Chapter 53: 4F Hidden (4)

– Initiating fusion reaction.

The core was now filled to one hundred percent with mana.

When Iska adjusted the device again, thin, threadlike strands of light burst from the core and began weaving themselves around it.

“How in the world did you manage that?”

I answered Iska’s question.

“I have my ways.”

“...Whatever the case, you have my gratitude. Now everything can be brought to a safe conclusion.”

There was something distant in Iska’s expression, yet at the same time, he seemed strangely relieved.

“You should leave at once. The core will detonate in exactly eight minutes. The guards will be swarming this place at any moment.”

I checked the timer on the Warp Device.

[7:36]

So all I had to do was remain hidden for another seven minutes, then warp out.

Would that count as success?

I looked at Iska.

“Couldn’t someone still come in and stop the explosion?”

“The reaction inside the core has already begun. Interfering with the device now will not halt it. You needn’t worry.”

“...What about you?”

“I will remain here and watch.”

“Why? Is this the only Warp Device?”

Iska shook his head.

Apparently, he had never intended to escape in the first place.

“There is no need for you to concern yourself with me. I, too, am a researcher of the Workshop. I have conducted countless experiments and taken countless lives. You should go. Thank you.”

Iska pressed a button, and the laboratory door opened.

I started toward the exit, then paused and looked back at him.

The challenge was probably as good as cleared, but I still wanted to know why he was doing all this.

“So what was the real reason, in the end? This is your last chance to tell me. Indulge my curiosity.”

Iska glanced at me, then turned his gaze back toward the core.

“Have you ever raised a dog?”

“...What? No.”

“Neither have I.”

What the hell was he talking about?

“I devoted my entire life to the study of mana cores. Along the way, I conducted many experiments, and many people died because of them.”

“...”

“The subjects brought here all tend to react in much the same way. At first, they show fear or hostility. But as the experiments continue, their emotions gradually wear away, until they become little more than dolls. Once they are no longer useful, they are disposed of.”

Iska continued in a dry, emotionless voice.

“One day, another test subject was brought to me. A young child. A war orphan from the southern lands, which have since been reduced to ruins. When the child first arrived, they trembled constantly. But after I showed them a small measure of kindness, they began to smile brightly whenever they saw me. I only treated them that way because the experiments required the subject’s cooperation.

“The experiments continued for a long time. The research proceeded smoothly, and during that period, the child became rather attached to me. Whenever they behaved well, I would pat them on the head or give them a reward. I imagine raising a dog must feel something like that. Yes. It was like keeping a pet.

“But when the experiments approached their conclusion, the child was scheduled for disposal. That is what happens to every subject after they have fulfilled their purpose. I submitted several petitions to my superiors, offering various reasons why the child should be spared. None of them were accepted.

“In the end, the child was disposed of, and the research went on to produce remarkable results. Those achievements earned me the position of senior researcher. Many years passed, and eventually, I created this core.

“The Emperor himself promised me the title of count, along with every kind of wealth and honor. Had I wished it, I could even have founded a Workshop of my own. But one day, I simply grew tired of everything.”

Iska finally turned and looked at me.

“That is all. There is no deeper reason.”

After listening to the rather absurd conclusion of his story, I asked:

“So basically... you’re taking revenge on the Workshop because a test subject you cared about was killed?”

“Perhaps. Or perhaps not. Even now, after coming this far, I still do not entirely understand it myself.”

Iska’s voice trailed off before he added:

“Does it sound absurd? Destroying all of this over a single dog?”

I shook my head.

His constant comparison to a dog had suddenly reminded me of a certain movie.

“Someone I know of wiped out an entire organization because of one dog. He was a killer. An assassin.”

Iska gave a short, humorless laugh.

“...An assassin? Then he was a greater madman than I am.”

“Yeah. But it wasn’t just any dog. His late wife had left it to him. To that assassin, the dog was family.”

“...”

“Maybe it was the same for you. And why do you keep comparing the child to a dog? You could simply admit that they mattered to you.”

Iska’s eyes widened.

[2:37]

I checked the remaining time on the Warp Device and turned toward the exit.

“I should get going.”

Iska’s voice followed me from behind.

“Make it out safely.”

When I glanced back, his expression seemed slightly more peaceful than before.

I nodded and left the laboratory.

The moment I stepped outside, Iska closed the door behind me.

Two of the golems that had emerged earlier stood guard at the laboratory entrance like sentries.

I could hear approaching footsteps, so I immediately activated Concealment.

A squad of guards soon appeared at the far end of the corridor.

I pressed myself against the wall to avoid being struck as they rushed past.

[1:16]

Just over a minute remained.

All I had to do was stay hidden until then, warp out of the Workshop, and the challenge would be over.

Come to think of it, what would the reward for the fourth floor be?

Surely it wasn’t going to be the Warp Device itself.

