Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

Electra said this as the red claws on all five of her fingers suddenly extended to the length of short knives. She licked the claw of her index finger once before giving Seiwashi a sidelong glance through narrowed eyes. She then swayed slightly and vanished from the spot as though melting into the darkness. But almost immediately after Electra disappeared, the sound of something exploding rang through the area.

“Ahk?!”

Electra reappeared a short distance away, letting out a small cry as though she had been struck by something and knocked backward.

“…W-What? What did you…? Just what in the world did you do?!”

Electra furrowed her brows and glared sharply at Seiwashi, raising her voice as she demanded an explanation while clutching her right hand. The tips of her fingers were emitting wisps of white smoke, as though they had been burned.

“Hm. I wouldn’t recommend carelessly becoming incorporeal and entering that area. As I said earlier, the concentrated mana is currently surging upward there. Though, admittedly, this is the result of combining it with the Earth Knocker, which can manipulate the ley lines. We’re continuously drawing the immense mana of Iroshio up from the earth. In other words, it’s essentially the same as exposing the flow of a ley line directly.”

Seiwashi and Morris grinned and lightly bumped their fists together. Electra silently stared at them with a cold gaze.

“Hm. An astral-based entity such as yourself can’t cross that flow. If you forcibly enter it, your Manas will become trapped in the raging current of the ley line, and rather than returning to the Three Realms, you’ll simply disperse into the far reaches of causality. Being incorporeal makes it even more dangerous. But if you want to try it, by all means, be my guest.”
“……”

Electra silently listened to Seiwashi’s explanation while cautiously surveying the barrier surrounding them.

“And then? What do you intend to do after this? From where I’m standing, it seems to me that you’ve already reached a dead end.”

Electra turned her gaze back toward Seiwashi. She covered her mouth with one hand and chuckled softly, her eyes narrowing with amusement.

“Then we’ll do this!”

Nosori shouted as he raised his hand. Resting in his palm was a small torch-like device that was spitting sparks. He was also wearing a pair of pitch-black protective goggles. And, when one looked closely, everyone else present was wearing identical black goggles.

Electra’s eyes widened in surprise. At that exact moment, Nosori hurled the torch toward the ground with all his strength. The device burst apart with a sharp explosive sound, flooding the entire area with an intense flash of light.

“What?! What is this? Ughhh!!”

Electra raised both arms to shield her face from the blinding light. But the intense flash seemed to pierce straight through even her defenses, filling her entire world with white.
By the time Electra’s vision finally returned, everyone who had been there was already gone.

“…Honestly… what an absurd thing to do…”

Electra narrowed and blinked her eyes several times as she checked her vision, slowly scanning the surroundings. There was no sign of anyone nearby.

“Hmph. So they’re hiding in there?”

Electra turned her gaze toward the wall of the trench and muttered as though she had already seen through their plan. Eventually, she placed her hands on her hips and let her shoulders drop after briefly shrugging them. She released a long, quiet sigh.

“I suppose it can’t be helped… Originally, I intended to surround everyone here so that none of you could escape. But fine. Hide for now. That ridiculous barrier won’t last until sunrise anyway, will it? Either way, you have nowhere to run…”

Electra narrowed her eyes and gently stroked her lips with one finger. The fingertip that had been burned was already completely restored, its skin once again smooth and beautiful. She then snapped her fingers beside her face. Small flames appeared on either side of where Electra stood.

The flames danced and flickered, each roughly the size of a human fist, casting a powerful glow around her feet. Electra gracefully spread both arms as though conducting an orchestra. One flame after another appeared around her, spreading outward from her position. Before long, they formed a ring surrounding the trench, their powerful flames flickering as though determined not to let anything escape their notice.

Electra gazed at the flames with satisfaction. Once again, she brought one pale finger toward her lips and slowly ran her red tongue along it.

“…The next time we meet, I’ll drain every last bit of you. You have that to look forward to.”

Electra threw her head back and laughed. Then her body blurred and vanished into the darkness of the forest. Only the echo of her laughter remained, lingering between the shadows of the trees.

