Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 279: Antagonist of Earth (24)

Swivelling around, naturally, Sophie couldn’t see their pursuer.

The tunnel was too full of twists and turns for that convenience. Further, she didn’t even bother to try and sense their magic energy, as that was also doubtful to bear fruit.

All she could do was rely on Anders’ sensing, accomplished through contact with his fog.

Although, now that their pursuer had broken through that illusory barrier, and therefore broken contact, it would become more and more difficult to estimate how far away their position was, until they were already too close.

Without the distorted reality of the fog disrupting them, their speed would only increase, and fast, and that wasn’t even to mention the fact that the crystal golems between them likely wouldn’t have respawned yet.

On top of all that, it wasn’t as if he would ever tell his teammate and make her overly concerned, but Anders’ perceptive grasp on that individual following their exit of the fog barrier also appeared to have turned faulty for some reason, rendering any sense of the time they actually had before they arrived effectively meaningless.

That is, that person likely had something to disguise their own magic power.

It was fine so long as the pursuer was retained within the fog, but the moment they broke out of it, any prior held advantage immediately disappeared.

Though she herself wasn’t aware of the pursuer’s apparent magical anti-detection ability, Sophie at the very least recognised the fact that detecting the enemy’s position accurately had been a tall order from the very beginning.

After all, if she recalled when she trudged through the snow atop the mountainside, or even to before then, had there been a single time she felt their presence so strongly?

’To leave even a single detectable trace... That must be why Anders was leaving that fog behind us.’

In that case, for him to pronounce that the pursuer was coming...

...Just how close must they b--

"...!"

By the time she realised that much, she was already late to react.

CLANGG~!!

"Kgh...!"

All of a sudden, a figure shrouded in black appeared before her, and her body was met with a tremendous force.

Not even permitted the mercy to activate her ability, or perhaps that was due to her commitment to sustain mana, Sophie could only move fast enough to raise her katars and block the attack.

However, even that did not stop her from being sent flying backwards, her form landing in a backwards roll amidst thickened fog to end up on her feet in relative elegance, deep within the open chamber.

Only by letting herself go with the direction of the force could she recover so smoothly, but even though her well-trained body had the battle instincts to compensate, it couldn’t be denied that the strike truly was something not to underestimate.

Still, with no leisure to assess the severity of the aching in her forearms, the protective bracers torn and cracked, she kept her eyes pinned on the mouth of the crystalline tunnel.

Towards that person, wielding a similarly-coloured, utterly unambiguously devilish sword in his hand, its lengthy, curved edge more threatening than any monster she had encountered.

"Gh... You...!"

Watching the masked figure stand at that entrance ominously, blocking the one path that could be seen as an exit to this place, Sophie gritted her teeth.

No, more than that, her expression appeared to twist into a snarl even a wolf would cower before.

Because, as opposed to her, that person’s attention was rather directed towards――

"Anders! You, stop! Now...!"

Witnessing the scene of that evil person leaning down, stretching one arm towards her comrade, her friend, and seizing him by the neck, the world around her, as she was plenty used to, began to slow.

As she charged towards them, however, her eyes gradually widened.

Within that person’s tight grasp was Anders’ neck. However, their figures were being engulfed with fog together.

It was only gradual in her perception of the world, but it at least meant he would probably, hopefully survive long enough for her to―――

CRASH-!!

―At that moment, Sophie was flattened.

❖─────★★★★☆─────❖

Before she knew what even happened, all of a sudden, her vision turned a chaotic patchwork of white, blue, grey, red, and black blotches, in no particular order.

Snow, crystals, fog, blood, loss of vision――an amalgamation of various things.

That, and a whole lot of pain, also centralised in no one area of her body.

Still, she wasn’t dead. What happened?

Recalling only that something heavy fell from above, she could only imagine one reason for her current poor state.

’...The... boss...’

That’s right. There was nothing else in this chamber, after all... But, even then, why did it have to come down right at that moment? It was fine waiting all that time beforehand without bothering them...

If only her brain wasn’t so fuzzy and disoriented―she must have knocked it quite badly when she fell.

Speaking of the boss, though... Where was it? It couldn’t possibly have just disappeared or went off somewhere, right...?

"...Huh...?"

Lifting herself up and off the ground, raising her head out of the dense ground-level fog, Sophie’s brows instinctively furrowed.

"There’s... no one..."

The Area Boss chamber was entirely empty... Or well, it only appeared that way, but of course, since the bottom was all shrouded in that impenetrable magic fog, it’s not as if it would be easy to tell if something, or someone, was hiding beneath it.

