“What on earth? What is he doing?”
“Is that monster buried in the bridge?” As more and more classmates began crying out in surprise, Captain Meld gave his orders.
“That’s right! That kid’s stopping that monster all by himself. He’s the only reason your sorry asses aren’t skeleton fodder right now! Vanguard, advance! Don’t let a single soldier past you! Rearguard, start preparing long-range spells! His magic won’t last much longer! Once the kid’s clear, start blasting away to keep it busy!” His deep voice resonated through the room, and the students all refocused their attention.
A few of their gazes lingered longingly on the stairs still. And who could blame them? They had been on the verge of death but moments ago. It was only natural they would wish for the safety of the floor above. However, Meld’s “Hurry up!” got even the most reluctant students to finally turn around and return to the battlefield.
Daisuke Hiyama was one of the last to follow. Despite the entire mess being his fault, he was still overcome by terror and wanted to escape as swiftly as possible.
However, in the back of his mind he remembered the events of the previous night.
The night before they had entered the labyrinth, and what he had seen at Horaud’s inn. He had been too nervous to sleep, so Hiyama had stepped out for a bit to go to the bathroom and feel the night breeze. He had been enjoying the cool night air and was about to return to his room when he spotted Kaori in a negligee. He had been so surprised by her sudden appearance that he had reflexively hidden himself in the shadows and held his breath. Kaori hadn’t even noticed he was there as she passed by. His curiosity piqued, he’d followed Kaori and watched as she’d knocked on the door of a certain room. More specifically... Hajime’s room.
Hiyama’s mind had gone blank when he saw Hajime answer the door. Hiyama, like most other guys, was completely infatuated with Kaori. However, he did not think himself worthy enough to stand beside her, and had decided that if his competition for her affections was someone like Kouki, who lived in a totally different world, he might as well give up.
But Hajime was different. Hiyama couldn’t understand why Kaori would want to be with someone that, at least in his mind, was even lower than him. If he’s good enough, then why not me!? His twisted mind actually believed that was a logical train of thought.
His dissatisfaction with Hajime quickly gave way to hatred. The reason he had jumped at the opportunity to get the glanz crystal was also because he wanted to impress Kaori.
Hiyama remembered the events of that night as he watched Kaori gaze worriedly at Hajime, and a wicked grin formed on his lips as the beginnings of a plan took shape in his mind.
Hajime’s mana finally began to run out around the same time the students all turned back to the bridge. And he was all out of mana pills. He stole a quick glance back at the bridge and saw that everyone had safely managed to retreat. They had turned back around and were lining up to start firing their spells.
The Behemoth was still struggling against its restraints, but at that point they would only last a few seconds without constant transmuting. He would have to get as far away as possible in that time. Sweat beaded down his forehead. His heart was pounding louder than it had in his entire life, and he was so nervous he was trembling.
He was going to need impeccable timing to make it out alive. After cracks started appearing for the dozenth time, he transmuted the ground once more, and strengthened the Behemoth’s restraints for good measure. Then he jumped.
A scant five seconds after Hajime had started running for his life, the ground behind him shattered, and the Behemoth roared menacingly as it freed itself from its restraints. Hajime risked a glance back and saw pure rage in its eyes.
It looked around wildly, searching for the one who had forced it into such an unsightly struggle, and quickly found Hajime. It roared again, angrily, bringing its head down and prepared to charge Hajime. However, before it could move, a barrage of spells slammed into it.
It was like a bizarre meteor shower, where each meteor was a different color. The various spells didn’t do any damage to the Behemoth, but they definitely slowed it down.
I can do this! Hajime thought, and sprinted forward, his head bowed low. Despite the procession of spells flying inches above him, Hajime wasn’t afraid. He was certain his cheat-level classmates wouldn’t miss. Within a few seconds he was already more than thirty meters away from the Behemoth.
He unconsciously broke out into a smile.
An instant later, however, that smile froze in place.
