Chapter 134

"Ethan."

Mikhail murmured the name of the person standing before him and pulled the hand hanging at his side into a fist.

What surfaced alongside the whisper was the scene from mere seconds ago—no, not even that long.

Ethan had clearly been positioned at the right side of the front line. He'd been swinging his sword at the oncoming beasts, pressing forward.

He should have been far away. So when had he—no, more importantly, why had he come all the way here?

"……"

Silence stretched beneath the tangling spiral of his thoughts.

Mikhail stared at Ethan without a word. Ethan held his gaze for a moment, then dropped his head at an awkward angle and cleared his throat a couple of times.

"…The thing is."

Ethan bit his lip. Then his eyes darted toward the chaotic melee raging up ahead, and he jerked his chin in that direction as he spoke.

"Lloyd and Dian have the front covered. I figured it'd be better if I came out to the edge where we're short on people. Besides, this position's good for moving freely and holding the formation at the same time. Going by the evaluation criteria, there should be a scoring advantage too. Mikhail, what do you thin—"

"No. Go back."

Mikhail cut through Ethan's reasoning in a single rigid stroke and narrowed his eyes.

What he'd just heard was a proposal to rearrange the formation away from the main storyline—and he had zero room to accept Ethan's input and revise the plan.

"Ethan. You need to hold your original position."

"But, Mikhail. There's every chance beasts will swarm this side too. And it's a long way from where I was."

"No. I can handle this area on my own. There's no need to fold my zone into your defensive route."

Mikhail's measured tone settled across the air between them like an iron fence.

Ethan stood rooted in place, absorbing Mikhail's voice—then let his head fall.

Beneath the face that had already sunk into blankness, the hand gripping his sword trembled almost imperceptibly.

"Fine. We'll do it your way."

Ethan pushed a shallow breath deep into his chest.

He nodded, turned his back on Mikhail, and started walking—then stopped mid-stride and left one line behind.

"If anything comes up where I can help, call me."

Ethan's voice was packed down tight, the way someone speaks when making a promise. But Mikhail offered no reply.

He simply stood where he was, watching Ethan's retreating figure move further away.

Before long, Ethan's position settled back into the original formation.

"Hah."

Mikhail confirmed the outcome he'd wanted and swept his bangs up with a look of visible relief.

Even as reassurance filled his chest… what surfaced in his mind was the question that still had no answer.

"……"

Mikhail lowered the hand resting against his forehead. He tilted his head slightly and traced Ethan's back with his gaze.

But seriously… why did he come over here?

Mikhail let the question drop like a wordless sigh. But there was no room to dwell on it.

He thrust his hand toward the killing intent that had suddenly drawn close.

SHRIEK! GKKK!

Mikhail reset his stance and cut down the charging beasts in rapid succession. The moment he pulled his timing a half-beat forward from his previous rhythm, the creatures crumpled like leaves in the wind.

"……"

Mikhail swatted aside a screeching beast and looked down at his wrist.

His gaze stopped on the magic tool displaying Salvator's score.

He should have downed a sizable pile of beasts by now—but the number etched on the display showed a gain far more modest than his kill count warranted.

"Tch."

Mikhail had just furrowed his brow in displeasure when—

"—The magic research institute, previously in third place, has seen their score surge dramatically and is now nipping at the heels of the second-place Allied Knight Order! The gap is a mere thirty points! This is faster progress than anyone anticipated! At this rate, one has to wonder—just how far can the institute push this comeback? We can't wait to find out!"

The voice that wedged itself into his ears announced the institute's advance.

Mikhail pulled his gaze from the device and fixed it on Verte, positioned near the front of the carriage.

Verte looked fired up by the announcement—rallying his teammates, wringing out every ounce of effort.

I have no intention of letting them overtake us.

Mikhail clicked his tongue. He scanned the surrounding landscape, then locked his gaze on the ceiling in the distance ahead.

Amid the endless stretch of black rock, there was a section where unusually large mana stones clustered together.

"……"

Mikhail watched the ceiling crystals draw closer, then reached for the staff strapped across his back.

Following the original progression, first place goes to Salvator.

The instant he reaffirmed the optimal course, the staff pulsed against his palm.

Mikhail tilted his head back and drew a deep breath. Cold air cycled through his lungs while vivid sparks of mana began crackling to life across the surface of the staff in his grip.

---

Above the formation surrounding the carriage.

Toward the rear, specifically.

SLASH!

Ethan swung his blade with the swiftness of wind. He stabbed and cut through the beasts pouring in without reprieve.

The tension of trading blows with enemies kept the nagging thoughts from spreading on their own.

"Hah."

Ethan had just wrenched his sword from a beast's eye socket and expelled a tight knot of breath when—

The voice transmitter mounted behind the escorted carriage.

The announcement streaming from it seized his attention.

"—The magic research institute, previously in third place, has seen their score surge dramatically and is now nipping at the heels of the second-place Allied Knight Order! The gap is a mere thirty points! This is faster progress than anyone anticipated! At this rate, one has to wonder—just how far can the institute push this comeback? We can't wait to find out!"

Ethan turned toward the empty air the voice had come from and tightened his grip on the hilt.

The research institute is… closing in on second? Already?

