Chapter 60

A dance of doll-like flames roared and surged wildly.

Fireballs exploded in every direction, igniting anything they touched into a blazing inferno.

From beneath the earth, a muddy torrent erupted. The rushing water overflowed with unstoppable momentum, indiscriminately washing away any objects in its path.

A tornado born at the center of the chaos crackled, cloaked in bursts of plasma. Nearby buildings were stripped of their facades, crumbling as they were sucked into the vortex.

Within the gale, flickers of white and black light manifested, firing beams in all directions. Wherever those beams struck, gaping holes were left behind.

A single tree split the ground and began to sprout. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a massive tree as tall as a skyscraper, its thick foliage veiling the moonlight.

Witnessing this sequence of supernatural phenomena, I offered a standing ovation.

“Isn’t this the best? We should post this on social media with a hashtag. It’d be trending in no time.”

It was truly impressive, considering all of this had originated from a single bomb.

The true identity of that bomb was a collection of Spirit Stones. I had planted them in the basement of our base.

And it wasn’t just any bomb. It was a custom-made explosive that luxuriously utilized Spirit Stones of seven different attributes. I had rigged it so that upon detonation, an excess of mana would be supplied, causing each Spirit Stone to explode in a synchronized chain reaction.

Apparently, this was a feat that should have been absolutely impossible. Different attributes were supposed to repel one another, preventing their effects from manifesting properly. Even an exceptional mage was said to have a limit of wielding two or three attributes simultaneously. Mixing seven attributes together was nothing more than a pipe dream.

In my case, however, I could achieve it easily thanks to [Bomb Manufacturing EX++]. Because of the skill I gained through the world-summoning, any bomb I make is guaranteed to be a success. This Spirit Stone bomb was the ultimate realization of that trait.

This entire trap was merely a setup to lure Michael and his group to the base. Our current location wasn’t the base itself, but one of the buildings surrounding it. Expecting them to head for the central hub, we had moved our waiting area.

It was only natural. I’m not kind enough to wait dutifully in an obvious location. It made much more sense to use the place as a trap.

After all, my greatest method of attack is the bomb. By catching an opponent off guard, I can blow them away before they even have a chance to activate something like time-stop magic.

This time, too, Michael and the others didn’t seem to have sensed it in advance. Furthermore, they were in an underground space where immediate evacuation was impossible. Normally, they would have been erased without a trace, dying instantly.

But if it’s Michael, he’s definitely still alive. My intuition as a Bomber whispered it to me. It was too early to relax.

“Well then, did you enjoy the show?”

I checked the monitors. There were no signs of life around the base, which had been turned into a scorched wasteland. So far, everything was going according to plan.

Next, I checked the other screens in order. For some reason, more than half of them were showing signs of interference. The image quality had suddenly dropped, and heavy static flickered across the displays.

“Hey, give me a break. A malfunction at a time like this?”

“Looks like the mana is being disrupted by the Spirit Stone bomb. It’ll take some time for things to recover,” Alice remarked.

“Good grief. I guess we just have to be patient, then.”

Swallowing my complaint, I persistently searched for Michael and the others. As I glared at the countless monitors, I finally spotted a silhouette that looked promising.

I narrowed my eyes and focused.

He was on the rooftop of a building about fifty yards away from the remains of the base. Michael was cradling a corpse. Looking closer, it was the dark-skinned woman. Parts of her limbs and face were missing; it was only because of her clothes and the remaining silver hair that I could even tell who she was.

That was the state she was in.

No other people had entered the area. It was unlikely to be a decoy or a body double used for a sneak attack. In other words, that was undeniably her.

‘I finally managed to kill two of his companions…’

It had taken more effort than expected. The fact that they had responded in their own way was a major factor. For an ad-libbed defense, they’d done quite well. However, while their movements weren’t bad, their opponent and the environment were worse. It was simply the end of their luck for challenging the absolute worst Bomber imaginable. I felt a fleeting sense of something like sympathy.

Having laid the body down, Michael stood still. His defenseless posture suggested he was likely consumed by grief. The shock was simply too great.

Alice, sipping her tea, stared intently at Michael on the screen. “What do you think he’ll do?”

“He’ll be out for blood, searching for us. Right now, he’s become a literal demon of revenge.”

The repeated psychological damage couldn’t be ignored. Michael’s mind was on the verge of snapping. No, it might have already started to break. This, too, was exactly as I’d calculated. If you break someone’s heart, their judgment clouds, and they resort to short-sighted actions. Simply put, it makes their next move easy to predict. There was a chance he might lose all restraint and go on a rampage, but either way, that was just a fast track to ruin. It remained beneficial for me regardless.

Michael stood up and abruptly vanished. An instant later, he appeared on another screen, wandering the area while shouting something. He was probably screaming curses or grievances at me. After trashing the area for a bit, Michael vanished again and moved to a different location. He continued his search by repeating this process.

He clearly wasn’t worried about pacing himself. He was spamming his time-stop. It seemed he was searching for us with a frantic, life-or-death desperation.

“Ah, he finally snapped.”

I sat back in my chair and watched Michael’s struggle as a bystander. While snacking on the tea treats on the table, I watched everywhere he went. At this rate, he would find us eventually. I doubted it would take much time.

Five minutes later.

Inside a certain building, Michael discovered a massive metal box. Each side was a little over ten yards, a size that completely occupied the room.

“Jack.”

“Looks like he finally found it.”

I looked away from the monitor. I could hear footsteps from outside the room. I felt a human presence—one accompanied by an intense murderous intent.

Immediately after, an impact echoed from the wall. On the screen, Michael was kicking the side of the box. However, the wall didn’t have a single scratch on it. This metal box was a shelter made by Alice. It used dragon materials and magical metals without restraint. It boasted durability on par with the Golem Car; it wasn’t something that could be destroyed with a kick.

‘Well, I’m sure there’s a way through…’

I looked up and stopped checking the monitors. It was no longer the stage for surveillance. He was right there.

Just then, the wall of the room made a strange noise. Before I knew it, cracks were spiderwebbing across it, and countless bulges formed on the surface. It was as if it had been struck hundreds of times from the other side of the door. No, that’s exactly what had happened. Michael had done it while time was stopped.

In a frozen world, the shelter’s functions were neutralized. The defensive features didn’t trigger. I had already guessed this was the case when my bombs were disarmed or the Golems were destroyed. Therefore, it wasn’t much of a surprise that the shelter was being breached. With time-stop, it wasn’t a difficult task.

Eventually, the wall groaned and split, slowly being pushed over from the other side. Clutching his magic sword, a battered Michael forced his way into the shelter.

“……”

Blood was trickling from Michael’s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. His eyes weren’t focused, and it was clear at a glance that he was barely standing. However, within that gaze, I could see a terrifying obsession. It was a murderous intent laced with madness. That was what was keeping the heavily wounded Michael on his feet.

In response, I wrapped my arm around the shoulder of the sleeping red-haired girl and pressed my handgun against her temple. Maintaining that posture, I greeted Michael.

“Yo, I was getting tired of waiting. Did you enjoy the present I sent you?”