Descent

The man in the silver armor charged forward, rushing towards the two like a lightning bolt.

Neia quickly moved, shoving Helia to the side, attempting to dodge out of the way themself.

“Unmoving!”

Suddenly, Neia’s body freezes. No matter how they attempt it, their body refuses to move an inch. Even attempting to spasm failed.

“Haha!” The silver-donned man smashes into Neia, sending them flying backwards, towards the horde of ants.

“Neia!” Helia cries out.

“Hehahah! Truly, you have no means of escape!” Walter Hoshea bellows.

“No…” Helia begins to think of a way to escape, but her mind is clouded.

“He-”

“Neia?” From the ant horde, the slumped Neia begins to say something.

“While I would like a match, and that canine seems to have taken that hunter on… His daughter will have to do!” Walter looks to Helia and chuckles, then places his arms together.

““Fall!””

The entrance to the alcove begins to descend, like pillars falling from the sky.

“N-no!” Helia attempts to rush out, but is stopped by a voice calling out, “Unmoving!”

“Hk…”

“Helia-!” Neia’s voice reaches her ears. “Switch with me! I’ll leave the ants to you!”

Sprawled out on the floor, Neia looks to Helia.

“But!”

“Just do it!”

“Tch… Cambiar!” Helia yells, instantly switching Helia and Neia’s locations as the stone pillars cut the two off.

“Haah!” Helia immediately regains motion, standing before a large horde of ants. “I swear… I am tired of monsters today…”

♕♛♕♛♕♛♕

Hiiro immediately lunged towards Absalon. His body moved quicker than one might expect, quickly reaching his target.

For an unknown reason, the bodies of those who had been isekai’d into this world had received a boost in all physical attributes. This fact, along with the new presence of the Pneuma, led to the belief that demons were the blessed of an unknown entity, brought here to do its bidding.

This belief has mostly died down, especially in the central continents.

“Kiru!” Hiiro yelled as his hand came down on Absalon's chest.

Absalon immediately intercepted this attack, grabbing Hiiro’s arm at the wrist.

“Hk!”

“A useless attempt-”

““Hinotama!””

A ball of fire placed itself between Hiiro and Absalon.

“Tch!” Ansalon immediately threw Hiiro back into the cavern.

Boom!

A cloud of dust and smoke blanketed the area around the two adults. Hiiro didn’t waste this chance, immediately grabbing the reluctant Manako and running past the two enemies. The two surprisingly made it past them for the first few steps, before the figure of a black clothed woman appeared in front of them.

“Crap!” The woman immediately released a kick. This attack landed on Hiiro’s shoulder, sending him barreling into the wall.

““...”” Manako immediately tried to launch a spell; however, neither the words nor the effects came out.

“Hm, I do wonder, how were you able to cast magic down here?” Absalon asks, emerging from the shrinking cloud of dusk.

The man walks up to Hiiro, who had become part of the architecture in an almost comical indent into the wall.

“Hm? Ah, I see. The pendant of the chuch gathers mana and stores it…” Absalon's hand reaches out and holds the seven-pointed and hued star in his palm. “I see… Its purpose exceeds just the basic branding and field of protection… It can also allow the wearer to use magic in manaless areas… But only when under extreme stress…”

Absalon let the pendant fall back down to Hiiro’s chest.

“...F…ld…O…P.r..d..e..t?”

“Yes, Field of protection. The main function of the pendant is to keep the sickness from your homeland from spreading to us, and ours to you. Heheh, most demons die because they have no immunity against our diseases. In return, many die from theirs, since your bodies are stronger.”

Absalon grabs Hiiro by the wrist and picks him up.

“Sadly, we’d most likely be met with the same fate, so I cannot take that item from you at this very moment,” Absalon explains, his eyes seeming distant, as if flashing back to a previous point in time.

“...Sir, the elf has been captured.” Manako was held in one hand by Uda, struggling.

“Very good. Now, we simply need to wait for Sir. Walter to arrive, then we can begin on the experiment.”

“...Sir, don’t we need Orlaith’s blood?”

“Most likely, but we can attempt it first. Her blood will arrive momentarily regardless.”

The two discussed as they held the two prospective students.

Damn it… Hiiro resounded in his thoughts. Manako was right… I am all talk. I act like I’m some hero, but in reality I…

Ruuuuuuuuuushhhhh

“What is that..?” Absalon asked, looking up the spiral path to the source of the sound.

“...The dragon?”

“No… We sent it below…” Absalon attempted to theorize what the source could be.

The ant’s? Impossible. Boars? No, Anzo brought those to hunt the demon hunter… That sound…

His mind latched onto the familiar noise. The memory was at the top of his tongue…

“UDA! WE NEED TO FLY!” He immediately called out.

“...Yes!” Without hesitation, Uda releases Manako and Absalon and similarly lets go of Hiiro. From the sleeves of Uda’s suit, her arms tear through the fabric to reveal wings like those of a raven. Black wings flapped as her legs left their boots behind and gripped onto Absalon.

Wooooosh!

The two lifted into the air, nearing the roof of the sandstone passage.

Ruuuuuuuuuushhhhh

The two looked toward the nearing sound. After a moment, the source of the noise revealed itself.

A large flood of water cascaded down the spiral passage, rushing towards them.

The two adults, who had formulated a plan costing countless lives, were stunned speechless at the sight. Their bodies froze, only Uda continuing to fly on instinct.

“Ohpikiw!” Manako quickly throws a seed at the nearest wall. This seed instantly grew, forming a large white tulip. This flower continued to grow, its roots spreading into the ground and onto the nearby wall.

“Hah!” Manako immediately grabbed the flower once it was the same height as Hiiro. Holding on to the large stem, Manako attempted to reach for Hiiro, but was too late.

The water rushed forth, bringing with it the bodies of ants.

Once the water hit, Manako was forced to the wall, barely holding on to the flower.

“AAAAAHHHHH!”

“GAAAAAAAH!”

Two voices descended with the water. Manako instantly recognized the two as Nerissa and Eris. Thinking quickly, Manako pushes her feet to the wall and swings out, reaching for the raven-haired rich girls. After a momentary struggle, Manako grabs on to Nerissa’s hand.

“Gah! It-it’s!”

“Grab- Hii-ro!”
Fighting the water rushing into their mouths, the two communicate. Nerissa, who was now holding onto both Manako and Eris, quickly looks to the latter to tell her, only to find she had already begun.

The unconscious body of Hiiro had slowly started drifting downwards. This was because of the heaviness of his chestplate. However, as more water and ants descended, he began to quickly speed up his own descent.

“HIIRO!” Eris called out, reaching for her friend with all her might.

A few centimeters. Then one. Just as they were about to meet, an ant collided with Hiiro, sending him crashing downwards.

“HIIIIIIROOO!”

Eris’s cries mixed with the rushing water, creating a haunting requiem. This scored Hiiro’s descent into the seemingly bottomless pit, like a demon falling to hell.