NOVEL WEB Chapter 170
“The only fighters left in this city are a few of Justitia’s underlings, her, and me.”
At this rate, not only would we fail to stop the returnees, but it would be a miracle if we didn’t get squashed like bugs by her in an instant.
“So you finally showed up, Blanca.”
“What, am I supposed to just sit there and watch you?!”
Justitia looked at me with a face that screamed she had a lot to say, then turned her attention skyward to the boulders flying around.
Her eyes weren’t glowing. Seems like she knows too. Trying to stop those might blind or burst her eyes instead.
“Let’s just pretend we’re checking the situation and then make a run for it. It’s not embarrassing to run away when landslides and earthquakes are coming with malicious intent, right?”
Justitia mentioned she was just trying to buy her subordinates some time to destroy the documents.
Heh, sounds incredibly reckless. But if it’s Justitia, maybe she can pull it off somehow.
“But why the heck did you stick around?”
“Well, someone needs to verify if that’s really a malign landslide or not, right? I have to be able to say we can go back if it turns out to be nothing.”
Justitia looked at me with suspicious eyes, suggesting she thought I had ulterior motives.
But given the situation, she seemed to decide against probing further. Something was already descending from above.
So, I wasn’t alone after all. Good thing she told me to run.
I prepared for the impending battle by spreading slime across the ground.
Not that it mattered much since one gesture from me would upend the earth and the surface as a whole, but it was still better than having nothing.
However, contrary to my expectations, instead of the ground twisting up, we slammed right into it.
An incredibly strong ethereal force pinned us down, making even the slightest movement impossible.
Without a single moment to process the sudden crisis, icicles and flames began pouring down from the sky.
Justitia managed to barely flip her body and halt the chaos of people and attacks in the sky, but soon she wore a look of shock.
Stuck in the ground and clueless about what was going on, I asked her what the hell was happening.
Instead of answering, Justitia muttered quietly, “…Why are they here…?”
“They?” Who the heck are “they”? After a moment of thought, I realized who would elicit such a reaction from her, and I was just as shocked.
Still unable to flip my body, I forced my eyes toward the sky using the slime I had spread. There they were—the people I had wanted to see until yesterday.
They certainly didn’t look like they came to have a pleasant chat. This was not how I wanted to meet them.
Just as I was about to get lost in thought, a bolt of lightning zipped past my ear, snapping me back to reality.
I extended my prepared slime like tentacles and pulled myself out until I was out of the telekinesis range.
Even though I was going as Changwon, there were limits based on the terrain, so fortunately, I didn’t have to go far to escape.
Justitia was enveloped in a surge of magical power, resisting telekinesis with sheer force.
The flames, lightning, and icicles that just fell… must be Jinhyeon and Seolhwa. That meant everyone had arrived.
This was definitely not the time to hesitate.
Loading some mild paralysis toxin into my system, I prepared to fight. Even if they were my friends, I wasn’t going to hold back.
While spreading even more slime around, I coated the pearls in it. I’d crack them open and spit if it got dangerous.
But… no matter how I thought about it, running away seemed like the smartest option right now.
Now that I had come this far, it was practically an already lost battle.
Even if Justitia looked at Changwon, the others wouldn’t just let her be, and honestly, I was overwhelmed trying to cover her.
“Justitia! Right now…”
I was just about to say let’s split when a massive whirlwind erupted from somewhere and crashed over Changwon and the others.
That’s… Hanchō’s blade wind. What’s it doing here? Didn’t he already leave?
“Why are you-”
“I couldn’t just leave two obvious troublemakers behind! Let’s go, now!!”
Hanchō continuously blocked Changwon’s view while simultaneously stifling what was pressing down on us and the attacks from our friends.
Justitia evidently thought the situation was dire and decided the best course was to flee, shattering the pearls.
Seeing her leave, Hanchō quickly smashed his pearl as well and told me to follow suit.
I took out my pearl and made a gesture indicating I’d be right behind them.
After sending the two off, I placed a pearl somewhat near my thigh.
