Ch#187
Beneath the Clock Tower where the ground had been flipped entirely upside down.
"Hurry up!"
Basto shouted while lifting piled-up rocks.
Raoul and Enzo came running from the opposite side.
"Sir Basto! Additional forces have arrived from the north!"
"What took them so long! Tell them to come faster!"
Veil, who had been covering Basto, yelled.
His eyes, covered in dust and sweat, were red and bloodshot.
"Can't you see people are buried here! If we keep this up, they'll really...!"
Shouting matches were happening everywhere else too.
"Be careful not to let it collapse! Lift them out one by one from the top!"
Right after the four, including Tie, had been buried.
Naturally, the siege had been halted.
Leonardo had deployed a barrier beneath the Clock Tower, and the remaining Holy Knight forces were fully focused on eliminating the surrounding monsters.
"Ha, at this rate, when...!"
But the work had already been delayed for dozens of minutes.
They had to move the piles of stones one by one by hand, in case the ground collapsed again.
"Sir Basto! Be careful!"
Basto, who had been standing atop a gap in the rocks, slipped downward.
A scrape wound formed on his forearm, but Basto stood up without a single groan.
And began shoving aside the visible debris once more.
"Your Excellency. There are no mages among the additional forces."
Leonardo, who had been watching the scene with a heavy heart, turned at his aide's voice.
"What do you mean? No mages?"
"All available mages have already been deployed. It seems because it's the Face of Ruin...!"
Leonardo clenched his fist.
The Face of Ruin.
That was another factor making the situation even more dire.
The current upheaval wasn't limited to this spot.
Numerous mercenaries and Holy Knights scattered across locations sieging mana stones.
Even civilians who had encountered monsters since morning.
"Your Excellency, if I may... "
His aide's face darkened.
"In the current situation, retreat is the right call. If the Union Force suffers even greater losses... "
Amid the monsters' roars and the troops' shouts, Leonardo felt his ears ringing.
He knew it too.
The four key forces were isolated, and the monsters kept attacking them endlessly.
Above all, there was no guarantee that the pulsation that had collapsed the ground earlier wouldn't happen again.
"You must order the retreat."
His aide urged, but Leonardo couldn't respond.
His lips wouldn't part.
'Tese tan.'
And Astie too.
He had no idea what was happening below.
If it was just isolation, that would be fortunate, but what if one of them had suffered a serious injury?
What if they were in mortal danger and needed immediate rescue?
"Damn... "
The moment he muttered a rare curse.
"Commander."
Someone called him from behind.
Turning his head, he saw Ardiana standing there, her face covered with a mask.
"...Association President."
"I have a way."
Ardiana approached with a tense expression.
"The Clock Tower was built in a straight line from the main Imperial Palace building."
Leonardo's brow furrowed.
He couldn't understand what the Association President was saying.
But Ardiana continued.
"...What I'm saying is, there's a path underground."
Leonardo's eyes widened slightly.
A path beneath the Imperial Palace.
He already knew about it.
But only imperial family members knew that labyrinthine path perfectly.
It had been built as an escape route for the imperial family in emergencies.
"How do you... "
Ardiana lifted her gaze.
She took a deep breath and raised her hand to lower her mask.
Leonardo's eyes widened.
As a high noble, he had seen her face from afar once or twice.
Ardiana's face, known as the imperial family's discarded card.
"Impe... "
Ardiana raised one hand to silence him.
She put her mask back on and continued calmly.
"There's no time. Leave only a few to enter the underground with me beneath the main building and order the Union Force to retreat."
Leonardo swallowed dryly, frozen in place.
But he quickly nodded.
"Retreat!"
"Regroup at the base!"
Under the sun, monsters crossed the ground.
Amid the retreating ranks, four horses broke out.
"This way!"
Basto, Veil, and Leonardo followed behind Ardiana, who led at the front.
They passed through the open plaza and through crumbled walls.
And entered a dense forest.
The monsters that had lost their prey let out shrieks, but none of the four slowed down.
As Ardiana headed toward the main palace, she thought.
'Should I call this fortunate?'
Luckily, the Old Palace underground matched the current Imperial Palace underground.
Because the Empress and Pides had opposed the large-scale underground construction a few years ago.
'Pides, it's fine. It's an underground maze that's hardly used anyway.'
'I know that. It's just that because of Ardiana, it makes me look bad.'
'What does Ardiana know? Unlike you, she's a leisurely child. Must have plenty of time to memorize new blueprints.'
At the time, she thought it absurd.
But in the end, Pides' carelessness had helped her in this moment.
Ardiana reined in her horse at the rear garden of the main building.
Basto, Veil, and Leonardo stopped behind her one by one.
"This way."
Fortunately, there weren't many monsters lurking around the main building.
Most had undoubtedly flocked toward the Clock Tower upon hearing the commotion.
Even so, Ardiana moved cautiously.
To prepare thoroughly for any potential combat, as time was short.
The place they reached after winding through complex paths was a small building used as a garden shed.
Entering inside, stairs leading underground appeared behind the wall.
At that moment.
"Grrrrr-"
A low growling came from the end of the opposite corridor.
Silence fell among the four.
Veil approached Ardiana.
"Mark it with this."
What he handed her was a dagger.
"Basto and I will handle that thing first and catch up."
Ardiana glanced once at the massive monster shadow cast in the corridor, then nodded.
As they began descending the stairs, Leonardo lit the lantern he had brought and followed behind.
With a thud, the door that had opened closed.
At the same time, the sounds of fierce combat began from behind.
Dozens of minutes later.
"This is... "
Ardiana, who had reached the underground near the Clock Tower, stopped in place.
The tip of the dagger in her hand was already considerably dulled.
"...Your Highness the Princess."
Leonardo also parted his lips in a tense voice.
At this moment, both were staring at the same thing.
An open underground space like a plaza.
Several pillars supported the ceiling where water dripped down.
The problem was that all of them were enveloped in unidentified dark purple demonic energy.
Narrowing her eyes, red roots pulsing through gaps in the demonic energy became visible.
The densely intertwined roots connected to something unidentified in the center of the plaza.
Ardiana murmured.
"...A heart?"
At the simultaneous hissing sound, Leonardo ducked.
As he straightened up, a fresh red line appeared on his cheek, followed by blood trickling down.
At Leonardo's feet writhed what he had just barely deflected.
A root, sharp and pointed like a blade, severed in half.
