Master Of Astral Summoner

Miss Khaya and several participants stepped out of their hiding spot until the guards noticed them. Without hesitation, the guards rushed after them, leaving the doorway completely unguarded. Good—this tactic worked perfectly.

"…Shaan, Elsie. This is our chance." Nalira glanced around, making sure no guards stood near the door. "We need to move now."

"Uhm… alright."

They sprinted straight to the door as fast as they could. Chelsie grabbed the handle and twisted it quickly, but the door refused to open.

"Chelsie, what's wrong?" Shaan asked, his expression tense. "We need to get inside before the guards see us."

"I-I know. But the door won't open." Chelsie's hands trembled as she turned the doorknob. "I-I've tried, but… I can't."

"W-wait, what?"

"…Let me try, Elsie." Nalira took over and twisted the handle several times. "Strange. The door is locked."

"T-then how do we get in if we don't have the key?"

"There's only one way." Shaan stepped back a few paces from the door, preparing himself. "Both of you, get away from the door."

"Uhm… Shaan, are you sure this will work?" Chelsie asked hesitantly. "What if the guards hear it?"

"I know, but this is our only chance. The longer we stand here, the more likely the guards will notice us.

"... I agree."

Nalira pulled Chelsey's hand away from the door. As soon as they were far enough away, Shaan used all his strength to break down the door.

"Crash!"

Small gaps began to show in the door, and at least it had started to open little by little. Once again, Shaan slammed the door with all his might until it finally swung open.

"Good." Shaan smiled. "At least my effort wasn't in vain."

"... Hurry up, we have to get inside before any guards see us."

***

"Thank goodness." Chelsie let out a sigh, realizing everyone was already inside the room. "At least no guards saw us come in here. We're safe now."

"Well, that's true." Shaan nodded. "It's just... we have a problem."

"...A problem?"

"When I tried to break the door open, I hit it too hard and damaged it. Now it won't close properly." Shaan shook his head, frustration clear on his face. "I have to hold it in place so the guards outside don't get suspicious. You two, hurry and find the electrical panel in this room."

"No." Chelsie shook her head. "We can't leave you here alone, Shaan."

"Chelsie, we don't have much time. We have to find the electrical panel before—"

"…Wait a second." Nalira snapped her fingers, and a fireball flared to life in her palm. "I agree with Chelsie. Something around here might help us—"

"Lira, look at that." Chelsie tapped Nalira's shoulder repeatedly. "That box. We can use it to block the door, so Shaan doesn't have to hold it anymore."

"…Good idea, Elsie," Nalira said as she quickly moved toward the box.

"Um… Shaan, hang in there. We'll be back." Chelsie paused for a moment, then walked back toward Shaan. "Um… Shaan, take this. It looks like you'll need it," she said, handing him her staff. "Nalira took my staff, too, when she was in the storage room. You can use this just in case."

"Ah, that's completely unnecessary." Shaan shook his head. "I already took my dual short swords from the storage room," he said, showing her his dual short swords. "See, here they are."

"Uhm… all right then." Chelsie nodded. "Wait a moment."

"Alright."

Not long after, Chelsie and Nalira were seen carrying a medium-sized wooden box together. They then placed the wooden box right in front of the door, and together pushed it with all their might until the door closed tightly again.

"Uhm… I think this box should be able to hold the door now." Chelsie smiled, turning her gaze toward Nalira. "And at least Shaan won't have to hold it anymore. Right, Lira?"

"…That's absolutely right."

"That's really good, Chelsie, Nalira."

"U-uhm… I just helped." Chelsie lowered her head, her face turning red. "Lira came up with the idea first. I just followed along."

"…Enough. We don't have time to argue about that." Nalira cut them off. "We need to find the control panel and switch the main power back on so we can restore the lights."

"I understand."

With Nalira leading at the front, they started moving around the room. They walked carefully, hoping to find the panel Miss Khaya mentioned earlier.

'This is strange… I've checked everywhere, but I still don't see any panel around here.' Shaan scanned the area, frustration growing on his face. 'Did Miss Khaya make a mistake? What if this room is just—'

"Thud!"

"Ouch!"

"Uhm… s-sorry, Shaan." Chelsie quickly turned around after hearing him. "I didn't mean to stop so suddenly. I just followed Nalira when she stopped. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Chelsie. I'm okay."

Chelsie gently tapped Nalira's shoulder. "Lira, what's wrong? Why did you stop?"

"…The panel. I found it."

"Oh, that's great." Shaan smiled in relief. "At least now we can get out of here and—"

"However… this room doesn't have just one panel."

"Huh?" Chelsie frowned. "Lira, I don't understand what you mean."

When Nalira raised the fireball in her hand to light the surroundings, Shaan froze. His eyes widened as he realized Nalira spoke the truth. Rows of electrical panels stretched across the room, lined up one after another in a long formation.

"There are too many panels. We can't turn all of them on in such a short time," Chelsie said, tugging at her hair, her face tense. "W-what should we do?"

Nalira rubbed her chin. "…I believe all these panels connect to one main panel. If we find the main one, we can turn on all the lights at once."

"I agree with Nalira." Shaan nodded, his expression firm. "We just need to find the central panel. It has to be somewhere in this room."

"B-but how do we find it?" Chelsie asked, clearly confused. "This place is huge. It could take a long time to search."

Nalira pointed at one of the panels in front of her. "Look at the cables. We follow the same cable from each panel. That should lead us to the main one."

"Uhm… but how do we know which cable connects to the main panel?"

"…Simple. Check the color," Nalira explained. "If you look closely, each panel has one black cable."

"Yeah, you're right." Shaan nodded as he observed the panels around him. "And I'm sure that cable leads to the main panel we're looking for."

"Uhm… alright." Chelsie nodded, gripping her staff tightly. "I hope you're right…"