Chapter 115: A Room You Can't Leave Without S.M. (7)

After Benny promised to face Shadow, and not to escape from the past, but to properly move into the future.

Already fatigued from battle, with the bickering having also probably added to the exhaustion.

After the brief chat, we fell asleep just like that.

Since there was plenty of time, it wouldn’t hurt to sleep a bit early.

While we were both soundly asleep, hugging each other like hugging dakimakuras…

Thud!

“Huh?”

“Wh-what was that…?”

A heavy sound echoed from somewhere. Snapping everyone awake instantly.

“…Benny. If it’s the Floor Guardian of the second floor, can it break this space?”

“No. The Floor Guardian of the second floor is a Minotaur. It has good endurance and strength, but this magic can’t be broken with just brute strength.”

Well. Distorting space with pure physical force is impossible.

This is a fantasy world, so it might be possible with the kind of power that defies common sense often found in novels… But honestly, if it’s that much, I would consider it a supernatural ability.

“That’s probably the case, right?”

“Yeah. There’s no way that bitch Morgana would create an ordinary spell.”

Benny sighed and stood up. But she stopped halfway up.

Bang! Boom! Bang!

“Ugh!”

Her small body trembled as if terrified by the continuous loud noises.

It can’t be helped. Benny is too mentally fragile right now. At this rate, she wouldn’t be able to cast magic properly.

So, I carefully took her hand.

Slightly warm temperature. The feel of her soft skin and slender fingers is conveyed.

Why does she feel like a doll when she’s probably about my size? Maybe Ellie or Lydia see me the same way.

Thinking I should try it sometime, I shrugged toward Benny.

“It’s okay. Benny, you’ve gotten stronger than before, right?”

“Uh, yeah…”

“If this isn’t enough, let me put it differently.”

I gently hugged Benny from behind. Wrapping my arms around her soft belly, I whispered with my nose buried in her nape.

“Benny. Will you protect me?”

“…!”

I know. How much a man wants to show off in front of a woman.

And in the world of Pan Continent, where gender roles are reversed, this would apply to women too.

Maybe Benny is more fragile than usual today. Like a small animal, she might overreact to minor stimuli and get scared.

However, she isn’t the kind of person to be so cowardly when there’s someone she needs to protect behind her.

I haven’t known Benny for long, but there’s one thing I know for sure.

Benny truly cherishes the people around her. And I think I’ve gotten close enough to be considered a friend.

A small spark ignites in Benny’s previously frozen eyes. Some might call it an illusion brought on by the atmosphere, and some might say it’s simply the pupils dilating and reflecting light…but I want to give it more meaning.

Something like determination, perhaps.

“…Stay still for a moment.”

Benny took a deep breath and clenched her fist tightly.

Her small body exuded a faint haze. It was materialized magic. She must be trying to gather all the strength she had recovered while sleeping.

I stayed as still as possible, following her instructions. I knew well that making any unnecessary moves could only disrupt her concentration.

Benny, who had been gathering magic for quite some time, suddenly raised one arm high. Then, with a still trembling voice, she began to chant.

“Cage. Stagnation. Deprivation. Screams. And isolation.”

A string of disjointed words, as if she was uttering whatever came to her mind without a filter.

However, it painted a clear image.

“No one shall escape, and no one shall break it.”

A crude iron cage enveloped Benny and me. The prison, pulsating with dark red magic that seemed not to belong to Benny, smelled oddly of blood.

The moment I saw it, I knew. This was probably a recreation of the iron cage where Benny was confined as a child.

According to Benny’s story, being trapped in the cage was suffocating and frightening, but at the same time, it was the safest place.

Because the experiments of One Who Devours the Twilight only began after dragging the child out of the cage.

So the cage was both a prison that confined Benny and the safest zone where she could feel at ease…

And the wall that she could not break until the end.

Benny was now bringing out the deepest part of her trauma for me.

Knowing how hard it must be for Benny in her current state, I tightened my arms around her wordlessly.

