Episode 65 – Collapse (2)

Collapse (2)

Lobby, 10th floor, 20th floor.

I had smashed all three desks.

From now on, checkouts would not be extended, and therefore, the heating in the rooms would not work. The doors wouldn’t lock, allowing hallucinogenic gas to seep into the rooms, causing people to see each other as monsters and fight.

A hotel destined for destruction…

Meanwhile, I had comfortably settled in the lobby on the first floor. The temperature was dropping below minus 30 degrees as time passed, but thanks to upgrading my thermal underwear’s “heater” enchantment to Perion, I could bear it.

Here in the lobby, I did what I had to do.

Simple. When their health and magic were completely depleted, or when they were worn out from battle, I would comfort those who came down to the lobby like sick beasts.

[03 : 00 : 00]

As time passed, exactly three hours remained.

The number of survivors was displayed.

[17]

A very small number.

Well, in the freezing cold where limbs could freeze, phantoms were running rampant, and Soliette was likely causing havoc upstairs.

Most wouldn’t be able to endure…

…Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Just then, I heard a scream from someone coming down the stairs.

It was time to work.

I got up from the sofa, clutching my axe.

“——Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

I caught someone running as if being chased. I was about to smack him straight to the ground, but he grabbed my arm first.

My arm almost got pulled out for a moment.

“Ossey! Bruaga!”

The guy in the gas mask spat out some alien language, and I was slightly taken aback when I saw his face. It seemed he recognized me through my gas mask as well.

“Ah! You! Shishishi, Shion! Shion, it’s Shion, right!”

Layla Hilton. She was holding my arm tightly and shouting hoarsely.

I disguised my voice.

“I’m not Shion.”

“You are! You are!”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Don’t joke around! Shion, save me! I bought you a hamburger when we met! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Shion, behind you! Behind you!”

Layla kept pointing behind me. I turned around. There was a rather scary-looking female phantom.

“There, phantom! There’s a phantom!”

Apparently, she had touched something, be it casino chips or whatever.

I looked at her and nodded quietly.

“I’ll save you. Calm down, let go.”

Then Layla’s face lit up.

“Re, really?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you hungry?”

“I’m hungry!”

I took out a meal kit from my pocket.

“Give me your hand.”

Layla extended both hands. Pretending to give her the meal kit, I swung my axe at her wrist—specifically, her smartwatch.

“Ah!”

She screamed, even though it shouldn’t have hurt.

“You, you……”

Soon she realized what had happened, and her deer-like eyes filled with horror.

I said,

“Trust me. This is saving you.”

“You, you aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh———”

Layla was forcibly logged out, screaming.

I looked at the smartwatch again.

[3]

Before I knew it, only three people were left.

Excluding Soliette and me, it would naturally be ‘him’.

——Thud.

Just then, the sound of footsteps descended. The scent of magic emanating from the Magic Body tickled my nostrils.

Without even looking, I could tell who it was from past experiences.

The final boss, Gerkhen Kal Doon.

Even in this freezing cold, he looked around the lobby with an unscathed face.

“Did you cause this mess?”

I feigned ignorance naturally.

“Not me.”

Then Gerkhen Kal Doon spoke in a dry voice.

“It’s a way to win, but it’s not efficient. Life is a marathon.”

“Have you been drinking?”

He was suddenly talking nonsense.

Gerkhen Kal Doon coughed awkwardly.

“……You should consider political factors as well.”

“Political?”

Indeed, Gerkhen Kal Doon will become a Senator in the future. The reason he avoids causing a stir and keeps his words to a minimum is because of that.

The best way not to make enemies is not just to say nice things, but not to say anything at all.

“You could become a public enemy. The college board is long. It’s only the first quarter.”

“That’s why I’m wearing a gas mask. To avoid being caught.”

“Rumors will spread eventually. There are many heads. The deduction will be completed someday, and words are fast.”

“You’re not going to spread it, are you?”

“…….”

Gerkhen Kal Doon closed his mouth.

His politics are simple.

Reduce words as much as possible, but when necessary, only speak the truth.

Pursue trust, but do not maintain it unconditionally.

