Black Badger

Chapter 99

At the end of the passage was an elevator that reminded me of a mechanical parking garage.

A massive door large enough to accommodate a truck came into view. It was undoubtedly used to load creatures from the lower levels and send them to the arena.

The buttons were half-buried in debris and emitted a red glow.

I took in the sight of the large button marked with an inverted triangle.

Anyone could tell it was an elevator button....

"Shall we go down?"

I muttered in relief at the fact that Ricardo was unharmed.

"There's no guarantee that going down will improve things."

"There's no guarantee that staying here will be better either...."

Fortunately, the senior responded. I nodded to show my agreement, then listened carefully.

A vibrating sound came from the debris on the opposite side of the elevator, toward the arena. An explosion had definitely gone off there. The shock from the blast earlier had hit my back.

Something seemed to be collapsing further from the epicenter.

Were Barbie and Asil okay?

I suppressed the rising anxiety and spoke up.

"I'll go down first."

As I got to the point, Ricardo stared at me silently.

His expressionless face was intimidating.

"Sit in the spot least likely to collapse. I'll be right back."

"Is all this self-awareness stemming from that kind of thing?"

I didn't think it was the kind of question to ask in this situation.

I wasn't entirely sure if he understood correctly. It seemed like he was pointing out my reckless behavior.

I bent my knees and slowly walked toward the elevator button.

"Probably."

I muttered as I pressed the button.

"But right now, I'm acting very rationally."

Ding!

The elevator arrived quickly.

The massive door opened with a heavy thud.

The corridor was bathed in fan-shaped light.

The sudden bright light stung my eyes. I narrowed them and leaned my body inside. Without releasing the button, I examined the interior.

The button panel was simple. Only three levels.

A Level, B Level, and the arena.

After explaining the situation, I turned to the senior.

"I'll check A Level first and come back."

"No...."

Ricardo, who hadn't been surprised by my explanation, spoke up.

"Go to B Level.... Usually, the more dangerous creatures are kept on A Level...."

"Oh."

I'd forgotten that he had experience with these kinds of missions.

I nodded. But I didn't board the elevator right away.

Would it be okay to leave him alone?

After hesitating, I took off my baseball jacket.

"Here, at least take this."

Ricardo grabbed the baseball jacket I awkwardly offered and tossed it to the floor.

Thud. The jacket that Barbie had scolded me about but I'd secretly liked fell into the passage. I knew wearing a baseball jacket wouldn't make any difference, but it still made me sad.

My baseball jacket....

Looking dejected, I bowed my head and entered the elevator.

"I'll be back...."

"Don't let your guard down."

His nagging voice was sharp.

"You know your body's not in great shape right now, right?"

I stepped into the elevator and pressed the B button.

Then I frantically pressed the close button. I planned to scout B Level as quickly as possible and return.

The elevator didn't move as quickly as I hoped.

The door closed slowly. And the elevator moved just as sluggishly.

I chewed on my lip until we reached B Level.

Ding!

[Warning. Cage 27 is open.]

[Warning. Cage 33 is open.]

[Warning. Cage 21 is open.]

Darkness.

As soon as the elevator opened, the AI's clear voice echoed through the enveloping darkness.

I pressed the open button and furrowed my brow.

Were cages 21, 27, and 33 the ones that held the creatures I'd encountered?

Or had the impact from the explosion crumpled and opened them? If the latter, then creatures were probably wandering the corridor right now. If they were still alive, that was.

Staying inside the elevator, I observed the corridor.

The cool air hit my body and the smells mixed in with it. This level seemed relatively intact near the elevator, but the side toward the arena looked blocked by debris.

The end of the corridor was shrouded in darkness and hard to see.

Both sides of the corridor were lined entirely with cages.

I heightened my senses.

"Huh."

They'd captured a lot.

Or rather, hunted them?

I could sense the creatures inside the iron bars. Since they were ones that civilians could subdue with weapons, they didn't give off the same intimidating presence as the specimens I'd faced outside the core.

Still, there were too many to consider it safe.

And one of them was approaching....

[Specimen 33, boarding preparation.]

"Huh!"

I raised my voice at the sight of something floating in the darkness.

"That thing!"

A white mask.

A plaster mask with dark, hollow eye sockets approached me.

In the dim, eerie corridor, only the mask floated grotesquely.

The moment I saw that familiar movement, a memory burst forth from somewhere inside me. I'd encountered these often in the high castle of the old world.

Commonly known as a death mask.

"Nice to see you!"

Death masks were easy to catch if you knew how to counter them.

"You're slow, huh?"

Fast ones were hard to catch.

But this one was slow. It grew larger as it approached, almost cutely so. I kept the open button pressed and waited for it to get close enough.

