239 Despair [1]

"How certain are you that everything will go smoothly?"

Leon felt a little apologetic about his actions, but in order to ensure his survival, alongside that of the others, he had no choice but to do so.

And thus, locking eyes with the Archbishop, he continued,

"....Especially when someone managed to infiltrate the place without you knowing?"

Leon's gaze turned to face the back where one of the people in white appeared. He looked no different than them, but Leon was sure that it was the blue-eyed cadet from before.

The timing was too perfect, and there were subtle differences between the way he acted and the others.

But that wasn't the biggest giveaway.

....The biggest giveaway was his eyes.

They were simply too clear for him to be part of the cult.

"Oh?"

The Archbishop looked in the direction of where he was looking at with interest.

"Are you saying that someone shouldn't belong here?"

In the moment that the Archbishop was distracted, Leon focused his entire attention on his inner body and worked to control his mana to kill the parasite that was residing within his heart.

He could feel sweat form rapidly as he did so.

.....It was a race against time, and he didn't have much time.

He could only hope that he had managed to buy himself enough time. Enough time to

"Sadly, I already knew."

"....!"

A change took place in the surroundings. The people garbed in white that surrounded them all turned to look in a particular direction.

"Ah."

Leon's expression stiffened slightly.

Turning his head, his gaze met with everyone's center of attention. His current expression was difficult to describe.

It was a mixture of anger, fear, and frustration.

"Did you really think I wouldn't be able to spot you?"

The Archbishop spoke, his attention focused on the intruder.

"Ukh."

At the same time, Leon stifled a groan as he felt something sharp press his heart. He had just gotten rid of the centipede and was just recovering his mana.

<nulli>'....A little more.'

The Archbishop's attention was now fully focused on the intruder. For that reason, he wasn't noticing anything abnormal from him.

This was what Leon wanted.

He had 'used' the intruder in order to buy himself such a distraction.

'Almost. Just a little...'

Gradually, Leon felt his mana start to recover, and as he did, he looked around him. He could see the others look at him with questionable looks as they alternated their gaze between him and the intruder.

Leon held his breath and continued to channel the mana around his body.

It was currently shackled, but the shackles weren't anything impressive. All he needed to do was gather enough mana to break them down.

He was slowly building up to that, but he just needed some time.

<nulli>'I'll get the others out after that.'

Leon was sure that the mysterious cadet from the Aurora Empire was strong.

....He held such a feeling back when he had seen him for the first time. It was for this reason that Leon believed the mysterious student would be able to buy him enough time to remove the shackles from the other cadets in order to give them a fighting chance.

<nulli>'Or maybe I should start by attacking the Archbishop.'

There was also that option, but he found it to be harder.

Despite being weak, Leon felt like the Archbishop had multiple cards up his sleeve.

It was a risky gamble that he wasn't too keen on taking.

"Hoo."

Taking a deep breath, Leon calmed his heartbeat.

'One minute. I need one minute...'

***

The sudden turn of the situation attracted the attention of everyone within the room.

Kiera and Aoife both turned in the direction of where the source came from, their expression changing slightly.

<nulli>'.....There was someone else?'

<nulli>'When did he get here?'

They both looked at Leon in surprise.

He didn't look at them and seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

"I was waiting to see what you were planning on doing, but it seems like the people over here don't want to see you succeed."

The Archbishop spoke while staring at the intruder. At the same time, he quietly glanced in Leon's direction.

Aoife also looked at Leon.

'Why did he do that...?'

She didn't seem to understand his decision to do that.

Even if he wasn't here to save them, wouldn't it be good if he managed to escape? In that case, he would be able to lead the rescue squad to where they were and save them.

Aoife thought that his actions were reckless.

And yet, she also seemed to understand them as her gaze fell on a particular man who stood by the side without so much of a change in his expression.

'....He might have lost trust in them because of him.'

What sort of deal did he strike with the Archbishop in order for him to betray them? ...Or was it possible that he had the intent of betraying them from the start?

Aoife felt her headache at the thought.

If it was the latter then it was quite a troublesome situation for the Empire.

But then again, seeing that the other cadets from the same Empire were in the same situation as her, there was a chance that it was just something he had done individually.

....At least, that was how things seemed to be right now.

"Psst."

Aoife's thoughts were broken by Kiera who was sitting not so far from where she was. Aoife glanced at her.

"What...?"

"Any idea on how to get out of here?

"No."