After a moment. Benny, having finished her spell, lowered her raised arm and spoke in a tired voice.

“This is the best I can do. You should at least be mentally prepared, as we don’t know what will happen when the magic collapses.”

A voice tinged with subtle mischief. In response, I too raised the corners of my mouth in a smirk.

“Even in the worst case, I won’t die alone, so I won’t be lonely!”

“Don’t say such unlucky things!”

It was the moment Benny turned towards me with a shriek.

Bang! Crack… Shatter!

Cracks began to form in the white space.

Sensing that the cube would soon give way, Benny pounced on me, knocking me down.

“Get down!”

“Yikes!”

With strength unbefitting her small frame, Benny, like a high-level adventurer, pinned me down. As if to shield me even if the magic collapsed.

Unable to simply shift all the burden to Benny, I panicked and tried to push her shoulder away. At that very moment.

Chaeaeaeang———!

With a sharp sound like glass shattering, the entire space began to fragment and collapse.

The falling white debris briefly bounced off the iron bars and flew far away. Then, flames spread out, engulfing the surroundings.

Whoosh!

Is this what hell would be like? As if intending to burn the entire world, the fierce flames filled my vision.

Sharp space fragments crumbled, and the iron bars that protected this side melted away with a sizzling sound.

What is this? Could it be that the magic broke and flew to another space?

There is only one place in the Labyrinth where such flames could exist.

The seventh floor, where the God of War sleeps.

If I really flew all the way there, I need to stay sharp. No matter how skilled Benny is, roaming the seventh floor, the front line, alone without a Shadow is…

“…Jonah?”

“Yes?”

The ominous thoughts that filled my mind vanished without a trace at the familiar voice.

When I slowly turned my head toward the source of the sound, there stood Lydia with an expression of disbelief.

She was enveloped in a blazing red aura, like fire shrouding her entire body.

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, I don’t feel any heat from this flame. It’s not real fire, but Lydia’s aura.

…But why is Lydia here? And what’s with this massive release of aura?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Even for Lydia, this seems too much.

As I tilted my head in confusion, Lydia called out my name again with a voice mixed with relief and gratitude.

“Jonah!”

Lydia, retrieving her aura that had been burning the surroundings, ran towards me. I too reached out with a big smile of joy.

“Miss Lydia! You’ve come to save me!”

“Yes! I’m here to get you out… Huh?”

Lydia stopped right in front of me. Her red eyes began to waver aimlessly.

“B-Benny? Why…?”

Like someone who, thinking they were handling a platypus skull and tried to pull its beak, only to be surprised that it wouldn’t come off.

And as if passing the baton, Benny, who had been immobilized, started moving on top of me instead of Lydia.

“Ugh… What, what’s going on? Where am I…?”

“Oh, you’ve come to your senses, Benny? I think it’s okay to release the spell now! Miss Lydia has come to save us!”

“Lydia? Really?!”

Benny, whose face brightened up, quickly lifted her head.

And then, as she made eye contact with Lydia, she froze as if someone had pressed the pause button.

Creak, creak.

Benny, looking back and forth between me, herself, and Lydia, with awkward movements like a broken robot.

She opened her mouth with a trembling voice.

“C-calm down, Lydia. I can explain everything!”

“Benny…dressed like that, making Jonah look like this, in a spell that no one can escape except the caster, and in this position, do you have something to say?”

“Yes! This situation is definitely easy to misunderstand, but please, listen to me first…”

“Ah, Benny. We’re in big trouble. I think our clothes and underwear got burned by Lydia’s aura just a moment ago…mmph?!”

Benny hastily covered my mouth, looking up with an awkward smile.

Lydia was already there, brandishing a large sword.

“Jonah, I’ll save you now.”

“Huh? I’m not in danger anymore?”

“No. From what I see, it’s still dangerous.”

With a resolute attitude, Lydia swung the aura-covered greatsword towards the iron bars.

Kaaang!

It was the sound marking the end of this ordeal.

…Or perhaps the sound of Benny’s reputation being ruined.