Not for any other reason, but I just wanted to see their faces for a moment.
“Blanca!!!”
In that moment, Minho came flying in with a kick.
His body was glowing, likely because Ageha had enhanced him with magic.
I managed to dodge in time, but he changed direction and came back at me with a speed that didn’t slow down at all. Seems like his abilities have grown.
But I’ve faced faster ones than him in the past month. I wasn’t just sitting around either.
I blocked him with slime while simultaneously growing spikes coated in paralysis toxin on the surface he stepped on.
By a hair’s breadth, he jumped back so he wouldn’t get pierced, but it looked like he was spooked, and he no longer seemed eager for close combat.
Instead, he was weaving around me trying to find an opening.
A few more bolts of lightning and icicles fell, but they didn’t hit due to the massive gale Hanchō had whipped up.
Changwon, right in the middle of that giant blade wind, seemed too busy protecting the others to look my way.
So the only thing left was…
Hands erupted from the ground, trying to snatch me up in an instant.
“Lapiz is here too.”
I muttered that, but Minho just kept watching for a chance without reacting.
It seemed another rocky hand was also reaching out, trying to grab me as Lapiz extended hers.
Maybe it was the distance, but the speed and sharpness were lacking.
What kind of expression would Lapiz have right now?
Lapiz must have looked completely bewildered. If she’s moving like this again, she must be angry by now. Or maybe…
As I was lost in thought, at some point, Minho, having accelerated exponentially, kicked me right in the back, shoving me into the rocky grasp.
As expected, the rocky grip clutched me with the intent to crush my bones.
…If it’s squeezing this tightly, it can’t be a good feeling.
Although I didn’t see her face, this was enough.
Utilizing the slime clinging to me, I crushed the pearl affixed near my thigh.
Minho looked at me as if he couldn’t believe he had caught me, but when the black mist enveloped me, his expression changed as he tried to grab me again.
However, before his hand could reach me, the pitch-black mist devoured me faster.
– – – –
I knew it. I could escape whenever I decided to.
But losing them right in front of my eyes was infuriating.
I kicked the rocky hand in frustration, only to find my foot aching.
“I got her?! What happened?!”
Lapiz, who came down late, asked me what was going on. I told her as it was, and she ground her teeth in anger.
“I expected it. I knew you’d run the moment you set your mind to it.”
“We even got a hold of you…!”
Lapiz looked infuriated at not being able to catch me. I couldn’t tell if the tears in her eyes were from rage or loss.
“Still, we subdued the main base. For now, let’s be satisfied with this. If we keep slowly eliminating escape routes, we’ll catch her one day.”
I encouraged Lapiz, saying if we cornered Blanca until she could no longer run, we’d be able to catch her then.
“…Yeah, I don’t know when that’ll be, but I guess there’s no choice.”
Other kids who came down soon asked how everything ended up like this, venting their frustration like Lapiz.
Some, like Yeonhwa, Changwon, and Seolhwa, seemed to take it for granted without being particularly upset.
Yet, they couldn’t hide their disappointment either.
Especially Changwon blamed himself, thinking if he’d just pressed down on her properly, there wouldn’t have been an issue.
“Nah, who could have guessed she’d be that capable of an abilities user?”
No matter what feelings we held onto, Heros Company and the Heroes had already conquered the city of Portugal, where the troops had all left and only the citizens remained.
As a result, they were able to uncover several confidential documents and information about the Liberators.
If we just looked at the achievements, we had a resounding victory, but the feeling of victory was nowhere to be found.
Until we caught Blanca, our objective wouldn’t be fulfilled.
…It was one thing to be prepared, but we still had to do our jobs.
While rummaging through various key facilities with Heros Company soldiers and Heroes, we discovered a mansion that looked very much like a residence.
I recognized it from promotional videos. Could this be where she lived as a Liberator?
Seizing the opportunity, I rummaged through the room she lived in.
And I was able to find her cellphone from her student days.
…She still had it.
There might still be hope.