Dancing Circles on the Horizon of Events

Flying on energy for 5 minutes.

And landing in the suburbs, walking for 15 minutes......

"Is this North Fortress..."

To the North Fortress, where the Waltz are at their next target point, Atlas, Yuki and Nuru arrived one foot early.

From their perspective, it did not appear that the North Fortress was well shaped, exploded and lost, etc.

… provided that

"Quiet enough, isn't it? Even though the sun is still setting..."

"Right..."

"It's like... you don't have people"

It wasn't closed to snow, and it wasn't extremely cold, but somehow, from North Fortress, there was no sign of people.

That, of course, comes with the prerequisite that as far as the view from the outside of the town walls is concerned… even if we take that into account, there seems to be no mistake that the town is in an abnormal state at a time when there is an examination for the control of entry to the town but there are no soldiers there.

As a result, Atlas said this to the two of them when they put on black gloves for combat that they would not normally wear.

"I'm going to see what's going on inside now. Yuki and Null... what do we do?

Against two women, I don't ask if they're waiting here, alert mode Atlas.

He thought it inappropriate as a statement to the current and former demon kings, even if the danger might await them from now on.

In response to his inquiry like that,

"I'm going!

And Yuki, who answers instantly.

She didn't seem to have a choice but to say so now.

Given that it was herself who created the cause that was to come to this town, I would say it was an inevitable response.

In contrast, the sister Null seemed to think more carefully than the sister.

There was a terribly strong little bird - a mushroom that still sticks to my back cloak - and it seems to be a little lumpy because of the Invisible Jerry thing.

In a situation where I'm not sure, if I behave badly, I'll be in pain, like when I was hunting...

Such concerns would have swirled in her.

Nevertheless, she also wondered whether it was to remain alone on the spot, and she seemed, crumbly, to have decided to act.

"... If Ains is going, I'll go too"

In response to that response, Atlas said

"(Null... you don't like being left alone...)"

Even though I thought so, I didn't speak of it… I wonder if the various difficulties that have been pouring down this way since it was created in this world, thanks to the crisis management abilities that made him wear it….

The three of them then, from the main entrance of North Fortress, seem to have decided to enter the town.

If it is occupied by someone, entering from the front could have been bad… Three people decided that it was unlikely because there were no signs of contention on the journey to this point.

"You don't have one child..."

"You don't have any animals or demons..."

"There seems to be no sign of magic..."

and three people walking slowly north on the town boulevard as if going through a labyrinth full of traps, mindful of the neighborhood.

Then, for a while, we proceeded into a city without lights and came all the way around to the central square surrounded by buildings… Even at night, an eye (camera) visible Atlas raised his voice to see if he noticed something.

"Hey! People are falling over there!

…………

As a result, Atlas tries to rush to the side of those who are falling, even as they guard their surroundings.

But they'll be there, stopping their feet.

Basha......

…… Oh... No, wait!

of the city's central square, plus massive springs of water from the fountain-like places that were in its center (?) blew out and saw the sight wetting the ground in the square...... Atlas stopped for some reason.

That in itself should not have been a major change to take away and point out… nevertheless, he seemed to have a reason why he should stop immediately.

Because I didn't know why, Yuki asked about the situation, with a strange look on his face.

"What is it? There's someone down there..."

"... could be a little awkward"

"" Huh?

"Anyway, back now...... let's move that as high as possible too. And try not to breathe as much as you can!

And Atlas, not saying whether or not to the two of them, grabs their hands and tries to get back on the road they came from...

Flirting...... batan......

The person who was growing tentacles from his back, inside the woman he held his hand, accidentally falls into the spot.

See how it goes...... my sister Yuki raised her voice in surprise.

"Sister Null?!

"Wait, Yuki! After the null thing, first of all, we're getting out of here!

"What the hell...?!

Grr......

Yuki seemed to want to ask Atlas about the situation, but in the end, he seemed to have to shut his mouth on this occasion because he was pulled into his hands, which was a priority to escape above all else.

Then, instead of going out of town...... the two of them came out of the clock stand at that top of the nearest church to the roof of the church.

At that point, Null's consciousness, which was carried by Atlas, seemed to have been completely lost.

Atlas inquired first, against Yuki, who seemed unable to grasp the situation after coming to a place on the roof of the church where the whole town could see.

"Hey, Yuki. Can you breathe? Is it painful or not?

"Huh? Uh... yes. It's no different than usual."

"Well... (The basic workmanship of the body is the same as ours...)"

"How on earth could Sister Null..."

So I crouched down to Null's side, which is laid on the roof of the church, and Yuki, who is checking its condition.

At that time, her hand seemed just a little used to it because she was still studying medicine together at Catalina's?

To her like that, Atlas combined explanations and, conversely, threw questions like this.

"Yuki... you know what gas sulfite is? Or sulphur dioxide..."

"Oh, hey?

"Looks like you're not very good at chemistry..."

And so says Atlas, who smiles bitterly.

But as soon as he regained his serious expression, he began to explain in detail.

"Sulphur dioxide blows out of the ground in volcanoes and such... well, simply put, it's like poison gas. It's heavier than air and has the properties of saving at a lower point... you were surrounded by a house around the fountain earlier? On top of that, the town itself was surrounded by high town walls, and in the first place it had all the conditions that made it easy to accumulate gas. It's just... I'm not sure it's caused by sulphur dioxide. I didn't smell anything in particular. But there's probably a similar poison gas coming out of that fountain... and Null passed out."

Atlas to gaze at null by saying.

Then he muttered like this as he turned his unfortunate gaze towards the township that widened beneath his eyes.

"Too bad... the people of this town are probably already..."

And he shuts his mouth there.

I guess I couldn't say any more words.

Though Yuki also has a sincerely unfortunate look on her face like that... she immediately went back to the rugged look and asked Atlas because of something she still had to do.

"... Will Sister Null be all right?

"If the cause was sulphite gas, and you were in such a high concentration atmosphere that you didn't know the smell, you can't deny the possibility of life-threatening in a few minutes... but it shouldn't have taken a minute for Null to come here after he lost consciousness. I just can't say it's absolutely fine, so maybe I should take you to Catalina's sister for once. But..."

"... Again, we have to get back in the gas... So?

"Ah......"

That's what I said, Yuki and Atlas with a seemingly difficult look.

Apparently, Null's life and death are going to depend on how the two of us behave in the future.