[Reberu] ga Arunara Agerudesho? Mobukyara ni Tensei Shita Ore wa Gēmu Chishiki o Ikashi, Hitasura Reberu o Age Tsudzukeru - CH 126

[Cornered Rat]

If you can look down on the underground archive from bird’s-eye view, the shape will look like the kanji for brow: 「凸」.

The protruding part of the ‘brow’ is where the forbidden book section located.

I walk through the maze formed by the rows of bookshelves while sensing the thread extending from the entrance.

Looks like it’s arranged this way to impede anyone trying to sneak into the forbidden book section.

But I’d been here numerous times in the game, so I completely remember the layout, hence it doesn’t mean anything to me. I’m sure I can escape with eyes closed.

That said, there’s no reason for me to go ahead on my own, so I follow the group obediently, walking left and right through the maze.

Perhaps so that Iris and I don’t remember the way, the knight at the lead guide us through the same places repeatedly. Only until 10 minutes of walking passed do we finally arrived at the destination.

At first glance, the door to the forbidden book section just like your regular iron door, but a closer look indicates it reflecting too much light for iron.

It’s more like a polished silver door.

As such, I try to throw the quill I stole from the guy who had come out last to test the door out.

Strangely, the quill gets repelled right in front of the door as if it hit something invisible and falls to the floor.

Seeing that, I nod my head, convinced that a barrier is casted on the door. But then Ethel suddenly approaches me with a menacing look on her face, “Tōru! I told you not to do anything funny!!”

“You’ve got me wrong, I was just making sure if the barrier was working normally for everyone’s sake!”

“Haa!?”

“I-I’m sorry. H-here, please look the other way this one time, alright?”

“You think I’ll be moved by mere 10 gold coins!? The next time you do something like this again, I’ll beat you black and blue!”

“Hogu!?”

Clasping the bribe I gave, Ethel throws a punch into my belly; the impact send me rolling on the ground until I arrive by Iris’s feet.

As the attention is focused on me, Ethel scans through the memo that I handed over to her along with the 10 gold coins.

Then, with contorted face, pretending to be injured, I look up and cross gaze with Iris who has a terribly cold gaze.

“Haa… Sakurai-san, please give it a rest, okay?”

“Yes Ma’am! ————.” While taking Iris’s hand and getting up, I whisper in her ear.

“—!” Her cold gaze turns serious. Seeing that, I apologize for causing a ruckus and urge everyone to proceed.

Cordelia-san walks before the door and holds out her hand over it.

When her hand touches the invisible barrier, the space at the point of contact undulates and gradually begins to shine. Then the barrier begins to reveal its appearance.

The escort knights stand separately on the left and right of Cordelia-san so as to sandwich her while she is absorbed in lifting up the barrier.

On the other hand, I’m standing slightly behind the knight on the right, Iris the knight on the right, whereas Ethel is simply standing close to Cordelia-san.

I pretend to lean against a bookshelf, pull out a book of quite a heavy weight and entwine it with a thread.

“Unseal,” says Cordelia-san, holding up a sky-blue cross that is as tall as her in her hands. The barrier then flashes as if responding to her word.

It flashes brightly repeatedly, albeit only for a moment each time.

It’s effective enough to dazzle people and rob them of their sight, and despite foreseeing it, I get caught off guard and have a momentary delay in taking the first move.

As my sight is flickering, the knights draw out their swords.

Iris pulls out the long rod entwined in her hair and break into a run.

Following that, I hurl out the book I fastened with thread, whereas Ethel starts running to protect her mother.

“Now we are able to—!?” By the time Cordelia-san notices the abnormality, the knights already have their swords raised overhead.

Just before they swing down, Iris slip in front of the knight on the left.

“What do you think you’re doing!” The long rod swung at the same time as those words spoken deflects the overhead slash from the knight on the left sideways, and then the long rod moves in skillful trajectory, creating a compact circle and striking the knight in the head.

It strike true, but Iris follows it up by sticking her rod to the ground and using it as a support, she launches her body forward to release a dropkick on the knight, causing him to roll backwards and creating a distance between them.

However, he’s not the only knight here. The remaining knight on the right is already upon Cordelia-san.

“Physics book attack!” But the thick book I throw prevents him.

The thrown mass flies quickly through the air and hits the knight’s hands, and the impact causes his sword thrown out of his hands.

When I pull the thread in my hand, the thrown book stops in the air for a brief moment, and then on the next, it hits the knight in the head, throwing him off the ground.

