ch61-ch80 · 094-ch78

Chapter 78

While Sai was fighting Brad, Hexaria and Cyril were fighting beside them.

She'd taken a heavy blow at the start, but somehow recovered. After that, Hexaria had deployed multiple layers of Hexa Shields, continuously defending against Cyril's attacks.

Cyril's 'Raiga' seemed capable of piercing a single Hexa Shield, but by deploying multiple layers and covering all directions completely, Hexaria realized she could deflect 'Raiga.'

She canceled all the aerial mines she'd prepared and observed the situation.

'AHAHA! You're totally turtling up! Turtle-saria!'

'............'

She wanted to blast her away right now, but she couldn't yet.

If her prediction was correct, she needed to firmly establish the power dynamic here and now.

To do that, she had to focus entirely on defense and preparation.

Maybe tired of Hexaria's motionless, turtle-like shield deployment, or perhaps because she wasn't attacking at all, Cyril glanced at Sai and Brad's fight.

'Hey, Brad-sensei, that's too much! Sai-kun's all cut up!'

Brad's attacks were carving into Sai's body.

But Hexaria didn't take her eyes off Cyril before her.

'Hey! Sai-kun's going through all that and you don't care at all!?'

'...That's why you're a fool.'

'Huh!?'

'What value is there in a woman who can't trust him?'

'Mmrrrggghhh—!'

At Hexaria's words, Cyril's anger reached its peak.

She unleashed a furious barrage, destroying one Hexa Shield after another.

In response, Hexaria calmly kept redeploying them, maintaining maximum defense.

'Don't screw with me! I liked Sai-kun first, you know—!'

'That's why I took him from you. You blockhead.'

'Gwaaaaaaah!'

Cyril's maximum firepower came at Hexaria, trying to kill her, but Hexaria paid it no mind and stacked layers upon layers of Hexa Shields.

'Besides, you're married and have kids now, don't you? What would your husband think if he heard you now...'

'My darling loves Sai-kun too, I'll have you know!'

'Honestly. Strong beastman-types always want to form harems...'

The all-purpose shield was destroyed and regenerated repeatedly, while the fang of lightning emitted tremendous heat as it tried to tear through the shields.

All according to Hexaria's plan.

And then the moment came.

The moment Sai activated his Magical Crest and began absorbing the surrounding mana.

'Ooooooh!!'

Cyril kept punching while screaming. In the middle of it, a pshoo sound rang out.

The golden — lightning aura that had been surrounding Cyril disappeared completely.

'Huh? No way, already!?'

Cyril let out a stunned voice at the sudden change, not understanding what had happened.

She'd suddenly become unable to use 'Raiga.'

It was so abrupt that she didn't even have time to panic.

'Hmm. Your 'Raiga' state lasted quite a while for this land of thin mana.'

'Wha, what are you saying...! Why is the mana so...!'

'Honestly. I'm sure Sai has told you too — "look more carefully at your surroundings."'

'Urk...!'

Earth, even with its increased mana, was still a world with little magical power... little atmospheric mana.

And she'd used a skill that guzzled magical power in such a place.

The inevitable result was running out of fuel.

No matter how much internal magical power Cyril had, without atmospheric mana, she couldn't use magic.

Because magic was the product of mixing internal magical power with mana.

However, Sai, who was fighting nearby, had absorbed the surrounding mana, apparently delivering the final blow to the mana shortage.

Now, only two people held large amounts of mana.

One was Sai, who had just been absorbing massive amounts of mana through his booster Magical Crest.

And the other — Hexaria, who had anticipated this situation and absorbed and stockpiled mana.

Normally, Cyril would have noticed the low mana levels too, but in her rage, she'd completely lost sight of it.

...That was Hexaria's doing.

She'd deliberately provoked her, preventing her from reading the situation.

In pure martial power, Cyril was stronger. But when it came to tactical maneuvering, it seemed Hexaria was a step ahead.

'Consider this repayment for all that torment. Take it.'

'Ahaha... go easy on me, Hexaria.'

Now then. Hexaria was not the kind of woman who let things end without payback.

And that applied to friends and acquaintances alike.

Also, while she often fought behind Sai, that didn't mean she couldn't fight on the front lines. Though she was famous as a sage, she sometimes fought at the front with Sai.

Hexaria's body blow sank into Cyril's stomach.

A heavy THUD rang out.

'Gah!!'

Cyril clutched her stomach and doubled over, barely managing not to collapse from the pain.

'Hmm... as expected of a special-class. Even in a mana-depleted state, your defense is formidable.'

'Grrrr...'

'I'd like to hit you a few more times, but I'll just put you to sleep for now.'

'H-hey...! What are you planning...!?'

'Sleep for a while.'

She shifted her glasses slightly and used the forced power of 'Charm' to make Cyril sleep.

'Zzz...'

And so, Cyril fell asleep.

Using the extraordinary power of 'Charm' in Shinjuku Tower was frightening, but Cyril wasn't an enemy produced by Shinjuku Tower, and the stream was unstable.

Considering the future, putting her to sleep for now was probably the right call.

As she thought that, she felt a massive surge of magical power from beside her.

