I messed up.
Enduring the pain racking her entire body, Amae could only dwell on that bitter truth.
In the end, total annihilation had been averted.
Amae had managed to sweep all the explosives into a corner of the barrier, controlling the blast radius. That was as much as she could manage in time.
Almost simultaneously, Garry had hurled his spear, piercing the sealed barrier from within.
Amae had gotten off relatively lightly, but the brunt of the cost had fallen on Garry. The split-second delay when he broke through the barrier proved fatal, leaving him exposed to the raging blast.
"Garry-kun..."
Breathing shallowly against Amae's back, Garry had sustained immense damage. Thermal burns and heavy concussive trauma. He needed immediate medical attention.
She had called Luluck for backup a moment ago, but it would take some time before help arrived.
Until then, Amae had to keep running from this man.
"You're holding out longer than I expected. Truly, the desperate struggles of youth are quite touching."
Laughing pleasantly, Wilhelm unleashed a volley of magic bullets.
Mercedes—who had escaped with only minor burns from the explosion—kept intercepting them.
The injured Amae carried the incapacitated Garry on her back, retreating toward the exit while the weakened Mercedes provided covering fire.
Wilhelm pursued at a leisurely pace, sometimes offering mocking encouragement and at other times pressing them with fierce attacks, slowly herding his prey.
"Come now, if you're so sluggish, I'll catch right up, you know?"
Unlike before, the magic bullets he fired no longer carried lethal force.
What was taking place now was a measured performance meant to keep his weakened quarry from accidentally dying. That sadistic whim was the sole reason the three of them were still breathing.
However, they were fast approaching their limit.
Wilhelm relentlessly targeted Amae's legs, making it impossible for her to maintain any real pace while carrying Garry. It was only a matter of time before he overtook them.
"Vandenberg-san. Run ahead."
As if sensing Amae's mounting peril, Mercedes halted and leveled her sword at Wilhelm.
"You're telling me to run away alone?!"
"Yes. It was my failure as the squad leader that brought us to this. I will take responsibility now."
"Responsibility? I was the one who—"
"This is an order. Take Locke-san and escape."
Mercedes left no room for argument, yet her capacity to fight on was already like a candle flickering in the wind. Even if she threw her life away, the amount of time she could realistically buy would be minimal.
"Self-sacrifice... truly admirable. However, do not be so foolishly stubborn; simply surrender."
Abruptly, the footsteps trailing behind them ceased. A chill ran down Mercedes's spine.
He's coming.
"If you do, I assure you I will not mistreat you."
Wilhelm circled around to confront her head-on, and Mercedes reacted instantly with a sword strike.
Yet the Hinoe sword technique, which had previously displayed the brilliance of a master, was caught effortlessly by Wilhelm with just his right hand.
Amae, who had been running alongside her, stopped and drew a sharp breath. Mercedes ground her teeth. The force behind her strike was not even reaching a quarter of its usual output.
"...I have no intention of boasting about that metric fools love to flaunt called the magic coefficient, but—"
Wilhelm drew back his fist and brought it crashing down.
The trajectory was readable. Guarding against it should have been simple.
Even so, Mercedes could not withstand the sheer kinetic force behind the blow and was slammed into the stone floor.
"—my magic coefficient is 2,200. Surely you realized long ago that even in peak condition, you could never defeat me in a contest of raw power?"
Infuriating as it was, he was entirely correct.
That strike was not the punch of an amateur, but one honed through rigorous combat training. It seemed he was proficient in close-quarters combat as well. Far from being a typical mage, his repertoire was vast.
While Mercedes possessed an extraordinary magic coefficient among the student body, the reality was that she could not match the depth of Wilhelm, who had spent years honing his craft in the Imperial Archmage Faculty and had matured into a seasoned combatant.
That was precisely why Mercedes had gauged the structural threshold of his magical barrier and used coordinated teamwork to break through it. Now that their formation had shattered, replicating that feat was out of the question.
"Mer—!"
"Now, now, don't look away from your enemy during combat."
