Chapter 154 : Chapter 154
Chapter 154. Plague City (4)
Separate from my tumbling body, my senses could encompass the entire cavern.
The information gathered by [Battlefield-Overlooking Gaze], the sensory traits gained through training, and the sensitive sense of smell and hearing of my Ratman body were all mixed together, arranging the flow of battle in my mind as if viewed by a third-person observer.
The first to react on that three-dimensional map was Randal.
Unlike the others who were sent flying with the cart, the moment the bomb exploded, he escaped the cart, used the side of the airborne cart as a foothold, and immediately threw a handaxe.
Towards the path the cart had come from.
Towards the empty space.
CLANG!
A dagger emerged from that empty space and blocked the axe.
Only then did the translucent figure of an assassin come into view.
It was Barum of the Black.
Unlike last time, he had taken every precaution with his concealment.
“……!”
However, it seemed even he couldn't withstand the force behind the handaxe.
The dagger broke, and the hand-shield he hastily brought out was also crumpled by the axe and sent flying.
The assassin, sent flying about fifty meters with the axe, crashed into a protruding stone pillar.
As the broken pillar collapsed on top of the assassin, Karok emerged from the overturned cart.
After carefully pulling Siollus out of the cart, he shouted.
“Baruuuum!”
Whir-whir-whir-whir-!
A response came back.
It was the hand-shield with the handaxe half-embedded in it.
Karok swung his mace and deflected the shield.
Before the bisected shield hit the ground, another attack followed.
Hidden weapons.
From all directions, without distinction.
Dozens of thick, needle-like hidden weapons surrounded the cart and flew in from all sides.
I quickly scanned all the hidden weapons.
Five were aimed at me.
I could block them, but I wouldn't.
Right now, I was just a mere Ratman Warchief.
It was a clone, so it didn't matter if it died.
We seemed to be almost there anyway, so I didn't think I'd need the decoy cart anymore.
It was a shame I couldn't go rescue the Emperor myself, but it couldn't be helped.
At that moment, a large shadow blocked my path.
It was Randal.
“By fire and wind!”
And at that exquisite timing, Siollus' spell unfolded.
[[Warrior’s Insight] deployed.]
[Skill acquired.]
[Veil of Mad Fire (Level 6)]
KWAAAAA-!
A wave of blazing flames swept away the hidden weapons.
Siollus, with her hands stretched out to her sides, slowly stood up, breathing heavily.
Karok supported her.
And Randal, who had stood in front of me, naturally bent down and picked up the handaxe deeply embedded in the bisected shield that had fallen nearby.
“……”
Was it a coincidence?
Was he just retrieving the axe that fell to the ground?
I watched his back as he strode forward.
His intentions were unclear, but that wasn't important right now.
“Barum. Have you really gone mad?”
Beyond the dome-shaped veil of fire centered on the cart, the dust-covered assassin could be seen shakily getting to his feet.
At Siollus' gesture, a small window formed in the fiery veil.
Siollus spoke to the assassin who was brushing the dust off his clothes.
“Barum, you idiot!”
“……”
“Don't you know me? Do you think you can beat me? Even if you're brainwashed, do you want to die?”
The assassin didn't answer.
Instead, he pointedly flicked his finger.
And then.
Ping- Whoosh!
A transparent thread connected to his finger reacted, and from somewhere unseen, a thick, needle-like hidden weapon flew out.
The hidden weapon was helplessly swallowed by the veil's flames.
Siollus muttered.
“…Crazy bastard.”
That was a threat.
That the moment the veil of fire was removed, a hail of hidden weapons would be unleashed.
The number would have to be considered infinite.
The moment one entered a prepared assassin's territory, counting traps and booby traps was meaningless.
On the other hand, our side.
“Ha, so you want to go at it, huh? You, a nutcase who just repeats the same words like a wind-up toy.”
“……”
“Karok, go rescue His Majesty the Emperor. Randal, was it? You go with him. I'll handle this psychopath by myself!”
As is often the case with the one with the loud voice, our situation was disadvantageous compared to theirs.
At least for Siollus and Karok, it was an unfavorable fight.
Karok would win if he could get close, but the opponent was unlikely to willingly close the distance.
And the flames of Siollus, which would normally have incinerated the opponent in an instant, had clear limitations now.
“Ka, Karok. Protects Ella Siollus. Must protect mage.”
“You idiot, go! You have to rescue His Majesty the Emperor!”
This cavern.
It wasn't that large.
Unlike the massive cavern where the Viscount's army was encamped, it was only large enough for a few hundred people to fight in.
While it couldn't be called cramped for movement, there wasn't enough oxygen to burn.
Fire, by its nature, was an intense oxidation reaction that required oxygen and fuel, and magical flames were no different from this principle.
While the fuel could easily be substituted with mana, without oxygen, the mana consumption would increase by tens of times.
It was a fight where the opponent had boosters from various stimulants, while our side had sandbags tied to our limbs.
Of course, that was the story when Randal wasn't around.
“Big guy and spellcaster, you two go first.”
Randal, loosening his shoulders, lightly shook his hands.
Something glinted.
A piece of metal.
It had broken off from the cart's wheel.
Whoooosh-
The piece of metal, lightly passing through the veil of fire, flew with the sound of a cannonball.
The assassin barely managed to dodge it by bending his body, and the cavern wall hit by the metal piece collapsed as if it had really been hit by a bomb.
Barum, who had dodged the attack, raised his hand as if to counterattack immediately, but the moment Randal drew his handaxe, he hesitated cautiously.
During that standoff, Randal spoke.
“The fact that they set a trap here means the Emperor isn't far away. Being of giant blood, you can follow footprints, right, Mr. Big Guy?”