When trust needs to be broken, only when there is an unconditional price that surpasses it.

Just like when he betrayed Theia Esil.

It’s not a criticism, it means he won’t make enemies unnecessarily in relatively light situations like the college board.

“Gerkhen Kal Doon is right.”

Suddenly, another voice flowed from behind Gerkhen Kal Doon.

It was Soliette.

“Your method is wrong, Shion Ascal.”

She criticized me and slapped Gerkhen Kal Doon’s cheek with her palm.

Thud——!

At that moment, the focus disappeared from Gerkhen Kal Doon’s eyes, and he staggered and fell to the ground.

“Uh.”

“Oh.”

Gerkhen Kal Doon was knocked out with a single slap. It was slightly surprising.

The final boss was defeated in an instant.

“It seems you didn’t anticipate my betrayal. Hot.”

Soliette had a somehow amused expression. Indeed, she used to enjoy such situations when playing games in the past.

Should I say she’s mischievous? She liked to trap others.

Crack——!

Soliette smashed Gerkhen Kal Doon’s smartwatch.

“What will you do now?”

[2]

Only the two of us were left.

Ah, not just the two of us. There are already many phantoms around. Maybe a few hundred.

I clapped silently.

Clap clap- Then the phantoms looked at me.

“Deceive the eyes.”

I scattered chips among them and said, “Deceive the eyes.” The phantoms would surely know the location of the cameras and could deceive them in some way. They are supernatural and magical beings, after all.

After scattering about ten chips, the numerous phantoms disappeared somewhere.

“……Let’s go.”

I gestured to Soliette.

“Yes.”

We walked side by side out of the lobby. The cold that could peel off the skin invaded my body.

On the other hand, Soliette was fine.

The Arkne family is like this. They fly around in the winter, but they are sick in the summer.

I took out all the remaining casino chips from my pocket. Soliette, who had been staring blankly, spoke.

“Now, I would like a detailed explanation.”

“These chips are mana stones.”

I piled all the chips on the ground. From the perspective of the SZX-9500, it was the point where the circuit of this magic space was located.

“I’m going to use these as a medium to upgrade the Mana Nucleus.”

The alpha and omega that maintain such a massive artificial Magic Spell is the ‘Mana Nucleus’ itself. A mass of spirits of thousands of people pulsating in the center of the barrier, that is, from the ceiling.

“Upgrade?”

“Yeah. My Spectrum.”

“……Is it okay to reveal your Spectrum?”

Spectrums are usually treated as personal secrets. Especially for promising individuals. If leaked, not only the value judgment but also the complete disassembly analysis could reveal weaknesses.

“Secrets are for 6-star grades like you. Not me.”

I put my hand on the chip.

“If you upgrade the mana nucleus itself with these mana stones, the spirits inside will break their own restraints.”

“……You’re going to upgrade the ‘inside’, so they break the ‘shell’ themselves.”

“That’s right. When the mana nucleus collapses, byproducts will flow out.”

Probably, all the dark magic will run wild. The spirits of the dead will explode, and those freed from the tenacious restraint will gather their long-standing pain and hatred and scream.

“It will be painful.”

“If it’s just painful, that’s fortunate.”

Permanent mental illness, of course, they might even try to commit suicide on the spot.

“I will watch.”

Soliette declared stubbornly.

“Well. Go ahead.”

“Yes.”

I raised my hand over the stacked casino chips.

After taking a deep breath, I blew Perion into it. Then the chips heated up like charcoal, soon liquefied, and seeped into the magic circuit connected to the mana nucleus.

“……Step back.”

Soliette and I took a few steps back.

We looked up at this sky together.

Perion rising along the vast circuit. It sprouted from the bottom of the magic space in several branches, like a spider web, reached the center of the ceiling of the magic space, and……

Boom-!

It shook this axis greatly. Countless magic circuits were all dyed white.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but admire, and Soliette’s eyes widened in surprise.

It was only for a moment.

Crackling──.

A foreboding sound, like a glass window cracking, echoed.

Immediately after, a far more horrific scream ensued.

─────!

