TL: Zimmings
âPretending to be nice.â
Emeline smiled, but she wasnât displeased.
âTo subdue the sky⦠Thatâs right! Pur, make it rain!â
[Itâs ready.]
Purâs ability is ârainy weatherâ.
Pur is one of the few devils that controls the climate, and it can make rain at will.
That maze was created by human mana.
Human mana cannot, like the devil, create something that does not exist.
For example, we canât make an umbrella without the materials.
The maze was created by rapidly growing existing grass and trees through magic.
âSo if something unexpected happens here, like rain or sunlight-â
As the divine power was raised, my etwal, which was placed deep in my pocket, became hot.
Soon, dark clouds rolled in the sky, and a huge rain shower began to fall only in the vicinity of the maze.
Then branches of the maze came out, and the top of the maze was closed like a lid on a kettle.
â-This means that the caster will lose control.â
Mina, who was climbing on the maze, was pushed by a branch and stumbled.
âAhh!â
âMina!â
As soon as Alan screamed in surprise, Mina fell.
âHuâ¦h?â
Mina slowly opened her eyes.
Condensed air on the floor supported her like a cushion.
âSandra protected her with mana.â
Minaâs group, including Sandra and Alan, rushed to her.
âAre you okay?â
âYes. Did you do this?â
âYes.â
âThank you.â
Alan, who confirmed that Mina was safe, quickly turned and looked at me.
âWhy are you doing this! Are you going to kill Mina?â
Then Emeline responded with a laugh.
âYouâre overreacting.â
âOverreacting? A student almost got hurt, but you said Iâm overreacting?! Donât be silly!â
âIt wasnât even that high up, and there was so much grass on the floor. She wouldnât have been hurt if Sandra hadnât saved her.â
âBut itâs not right to sabotage other teams this way!â
âThe professor told us to rescue the hostages. In other words, this is training in case there are hostages in battle. Should we care about such things in a battle?â
âT-thatâsâ¦â¦!â
Alan was embarrassed and stuttered.
âYou brother didnât told you? So you are confused? Actually, I donât care about Mina at all but this assigment.â
âWhat?! How dare you-!â
âI think itâs true because you canât logically refute it.â
âIs that right, Leblaine?â Emeline said sarcastically. I chuckled inside.
âThey canât beat Emeline by arguing.â
Even as a beggar, no one could beat Emeline with words.
âAnyway, having a large number of students in a group is no longer an advantage.â
They canât communicate without a communication device, and Iâm the only person who has broken the barrier.
In order to know what level the barrier is and how much mana it takes to unlock it, they have to be in a group and deal with it one by one. I grabbed Emilyâs wrist and said.
âLetâs go in.â
âYes.â
As we entered the maze entrance, students rushed into the maze following us.
After entering the depths of the maze, I whispered to Emeline as I watched the studentsâ movements.
âFind the weakest yellow barrier and destroy it.â
âI canât see the center of the barrier like you or Mina.â
âRead the magic formula and dismantle it.â
There are three colors of the barrier.
Purple.
Red.
Yellow.
The barrier I just broke is red.
âThe students canât destroy the red barrier. Even me, who has far more mana than other people, destroying the center of the red barrier made hands and feet tremble.â
âThenâ¦â¦!â
âIt was originally meant to be a battle against other teams. We have to fight another team and claim the yellow barrier. So I thinkâ¦â
âYellow is a barrier that is weak enough to be dispelled during combat?â
âYes. They donât have to aim for the center. It must be at a level that can be destroyed by reading the magic formula.â
âFinding yellow is the key⦠How do you find it- Blaine?â
Emeline, who was thinking while holding her chin, looked at me as I climbed the wall of the maze and widened her eyes.
I took the sword from the scabbard on my side and cut the roof of the maze.
Then I threw the etwal in my pocket at Emeline.
âKeep it for me. I canât let anyone see it.â
âWhat are you going to do!â
âIâll see you from above. Iâll shout, so run as I call you!â
âNonsense. Then the other team will hear it!â
I climbed onto the roof of the maze and shouted with a smile..
âAnnes dressing room!â
Emeline had her eyes wide open, then she took a deep breath.
The Annes dressing room is to the left of Max Beggarâs Lair.
Emeline started running around the left corner.
âPur, it rains only about a kilometer from where I am.â
The rain poured down, and I was pushed by a giant tree trunk as I took up a position where the maze could be seen at a glance.
âThe yellow barrier⦠There it is.â
The barrierâs location could be checked through the branches because light was emitted from the barrier.
