Chapter 469: The Countdown to the Fall of the Sky Kingdom Begins

The Countdown to the Fall of the Sky Kingdom Begins

* * *

“Die, die, die… together, together, together…!!”

It was the moment right after Atmo, projected on the monitor, muttered that in an eerie electronic voice distorted by noise!

DOOOOOOOON!!

A huge explosion echoed from probably several floors below the control room where Emi and the others were!

“Kyaa!?”

The impact caused all of Neverfall to shake violently, and Air couldn’t help but fall on her bottom.

“…Guh!?”

King Sekiran, who was stuck in the ceiling, fell to the floor, hit his whole body hard, and lost consciousness again.

“…………”

Only Emi remained standing, glaring at Atmo, who was laughing on the screen.

“Hohohohoho! I blew up, blew up, blew up the energy tanks!”

Atmo shouted with a triumphant look on her face (not visible though), laughing like a madwoman.

BEEEEN!!

BEEEEN!!

BEEEEN!!

The alarm rang loudly throughout the entire Sky Kingdom of Neverfall, and the red warning lamps all over the country lit up, dyeing the surroundings in red!

“With this, with this, with this, this country’s life has about 1 hour left! Let’s go! Let’s go together! Hohohohoho!”

“H-How could you…!”

Air stood up with a pale face and hurriedly ran to the group of machines at the back of the control room.

It was the controller for manually operating Neverfall.

Even Air, who had been confined to a detached palace and had not received proper education as royalty, at least knew of its existence.

But…

“I-It’s no use… I don’t understand it at all…!”

That’s all the knowledge Air had.

She had rushed over to see if she could do something.

The colorful buttons, knobs, levers lined up on the control panel… how to use them to pilot Neverfall.

She didn’t know.

“Uu, uuu…”

The smiling faces of the people she had met flashed through Air’s mind.

They were all… all good people.

They all kindly accepted Air, who didn’t know left from right after escaping from the palace.

And now, if things stay like this, those kind people will all die.

It was so sad, so sad…

And she was so frustrated by her own powerlessness.

Air crouched weakly, pressing her forehead against the side of the control panel, and shed tears.

“Help me…”

And she wished for salvation.

“Please help me…”

She called out.

“Takataka…!”

The name of her precious… precious friend!

And then… it was at that moment!

“Aiiiiiiiiir!!”

She heard a voice.

A voice that shouldn’t be here, in the depths of this labyrinth.

The voice of her friend!

“Takatakaaaaaa!!”

Air shouted back, turning around!

And what jumped into her field of vision was!

…The black-haired, black-eyed girl who had been invading the control room for a while now, whoever she was…

She’s standing in the center of the room, so she’s inevitably in my field of vision…

“…………”

For now, since that girl was in the way, Air shifted her position by moving around a bit, and then looked towards the entrance of the control room, where the voice had come from.

And there!

…Were indeed her friends, Takataka and the others!

“Takatakaaaaaa!!”

Air was so happy, she started crying and ran towards Takataka without thinking!

“Aiiiiiiiiir!!”

Takataka also started running towards Air!

The two of them met in the center of the control room, and tried to hug each other tightly…

But.

There was one person who inevitably got in the way, because of her position.

…Yes, it was Emi, who was standing in the center of the room.

But Emi can read the room at times like this, so she moved to the right to avoid getting in their way.

However, Air had already shifted her path in that direction to avoid Emi, so Emi ended up blocking her way.

“”…………””

Emi then moved to the left.

And at the same time, Air also tried to move to the left.

“”…………””

And then Emi moved to the right again.

And once again, Air moved to the right at the same time.

“”…………””

They… can’t move forward…

What is… this timing…?

An awkward silence flowed between the two.

“…………”

Takataka, who had been approaching the two, stared intently at the black-haired, black-eyed girl.

And then, he said.

“…Who are you?”

…!

The black-haired, black-eyed girl, Emi!

She turned around, puffed out her chest… and with a dignified posture!

She declared!

“No, who are YOU!?”