifted because of all the [Transmutations], and the damage the Behemoth did when it freed itself, as soon as the powerful impact hit the bridge, it began to crack. And those cracks spread quickly.

Realizing how bad the situation was, Tatsuo, while holding Hajime, ran towards the rest of his class. And what he saw made him want to smile. Because James, with an enraged expression on his face, had just grabbed Daisuke by his throat.

While Tatsuo was thinking that things were going the way he expected them to, the cracks in the bridge had spread to where he and Hajime were running. And they were spreading faster than Tatsuo was running. Though, that was by design, as Tatsuo needed a reason to fall into the abyss below.

*Roar~~~~~~!*

On top of that, because of the extensive damage to the bridge, the Behemoth ended up falling through it, as well.

"They're not gonna make it at this rate!" Nagayama shouted while watching the crumbling bridge.

"Nagumo-Kun~~~~~!" Kaori shouted in horror after noticing the same thing.

"Soramoto, just forget about me." Hajime said in a worried tone. "I know you're fast enough to outrun this. But if you have to carry me---"

"Sorry, not gonna happen." Tatsuo said, cutting Hajime off with a daring smile. "I'm not letting you die here."

'Damn, I sound like a super-generic protagonist right now.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he slid forward while twisting his upper body.

Then, just as Tatsuo's momentum came to a stop, he threw Hajime forward with all his might.

"Soramoto, what are you--- Wha~~~~~~!" Hajime shouted in surprise.

At the same time, the rock under Tatsuo gave out, plummeting towards the abyss below. Naturally, this resulted in the same thing happening to Tatsuo, as well. And while he was falling, Tatsuo smiled when he saw James dragging Daisuke to the side of the bridge by his throat.

'That's one issue taken care of.' Tatsuo thought to himself as he shifted his gaze away from James and Daisuke. Then, he continued to think as he caught sight of Sumire breaking free of the knights and jumping over the edge of the bridge after him. '*Sigh* At least I won't be alone in the dark, huh?'

With that thought, Tatsuo just enjoyed the weightless feeling as he fell further and further from the rest of the group while watching Sumire falling not far behind him.

"Just gotta wait until we've fallen far enough, then I can equip the [Fluttering Feathers]." Tatsuo murmured to himself. "Then, I can catch Sumire-San and we'll land gently at that underground reservoir with no problems.'