As the number of attempts to establish a connection with the main unit increased, an ominous sensation threatened to swallow me whole.
«Otra circuit ».
«Wrong...»
I couldn't do anything but keep trying. But no matter how many times we tried to contact them, no connection could be established with the main unit.
...What the hell is going on?
The original plan of this expedition was as follows:
1. Ambush and infiltrate Noark's base.
2. Use the Eye of Heaven to contact the main unit located in the Dragon Mountains.
3. After destroying the tower and escaping, we meet the main unit, which will come to meet us.
The key to the success of the attack plan was for the main unit to temporarily gather the force necessary to penetrate Noark's front lines and rendezvous with us at the rendezvous point to retreat.
«Did not pass».
We were unable to contact the main unit, which was the most important part of this plan.
Did they abandon us....?
The worst-case scenario came to mind, but I quickly shook my head. What, get rid of troops like us after using us once? The palace would do no such thing. It was logical to assume that something had gone wrong at the front. But even in the worst case scenario, I had only one thing left to do: the same thing I had done since the day I woke up in this body.
¡Kwa claim!
Survive.
«Captain! How long do we have to hold on?»
Before making a decision, I thought about it one last time.
«Priest Campbell can't take much longer!»
Since we no longer had time, I had to choose the best possible move we could make with our limited resources. What would further increase our chances of survival? It didn't take me long to make a decision, although I had no way of knowing if it was the best.
Tap, tap.
Okay, let's get on with this for now. It's not like I can think of a better way, anyway.
«Akurava.»
«I hear you.»
«Stop trying to enter coordinates for this transmission completely.» Until now, we had only attempted to make contact through a designated phone number.
«Excuse me? But then our message will be transmitted to the entire region without exception?»
«That's what I want». There was no point in leaving a missed call to someone who wouldn't even answer, right?
«...Okay.» Akurava seemed to understand exactly what he meant. He thought about it for a moment, but in the end he accepted. «It's done. I have also maximized bandwidth». Akurava then handed me the message stone.
Click.
I carefully pressed the button on its surface. I was a little nervous. It was in radio broadcast mode. Friend or foe, anyone on the continent with their message stone lit would receive this transmission.
And?
«Listen everyone.»
«Listen everyone.»
The sound was transmitted through the nearby active message stones all at once as an echo. This was all the fault of the main unit for not picking up the call. He didn't know why they were so busy, but what else could a barbarian do when the main unit wasn't listening?
«The Eye of Heaven has been destroyed.»
«The Eye of Heaven has been destroyed.»
He would shout it straight into her ears.
***
It was a barren terrain with muted colors and a shattered Eye of Heaven at its center.
Slip.
The man took off his cloak, revealing his face hidden under the hood. His skin was grotesque, as if acid had been poured on him.
«...How did this happen?» When the monstrous-looking man looked around, those whose eyes he was trying to catch were busy looking down. «You». The man reached out and grabbed the nearest adventurer by the neck.
«P-Please don't kill me! Y-Sir!»
«If you want to live, tell me what happened here right now».
«I'll tell you...! All! Without hiding a single detail!»
When the strangled adventurer screamed desperately, Regal Vagos relaxed his grip. The punishment could wait until after finding out what happened.
«I repeat: the Eye of Heaven has been destroyed. Now we will go to the meeting point».
The message stones stopped working after that transmission, so Vagos couldn't know what exactly had happened as he and his troops retreated.
The more time passed, the more his anger increased like a tidal wave. «In short: the bastards openly invaded our base and destroyed the Eye of Heaven, then used a Multi Teleport spell to escape, and you didn't do anything?».
«B-Well... that's because you mobilized the troops and left, so there weren't many-»
«Are you saying this is my fault?»
¡Ahórate!
«No! The enemies brought monsters with them like cowards...! I meant we weren't... strong enough!»
«...Piece of garbage.»
When Vagos pressed harder, the frightened adventurer blurted out a name. «T-Titana Akurava!»
«Titana Akurava...?» It was a woman I knew. At the time she joined Orcules, she was one of the most renowned adventurers of the time. «Was that old woman here?»
«N-Not just her! H-Golden Falcon James Shut up! Kaislan White Sword! There were so many other famous adventurers! Please have mercy...!» Sensing his imminent doom, the adventurer implored salvation in a trembling tone.
Just then, a man in the distance slowly approached. «Lazy people, please stop. They couldn't do anything».
Kayle Elbad Zenegger was the advisor to the squad led by Vagos. When they learned that a palace expeditionary force had infiltrated Ice Rock, it was also he who suggested that they do nothing hasty and protect the tower. Was that because? On the one hand, Vagos could admit that he should have listened to that guy, but on the other, he was disgusted by the idea.
«Kayle, back off. It is a well-deserved punishment».
«So why that man? Everyone here shares the blame for not protecting this place. This is not fair.»
«Then I will punish everyone present.»
The adventurers shuddered at those words. The counselor sighed and took out his trick. «The commander won't stay silent if you do that». By «commander» he meant the head of Orcules: the Traitor, Ricardo Lüchenprague.
«Son of a bitch...!» Vagos got angry and grabbed his counselor by the neck, but that was it. Not even he could ignore the weight of that name.
«Since something of this magnitude has happened, the commander will soon return from the front to take stock of the situation. Let's not do anything hasty and wait for now».
«...Tsk.» Finally, Vagos' anger cooled. He didn't want to cause any more trouble by again ignoring his advisor's advice. However, the man in his grip continued talking and soon said something strange.
«The man of the Spirit of Blood? Riehen Schuitz?»