Among the multitude of spells flying at the Behemoth, one of them had a slightly lower trajectory... And it was heading straight for Hajime. Someone had clearly aimed their attack right at him.
But why!? A moment of surprised confusion passed through his mind.
He quickly braced his legs in an attempt to stop, so the fireball merely exploded inches in front of his face. The shockwaves blasted him back toward the Behemoth. He had avoided a direct hit, and suffered no lasting damage, but his semicircular canals had been thrown into disarray and he completely lost his balance.
Hajime staggered to his feet, trying to put as much space between him and the Behemoth as possible, but the Behemoth was tired of being bombarded. Right after Hajime managed to find his bearings, it let out another roar. He glanced back and saw it gathering its dark red mana for the third time as it finished heating its helmet. It was glaring squarely at him.
It then used its heated helmet as a shield against the spell barrage and charged at Hajime. He was still somewhat disoriented, his vision still blurry, so he could only hear the Behemoth closing in behind him, and his classmates screaming and yelling ahead of him.
Hajime gathered the last remaining dregs of his strength and jumped to the side. A second later, the Behemoth smashed into the ground, using all of its hate and rage to fuel its attack. The entire bridge shook as it fell. Massive cracks spread out from the point of impact. The bridge groaned in protest one last time, before... collapsing entirely.
The repeated attacks had finally driven it past the point of endurance.
“Graaaaaaaaah!?” The Behemoth roared angrily as it desperately tried to find purchase on the crumbling bridge with its nails. However, everywhere it latched onto crumbled as well, and after a final, fruitless struggle, it fell to the depths of hell. Its final screams echoed throughout the chamber.
Hajime too, crawled desperately across the collapsing bridge, trying to find somewhere to grab, but all of his handholds crumbled away just as quickly.
Ah, I’m not gonna make it... He muttered those words inside his head as he gave up. Looking over to his classmates one last time, he saw Kaori desperately trying to run over to him, while Shizuku and Kouki had both of her arms and were holding her back. His other classmates were all pale as well, covering their eyes or mouth with their hands as they watched. Captain Meld and the other knights all watched with painful expressions on their faces as they saw Hajime fall.
Finally, the entire bridge fell away, and Hajime plummeted down to the depths of hell, face staring blankly up at the sky. His outstretched hand grasping uselessly at the fading light.
Listening to the screams of the Behemoth that grew fainter and fainter. Listening to the bridge crumble away into nothingness. And then, all too soon, Hajime was swallowed up into the darkness along with the last of the rubble.
Time itself seemed to slow down as Kaori watched Hajime fall to the depths of the earth, despair evident in her eyes. The conversation she had last night with Hajime played back in her mind over and over.
They had talked under the moonlight, drinking Hajime’s subpar excuse for black tea. That was the first time she had ever had such a leisurely conversation.
She remembered the nightmare that had prompted her visit, and how surprised Hajime had looked when she’d suddenly showed up in front of his room. He had even taken her silly dream so seriously. And before she’d realized it, her fears had
vanished and they had been talking happily about anything and everything.
She had returned to her room on cloud nine, until she remembered she had visited him in a rather daring outfit, and squirmed with embarrassment. Then seconds later she felt a little depressed, thinking she must not have much charm since Hajime hadn’t reacted to her appearance in the least. And then, she also remembered how she’d tried to forget the whole thing had ever happened when she saw Shizuku’s exasperated expression.
But most importantly, she remembered the promise she made with Hajime that night. The promise to protect him. The promise Hajime had suggested to ease Kaori’s fears. She repeated that promise in her head over and over and over again as she watched Hajime get swallowed up by the murky abyss.
She heard a faint, distant scream, and then realized it was her own, before returning to her senses. Her face twisted in anguish as the reality of what happened hit her again.