It was Sai kicking Brad, leaping in to deliver the blow.

She couldn't even witness the man she loved looking cool.

In truth, perhaps the boundary of whether you can get married lies in things like that.

Hexaria looked down at the peacefully sleeping Cyril and thought so.

◇

'Haha, I lost, I lost! Sai, you've gotten stronger!'

'What do you mean "lost." You took that last hit on purpose, didn't you?'

Brad, now the Floor Boss, sat cross-legged and praised his disciple, who had grown stronger. But Sai didn't think he'd 'won' — just that he'd 'been acknowledged.'

He'd only landed a single blow, and Sai himself felt it was somehow unsatisfying.

'If it were really you, Master, you would've recovered from that kick.'

His opponent was his master and the Great Hero.

As someone who had seen the back Brad showed when fighting the Shadow-Eating Demon King in the other world, Sai didn't think that someone at his current level could draw out Brad's full power.

'Hah! That's the limit of my current state.'

'...What do you mean?'

Sai looked at Brad with his sharpened Mana Perception.

Brad was still fully intact.

Even after fifteen years, he was still at top-class level.

Then...

'Could it be because of the limitation of being the Floor Boss of floor twenty-five?'

'As expected of the second Hexaria. Right on the money.'

Brad was currently set as the Floor Boss of Shinjuku Tower's twenty-fifth floor.

Because of that, his power was restricted to fit the role of a Floor Boss.

But even so, his power was merely being controlled.

His technique was real, and it was one of the reasons 'Wakou' and other adventurers who'd reached floor twenty-five couldn't win.

'Either way, it's been a long time since I've seen your skills, and as your master, I couldn't be happier.

You've gotten strong, Sai.'

'...Yeah.'

Lately, he'd been acting as a teacher and as an adult most of the time, so being treated as a disciple, as a kid, by Brad stirred a strange mix of nostalgia, embarrassment, and joy in Sai, making his expression a little complicated.

He couldn't help but remember the youthful days he'd spent in the other world.

Compared to back then, maybe he'd gotten a little stronger.

Even as Sai grew sentimental, the situation moved forward.

'More importantly, you're going to tell us why you're here.'

'Sorry, can't talk about that.'

'Come on. Staying quiet isn't like you, Master.'

'I'm bound by a vow.'

Hearing "vow," Sai and Hexaria made unpleasant faces.

'I want to tell you a lot, but I can't tell you anything.'

A vow was an absolutely unbreakable promise.

At the same time, a vow referred to magic. Vow magic.

A contract that must never be broken — if broken, depending on the terms, it could mean death even on the soul level. It was a vow precisely because it couldn't be broken lightly.

They didn't know why he'd made a vow, or been made to make one.

What kind of deal had been struck.

But one thing was certain — someone who could move even the other world's Great Hero existed within Shinjuku Tower.

'The only thing I can say is — you've passed the trial of the twenty-fifth floor. You're authorized to proceed to the twenty-sixth floor. That's all I can say.'

Brad told Sai and Hexaria that, looking pleased.

'Got it. If you're saying it's a clear, I'll take the win and be happy about it.'

'If it's a vow, I won't ask further... but one thing. This is Sai's homeland.'

'What?'

Brad was surprised by Hexaria's words.

Hexaria hadn't asked a question — she'd simply explained the location.

Even if neither of them revealed it, this much was enough to understand.

Sai's youthful goal had been to 'return to Japan,' and both Brad and Hexaria knew that.

A mysterious other world. Japan. Earth.

A land that no one but Sai knew about, yet Sai had been searching for, trying to return to... a land that existed in the other world — Brad and Hexaria both knew this.

'So that's why this dungeon has such thin mana...'

'That's right. Mana's gradually increasing even in this world, but the densest spot is the thirtieth floor. If we can get there, we should be able to set up a teleportation circle back to the other world. Right now, we're aiming for the thirtieth floor.'

'So that's how it is... wait.'

Hearing Sai's explanation, Brad nodded with understanding, then started to panic.

Hexaria said, 'You noticed,' and sighed.

Seeing her face, Sai's expression also turned to one of 'No way!'

'Hang on, Master. If things like Forced Summon exist, then there has to be a send-back spell too...'

'WAHAHAHA! Sorry, Sai! Hexaria! Take care of her!'

With that, Brad pointed.

His finger aimed at his senior disciple, who had been beaten up by Hexaria and was now sleeping peacefully.

'...It can't be helped.'

Making an incredibly sour face, Hexaria nodded.

It seemed Sai's household was about to gain one more live-in resident.

After that, they sorted out a few things for the future, and Sai hoisted his peacefully sleeping senior disciple onto his shoulder and headed for the stairs to the twenty-sixth floor.

The previously unexplored twenty-sixth floor.

It was a place that radiated a different atmosphere from anything before.

But they didn't attempt to conquer it now. Instead, they headed for the teleportation device located near the stairs.

He was eager, but there were things they needed to explain to his senior disciple and about the other world.

No — there were a mountain of other things to explain too.

He didn't know how the world would react, but he couldn't escape his responsibility to explain.

Thinking about what lay ahead, his head started to ache a little.

================ Thank you very much for reading.