«Y-Yes, I'm sure. He led the expedition. I clearly heard him called Schuitz! And more importantly, it used gigantization!».
Vagos had regained his composure and was investigating the man who had tricked him when he was startled. As soon as he heard the word giantization, he experienced an inexplicable feeling of déjà vu.
«¡Kayle!»
«What's happening?»
«Give me the stone of the message».
The counselor did not even question his orders. He took out a message stone, and Vagos snatched it from his hand.
Clic.
He pressed the button and played a recording.
«I? In your garden... Why, are you coming to look for me...? Alright, do what you can».
Only the sound of the voice made his hands clench into clenched fists. At the same time, he had the strange feeling of having heard it somewhere before.
Clic, click, click.
Vagos played the recording over and over again and soon burst into laughter. «...No wonder it sounded familiar to me». Finally, he realized who exactly owned that voice.
«I repeat: the Eye of Heaven has been destroyed. Now we will go to the meeting point».
It was the enemy he had been unable to remember for more than three years before regaining the health and memories he had lost thanks to the betrayal of Amelia Rainwales: the thief who had stolen his precious sword, which he had acquired at a great personal cost. Until that moment, he had believed him dead.
«Was he alive?»
Probably in the palace they knew his true identity. Maybe they were the ones who faked his death. Otherwise, there was no way they would have named a man with a reputation like «Blood Spirit Man» as the leader of an expedition team that included big names like Akurava.
«Bjorn Yandel». Remembering the rage he had experienced that day, Vagos said the name quietly and stood up. «Kayle! Gather all the troops! Let's track down the bastards who fled!»
«But the commander hasn't arrived yet...».
«Alright. I will take full responsibility».
It was time to meet again.
***
Deadwood was an area located west of the Dragon Mountains. It was Noark territory and they had never allowed the royal army to invade it. It was also our agreed meeting point with the palace. We had been there waiting with bated breath, believing that it was impossible for them not to have heard our message and that they would undoubtedly come to rescue us.
We continue to spend time anxiously curled up in the gigantic branches of lifeless trees. Three days had passed.
«If the main unit mobilized immediately after receiving our message, they should have arrived yesterday».
«Why don't they come?!»
«Sir Kaislan, lower your voice. We no longer have the resources necessary to use Voice Control magic».
Until yesterday, these people had been encouraging each other, assuring their neighbors that the main unit would arrive soon, but the tension was gradually increasing. It was natural. The first death had occurred this morning.
Philip Aintropi.
He was an adventurer who had belonged to the team of Melend Kaislan, a navigator. This man - who had primarily learned useful navigation skills such as Ocean Current Control, Lightness and Oversupply - died during this morning's battle. Although they had a lot of mana, our stealth spells had temporarily disappeared when our mages ran out of resistance. Noark was searching downstairs and noticed our presence. During a long battle, he was shot in the head and died instantly. That had happened several hours ago.
«Schuitz, this place is no longer safe», Akurava said.
The crew's anxiety was reaching its peak, and rightly so. Noark would also have already noticed the absence of the people who died this morning. The more time passed, the more his search in this area would intensify. The number of enemies walking below us had already increased significantly.
«You have to make a call», he pressed.
«Wait, a call? What do you mean?», Kaislan asked.
«We can't stay here forever. If the rescue team does not come, it is best to leave this place».
«...What are you talking about?! Are you saying the palace abandoned us?»
«I have not said that. But... we couldn't contact them and.... if they are in trouble too, we must be proactive.»
«You're right, but I'm against it. How far will we be able to go when everyone is so exhausted? If they discover us along the way, we will be annihilated».
«So what? Do you want to wait? Until when? The wizards will run out of mana in two days. Then we'll end up wiped out anyway».
As always in emergencies, opinions were divided.
Sigh ...
Even without Akurava's questions, he already knew. It was time to make a decision one way or another.
I'm going to lose it.
There were a total of three options I could take. First, stay here on the lookout. At best, we would all be rescued unharmed.
But on the other hand, in the worst case scenario... We would die in vain.
Second, don't wait and travel directly to the territory of the royal army. Deadwood was much less important than the Dragon Mountains so the front lines were thin and troops were few. That's why we chose it as a meeting point. It was not blind optimism.
However, it would be difficult to achieve this with less than thirty people.
It would be a miracle if even 10% of us made it out alive. In the worst case, the same thing would happen as in the first.
So I guess we have no choice but to go somewhere else.
The third option was a kind of survival strategy. Since the base Noark had far from the front line was probably empty right now, if we hid there instead, we could hold out until the maze closed.
Since the Eye of Heaven has been destroyed, the information about us will not have spread much.
This option exposed us to risk for longer, so it was obvious that we would be hit with numerous curveballs. Even if we made the best moves possible in every situation we found ourselves in along the way, countless sacrifices would occur.
Whichever one we choose, the worst result is total annihilation.
When my thoughts reached that low point, I couldn't help but laugh. Suddenly I realized.
If the worst-case scenario is a massacre anyway... Isn't it smarter to choose the first option, where the best-case scenario is for everyone to survive? Since this was the palace's fault, we can place the responsibility on them as well.
«... Yes, of course.»
«If we leave and the main unit arrives, would you be willing to take responsibility for-uh? What did you just say?»
I ignored Kaislan's question and spoke. Although I may not have been sure of my choice...
Tap, tap.
Someone had to make a decision.
«Get ready everyone, we're leaving here».
«W-Do you mean you're not going to wait for the main unit?» kaislan asked.
«Yes, they have stood us up for quite some time now. Oh, and don't worry». I smiled at Kaislan. «I take full responsibility».