235 – Strange Terror
Quaang!!
Intense explosions that make a light sleep escape.
Reflexively raising my upper body, I looked around, unable to tell whether the current situation was a dream or reality.
“What is going on…?”
At that time, the magically amplified voice of the 1st year general professor resonated throughout the dorm.
“An explosion occurred on the third floor of the building. Students are requested to evacuate the building as quickly as possible under the teacher’s guidance. I’ll let you know once again. Today···.”
After hearing repeated warnings, I realized that this was not a dream, but a real situation.
I had guessed that something would happen on the last day because all sorts of accidents popped up throughout the school trip, but I never dared to imagine that it would explode like this even before dawn.
Thanks to that, the energy to sleep disappeared and when I got out of bed in a daze state, Gina had already opened the door and checked the situation in the hallway.
“How is it?”
“It’s a mess.”
Actually, it was a situation that could easily be guessed without Gina not telling me. If you just pay close attention to the sounds that are pouring around you, you can notice it right away. Urgent footsteps, a buzzing whisper, and even an occasional ear-piercing scream.
Even if it is a special academy that trains wizards, not ordinary people, they are students who have not yet reached adulthood. In a way, it was a natural result to fall into a panic in such a sudden and unexpected situation.
“It would be quicker to just jump out the window.”
On the other hand, Gina and I were relatively calm. It’s me, I’ve been through all kinds of things while working as a phantom, so it’s because I’ve gotten used to it, and Jina… Maybe it’s just that you’re too strong to feel a sense of crisis.
“Where is it?”
Anyway, with quick judgment, we jumped through the window. The room we stayed in was on the second floor, so there was no big crowd.
When I came down to the yard attached to the accommodation, I could see the damage caused by the explosion. According to the warning, flames were coming out of the window in the corner of the third floor along with black smoke.
What the hell is going on? Simple accident? The timing is too coincidental for that.
If it is an intentional explosion, the case is much more serious. Because it means that someone is targeting the lodging where the academy students are staying and causing a terrorist attack.
“Cro! You are safe!!”
While watching the situation, I heard a voice from behind and turned my head.
There, the main character, Layered, was staring at me with an expression of relief. Then my eyes met Gina who was next to me and there was an awkward silence for a while, but the two just ignored each other as if they didn’t see each other.
Coming to think of it, the two of them were rivals in the original work, and even now, when the development was reversed because of me, they are still somewhat awkward. In fact, for a while, I was too busy paying attention to what was happening around me, so I completely forgot about the main character.
“I’m glad you’re safe. Among the male students in my class, you were the only one I didn’t see, so I did it just in case.”
“Really? ···Wait for a sec. Are you a male student? What about the girls?”
At my question, Layered’s complexion turned slightly darker.
“…All the girls in my class are on the 3rd floor.”
“What!? But why is this…!!”
“Calm down. All the professors have already gone up to the third floor. Anyway, if we go back in, it will only hinder us, not help.”
I understand what you mean. The gap between students and professors is huge, so it wasn’t actually wrong.
But even so, it doesn’t make sense to lazily suck your fingers while waiting for the professor to save you.
Yulia, Rachel, and even Sharon.
A lot of time has passed since the explosion, but they still haven’t come out.
I immediately kicked off the ground and ran, shouting at Laird.
“If the kids come out to the entrance, tell them to stay there!”
“What? Crowe, wait a minute…!!”
The entrance is still confusing, so I went back. There is no need to go inside, just climb up the exterior wall to the third floor at once. For me, a phantom thief, this much was a piece of cake.
I went into the room through the window on the other side where there was no fire, and no one could be seen as if the female students who should have stayed here had already gone out.
As I opened the door and went out into the hallway, a thick layer of smoke and heat warmed my body. It seems that the third floor has already spread as quickly as the fire spreads.
But why can’t anyone see…?
Has everyone evacuated already?
I diligently navigated the hallway and opened the doors one by one, feeling a bit out of place.
No. There really is no one. In the first place, it would not make sense that there was no sense of popularity at all.
Something was strange.
I covered my nose and mouth to keep from inhaling the smoke as much as I could and continued exploring the third floor.
When I judged rationally, it was right to go down again and grasp the situation.
However, as Laird said, there is a high possibility that there are still children on the third floor, but I couldn’t just go down.
Besides, my gut was screaming that I should explore this place more.
As I slowly became out of breath and my mind became hazy, my movements also began to slow down little by little. With as much force as I could, I searched around the epicenter of the last remaining explosion.
“Haa…. Ha···.”
Across the blurry vision, I grabbed the handle of the last remaining door and opened it roughly.
At the same time, I realized the identity of the unpleasant feeling of incongruity that had plagued me until now.
I haven’t felt the goddess since some time ago.
There are only two situations in which her presence has completely disappeared.
In Ireland, when the goddess possessed Dorothy’s body, not mine.
And when I entered the inner world, like when I fought Reaper or when I met Hayang.
Now it was the latter. I was sure of that as soon as I looked inside the room.
Because the threshold I stepped on was the boundary line, and beyond that, an unbelievable scenery spread out inside the inn.
“This is…”
There was the Eiffel Tower in front of my eyes.
There was an Eiffel Tower that burned down.
As if the end had come to Paris, the sky was dark and the embers were flickering. I couldn’t stop screaming and screaming that I couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
An army covered in black like a shadow was moving in perfect order towards somewhere.
In the royal palace, instead of the Frankish flag, a flag I had never seen before was planted.
It was such a grotesque and unreal sight that I couldn’t even understand what I was looking at.
What I managed to recall at the end was the Witch of Prophecy.
Every time she looked up at her Eiffel Tower, she wondered if the girl she was with had done something again.
However, as if to ridicule such speculation, the person who appeared in front of me was a completely different person.
“… Sharon?”
Blonde and beautiful appearance that shines even at this moment. No matter who saw it, it was Sharon.
No, it was different.
I was confused at first, but the moment I met her eyes, I realized it.
The fact that the woman in front of you is Juliet, not Sharon.
“Juliet. Why are you here?”
I couldn’t even imagine the situation anymore.
All my troubles right before falling asleep were becoming ridiculous.
Who would have dared to predict such a flow? Even at this moment of self-deprecating mockery of my current appearance, in fact, I suspected that everything from the explosion to the present was just an absurd dream.
“Answer me! Why are you here…!!”
From noble mtl dot com
Juliet stared at me and replied with a grave tone.
“This is not a dream, this is the future.”
“What?”
“If you don’t find Sharon before dawn, everyone will die.”
The words came out of my mouth reflexively before I could understand what they meant.
“You are not Juliet. What are you… Who is this?”
The witch of prophecy that changed her appearance?
She used to appear carefree and talk confidently, but is there any reason to hide her identity now?
There was no one who could be guessed at for another third person.
I couldn’t understand why she had to disguise herself as Juliet among many people.
“The end is not far.”
The words were similar to what the witch of prophecy said.
“Don’t forget that I am always watching over you.”
At the same time, the world cracked and shattered like glass, and soon the door I passed through began to pull me. As I bounced out into the hallway and the door closed roughly, the world I had faced so far disappeared and I was back in the dorm of reality.
I stared blankly at the door for a while, then grabbed the doorknob and pulled it again.
Unlike before, a burning empty room greeted me. Traces of an explosion were starting outside the window. It was clear that this was intentional by someone. Because the writing was written on the wall.
[Liberty, equality, fraternity]