Worthless Skill Escape (WN)

Chapter 95

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TL: ALT

Chapter 95 – Temporary Withdrawal and Reorganization and

“Evac” ――I used my dungeon escape skill.

This skill cannot be used during combat, but in the situation I was in earlier, it would not be a problem.

After I escaped from the dungeon, I saw a black water mirror in front of me.

It was the entrance portal to the Okutama Lake Dungeon.

It was already midnight.

The black portal should have been lost in the darkness of the night, but it was not.

The water mirror was boiling intensely.

The boiling reached its limit―the portal shattered from within.

What can only be described as “darkness” exploded out of it.

With Haruka-san in my arms, I ran along the floating bridge on Okutama Lake in the direction away from the “darkness.”

I am very good at escaping with the enemy on my back.

Behind me, the surface of the lake was swallowed by the “darkness,” and the floating bridge sank behind me.

My run was barely faster.

I moved from the lake to the shore and looked back.

A huge ball of darkness had formed around the dungeon’s entrance portal.

The surrounding water had been swallowed up, creating a kind of whirlpool in the lake with the sphere at its center.

The night air also swirled around the sphere, billowing and swirling.

It was like a small typhoon with darkness at its center.

If it were that big, it would show up on satellite images for meteorological purposes.

“The dungeon collapse! I never thought I would see it with my own eyes again…”

Haruka-san said with a pale face.

“Looks like it’s getting bigger.”

The sphere began to expand, though not as much as at first.

“It’s lucky it was on a lake. I shudder to think what it would have done in a populated area.”

“How are we going to stop it?”

“Y-you’re going to stop it?”

“Yes.”

“Impossible… It’s not a phenomenon that humans can do anything about…”

While Haruka-san and I were talking, something suddenly burst out of a part of the sphere.

It shot out with the force of a solar flare,

“――Kudave!”

“Hey, Yuto! How awful of you to leave me behind!”

Kudave, who seemed to have gotten out of that thing by himself, soon found me and came down.

“Sorry, I forgot.”

I should have unsummoned Kudave before Evac, but I was so busy trying to save Haruka-san that I couldn’t think of anything else.

Well, I thought Kudave would be able to handle it on his own.

“…That guy?”

I asked, referring to what Kudave was holding under one of his claws.

It looks familiar.

I mean, it’s the Thunder Gryphon Clovis used.

“I only brought it because it’s been fainting all the time.”

“You’re surprisingly kind.”

“Is there any reason not to help those who can be helped? Even Yuto helped that elven girl, even though you had no obligation to do so.”

“It’s not that I have no obligation.”

I don’t believe in helping people who are in trouble, either.

Well, if I could help them easily, I would.

I’m afraid that if I start talking about it, Haruka-san will get embarrassed, and things will get complicated again.

“Let’s meet Honoka-chan first.”

I changed the subject.

“She’s here?”

“It’s Honoka-chan who followed Haruka-san’s presence. I hid her in a safe place.”

I strain my eyes, looking for any sign of Gennai (the Karakuri Doctor).

It is near the top of the mountain, some distance away.

I manage a thought, and a Karakuri UFO flies towards us.

I turn my attention to the dark sphere,

“…Even if we do something about that thing, we’ll have to retreat temporarily.”

In addition to Haruka-san and Honoka-chan, there are also the objectified explorers I rescued from Clovis.

Now that Clovis is dead, I don’t even know what kind of negative effects it might have on them.

It is best to return them to humans in a safe place as soon as possible.

“Kudave, I’m sorry, but can you carry me and Haruka-san… to the Tengumine Shrine?”

“Besides you, it must be hard for the elf girl, right? I’ll awaken the Thunder Gryphon, and the elf girl can go back with it.”

“Will it listen to us?”

“The elves are skilled in the use of magic beasts. If it doesn’t listen, I’ll give it a glare.”

So we (me, Honoka-chan, and Haruka-san) split up into Kudave, Karakuri UFO, and Thunder Gryphon and went back to Tengumine Shrine.

When we returned to Tengumine Shrine,

“Yuto!”

“Serika!”

To my surprise, I found Serika on the shrine grounds.

Not just Serika. There are dozens of explorers on the shrine grounds, either Paladin Knights or from other organizations.

I tried looking for a familiar face but couldn’t find her.

Is Haitani-san in charge at the association’s headquarters in Tokyo?

“What about the flood in the capital?”

“The one I came to see has been successfully stopped. The remaining floods also seem to have been suppressed at the same time as the Okutama Lake dungeon’s… collapse?”

“I see.”

The energy that flooded the other dungeons was absorbed by the collapse of the Okutama Lake Dungeon.

“More importantly, what on earth is going on? I only heard about it from Hisui-chan and Minazawa-san, but…”

“I’ll explain. But first…”

I took out the objectified explorer’s cube from my Item Box.

“Honoka-chan. I’m sorry to bother you when you’re tired, but could you please help me?”

“Of course, Yuto-san. I can’t leave them like this.”

Honoka-chan got the cube from me.

“Are these the people you call objectified?”

Serika looked at the cube and asked.