As Amae became distracted by Mercedes, a magic bullet carrying a reproachful sting grazed her temple.
Ah, damn it, Wilhelm thought.
Looking down at the collapsed Amae, Wilhelm felt a twinge of regret at his own lack of precision.
He had knocked her out by mistake.
The lesson was just about to begin in earnest.
"Vandenberg-san...!"
Mercedes, who had maintained her composure until now, showed agitation for the first time. Breaking her unyielding spirit would have been amusing, but it was almost time for the tower to collapse.
A pity, but the entertainment would have to end here.
Just as the tip of his wand slowly aligned with Mercedes's forehead—
"Delirium: Anesthetic Depth II."
Alongside the whispered incantation, something pierced the neck of the completely unguarded Wilhelm.
Instantly, Wilhelm's vision warped.
"—?!"
Suddenly robbed of his sense of balance, a staggering Wilhelm immediately recognized the ambush.
A distinct sensation of numbness accompanied by severe vertigo.
He knew this feeling.
This was... yes, the craft of the medical powerhouse that had once flourished across the northern continent.
The former Duchy of Temcha, which had recklessly bared its fangs against the Kingdom of Gleefia.
"Meltzelia-san, run."
Hearing that clear, calm voice, Mercedes realized that Filiestra had rushed to their aid.
The fallen Garry was already cradled in her arms.
Fighting through the trembling in her knees, Mercedes scooped the unconscious Amae under her arm and sprinted from the corridor.
"...This is the Temcha style? Why is someone from the former Duchy of Temcha here?"
In a complete departure from his previously smooth demeanor, the voice muttered behind them was thick with venomous resentment.
First, they had to put distance between them.
Though Filiestra was the physically frailest among those in the Imperial Archmage Faculty, she was still far swifter and stronger than an ordinary civilian.
Now that the surprise anesthetic bullet—potent enough to slow even massive magic beasts—had found its mark, Wilhelm's movements would be drastically impaired.
Even while carrying the wounded, they had a fighting chance of escaping the underground. Or so it should have been.
"...I see. Magias has truly sunk to new depths. To think this sacred institution would welcome the blood of Temcha, a filthy former enemy nation."
Ignoring Wilhelm's slurs, Filiestra continued to administer treatment to Garry's body as she ran.
Burns across his back, multiple fractures, and torn ligaments.
His internal organs had sustained trauma as well.
Arriving as quickly as she had was paying off.
At this stage, it was not too late to save him.
"Cough...!"
Seeing Garry sputter back to consciousness, Mercedes, running alongside them, could not conceal her shock.
Fast—far too fast.
Garry's injuries should have been nearly fatal. Even assuming she had begun treatment the instant she reached him, barely ten seconds had passed.
To cast medical magic of this caliber offhandedly while on the move?
Magic revealed its true value on the battlefield.
Filiestra's medical sorcery was a masterwork that shook the very core of the values Meltzelia held dear.
Behind them, Wilhelm glared at Filiestra's retreating back with bloodshot eyes.
He could not stomach the fact that vile, derivative Temcha magic had brought an exalted Braham to his knees.
He was finally sick of entertaining these brats.
"Halt."
He swept his baton downward.
Before Filiestra and Mercedes, a thick wall slammed down, sealing the path.
"...No, even after taking a direct hit...?"
Filiestra's dismay was only natural.
The anesthetic dart had certainly struck a major vessel.
To Filie, the fact that he still retained the strength and focus to activate magic through the drug was her greatest miscalculation.
Beside the shaken Filiestra, Mercedes quietly accepted that escape was off the table.
This was not an individual spell.
It was likely a bulkhead tied into the Guardian Barrier of Magias, designed to seal intruders inside. Smashing through it was out of the question.
From behind, Wilhelm closed in, cutting off their retreat.
Fleeing while carrying two wounded allies was no longer feasible.
Their only option was to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
With her sword drawn, Mercedes understood better than anyone that even that hope was entirely divorced from reality.