I Became the Mastermind Who Betrays the Heroines-Chapter 75 - Crimson Flame (6)

[Translator - Peptobismol]

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Chapter 75 - Crimson Flame (6)

[EP.10 Slave Traders]

—Crashing waves, Sinking Iron Cages—

Originally, this episode didn’t begin with a kidnapping.

The main characters had gone on a school trip to the sea.

Regia, Irene, and Charlotte.

The three of them were enjoying a late-night walk when they happened upon slave traders’ wagons by chance.

Determined to help, they began tailing the wagons.

Eventually, they made it to a massive transport ship loaded with supplies.

—What… What should we do?

—It’ll take a while for the professors to arrive…!

—The ship is about to set sail.

—This is our only chance.

—Yes. If we hesitate, they’ll leave.

—Let’s go.

The children boarded the ship and launched into battle.

Panicked soldiers flocked toward them.

At the time, Regia’s abilities were still unstable, but the other two were at a fair level, so the threat was manageable.

Unnamed withdrew the moment he saw Charlotte’s face.

—There’s no need to get entangled with the princess.

—Hound… I regret to say our alliance ends here.

Thanks to his quick betrayal, the difficulty was lowered.

Even though the hound put up a fierce fight, the children banded together and finally took him down.

Just when they thought it was all over…

BOOM!!

A deafening explosion echoed.

The transport ship was rigged to sink automatically if the hound, its overseer, died.

It was a failsafe to prevent enemies from seizing the ship or supplies.

The vessel, badly damaged, slowly began descending into the sea.

—We have to escape, now!

—The ship is sinking too fast!

—These lunatics…!

—There are still innocent people trapped below!

—We’re running out of time.

—At this rate, we’ll go down with it.

The children tried their best, but exhausted as they were, they couldn’t save everyone.

Crashing waves.

Sinking iron cages.

They could only watch helplessly as it all unfolded.

It was hardly a happy ending.

This ordeal pressed hard on the main characters, but later became a crucial foundation for their growth.

The classic path of growth through failure.

‘But… it was just too cruel.’

They’d shown the three of them, completely broken down, in brutal detail.

No matter how many attempts were made, the ship couldn’t be saved.

The story could only progress if they took down the boss, the hound.

Attempts were made to dismantle the detonation spell, but with hundreds of intertwined circuits, it was no easy feat.

And there wasn’t just one; the spells were spread evenly across the ship.

‘It was practically inevitable.’

It would have been the same for anyone.

As exceptional as they were, they were still students who hadn’t even gone through their coming-of-age ceremony.

Which made it all the more disheartening.

The image of those kids, tears streaming down their faces, came to mind again and again.

‘Poor things.’

I clicked my tongue in frustration.

Shaking off these thoughts, I felt a hand tugging on my sleeve.

It was Irene, leaning against me.

“W-Wait… Did I hear that right? The ship is sinking…?”

The fox looked up at me in shock, her black eyes trembling.

It seemed the word “sinking” had startled her.

With a shaky voice, she asked,

“Is… is the ship really going down…?”

Just as it seemed the crisis had passed, an even bigger problem awaited.

For her, this must have felt like a bolt from the blue.

I answered calmly.

“It hasn’t happened yet.”

“He said it’ll explode within thirty minutes. If we don’t free everyone now…”

“Miss Irene. Calm yourself.”

“But we’re running out of time…!”

“Shh.”

I placed a finger to her lips.

Her panicked words halted, and she slowly began to steady her breathing.

Like a dwindling flame, she gradually calmed down.

After a moment, Irene lowered her head.

“...Is this my fault too?”

Her muttered words were filled with anguish.

Was she blaming herself?

It was her hand that had cut down the hound.

Her action, intended to protect everyone, had triggered a self-destructive end.

No wonder she felt dazed.

I denied her question firmly.

“It’s not.”

I placed my hand atop her head.

With a playful intent to reassure her, I tousled her auburn hair.

Her unfocused eyes looked up at me.

“This time, it’ll be different.”

I spoke confidently.

Then, gently prying the fox away from me, I helped her sit on the floor.

As if to tell her to wait for just a moment.

“I’ll take care of it.”

Snap!

I snapped my fingers.

With shadows cloaking my fingertips, my senses sharpened as they spread outward.

