Chapter 49: Fake Stigmata (12)

Thud. With a light landing sound, two girls appeared in the dark underground passage. The dark particles that surrounded the two girls scattered and melted into the darkness.

Regina, quickly getting into position, opened her mouth while guarding all sides so that she could draw her weapon at any time.

“…Where are we?”

“Basement level 2. We broke through the anti-spatial transfer barrier.”

Anti-spatial transfer only prevents spatial movement through magic. It blocks the mana flow between spaces, neutralizing transfer magic.

It’s a superior barrier to the spatial transfer alarm magic spread around the academy… but that only applies to ordinary magic users.

Stigmata cannot be suppressed by ordinary magic. Stigmata has priority over mana usage, so it is not affected by barriers.

“Did you bring all the magic stones needed to dismantle the fake Stigmata?”

“Ah, yes!”

I took out a pocket watch from my pocket. The current time is 7:50. Enter the morgue within 5 minutes, and prepare to touch the fake Stigmata for 5 minutes.

Click.

I closed the pocket watch and held Regina’s hand. My eyes, which were slowly getting used to the darkness, began to recognize the pitch-black underground hallway.

“Anyway, let’s move. We don’t have much time.”

“Yes…!”

The basement of the funeral home is really complicated like a maze. And guarding that maze are guards of at least level 40.

That’s why this morgue infiltration was the most difficult of the early events in Arcana Academy. It was nothing to me, who had already been to the morgue several times.

“Shh.”

“Ugh…”

Placing my index finger on Regina’s lips, I hid behind the corner of the hallway. A half-beat late, the light of the lamp sweeps over the place where we were.

While tightly covering Regina’s mouth, who was startled, I spread my presence. Regina quickly created a small soundproofing barrier around us.

“Two guards right in front. And one guard a little further away.”

Suppressing them is not that difficult. No matter how much they are level 40, at least knight-level, they don’t have Stigmata.

The physical abilities of Stigmata holders are overwhelming compared to non-Stigmata holders of the same level. Moreover, I’m even 9 levels higher than those guards.

However, suppression is really the last resort. Noise might leak out, and if we suppress the guards, they might find out that we came.

“We’ll move when they pass. Got it?”

“Mmm, yes.”

“…”

If I activate the Stigmata a total of 5 times, I can move 50 meters, but for that, there must be nothing blocking between me and the target.

There is a 15-meter difference between the 2nd basement floor and the morgue on the 3rd basement floor, so I couldn’t enter the 3rd basement floor using the Stigmata.

“Regina, do you happen to know the way here?”

“Th, that… it’s my first time here, so… I’m really sorry for not being able to help…!”

“It’s okay. You might not know.”

I know the way anyway. The reason I asked Regina was because I thought I wouldn’t have to explain why I knew the way.

Since she doesn’t know anyway, I was thinking of using Elin-sensei’s name, so it wasn’t a big problem.

“But theeenn… how will we get to the morgue…?”

“Don’t worry. I got a map in advance. When I asked Elin-sensei, she got me a map.”

As we were talking, the footsteps of the guards are getting farther away. It’s time to move now.

I quickly finished speaking.

“I couldn’t bring the map because it’s confidential, but I memorized it all anyway, so it doesn’t matter. So just follow me. Let’s move.”

We, who pressed the hoods attached to our cloaks deeply, kicked off the ground as soon as the light of the lamp disappeared from the hallway.

The place where I am standing now is the outermost part, the starting point of the maze. The place where the morgue is located is the deepest part of the maze. I closed my eyes and recalled the map in the game.

“We’ll turn here.”

It’s a place I’ve been to dozens of times. Finding the way wasn’t that difficult. The problem is, the guards that appear randomly.

“…!”

I stopped urgently and wrapped Regina’s body in my coat. And I turned my body around to avoid the range of the lamp that was shining on us.

However, the guard who was looking this way muttered something suspicious.

“Wait, I think I heard something from this way?”

A moment of silence.

In the heavy silence where even Regina’s heartbeat could be heard, the guard’s footsteps echo in the hallway.

I silently gripped the sword hilt. In the worst case, I was planning to knock them both out.

