Chapter 70 - The Existence Proof of a Creation Soul (4)

Objectively speaking, the situation Arien was in was certainly confusing.

A girl named Stella appeared, claiming to be a homunculus of Tyrion, just like Arien.

Stella said she could tell Arien about her past… and that Arien didn't need to understand the human heart.

She said that if Arien was just with her, they would naturally connect.

In that wavering situation, Rain Enlight suddenly appeared.

Rain appeared, reached out his hand to Arien, and said.

To go with him.

A normal person would have felt only confusion in this situation.

Why did Stella have such a perfect grasp of information about Arien?

Was there any basis to believe her words were true?

How was Rain Enlight here, and why did he suddenly appear?

Amidst those questions, a normal person would have struggled to untie the unsolvable knot.

But Arien was different.

Her brilliant intellect, instead of letting her wander in questions, made her formulate a course of action, that is, how to act in this situation.

And the choices derived were two.

One was to accept Stella's proposal.

The other was to follow Rain Enlight.

But there was no logical basis in these choices that would make her choose the one she ‘ought to.’

Which one was clearly right, what was wrong. That was not something that could be judged now.

Therefore, the direction of this choice was left solely in the realm of Arien's emotions.

Which choice did her own heart want to make?

At that question thrown at her, Arien, who had been conflicted for a moment… began to walk.

Click.

Click.

The expression ‘walk’ might be too static. Arien's steps were more urgent than a walk.

With steps close to a run, Arien moved forward.

If you think about it, there was enough reason for Arien to choose Stella. No, it might have been more right to do so.

Considering Stella’s statements, it was a foregone conclusion that she knew about Arien’s past, and Arien’s emotions were also swayed by the girl.

And it was also true that Arien had not felt that level of emotional turmoil from Rain.

But despite the reasons to choose Stella.

Arien took Rain’s hand.

She herself did not know the reason. She just wanted to.

An undefined heart. An action that she herself could not understand.

In other words, the human heart.

***

As Arien grabbed my hand, I left the center of the factory with her.

And a little later, when we were a little away from the original place, I asked Arien.

“Is it okay if we speed up a little?”

“It’s fine.”

Arien answered with her usual calm expression, the wavering look from before gone without a trace.

What was Arien thinking? I was curious… but I didn’t say it out loud.

There was a more important matter at hand.

“Please listen as we move. I was attacked on my way here. The chase will probably catch up soon.”

“Should I intercept?”

Arien said so and raised her magic power, but I shook my head.

“…There’s a substance buried in the basement of this factory that explodes when it absorbs magic power. If you cast a spell with your magic power, Miss Arien, it might explode.”

At my words, Arien seemed to think for a moment, then opened her mouth again.

“An industrial raw material that explodes when it absorbs magic power, that would be Ulfendite, then.”

“…Yes, well.”

What’s that? was my thought, but I agreed for now.

“Anyway, from now on, you'll have to adjust the output when you use magic.”

“Understood.”

I nodded at Arien’s stiff reply, and we began to move towards the exit.

Although we hurried our steps with our guards up, strangely, there was no sign of enemies approaching from the surroundings.

As if they had no intention of doing so.

‘This is unsettling.’

It wasn't that I didn't have the optimistic thought that they might just let us go… but well.

What I learned from experiencing over 300 deaths was that I should always assume the worst.

Thud.

In the silent abandoned factory, only my and Arien’s footsteps echoed.

And when we reached the factory’s only entrance and exit.

We understood why the inside of the factory was so quiet.

“Heh…”

So many homunculi were lined up at the entrance that a hollow laugh escaped me. And-.

“Hum, hm-hm- hm-.”

The sight of the girl, Stella, humming a tune and dancing lightly in front of them.

The harmony of the grimly lined up homunculi and the innocent-looking girl in a white dress… was quite dissonant.

‘This is a bit much.’

A frontal breakthrough would be a problem. Even with Arien’s help, it was impossible to break through that many homunculi with her output limited.

Besides, it wasn’t just the homunculi; there was also the First Astro, Stella.

‘She’s a summoner-type enemy, but there were more things she could do when she was right next to you in a combat situation. This is tricky.’

In the original work, the story progressed with a moderate amount of fighting before an explosion occurred, so there was no need to win completely… but the situation was different now.

“…Let’s retreat for now.”

At my words, Arien nodded.

After that, we retreated a little from the exit and hid ourselves.

According to Arien, there were surveillance eyes set up by Stella everywhere, so we looked for their blind spots.

We explored various ways to overcome this situation.

Typically, there was the common-sense method of breaking a window and escaping.

Haven't you ever had such a thought while playing a game?

When you have to escape, ‘Why do I have to go out through the designated exit? Just break the window next to me and get out!’ or something like that.

But.

Thud-!

“Huh?”

Quite surprisingly, the window didn’t break.

Thud-!!

Surprised, I hit it again, but the result was the same.

“What is this…”

I was dumbfounded.

‘Why won’t the window break.’