Aoife shook her head.

She was thinking though.

No matter how hard she tried to think, her mind remained frustratingly blank. She couldn't come up with a single plan to escape the restraints, nor could she fathom how to remove the device shackling their mana.

Panic began to creep in, her thoughts slipping further away as they started to wander elsewhere.

<nulli>'....Would things have been different had he been here?'

In this sort of situation, Emotive Mages would've come in handy. She certainly didn't think that they would've fallen for the first trick in the forest had he been present.

He would've been able to tell at a glance that something was wrong with his skills.

"Ukh..! Where is that bastard when you need him?"

It didn't seem like she was the only one that thought like this.

Kiera also thought the same.

In fact, his skills would've been pretty useful in this situation too.

They still had their memories of the time they had been not the illusion back in the Mirror Dimension.

.....They both had seen what he was capable of.

If he was capable of escaping from such a secure place, surely he was capable of doing so here.

<nulli>'No use thinking about it.'

Aoife was quick to discard such thoughts from her mind.

There were no what-ifs, and there was also no guarantee that he would've actually been able to help at all.

Plus, he had been gone for so long.

It was impossible for him to help.

"Fuck, think faster princess."

"Stop distracting me."

With all the attention directed elsewhere, the two were more free to speak, but they still kept it low.

Or at least, that was until a powerful explosion resounded throughout.

Bang!

It echoed loudly throughout, startling everyone present.

When Aoife and Kiera turned their heads, they were shocked to see the figures in white robes hunched slightly, revealing the features of a young man with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes.

He looked pale, and his breathing was rough.

In the distance, the Archbishop stood still watching the entire situation with his muddled white eyes.

"No, this won't do."

He glanced at his hand where a ring rested.

".....It looks like I need to speed up the process."

***

The situation flipped on me so fast that I barely had any time to react. The moment that the Archbishop's attention was focused on me, I didn't waste too much time and pressed my foot against the ground and activated [Step of Supression].

It didn't do much, but it helped me buy some valuable time.

In the moment that all those around me were affected by the sudden increase in gravity, I dashed away from the spot that I was on.

My mind started to race in all sorts of ways as I tried to think of which way to go.

<nulli>'Main exit, or the exit near the altar?'

I came up with the decision rather quickly.

Just as I turned to look at the main exit, I spotted several figures rushing in and my expression stiffened.

'Yeah, no other choice.'

I turned to look in the direction of where the altar was.

<nulli>'....I need to find the exit.'

Without looking back, I sprinted towards the altar. My body felt sluggish and my lungs burned as I rushed with all my might, but I grit my teeth and persisted.

Looking up, I scanned what was ahead.

The altar stood in the center, dominated by the strange magic circle that pulsated rhythmically. Each pulse seemed to beat as if it were its own heart.

I felt the back of my neck tingle at the sight but kept my expression fixed on what was behind.

It was there that my eyes fell upon an enormous pipe organ. Its towering pipes loomed upwards, casting long shadows that stretched down beneath the altar.

A thought ran down my mind.

<nulli>'What if the exit is behind the organs?'

My mind halted at the thought.

How would that even work? Would I need to break it, or play a certain tune in order to unlock the exit?

My hands tensed as I stared ahead and I started to think of all sorts of ways to break the pipe organ.

....But as I inched closer to the organ, I realized something.

"I can't break this."

None of my abilities could do that.

"Haa... Haa..."

I felt my chest tingle with anxiety as continued to inch closer to the pipe organ, my mind racing with all sorts of thoughts as I tried to think of a way to get out of this situation, and just as I drew right next to the organ, I stopped.

"Haa... W-when?"

My heart sank.

Standing right before me were multiple people in white.

With blank looks, they all stared at me, their muddled looks bearing down on me as I tried to bring up the intensity of [Step of Supression] to the maximum.

"It's an interesting skill you have, but you can give up now."

The Archbishop's voice echoed from behind me. There was something about his calm voice that unsettled me, making my breath even rougher.

Despite the situation that I was in, I didn't give up and continued to look.

Look for ways to get out of the situation.

And yet...

'Nothing.'

There was nothing.

My heart sank further down my chest.

"Haa..."

Despair.

I was slowly starting to feel it.

This situation.

It wasn't one that I was meant to get out of in the first place.

At the very least, not the current me.

"Give up."

The Archbishop spoke, his voice slowly entering my ears.

".....I'll make it painless."