I already started running the moment I threw the book. When I get in close to the knight, I set the book which has returned to my hand right under his chin, then I immediately rotate my hips and thrust the book upwards, giving the knight an uppercut with the book.

(Hm? That feels strange. —!)

I get weird feedback when I send the knight flying. But I have no time to think deeply about it.

From behind, the reinforcements of the knights, 6 of them, has appeared. In their hands are not swords, but bows.

“Bows!? Shit, we’re screwed!?”

I already knew that enemy reinforcement was coming through the thread I had attached to the entrance of the underground archive.

I warned Ethel and Iris because through the vibration from the thread, I had sensed the doors were opened and some people were coming in.

However, the vibration only gave me a rough idea of the number of people, and I didn’t imagine they would bring long-range weapons.

“Iris, cover me!”

“Understood!”

The escort knights haven’t been completely subdued yet.

Hence, I let Iris blocks the reinforcement’s attacks before running to get the knight’s sword lying on the floor.

“‘Shishū’, ‘Nuiage: Spider Wind’!”

Midway, I see the knight who rolled on the ground after being counterattacked by Iris regaining his posture, thus I decide to use the derivative move of ‘Nuiage: Spider Web’—one of the moves of ‘Shishū’ and works to obstruct opponent’s movement by entangling their feet—‘Nuiage: Spider Wind’.

A ball of threads forms in my palm, which then I throw it at the knight who has just regained his posture. The moment it touches him, the ball of threads unravels and restrains him.

However, I’m well aware that it won’t hold him for long.

‘Spider Wind’ is a move that immediately works upon use. It instantly creates a trap in your hand, which then you can directly throw at a target. The downside, however, is that it has weaker binding force than that of ‘Spider Web’.

To put it in game terms, ‘Spider Wind’ consume less resource but is also less effective, whereas ‘Spider Web’ consume more resource but is also more effective.

Iris swings around her long rod to deflect the arrows shot in our direction one after another, and I pick up the sword lying on the floor.

The sword’s name is ‘Knight’s Steel Sword’, and it is better than common swords I usually use.

The knight who has been restrained by ‘Spider Wind’ breaks free with his own strength and begins to dash straight towards Cordelia-san and Ethel who is covering her.

I interpose between them and slash at the knight.

“Ha!”

“————.”

The knight silently swings his sword, clashing with mine once, then twice.

I figure out the source of the strange feeling I felt earlier. The knight’s swordsmanship is too sloppy for someone called an elite.

The third clash—before it happens, I dodge to the side and cut off both of the knight’s wrists as he’s swinging down his sword.

But without showing any fear or pain, the knight continues to attack me by swinging out his fistless arm.

Due to that, I catch sight of the flat, cross-section of his cut wrist.

(This is, no way. So that guy’s the culprit?)

I dodge the fistless punch, go around to his back, stab him through the waist, and sew him to a nearby bookshelf as is.

Leaving the knight struggling to escape, I pick up the sword which still has his cut hands gripping it and run toward the knight I knocked down earlier.

The knight is already back on his feet and attacking Cordelia-san with a dagger.

“Mom! Watch out!” Ethel pushes her mother out of the way and turns the rosary hanging on her wrist into a one-handed axe-sized shield.

However, Ethel with her petite frame can’t stop the blow of the knight who has trained physique, and she gets pushed down to the ground due to the momentum of the attack.

“Hnggggg…!” Ethel is struggling to hold the rosary between her and the knight, blocking the dagger.

“Ethel!” I rush towards her and kick the knight in the flank with all my might.

Although I’m just a mob character, I succeed in kicking the knight away from the top of Ethel thanks to my strength (stat) which comes from the stark difference in our levels.

As a follow up, I cut off his head with a diagonal upward slash.

“Ethel! Are you okay!?” Cordelia-san runs up to Ethel.

“Gosh, just what’s happening!?” Ethel complains.

“Who knows, but one thing for sure is that there’s a traitor among the church’s ranks. Is there an escape route here?” I ask.

“There is no way to get out other than through the way we came!” Ethel’s answer doesn’t surprise me.

I mean, there was no other route back in the game, either.

That leaves us no choice but to breakthrough the enemy line. It may be possible if there’s only me and Iris, but with additional task of protecting Ethel and Cordelia-san, a non-combatant, that will be a tall order.

“Sakurai-san! Above!”

