Chapter 44 Chaos in the Capital （1）
As I remained on one knee, catching my breath after the battle, a deafening explosion suddenly echoed through the underground tunnels.
BOOM!!
The entire sewer shook violently.
The stone floor trembled beneath my feet as dust and small chunks of rock rained down from the ceiling.
"What the hell was that?" I muttered, quickly rising to my feet.
Had that explosion happened while I was fighting Vael?
No... it felt much stronger than anything we had caused underground.
Without wasting another second, I activated [Advanced Search].
A translucent map of the surrounding area appeared in my mind, revealing the layout of the underground passage. My eyes immediately locked onto an exit.
To my right was an old wooden door.
Beyond it lay a narrow stone staircase leading upward, and at the very end was another door that opened to the surface.
I didn't hesitate.
I immediately dashed toward the wooden door, throwing it open before sprinting up the stairs two steps at a time.
The rumbling only grew stronger with every step.
Another explosion echoed overhead.
BOOM!!
"What in the world is happening...?"
Finally, I reached the top.
I shoved the second door open and rushed outside.
The moment I stepped into the open air...
I froze.
My eyes widened in shock.
The lively city that had been filled with laughter only moments ago...
...was now under attack.
Fires raged across the streets.
Buildings collapsed one after another.
Screams echoed through the city.
My heart sank.
I looked up just in time to see a massive section of the building wall breaking apart above me.
It was falling straight toward me.
"Shit!"
Without hesitation, I activated [Wind Walk].
My body vanished in a burst of wind.
The next instant, I reappeared five meters to my right.
BOOM!!
The enormous chunk of stone crashed into the ground where I had been standing only a heartbeat earlier, sending dust and shattered debris flying through the air.
"...That was close."
Before I could gather my thoughts, I heard someone shouting from nearby.
"Hey! Are you alright?!"
I turned around and saw a man sprinting toward me. His clothes were covered in dust, and his face was filled with worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, brushing the dust from my clothes.
The man let out a sigh of relief.
"Good. It's not safe here. The city's under attack. Come with me!"
I shook my head.
"Sorry, I can't."
"I need to find Sir Gallagher."
The man's eyes widened in surprise.
He froze for a moment before staring at me more closely, as if trying to recognize my face.
"Wait..."
"You know Sir Gallagher?"
His expression quickly changed from confusion to realization.
"...Wait... are you Sir Raito?"
"Yeah, I am," I replied with a nod. "And you are?"
The man smiled before scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"I'm Kobayashi."
He let out a small laugh.
"I'm one of the Heroes who were summoned..."
He paused before smiling sheepishly.
"Well... their teacher, actually."
For a moment...
I froze.
No way...
This is Mr. Kobayashi?
I stared at him in disbelief.
Back in our world, he always looked exhausted. The endless workload, late nights, and constant stress had made him look like an old man.
But now...
He looked completely different.
His posture was straight, his face looked years younger, and the fatigue that had once surrounded him had vanished entirely.
So the Goddess's blessing really changed all of us...
I quickly shook my head, forcing myself to focus on the situation at hand.
"Then do you know where Sir Gallagher is?" I asked.
Mr. Kobayashi nodded immediately.
"Yeah."
"He's at the colosseum."
"He's with several other Heroes, protecting the royal families and keeping them out of harm's way."
I lowered my head slightly, thinking over what he had just said.
"Huh..."
Then one part of his sentence caught my attention.
"Wait..."
"Did you just say the royal families?"
"Who's the other one?"
Mr. Kobayashi answered without hesitation.
"It's the royal family of the Kingdom of Aldoria."
"I see..."
So the neighboring kingdom's royal family is also here.
I tightened my fist.
"Then let's not waste any more time."
"We need to help them."
Mr. Kobayashi gave a firm nod.
"Right."
"Let's go!"
Without another word, the two of us sprinted through the ruined streets, making our way toward the colosseum as the sounds of explosions and desperate screams echoed across the city.
As we sprinted through the ruined streets, weaving around collapsed buildings and panicked civilians, I glanced at Mr. Kobayashi.
"Are all of the Heroes protecting the two royal families?" I asked.
He shook his head without slowing down.
"No."
"Only a handful stayed behind to guard the royal families."
"The rest joined the Knight Order. They're scattered throughout the city, rescuing civilians and holding back the monsters."
"I see."
At least the Heroes weren't all gathered in one place.
"Then what exactly is attacking the city?"
Mr. Kobayashi's expression darkened.
"Demonic Spriggans."
I looked at him in disbelief.
"Are you serious?"
He gave a grim nod.
"Yeah."
"They're everywhere."
"Our estimate is around a hundred of them."
I nearly stumbled.
"One hundred?!"
Mr. Kobayashi clenched his fists as we continued running.
"They're unlike ordinary monsters."
"They resemble twisted trees with long root-like limbs, bark as hard as steel, and glowing crimson eyes."
"Their branches are as sharp as spears, and their roots move like living snakes."
His voice grew quieter.
"And the way they kill..."
He swallowed hard.
"It's horrifying."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw it myself."
His face turned pale as though the memory refused to leave him.
"They don't simply stab people."
"The moment their roots pierce a victim's body, they wrap themselves around every bone and organ."
"They begin feeding."
I felt a chill run down my spine.
"They drain everything."
"Blood..."
"Mana..."
"Even the moisture inside the body."
"They don't stop until there's nothing left."
His voice trembled.
"By the time the roots pull away..."
"...the victims are nothing more than dried remains."
"Their skin clings tightly to their bones."
"Their eyes sink deep into their skulls."
"They look like corpses that have been dead for decades."
He lowered his gaze.
"And the worst part..."