“Yes. It seems to be easier to help if someone who knows the missing explorers can cooperate with us. If you know someone who knows the missing explorers, I want you to gather them.”

“Okay!”

Serika calls to the other explorers, who in turn call to the other explorers.

I left this side to Honoka-chan and the explorers and told Serika and some of the explorers what was going on.

“It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?”

One of the explorers I met for the first time groaned.

He was a stocky, 40-something male explorer.

He seemed to be a master of a famous guild.

“But the Voice of Heaven has clearly stated that the dungeon at Lake Okutama has collapsed. I think there is no contradiction in his statement.”

A mage-like female explorer in her thirties said calmly.

This person is also a master of another famous guild.

To these two, Serika says,

“Now is not the time to worry about the credibility of his testimony. If you really need a guarantee, Serika Akinojo of the Paladin Knights will take care of it.”

“If the Holy Knight says so much, I have no choice but to believe him.”

“I have no doubt at all. There’s no way the explorer on Serika-san’s side would make up a story under these circumstances.”

The two shrugged, and Serika continued.

“The Voice of Heaven’s evacuation order is for a radius of 40 kilometers from the Okutama Lake Dungeon, which is an enormously large area. It includes Ome City in Tokyo, Sagamihara City in Kanagawa Prefecture, Hanno City and Chichibu City in Saitama Prefecture, and Koshu City in Yamanashi Prefecture.”

The Voice of Heaven that Serika mentioned was made while we were flying here.

Evacuate everyone from this area within 12 hours and make the area uninhabitable―it seems that the recommendation was beyond absurd.

“Evacuation… Of course, it’s impossible!”

The male explorer gritted his teeth.

“That’s right. And we only have twelve hours to evacuate. The people in the area are in a state of panic after hearing the Voice of Heaven, which is creating a sense of crisis. The main road is overcrowded, and there have been accidents here and there.”

The female explorer also had a grim look on her face.

The distance of 40 kilometers around Lake Okutama is about the same as the distance between the two lakes.

Although Lake Okutama itself is located on the western edge of Tokyo, there are a number of large regional cities within a 40-kilometer radius, as Serika listed.

I ask Kudave, who remains summoned.

“Kudave. Can’t you do something with your power?”

At my question, the eyes of the explorers turn to Kudave.

Fear and awe are in the eyes of the explorers as they look at Kudave.

I heard that the two explorers are S-ranked, just like Serika.

However, their “rank” is different.

That is what Kudave makes them think.

If it is a Phantom Dragon with this overwhelming power, or something like that… thought the hope on their faces.

But,

“That’s impossible, even for me.”

Kudave shakes his head.

“Why?”

“A dungeon collapse is like a big hole in the world. With my power, it is possible to make a hole in the world in the same way. But it is only a hole. It is difficult for me to close it.”

“You mean you specialize in destroying things?”

“Yes. But this dungeon collapse was intentionally caused by Clovis. It is not just a hole. The hole was manipulated so that the arrogant elf could travel back and forth to the other side in the flesh or at least return to the other side. Because of this workmanship, the collapse of the dungeon was on a modest scale.”

“A-are you saying that this is a modest scale?”

The female explorer said.

“What do you mean by manipulating the hole, Kudave?”

“Don’t you remember? Clovis wanted to use the power he gathered in the Okutama Lake Dungeon to summon the Boundary Dragon Splefnir from our original world. Splefnir is the mark that anchors the end of the hole to the original world and the work that stabilizes the hole.”

“What kind of manipulation is that?”

“Splefnir means ‘that which is wrapped in a cocoon.’ The name Boundary Dragon also comes from the fact that it is a being that guards, monitors, and maintains the boundaries of the world. Clovis was trying to ‘pave’ the originally unstable hole with a cocoon of Splefnir and turn it into a ‘passageway’ by drawing some of it through the hole into this world.”

“So it’s not just a hole; it’s a tunnel.”

A tunnel that would allow people to go back and forth between this world and that world?

What kind of chaos would ensue if such a thing were created?

“Umu. But on the other hand, it will also be a weakness. Because of the restrained scale of the collapse, the hole does not have enough power to level the world immediately and without question. Of course, if many souls are swallowed by it in the future, the momentum will accelerate dramatically. If Tokyo or any other city with that many people is swallowed up, the collapse will be out of control.”

“I-it’s a disaster!”

The male explorer’s face became even paler.

On the other hand, the female explorer said,

“Wait a minute. What do you mean by weakness?”

The female explorer asked the first half of Kudave’s line.

“Originally, the collapse would have spread, engulfing souls and destroying the world itself. But Clovis reduced the extent of the collapse to make the hole a passageway. He pulled a piece of Splefnir into the hole and paved the inner wall of the hole. But the need for the pavement means that without it, the hole would collapse.”

“Like a tunnel made by a child in the sandbox, huh?”

Thanks to Kudave, the story became much clearer.

“In short, we just have to push Splefnir, the Boundary Dragon that flowed into the collapsed hole in the Okutama Lake Dungeon, back to its original world, right?”

“That’s right, Yuto. Kuhahaha! Isn’t this a great stage worthy of you and me!”

“…I never wanted to be on such a stage in my life, though.”

Hah… and I sighed loudly.