Collapse, Showdown, the Spell for Crossing Worlds – Part 03

They had channeled all their mana into the shield, knowing that the Starwhite Wedge would unleash a soul attack far more powerful than before. Even then, it wasn’t enough.

After their vision turned white, the screen that had displayed the outside went completely dark. Only the flickering light from the massive magic stone provided any illumination.

The sound of rocks scraping and things being destroyed echoed all around, drowning out any shouts. Hikaru braced himself with his hands on the ground, but as the floor sank beneath him, the room tilted sharply.

“Ah!” Paula rolled toward him.

“Over here!”

Hikaru reached out to grab her and pulled her close. He held onto the legs of a bolted table that served as a sorcery stand.

On the far side, the Four Eastern Stars huddled together, and Soaarunay was clinging to a lever.

The tremors went on. The slight sensation of weightlessness indicated that the Great Labyrinth of Runay-aas was slowly descending.

“Soaarunay! What’s happening?!”

“I don’t know! All the magic is going haywire!”

“You put up a shield, didn’t you?”

“It would’ve been worse without it!”

The shaking grew even more violent.

“L-Lord Hikaru.”

“It’s okay. As long as we don’t die, magic can patch us up.”

Hikaru could only offer those words to the trembling Paula. If it were instant death, even magic wouldn’t be able to help.

“We’re landing,” Soaarunay seemed to say, but Hikaru could barely hear her.

The violent impact threw Hikaru and Paula up about fifty centimeters before slamming them back to the floor. A catastrophic sound of destruction erupted. The floor crumbled, and the walls cracked. Luckily, the room didn’t completely collapse. The table had toppled over, scattering the golem pieces everywhere. A chunk of the ceiling crashed down right next to them, breaking apart. Hikaru shielded Paula with his body, and they tumbled together.

Ten seconds passed since they hit the wall.

Dust swirled around them. There were still minor tremors, and somewhere in the distance the sound of collapse.

No collision followed anymore. There was no sensation of floating either. That could only mean one thing.

“We’ve crashed.”

Hikaru felt a tingling sensation throughout his body. The flickering magic stone had reverted to a soft glow, casting a blue light over the partially-destroyed room.

“U-Um…”

“Pau—Flower Face, are you okay?”

“Ah, y-yeah. I’m fine!”

Paula seemed unharmed. Sophie, on the other hand, had begun chanting a healing spell. Someone from the Four Eastern Stars must have been injured.

Soaarunay wobbled to her feet. “This is absolutely terrible!”

She had a cut on her forehead, and half her face was smeared with blood, but she seemed unbothered.

She began operating the reactivated control panel, and an image from the front appeared on screen.

The ground was right below them, debris scattered around, resembling the wreckage of the labyrinth.

“Oh.”

The screen showed several adventurers. They were not only safe but had seized the chance to land and were now high-fiving each other in celebration.

The image quickly cut off. The next view was of the weapon that had fired the soul attack earlier—the Starwhite Wedge. It was very close now, only a few kilometers away.

The superweapon was in ruins. To be more precise, the top of the mountain had collapsed, and the tower was broken in half. Its original form was unrecognizable.

“What… is that?” Selyse asked.

She had already gotten up and stood in front of the screen. A huge shadow fell over the display.

It was a dragon with slimy scales, the same type Hikaru had fought on the 7th floor. It would take hundreds of soldiers just to take one down.

And it wasn’t just one dragon. Several were flying through the air.

“The labyrinth’s barriers are down. That’s how they escaped outside,” Soaarunay said in frustration. “Are they stupid? There’s no food out in this cold.”

“Wait a minute.” Hikaru’s gut stirred. “Won’t these dragons attack and eat people?”

The Saak family’s intentions in creating biotopes within the Great Labyrinth of Runay-aas were irrelevant to Hikaru. The real problem was that the ferocious creatures that lived there could escape into the outside world.

“Of course they will.”

The look on Soaarunay’s face said that was to be expected.

“Well, do something, then!”

“It wasn’t me who caused the crash. It was those Man Gnome idiots. Actually, this might be perfect. The dragons could attack the Man Gnome village and wipe them all out.”