“—!” When I look up in response to the voice of Iris blocking the arrows from behind us, I notice arrows shot from the back of the bookshelves further behind the reinforcement, drawing a curve.

No, curve may be a wrong way to describe it, as the arrows actually ricochet off the ceiling and draw an angle, deviating from the laws of physics.

It should be due to the use of ‘Archery: High-Angle Fire’.

Over 10 arrows shot from a position where it should be impossible to directly see us are incoming following an accurate trajectory to take Cordelia-san’s life.

“Tsk!”

I run in front of Cordelia-san and activate one of the moves of Shishū skill, ‘Nuiage: Shieldcap’.

In the game, it was a skill to form circular-shaped barriers of thread and slightly increased the defense power of all allies, but here in reality, it only forms barriers without buffing allies.

The barriers unfolding in the air above Cordelia-san repels the incoming arrows.

However, its lack of sturdiness seems to be the same as it was back in the game. Each barrier can only hold out against one arrow.

The thread barriers unravel and lose their function at the same time as they repelled the arrows.

And the ‘High-Angle Fire’ shot from over the bookshelves does4n’t stop, the second and third volley come immediately after.

There’s no way I can block everything just by relying on the skill, I have to deflect the arrows that has slipped through with the sword.

I can use ‘Shishū’ skill with my free hand, so I continue to re-cast the barrier while swinging my sword. However, unless the attack stops, both Iris and I would end up being nailed here.

(If Ethel and Cordelia-san can handle the arrows on their own, we might be able to force our way through somehow, but at this rate, it’ll be game over for us. Sheesh, both enemies and allies are pulling our legs here!)

“Sakurai-san! In this rate—!”

“I know!”

If I could abandon them, I would have done so. But that is out of question, so I need to think of a way to break this deadlock.

Iris may also be aware of the gravity of the situation as impatience is visible on her face.

We’re betrayed and attacked by our ally. This is the worst situation.

I’d like to have time to calm down and think of a way to break this deadlock even if it means we’d be in disadvantageous position down the line.

If we can’t move forward, we may move back and temporarily cease the battle… thinking so, I ask Cordelia-san behind me while deflecting arrows, “Cordelia-san! Can you reactivate the barrier from inside the forbidden book section!?”

“I can, but there is no escape route there,” Cordelia-san says.

“How durable is it!?”

“Very, a good place to take refuge, I’d say.”

“It’s so durable that the knights can’t leave even a scratch on it! As long as they don’t bring your master, that is! What’s the plan!?” Ethel screams.

“Reactivate the barrier! We need to retreat and calmly think of—”

――Chill, I feel cold all of a sudden.

My intuition signals a danger, but the source comes rushing faster than I can respond.

And it appears not from the from the front or above, but the side… in other words, it breaks through the bookshelves.

The thing that appears between me and Cordelia-san is not an arrow, but a chain with an anchor-like barb at the tip.

After the chain pierced the bookshelf on the opposite straight as if separating me from Cordelia-san, I don’t know how, but it immediately makes sharp turn and flies towards Cordelia-san.

“Mom!!” Ethel screams and pushes her mother down, causing the chain miss its target and pierce another bookshelf.

But its momentum doesn’t weaken. The chain corrects its trajectory as if it has a will and pierces through the top of the bookshelf, after which it bends sharply back and forth and aims for the mother and daughter lying on the ground again.

“Dammit!” Resolving to get myself hit by the falling arrows, I turn around and slash at the chain separating me from the two.

However, the plunging chain doesn’t change trajectory. Though I already expected that.

The mother shields her daughter from the approaching chain this time.

That’s all the resistance that the two lying on the floor can muster.

Thankfully I’m not that far from the two. While interposing myself between them and the tip of the chain, I reflexively release a thrust, trying to deviate the chain by placing the blade of my sword on its trajectory line.

Immediately after that, my body heels over.

An arrow has passed through the Shishū barriers and shot through my pivot leg as I’m thrusting my sword forward.

My posture collapse, and the thrusted sword heads in the wrong direction.

At the rate things are going, the chain will impale both Ethel and Cordelia-san.

Now that it has come to this, I’ve got no other choice. I grind my teeth and clad my sword in flame.

“‘Flame Sword’—!”

We are in underground and flammable old books are all over the place. Furthermore, we are surrounded by enemies and can’t find an escape route.

In such a place, it’s obvious what will happen if I swing flames around, so I’ve been refraining from using ‘Flame Sword’.