“I-I can do it. Karok has good eyes!”
“Karok, this is our fight.”
“Your fight? Isn't your mission to rescue the Emperor? I came along with the Viscount to fight. That one looks like a decent opponent.”
“But…!”
“And honestly, I don't really care about the Emperor's safety. Who's better at rescuing him, me or you two?”
Siollus shut her mouth.
Randal, with a smirk, handed her a bracelet with his other hand.
It was a bracelet similar to the one on Siollus' wrist.
The Emperor must have been wearing it.
“Follow the Emperor. From the tracks, it seems he broke through the encirclement with your fellow knights and headed somewhere.”
“I heard you talking with the Viscount about some seed of disaster or whatever. It looks like he went to take care of that, and as knights, you should be lending your strength.”
“…It’s the seed of disaster.”
“Whatever it is.”
Siollus took the bracelet.
Randal let out a low laugh.
There were some bloodstains on the bracelet, but the wrist wasn't severed, nor was there any burnt flesh stuck to it.
It must have been knocked off by a stray arrow, bullet, or spell during a battle.
“After you're done with that guy, come find me with Viscount Ash. We can't just leave you behind when we escape with His Majesty the Emperor. I'll put a tracking spell on you so…”
“It won't work on me. The Viscount said my resistance to spells got stronger while sparring with him.”
“Then?”
“Tell this rat to guide you. He seems smart, judging by how he was driving the cart.”
Randal pointed at me.
Siollus had a 'what are you talking about' expression.
Of course, since time was short, she soon frowned and chanted a spell.
I, too, silently accepted the tracking magic.
Sensing that something was strange.
“When the fight is over, bring that friend to me. Got it?”
“Chiiik, I un-der-stood!”
The two of them departed, with the range of the flame veil reduced.
Barum made a move as if to follow them, but when Randal gestured with his axe, he gave up and focused on this side.
Soon, the two disappeared at the other end of the passage.
Around the time even their reddish shadows reflected in the passage had vanished, Randal opened his mouth.
“Just to be sure.”
“……Chitter?”
“Viscount Ash, is that you?”
***
The military senior I was close with and had received a lot of help from often had a habit of saying serious nonsense that didn't fit his image.
When the barracks were suffering from the noise caused by unit construction, one of his representative quotes was calling the construction noise 'a harmony of rhythm and pitch performed by laborers and technicians instead of musicians.'
He also left behind a legendary piece of nonsense when the unit's soldiers were bickering over the responsibility for a minor accident.
Was it 'Seeing my juniors bickering over a trivial matter is as cute as watching my little brothers fight when they were kids'?
After actually saying that, the senior didn't stop the fight, but just watched with a warm, fatherly smile.
He did step in to mediate just before it came to blows, though.
Anyway, the reason I'm telling this story, which I still can't relate to even after all this time, is because a similar situation is unfolding now.
'Hey, you starfish bastard, did I tell you to properly sculpt the soul when making the clone, or not!'
'Kiiing-'
The subspace was in chaos.
Because our cute and esteemed Outer Gods were fighting.
'Didn't I tell you that if I can feel the rift in space, even a mortal can feel it if they're just a little bit high-level?'
'Kiing! Kiiing! Kiiing!'
'What? You're saying it's my fault? What does that mean! My disguise is perfect! In the first place, it's at the material level, not the soul…!'
'Tick! Tick-toooock!'
'……'
Of course, the reason these guys were fighting was because Randal had called me, that is, the clone, Viscount Ash.
The clone couldn't interfere with the Outer Gods' sacred relics, but it could hear what the sacred relics were saying in the subspace.
Well, since my ego was one and my senses were connected, it was only natural.
Anyway, listening to them fight, it seemed they were fighting about something from before human civilization began.
As these fights usually go, the ending was anticlimactic.
“That rat bastard, is the Viscount controlling it?”
'Kiu-iiing! Ki-iing!!'
'I didn't know. I didn't know! How was I supposed to know he'd just think you were controlling it? I thought he had figured it all out!'
'Hoho, just a moment ago you were blaming me, how shameless.'
It's a shame there's no noise-cancellation function in the subspace.
Though a normal soundproofing device wouldn't work on noise at the conscious level anyway.
Anyway, Randal had mistaken my clone for a Ratman that I was controlling.
Strictly speaking, my ability hadn't been exposed.
Still, the fact that I had been found out at all made my main body break out in a cold sweat.
“Don't worry. It was because it was me that I noticed. I saw the Viscount's habits from our sparring.”
“……”
“Viscount, can you communicate directly through him?”
“Chitter, it's possible.”
“Then tell me. Who is that guy, and what are his weaknesses? He looks pretty strong. I need information to take him out quickly and join the Emperor's side.”
He asked, still holding the handaxe over his shoulder.
“Barum of the Black. A member of the Imperial Secret Knight Order. His specialties are assassination and stealth. Besides that, he's proficient with various devices like bombs, strong acids, poisons, and hidden weapons. It's safe to assume this entire cavern is filled with traps.”
“You mean I should be careful of the floor and walls.”
“Chitter, and the ceiling.”
Randal nodded.
He sheathed his axe and drew his sword.
And the moment he put the axe on his belt, Barum disappeared from sight.
Like a snake shedding its skin, he threw off the outermost layer of his dust-covered assassination suit and vanished in an instant.
“He's gone.”
The cavern was instantly plunged into silence.
“Chitter, do you know where he is?”
“No. Not until he gets close.”
“Then?”
He answered, picking up a few stone fragments from the floor.
“First, I need to make sure he can't escape.”
The next moment, with the sound of a cannonball flying, the entrances to all the passages connected to the cavern collapsed.