Chapter 77

"Ugh..."

"Rin-chan!"

"Rin!"

Rin groaned as she propped herself up, slowly opening her eyes. Kashiwagi and Eri, who had been by her side the whole time, called out her name with voices filled with relief. Rin looked around dazedly, her eyes darting about, and finally spoke up.

"I didn't know the heavens were like this~"

"Rin, I understand your comedian nature, but can you please not make cold jokes at a time like this?"

Rin's throat must have been very dry, as her voice was hoarse. Despite this, she still tried to make a cold joke. Mizu, who had rushed over upon hearing her voice, looked at her with a mix of surprise and admiration, and then extended a leather water flask to her mouth to help her hydrate.

As Rin drank, her throat made cute gulping sounds. "I'm back to life! Just as the words say!" she said with an overly casual tone, struggling to sit up. Kashiwagi and Eri supported her. The atmosphere in the class, which had been tense, began to lighten up as they saw the mood maker, Rin, back on her feet. Even the classmates who had been looking grim until now started to smile.

However, Rin's complexion was quite poor, contrasting with her bright demeanor. This was due to fatigue and excessive blood loss. Her face was pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes, making her smile somewhat heart-wrenching. Despite being impaled in several places, the smile she showed upon waking was undoubtedly her "strength." Mizu and Kashiwagi looked at her with admiration.

"Rin-chan, it's better if you lie down. Although the wounds are sealed, the lost blood can't be regained..."

"Ugh~ Yeah, this dizziness is because of that~ That bastard~ To think such a cute girl like me would be impaled... 'Impaled~' That line should be said in bed!"

"Rin! That's too vulgar! Please have some self-respect!"

Rin glared at the air, saying such things, while Eri, with her cheeks flushed, scolded her. A few male students nearby were also taken aback, and they let out a "Pfft!?" before quickly averting their gaze when Mizu glared at them.

"Rin, it's great that you're awake. We were really worried about you?"

"Hey, are you really okay? Your face is pale?"

Hikari and Ryotaro also approached after hearing the commotion caused by Rin's awakening. For a while, Hikari had been weakened due to the effects of "Limit Break" and the painful defeat, which had made him even more dejected. However, after hiding in this temporary shelter for some time, he had managed to recover somewhat.

"Good morning, Hikari-kun, Ryotaro-kun! It seems we've narrowly escaped? Everyone is safe... Wait, someone seems to be missing..."

"Yeah, it's Endo. That guy ran off first. With his invisibility, he should be able to break through the floor alone..."

While smiling and greeting Hikari and Ryotaro, Rin looked around at the classmates and noticed the missing person. Since she had lost consciousness during the battle, Hikari and the others answered her questions and explained the current situation.

Incidentally, Kondo and Saito had already been de-petrified and had woken up before Rin, and they had also been briefed on the situation.

"That's right, it's been quite a while since Rin passed out... Ah, right. Kashiwagi, thank you! You're Rin's savior!"

"Rin-chan, healing is my duty. I just did what was necessary, calling me a savior is too much."

"Ku~ Even a chaste Kashiwagi is great! Let's get married?"

"Rin... Saying such things with a pale face is just scary. Can you at least lie down for now?"

While clinging to Kashiwagi, Rin was persuaded by Eri. If she went too far, Mizu would physically restrain her. It was just like usual. The classmates, who might never be able to return to the surface alive, began to regain their composure as they saw Rin and the others interacting as if they didn't care about the defeat.

However, just as the atmosphere was starting to brighten, there was always someone to pour cold water on it.

"... What's so ha-ha-ha funny? We almost died? And the situation hasn't changed at all! Instead of making jokes, shouldn't you think about what to do?"

Glaring at Rin, Kondo shouted angrily. Although he didn't say anything, Saito also shot a disapproving look.

"Hey, Kondo. That's not necessary, is it? Rin was just trying to lighten the mood..."

"Shut up! What right do you have to speak to me! You lost! I almost died! Damn! What kind of hero are you!"

Hikari, trying to mediate, only seemed to fuel Kondo's anger, who then started to blame Hikari.

"Damn you... Who do you think we owe for escaping? Hikari opened the way!"

"From the start, if you had won, there would have been no need to run! Clearly, it was a bad situation. Pretending to accept the demon's proposal and then defeating her would have been better! You started the fight on your own! It's all your fault! Take responsibility!"

This time, Ryotaro began to scold the agitated Kondo. Kondo stood up, facing off against Ryotaro. Nakano and Saito, who sympathized with Kondo, also stood up, confronting Ryotaro.

"Ryotaro, calm down... Kondo, I'll take responsibility. This time, we won't lose! We've learned the monsters' characteristics, and ambushes won't work. This time, we'll definitely win!"

Looking at Hikari, who clenched his fists and emphasized this, Saito's eyes dimmed as he muttered.