“Let me go! I have to go to Nagumo-kun! I promised him! I promised I’d protect him! Let me goooo!” Shizuku and Kouki struggled to restrain Kaori, who looked about ready to jump into the chasm herself. She struggled more fiercely than anyone would have thought possible given that slender frame of hers.
If that kept up Kaori would end up hurting herself. However, they definitely couldn’t afford to let go either. If they did, she would most certainly jump off the cliff without hesitation. She was already beyond any sense of rationality. Grief had completely overtaken her mind.
“Kaori, stop! Kaori!” It was precisely because she understood how Kaori felt that Shizuku was unable to find any words to comfort her friend. All she could do was keep calling her name.
“Kaori! There’s no point in throwing your life away too! Nagumo is already beyond help! Calm down! You’ll hurt yourself at this rate!” Those were the best words that came to Kouki’s mind. However, they were also the worst words he could’ve said to Kaori at that moment.
“What do you mean beyond help!? Nagumo-kun’s not dead! I have to go save him! He needs me!” It was clear to everyone else present that there was no saving Hajime. He had fallen off a cliff so deep that no one could even see the bottom.
However, Kaori wasn’t in a state of mind where she could accept that fact. Anything anyone said would simply backfire and double her resolve to jump down there herself. Ryutarou and the other students were all looking at her worriedly, at a complete loss for what to do.
It was then that Captain Meld walked up to Kaori and gave her a hard chop to the back of her neck. She spasmed once, then fell unconscious. Kouki caught Kaori before she fell, glaring angrily at Captain Meld all the while. Before he could say anything, Shizuku cut him off and bowed to Captain Meld.
“Sorry. And thank you.”
“I... don’t deserve your thanks. But I cannot allow anyone else to die. Everyone, we’re heading back to the surface as fast as possible... I’ll leave her in your care.”
“I would have taken her myself even if you tried to stop me.” Kouki unhappily watched Captain Meld walk off, but he remained quiet. As Shizuku was taking Kaori from him, she softly told him the following.
“We couldn’t stop her, so Captain Meld did it for us. You realize we don’t have much time, right?”
“Kaori’s grief might have affected the entire class’s morale, and more importantly, someone had to stop her before she hurt herself... Now get your butt up front and open a path for us. You have to take the lead until we all make it out of this... Nagumo-kun said the exact same thing, remember?” Kouki nodded reluctantly at Shizuku’s words.
“You’re right, let’s get out of here.”
One of their classmates had died right in front of their eyes. That had shaken the whole class a great deal. Everyone was staring at the chasm where the bridge had been in a daze. A few of the students even sat down where they were, proclaiming things like “I’m done with this crap!” Just as Hajime had told Kouki earlier, they needed a leader to guide them.
Kouki turned to his classmates and raised his voice.
“Everyone! Right now we need to focus on surviving! We have to retreat!” His words slowly spurred the class into action.
The magic circles were still spitting out more Traum Soldiers. Their numbers were gradually being replenished. A head-on battle would’ve been dangerous, and besides, there was no need for them to fight anymore. Kouki yelled as loudly as he could, urging his classmates onward. Captain Meld and the other knights all tried to inspire some vigor into the students as well. Finally, everyone had made it onto the staircase.
It was a very long staircase. They kept climbing through the darkness, unable to see where the stairs truly led. Judging by their pace, they must have climbed over thirty floors already. Even with body-strengthening magic, the students soon began to grow tired. They were already partially exhausted from their earlier fight, too, so the never-ending darkness of the staircase sapped at their willpower.
Around the time he was thinking he should stop the group for a short break, Captain Meld saw a wall up ahead with a magic circle engraved on it.
The students all began to look a little more hopeful as Captain Meld cautiously approached the door set into the wall and began investigating. He passed a Fair Scope over it as well.
The results showed that it was unlikely to be a trap. The magic circle’s purpose was to move aside the wall, or so it seemed. Captain Meld chanted the inscription on the magic circle, pouring his mana into it. Like a ninja’s hidden passage, the wall began to turn, until it revealed a short corridor leading to the room ahead. As they passed through, the students found themselves on the twentieth floor once more.
