Chapter 360. Hell • Snipe
「Unwilling to sit and wait for death, Hikigaya Hachiman rapidly mentally cycled through feasible plans, but the laser needles were already firing again. Unable to change the ground dragon's direction in time, Crusch and Anastasia—who were riding together—had no choice but to throw themselves off its back and roll onto the ground.」
「In the blink of an eye, of the three ground dragons that had accompanied them, only Patrasche remained.」
「Relying solely on their own two legs, it was absolutely impossible for Crusch and Anastasia to escape the next wave of attacks. They couldn't cover themselves in multiple layers of ice shields to buy evasion time like Emilia, nor could they use a sword to slice through the incoming laser needles like Julius.」
「Patrasche was steered to rush toward them, while Crusch, protecting Anastasia, grabbed hold of the pained Ram.」
「At the very moment the four of them converged, the desert floor collapsed. A mabeast, over ten meters long and resembling an earthworm, had been disturbed and was wantonly tunneling through and collapsing the ground below.」
「Including Patrasche, all four of them fell into the subterranean void. Hikigaya Hachiman's body moved faster than his mind; he pulled the suffering Ram and the fragile Anastasia into his arms, twisting his body mid-air to place himself underneath them, serving as a human cushion.」
「Crusch had a sword and decent combat ability; Hachiman could only gamble that she could protect herself. He didn't have a third hand—he had to prioritize protecting those who were weaker.」
「It wasn't just them; the ground where Emilia and the others stood had also collapsed. They were struggling to save themselves and could not come to the rescue.」
「The world spun upside down. The last thing in his consciousness was Beatrice's heart-wrenching cry of "Hachiman!"」
-
-
-
The thoughts many people had just begun to entertain—about heading to the Sage's Tower to reap some benefits—instantly vanished into thin air.
They had thought that once the spatial distortion was solved, it would be smooth sailing from there. No one expected the true crisis to start afterward... many who had lost their minds to
greed immediately snuffed out their unrealistic delusions of getting treasures from the legendary Sage.
Only those with true power remained in deep thought.
"Now that we know how to break the spatial distortion, the full power of a nation could certainly deal with the mabeasts in the desert. Someone with the swordsmanship of the Blue Lightning could block the incoming light needles all the way until reaching the tower."
"But it's impossible for a nation to mobilize its full strength to conquer the Sage's Tower... If I dared to do so, leaving aside the domestic rebels, the Lugunica Kingdom has candidates as far-sighted as Anastasia. she would certainly take the opportunity to persuade the Sage Council to invade the Empire."
Sitting steadily on his throne, the iron-blooded Emperor Vincent reflected privately, "In that case, Meili's power is required."
The future had been broadcasting for so long that most people within the Lugunica Kingdom surely held immense goodwill toward Hikigaya Hachiman. These people certainly wanted the Bowel Hunter and Meili to die as soon as possible.
Even people within the Sacred Vollachia Empire felt the same.
However, he was an Emperor who viewed the world from the big picture; he was Vincent, a man of great deeds. He could tolerate the likes of the Bowel Hunter and Meili—absolutely, and quite easily!
As long as these two were useful to him, he would naturally protect them.
The legendary Sage's Tower—this prize was large enough for him to defy public opinion to secure it.
"Pass down my order..."
-
-
-
As the Empire issued new decrees, within the Sage's Tower deep in the mabeast desert, Shaula's heart skipped a beat.
She felt very guilty and shrank her head back.
"Those were my needles, huh... Stupid Shaula, stupid, stupid, big dummy! After a mere four hundred years, you can't even recognize Master from a distance? Is your love for Master that cheap? Idiot, you're so pathetic!"
"But... yeah, Master is Master! How could a mere attack from Shaula cause anything to happen to Master? Hahahaha!"
Mid-self-criticism, Shaula swung her braids and began to giggle, suddenly becoming self-righteous again.
Of course... if her attack had truly caused Master to Return by Death once, she wouldn't know how hard to cry or how severely to punish herself right now.
"Even so, how could I attack Master? Shaula's love for Master won't lose to newcomers like Yukinoshita Yukino, Crusch Karsten, Anastasia Hoshin, the Oni Rem, Priscilla, Beatrice, Satella, Patrasche, Julius, Reinhard, or Garfiel! Hmph!
Ah, wait, no—Satella might be earlier than me. But it doesn't matter! Even if she came early, she definitely doesn't love Master as much as I do, ehe."
Four hundred years of loneliness. Four hundred years of living alone.
Shaula, who had spoken very little for many years, reached a peak of internal monologue, palpitations, and excitement the moment this "future" began broadcasting and she recognized her Master.
After apologizing and comparing herself to others in the void, Shaula stood at the top of the Sage's Tower, overlooking the sky. She threw her arms wide and let out a long howl toward the heavens.
"The Sage's Tower! Master... Master is coming to find me!"
"I—I—"
"I am Master's disciple! The only disciple! The most beloved disciple! The disciple Master liked and loved most in the history of the whole world! I am!"
"Master's most beloved disciple, Shaulaaaaaaaaa!!"
In the empty, uninhabited land.
Master's most beloved, lively Shaula made her grand reappearance—she was back!
-
-
-
"Hey, hey, Big Sister, it looks like more trouble is coming. Will it have anything to do with those two big bad guys?"
In the Hoshin Trading Company, Mimi was bouncing around. The "two big bad guys" she referred to were, of course, the two greatest sources of all evil and the most hateful masterminds: Echidna the Witch of Greed and Pandora the Witch of Vainglory.
The Archbishops acted according to the instructions of the Gospels, which were fakes modeled after the Tome of Wisdom.
If someone said Echidna, who created the Tome of Wisdom, couldn't manipulate the Gospels, not even a ghost would believe it. However, her influence should be limited since she was dead. Currently, the one who could interfere most with the contents of the Gospels was undoubtedly Pandora, whose words became reality.
Thus, there was no need to even think about who the mastermind was behind Petelgeuse's attack on the Roswaal domain or the three Archbishops' raid on Watergate City.
"It probably has nothing to do with those two this time," Anastasia shook her head in denial. "The Sage's Tower is a legacy left by the Great Sage, one of the legendary Three Heroes."
"The status, power, and mystery of the Three Heroes are not inferior to the Witches. It should be very hard for Pandora to tamper with the Sage's Tower. Right now, it's likely just the tower's automated defense weapons."
Saying this, Anastasia's gaze grew sharp and her tone suddenly became terrifying and exceptionally chilling, making both Mimi and Julius shiver.
"Sooner or later, I'm going to completely dismantle this piece of junk automated defense system that frightened my Prime Minister!"
As for now, she needed to concentrate and see if her Prime Minister was injured.
Read ahead (60 chapters) by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting