Did I disturb you? (Part 2)

The overlapping of star palaces.

The trajectories of the ecliptic.

The alignment of stars and moon.

The myriad stars whispered the future to the young girl.

Thus, the girl conveyed the glimpses of fortune and misfortune she had observed to another girl, using only her lips.

Jadette had no idea what Aimira’s intentions were, nor what the meaning of such an action could be. Nevertheless, perhaps seeing it as a desperate measure, or perhaps thinking, ‘It can’t possibly get any worse,’ she followed Aimira’s instructions.

Bathed in pure oxygen, which had already blurred her vision and caused blood to stream from her seven orifices, she gritted her teeth and loaded the most powerful bullet she could find. She aimed at a 46-degree angle to her upper right and fired.

“Hey, are you stupid, you idio—”

Paris’s taunt was swallowed by a deafening blast. This was the consequence of firing a gun in a high-pressure pure oxygen environment; the usually subtle muzzle flash transformed into an astonishing explosion. The explosive projectile soared diagonally upwards into an empty space, hitting no one, merely slamming into the ceiling of the Sixth Layer.

Jadette’s upper body was engulfed in the flames of the explosion, leaving her face blackened with ash. Finally, her strength gave out, and she collapsed to one knee.

“…………”

“““……What are you doing?”””

All three were dumbfounded.

“……I’d like to know that myself!”

Jadette secretly glared at Aimira, who, however, merely closed her eyes and continued to feign death.

This was terrible.

Trapped deep within the abyss, she lacked sufficient tools, was severely injured, was being ambushed by a group of formidable individuals, and was even being toyed with by this infuriating woman.

She had been careless.

The notion that ‘a mere Sandra City couldn’t possibly involve anything major’—that thought truly was too careless.

“Who’s going to finish her off?” An Meng inquired.

“That would be me, of course! The Ninth Apostle’s first wife—whoever claims her head will be incredibly lucky!” Paris enthusiastically rubbed his hands together.

“Let me do it, won’t you~? I just adore pretty young ladies like her~” Parashana licked her lips, unable to contain her eagerness.

“Don’t forget the original purpose of forcing her here, you fools.”

The fourth person appeared.

This was a man who seemed utterly unremarkable, dressed in an inconspicuous night suit. Compared to the other three, he exuded no oppressive aura whatsoever.

Yet, Jadette noticed the tattoo on the back of his hand.

A scarlet, number three.

In terms of combat strength, he might have been similar to An Meng, but his status was considerably higher.

‘Red… means he is highly regarded by the Venerable Lord… Is he a trusted subordinate of the Third Venerable Lord?’

These four individuals combined could lead a massive army to fight a localized war. Why, then, had they come to Sandra? Among the numerous abysses in this world, the Sandra Abyss was not particularly large, and several explorations had failed to uncover anything special. What could possibly be its allure…

The man—Justin—approached Jadette, his gaze icy cold.

“Though it’s a cliché, Miss Dochido, you have nowhere left to run.”

“Indeed… quite cliché… Is this where the villain traditionally explains their master plan?”

“Not at all. I have no desire to waste time introducing myself, nor am I inclined to explain the full story. You merely need to obey us docilely—”

“Dream on!”

Jadette suddenly ground her back teeth and, with incredible speed, spat something out. This was her last and most potent stun grenade. A blinding flash and a powerful sound wave assaulted everyone’s senses. She immediately used her remaining strength to lunge towards Aimira, who was still feigning death on the ground. If she was to escape, she had to take Aimira with her.

“Where are you going?”

“!?”

Justin’s cold voice rang out.

The blinding flash and the sound wave—they vanished.

Or rather, they were ‘caught’.

Justin released threads of magical energy that passed through the light and sound waves, weaving them like fabric into a ‘cloth’ which he casually draped over himself.

“Sound, light, elements, living beings, even antimatter can become my ‘fabric’. Even human souls—it’s all the same.”

With a sharp wave of his hand, the darkness pervading the abyss instantly transformed into a thick curtain.

It tightly enveloped Jadette layer by layer.

Jadette struggled furiously, but Paris stomped on her head, Parashana’s dagger pressed against her neck, and An Meng’s dragon claws clamped her body tightly. She coughed up a large mouthful of blood.

“Now, let’s proceed immediately. Use your ‘strong soul’ to catalyze the Abyss Seed—”

“You—are you—underestimating me too much!?”

Jadette snarled, biting down on something. They were several extremely thin silver threads—Relic Coils. Simultaneously, An Meng’s dragon claws, which had been clamping her, trembled violently! Only then did An Meng realize Jadette had somehow wrapped the Relic Coils around her wrist!

“When did you—!?”

Just as An Meng realized she had miscalculated and was about to shrink into her human form to break free—

“—Slash!!!!”

CRACK!!!!!!

Blinding electric light flashed along the silver threads, tearing through the dragon scales and severing the dragon bones. An Meng’s claw was left connected to her wrist by only a shred of flesh. An Meng shrieked in pain and retreated, Paris was startled, Parashana burst into laughter, and a furious Justin tightened the dark curtain, fiercely squeezing Jadette’s head with a hand made of woven light and heat.

“A death throe, huh? But I have no time to humor your games!”

“It doesn’t matter—you think you’ve won—don’t you!!!”

Beneath the curtain, a thin needle extended from the tip of Jadette’s left pinky finger, a pale yellow, unknown liquid oozing from its tip.

“Then, as you wish—this is—what you forced me to do—!!!”

Having resolved to burn her bridges, she was about to plunge the needle into her femoral artery when—

BOOM!!!!!!!!

A deafening explosion roared from above.

The ceiling of the Sixth Layer of the abyss, the partition between it and the Fifth Layer, had been breached.

The location was precisely where Jadette had aimed her shot, following Aimira’s instruction to ‘fire at a 46-degree angle to the upper right’.

Now, a gaping hole marred the dark stone wall, and a man slowly descended directly through the breach.

“Looks like I made it… As I was passing by, I suddenly felt a tremor from below and wondered if someone was going all out down here… Turns out it was true.”

Jadette first froze, then abruptly looked at Aimira, who was still feigning death nearby. Aimira subtly turned her head and winked at her.

So that was it…

She… who knew if it was through her unique brand of astrology or something else, had predicted that the man arriving at the Fifth Layer would soon pass through that exact spot.

Thus, she had Jadette fire a shot there to attract his attention.

Indeed, the destructive power of the explosive projectile she launched was astonishing, and someone with extremely keen senses could detect the tremor even through a layer of rock…

As Jadette had her moment of realization, the man landed gracefully.

She clearly saw his face.

Yet, she was not surprised; rather, she had a premonition the first time she saw him at the guild.

“Corvus…”

She murmured, speaking his name.

Time seemed to stand still.

The appearance of this uninvited guest disrupted everything.

The man’s face was devoid of expression.

He merely scanned the surroundings, his gaze passing over An Meng, Justin, Parashana, and Paris in turn, finally resting on Jadette, who lay slumped on the ground.

“……I see.”

He sighed, shrugged, and scratched his head, much like a middle schooler caught by their homeroom teacher accepting a parent’s bribe.

“So… did I interrupt something?”

—he asked.

His eyes no longer spared a glance for the four, fixated solely on Jadette.

After two years apart, the two finally met each other’s gaze once more.

A tearful reunion of devoted lovers? No.

A heart-wrenching gathering of best friends? Neither.

They were like two parallel lines that had unexpectedly converged, intersecting for a fleeting moment in their aimless extension, exchanging a dry greeting.

“You… cough…”

Jadette spat out a mouthful of blood foam, her lips trembling as she forced a twisted smile.

“……Why do you… still need to… worry? I was just about to… tear them limb from limb.”

“One vial of Crying Blood Potion costs as much as a residential area in the central district of Upper River City… I recall you saying that yourself, didn’t you?”

“That’s precisely why… it needs to be used at a critical moment… pant… pant… So, you just came to… mock me?”

“Something like that. So I’m quite satisfied now.”

“You’re completely… just… toying with me… I… you know… how long I’ve been looking for you… you know… how much… trouble I’ve gone through… you dog of a man…”

“A dog I may be, but at least I’m stronger than you.”

The two conversed in this manner.

Their words were filled with banter and sarcasm.

The four individuals merely stood still, watching them.

Of course, they didn’t wish to stand there idly, but—

“My feet…”

“Can’t move…”

“These things…?”

“Oh, oh? Is this the Ninth Apostle’s ability? It’s even better than I imagined!”

Unbeknownst to them, the ground was already covered in dense chains. These chains had coiled around their legs, immobilizing their lower bodies, preventing them from moving even a single step.

“NINTH APOSTLE!!!!”

Paris was, naturally, the most agitated. He lunged forward excitedly—but, unable to move his legs, he nearly stumbled to the ground, cutting a rather comical figure.

“Ninth Apostle! Do you recognize me!? My—my elder brother, Julius Pucci, died at your hands, you bastard, three years ago! You villain, you scum, you son of a b*tch! Now I’ve finally found you, and I’m going to—”

“Why so much pointless talk! Burn him to death!!!”

An Meng roared, opening her maw wide, and a thick, liquid-like flame enveloped Corvus. However, it disintegrated into countless embers the moment it drew near him. He snapped his fingers with a crackling sound, and the chains binding An Meng’s legs transformed into countless thorns. Each thorn effortlessly pierced through her dragon scales, causing her to erupt in a shriek potent enough to pierce eardrums.

“‘Thorns of Enslavement’… Every command is accompanied by pain; the more you resist, the more it hurts. Take it easy.”

The thorns coiled around An Meng’s neck like a collar. She howled and wailed, tears actually streaming from her dragon eyes.

As for Paris—he had been attempting to drain all gases around Corvus except oxygen since earlier, and elevate the air pressure to his absolute limit, yet nothing had happened. His proud, intricate wind magic vanished like a clay ox into the sea. Centered around Corvus, the entire Sixth Layer’s turbid air was already under his dominion, a priority of control far surpassing wind magic.

“Dragon… I don’t know your name, but would you mind doing me a small favor?”

Corvus finally looked up at his enemies. He gazed at An Meng, who was still howling incessantly, and said—

“Your howling is truly noisy. Tear out your own throat. That is an order.”

CRACK!!!