Chapter 35 - Arcadia, The Land of Magic [4]
Cursing under my breath due to our dire situation, I struggled to think of a way to escape.
The moment I realized we were only scratching the surface of how many enemies there were, it was no longer a fight we could win.
If this continues, Camila would eventually become exhausted, and I would run out of ammunition. There was no way out of this.
—Kachick!
As I prepared to reload the last few rounds remaining into Libera, I needed to come up with a clever idea to turn the tide in our favour.
Camila and I found ourselves wandering through a disorienting dormitory, where the walls seemed to pulse and ripple, as if woven from the fabric of fading memories.
What was once a familiar space for Camila had transformed into a labyrinth, merging and twisting together, blurring the lines between reality and imagination.
But before we entered this liminal space, where were we?
Arcadia—the floating island that had now transformed into the Pylon itself.
If we couldn’t escape in any direction, we needed to think outside the box to turn the tide.
...Outside of the box?
“Camila!” I called her name, and a light bulb went off in my head.
"Did you figure something out?"
"Yeah, I have a plan!"
With a fantastic idea in mind, I stood up and approached her immediately, wrapping my arms around her from behind.
“Aria...? What are you doing?!” Camila exclaimed, flustered and confused by my sudden action while we were being swarmed.
“There’s no time! Do you trust me?!” I asked out of the blue just as the strays caught up to us.
My embrace wasn't born from affection; it carried a more sinister purpose.
“Do I trust you…?” Camila pondered for a moment, bewildered by my behaviour.
"At this point, who should I trust?” she retorted, willing to put her trust in me despite the circumstances.
“Heh, then I’ll take that as a yes.” I smiled wickedly, pleased that she trusted me, even if it was just a little.
—Kachick!
“Are you ready?”
I held her tightly, making sure everything went as smoothly as possible while I loaded another bullet into Libera and changed the bullet type.
Unlike the more lenient ammo I used against the strays, these bullets were meant for Eldians.
The mana-condensed bullet, now known as an <Overcharged Bullet>, was a weapon that could kill even Eldians.
“On three…!” I tightened my grip on Libera and took a deep breath, slowly rotating Libera not to the strays, but the floor.
Camila, who had been enjoying the embrace I've given her, came back to her senses when she realized what I was planning to do.
“W-Wait, never mind! I don’t trust you anymore, so stop that—”
“No take-backs, two…”
—Vooom...!
To prevent her from escaping, I bound the two of us together with Ichor, ensuring that she couldn't break free. After all those times she teased me, it was time to pay her back.
"Aria! Let me go!" She flailed her arms around, as if she was scared for her life.
"Not listening~ one...!" I continued counting and ignored her pleas.
“Stop!” She begged, tears streaming down her face, her eyes filled with fear and regret.
"KIEEEK!" The strays roared as well, inches away from lunging at us.
With everything converging into of singular moment, I pulled the trigger, and my vision turned pitch white—
Everything descended into chaos... and nothingness.
“JUMP!!!”
—BOOM!!!
In an instant, a vast crater was created, blasting through countless floors.
The deeper we fell, the more the floors transformed into an unrecognizable, garbled mess.
“GYAAAAAAH!” Camila, who had willingly trusted me with her life, screamed in terror. Since we were bonded together in a literal sense, she couldn't do anything about it.
“It’s not over yet!” I waited for the right moment when the blast subsided and fired another round.
—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
If there were no exits to escape from this endless labyrinth, then the Pylon was cheating to keep us trapped here forever.
So, it seemed only fair for me to cheat as well, right?
If that's the case, I would create my own exit in the simplest way possible—through the ground.
"Kghh..." My hand throbbed from the recoil, but I slowly adapted and kept shooting.
“Come on… just one more!” As we fell at high speed, the rooms around us distorted, showing signs of breaking apart.
Timing it perfectly, I forced myself to open my eyes despite the fear filling me.
"HAAAH!!!” I used that fear to fuel my resolve, determined to pull the trigger.
—BOOOOM!!! C-Crack…!
With the last shot, a sound like glass breaking echoed when Libera broke, as well as revealing the outside world—the blue sky.
'Wait… the sky? The sky?!' My thoughts spiralled into chaos as the realization hit me unexpectedly.
Although the buildings around us had collapsed, the main structure remained intact.
“W-W-We’re right on top of Arcadia!!!” Camila yelled as soon as she opened her eyes, appearing to regain her sanity for what felt like the fourth time.
“A-Aria! Look up!” she exclaimed, pointing into the sky.
Not only were we falling, but Strays accompanied us up until the very end, intent on preventing our escape.
When we found ourselves trapped in that liminal space, it seemed completely invisible to the naked eye from the outside—only to be revealed once I shot through it.
It was like witnessing the sky shatter into pieces, a surreal sight that made it feel as if we had crossed into another dimension.
“Camila! Can you divert the strays' attention away from us?!” I loosened the Ichor binding to make eye contact with her as we plummeted.
“H-Huh?! Yes, I can do that!” She nodded, doing her best to stay calm.
“Good! Give me half a minute! We’re heading straight for the main building!” I pointed down at the structure below; I just needed one shot.
“Ugh… I don’t want to do this anymore!” she shouted. Despite her hesitation, she complied with my request.
—Voom...
Placing my trust in Camila, I closed my eyes and began focusing on making another Libera.
One. Two. Three.
Countless threads formed from my fingertips, meticulously weaving together another Libera.
Four. Five. Six.
High up in the sky, I remained deeply focused. Eventually, the bothersome sounds around me grew silent, and I entered a state of tranquillity.
Seven. Eight. Nine.
Time slowed down many times as my <Heightened Senses> boosted my focus to the extreme. However, since I had been using this ability the whole time, I hardly noticed any significant change.
Ten. Eleven. Twelve.
At this moment, all the lingering thoughts in the back of my mind disappeared. The only thing I was focused on was Libera itself, as if I had become one with it.
Meanwhile, in the background, Camila fended off the strays with <Telekinesis>, pushing them back.
“Get away!” she shouted, flinging them all aside with a convenient ability for the situation.
“GRAAAAHH!” The overwhelming number of strays all screeched, chasing after us with such numbers that it was impossible to count how many there were.
“Ugh! There are too many of them!” Camila tried to drive them away, but the strays used their own kin to boost themselves, making them unpredictable and too complex to fire away.
With urgency, I accelerated the process after hearing her frustration, and as if time momentarily stopped, I finally finished creating Libera.
“Fifteen, sixteen... seventeen! I’m finished!”
"Took you long enough!"
—Kachick!
I loaded the completed Libera with a <Gale Bullet>, a wind bullet I have used so many times, now improved and more compacted than usual, specifically designed for situations like this.
“A-All right!” Camila embraced me impulsively as if she knew what was going to happen, unknowingly shoving her big chest into my face.
Since time was scarce, there was no time to address it; we had to focus on the situation at hand.
With everything prepared, I aimed at the opposite side of the main building to propel us there, wasting no time and bracing myself for the impact.
As I placed my fingers on the trigger, I screamed at the top of my lungs, determined to survive this ordeal.
“Gale Bullet!!!”
—WHOOOSH!!!
At ludicrous speed, I pulled the trigger and enveloped the two of us in a sphere of Ichor to shield us from the force of the impact.
—Nyoom…! BOOOM!!!
The ball made out of Ichor went flying, eliminating every Stray in our path. It was a gamble to aim in the opposite direction to reach our destination, but all I could do now was hope I had aimed for the right spot.
—Ding Ding Ding!
Like a ping-pong ball, we gradually descended, bouncing off random debris until we finally slowed down and landed back on the ground.
...
...
...
'Is it safe...?' I tried to listen for any sounds.
The screeches of the Strays had finally vanished, and we were no longer crashing around on the floor.
It was an experience I never want to go through again; it was incredibly nauseating.
Confirming that it was finally safe, I undid the ball of Ichor, releasing us from that uncomfortable situation.
“Haaah… Haaah…! Kgh… I can finally breathe…! B-Blurgh…!” Camila vomited on the ground for the second time today, completely ignoring me despite her shameful behaviour.
“Ha… haha… I told you it would be fine...!” I said, feeling exhausted and was more concerned about how boldly she hugged me.
“Yeah… my ass! What the hell is wrong with you?!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, though her voice gradually weakened due to exhaustion.
“H-Hey! At least we made it safe and sound.” I gave her a thumbs up, enjoying that thrill myself.
“Ugh... you...!” Camila pointed at me and shook her head, trying to think of a response.
Eventually, she gave up, as if admitting that I was right despite my reckless approach.
“Gyaaaah!!! Just warn me next time if we’re doing something like this again!”
“Sure thing~"
“Don’t think acting cute will change anything, you brat.”
I smirked, enjoying her various reactions. Being cute does have its advantages, huh?
Speaking from a man's perspective... I'm just curious how it works, that's all, yeah.
“Anyways… What is this place?” Camila asked as she looked around. Thankfully, it wasn’t distorted; it was a proper building with recognizable furniture and belongings.
Compared to the liminal, murky dormitory we had been in moments ago, this place truly felt magical, as if the name Arcadia lived up to its reputation.
“Wait… is this perhaps…?” Her eyes widened as if we had just hit the jackpot.
Though we hadn’t intended to get caught in a giant pitfall of doom due to our bad luck, this time we scored big, ending up exactly where I wanted to go in the first place.
“This is the top floor of Arcadia, where only students with qualifications can enter,” I said, fully aware of the significance of this place.
Despite Arcadia's dilapidated state, this site looked brand new, untouched by outside influences.
The highest level of Arcadia was a grand library that contained all the world's knowledge at the time.
"The Archalv."
Every student in Arcadia dreamt of setting foot in the Archalv, rumoured to transform someone into a renowned mage once they immerse themselves in this library.
Noah and the other five heroines reached this level, effectively making it a core part of the story.
Here, they encountered the original gate to the dimension that changed everything.
A gateway that leads directly to the Aleph dimension and the hidden truth about Morze.
