In an instant, as if the fuse had been cut, his ears went numb, and all the glass windows throughout the party house shattered simultaneously. A vibration that resonated deep in the heart made the entire body tremble. At the same time, the field of vision was dyed crimson red, and the nobles on the second-floor balcony flew away like powerless wooden dolls.
Hot wind scraped the skin through the thunderous explosion and scattered fragments. Flames and ashes, like hideous demons sticking out their tongues, spewed out from inside the building.
Hugo, who had been wearing an uncharacteristically blank expression, pulled Silvia toward the edge of the stairs the moment he faced the approaching fire.
"――!"
She screamed and sank down as her feet slipped, but she didn't fall thanks to the support of the two men. Hugo shielded them with his body and cast a barrier behind his back. As soon as the screen unfolded, debris entangled in the explosion covered them at a terrifying speed.
BOOOOOM―!
A shock wave strong enough to shake the ground and heat that almost choked the breath rushed in. It was such tremendous pressure that even the bodies of two strong men holding onto the railing were helplessly pushed back. The half-open main doors of the house were blown wide open by the gust, hit the walls, and fell off.
As the heavy iron doors tilted, servants and guards who had tumbled onto the stairs barely avoided them by rolling on the ground.
"Kyaaah―!"
"Uwaaaaah!"
Inside and outside the party house, human shouts and screams were rampant. However, even those were soon buried under successive explosions and disappeared. Dark red smoke rose ferociously into the evening sky that was just about to darken.
The once splendid chandelier shattered into pieces and poured down like hail onto the center of the hall. There was no way to know the fate of those beneath the sharp sound of rupture.
Hugo wrapped Silvia's head as she crouched between Jeffrey and himself, and looked at the continuously exploding hall with contracted pupils. It was impossible to even imagine that the scene before his eyes was happening in the middle of the city. It felt like returning to the peninsula. His mind became so distant that he momentarily forgot his sense of reality.
"What's going on…."
What was strange amidst all this was that he didn't know why Leonardo's mana was faintly felt at this moment.
The blue eyes unconsciously turned to his wristwatch, which had sensed the other's energy. The watch hands remained in the same place that had made him recognize something strange earlier.
6:00
The time he had seen after settling the accident and just boarding the carriage was 5:55 PM. It was unrealistic that only 5 minutes had passed from then until now.
Just as he was suspecting that the watch might be broken, the silver tip began to move smoothly.
The minute hand passed the numbers one by one and soon found its proper position.
"...."
Hugo's eyelids opened slightly. While everything around was in utter chaos, he couldn't take his eyes off the changed time.
It was absurd. If the watch's mainspring had unwound, it would have just stopped, but he had never seen a phenomenon like this where it skipped a certain amount of time.
As if someone had just released the hands they had been forcibly holding, the tip slid smoothly and stopped at one time.
6:25
After that, as it had always been, only the second hand moved at regular intervals.
His mind flashed with numerous figures who had touched his watch over time. The craftsman, the butler, the attendants….
But their existence disappeared not long after.
Hugo, moving his lips, recalled the moment of their last farewell against the backdrop of the waiting room.
Those playful eyes that smiled with a reddish, excited look. Those lips that whispered affection in a sweet and gentle voice.
That touch, nostalgic yet desperate, that had firmly gripped his wrist for fear of losing him.
―It exploded.
"I can see that."
On the luxurious table of the high-end mansion, several image stones the size of human heads were placed. The crystal spheres, perfectly cut without a single flaw, reproduced the on-site situation exactly as if a camera had captured an image, excluding distortion.
There was a slight delay due to the process of adjusting the light values absorbed by the installed lens, but it was a magic tool that projected scenes closest to reality for now. The image stones were dyed crimson red as if burning. Meterion, leaning against a long leather sofa, looked around at the uniformly red spheres and downed a glass of champagne.
―The Duke didn't enter. Did he notice?
Margaret Penrod's voice was heard from the communication magic tool lying around.
