Ch.119 The Final Battle Between Underground and Sky Part 8

[What about Haru-chan and the others?]

[That's right! they're still inside that dungeon!]

[Calm down]

[Haru-chan and the others are on the 500th floor, which is quite deep, so they should be fine]

[No, the boss monster has been defeated, and there is a risk of it collapsing.]

[So what should they do?!]

[Just run away!]

【Run where?!】

"Above...! Something terrible... has happened!"

I'm being held by Ruru, and Emi-san's being held by Lili-san.

...Emi-san is not the kind of girl who loses sight of what's going on around her.

That means something more dangerous than this situation where the dungeon itself is on the verge of collapsing is happening.

"Emi-sama, we are in the middle of running, so do be careful to not bite your tongue!"

"Haru-chan, which way should we run?"

--A teeth-clattering fear runs through me.

A terrifying amount of magical power erupts from No Name-san.

"Everyone, move to the right with all your might."

"Yes!"

"...!"

...If I hadn't been carried, I'd be stumble on my feet.

Taking a quick glance, everyone else seemed unfazed... but Lili-san is clearly shaking.

…I see, to have that much magical power, you need to be at least higher than level 20――

"--Get down!"

Right next to the wall, a gap created by the dragon's breath a few minutes ago.

We just slip right in there.

[Haru-chan and the others slide to safety!]

[Use your wristband quickly!]

[No, if the ground rescue team hadn't moved to the evacuation point...]

[Ahh...]

[Ah, missile]

[The cameras taking pictures around the dungeon too!]

[It was even shown on the TV broadcast screen!]

[It's scary over here too]

[It's okay, even 10 years ago during the explosion dungeons appearance, people could only get to the 3rd floor at most――]

◇◆◇

Above the dungeon - near a station where 2 trains lined up.

Thanks to the rather sudden and forceful evacuation guidance that began about 30 minutes before the disaster... fortunately, people near the "predicted damage area" managed to escape just in time, within a radius of several kilometers.

A space centered around the dungeon - A cylindrical object flew in that direction comin in from the sea.

Its movement seems to be controlled, and it moves from parallel to the ground to a parabola, falling straight towards the entrance of the dungeon.

And then--

◇◆◇

"!? ...!"

"That" gives me goosebumps all over my body.

I muster up my sleepy body and focus my consciousness on "that".

No Name-san's magical power―― what I caught a glimpse of is an enormous, spherical magic circle.

It was pointing straight up... using all its magic.

…… No.

"All the magic power of the dungeon... pointing above...?"

"H-Haru-chan...?"

The inside of the dungeon suddenly becomes dark.

A magic circle that is so bright it's blinding.

That power accumulates and becomes condensed.

"...Ears, cover your ears and open your mouth."

That was all I could say in an instant, and I closed my eyes tightly and quickly looked around.

I'm confused.

I'm really confused.

But what if something happens?

What if the "inexplicable intuition" I'd gradually come to understand over the past 3.5 years in the dungeon was correct?

"...Emi-san, Lili-san, your hands."

"Huh? Ah, okay..."

"...Haru-sama"

The girls, who had been trying to cover their ears, held out their arms.

"…… Thank you"

"Eh?"

"………………"

Click.

I pressed the emergency escape button on both of their wristbands.

Emergency escape with physical buttons.

Countdown appears on the LCD.

"Wh, what are you...!"

"Haru-sama..."

"...I can protect just one person, but more than that...so I'm sorry."

Although they are supposed to be hiding in a hollow, their faces are brightly lit by the magic circle above.

The surprise visible on their face... but I get the feeling that they seemed to understand my intention.

Although we don't have time to use words, we somehow understand each other.

I guess this is what they mean by "being good friends".

Maybe I was able to escape from loneliness for a little while.

Especially after becoming a girl - after a whole year of being alone.

"...I understand. If that's what you say, Haru-san."

"Haru-sama and Ruru-sama are..."

"I have a special gift, so it's okay. I can protect Ruru-san. And Ruru-san can-"

"...I can leave it to Haru-chan."

She slides down with me still in her arms, and I could hear Ruru-san's voice as she sat down with me on top of her.

Trembling dungeon.

It's as if the dungeon itself was trembling.

Pieces of wall and ceiling began to fall from above.

"...Please take good care of Ruru."

"yes"

Emi-san looked like she was somehow convinced.

On the other hand, Lili-san seems to be holding back something.

"---Haru-sama!"

Lili-san raised her voice, not to be outdone by the sounds of the dungeon creaking and No Name-san using all its might to turn its magical power into a lot of bullets.

"……………………………………!"

...She wants to say something, but maybe she's not sure if it's okay to say it?

That's how she felt to me.

"Well, see you later. When we get back upstairs, we can all--"

Whoosh.

Emi-san returned early.

As she sees that Emi-san had been transferred ahead of her,

『――――Aru-sama!』

"Heh?"

After removing the interpreter from around her neck, she started calling me in a strange way.

Aru?

Eh, but you've been thinking about me the whole time except at the beginning.

『Definitely... definitely! We promised! With everyone back then! To protect Aru-sama! This time I'll save you-- so wait--』

Whoosh.

"Ah, she's gone."

Lili-san disappeared at the best moment.

...Aru?

Who?

"H-Haru-chan--"

It was so sudden that I had almost forgotten, but I quickly cover Ruru-san's ears.

She seems to understand what I'm doing and she puts her palm over my ear.

Just as we both opened our mouths wide, we're overcome by an overwhelming brightness that makes it impossible for us to see anything.

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