In the end, due to their pursuer’s swifter-than-expected arrival, Anders could only manage to fill the bottom two feet or so of the chamber. Of course, it was still a lot considering the chamber’s size, but in this situation where anyone could be lying dead on the ground around her, it really would be impossible to tell.

"Anders... Anders...?! Andy...! Are you there?!"

"..."

No reply.

Well, that makes sense. If he was hiding in the fog, it’s only expected that he wouldn’t reveal himself, and if he was lying unconscious or dead somewhere, then there wasn’t even a discussion to be had.

"That can’t be..."

Gulping and muttering to herself, Sophie shook her head.

’Andy always said his fog would disappear if... O-or rather, he never explicitly said that, but he also never said it would retain its form and effect if he passed away, so... So he has to be... alive.’

At the very least, she dearly wished to believe so.

But if so, then where on earth could he have gone...?

"And that person too..."

Subconsciously, she clutched at the clothes on her chest. There was no sign of anyone at all, good or bad.

When she was unconscious, did... Did a lot of time pass?

Her ability was active when the boss must have fallen, but for better or worse, she knew it automatically deactivates whenever she falls unconscious, be it through falling asleep naturally or being knocked out like this.

Even the Area Boss was gone. From what she had glimpsed hiding on the ceiling before, that monster was definitely too large to be concealed in two feet of fog, meaning something unusual absolutely happened.

"Maybe he confirmed I was safe and led that person and the boss elsewhere for my safety... In that case, he could still be--"

Crack-!

"Agh! Hff, ah, my knee..."

Ah, right. From a hit like that, of course she was heavily injured. Not just her knee, but all over; aching muscles and sore bones, damaged tissue and torn cartilage, hazy mind and throbbing head―the whole deal.

It was undoubtedly a pain, but she could come back from it no problem―she still had unused healing potions in her pouch, after all. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"...Wha...?"

’I did have them, didn’t I...?’

She was one hundred percent confident... And yet, for whatever reason, she just couldn’t find them anywhere.

"No, I’m sure...! I’m sure I definitely, absolutely didn’t use them! I saved them specifically for severe emergencies, so I’m certain...!"

She really was.

Alas, being certain does not create something out of nothing.

"Really...! There has to be something...!"

Sophie thought she knew everything that was stored within the pouch. Potions, knives, bandages, spare food and water―She knew with utmost certainty what was contained within, what she had already used and what remained, it was always like that, and yet, contrary to all belief or possibility, she was proven wrong with her very eyes.

That is, the pouch was completely, utterly, and irrevocably empty.

"This is... just, outrageous..."

Without her own awareness of it, her eyes ended up wide, subtly glistening, as those whispered words fell dryly from her lips.

Sophie knew what was in this pouch. She could not forget what she placed there herself, what had never been removed, and she would not bend on that.

That could only mean one thing.

Naturally.

Someone must have taken it all.

It couldn’t have been Anders; of course, he would never do something like steal, not especially from his own unconscious friend, and most assuredly not in that situation―he simply wouldn’t have had the time, being antagonised by that masked pursuer, after all.

Indeed, the fact that her pouch wasn’t taken, but everything within was removed, must have meant the culprit either did it solely to cause her distress, or else because they already possessed a magical storage item of their own.

That unidentified person. Strong as they are, the moment Anders escaped their grasp, it should have been almost impossible for them to pursue him through the fog.

So then, they must have instead decided to deal with her rather than waste their energy in a chase...

...But then, if they had the time to go through all of her things, why was she still alive?

"..."

Now that she realised it, her katars were placed back in their holds on her hips. Hadn’t she wielded them to block the surprise blow earlier...? No, more importantly, they hadn’t been stolen too?

"Khh... I don’t get it..."

It was when the weak throbs of her frontal lobe began to act up again that she massaged her temples and turned to leave the boss chamber.

Anders was... definitely, still alive. He could even be wrapped up in a fierce battle at this very moment.

’I have to go...’

At the least, she wouldn’t accomplish anything by standing idle.

’He could be... in danger.’

The sinister visage of that demonic figure was engraved into her mind.

And then, the image of a fiery egg flashed over it.

"...Quickly..."

Dragging her feet across the ground, through the dense fog that veiled their heavily-impaired states, she made her way――

"Ah...!"

And inevitably tripped.

Instinctively flinching, Sophie’s eyes snapped shut as she faceplanted into the floor of fog, her arms reactively extended before her.

Thud.

"Uffh... stupid..."

Her already-injured body didn’t appreciate it, the added burden. Fortunately, there was no real harm done.

With clenched fists, she bit her bottom lip and pushed herself up, a mean, troubled look on her face.

When she did, she found her next breath stolen away.

"..."

’...What...?’

The tunnel entrance she was just now walking towards――had suddenly vanished.