Chapter 508: Shortcut

After overcoming hidden door after hidden door and many tricks, Haruna and the others arrived at the door under the floor of a certain hidden room. The door is made of steel and is clearly sturdy. However, that’s only for ordinary people, and it doesn’t pose any obstacles for the three of them.

「Huff!」

――――Crack!

It was supposed to be sturdy, but Haruna destroyed it easily. The door was torn apart and thrown away around there.

「It looks like a ladder leading to the basement. It’s clearly suspicious, but… it’s pitch black. I can’t see anything ahead.」

「By the way, Haruna, how did you find this place?」

「As I said earlier, there was a place similar to this place in Bigar-san’s previous workplace story. I was so surprised because the way to get there and the way it was hidden were all the same!」

「His previous workplace, huh?」

「Perhaps, Bigar-san told Haruna about the old days in anticipation of this development. From the flow of the story, it seems that Bigar-san’s group has left Elderado. Even if it was a trap, we’re going to search everything anyway. Let’s go without worrying about it.」

The two agreed with Chinatsu’s words and nodded deeply.

「Okay! Then, I will send Fume Fog again from this entrance.」

「Ah, before that, it’s troublesome to carry Kira who’s trapped in Chinatsu’s barrier, so let’s push this guy down first. Tei.」

Touko kicked Kira, who was unable to move, into the darkness that spread underground.

「■■■――――」

His screams gradually fade away. Then, the three confirmed a small falling sound. Apparently, this underground is quite deep.

「…… It was about seven or eight seconds before he hit the ground.」

「Hmm, it looks deep.」

「I don’t know the exact distance, but it looks deep.」

「I’ve done a rough calculation, and it’s about 300 meters. If you think of it as the height of the Tokyo Tower, it should be about right.」

「「That’s deep.」」

「It would take a long time to go down that far on a ladder, so it would be better to jump down instead. Besides, I think it would be more enjoyable.」

「「C-Chinatsu(-chan)?」」

After regaining her composure, Haruna created poisonous fog with her magic and sent it into the basement, just like what she did in the castle. After about three minutes, Haruna gave the OK sign.

「I’ve done the mapping somehow through the magic power of the released poison gas! It seems that the path ahead is like a maze. There are several paths that are blocked, so maybe those are the routes that lead to the important places.」

「Blocked off…. Just like a waterproof door on a submarine, it must have detected the poisonous gas and prevented it from entering.」

「Nice! By the way, does that mean there’s someone there? What a great start!」

「Then, I will go down first~」

「Ah, wait a minute. I will use 『Daylight』 magic first.」

Radiant Magic level 20 『Daylight』 is a magic that illuminates the surroundings of the target. When Chinatsu chanted the spell, the three’s surroundings became moderately bright.

「The visibility is good! Thank you, Chinatsu-chan!」

「Alright! Let’s go for our second big drop of the day!」

「Yes. Let’s enjoy the momentary thrill. Fufufu.」

「「………」」

To be honest, Haruna and Touko thought that Chinatsu’s smile was scary.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deep in the underground facility of the castle, there is a research institute overseen by the 『Poison Medicine General』 Obe, but this place is known only to a very limited number of people in Elderado. The reason is that this facility, which houses monsters and slaves captured by Elderado, is not made public due to its inhuman nature. There’s no sense of ethics in this place, with its illegal human experimentations, mixing monsters to make chimeras, and so on. Everything is for the sake of creating strong soldiers―― Obe is allowed to conduct all kinds of research for that sake alone.

「G-Gigigi….」

「Grrr….」

On a floor lined with custom-made cages, the smell of beasts fills the air, and their eerie cries can be heard everywhere. In one corner of this space, Obe is looking up at a particularly large cage. To be precise, he is focusing his gaze on the contents of the cage, but strangely enough, nothing is heard from the cage,

「Hihi, I wonder how many years it has been since you were brought here. I’ve spent a lot of time doing research, but no other guinea pig has inspired me as much as you have.」

「………」

「Huh? Are you in a bad mood? Is it because you think that I was about to cheat on you when I talked to Acerola-chan? No, no, that’s a huge misunderstanding. There’s no way I will be excited with that woman. That’s just a kind of a whim.」

「………」

Regardless of the contents, Obe continued to speak earnestly to someone in the cage. However, there was no response, and Obe’s self-satisfied words echoed around the area. But then, he was interrupted by a warning that suddenly began to ring out.

『The entrance to block D-5 has been destroyed. Presuming this to be an intruder, each passage will be blocked. In accordance to this, reinforced soldiers and fusion monsters will be released in each block. All personnel in the facility must evacuate immediately. I repeat. All personnel in the facility must evacuate immediately――』

Such a warning voice rang out with the loud sirens.

「It seems that they have found the entrance to the underground. Should I assume that everyone above ground, including General Zool, has been defeated? Still, this is much faster than I calculated. Good grief, they sure are incompetent. Or maybe the enemies are much stronger than them?」

With a sigh, Obe began to operate a nearby console.

「But~, my research facility can’t be conquered so easily~. There are enhanced humans, whose limiter has been removed in exchange for their lifespan, equipped with the latest equipment here. They even have poison-resistant masks, so even the poison won’t work on them.」

――――BAM!

「Ah, that’s right. The fused monsters I made with great care, the so-called chimera, are also something I’m proud of, you know~? I gathered the strong point of all living creatures, pasted them together, made them fight each other, and selected the ones that survived. Don’t compare them with the ordinary Demon King.」

――――BAAM!

「The threats are not only the soldiers and monsters~. The facility itself is equipped with many traps to keep out foreign enemies. Blocking off the corridors, releasing poison gas, sending an electric shock that can kill you instantly, and it’s also possible to turn the entire floor into an oven~. No matter how good they are as an individual, I won’t allow them to come here~. Hihihihihi.」

――――BAM! BAAM! BAAAM!

「Hmm? About half of the defense equipment is broken? Wait, I just inspected them in the morning, right? This place is located 1,000 meters underground, you know? That’s too fast. They just broke in through the entrance…. But I have been hearing sound from above since a while ago….」

――――BAAAAAAAAAM!

Suddenly, part of the ceiling of the floor where Obe was in was destroyed. Then, the dust swirls around the floor.

「We broke in successfully through the shortcut! Also, we arrived at a place that seems important!」

「………」

A cute and cheerful voice echoed through the air. Someone came down through the hole in the ceiling. Even the talkative Obe was dumbfounded at this moment.

「Ah, I found someone who seems to know everything. Excuse me, can I ask you for directions?」

When the dust stopped, a girl, carrying an atrocious black staff on her shoulder, appeared with a smile on her face.