Cedo looked at it in shock and realized that it looked completely different. Then what was that standing in front of him?
When the hand struck exactly twelve, everything inside the object blazed with bright light, and Cedo shielded his face from the rising wind. Suddenly all the monsters became enraged, and a moment later the cells stood empty.
At that moment Ria ran to Argus and shouted that there was an emergency in the capital. He replied confidently that he knew everything, and that this was the worst possible scenario. Huge monsters had begun attacking them out of the sky.
At that moment Ledman asked Lismeria whether something was wrong. She looked somehow gloomy. "What happened, Lady Wilton?"
Lismeria grew angry and told him to get out of her way. He was behind this, wasn't he?
"Oh my," Ledman said. So she already knew everything. Yes — she had been sniffing around here for a while, but she was too late.
"What are you talking about?" Lismeria asked again.
Ledman replied that what he wanted to say was that today was the day they made their move. They had originally planned it for later, but her investigation had forced them to hurry.
He looked into her eyes terrifyingly.
"I knew at first glance that he would be no less troublesome than your dear brother. He's already discovered the secret passage. He's down there now, isn't he? I want to be rid of the irritant."
She realized the man was a threat, and abruptly began to run.
Then Lismeria turned back with a smile. "Right here. Right now." And she created a bright light in her hand.
"Do you really think you can defeat me?" Ledman asked terrifyingly. He had gained incredible power in his hands.
At that moment he began to laugh loudly — when suddenly someone came up behind them carrying a huge pot. Lismeria was dumbfounded.
Ledman shouted at her to let him show her this. It was his new power.
A moment later there was a loud crack, and Lismeria smiled. She had been saved by Hakama, who had hit Ledman on the head with the pot. He fell to the ground unconscious, and she declared it a victory.
"Where did you come from?" Lismeria asked.
She replied that she was looking for Cedo, because it was a real nightmare outside. They needed his help. And next to her was a girl called Kudo, who had told her she had seen Cedo somewhere around here.
"Is she a new student?" Lismeria asked.
Kudo bowed and cried, "Yes. My name is Kudo Pluta." Was she sure everything was all right? Hitting a teacher and all that was pretty bad.
Hakama replied that she was sure of it, because he hadn't seen their faces. They would just blame it on this young lady. She pointed at Lismeria, who was thinking: what a cheeky country bumpkin.
At that moment Cedo was climbing the steps, and Hakama turned around abruptly, realizing he was there.
"What happened?" Cedo asked.
He immediately saw teacher Ledman lying on the floor, and Hakama reported that a horror was unfolding outside — which Cedo said he knew about. Every distorted one in the laboratory had disappeared, and Lismeria replied in a trembling voice that this meant they were all out there.
At that moment they ran outside and saw a horrific sight. The entire city was ablaze with fire and smoke. Monsters were devouring people alive, and the people were terrified, running in every direction to escape, screaming in pain and terror. The monsters kept on coming, landing right in the city, destroying everything around them. One of them began to roar loudly, and bright beams of light burst from its mouth.
Lismeria exclaimed that they were already inside the capital, and Cedo realized his mistake. He needed to destroy that device immediately.
Hakama called out his name and pointed, yelling for him to look. A huge monster, far taller than the average building in the capital, went on roaring loudly and pouring flame from its mouth. It was aimed at the main castle.
"That enormous monster is attacking the royal castle," Kudo said in a trembling voice.
Lismeria exclaimed that if it was not stopped, the royal family would perish.
Cedo said that this was his mistake, and he would fix it.
He picked up the injection syringe, and the system informed him that with this enhancement he would receive a simplified version of teleportation. He injected it into his arm, and the system continued: with the energy available to the machine, he could use it once a day, and it only worked within line of sight.
But at that moment the monster struck the centre of the castle with a bright beam of light.
Cedo vanished from the girls' sight. He found himself directly in front of the beam, and the system informed him that he could choose the desired location himself. He extended his hand, using the protective barrier to save the kingdom.
Meanwhile people scattered in terror, trying to escape. A subordinate ran to the guild master and reported that a giant distorted one had appeared at the outer wall.
Harden replied that he knew all about it, but there was nothing more they could do. Everyone who could fight was already out there, and he was confident that every Holy Knight still capable of holding a sword was with them.
The subordinate asked what he meant.
He replied that half of the Holy Knights were currently away on missions outside the capital.
The girl cried out in horror and fear.
Meanwhile the monsters had already destroyed half the city, and Harden realized that this was a planned attack, timed for the moment the knights left the city. If only the captain had been here, he could have stopped them. At that moment the monster went on attacking the castle, and Harden lowered his head, realizing that this looked like their end.
The girl pointed her finger out of the window and shouted, "Guild master, look at this!"
He opened his eyes and was stunned to see Cedo defending the castle with his own hands. They realized that this man was doing the impossible.
"He really was from Kodama village after all," the girl exclaimed in surprise, and blushed. She was incredibly happy, and hope appeared in her eyes.
After a while, when the monster realized it had failed to break the castle, Cedo landed and swung his fist at the creature. A bright beam of light shot through the air with incredible speed and destroyed the enemy. One of the monster's heads was destroyed, and Cedo realized that with such a mass it would not be so easy to bring it down completely.
The teleportation had exhausted him even more than he had expected. This time things would not go as usual. In that case, he might need to stretch a little.
He drew his sword, and with a single swing struck the monster with incredible force, making it groan loudly in pain. Cedo leapt clear of the ground and knew that a wound like that would heal in the blink of an eye — but it would be enough to distract it.