By Zephyria In an instant, his ears went numb as if a fuse had blown, and all the windows in the entire party house shattered. A vibration that resonated deep within his heart sent shivers down his spine. His vision was dyed crimson, and the nobles on the second-floor balcony flew away like powerless wooden dolls.
The hot wind that blew between the thunderous explosions and the scattering fragments scratched his skin. Flames and ashes, like a hideous demon sticking out its tongue, spewed out from inside the building.
Hugo, who had been wearing an uncharacteristically blank expression, pulled Silvia towards the edge of the stairs the moment he faced the approaching fire.
“――!”
She screamed as she lost her footing, but she did not fall thanks to the support of the two men. Hugo shielded them with his body and erected an Aura behind him. As soon as the barrier was deployed, the debris mixed with the explosion covered them at a terrifying speed.
Kwaaaaaaang―!
A powerful shockwave that shook the ground and a heat that was so suffocating rushed in. It was such tremendous pressure that the bodies of the two strong men holding onto the railing were helplessly pushed back. The half-opened main door of the house was pushed open to the left and right by the gale, and it hit the wall and fell off.
The heavy iron door tilted with a chilling sound. The servants and guards who had fallen on the stairs barely avoided the weapons rolling down the floor.
“Kyaaaak―!”
“Uwaaaak!”
The screams and shouts of humans were rampant inside and outside the party house. But even that was soon buried in the chain explosions. Reddish-black smoke rose fiercely into the evening sky, which was just beginning to darken.
The ornate chandelier shattered and poured like hail into the center of the hall. The fate of those buried beneath the sharp cracking sounds was unknown.
Hugo wrapped his arms around Silvia’s head, who was crouching between Jeffrey and himself, and stared at the exploding hall with contracted pupils. He could not believe that the scene before his eyes was really happening in the middle of the city. It felt like he was back on the peninsula. His mind was so dazed that he lost his sense of reality.
“What happened…”
In an instant, there was a strange sensation that cut through the chaos.
Why was Leonardo’s Magic Power faintly felt at this moment?
His blue eyes unconsciously turned to his wristwatch, where the other’s energy had lingered. The hands of the watch were stuck in the same place that had made him aware of the strangeness a moment ago.
6:00
He had boarded the carriage after dealing with the accident at 5:55. It was not realistic that only 5 minutes had passed since then.
Just as he was wondering if the watch was broken, the silver hands began to move slowly.
The minute hand passed each of the numbers and soon found its place.
“……”
Hugo’s eyelids widened slightly. The surroundings were in utter chaos, but he could not take his eyes off the changed time.
It was absurd. If the watch’s spring had unwound, it would have stopped moving altogether, but he had never seen it skip a certain amount of time like this.
As if someone had finally released the hands that had been forcibly held in place, the hands slid smoothly and stopped at one time.
6:25
After that, only the second hand moved at regular intervals, as it always had.
Numerous figures who had touched his watch in the meantime flashed through his mind. Craftsmen, butlers, attendants….
But their faces soon disappeared.
Hugo, moving his lips, recalled the last moment of farewell in the waiting room.
Her playful eyes, smiling with a reddish, flushed complexion. Her lips, whispering affection in a sweet and gentle voice.
The desperate hands that had grabbed his wrist tightly, as if afraid of letting go.
―It exploded.
“I’m watching.”
Several video stones the size of human heads were placed on the ornate table in the luxurious mansion. The flawless, well-cut crystal spheres reproduced the situation on the scene without distortion, as if a camera were forming an image.
There was a slight delay in the process of adjusting the value of the light absorbed by the installed lens, but it was the Magic Tool that showed the most realistic scene at the moment. The video stone was dyed reddish-red as if it were burning. Meterion, leaning back on the leather sofa, drank champagne while looking at the red spheres.
―The Duke has not entered. Did he notice something?
Margaret Penroad’s voice was heard from the communication Magic Tool that was rolling around.
“No, we must be late. …If he knew, he would have been making a fuss to get in. Because he has to save his precious comrades.”