"... But, even with 'Limit Break,' we didn't win..."

"That, that's... This time, it'll be fine!"

"Why are you so sure?"

"This time, we'll use 'Divine Might' from the start to pound that female demon. Everyone will provide support, and that way..."

"But, if the incantation takes too long, she'll realize a powerful attack is coming, right? She'll have a countermeasure. And those monsters might not be all of them..."

Although Hikari said it would be fine, Kondo and the others seemed to have lost trust in Hikari's abilities and looked at him with suspicious eyes, voicing their complaints in unison. It was understandable that they would demand Hikari to take responsibility or guarantee a certain victory, given the near-death experience and the overwhelming strength and numbers of the enemies, which had made them lose their composure.

Ryotaro's quick temper and aggressive rebuttal were also a major factor in heating up Kondo and the others' minds. To stop their argument, Ayako, Yoshino, and Nomura also intervened, and the atmosphere gradually became tense.

Finally, Ryotaro raised his fist, and Kondo raised his spear. The scene became tense. Hikari shouted "Ryotaro!" and grabbed his shoulder to stop him. Ryotaro, who was quite angry, had veins popping on his forehead and glared at Kondo without looking away. Kondo and the others also glared back stubbornly.

"Everyone, calm down! No matter what, our only hope for survival is Hikari! We have to defeat the female demon while Hikari is in 'Limit Break.' If she doesn't plan to let us go, we have no choice. Understand?"

Mizu intervened between them, desperately trying to calm them down, but with little effect. Rin, who had wobbled to her feet and apologized, seemed to be ignored by Kondo. Kashiwagi thought that if they didn't stop, it might be necessary to restrain everyone, and she quietly began to prepare a binding spell... when she heard it.

"Gururururururururu..."

"!? !? !?"

A rumbling sound. A familiar, deep, guttural rumble. The image of a Chimera or a Red-Eyed Four-Eyed Wolf flashed through everyone's minds, and the tense atmosphere from before was instantly blown away. Everyone froze, their breathing becoming unnaturally shallow as if afraid to be heard. Their gazes focused on the wall at the front of the passage.

Hiss! Hiss! Whistle! Whistle!

Through the wall, the sound of something breathing heavily could be heard. Everyone gulped. The scent and traces should have been eliminated by Endo, and even a powerful monster shouldn't be able to sense Hikari and the others through the wall. Despite this, the tension made their bodies sweat uncomfortably.

It would take some time to fully recover. Rin and the others were in no condition to fight, and Kashiwagi and Ayako, who had overused their magic for healing, were almost depleted. The front-line fighters were mostly healed, but the back-line fighters, who relied on magic, had recovered less than half their mana. The recovery potions were almost depleted, and natural recovery would take several hours at the very least.

Especially, the absence of Kashiwagi and Ayako, who were healers, and Rin, who was a barrier caster, was significant. Therefore, they hoped not to be discovered, and Hikari and the others looked at the wall separating the outer room from the hidden room with such a plea.

The monster wandered around outside for a while, and then the presence gradually faded away. The silence returned. Even so, everyone remained motionless for a while, and only after confirming that it had completely gone did they breathe a sigh of relief. A few people collapsed on the spot. The extreme tension made sweat pour down their faces like a waterfall.

"... If you keep making such a commotion, we'll be discovered. So please, for now, just focus on recovering."

"A, ah..."

"Y-Yeah..."

Mizu roughly wiped the sweat from her cheeks. Kondo and the others stammered in response and put away their spears. It felt like they had been doused with cold water.

With the crisis averted, everyone's shoulders relaxed... for a moment.

"Rugaaaaaah!!!"

Bang!!

Accompanied by a terrifying roar, the wall separating the hidden room from the outside was shattered.

"Ah!"

"Yaaaaah!!"

The debris from the wall, blown by the impact, flew into the hidden room like bullets, striking Kondo and Yoshino, who were in a straight line. They let out cries of pain and fell to the ground.

In the next instant, a space-distorting object flew into the room from the opposite direction, right in front of the stunned Hikari and the others.

"Battle formation!"

"Damn! How were we discovered!"

Hikari issued the command and immediately drew his holy sword to strike the Chimera. Since it would disappear if it remained still, maintaining distance was not an option. Ryotaro, cursing, guarded the entrance to prevent more monsters from entering.

However,

"Ooooh!!"

"Guh!!"

Next, the steel-like body of the Blue Troll crashed into him like a cannonball. Ryotaro, unable to withstand the force, was knocked down.

Seizing this opportunity, a dozen black cats invaded and immediately shot out dozens of tentacles. The tentacles, like a dense barrage, mercilessly attacked Kondo and the others, who were still frozen from the argument. They immediately tried to counter with their weapons, but the number of tentacles was overwhelming. They were about to be impaled—

"–[Heaven's Absolute]!"