Innumerable cries of agony that words could not describe.

Men, women, the elderly, children, without distinction, everyone who had died unjustly here, screamed out cries filled with the emotions of that day. It overflowed like a massive tsunami, covering the earth.

Cold sweat formed on Soliette’s forehead.

It was not something she could easily endure.

“Are you okay?”

“Are you… okay?”

“I have a unique framework.”

One of the few benefits of countless chemotherapy treatments. The leukemia and brain tumor I initially contracted were not ordinary diseases. They were magical diseases.

Therefore, chemotherapy was no different from anti-magic treatment, and thanks to that, my resistance to magical things became quite – very high.

“The collapse will start soon. It’s going to get harder, okay?”

Up to this point, it’s only been an indirect experience. Once the Mana Nucleus completely breaks, the byproducts inside will directly rush in and seep into the body.

I’m actually looking forward to that moment, but Soliette won’t be able to handle it.

“I will try to endure. My family, big or small, is also at fault.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

I slightly shook the Magic Fork. A swing that seemed to flicker with relatively little force. It accurately pinpointed and hit the wrist of Soliette standing next to me.

Crack-!

Something broke.

Her smartwatch was smashed.

“Huh?”

Soliette, who had blankly raised her wrist, soon realized my betrayal and her face twisted in shock.

“…You damn-”

In the middle of her cursing, she was forcibly returned. I smiled faintly and looked up. The wind, heavy with anguish, was swirling in the blood-red sky.

Aaaaaaaah──────!

The screams became much clearer, tearing through my ears. Faces of people formed like clouds, massively.

They were bleeding.

They screamed with their mouths wide open. Inside the wide-open mouth, there was another person’s face. They too were bleeding and screaming.

It was a cry.

Within that trembling, there was regret. There was despair. There was resentment. There was hatred. There was sorrow. There was lingering affection. There was disappointment. There was frustration.

Why did we have to end up like this?

Why did we have to die like this?

Why are you alive, and why are we dead?

Haaaaaaaah─────.

Enduring the emotions they spewed, I prepared to breathe in the Mana Nucleus.

Soon, debris will flow from the soon-to-be-destroyed Mana Nucleus. Even if it’s just such a trivial amount of debris, it will be of great help to me and the 「Notepad」.

Crackling─────!

The shell of the Mana Nucleus cracked, and countless spirits were freed and flooded from the gap. They whirled around the void like a balloon with its knot untied.

I spread my arms wide. Hands, or feet, or tongues, or the like clung to my body. Strange whispers and dark voices flowed into my ears.

It didn’t bother me.

I just closed my eyes and turned on the 「Notepad」.

[101 / 105…… 110…… 118…… 127…… 135]

The capacity of the 「Notepad」 increasing in real-time.

Not only that. My pure Mana Heart, that is, the capacity of my mana itself, is also increasing. Each time I breathe in and out, the remnants of the Mana Nucleus settle in my body.

I repeated the Mana Heart breathing and suddenly opened my eyes. I looked up at the sky, still screaming.

Aaaaaaaah────!

They are being liberated.

At the same time, they are dying.

Is this the end of suffering, or a second massacre stemming from my greed…….

Thump-.

Someone touched my shoulder. I flinched and looked back.

“……?”

There was a man with half of his face missing. He reached out to me. I stared blankly. In his hand was a casino chip.

Normally, humans and phantoms cannot touch each other, but it might be possible through this mana stone.

“Ah…… yes.”

I awkwardly took his hand. To be precise, I grabbed the ‘mana stone’. He shook the hand he held up and down.

I looked at his face. He had no face, but his slightly bowed head somehow felt like a smile.

He disappeared, leaving a casino chip in my hand.

Crackling——!

Just then, the shell of the Mana Nucleus was completely shattered. The collapse of the magical space had begun.

I stood still and watched the scene.

───Rumbling…….

The breaking barrier.

The collapsing dream of the theme park.

The spirits floating in between.

Lastly, the casino chip held in my hand.

“The rest is…… up to my interpretation, huh.”

For me, it was quite a harmonious and impressive sequence.