Hugo glanced at the time with a calm expression. 6:25 PM. His brow furrowed.
“Why is it so late?”
―There seems to have been a problem in the equipment room.
“It almost ruined the plan.”
―…I apologize.
Just then, another Magic Tool for communication on the table blinked. Meterion, who had been leaning back, straightened up and answered the call with a sigh.
“…Yes, it was successful.”
Unlike before, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“The power is better than expected, even I was surprised. It seems things have gotten a little bigger.”
He swept back his dark green hair and perched on the armrest of the sofa.
“The list will be out by tomorrow. Don’t worry about the handling. The Council will be calling soon, so I’ll wait.”
“Everyone, get out!”
“Fire, fire!”
People outside the banquet hall scattered in all directions in a panic. Survivors inside the building also screamed and ran out. Nobles who had been lingering near the entrance escaped the scene in relatively good condition, though bearing traces of the explosion.
Many fled to the terrace and climbed over the railing. Only then, Hugo, remembering his duty, urgently shouted to Jeffrey.
“Get down, now!”
Jeffrey, who had been standing blankly with a dumbfounded expression, snapped out of it at Hugo’s urging. He immediately put his arms under Sylvia’s back and behind her knees, lifting her up in one swift motion.
Kwaaaaang—!
With the ensuing explosion, Sylvia could only close her eyes tightly, cover her stomach, and tremble.
Hugo took off his coat and covered their shoulders and heads, casting a spell to block the flames and heat. In the meantime, survivors poured out, and the stairs outside the entrance were instantly filled. Hugo, guarding Jeffrey and Sylvia to prevent them from being pushed over by the crowd, led them down to the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs.
He then opened the door of the carriage they had arrived in, pushed them inside somewhat roughly, and ordered Jeffrey through the half-open window.
“Leave Pentagov as quickly as possible, it might be a terrorist attack.”
“Understood, what about Your Excellency―.”
“I have to take care of things here. I entrust my sister and child to you.”
Jeffrey seemed hesitant to leave only them behind, but he steeled his resolve and nodded.
“Leave it to me. I will take responsibility for Sylvia.”
Hugo, replying with a nod, struck the carriage door with his palm. At the signal, the coachman flicked the reins and busily left the party house’s garden. The road surrounding the circular garden was soon crowded with guests and carriages trying to escape.
Hugo watched the three of them, or rather, the three including the child in the womb, leave safely before turning back towards the building, pushing through the crowd once more.
Just then, aides and knights who had been searching for their lord ran to his side. They grabbed Hugo’s arms, knowing it was rude.
“Lord, it would be best to evacuate first!”
“There’s a possibility of chain explosions!”
“Evacuate the people and contact the Council first. Hurry!”
At the order given as a Legion Commander of the Council, not as a Duke, the knights hesitated with expressions similar to Jeffrey’s. However, they soon stepped back, sensing the Magic Power swirling around Hugo.
As he extended his hand, concentrating Magic Power forward, a huge blue Magic Circle unfolded in the sky above the party house.
As if discharging the water vapor held within dense cumulonimbus clouds, a vast stream of water poured down onto the burning building. The raging flames and heavy rain competed for power, and smoke and water vapor mingled and rose into the sky.
The aide, who was assessing the situation, ran to contact the Council branch, and the knights, understanding their lord’s intentions, protected Hugo amidst the crowd.
At that moment, someone rushed out onto the second-floor terrace and shouted.
“S, save me!”
A man with burns and peeled scalp gasped with a melted voice. The metallic voice sounded more like the cry of a beast driven to the brink of death than that of a human. Hugo and the knights reflexively turned their heads towards the source of the sound.
“Please sa―!”
Splat―
At that moment, the man’s head, clinging to the railing, suddenly snapped back, and blood splattered. His upper body, freed from the control of his brain, limply slumped forward.
The figure, precariously hanging, twitched intermittently before soon falling off the railing and crashing to the ground.
Thwack―
“Richard Duncan, deceased.”
“Good job―.”
“Yes!”