"–[Heaven's Absolute]!"

Fifteen brilliant barriers appeared at an angle in front of Kondo and the others, barely deflecting the tentacles' trajectory. Despite the extremely short incantation, the barriers were勉强发动了。看到这一幕，任何人都会赞叹不已。铃制作了十个屏障，香织制作了五个屏障。

然而，毕竟是仓促制作的，再加上铃的身体状况极差，香织也处于魔力耗尽的状态。这一事实如实反映在了屏障的强度上。

啪！啪！啪！啪！啪！啪！啪！啪！啪！

尽管通过角度偏移了冲击，但无法承受触手猛烈攻击的屏障依次破碎。最终，有几根触手在打碎有角度的屏障后也没有被偏移，向中野和斋藤袭去。两人立刻扭动身体，由于他们不是后方组，身体能力还算高，勉强避开了致命伤，但中野的肩膀和斋藤的大腿都被剜去了一块肉，两人惨叫着摔倒在地。

“信治！良树！可恶！大介，帮把手！”

“……啊，当然了”

自从逃入这个隐藏房间后，桧山似乎一直在思考着什么。近藤注意到了这一点，不太想打扰他，但现在的状况实在不允许这样做，于是叫他帮忙，一起把受伤的中野和斋藤拉到了铃的身边。虽然铃的身体状况极差，但只要她还剩一点魔力，她的身边就是最安全的地方。而且也容易接受她旁边的香织的治疗。

“库，光辉！去外面使用[极限突破]！房间里的家伙我们会设法应付！”

“可是，铃她们动不了……”

“这样下去会被坑杀的！拜托了！一点突破，讨伐魔人族！”

“光辉！这里就交给我吧！绝对不让任何人死！”

“……明白了！交给我了！[极限突破]！”

光辉用一瞬间考虑了雫和龙太郎的话，确实，想要打开局面，除此以外别无他法。光辉做出了决然的表情，今天第二次发动了[极限突破]。连续使用[极限突破]，连一天都不到，这种行为会对身体造成相当大的负担。通常，[极限突破]的效力只有八分钟左右，这次或许更短。光辉如此预想着，将其他的一切抛开，从隐藏房间飞奔了出去，专注于讨伐魔人族的女人。

从隐藏房间来到外面的正八角形的大厅后，映入光辉眼帘的是大量的怪物，以及在那深处，肩上停着白鸦，周围是固守的怪物，冷眼伫立的魔人族女人。光辉笔直地瞪视着魔人族女人，现在充满他内心的，是将这绝境赶走的愤怒，以及为了拯救同伴而沸腾的使命感。

“哼，真是耽误时间。明明还有其他重要任务要去做……”

“闭嘴！我一定会打倒你！觉悟吧！”

光辉如此宣言，伴随着简短的咏唱一下子向圣剑中送入了魔力。缩短咏唱的[神威]远不及原本的[神威]，到达不了魔人族女人那里吧，不过，应该能切开道路，如此相信着，他就放出了咏唱省略版[神威]。

然而，看着前方更加闪耀的圣剑，魔人族女人只是浮现出薄薄的笑容，命令在周围待命的蓝巨魔怪将什么东西从后方拖了出来。

光辉露出了讶异的表情，不过，在他注意到那个“什么”的真实身份后，就愕然了。不由得，降下了架起的圣剑瞪大了眼睛，用颤抖的声音呼唤着他的名字。

“……梅、梅鲁多先生？”

没错，那里正是四肢被打碎，血染全身，被蓝巨魔怪抓着后脖子，处于濒死状态的梅鲁多团长。乍一看的话，梅鲁多筋断骨碎，浑身绵软，好像已经死了，只有偶尔听到的微弱呼吸声显示着他的生存。

“你、你这家伙！放了梅鲁多先生！？”

光辉看到梅鲁多的样子后激动起来，忘我地向魔人族女人突进，那个瞬间，好像算准了似的，在绝妙的时机，突然有一个巨大的影子遮住了光辉。光辉一惊，回头映入他眼帘的，是一个以撕裂空气般的惊人气势迫近、如墙壁般巨大的拳头。

砰！！

光辉本能地举起左臂进行防御，不过，那以绝大威力挥来的拳头轻易地将防御的左臂压扁，强烈的冲击传入光辉的体内。如同被压路机碾压的光辉以惊人的速度飞了出去，摔在了墙壁之上。背后的墙壁，由于那过于强力的冲击呈放射状破碎了。

“嘎哈！”

冲击将空气从肺部强制排出，从墙壁上拖拖拉拉地滑落。趴在地上的光辉，靠没事的右臂拼命地撑起身体。从嘴里吐出了大量鲜血。看来，刚才的那一击伤到了内脏。如果没有[物理耐性]的派