"No, we were probably late."
Meterion, who responded calmly, glanced at the time. 6:25 PM. His brows narrowed.
"Why so late?"
―There seems to have been some problem in the facility room.
"We almost ruined the operation."
―...I apologize.
Just then, light flickered from another communication magic tool placed on the table. Meterion, who had risen from his slanted posture, received the contact with a sigh.
"...Yes, it was successful."
Unlike a moment ago, a faint smile hung on his lips.
"I was just surprised at how powerful it was, more than expected. Though it seems things have gotten a bit bigger."
He brushed back his deep green hair and sat on the armrest of the sofa.
"The list will be out by tomorrow. Don't worry about the handling. I'll wait for now as a summons from the Council will come soon."
"Everyone get away!"
"Fire, fire!"
People outside the banquet hall scattered in all directions in panic. From inside the building, survivors also came running out with terrible screams. The non-mainstream nobles who had been positioned near the entrance escaped from the explosion site in relatively intact condition, though with traces of being caught up in it.
There were also many who fled to the terrace and climbed over the railing. Only then did Hugo, recalling his duty, urgently shout to Jeffrey:
"Go down, quickly!"
Jeffrey, who had been standing in a daze with a pale face, came to his senses at Hugo's urging. He immediately put his arms under Silvia's back and behind her knees and lifted her in one breath.
BOOOOOM―!
With the continuing explosions, Silvia could only tremble with her eyes tightly closed and her arms wrapped around her belly.
Hugo took off his coat and covered the two's shoulders and heads, casting a spell to block the flames and heat. Meanwhile, survivors poured out and filled the stairs outside the entrance in an instant. Fearing that the two might fall if pushed by the crowd, Hugo escorted Jeffrey and Silvia down to the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs.
Eventually, he opened the door of the carriage they had arrived in and roughly pushed them inside, then commanded Jeffrey through the half-open window:
"Leave Pentagove as quickly as possible, it might be a terrorist attack."
"Understood, but Your Grace―"
"I need to clean up here. I entrust my sister and the child to you."
Jeffrey seemed hesitant to leave without him, but soon steeled his resolve and nodded.
"Leave it to me. I will take responsibility for Silvia."
Hugo, who responded with a similar nod, slapped the carriage door with his palm. At the signal, the coachman quickly manipulated the reins and left the garden of the party house. The road surrounding the circular garden was soon filled with guests trying to escape and carriages.
Only after seeing the two, no, the three including the child in the womb, safely depart did Hugo go against the crowd again. Just then, Hugo's attendants and knights who had been looking for their lord ran to his side and grabbed his arms, knowing it was disrespectful.
"My lord, it would be better to evacuate first!"
"There's a possibility of chain explosions!"
"Evacuate the people and contact the Council first. Hurry!"
At his instructions given as the Commander of the Council rather than as a Duke, the knights hesitated with faces similar to Jeffrey's. However, they soon felt the mana swirling around Hugo and stepped back one by one.
As he extended his hand with concentrated mana forward, a huge blue magic circle spread over the party house.
Like a cumulonimbus cloud releasing its stored water vapor, a vast stream of water poured down onto the blazing building. Smoke and steam intertwined and rose into the sky as the raging flames and downpour competed for dominance.
The attendant who had been assessing the situation ran to contact the Council branch, and the knights who understood their lord's intention stood firmly amidst the rushing crowd to protect Hugo.
At that moment, someone rushed out to the second-floor terrace and shouted:
"S-save me!"
A man with his scalp peeled off from burns gasped with a melted vocal cord. The metallic voice sounded more like the cry of a beast driven to the brink of death than that of a human. Hugo and the knights reflexively turned their heads toward the source of the voice.
"Please save m―!"
Splat―
At that moment, the head of the man clinging to the railing suddenly bent backward and blood splattered. Then his upper body collapsed limply forward.
The precariously hanging form twitched intermittently before falling from the railing and crashing to the ground.
Crunch―
"Richard Duncan, deceased."