"Some of them are still alive while it's happening."
"They can do nothing except scream as they're slowly drained dry."
Silence fell between us.
The only sounds were our footsteps and the distant echoes of battle.
I tightened my grip into a fist.
"...Damn it."
As we continued running through the devastated streets, the sounds of battle grew louder with every step.
The clashing of steel.
The screams of civilians.
The desperate shouts of knights.
Then we saw them.
A squad of Knights was desperately fighting against one of the monsters.
The Demonic Spriggan towered over them, its twisted trunk nearly three meters tall.
Its bark-like skin was stained black, while countless thorn-covered roots writhed beneath it like a nest of living serpents.
Crimson eyes glowed from within the cracks of its wooden face, burning with malicious intent.
The knights surrounded it from every direction, desperately trying to cut through its thick bark.
"Keep attacking!"
"Don't let it reach the civilians!"
The Spriggan let out an ear-piercing screech.
SKREEEEEE!!
Its roots exploded from the ground.
One of the knights tried to dodge-
Too late.
A thick root shot straight through his chest.
"AAAGH!!"
The knight's sword slipped from his hands as more roots wrapped themselves around his body.
"No...!"
His fellow knights rushed forward, but they were too slow.
The roots tightened.
Then they began to feed.
The knight's desperate screams echoed through the ruined street.
His body rapidly shriveled before our eyes.
His skin lost its color.
His muscles withered away.
Within only a few seconds...
The roots released him.
His lifeless body collapsed onto the stone pavement with a hollow thud.
Nothing remained except skin stretched tightly over bone.
The surrounding knights froze in horror.
"...Damn it."
I didn't hesitate.
With a wave of my hand, my Flare Sword materialized in my grasp.
I poured mana into my legs.
"[Mach One]."
BOOM!
The street beneath my feet shattered as I launched myself forward.
The world around me blurred.
I gathered an enormous amount of mana into my sword.
The crimson flames surrounding the blade burned hotter and hotter until they became a brilliant, deep scarlet, radiating enough heat to distort the air around them.
In less than a heartbeat...
I was already in front of the Demonic Spriggan.
It barely had time to turn its head.
I swung my sword.
A blazing arc of crimson fire flashed through the air.
Then...
I dashed past it.
My momentum carried me several meters behind the monster before I came to a stop, my flaming sword still extended at my side.
For a single heartbeat...
Everything became silent.
Then-
Crack...
A sharp cracking sound echoed behind me.
It was followed by the splintering of wood.
I slowly turned my head.
The Demonic Spriggan remained standing for only an instant before a clean line appeared across its massive body.
The next moment-
WHOOSH!!
Brilliant crimson flames erupted from the wound.
The fire rapidly spread through its wooden body, devouring it from the inside out. Chunks of burning bark exploded in every direction as the intense heat reduced its twisted roots to black ash.
The monster let out one final, agonizing screech.
SKREEEEEEE!!
Its body split cleanly in half.
Both halves crashed onto the ruined street with a thunderous thud before the flames consumed what remained of them.
Within seconds...
The Demonic Spriggan was nothing more than a pile of charred wood and ash.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Every knight, adventurer, and civilian nearby stared at the burning remains in disbelief.
"...Who's that?"
One of the civilians broke the silence.
"He... he cut that thing down with a single strike."
"I didn't even see him move."
"Was that an adventurer...?"
"No..."
A knight slowly lowered his sword, his eyes fixed on me.
"Whoever he is... he saved us."
Ignoring the whispers around me, I slowly straightened my back.
With a small wave of my hand, I dispelled the flames surrounding my Flare Sword.
The crimson fire dissolved into countless glowing embers before disappearing completely, leaving only the polished blade gleaming beneath the smoke-filled sky.
My gaze shifted toward the terrified knights.
The silence didn't last long.
"Fuyuma! Is everyone alright?!"
I turned toward the familiar voice.
Mr. Kobayashi came running over, his breathing slightly heavy as he approached one of the knights.
The knight turned around immediately.
"Mr. Kobayashi!"
He gave a relieved smile before pointing in my direction.
"We're fine, thanks to that man over there."
"If he hadn't arrived when he did..."
The knight glanced at the shriveled corpse of his fallen comrade before lowering his head.
"...we would've suffered even more casualties."
Mr. Kobayashi followed his finger before giving me a grateful smile.
"I see."
"Thanks, Raito."
He raised a hand and gave me a small wave.
I returned it with a nod.
...Fuyuma?
My eyes drifted back toward the knight.
No way...
That's Fuyuma?
But the young man standing before me now looked completely different.
His armor stretched over broad shoulders, and his muscular physique was obvious even beneath the steel plates. He looked like someone who had trained for years on the battlefield.
Has he been working out this whole time...?
I quickly shook my head.
Focus, Raito.
This wasn't the time to get distracted.
My gaze shifted toward the charred remains of the Demonic Spriggan.
[Advanced Search].
A familiar translucent window appeared before my eyes.
Demonic Spriggan
Threat Level: A-Rank
Status: Deceased
Mana Signature: Active
"...It's an A-Rank?"
I frowned.
If monsters this powerful were attacking throughout the city...
No wonder the Knight Order was struggling.
Then something else caught my attention.
Another line of information appeared within my field of vision.
A faint stream of dark mana was slowly escaping from the Spriggan's corpse.
"...What's this?"
I narrowed my eyes.
The mana didn't simply fade into the air.
Instead...
It flowed away like a thin current, traveling across the ground toward another location.
Curious, I followed its path with my eyes.
The farther I traced it...
The more my expression hardened.
The stream of mana was heading in only one direction.
The colosseum.
My eyes widened.
"...No."