Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 265: Antagonist of Earth (10)

Chapter 265: Antagonist of Earth (10)

In the distance, amidst a field of ash and unfortunate demise, a storm raged.

It was a storm of pink incongruent with the rest of the environment, but there was no question about its origins as the Frontliner maiden stood composed before its wrath.

An opposing gargoyle―easily over a dozen feet tall and bearing a menacing mien, the likewise rock-carved halberd in its grasp secondary proof of its hostility―seemed to be finding itself as if thrown into the shredder, myriad pink petals slicing and slashing what should be durable stone skin, chipping away at its hard flesh to carve wounds all over its body in the most literal sense.

In a matter of seconds, the gargoyle was minced into miniscule fragments, eventually reaching a breaking point where it simply shattered into dust.

Immediately following the one-sided shredding, the storm of petals dissipated as if it never were, and before my eyes, a small flurry of transparent screens appeared.

[Objective Cleared]

[New Objective: Survive the eruption]

[Time Limit: 12 Hours]

“Huh?” frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

RUMBLE~!

All of a sudden, the world beneath my feet quaked violently, compelling my knees to buckle as I stabilised my stance, hurriedly turning my head towards the source of the danger.

That is, towards the peak of the ‘mountain’ I was already closer to than the base.

‘Ah, of course…’

Subconsciously gritting my teeth at the realisation, I broke any hesitation and sprinted down the side of what I should have previously grasped was actually a volcano.

RUMBLEEE~!!

The vibrations only grew more fierce by the second, but I knew I couldn’t give pause.

It’s true I thought myself as strong, but I wasn’t so cocky as to believe I could endure the force of a volcano’s eruption.

Maybe if I had more magic energy and it was higher level, Illusory Aegis might be able to protect me, but as things stood, I didn’t feel at all comfortable enough placing my life in its hands.

Besides, if I could run away in time to a safe location, there would be no need to take such a risk.

So, I darted and dashed over all the rough, jagged rocks and boulders that obstructed my path, arriving at the base of the volcano in record time.

Of course, just that far would be nowhere close to enough.

I wasn’t hugely knowledgeable on volcanoes―there was no reason to be where I lived after all―but I knew one thing for sure.

Their reach extended far greater than you might first expect.

It wasn’t good enough to get to a place I ‘thought’ might be safe enough, so I simply decided to go as far as I could.

There was no telling at this point how vast the Floor itself stretched, but considering the sheer size of some of the previous environments and biomes, I held no major concern about that here.

Besides, the Tower surely wouldn’t give an Objective to survive without providing a place that was safe, right…?

‘…Don’t think too hard, just move.’

As I ran, I also belatedly realised something.

The things running away from the volcano didn’t include only Challengers.

“Schree…!”

‘Watch it!’

――All manner of bizarre creatures emerging all over from under the basalt ground below, ranging from giant slugs and snails seemingly made out of lava, to elegant snakes sculpted from obsidian, fiery salamanders, and even blackrock spiders skittering along the surface.

Whether prey or predator, friend or foe, at this moment, all such labels were discarded.

They had but one thing in common, and right now, that was all that was relevant.

That they aimed to survive the natural disaster.

BOOOOM–!!!

“――!!”

It was right at that moment, an explosion so loud it seemed to shatter all of sound itself resounded, a flash of something dazzling dominating the crimson sky simultaneously.

Momentarily flicking my gaze behind me, I caught a glimpse of the resulting chaos―aflame debris flying through the air at rapid speeds, quickly followed by tremendous plumes of thick, black smog that began to fill the air.

Pyroclastic flows also flooded down the side of the mountains like a ferocious wave of lava, smoke and debris, washing over and devouring everything that stood in its path to the extent that there was no question about its peril.

Some of the less powerful tephra soaring through the sky didn’t take long before they started falling, crashing down like meteorites upon the countless fleeing creatures and inevitably wiping more than a few of them out in mere moments.

And, somehow, that wasn’t all.

In addition to all of that, there was a development I was sure had never happened in the history of the world, at least prior to the appearance of the Tower.

As if the magma that had risen from deep below the surface had been animated, the blazing rocks and detritus given proper form, bestowed life, they ignited once again, growing wings of fire and molten lava before swiftly continuing in their conquest of the realm.

These blatantly hostile beings, myriad physical manifestations of the eruption’s wrath, proceeded to chase and hunt down the creatures fleeing for their lives, attacking and slaughtering them without discrimination.

Ignoring them for the most part, I was able to easily evade the majority of attacks launched my way in the form of smoking fireballs or projectiles of flaming rock and magma, blocking those I couldn’t dodge with an Illusory Aegis or cutting them down with the Villainous Blade.

Far away in the distance ahead of me, that pink maiden was visible, darting through the air using those pink petals as platforms just as she had done in the previous Floor, using the surrounding storm to erase any enemies blocking her way in the same manner.

Eventually, having climbed to some higher ground and gained quite the distance from the source of the eruption, I figured I had gotten far enough away.

‘Librarian!’

[A-ah, certainly…!]

Having the Librarian transport me before I was attacked again, the world around me distorted, transforming back into the familiar whiteness of the Library that I was used to, my prior momentum carrying through and causing me to roll across the floor until I smacked into the sturdy bookcase making up a side of one of the Library’s aisles.

Thud-!

“Welcome back!”

Hearing her high-pitched, enthusiastic voice, I let out an instinctive sigh of relief, not bothering to raise my body and instead remaining in my awkward position on the floor for a while.

“I’m back…”

‘The Time Limit was twelve hours. That’s more than enough time to rest for a bit…’

I felt a little bit sorry for that other Challenger I left behind, but at the same time, that’s just how these things worked.

‘Work smarter not harder, right?’

Once again, I would gladly be relying on her to carry me through.