But if I don’t save Cordelia-san now, I won’t even be able to take refuge in the forbidden book section.

I didn’t want to start a fire near the entrance to the forbidden book section because I had no idea if the its barrier would block carbon dioxide or the sorts, but now I don’t have leeway to mind about trivial matters.

The flame cladding my sword bursts, creating propulsion and correcting the trajectory of the thrust.

The blade touches the tip of the chain as if sliding, causing sparks to scatter, high-pitched collision sound to ring, and the chain to be deflected.

“Gh!?” But due to its momentum, the tail of the chain gets twisted and whips Cordelia-san’s back.

“Mom!!” The chain cuts not only the clothes but also the meat underneath, and Ethel screams as the pieces of the meat scatter to the surroundings. “Mom! Hang in there! Mom!!”

“E, thel…”

“Get in the forbidden book section, Ethel! Quick! Iris, fall back!”

“Yes!”

I immediately sew the deflected chain to a bookshelf using ‘Shishū’ skill, restraining it.

Still, the chain is shaking powerfully, and I decide that I need to buy everyone time to retreat. While telling them to withdraw, I cut the arrow stuck in my leg to make it easier to move.

Since the barrier that protects the forbidden book section has already been undone, only the iron door can block the attack of the enemy.

Throwing my sword near the door, I control threads with both hands and increased the number of ‘Shieldcap’ to protect everyone from the incoming arrows, albeit only for a short while. In the meantime, Iris kicks the door leading into the forbidden book section open.

She then carries the injured Cordelia-san with Ethel and escapes into the forbidden book section.

The arrows that slipped past the barriers of ‘Shishū’ graze their limbs, but fortunately it’s nothing serious.

“I’m reactivating the barrier… please get inside…!” Cordelia-san screams weakly.

“Sakurai-san!” Iris calls out to me.

“Do it, Iris!” I shout.

After succeeding in escaping into the forbidden book section, Iris immediately gathers magic power and starts chanting in order to cast magic.

Although Iris can use magic, her stats distribution is leaning more towards a warrior build.

Therefore, excluding elementary ones, she needs to have enough preparation time in order to cast magic.

“Here I go!” Once her chant finished, the magic power she’s been gathering is released and the magic is activated.

A large ice wall that reaches the ceiling appears between me and the knights who are shooting arrows, dividing us.

It completely blocks the way to aboveground, and I can see the ice wall shaking and gradually beginning to crack due to the arrows striking it in rapid succession.

“The ice wall won’t hold out for long because I casted it in a hurry! Come here, quick!” Iris shouts to me.

I run towards the door while being careful about my shot foot.

Along the way, I shoot a ‘Spider Wind’ at the chain as I saw it breaking free of its restraint, re-entangling it in thread. After which I pick up the sword I threw near the door earlier and go through the door.

While closing the heavy iron door with Iris, I hear the sound of the ice wall she created shattering and the sound of something crashing into the door one after another from the outside.

“Seal…!”

The moment the door closed, Cordelia-san who is gasping raises the staff in her hand.

Just like how a safe can be locked much easier than when unlocked, the barrier protecting the forbidden book section immediately reactivates at the same time as the Saintess raised her staff.

The sound of arrows crushing into the door from the outside disappears, and when I open the door a bit and peer through it, I can see that the invisible barrier is blocking not only the arrows but also the flying chain that was aiming for Cordelia-san.

Also, one of the bookshelves have caught fire due to the ‘Flame Sword’. The fire is burning fiercely and spreading while raising black smoke.

But the smoke is also blocked by the barrier, and the knights begins to put out the fire after concluding that their attack doesn’t work.

(We can take a breather for now at least.)

I sigh while closing the door shut.

Iris and Ethel have begun to treat Cordelia-san, whose back is gouged out, and I sit down with my back to the door, pull out the arrow stuck in my leg, and use cheap potion that I hid in my pocket for first aid. I already gave the highly effective ones to Ethel and the others.

“Now, I wonder what we should do.”

Rats in a bag—is the perfect way to describe our situation.

Moreover, there’s the condition of ‘being unable to abandon anyone or use them as a sacrificial pawn’ to escape.

“What a paaain~~…” I ignore Ethel and the others’ desperate look and raise a voice full of complain.

We were supposed to simply do some research in the library, yet why the hell we were met with this kind of situation. As anger seething within me, I look around to see if I can find something to get us out of this situation.