Faced with his subordinates' cries of despair, the team leader ignored them and hurriedly pulled out his communicator to call the Medical Society…
But unexpectedly, the Medical Society called him first. A stranger's deep, strange voice, like a muffled roar from the depths of the sea, came over the line:
"I am 'Leviathan,' sent by the Medical Society to handle your situation."
The team leader froze. "Ah… understood, sir. When will you arrive?" He kept his tone polite while thinking to himself: what the hell is wrong with this guy's vocal cords?
"You sound… anxious."
"Yes! Leviathan-sama, we're in deep trouble! Someone is invading the facility — if this keeps up, they'll breach the central lab in ten minutes!" The team leader's words tumbled out. "This doesn't make sense! Our operations are discreet, security airtight, nothing's changed recently — there's no reason for an attack like this!"
"…No reason? Are you saying the fault lies with us?"
The icy menace in Leviathan's voice chilled him to the marrow, and the team leader felt a frightening urge to kneel on the spot. Something was wrong — he quickly swallowed his pride.
"N-no, of course not! Haha, all I mean is… our security might not hold them off. Can you tell me when you'll arrive? And… maybe bring some 'security reinforcements' with you… otherwise this project might be finished…"
"There's no need for that… because—"
Boom!
The reinforced wall beside him suddenly exploded in a shower of debris. A gaping hole the height of a man appeared where the solid wall had been!
The team leader jumped in fright and fumbled a tiny Ruger LCP from his pocket, pointing it at the opening. But he froze when he realized… no water was flooding in from outside.
Click. Click.
White mist rose from the massive ice sealing the hole shut.
And then… a figure stood there, clad in a deep black cloak and the distinctive bird-beak mask of the Medical Society.
No need to wait — Leviathan was already here.
But staring at the figure, the team leader wondered: was Leviathan even human?
"Tell me," Leviathan growled, his voice a chilling, oceanic roar. "The intruders… what do they look like?"
The team leader, usually so smooth-tongued, found his jaw chattering uncontrollably. He managed to stammer out: "R-red hair… one of them!"
"Hmph. As I thought… time to meet them."
A cold wind swept through the room, and when the team leader looked up again — Leviathan was gone.
———
"We're breaking through to meet them head-on!"
On the icy surface below, Sakedo Mai stood tall, one hand gripping her katana, the other a Glock, back-to-back with Nono as they guarded against the Melusine-model dead servants surging from below. Shirou cleaved through swarms of Ghost Fang Dragon Vipers with Duanlongtai ablaze.
"They're controlling the vipers from above! Whoever's in charge must be upstairs!"
Nono called back: "But there's no stairs or ladders! What are we supposed to do, leap from this slippery ice up to the second floor balcony? We'd just slide back down!"
"They probably have their own lifts. Don't worry — my rope gear will work just fine! Shirou, ready?"
Shirou understood immediately. "You two go first!"
The grappling hook zipped them up one by one, and after slicing down the last wave of vipers, Shirou caught the hook and shot upward, leaving behind the chaos of blood, ice, and flames below.
"Faster — go!"
The three regrouped without wasting words and pressed on. Nono began reinforcing her senses with magical energy, knowing more enemies might await.
Then she sniffed the air — a strange chill was sinking down the stairwell.
"Stop!" she and Shirou said in perfect unison.
Sakedo Mai blinked. "Huh? Do you two have some kind of psychic link?"
Shirou and Nono exchanged a quick nod. "Something big's coming," Shirou warned. "If it's too strong, you two hide and get out. I'll hold it off."
Before they could answer, a biting wind howled through the corridor — a freezing death-field that turned everything it touched to solid ice.
"Damn!" Shirou dashed ahead, Duanlongtai roaring with blue flame as he countered the chill. The clash of fire and ice sent a shockwave that cracked walls and shattered floors.
"Find another route up!" he barked.
"None of you are leaving."
The glacial voice came from above as a cloaked figure, Leviathan, descended. His arrival was heralded by a storm of ice spears — dense, sharp, and harder than steel.
"Projection — start!" Shirou's circuits flared, and the Tai'a sword materialized, its liberated power slicing through the incoming barrage.
Seizing the moment, Nono grabbed Sakedo Mai and sprinted away.
Boom—!
Walls burst from the strain, and seawater surged through the gaps. But Leviathan, stepping on slick ice as if it were solid ground, strode calmly forward. The water at his feet froze solid as he passed.
He extended a hand, conjuring an ice-blue spear, and hurled a deadly blizzard toward Shirou.
"Projection!" Duanlongtai's shattered blade flared to life, a fiery edge clashing with the icy blast, filling the corridor with blinding steam and a massive shockwave.
As the fog cleared, Leviathan raised an icy bridge beneath him and advanced. "I heard of you… from Odin himself."
Shirou narrowed his eyes. "…So you're one of Odin's allies."
Leviathan's reply was cryptic: "There are two chess players in your camp. Besides Norton… the other one is you?"
"?" Shirou frowned. What was this guy talking about?
In truth, Leviathan was recalling Odin's dying words. Odin had laid an escape array in advance, yet something — or someone — had thwarted him, forcing him into a fatal duel. Who could rival Odin in alchemy if not Norton? And now, perhaps, this man.
"Your mastery of 'Concept Armament' is too refined," Leviathan mused. "You could only have reached this level if…"
So Leviathan speculated — was Shirou Norton's secret dragon-born protégé? Or… a hybrid hosting a Dragon King's blood-egg? Either way, that would explain why Norton favored him and why his alchemy had advanced so quickly.
Meanwhile, crawling up to the second floor behind them, Summeri muttered: "?"
Two chess players? So he somehow knows about my and Norton's blood pact already…?
Wait a damn minute. Shouldn't I, the King of Earth and Stone, be the other chess player? Leviathan, you idiot! Pointing at some human instead of me — do you think I'm easy to bully? Have you no respect?!
(End of Chapter)
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