Even if my strength is D, it’s at the level of an academy student.

It goes without saying, but not being able to break this window was clearly a strange situation.

And Arien, who was watching the scene quietly, said.

“It’s barrier magic. And a considerably high-level one at that.”

“…Barrier magic, you say?”

“Yes, among high-level barrier magic, there is magic that prevents the conceptual departure of an unspecified number of people. Calculating the magic circulating on the outside of the factory, that’s the conclusion I come to.”

“Heh.”

Arien added that there was even a double layer with a magic-blocking barrier to prevent magic from coming in from the outside.

‘This is no joke.’

As expected of Arien's arch-enemy, she had prepared countermeasures in two, even three layers.

Her skill in perfectly executing those countermeasures was also impressive.

Hearing that, I was lost in thought for a moment. Then-.

“…Miss Arien, does that mean the opponent is consuming a considerable amount of magic power?”

I asked Arien so.

“That would be so. Even for me, preparing a barrier of this level is a considerable burden.”

Hmm, putting that confident self-assurance aside for a moment. A barrier spell that would be a burden even for Arien…

‘Meticulous, Stella.’

Thinking about it again, she was meticulous. She blocked physical escape with barrier magic, and if Arien used magic, that whatchamacallit, Ulfendite, would explode.

There were truly no loopholes. It was a situation that could be called a checkmate.

But there is always a way.

“…Miss Arien, may I ask you one thing?”

“Please speak.”

“You said Ulfendite explodes when it absorbs magic power. Is there… any way to neutralize that Ulfendite?”

If Stella was paying that much attention to creating the barrier, her own abilities must have dropped considerably.

No matter how much of a late-game boss Stella was, in this situation, if I could create an environment where Arien could use magic freely, there was a chance of winning in a head-to-head confrontation.

And the factor that hindered Arien’s use of magic was that substance called Ulfendite.

If I could neutralize Ulfendite, a path would open up. That was my calculation.

At my question, Arien stroked her chin for a moment, lost in thought, then…

“Ah.”

She soon reacted as if she had realized something.

“Do you have something in mind?”

And at my question, Arien nodded.

“Ulfendite loses its properties when its magic power is completely eliminated.”

“That means…”

“If I absorb all the magic power in the Ulfendite, the Ulfendite will lose its properties. In addition to that, I can even increase my own magic power.”

Looking at Arien saying that, I thought the title ‘Star Seeker’ I had seen in Arche was not wasted.

To pull out knowledge like that on the spot. I knew, but seeing it again…

Anyway, with Arien’s swift delivery of the situation, there was nothing more to add.

We rose from our hiding place in the blind spot of Stella’s surveillance.

Our destination was set.

***

The First Astro of 『Ad Astra』, Stella, could not hide her slight feeling of bewilderment.

“Hmm, this is strange.”

The first time she felt bewildered was when Arien didn't use magic.

In preparation for a situation where Arien would be hostile to her, she had chosen this factory as the stage. This factory where a huge amount of Ulfendite was buried in the basement.

It was because the owner of this factory had run off without disposing of the waste.

But Arien, as if she had seen through it, did not use magic. Did she have a thorough knowledge of the information about this factory on the outskirts?

But Arien seemed to know little about this factory. That means…

“That man, hmm. Was his name Rain Enlight?”

Rain Enlight. The conclusion was that the man who had recently killed a colleague of Ad Astra had advised her.

‘Well, I disliked Gabriel because he was creepy~.’

A human scum who knew no value other than killing people. Even Stella didn't want to associate with such a person.

Objectively speaking, Stella, who induced mass slaughter, was not much different… but she herself was not aware of it.

Was that contradiction also a privilege of a child?

The second thing that was bewildering was that Arien and Rain were not trying to escape.

Anyway, there was only one exit that Stella had allowed. All other routes were blocked.

Break a window and the outer wall to escape? They couldn't generate that much firepower to break through the barrier magic Stella had set up.

That meant that to escape, they had no choice but to attempt a frontal breakthrough.

But… they didn't show their faces at all.

“Don’t tell me they’re planning to hold out until morning and wait for people to come~? That’s unimaginative~.”

Stella placed her index finger on her lips and said to herself. She looked just like a pure and innocent girl.

And, in the midst of that.

“…Wait.”

Rain and Arien were captured by the surveillance eyes Stella had set up all over the factory.

“Where are they going?”

Stella narrowed her brow and analyzed the direction they were heading.

And she could easily figure out where they were going.

“…The basement?”

Hmm-, Stella tilted her head. She had not foreseen this situation.

“How did they know that the Ulfendite was exactly there?”

She had that question, but she certainly felt like she had been caught off guard.

She could roughly guess their intention. If Arien absorbed all the magic power of the Ulfendite, she wouldn't be able to face Arien with her current incomplete power.

“Heave-ho, can’t be helped!”

Stella moved her feet with a bright voice.

“But that will take quite some time… How are you planning to buy time?”

Imagining what would happen next was also fun in its own way.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.