The guards engaged the golems stationed outside the laboratory, and the corridor descended into chaos.

Ignoring them, I continued down the long passage.

Fragments of destroyed golems were scattered across the floor.

Then—

‘...!’

The instant I saw someone charging toward me from the opposite direction, I stopped time.

It was the woman in the platinum-colored suit.

The Workshop Master’s bodyguard.

...Ma’am, what are you doing here?

Where did you leave the Workshop Master?

Had she come because of the emergency?

‘Ah, shit. Of all people...’

She was dangerous.

If I entered her range, she would definitely sense me through Concealment.

The problem was that the corridor was narrow and perfectly straight.

Thinking back to my earlier encounter near the Workshop Master, the distance at which she had begun sensing me was probably around twenty meters.

That wasn’t something I could avoid by simply moving to one side.

There was no way to create twenty meters of distance in any direction.

Retreating wasn’t an option either.

The laboratory lay at the end of the corridor, and the guards behind me were already fighting the golems.

A little over a minute remained until the Warp Device activated.

‘I only need to survive one minute, but this timing is terrible...’

I shouldn’t have wasted time talking to Iska.

I should have left earlier.

I regretted it deeply, but there was no changing what had already happened.

...Should I try to leap past her as quickly as possible?

If I entered her range for only a fraction of a second, perhaps she wouldn’t notice.

Or maybe she would sense something but dismiss it as her imagination.

‘All right.’

There was no other choice.

I released the time stop.

The bodyguard rushed toward me, and I ran straight at her.

Carefully judging the timing, I launched myself into the air.

I traced such a high arc that my head almost struck the ceiling as I sailed over her.

...Did she notice me?

Or did I make it?

The bodyguard kept running forward.

Thinking I had escaped undetected, I was just about to land when—

Sixth Sense sounded the alarm.

I spun around.

Then I stopped time.

Somehow, the bodyguard had already drawn her sword.

A blue blade of Sword Aura was hurtling toward me at terrifying speed.

Ah, fuck.

She noticed.

My body was still suspended in midair.

If I waited until my feet touched the floor before trying to dodge, it would be far too late.

There was only one option.

I completed Mental Concentration and teleported diagonally backward to the limit of my range.

Kwaaaaa!

An enormous wave of Sword Aura tore through the center of the corridor.

I had avoided the attack, but using Teleportation had broken Concealment.

Not that it mattered.

She had already seen through it.

I immediately stopped time again.

After completing Mental Concentration, I cast Flame Strike.

The instant a fireball appeared in the air, I stopped time once more, concentrated, and cast Fairy Light Bullet.

Then I unleashed everything I had.

Flame Strike.

Fairy Light Bullet.

Frost Shot.

Every spell in my arsenal struck the bodyguard at once.

Kwaaaaang!

The corridor was narrow.

With no room to escape to either side, her options were limited.

Her body shot high into the air through the smoke.

That was exactly what I had been aiming for.

So you enjoy attacking people while they’re airborne?

How rude.

Now it’s your turn.

I aimed at the bodyguard and unleashed a fully charged Destruction Ray amplified seven hundred and twenty-nine times.

No matter how powerful she was, there was no way she could take this head-on and survive.

A pitch-black beam swallowed her and tore straight through the ceiling.

“...”

Well.

A miss was still a miss.

The bodyguard dropped back to the floor.

One of her arms was gone.

Blood poured from the severed stump in thick streams.

Apparently, the instant Destruction Ray had fired, she had planted a foot against empty air and twisted her body away.

She hadn’t managed to evade it completely, and the attack had taken her arm.

But she had still avoided a direct hit.

Seriously?

Using Air Walk like that was practically cheating.

The fact that she had reacted quickly enough to dodge an instantaneous beam was proof enough that she was a monster.

Even after losing an arm, her expression remained completely unchanged.

The bleeding from the stump soon stopped as well.

“...You are human, aren’t you?”

Her composure was so unnatural that I felt compelled to ask.

The joke fell flat.

I immediately activated Skin Hardening, spread a Scorching Zone throughout the corridor, turned around, and ran.

I hoped she might abandon her pursuit and head toward Iska’s laboratory instead.

Kwaaaaa!

Perhaps that had been too much to hope for after I had just blown off her arm.

I threw myself aside and narrowly avoided another wave of Sword Aura.

Wrapped in a barrier resembling a magnetic field, the bodyguard charged directly through the Scorching Zone and pursued me with terrifying determination.

She was unnervingly fast.

In desperation, I pulled out an Ice Dagger and activated it.

A wave of frost spread across the straight corridor.

It seemed to delay her for a moment, and her pursuit briefly stopped.

I used Leap to clear the long staircase in a single bound and hurled myself toward the door.

After bursting onto the ground floor, I rolled across the floor and looked behind me.

The moment I turned, I stopped time.

Somehow, the bodyguard was already right in front of me.

