Antagonist Protection Service

Faced with the sudden appearance of the threat, Sophie's body screamed in alarm.

In the midst of that internal panic, she activated her ability to give herself time, and immediately the world slowed down, including the gradually-rising figure before her.

Staring wide-eyed at that unknown entity, countless questions ran through her mind.

How were they here already?

This person-- No, they were ahead of her from the moment they clashed and she knocked the both of them down the islands together, so on the contrary, shouldn't they have been waiting for her in this cave instead?

How, why... was she followed.

Did they purposefully wait for her to enter the cave first? Else, how did they get here so fast? How would they have only entered after her if she made it to this mountainous region last?

It simply didn't make any sense... unless that was the case.

'I didn't even sense anything wrong the entire time...!?'

She was sure of it―There were no presences, no other trail of footprints, not even a speck of that person's dark figure anywhere near her the entire time.

Absolutely... certain.

"Hh...!"

It was at that moment she met the figure's eyes, her breath instinctively hitching.

Something about that thing just wasn't right.

She had felt it from the very first moment, and that same feeling persisted throughout everything until now.

That is, not quite that the figure gave off the feeling of being a monster, per se. Sophie had fought, slain, and fled from countless monsters during her time, and she was confident it wasn't that.

Rather, it was if... the presence of the being before her belonged to something greater.

It didn't just occur to her when they were face-to-face, either.

Overwhelming as it was, even the fleeting times where the figure wasn't present, she could sense it, albeit exceedingly subtly. Even when they were close, it was only a hint she could pick up, but it was, undoubtedly, present.

Not to mention the fact the figure's magic energy also felt extremely out of place―In the sense that, although she couldn't quite tell what it was, she knew something about it was abnormal.

That's what was terrifying.

That the person before her, the person who killed John Pierce once and was pursuing them even now.

That they weren't a monster, yet at the same time, were just enough to not be human.

All of this occurred to Sophie in those fractions of a second. During that additional time she was admitted, time that was private, for her use only, and that only she could take advantage of.

It was only by a little, but by using this time, she could alleviate her fears. Soothe the anxiety, even if only fractionally.

And then, quite belatedly, she realised something.

The figure before her... wasn't actually looking at her.

No, rather, it appeared as if they were actually gazing past... Behind her?

...Huh? Why? Was there even anything of note behind--

"...!!"

Acting so fast as to cut off her own thoughts, Sophie pressed her foot against the floor.

The world was slowed while she remained unaffected. That gave her time.

Attention glued to the beady, crimson eyes of the inhuman enemy before her, she forcibly ripped her own gaze away, the gap between them rapidly growing.

The moment she felt enough distance had been gained, Sophie twisted her body around and threw a hand out haphazardly to grab her teammate by the collar, evidently hurried in pulling him to her side whilst continuing the fleeing dash.

By now, just enough of the illusory fog had been emitted to serve as a more-or-less effective smokescreen for their escape, allowing the two party members to run away without offering a single chance for the aggressor to give chase.

Even after escaping the vicinity and building a barrier of distortion between them, Sophie did not halt or relax her pace in the slightest.

With the sheer presence that person emanated, as well as the immense force demonstrated by their previous long-range attacks, there was no way she could feel safe just with that much.

'―A corner. We need a corner-- or a wall, or something to hide behind...!

Sophie was most concerned about that magic snipe the enemy showcased.

That attack most likely contained enough power to penetrate through any kind of protective shield they could erect right now, so they would need a natural barrier to stand even a chance of surviving.

Fortunately, they were deep inside a cavern, and it wasn't just this wide entrance chamber that it consisted of.

On the edge of where they had landed, a tunnel led deeper.

If they went inside there, not only would the twisting burrow provide a visual barrier to separate them from their pursuer, but also a physical barrier in the form of thick stone.

Thus, ensuring her grasp on her teammate was stable, Sophie darted directly towards the mouth of that tunnel.

Distancing themselves from the wider cavern that had the natural light of the sky to illuminate it, the space around them quickly turned dark, and since neither of them possessed the sort of navigational ability to pierce through or ward off darkness, their fleeing was truly reduced to a snail's pace.

Rather, it would have been, if not for the gently-flickering flames of the Phoenix egg in their hold.

Thanks to that orange light, they continued on without what would otherwise have been a great hindrance. Be that as it may, it wasn't as if their pace remained just as hasty as it was.

After all, the tunnel was much tighter, narrower than the previous cavern. It contained all sorts of twists and turns, and the deeper they went, the more they had to keep their eye out for potential monsters blocking their path.

All the while, a stream of grey fog trailed them, trapping any daring pursuer in an endless haze of lies.

"――Nguh-...!?"

At some point, a streak of something excruciating flashed across her face, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground, Anders tumbling alongside her.

Subsequently, the world regained its regular flow, and she, pressing her fingers against her forehead rather mercilessly, groaned in blatant discomfort.

"Are you alright?"

Anders quickly rose up and lent a hand, conversing made easy now that they were experiencing time at the same rate again. Fortunately, his fall didn't seem to affect the egg he protected.

"Y-yeah, just the usual..."

Accepting his help, Sophie staggered to her feet, the consequences of over-abusing her power steadily catching up to her.

"I just need to recover my mana... I'll be fine."

Her face still appeared quite dazed as she shoved a hand into the satchel tied on her thigh, rummaging around momentarily as she didn't quite seem to know what exactly she was looking for.

Nevertheless, she soon found it―retrieving a vial, popping it open and downing the blue-hinted contents in three gulps.

Watching her do so blankly, Anders then sighed, releasing the production of his own fog.

"You need to be more cautious, I keep telling you. If that happened in the middle of combat--"

"--Yes, I get it. I understand, so please... Ngh... Please, take care of that egg."

"..."

"This was my last one, but I'm confident I can buy us enough time with it."

Placing the empty vial back into the satchel, she gathered herself, closing her eyes to focus on recovering magic energy.

Meanwhile, Anders voiced his concern.

"Can you? We still can't leave the Floor, probably until after this Objective is cleared. It's not certain how strong our masked pursuer is, but that attack earlier was absurd. All of the tunnel until here is filled with fog, so it'd take an exceptional amount of time to reach us, however if we cannot escape before then, I sincerely doubt you will be able to stop him yourself."

There was a prolonged pause after his words, but eventually, Sophie simply smiled, opening her eyes to meet the other's gaze.

"Well, I suppose it's a good thing I won't be by myself, isn't it?"

"...Unbelievable. There's no guarantee we will last that long."

"I know you don't like uncertainties, but really, if we don't at least take action to try, then rather than having a good chance at winning, it'll only be a guaranteed loss. And I am not surrendering."

The pair's mouths both shut following Sophie's declaration.

They were both patently aware just how accurate that evaluation was, so there was no need to discuss it further.

'Anyway, won't it not matter if we can clear the Objective before then?'

She knew Anders had already thought of that, and knowing his prudent personality, there was nothing to be gained by saying it. Still, it was a plan that occupied a certain portion of her mind.

"Come on, let's go. We're running out of time here."

Leaving it at that, Sophie started off again. Watching her back for a while as she walked onwards, Anders cast a glance at the quiet tunnel of dense fog behind him.

Somewhere back there, slowly making its way through his magic, he could feel a powerful magic energy.

Contained within it, just like he had previously thought, was something much darker.

"..."

A single shiver ran over the surface of his skin, prompting his feet to spur into motion, following in his teammate's footsteps as the grip on the egg in his hands subtly tightened, its magical warmth calming him only slightly.

He recalled Sophie's recent words, and instinctively, he knew she was right.

Before that thing catched up to them, they had to clear the 39th Floor.