I could feel traces of foreign mana throughout the ship.

Ding!

[Current remaining power: 20.2%]

About 20% of my power remained.

Though much was already used, there was barely enough to handle this.

‘There are seventy explosive spells prepared on the ship.’

If about five were to go off, the ship would still hold, so in truth, only sixty-five needed to be dismantled.

An intricate design of hundreds of interconnected circuits.

One wrong move, and all seventy would explode at once.

To disable the spell, all sixty-five needed to be disarmed simultaneously, with zero margin for error.

‘First, I need a clear view.’

The spells were evenly scattered across the lowest level of the ship.

To solve the issue simultaneously, I needed to stand in a spot where all seventy were within sight.

I clapped my hands together swiftly.

Clap!

In the next moment, I was standing in midair a short distance from the ship.

Black waves surged beneath my feet.

With the ocean wind in my ears, I gazed down at the massive vessel.

“…”

After a brief breath, I slowly lifted my eyelids.

As my white pupils revealed themselves, the world of mana appeared before my eyes.

I focused on the ship with a steady gaze.

Vuuuuum—!

I could feel it.

The steady pulse of mana flowing within.

Hundreds of circuits intertwined, forming tens of thousands of interconnected lines.

I raised a single finger, pointing at their center.

“Illuminate.”

The threads of mana in the air became vivid.

Carefully, I maneuvered my fingertips, pulling away the web of circuits like strands in a spider’s web.

It required delicate control, a focus so precise it was harder than threading a needle from afar.

Taking a steady breath, I continued seeking the core of the circuits.

Ding!

[Current remaining power: 15.4%]

Ding!

[Current remaining power: 12.1%]

Ding!

[Current remaining power: 9.7%]

My power was rapidly draining.

In this razor-edged tension, I searched for a single flaw among the resonating circuits.

Before long, I found it.

Amidst the circuits lay a shining core, a gleaming heart within layers of spells.

Without hesitation, I pointed my finger toward it.

Pouring all my remaining power into a single virtual bullet, I shot it toward the heart, carried by the gusting wind.

With a shimmering mirage trailing behind it—

“Shatter.”

I whispered the spell.

“Blackout.”

Immediately.

Pop!

A soft sound escaped, and darkness shot forward.

The speeding projectile pierced the core of the star-like heart.

At once, the circuits began to darken, their once-brilliant light snuffed out.

Mana connections were severed, nullifying the spells.

Thud, thud—

Though the time limit had passed, only faint echoes remained.

No changes came over the ship.

‘It’s done.’

The moment I could finally exhale in relief—

A familiar mechanical sound chimed.

Ding!

[Current remaining power: 0%]

A blue screen appeared before my eyes.

Blood spurted from my mouth in a heavy cough.

“Kuek…!”

Blood stained my sleeve, dark as ink.

The sensation of floating vanished, and my body began to fall from the sky.

As I watched the rapidly approaching water below, a thought belatedly struck me.

‘Ah.’

I’d overdone it.

Splash—!

A fierce impact struck as icy water engulfed my body.

My vision blurred, and though I knew I had to surface, my body wouldn’t obey.

My eyelids grew heavy and began to close.

‘This is bad… if it ends like this…’

My consciousness drifted away.

In the fading darkness of my sight…

Clasp—

A hand grasped mine as I sank.

A last glimpse of flowing auburn hair.

And I closed my eyes.

***

Some time later.

Back on the ship’s deck.

Two figures, drenched and soaked, lay sprawled across the cold planks.

They looked as if they’d just come up from the sea.

“Wake up…!”

A golden-haired boy lay unconscious.

His body was limp, motionless.

He wasn’t breathing.

The fox, her face pale, was pressing down on his chest.

Her movements carried a desperate urgency, giving him CPR.

“No… you can’t die like this.”

Though exhausted, the girl’s hands didn’t falter.

Tears welled in her eyes, falling as she grasped his jaw.

Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his, breathing her own breath into him.

A faint flush of color returned to his face.

“Hah… hah…”

Irene panted heavily.

Lowering her head, she repeated the artificial breaths again and again.

The desperate act of a beast fighting to save her master.

***

I awoke…

Two days later.

[Translator - Peptobismol]

[Proofreader - Demon God]