novelraw Chapter 350
Chapter 350
Chapter 350
"Which coordinate system are we in now?"
[Bavaria.]
At Leo's concise answer, I raised the corners of my mouth slightly.
We had left Corniviano. Corniviano had been the name of the Pleroma Munich-Freising infiltration operation, and as had become obvious from everything thus far, it was also the name we used to refer to the Pleroma Munich-Freising coordinate system. Seeing that even Elias and I at this location had been moved directly to Bavaria, this building containing the control room must have been bundled together with the Archbishop's Residence zone as a single unit.
That being the case, it was now time to search for the bishops, but….
'Why hasn't there been a search report from the 98th Class Team C?'
Hadn't they gone ahead to the archives? The archives had been the only location remaining in this coordinate system, so by now, a notification that they'd found the bishops should have come through. Command had sent them a message as well.
[98th C, what is your status?]
[Searching. The air is preventing us from moving hastily.]The air. Earlier, I mentioned that the 91st Class Teams A and B would move to the control room to prevent the Pleroma from fleeing. That seizing the control room allowed us to deploy a specific spell through their air had become common knowledge to me through dozens of experiences, and naturally, it had to be incorporated into the strategy. However, we had only applied a control spell targeting Space Magic to prevent them from fleeing—we hadn't applied mental manipulation magic.
There were two problems with that. First, our own troops would also inhale the air mixed with mental manipulation drugs—drugs replicating Pleroma's own. Divine Power could dispel the drugs on the spot, but doing so required all allies to stay in close proximity to a Divine Power mage, and failing to do so meant enemies would also benefit from the purification's effect, receiving diminished drug impact. This created a blind spot: our side's range of movement would be restricted, making it difficult to respond flexibly when variables arose. Second, the instant we extracted the space linked to that coordinate out to Bavaria, that coordinate would leave the Pleroma control room's sphere of influence, and all Pleroma would be freed from the drug in the air and able to fight again.
Then couldn't a Papal State mage simply stand by in Bavaria and fire wide-area mental manipulation magic directly? Yes, that was correct. But since this was little different from robbing Peter to pay Paul, and the first problem still lingered as a subtle blind spot, we had devised a strategy: we would not use mental manipulation drugs in locations where our forces and the Papal State support mages could suppress opponents without difficulty, but would use them after herding the bishops into a single coordinate system. Therefore, now that only one coordinate system remained, the mental manipulation drugs had already been dispersed in the archives.
'Even with movement restrictions, they should have found them by now.'
The enemy should already be weakened, and in that state, it wouldn't be easy to stay hidden, so finding them shouldn't be difficult. The plan was for them to locate the targets and then immediately come out to rendezvous with the teams designated to engage the bishops, but if they were this late….
"I'd like to stay here forever. Wouldn't you."
Elias's dry murmur reached me, as the situation was impossible not to find strange. Since stepping out of this building would lead to the real Bavaria, I too wanted to stay here. If I said I didn't want to return to that Isar River—where I'd once used Divine Power before the King of Bavaria—to feel the spring breeze, and sit around the dining table at the Munich Residenz with my friends eating warm food, it would be a lie. The past is uncertain too, but at least it's far clearer than the uncertainty the future holds. Our victory might last only up to this very moment, and perhaps we, living in the present, are the only ones smiling without knowing that. But even so, I couldn't stay in the past forever.
Earlier, Leo had informed command that our 101st Class would be moving to the stronghold. It was time for us to go as well.
I took Elias's hand and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, the dam on the Isar River stood before me. A cold wind swept in from the river, sending a chill through my entire body. After registering the wind, I raised my head toward the 101st Class friends who were looking at me. Leo, who had his hand over the artifact at his ear to block sound from entering, surveyed everyone and spoke in a low voice.
"The 91st A, 98th A, and our 101st will move to the final coordinate and rendezvous with the 98th C."
"That's a lot."
"The remaining three teams are dealing with the Pleroma left behind in the coordinates moved to Bavaria, so they'll be watching the situation and deploying as needed."
We nodded. Leo paused once, then added.
"Let's do well to the end."
I smiled at Leo's words. Soon Leo tapped the artifact to send the movement signal to command, then began counting down from five, and we stomped our feet at the same moment.
CRASH—
"…!"
I squinted against the fierce wind striking my face. The grass scent I'd been sick of smelling until this very morning pricked my nose. A vast field spread through the darkness, and I narrowed my brow at the forest beyond.
'…This isn't indoors.'
This wasn't the archives. I certainly hadn't heard anything like this from the 98th Class Team C.
[The coordinates…! We've arrived at a field, not the archives.]
[—David said, 'The hand of the Lord was on me, and he gave me understanding of all the details of the plan in writing….']
[Can you hear? The separation incantation has been chanted but we're not transferring to Bavaria.]
We weren't the only ones who'd moved at the same moment. The 91st Class Team A, having also landed somewhere, shouted in a panicked voice. Arriving at a field was bad enough, but not transferring to Bavaria—an alarming report. Beside me, I could see Narce about to attempt the same spell, only to press his forehead in frustration.
The archives coordinates were the only ones not obtained during strategy planning—they had been extracted here on-site, through a Divine Power mage from the Papal State side interrogating a Pleroma. Why had that been necessary? Upon returning here, I'd searched the site of the university library I'd visited during the Extra Chapter, but found no trace of any dual coordinate system there. They had changed the coordinate systems of the many spaces they'd already constructed and periodically altered entry routes, but kept the locations themselves—except the archives, which they hadn't.
Had they pulled something at this stage?