A death mask attaches to a living body and drains its nutrients until it withers away. But if you avoided contact with the inside of the mask, it could be captured. They were usually too fast to catch, but this one didn't seem like it.

It couldn't be killed by smashing; it had to be melted with heat.

Useless information right now, though.

The moment the mask reached the elevator, I thrust out my arm and jumped.

"Got it."

My chest hurt.

The wound from Arthur's shockwave throbbed. I winced slightly and looked down at the captured death mask.

I'd caught it properly.

As long as I didn't make a mistake, it could be useful.

Ignoring the death mask trembling in my palm, I stepped into the corridor.

I quickly patrolled B Level. As expected, the end of the corridor was blocked by debris. Creature 21 seemed buried and dead inside it. Creature 27 appeared to be a spider. I could see what looked like spiderlings crawling in an empty cage near the elevator.

I crushed them underfoot and hurried back to the elevator.

"Senior."

Ding! The elevator opened with a cheerful sound.

Fortunately, Ricardo was still sitting in the same spot.

"It doesn't look like we can escape through B Level. The end is blocked just like this corridor."

"What did you bring back?"

Ricardo shot me a look of disbelief as he glanced at my right hand.

I slightly lifted the wriggling death mask in my palm.

"A creature."

"Why'd you bring that?"

"To use as a weapon."

I spread my hand wide, covering the front of the plaster mask.

In this gripped state, simply pressing it against a living body turned the death mask into a living vacuum cleaner. The stronger the life force it absorbed, the more powerful the death mask itself became, so it wasn't ideal for prolonged use as a weapon, but we didn't have options.

Ignoring the senior's incredulous stare, I asked.

"I'll go check A Level. Is A Level lower than B Level, or is B lower?"

"A is closer to the ground.... The hard-to-handle ones are tough to move to higher levels...."

"Oh. Then there's a higher chance the structure there is intact."

The cages would probably be mostly undamaged too, right?

His answer gave me some hope, and my mood lifted a bit.

It was good to have something to do that let me turn away from self-loathing.

"It might take a little longer than last time, but I'll be quick again."

I bent down and picked up the baseball jacket lying nearby.

"If the condition is okay there, then to that place...."

Boom!

It was a sound that could tear eardrums.

The corridor toward the arena caved in. The collapsing floor.

Debris and Marie, who was still faintly breathing, plummeted downward, vanishing from sight in an instant.

I dropped the jacket and ran to the senior.

I grabbed Ricardo as he sprang up like a shot.

Damn it!

"Let go."

He slid into the elevator almost.

As soon as I felt the solid metal plate, Ricardo spoke. I roughly set him down and mashed the close button.

"You're gonna break the button like that...."

A Level.

I pressed the button without responding. B Level was too close to the arena and out. There was no guarantee it wouldn't collapse.

I sighed in relief when the elevator jerked but operated normally.

The descending elevator.

As Ricardo had said, it went down quite a ways.

But was this okay?

"Is this alright?"

His face must have taken a hit, and he'd rejected the baseball jacket. With my caution gone, I asked while checking on the senior's condition.

Ricardo immediately caught my intent.

"It's not claustrophobia...."

His face actually looked fine.

"The building just collapsed during an air raid, wiping out my family...."

Oh.

I hadn't expected him to share such details so suddenly.

Flustered, I forgot how to speak for a moment.

"I'm sorry."

"For what~?"

He asked back with a smile, so I shut my mouth.

I must have made a strange face. Ricardo looked at me and let out a chuckle.

It was a different kind of laugh from the mocking one he'd shown before.

Propping himself against the wall due to his ankle, the senior blinked.

"During the First War.... I got caught in an air raid and it collapsed."

"......"

"Someone must have been happy about it~? You probably heard, but that guy Abiran was a mafioso...."

His voice dripped with bitterness.

I couldn't tell if that sharp emotion was directed at himself or his father.

"My mother and siblings had nothing to do with that side...."

No.

Listening closely, he seemed angry at both.

"But well, my father always favored me, the eldest son. I despised that man, so I was the only one in the family who went astray."

A cold tone.

"I hardly ever went home. I wandered outside, looking for ways to leave for another region."

The senior slowly turned his head, averting his gaze.

"I should have timed my rebellion and quit...."

Ding! The elevator stopped.

While the heavy door opened slowly, I watched him.

A man leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching the door open.

A bitter smile played on his lips.

"That day too, I stupidly ran off saying I was leaving for another region...."

[Warning. Cage 1 is open.]

[Warning. Cage 2 is open.]

[Warning. Cage 4 is open.]

[Warning. Cage 10 is open.]

[Warning. Cage 12 is open.]

Interrupted words.

The clear voice pulled my mind back to reality.

We had arrived at A Level.