21-40 · 030
Chapter 29: Stampede
We rolled out of the high-end yakiniku restaurant in Ginza and into the night streets.
The city was already in a state of panic. Blaring sirens echoed, and our smartphones wouldn’t stop sounding emergency evacuation alerts. The horde of monsters pouring out of Shinjuku Dungeon was expanding its devastation into surrounding districts at terrifying speed.
“Toru-kun, this way! We’ll take the subway emergency passage straight to the shelter!”
Guided by Rin, who had the emergency protocols memorized, we wove through the crowds of people and kept running. The night sky in the distance was stained a dark red from magical explosions and fires. From there came the dreadful roars of monsters and the thunder of collapsing buildings.
“Haah, haah…!”
As an F-Rank with zero combat ability, my lungs felt like they would burst, but we finally reached the Special Class A Underground Shelter, the headquarters of Antique Eye, Inc.
Thud… Clang!!
The massive bulkhead made of thick lead and magic-absorbing alloy sealed completely, and silence returned to the office dozens of meters underground.
“…Phew. For now, we’re safe.”
Rin kicked off her heels and, catching her breath, turned on the main monitor. Feeds from the guild’s emergency line and news helicopters flying overhead appeared in split screens on the huge display.
“This… is terrible.”
The image of Shinjuku on the monitors was a literal hell. The rotary in front of the station was an inferno, and familiar skyscrapers were being snapped like spun sugar by the charging giant beasts.
“This is the first defense line! We’ve been breached! It’s no good, there are too many!”
“Third squad, wiped out! The enemy is mid-layer boss-class! Ordinary physical attacks do nothing!”
“There are deep-layer monsters mixed in!? What is that giant spider!? Send us an A-Rank party!”
Through the speakers came the anguished cries of explorers fighting on the scene. The guild’s emergency defense forces and high-rank explorers were holding the front lines with their lives, but the situation was desperate.
And no wonder. What was pouring out wasn’t just upper-layer small fry like goblins and orcs. Blood Ogres, Death Knights, and even colossal monsters that should only inhabit the deep layers were swarming by the tens of thousands.
“Right! Where’s Seira-san!?”
As I peered at the screens, one monitor showed a silver trail of overwhelming light.
“There she is! The center of Shinjuku Avenue!”
Rin zoomed in. There was Seira Jinguji, single-handedly holding back hundreds of monsters.
“HAAAH!!”
Every time she swung the ‘Holy Sword Excalibur,’ the absolute-cutting blade of light cleaved through a dozen monsters at once. The inferno and venom magic the monsters fired were reflected with 100% certainty by the ‘Aegis Shield’ on her left arm, landing devastating counter-blows into the enemy horde.
“Amazing…! She’s holding the entire battle by herself.”
Rin cheered, but my expression remained clouded. Seira was indeed overwhelming. She wielded the Mythic Level weapons I’d restored to their fullest, without a scratch on her. Thanks to the choker’s effect, her endurance should be fine. But the problem was the other explorers.
CRAAASH!!
At the edge of the screen, an A-Rank explorer’s greatsword was deflected by the armor of a giant beetle-type monster and snapped in two.
“Damn! My mithril blade!?”
The weaponless explorer was sent flying by the monster’s massive mandibles.
They weren’t weak. But their opponents were deep-layer monsters that normally required careful preparation and strategy to face. Forced into chaotic melee against such foes, ordinary weapons would chip and break after just a few clashes.
“The weapons’ durability is at its limit… If you keep cutting through the hide of deep-layer monsters with such high magical density, even good weapons will break.”
As I groaned, Seira on the screen moved to cover the crumbling defense line.
“Fall back! I’ve got this!”
She swung her sword while shielding injured explorers. But by moving to cover them, another route she had been holding was left open, and a wave of monsters began to pour through.
“No good…! No matter how strong Seira-sama is, she can’t hold every route alone!”
Rin bit her lip. The front line’s weapons were being destroyed one after another, and the mages were nearly out of magic power. It was only a matter of time before the defense line collapsed completely. If it broke, the monsters would flood into the residential districts, and Tokyo would be literally devastated.
“…Rin.”
I stood up and called her name in a quiet voice.
“Wh-what? Should we flee farther? If we leave Tokyo, at least—”
“No. Right now, give me the list of inventory stored in my item box.”
“Huh? Inventory, you mean the Mythic Level and Legendary Level weapons we were planning to list in tomorrow’s VIP auction? I, I have the list, but…”
Hesitant, Rin operated her tablet and displayed the list. There it was: the “top-tier weapons and armor” I had restored over the past few days, items that countries and guilds around the world would sell their souls for. A lineup worth no less than several hundred billion yen.
“They haven’t been listed yet, right? Cancel all the planned listings. Now, find the coordinates of the explorers on that battlefield as best you can. Rough approximations are fine.”
“…Huh!? You can’t mean to transfer all of this to the battlefield, Toru-kun!?”
“Yeah. You caught on quick.”
Rin nearly dropped her tablet, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
“T-Toru-kun, are you serious!? If we sold all this, it would be hundreds of billions! And if we let them use it on the battlefield, even if they survive, ownership will become fuzzy—recovery will be nearly impossible!”
“Losing the money hurts, but… this is no time to worry about that. I want to do whatever I can to protect as many lives as possible. It’s not like I have no plan for recovery.”
I stroked the ‘Ring of Subspace’ on my left hand. The system of this ring was synchronized with the huge stone stele I’d spent a day cleaning—the ‘Divine Stele of Universal Transfer.’ Using it to send my weapons to the battlefield and turn the tide was the most I could do.
“Besides, I’m Master_Eye. Explorers are in trouble because they don’t have weapons I’ve restored. …As a bit of a merchant myself, I can’t ignore demand this overwhelming, right?”
I smiled, the corners of my mouth lifting ever so slightly.
Rin was stunned for a few seconds, then let out an exasperated but somehow proud laugh.
“Haah… you’re such an idiot, President. As your managing director, I’m strongly opposed to charity that ignores profit.”
She picked up her fallen tablet and began typing at a furious speed.
“I’ll forcibly acquire GPS data from the smartphones of high-rank explorers on the defense line via the guild’s network and create a coordinate list for transfer. …Give me five minutes, no, three.”
“Got it. I’m counting on you.”
I took out the black, shining crystal ball from a cardboard box—the ‘Phantom Crystal of the Nameless.’ A communications-jack artifact boasting absolute anonymity, untraceable even by gods or buddhas.
“Time to work. …Let’s save Tokyo, Rin.”
“Yeah. Let’s go out with a bang, Eye-sama!”