Antagonist Protection Service

At the same time, the drifting islands rushed forth, the continued acceleration carrying them further, faster with each second that passed.

Consequently, the lands of ice and fire in the distance grew closer, but they were yet too far away to be relieved.

RUMBLE~!

"Tch..."

With the constant quaking of the islands beneath their feet from whatever that unseen threat hidden within the plasma was, it was being made abundantly clear that a timer had been set, and although there was no proof to confirm the suspicion, John Pierce had a feeling it wasn't solely a matter of completing the Objective.

That is, even before they let the islands reach their destination, they could 'fail'.

And, at least in the later stages of the Tower, there was no question what 'failure' actually meant.

It was not possible for Challengers to exit the Floor in the middle of an emergency scenario, at least not through ordinary means―that's why they had to be certain if they would take on the next Floor or not, the next Objective or not, as there was simply no telling what might occur.

Putting your life on the line, assuming you planned on surviving, required at least that level of foresight, after all.

Here was no different.

'――We need to move.'

Understanding that idling here until they reached the pocket worlds, although it appeared safe enough for the moment, could result in the tables being turned on them at any moment, John Pierce narrowed his gaze.

Sparing a final glance up at their destination, he estimated the time it should take to arrive. Assuming the rate of acceleration remained the same all the way, and that no other obstacles popped up before then...

Fifteen minutes, give or take.

Needless to say, that was the most optimistic measurement. If the acceleration of the drifting islands capped out at any point, or if something unforeseen happened to give pause to the islands in their journey, then naturally, that approximation would only increase.

Either way, it was good enough.

"You two, go down the islands as far as you can. If the monster comes up, I'll buy enough time for us; the moment those mountains over there get close enough, we jump ship immediately, you hear?"

Without arguing, the two companions both nodded.

They had all worked together for long enough now to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses and all understood that John Pierce was the right man for the job according to the circumstances, and perhaps more importantly, pointlessly arguing against him now would never be an action that worked in their favour, neither to function as an efficient group nor to help them survive the current predicament.

Thus, Anders and Sophie made their swift descent, the process of climbing down the island unsurprisingly much faster than the reverse.

Watching the tops of their heads quickly disappear behind the rolling dirt hills of this 'vanguard island', John Pierce immediately turned his attention back to the raging river of plasma that surrounded it, or more precisely, the frankly erroneous creature that inhabited it.

"Phoenix!"

Holding onto the azure spear planted into the ground with one hand, John Pierce outstretched the other and called upon his spirit, causing a modest burst of crimson flames to erupt from that palm―one that rapidly moulded to take the shape of an eagle-sized bird perched on his arm.

Thereafter, the spawned creature stretched its wings of fire and took flight, soaring into the air "above" and seemingly only managing to keep pace with the rapidly-accelerating islands.

RUMBLE~!

At the same time, another deep-rooted impact rocked the ground beneath John Pierce's feet, causing his gaze to subconsciously flicker down to where his comrades had just descended below.

Nevertheless, he couldn't let himself be distracted―reminding himself that they would be safe no matter what, and firmly grasping the spear to stabilise his feet, he reached his unoccupied hand up to his left eye, which upon further examination appeared to have acquired a blazing red hue at some unnoticed point.

Consequently, his vision distorted, and just like that, half of what he was seeing changed as if he was falling.

Rather, it was that he shared the sight of his soaring familiar.

And it really was just in time.

BANG--BANG--BANG--BANG--!!

A thunderous cacophony resembling a firework show resounded throughout the empty void once again, and as it did, John Pierce sensed a movement in the air that had grown unusually heavy.

At least from where he stood, it certainly wasn't visible, but fortunately for him, that's not all he could see.

Thus, his eyes widened, and――

"Hk-!?"

"―――"

In one instant, the world turned silent.

The creature entered his sight, yet he couldn't see it.

Even through the borrowed eye of the soaring Phoenix, the opposing monster was 'visibly not there'.

However, he could indeed sense it. Through his own honed senses, the immense pressure in the air, but more importantly, through the Phoenix's vision of magic energy.

...So that was what Anders had meant by 'not the type to welcome physical attacks'.

Zzt.

"!!"

――BOOOM!

In the blink of an eye, the entirety of the front-running island exploded, following an unfairly brief warning of flickering electricity.

John Pierce had just barely caught the precursor, and within that single moment, jumped back to fling himself off of the island, shielding himself with an arm of the white armour that surrounded him, and grabbing onto the feet of the Phoenix that moved hastily to catch him.

All of that happened before he himself realised it, his body moving on its own, and although the sudden attack was certainly vicious, it was fortunate that the area only seemed to cover the surface of the island.

In a sense, it was only thanks to the gravity being so out of wack here that he could jump away and fall down at the same time, moving away in two directions just quickly enough to narrowly avoid the brunt of the eruption that would have otherwise devoured him.

Only, now, it was impossible to return to the same island without still being affected by the aftershocks, as evident by the arcs of electricity jumping between the dirt hills that remained.

The worry of his teammates also naturally coursed through him, but he was confident enough time had passed for them to descend to at least the next island down, if not further.

Furthermore, with this bird's eye view of the tethered islands, John Pierce noticed something slide over the electrified island he had just escaped.

It was very slight, almost imperceptible, but he could definitely sense it.

A huge, faint shadow in the shape of a giant worm, or perhaps an eel―likely representing the location of that unseen monster's "true body", if it even had one.

"Tsk..."

Even just looking at it, he didn't think there was much he could do.

Not because it was so large―he had managed to slay even the giants of the desert without much trouble, as well as that Leviathan, after all.

Not because it was phantom―even if physical attacks didn't work, he indeed possessed certain ways of skirting such enemy defenses, magical-bodied creatures like those weren't at all invincible.

Not even because it was too dangerous―hadn't he already confirmed it was possible to avoid the attack if he paid enough attention and reacted in time?

Rather, it was an unfortunate combination of all of the above.

All of those three things were individually easy to deal with. But together? That was a whole different story, not to mention the environment itself being so unfriendly...

More importantly, there was nothing dictating that killing this monster was necessary.

All he needed to do was buy time until they could jump ship to those upcoming pocket worlds―and speaking of which...

'They're closing in. Not long no--'

"...!"

At that moment, John Pierce truly began to fall.

Interrupting his insignificant inner thoughts, he felt something extraordinarily heavy hit his back, an impact like nothing he had ever experienced that penetrated even the sturdy white armour he had relied on with his life ever since he first Awakened.

Not only that, but the impact continued, ripping all the way through his torso and exploding out the other side in one smooth instant, a small hole in his chest being all there was to show for it.

It was as if he had been shot in the back.

Naturally, blood pooled in his mouth and leaked without concern for his well-being, he coughed and sputtered it all up from the lungs he was only half sure were unharmed, whatever had hit him evidently having threaded the needle between them.

Simultaneously, his hand holding desperately onto his Phoenix familiar suddenly lost a tremendous amount of its strength, causing him to have, well, nothing left to grasp, nor even the capacity to, leaving the bird in the proverbial dust as he slipped away from its talons.

Like that, he fell.

Past the phantasmic eel-like monster that almost obliterated him just seconds prior, past the chain of tethered islands that was home to this 39th Floor's first Objective, and past even the endlessly flowing, chaotic river of plasma that brought them all the way up here.

Into the unfathomable depths of the void below, never to be found.