“Did we make it?”
“We made it!”
“We did it... We really did it...”
They all let out relieved sighs as they finally caught sight of the familiar scenery of the twentieth floor. Some of them burst into tears, while others just sat down where they stood. Even Kouki was leaning against the wall, and it looked like he very much wanted to sit down as well.
However, they were still in the labyrinth. Even if this was a floor higher up, monsters could still appear any time. As such, they had to escape the labyrinth proper before they could fully relax.
Captain Meld buried his sympathy somewhere deep inside and yelled at the students to get back up, his face now a commander’s mask.
“Hey, you louts! Quit laying around! If you relax here, then you’ll be dead before you make it out! Now get into formation, avoid combat as much as possible, and take the quickest route back up! Come on, we’ve only got a little ways to go!”
Some of the students tried to complain about how he could let them take a short break at least, but his pointed stare cut them short. The group reluctantly staggered back to their feet. Kouki hid his own exhaustion and took up the lead again. The knights did most of the fighting in the few battles they couldn’t avoid, and the party took the shortest route they could back to the surface.
Until finally, the nostalgic sight of the main gate and receptionist’s desk became visible. Though it hadn’t even been a full day since they had entered, many of the students felt as if it had been ages since they last laid eyes on it.
The students all felt relief wash over them as they stepped outside. Some of them just sprawled out on the ground, spread-eagle right outside the gate. Most of them were just glad they made it back in one piece.
However, some of the students like Shizuku, who was still carrying an unconscious Kaori; Kouki; Ryutarou, who was staring worriedly at them both; Eri; Suzu; and the girl Hajime had saved all had glum expressions.
The receptionist’s gaze lingered on those students for a while, until Captain Meld went up to her to give his report.
The trap they had discovered on the twentieth floor was exceedingly dangerous. Though the bridge had been destroyed, it was possible the trap was still functioning, so it needed to be reported. Along with the fact that Hajime had died. Captain Meld struggled to keep the pain off his
face, but he was unable to repress the sigh that slipped through.
None of the students felt like exploring Horaud, so they all returned to the inn. Some of them chatted with each other, but most of them just went straight to sleep, burned out by the events of the day.
Only Daisuke Hiyama left the inn, found an inconspicuous corner of town, and squatted down, hugging his knees. He buried his face into his legs and sat there, unmoving. Had any of his classmates picked that time to pass by, they would have thought he was simply depressed.
However, the truth was...
“Heheheheh... Hee hee hee. I-It was all his fault. Because that damn loser... g-got cocky... I-It was divine punishment. I didn’t do anything wrong... It was all for Shirasaki’s sake... Now she... doesn’t have to waste time with that loser... I didn’t do anything wrong... Hehehe.” He cackled evilly as he justified his actions to himself.
Indeed, it was Hiyama who had unleashed that errant fireball at Hajime.
Back when Hajime had been running to the staircase, Hiyama had still been undecided on what to do. But then he had caught sight of Kaori gazing at Hajime, and it felt as if a devil had whispered in his ears; No one would notice if you killed him right now.
And so, Hiyama had sold his soul to that devil. He had timed it perfectly, making sure no one would notice, and hurled his fireball at Hajime. It would have been impossible to realize that it was his fireball specifically amidst that storm of spells. And Hiyama’s particular affinity was with wind magic. There would be no proof he altered his trajectory, and no one would even notice.
Hiyama kept trying to convince himself he was safe while grinning gleefully to himself. However, it was at that moment that he heard a voice behind him.
“Huh, I should’ve known it was you. To think the first murderer I’d meet in another world would be my classmate... You’re pretty rotten, you know that?”
“Huh!? Wh-Who are you!?” Hiyama turned around in a panic. The person standing behind him was a classmate of his. More importantly, it was someone he recognized.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 1 (Premium) Page 9