Short cheers followed one another in Libertas’s hideout. Miraile, the video stone, and the colleagues who received news from their comrade in the field enjoyed their elation in their own ways, watching the symbol of the establishment burn.
Gillian took out the wine she had stored in the cupboard and divided it into a total of eight glasses. Beatrice, who had been nervous all along, hugged her beloved cursed doll tightly and spun around as if dancing.
“At this rate, we can blow up the Gate too!”
“The second floor won’t last long, will it?”
Judy couldn’t contain her excitement and jumped on the table. Even Andrew, who was usually calm, was so excited that his face was flushed as he recorded the situation in detail. Mikhail and Terzio also clapped their hands, celebrating the elimination of the target, but Leonardo was staring intently at the video stone with a stiff expression.
In his hand was the Magic Tool for communication that Hugo had given him. He had been on edge because it hadn’t gone off even after 6 o’clock, the expected time of the operation. He was really about to press the button when Agrizendro reached the entrance.
He was relieved that it had gone off just before they entered, but he felt uneasy because it seemed that His Excellency was caught up in a dangerous situation.
As he was silently brooding with a serious face, Terzio, who had suddenly turned his head, noticed Leonardo’s expression and erased the smile that had been lingering on his lips. Then, his gaze fell on the object Leonardo was clutching in his hand. He had seen it before when he was loitering in front of the vault.
Terzio rolled his eyes and let out a low sigh.
He picked up one of the wine glasses that Gillian had poured and poured all the wine from the other glasses into it. Gillian asked, as if dumbfounded.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“Don’t you know that guy is still a patient?”
Terzio, gesturing towards Leonardo, poured orange juice into the empty wine glass instead. The blood-colored wine that had been faintly pooled on the floor was covered with bright yellow liquid and disappeared without a trace.
Terzio picked up the glass filled with juice and the glass filled with twice as much wine and approached Leonardo.
“Leo.”
Leonardo flinched and turned his head towards him. Terzio grinned and held out the glass with the juice to him.
“It’s only a half-success, but we did it anyway, so the leader should say something at times like this.”
Before he knew it, he received the juice glass, and Gillian handed out wine glasses to the others one by one. The eight comrades had gathered around the table and held out their celebratory drinks. The boisterous atmosphere quickly subsided, but everyone couldn’t hide the smiles on their faces.
Leonardo slowly looked around at the faces of his comrades. They were all so happy, and he suddenly felt sorry for being the only one setting a somber mood.
He tried to relax his stiff face. He put the Magic Tool for communication he had been holding in his back pocket, smoothed his tense lips, and lowered his eyes.
Ahem, he cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“…I know you’re happy, but we’re just getting started. Don’t get excited.”
“I know―.”
Gillian, who had already downed one glass, poured the remaining wine into her glass and replied slyly.
Gold Eyes, who had been playfully glaring at her, looked up, and the lights on the ceiling made them shine sharply.
“Duncan has been eliminated, but there are still many connected to him. We need to dig into them too. We need to check how the current situation will be handled and whether there are any traces of Etaid left.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Judy nodded her head wildly. Andrew, who was next to her, smiled slightly at the sight.
Leonardo also gave a faint smile as if he couldn’t help it. Even so, he stared at the wall of the hideout with an even more determined look.
At the end of his gaze were the clocks positioned in all directions based on the name Zodiac.
Next to them, a calendar with the dates crossed out was half torn off. His eyes, which had been slowly scanning them, finally turned forward.
“The third day of the founding festival that will come next year.”
Leonardo licked his lips once and raised the juice glass in his hand forward. He stretched it out with so much force that the juice overflowed. But Leonardo didn’t care.
The glass, illuminated by the lights, shimmered golden in his hand.
“Until then, we will uncover the conspiracy hidden by Delberg and execute all the Imperial Faction involved.”
The eyes looking at him were all filled with excitement.
Leonardo raised the corners of his lips and quietly led the chant.
“Freedom to the oppressed.”
Everyone in the hideout cheered and shouted.
“Glory to Laina Rogia―!”