âI can feel the location of etwal. Now I can see where Emeline is.â
I concentrated as much as I could and talked to Chul-soo.
âChul-soo, tell me what you see in etwal.â
[Blocked 2km ahead!]
A condensed mana was thrown 2 km in front of where Emelineâs moved.
[The wall was destroyed. Emeline was surprised but soon jumped over the destroyed part!]
âAria Salon!â
Aria Salon is at the 8 oâclock direction from Max Beggarâs lair. Emeline ran to the 8 oâclock direction.
If Iâm too far away from etwal, I will not be able to communicate with the devils, so I used Purâs ability to grow branches as close to Emeline as possible.
[Yellow barrier, found it!]
âCan Emeline dismantle it?â
[I think so.]
About 5 minutes later, a signal came from Chul-soo.
[Dismantling complete! Hostages are⦠cuteâ¦]
âWhat?â
[Itâs a puppy.]
âEmeline! Iâll protect it, so send it up!â
âOkay!â
I moved down from the top of the maze, as Emelime climbed onto the wall and gave me the puppy. The dog frantically wags its tail and jumped into my arms.
âOguogu. Itâs dangerous here, so letâs go somewhere safe there.â
Pur moved the dark cloud to the end of the maze. The raised tree trunk was trimmed with a knife to make a cage so that the dog would not be stolen.
I left the puppy in the cage and turned my head to see other students coming up to the roof of the maze.
âDid they follow me?â
Seeing Alan just coming up, I smiled.
âAre you going to keep me in check now?â
âShut up. Sandra, run straight ahead. Itâs yellow!â
While me and Emeline rescued the puppy, the team seems to have dismantled the different color barriers. And theyâd know like us. The only thing students can break is yellow.
I tapped Alanâs shoulder.
âExcuse me.â
âWhat. Canât you see Iâm busy-!?â
âThis is my seat, so please leave.â
âWhatâ¦â¦?â
âGo away, you rascal.â
I kicked Alan as he crashed down.
âIdiot, why would I be here after breaking the barrier?â
Because I know that over time there will be teams that follow us,
âEmeline, Arnes dressing room!â
[Blocked 3 km ahead.]
âSend the puppy up!â
And also to make every student that comes up fall down.
Me, Emeline, Chul-soo, and Pur are doing a great job.
Weâre already dismantling the fifth yellow barrier. Weâve also dealt with the two-point red barrier, so weâre in the lead with seven points.
Meanwhile, in the maze, a battle broke out between different teams.
They seem to have realized that it is easier to find and secure the hostages hidden by other teams than to find the moving yellow barrier.
âOkay, about 30 minutes left.â
Now I have to go down and deal with the different color barriers.
But just then,
âWow, look at that.â
A girl climbed up the maze with a familiar voice. Like Sandra did, Mina condensed mana and floated in the air.
âIâm sorry, Leblaine. Our team doesnât have time now.â
âWe donât have time either.â
âAlan and Sandra said they had to be in Class A because of their families. Iâm the captain, so I have to do something for my teammates.â
âIs that so?â
Mina pointed the sword at me and said.
âLetâs duel! The one who wins takes all the hostages saved so far. How is it?â
âWhy should I?â
âHuh?â
âI donât want to. Our group has a much higher score than yours. Even if the evaluation ends like this, the 1st place is our group, so why do we have to fight?â
Then Alan, who was looking up at the sky in the maze, squeaked.
âYouâre not going to accept? Donât you know about chivalry?â
âDo you mean that you know chivalry and want to take all the hostages that other groups have worked hard for in a duel?â
âW-what?â
I didnât respond to Alanâs words. Just as I turned my back, I heard Minaâs voice behind me.
âAre you avoiding it? Are you afraid of losing?â
I turned my head and glanced at Mina.
âYou know, Mina.â
âYes, say it.â
âYouâll die if I even snap one finger.â
ââ¦â¦ What?â
âItâs true.â
I tilted my head and took a step closer to Mina.
âEven if you have all the power of God within you, you cannot defeat me. Because you donât know how to use that power.â
âBut we have to-â
â13 years.â
No, adding the previous life would be an unimaginable amount of years.
âI practiced with all my might for years that you could never imagine.â
âI-â
âIf you want to compete with me, bet on something more valuable than this.â
ââ¦â¦.â
âThat way, the time you put my life on the line would not be a funny occasion.â
Mina and my gaze collided in the air.
âWhat?â
I said with a smile.
âHow about etwal?â
âEtâ¦â¦ wal?â
âA relic kept in the temple. It will be given to the real child of fate.â
Minaâs eyes widened, and I smiled.
âHow about using it?â