The lesser onis, filling both sides of the passageway, are pushing each other out of the way.
They must be very hungry.
They are drooling and their fangs are clattering.
「This many…..!」
「It’s okay」
Holding the hem of my shirt, I hugged the trembling Futaba.
Keeping Futaba in front of my chest, I extended my palm on each side of the hallway.
「Ha!」
The freezing magic emitted from both of my hands instantly froze the more than 50 lesser onis.
Then, with a snap of my fingers, the frozen lesser onis shattered into pieces.
「Super powerful instant casting magic!? No chant, no catalyst!? Are you really……oniichan……?」
「I am Futaba’s older brother. It’s just that I became a little stronger.」
「Eh……?」
I patted Futaba’s head, who was furrowing her brow and looked somewhat uneasy. Then, I burned the frozen pieces lying on the right side of the hallway.
「Shall we take a quick detour?」
Futaba silently held my hand as I held hers.
-0-
We turned to the corner of the passageway and found another batch of pods there. Apparently, the equipment maintenance was placed at the center of the floor and pods were lined up around it.
No lesser onis emerged from them. It seems like they had realized there’s no point in sending small fries.
However, that doesn’t mean I’ll just let them go.
These can attack humans.
I don’t even know what they were planning with them.
-0-
I pointed my right palm to the pods and casted a freezing spell.
The magic power shoots up from my right palm and froze the pods and the walls.
The entire floor, except for the area around Futaba and I, was frozen solid.
The surveillance cameras were probably destroyed too.
「C-cold……」
Futaba rubbed her arms and shivered.
We had enough of this floor.
I can’t let my little sister catch a cold.
-0-
I made a hole in the floor again and went down to the floor below.
Upon landing, I broke the ice on the floor above along with all the things it froze.
-0-
Unlike the previous floor that looks something like a warehouse, this floor reminded me of a prison.
There are rooms lining up in a row but instead of iron bars, they were made of thick tempered glass.
The tempered glass is equipped with an anti-magic mechanism.
It was a poor technique from my point of view but they are enough to lock up a lesser oni or something.
-0-
Most of the rooms were empty but I could hear people conversing from the back.
「Hou, are you sure it’s safe?」
「We have reinforced glass that even tanks can’t scratch. They are treated with the best anti magic formula available so you can rest assured.」
I heard two men talking from the back of the room.
I held Futaba’s hand and cast an invisibility spell on us.
「(Don’t let go of my hand)」
I whispered to Futaba and she nodded in response.
I and Futaba, walking without sound, proceeded toward the voices.
-0-
The voices were coming in a room located at the center of the floor.
One of them was a man in white lab coat who looked like a researcher. He doesn’t look old but his chiseled cheeks and bony limbs gave him a very aged appearance.
The other man was a young man whom I had seen somewhere bore but where…..ah! He’s the politician I saw on the news this morning.
And next to him is another man. That man has a shiny bald head. That guy must be a politician too.
-0-
Inside the tempered glass cell where they are staring at is a lesser oni.
He is drooling, punching and headbutting the tempered glass, and opening its wide mouth open as if trying to eat them.
「W-what I want you to show is…..」
「Kukuku….you only need to wait and see」
The bald politician gave the anxious young man a pompous, disgusting smile.
The man in white pressed a button on his hand and the door behind the tempered glass cell opened.
A strange man appeared in the prison cell through the entrance.