Then Ulrike said urgently.
"What if the coordinates were miscalculated…!"
"Impossible."
Leo cut her off. The natural thought that perhaps we'd chanted the wrong coordinates crossed my mind, but the 91st Class was here too, so no. There was also the possibility that we'd been given wrong coordinates altogether, but in that case, what about the 98th Class Team C, who had moved to the archives earlier?
[98th C, where are you?!]
The 98th Class Team C answered the 91st's question in a flustered voice.
[…Still in the archives. As previously reported, they're using Kreepkirche St. Nicolaus as their archives. However, we've searched down to the basement level and found no one.]
[Try chanting the coordinates.]
[Corniviano 790:347:495.]
'Similar to what we chanted from below the dam.'
CLAP—
I clapped my hands sharply and thought. Because we'd received coordinates shifted by one position to avoid potential collisions, mere similarity was enough to confirm it pointed to an adjacent location. Which meant this spot where I stood was indeed the archives. More precisely….
CRASH—!
More precisely, it was above the archives.
A thunderous sound. The instant I narrowed my brow at the amber light that burst through the darkness like lightning, something abruptly warped into existence beside me. Mecklenburg, holding his teammates' hands with one hand while slamming his Staff down with the other, saw us and let out a breath.
"…Phew."
I'd caught glimpses of him during the mock training, but seeing the 25-year-old Mecklenburg this close up stirred a peculiar feeling. Compared to his 18-year-old self, who had stood frozen after receiving an enormous shock from everything about Pleroma, the expression from those days was now nowhere to be found. He'd even been summoned by me striking his core, yet he didn't so much as curse me with his eyes or display any other defiance. That sort of thing wasn't what mattered right now.
He quickly tapped his artifact and transmitted.
"98th A, rendezvousing with the 101st at Corniviano coordinate 790:346:495. The bishops have layered Space Magic over the archives."
Space Magic had been layered over the archives' Corniviano coordinate. Since the bishops weren't in the archives where the 98th Class Team C was positioned, the bishops had created Space Magic on top of the coordinate system and were fleeing from above it.
'Space Magic of this scale….'
It was harder than replicating a building. On top of that, given that the coordinate transfer spell developed by the Papal State wasn't working, this place must also be wrapped in multiple layers of defensive barriers… and we had already gone through every control room and deactivated the defensive magic.
'Then it's highly likely a specific individual is serving as that defensive function.'
They were likely either carrying a specific artifact that produced the effect, or possessed a unique ability related to Space Magic. Pleroma, who could detect even Old Humans' latent potential and turn them into Pleroma, always became headaches for us in this manner. Judging by Space Magic deployed at this scale, they must have already squeezed out every last drop of stamina they had, but the mere fact that this was possible made them a formidable talent.
Mecklenburg continued speaking to the 91st Class mage.
"In the process of installing a plain inside the narrow archives building, the distance between coordinates has widened."
[CRASH—!]
[Space Magic layered on top…. We were considering the possibility of variables, and we thought the same, but the space isn't being dismantled right now. Furthermore, the 98th C, which moved several minutes before us, is in the original coordinate system, isn't it?]
"There must be a system we're unaware of. Given that it appears as though a robust coordinate system has been newly constructed rather than a simple temporary space overlay, it seems there is someone with a unique ability to manipulate space."
Mecklenburg's assessment wasn't far from my own.
"Therefore, we must find the council of bishops here. The spell we applied to their air was a control spell targeting Pleroma-style Space Magic. The fact that this place could be created means it was possible not through Pleroma's methods, but through an individual's unique ability."
Yes, he was right. I couldn't help but be impressed that Munich-Freising had recruited such talent in those seven years. The problem was….
I tapped the artifact and spoke.
"If I may say one thing. This situation means the Pleroma can now move outside this place and call for reinforcements."
As you're surely aware. I swallowed those words and waited for a response. We couldn't spend forever on situational assessment, so someone had to speak up.
[…….]
The 91st Class Representative Mage was silent. Meanwhile, from the other ear, command's voice continued relaying our words and issuing instructions to everyone. Someone answered briefly. The 91st Class Representative Mage thought for a while, then spoke.
[Of all the ways to meet again.]
"……."
What was that about? Leo, Mecklenburg, and I understood immediately. Leo's head turned toward me, and my eyes briefly met Mecklenburg's. I ignored their reactions and listened to the 91st Class Representative Mage.
[Very well. We've executed eighty percent of the original plan, but given how things stand, we must forget the existing strategy. Let me summarize the current situation briefly. Thanks to our simultaneous, multi-pronged infiltration and speed-based pressure, the bishops have been jumping between spaces ever since we entered the Archbishop's Residence. Bishops who stayed and resisted died, and some have likely fled again to rejoin their comrades or escaped to the world outside Pleroma.]
"……."
[And now they'll be coming back here.]
"The command post tests turn out to be helpful at times like these."
I replied briefly to the 91st Class Representative Mage's situation report. A field—how could I not be reminded of the second test? Perhaps it sounded slightly defiant, because I could see Mecklenburg's eyes narrowing. I looked around and continued.
"Please give the order, Your Excellency Albertina Hohenzollern. What should we do now?"
Let's hear it. I had no idea what strategy she'd produce in this situation, but this wasn't a time when I had the luxury of unilaterally overturning the chain of command. She took a deep breath, fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.
[The positions have reversed. However, now is not the time to test our strategic capabilities.]
An enigmatic remark. As I pondered its meaning and waited, the 91st Class Representative Mage continued.
[I will transfer command authority to the Vice-Captain of the 101st Class.]