Dark reddish-brown mana gathered in Regina’s hand. The formula of elaborate sleep magic is engraved in the air.

However, fortunately, we didn’t need to move.

“Don’t deviate from the patrol route for no reason. Don’t you remember that the academy specially told us to be vigilant during the night patrol today?”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

A guard who seemed to be a senior called the guard who was approaching, and they disappeared into another hallway.

I took a breath and opened the pocket watch again.

“We’re almost there, but it’s already been 3 minutes. At this rate, it will be difficult to arrive on time.”

Muttering that, I slowly raised my mana. Because it will be impossible to enter on time if I use the normal method.

It is a maze where the density of guards increases as you go inside.

The intruder of the Dark Cult who will invade a little later will sweep away all the guards alone, but we can’t do that now.

So I hugged Regina tightly in my arms. Regina, who buried her face in my chest, asked in a slightly trembling voice.

“Ugh, then what…?”

“Regina, can you see two soldiers at the entrance of the morgue?”

“Yeess.”

“Can you put them both to sleep for about 1 minute? If they sleep for too long, there’s a high possibility that the Dark Cult guy who will come later will notice.”

“Wait a minute, I’ll create a magic circle…”

Regina drew out her words and gathered mana at her fingertips.

Following Regina’s cute fingers, dark red mana formed in the air. Geometric patterns of dots and lines are connected, and dozens of strokes of the magic circle were drawn in an instant.

“The duration is…1 minute, just enough to make them think they dozed off…right…?”

“Yes.”

The fingers that were finely tuning the magic circle move busily. Because magic with such demanding conditions was more difficult to activate than large-scale magic.

When Regina infused mana into the magic circle, the magic circle disappeared as if melting into the darkness, and the posture of the guards guarding the front of the door collapsed.

The two collapsed as if leaning against the wall. The guards passed by just now, so no one will see us right now. If I pass by in an instant with Blink, it will be a bit dizzy, but it’s a perfect infiltration.

“Regina, it’ll be a bit dizzy, so hold on tight.”

“Yesss…!”

At the same time as the Stigmata engraved on my left hand shone, particles wrapped around our bodies. The space between the spaces folds sharply, and dizziness rushes in.

When the strange floating sensation that wrapped around my whole body ended. Having finished the calculation, I quickly activated the next Stigmata. The space between the spaces stretches out like taffy.

Flicker-

By the time my mind became half dazed from the continuous Blink, we arrived at the entrance of the morgue.

“Ugh?!”

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh, maybe…?”

Regina’s eyes, answering that, were lifeless. The deep red eyes were deeply sunken.

If it were normal, I would have calmed Regina down for a while and then moved again, but unfortunately, we didn’t have time. I said, gently stroking Regina’s back.

“Yes. Let’s do our best just one more time?”

“Wh, Whaaat?!”

I stood two steps away from the door, roughly gauging the space beyond the door, and clenched my left hand.

With a small scream, the dark particles of the Stigmata wrapped around our bodies again.

Regina, as soon as she moved beyond the door, collapsed as if she had fallen. Her red eyes were shaking pitifully.

Regina, who tried to raise her body, collapsed again. She was able to regain her balance only after holding my hand and leaning on me.

“Ugh, I’m sorry…”

“No. I’m more sorry. It’s probably an ability you’re experiencing for the first time, but I think I used it too much.”

Rather, Regina is doing well. When I first used the ability five times in a row, I really threw up everything I ate on the spot.

And even after that, I couldn’t get my balance and lay down in a daze for about an hour.

Compared to that, it’s true that Regina is amazing, who is already driving away the dizziness and trying to walk. But we don’t have time right now.

7:54.

It’s time for Marcus’s fake Stigmata to lose all its mana and be neutralized. The moment the transfer magic circle engraved under his fake Stigmata loses its light, an assassin will depart to destroy the fake Stigmata.

“Regina. We don’t have time, so can I just carry you?”

“…Eh?”

Regina, who was dizzy from the continuous use of Blink, took a little time to understand my words.

“Huuuu…?”

When Regina came to her senses, I was already running down the hallway, carrying Regina in a princess carry.

A cute moan from Regina was heard from my arms.