Ethan scowled, displeasure plain on his face, and shifted his gaze toward Verte at the front.

The man who'd been butting heads with Mikhail throughout the entire campaign.

He bore no personal grudge. But he fought under Salvator's banner, and with his teammates' interests on the line, Verte's stellar performance was anything but welcome.

"—Wait, seriously?"

That was when teammates nearby—apparently having caught the same announcement while cutting down beasts—began chiming in one by one.

"The research institute's in second? What do we do? At this rate, even we can't sit easy."

"I don't think they'll catch up right away, but if this keeps going… yeah, who knows. …Ugh, damn it! Why isn't our score going up faster?"

"Hmm, if they actually overtake us, that's going to sting a little, isn't it?"

Lloyd tacked on the remark like a refrain. Ethan pulled his gaze from his teammates and moved his arm.

Beasts kept flooding in even as complaints and grumbling spilled from every mouth.

SLASH!

Ethan cleaved through a beast's body. Behind the lightning flash of his blade, his mind was already working.

He could admit that Verte's performance was impressive enough to command everyone's attention.

But when you converted results through the same scoring criteria, there was no way Verte should have closed the gap that much already.

Separate from Verte's performance, there must be a factor with an outsized impact on the scoring.

Something beyond straightforward kill contributions.

An element that penalized the defense units—Salvator and the Allied Knight Order—while favoring the attack unit: the research institute.

Ethan pressed the corners of his mouth down hard and singled out the most likely culprit.

The conditions for counting defense unit points. That's where the disadvantage is.

〔Affiliation: Salvator Academy〕 / 〔Role: Defense〕

Protect personnel in the attack and support units. Defend the mana replenishment source from damage.

Ethan clicked his tongue in frustration.

The attack unit's mission parameters were built for aggression—every beast killed, regardless of type, converted directly into points.

The defense unit's parameters, on the other hand, were passive.

Points only counted when you eliminated a beast that was actively charging at attack or support unit members with intent to harm.

They say trouble never comes alone. The disadvantages don't stop there.

The second listed objective was just as bad. It told them to defend the mana replenishment source from damage.

The carriage components surrounding the replenishment source.

Torn planks, punctured balloons, frayed ropes—none of that counted toward the evaluation. Protecting those things earned zero points.

I can guess the intent behind structuring it this way. They made the defense unit's top priority safeguarding people's lives. But even so….

Whatever the reasoning, the campaign was still a competition measured in points.

Assigning objectives with this much of a gap—wasn't that excessively unfair?

If they were going to weight the scoring like this, they might as well have told every beast to charge straight at us instead.

Ethan grumbled sourly to himself and swung his sword.

Grrrrk.

The beast that caught the flashing blade leaked a bubbling death rattle, then crumbled apart like dry earth.

Ethan spared the lifeless remains a glance, then readjusted his grip on the outstretched blade.

He turned to face forward. His eyes swept in every direction, scanning for the next target.

"……"

Then, in a single moment, his gaze drifted to the side of the corridor where the creatures kept crawling out.

The low, gaping space that kept vomiting up vicious things.

Connected to the fathomless depths below—nothing but the black, densely packed surfaces of the cave's walls and ceiling.

But this time, the dark ceiling overhead was studded with blue mana stones that scattered rippling light across their surroundings.

"?"

Ethan narrowed his eyes. He studied the streamlined curve of the mana crystal and let a quiet breath of surprise escape.

There was a mana stone that massive?

The stone's gentle arc called to mind the shape of a fish gliding through a vast night sea.

One moment it painted a clear, vivid blue across its surface; the next, it flickered with a darker, shifting gleam.

Maybe it was the rarity of the sight. For a split second, Ethan's attention was stolen by the mana stone before him.

FZZZZT!

A sharp crack rang out from behind him. But the noise that had jolted into his awareness wasn't unfamiliar.

Ethan flinched and whipped his head around.

"!"

The source of the fracturing sound was Mikhail.

From his position at the rear, Mikhail had conjured an enormous mana crystal and was thrusting his staff-gripping hand forward.

Tszzzzz.

The mana crystal Mikhail had formed hummed with static as it shifted, its razor-sharp point taking aim at a mana stone protruding from the cave wall.

Mikhail? What is he trying to—

The question had barely formed in Ethan's mind.

GRRRRRRR! GRRKK!

Sounds like metal scraping against metal erupted from every direction, bursting forth like groundwater finding a vent.

The beasts lining the corridor shrieked and howled as though something had terrified them.

"Wh-what?! Why are they suddenly acting like this?"

The abrupt change in the beasts threw the weapon-wielding defenders into open confusion.

Some raised their blades in front of themselves just in case. Others backed away, putting distance between themselves and the beasts.

"……"

But Mikhail didn't get swept up in the commotion.

He stared at the mana crystal he'd created, swallowed a sharp breath, and swung the staff without hesitation.

WHOOSH!

The staff pointed at the mana stone embedded in the cave wall.

SHREEEE!

The mana crystal followed the command, slicing through the air—and drove its sharpened point into the mana stone's surface.

CRACK!

It happened in a flash. The mana stone let out a splintering sound. A vivid fracture line carved itself across its polished surface.