"Good―"
"Yes!"
In the residence located in Libertas, brief cheers followed. The partners who received news from Mirail, the image stones, and colleagues who had gone to the scene, watched the burning symbol of vested interests and enjoyed the ecstasy in their own ways.
Gillian took out wine from the cabinet and poured it into a total of eight glasses. Beatrice, who had been irritable throughout, hugged her cherished curse doll so tightly that its neck was about to break and spun around as if dancing.
"This much could blow up a gate!"
"Those on the second floor won't survive long, right?"
Judy couldn't contain her excitement and jumped up, pressing her hands on the table. Even Andrew, more than excited, recorded the on-site situation in detail with a flushed face. Mikhail and Tergio also high-fived to celebrate the elimination of the target, but Leonardo only stared blankly at the image stones with a hardened expression.
In his hand was the communication magic tool Hugo had given him. He had been anxious when it hadn't exploded even after 6 o'clock, the expected time for the operation. When Agrizendro arrived at the entrance, he was just about to press the button.
Though it was fortunate that it exploded even just before entry, he didn't feel good about His Grace being caught up in the situation.
As he remained silent with a serious expression, Tergio, who had turned his head momentarily, noticed Leonardo and withdrew the smile that had been on his lips. His gaze then fell on the object Leonardo was clutching in his hand. It was something he had seen when loitering in front of the safe earlier.
Tergio rolled his eyes and let out a low sigh.
He picked up one of the wine glasses Gillian had poured and then poured all the wine into other glasses. Gillian asked as if dumbfounded:
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Don't you know he's still a patient?"
Tergio, who had gestured toward Leonardo with his chin, instead poured orange juice into the empty wine glass. The wine that had pooled lightly at the bottom, looking like blood, was completely covered by the bright yellow liquid and disappeared without a trace.
Tergio took one glass each of juice and wine with double the amount and approached Leonardo.
"Leo."
Leonardo flinched and turned his head toward him. Tergio grinned and held out the glass with the swirling juice to him.
"Though it's only half a success, we did it anyway, so the leader should say something at times like this."
As he inadvertently received the juice glass, Gillian distributed wine glasses to the others as well. The eight partners quickly gathered around the table and held out their celebratory drinks. Though the boisterous atmosphere had quickly subsided, everyone couldn't hide the smiles blooming on their faces.
Leonardo looked carefully at the faces of his partners. Seeing them all so happy, he suddenly felt sorry for being the only one dampening the mood.
He instantly relaxed his hardened face. Then he put the communication magic tool he had been holding into his back pocket and lowered his eyes while touching his stiff lips.
Ahem, clearing his throat, he opened his mouth.
"...I understand you're happy, but we're just beginning. Don't get excited."
A moment later, his bright golden eyes rose up and shone sharply under the ceiling light.
"Duncan has been eliminated, but there are still many connected to him. We need to dig into them too. We need to check how the current situation will be resolved, and whether any traces have truly been left."
"Yes, yes."
Judy nodded her head vigorously. Andrew, who was beside her, saw this and smiled slightly.
Leonardo shook his head at her as if she was incorrigible. Yet, with a faint smile and even more solemn eyes, he stared at the wall of the residence.
At the end of his gaze were clocks positioned in all four directions based on the name of the imperial capital.
Next to them was a half-torn calendar with dates crossed out. After carefully scanning these, his eyes returned to the front.
"On the third day of the Foundation Festival coming next year."
Leonardo, who had run his tongue over his lips once, raised the juice glass in his hand forward. He extended it with such force that the juice almost overflowed. But Leonardo didn't mind.
The glass, shining under the light, shimmered golden in his hand.
"By then, we will reveal the dark forces hidden by Delberg and completely eradicate the involved pro-emperor faction."
The eyes looking at him were all full of excitement.
Leonardo raised the corners of his mouth and softly led the chant:
"Freedom to the oppressed."
Everyone in the residence cheered and shouted:
"Glory to Raina Logia―!"