They just barely managed to land safely, and now another crisis loomed.

“Soaarunay, is the magic system back up? Restore the barriers.”

“I’m working on it. But we’re short on manpower.”

“I know. I’ll lend a hand.”

Hikaru’s offer of assistance brought a smirk to Soaarunay’s face. “I don’t want to lose this labyrinth, and you can’t afford to let those creatures escape. We still have a common goal, don’t we?”

“Make the elevator functional.”

“That’s easy enough, but what’s your plan?”

“Four Eastern Stars!”

“We’re on it.”

Selyse and her team were already moving.

“The home of the Man Gnomes is near the collapsed mountain top, so—”

“Handle the evacuation, right? Leave it to us. And you?”

Selyse shot a glance at Soaarunay and sighed. She knew she wasn’t much help with sorcery-related tasks.

“Sh-Should I go too?” Paula, having regained her composure, volunteered.

Hikaru agreed. The mountain’s collapse must have heavily impacted the village. The more healers, the better.

“Can I count on you?”

“Of course!”

When the elevator doors opened, light spilled out. The magic system was indeed working, though the dim glow suggested magical energy was still low.

Once the Four Eastern Stars and Paula were sent off, only Hikaru and Soaarunay remained in the control room. Sand trickled from the ceiling, and distant sounds of breaking continued.

Hikaru noticed the screen had switched to a different view. It wasn’t coming from the front. Judging by the sunlight’s angle, it seemed to be a feed from the west. Tiny dots moved across a vast snowfield.

Soaarunay clicked her tongue loud.

“What are those?” Hikaru asked.

“The Forestia Federation. Probably a recon unit from Jarazack.”

“Perfect. They can call in their troops.”

Hikaru saw this as good news. They were the ideal group to inform about the dangerous creatures.

Soaarunay, however, still looked displeased. “It takes days on horseback to get to the nearest Jarazack garrison. Plenty of time for the Man Gnome village you want to save to be destroyed.”

“It won’t be destroyed.”

They had the Black Wedge Gate. The village would be in chaos, but the Man Gnomes would survive. Hikaru believed in the Four Eastern Stars. A timely warning should provide sufficient time for evacuation.

“What makes you so sure?”

“Never mind that. Let’s fix the barriers quick. That’s where our interests align, like you said. After that, you’ll remove the web of mana covering this world.”

Soaarunay shrugged in response.

Can I trust her? The thought crossed Hikaru’s mind briefly. Nah, I don’t trust her. We’re working together because our goals align. Once the barriers are repaired, the monsters will stop escaping.

Even now, holes in the labyrinth were allowing dangerous creatures to get out. There was no time to waste.

“We need to get the Golems working to repair the barriers, but we’re low on mana. We have storehouses here. Go fetch some catalysts.”

“You’re short on magic stones to power the Golems? I didn’t know you still had stock left.”

“Large-scale sorcery is needed to activate the Golems.”

“Seriously? Just for activation?”

“How should I know? The ancient magic our ancestors wrote must’ve been faulty.”

Hikaru was a bit taken aback to hear Soaarunay casually criticizing magic passed down by the Saak family.

“So we just need mana, right?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying. The closest warehouse is—”

“I’ll check the room over there. There might still be some reserves left.”

“Huh?”

Hikaru headed toward the room where the Four Eastern Stars and Paula had brought the magic catalysts. Currently, it was filled with piles of stones that had lost their magical energy.

“There are still some fragments left.”

Hikaru gathered the fragments of elemental magic stones that had fallen during transport, along with those mixed in with the pile of ordinary stones. He quickly assembled the four elements: fire, water, earth, and wind.

He glanced over his shoulder. His Mana Detection told him that Soaarunay was still operating the control panel.

Hikaru took out his ultra-sharp knife from his pocket and used it to draw a circuit on a large mana absorption device. He had drawn this magic circuit so many times that he knew it by heart. Once the circuit was complete, he carefully placed the four elemental magic stones on it.

“There’s a bit too much wind and earth.”

Hikaru could see the finest particles of magical energy in each stone with his Mana Detection. Using the knife, he shaved the stones down until they were balanced, then placed them on the circuit.