◇

“Hm. I feel a chill for some reason.”
“Ahhh-yeah, I-I kind of understand that somehow. It’s definitely a love call…”

Seiwashi hugged his own shoulders and shuddered.

“Man… that was a close one.”
“Indeed. We barely made it.”
“Hm. It seems she decided to let us off for now. That’s fortunate.”

The three professors sat down inside the trench and breathed sighs of relief. Hearing this, Norman removed the protective goggles they had forced him to wear and adjusted his crooked glasses, staring at them in astonishment.

“What are you talking about?! You three were completely dominating her the entire time!”

Morris sighed before answering.

“Not exactly. We were cutting it pretty damn close. Right, Seiwashi?”
“Hm. If she’d used that Flame Storm she fired at us earlier, there’s no doubt that the barrier would have been breached. If she’d used that, we’d have been reduced to charcoal. We were fortunate that she wanted to capture us rather than simply kill us.”
“And those fangs she scattered around would have been a problem too if she’d managed to place them outside the Earth Knocker’s effective range!”
“Hm. And more importantly, that barrier could only have been maintained for another ten minutes at best. Either way, we were already doomed.”
“Th-That’s…”
“The Astral Flash Grenade I used at the end worked, too! I brought it along as a way to blind Demonic Beast, but it seems it’s quite effective against astral-based monsters as well! Uhyohyohyo!”
“Of course, it only worked because I caught her by surprise,” Nosori added with a laugh.
“Hm. Regardless, I think we should take care of what we can while we have the opportunity. Joseline, come over here. This is a job suited to you.”
“Huh? A job that’s suited to me?”
“Hm. And, Spear Boy, could you lie down here?”
“Me?”
“Hm. Your wounds have only been closed. You’re nowhere near fully healed. I imagine it’s all you can do just to remain standing, isn’t it?”
“…Y-Yes… you’re right. B-But…!”
“Hm. Never mind that. Just lie down already. And Joseline, he’s your knight, isn’t he? You should treat him yourself.”
“Whaaat? Professor, I’ve been telling you this whole time that I don’t have any Mana left!”
“Hm. That’s why I prepared this for you.”
“Why are you putting a bracelet on me?! A-And this bracelet has a chain attached to it! Now I look like someone who’s been captured!! It’s a chain, but it’s a pretty thin one.”
“There’s no need to make such a fuss. It’s just a small chain.”
“Hm. That chain is connected to the Mana Gathering System. We’ll supply Mana according to your own magical capacity, so you’ll be able to devote yourself entirely to healing. There are a great many wounded people here, so I’d like you to keep going as quickly as possible.”
“Huh? Whaaat?! W-Wait a minute! Does this mean I can’t move from here?!”
“Hm. Obviously. At least until there are no more seriously injured people who are unable to move, you should assume that you won’t have any time to rest.”
“Eek! Fuhh?! There are more than twenty seriously injured people here, aren’t there?!”
“The specialized holy-rank practitioner is gone. Even if the magic-users handle the healing, their Mana is limited, isn’t it?! And there’s only a limited supply of medical patches! You’ve got no choice but to work extra hard Joseline!”
“N-No way! I haven’t slept at all! I’ve been up all night! Does this mean I don’t get to rest at all?!”
“Does that really matter? Everyone here is in the same situation! Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re the only one who gets to rest!”
“Hm. The three of us can’t leave this place either, since we’re adjusting the mana flow of the Mana Gathering System to match your mana’s properties. So you’ll have to keep healing people from right there.”
“Besides, the Vitality Charge spell I use to increase healing power consumes a lot of magical energy for the effect it provides! It’s extremely inefficient!”
“That’s why we’re supplying you with magical power! Don’t worry about your reserves! Use as much mana as you need and do your job until you collapse!”
“You don’t have time to play around, Assistant!”
“Hm. We’ll have you work hard.”
“Y-You three professors are heartless monsters!!!”

Within the dimly lit trench, the brass-colored chain began to glow, illuminating the surrounding area. And through it all, Joseline’s anguished cries continued to echo.