Her sword was halfway through a swing, trailing brilliant blue Sword Aura.

The difference in our physical abilities was overwhelming.

Fighting her at close range would be suicide.

I had activated Skin Hardening, but I doubted it could withstand even a single strike from that monster.

[0:31]

The Warp Device in my hand had around thirty seconds remaining.

Teleportation was still on cooldown.

I couldn’t summon Plli either.

Could I really avoid her attacks and survive for another thirty seconds?

I wasn’t confident.

If my life was truly in danger, I could still activate Emergency Exit, but—

‘Ah!’

The Shop.

The idea struck me all at once.

Points held: 500P

I had five hundred points left after the five gacha pulls.

That was enough to purchase Force Field ten times.

But could Force Field even be used in this place?

There was only one way to find out.

[‘Force Field (50P)’ has been purchased.]

The moment I released time, I deployed a Force Field between myself and the charging bodyguard.

“...!”

She slammed into the barrier that had appeared out of nowhere.

I didn’t waste the fraction of a second it bought me.

I turned and ran.

‘It works!’

Maybe I could actually survive the remaining thirty seconds using this.

According to the description, Slow and Stop only affected golems, so those abilities would be useless against her.

Force Field alone, however, might be enough.

I fired Fairy Light Bullets behind me as I sprinted, hoping to create more than twenty meters of distance so I could activate Concealment again.

I smashed through a corridor window and escaped outside.

The bodyguard caught up almost immediately, forcing me to deploy another Force Field.

This time, she swung her sword.

A wave of Sword Aura split the Force Field in half and continued flying toward me.

I used Leap to throw myself out of its path.

I kept running for my life, delaying her for brief moments with one Force Field after another.

The bodyguard was unbearably persistent.

All I needed was enough distance to reactivate Concealment, but she kept forcing her way through every obstacle and refused to abandon the pursuit.

The moment Flame Strike came off cooldown, I scattered several blasts in every direction.

When the bodyguard emerged from the smoke, I caught her with another Force Field and sprinted toward the edge of the Workshop.

[0:05]

The floating Workshop ended at a sheer cliff.

I leaped into open air.

Then I cast Force Field beneath myself, used it as a foothold, and jumped again with Leap.

A massive wave of Sword Aura came racing after me.

But Teleportation had already come off cooldown.

I vanished out of its path.

[0:05]

Only five seconds remained.

With Concealment active once again, I began plummeting toward the ground below.

Whew.

That was close, but I had won.

All I had to do was keep falling until the Warp Device activated.

I twisted around and looked back toward the bodyguard standing at the cliff’s edge.

“...Oh.”

She was preparing another attack.

The bodyguard thrust her sword forward again and again, her arm moving so quickly that it blurred from sight.

Sharp projectiles of Sword Aura rained down toward me like machine-gun fire.

I stopped time.

With Concealment active, even she couldn’t determine my exact location.

Her attacks were being fired blindly across a wide area.

But through sheer bad luck, one of the blades was flying directly toward me.

...What should I do?

There was no way to dodge it completely.

If I twisted my body, perhaps I could escape with only the loss of an arm.

Fine.

I would sacrifice an arm.

Any injuries would be fully restored once the challenge was cleared.

Besides, I had Rapid Regeneration.

This was as good an opportunity as any to test whether the skill could regrow a severed limb.

I had previously used it with a twenty-seven-times multiplier, but I still didn’t know how powerful its normal effect was.

After fully restoring my depleted Willpower, I released time and twisted my body.

Chwaaak!

“...!”

As expected, Skin Hardening was completely useless against that monster’s attack.

My left arm flew off before my eyes.

Blood sprayed through the air, and a wave of agony crashed over me.

It hurts!

It fucking hurts, but—

I can endure it!

Compared to the pain of having my entire body burned alive, this was almost nothing.

I suppose experience really did make a difference.

Clenching my teeth, I immediately activated Rapid Regeneration.

Then I checked the remaining time on the Warp Device.

[0:01]

The moment the timer reached zero, the space before me twisted and distorted.

When the distortion snapped back into place, I found myself lying on solid ground.

“Ngh.”

I pushed myself upright and looked down at my arm.

The severed limb was rapidly rebuilding itself, flesh bubbling and surging as though it were boiling.

A moment later, I was opening and closing a completely restored left hand.

“Regrows perfectly.”

Rapid Regeneration could restore severed limbs.

Useful information acquired.

Kuuuuuuuuu...!

A distant explosion suddenly rolled across the sky.

When I looked toward the far horizon, an enormous blast was unfolding high above the ground.

Only then did I realize that it was the Workshop I had occupied just moments earlier.

Whew...

That was rough.

As I stood there, staring blankly at the distant explosion, a system message appeared.

[Nightmare difficulty Floor 4 hidden clear successful.]

[Absorbing the Power of the Floor completely.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

[Moving to the Reward Room.]