-25- Ninety seconds of redemption
"One day in the future, Rozen will definitely give this evaluation to his present self:
'This is the first and last time I pushed myself beyond my physical limits to rush.'
No matter how tired and weak his body is, the anxiety in his heart drives Rozen to run desperately towards the Central Control Room. He is so anxious that he doesn't even have the energy to summon his familiar to help him, and can only keep pushing forward.
In 240 seconds, the central area's isolation wall will be completely sealed. If he doesn't reach the central area before that, Rozen won't be able to enter, and he won't be able to be with his adorable junior.
Therefore, at this moment, all that's left in Rozen's heart is regret. Why did he leave the control room? Why did he go looking for Lev?
He had already made up his mind to stay by that girl's side. If he were still there...
"Damn it...!"
Realizing that his thoughts were turning negative due to anxiety, Rozen quickly shook his head to dispel the negative emotions along with the sweat dripping from his forehead.
Now is not the time for self-blame. Finding Mash is the most important thing to do now.
Driven by his emotions, Rozen is determined to use all his strength, even if it means pushing beyond his limits, to rush towards the Control Room.
Suddenly, a booming sound erupts, and the entire Chaldea is seemingly shaking as an alarm starts blaring.
"Emergency situation detected. Fire outbreak in the Central Power Plant and Central Control Room."
"The power generation has ceased, and the backup power has malfunctioned. Staff, please manually switch to backup power."
"90 seconds until complete isolation of the central area. Staff in the central area, please evacuate to the Second Gate as soon as possible."
Listening to the alarm, Rozen finally snaps back to reality.
"Mash!"
Rozen yells loudly while running into the raging fire, disregarding the rising temperature.
As he runs, he sees several coffin-like capsules, the Control Pods, tilting and scattered around like fallen pillars. Inside each pod, a Master lies unconscious.
Seeing this, Rozen starts to understand. These Masters had already entered the Control Pods when the fire occurred. Most likely, it was Olga Marie's command. Even though Rozen had left the Control Room before the operation, she wouldn't delay such an important mission just because of him. She must have continued with the Rayshift preparations while seething with anger.
Thanks to this decision, the Masters inside the Control Pods are likely still alive, protected by the pods' mechanisms.
So, Mash probably is in one of them and not dead because of the fire.
Thinking this, Rozen is thankful for Olga Marie for the first time and changes his focus to finding the location of Mash's Control Pod.
However, this time, Rozen guessed wrong.
"Fou!"
While desperately searching for Mash's Control Pod, a familiar voice calls out to him, and Rozen turns to see a white creature standing on a piece of debris.
"Fou? How did you end up here?"
Rozen can't help but be surprised. Normally, Fou would never appear in front of others, let alone in the Control Room filled with Chaldea's personnel and Masters."
"Fou!"
Ignoring Rozen's astonishment, Fou continues to call out and runs in a certain direction.
Seeing this, Rozen's heart stirs.
"Could it be..."
Rozen rushes towards the direction where Fou went.
After a short while, Rozen stops again.
His mind turns blank.
"Fou!"
Fou is calling from under a massive block of concrete.
But it's not towards Rozen, it's towards the girl trapped under the concrete, her lower body already covered in a pool of blood.
"Sen...pai...?"
The girl's voice sounds like a fragile bubble about to burst, incredibly ethereal.
The person Rozen desperately searched for seems to have sensed his arrival. She lifts her head with great difficulty and looks in his direction.
Her glasses are broken.
Her once serious eyes can't focus.
With her pupils dilated and seemingly unable to see clearly, her eyes meet Rozen's empty stare, leaving his mind devoid of any thoughts.
Half a second later, Rozen can't help but cry out.
"Why didn't you get inside the Control Pod, Mash?"
He shouts as he rushes to Mash's side.
However, Mash doesn't seem to feel any pain and smiles instead.
"Because, senpai said he would be back soon..."
That's right.
In order to wait for Rozen, Mash didn't get into the Control Pod to prepare for the Rayshift and became a victim of this sudden fire.
Rozen clenches his fist, grits his teeth, and can only pant heavily, trying to suppress his intense emotions.
"I'll get you out first!"
After saying this, Rozen activates the magic circuits within him, causing his magical power to surge.
"Summon Ants!"
This is one of the three middle-level magic spells Rozen has learned, which allows him to summon middle-level familiars.
The surging magical power forms a magic square, summoning large ant-like creatures the size of dogs.
The ants emit a screeching sound as they rub their fangs together, sounding like nails scratching glass.
Rozen controls each ant, spreading them around the massive block of concrete to start moving it.
"Boom!"
With more than ten ants working together, they display incredible strength and push the massive block of concrete, larger than a room, rolling into the fire, causing a deafening roar.
"Senpai...?"
"Don't talk! I'll get you out now!"
Rozen squanders the last of his strength, intentionally avoiding looking at Mash's miserable lower body, and prepares to lift her.
As long as he can get Mash out, Rozen believes his lazy older brother, who is probably in a panic right now, will find a way to save her.
With that last glimmer of hope, as Rozen prepares to carry Mash to the automatic door of the Control Room...
"Isolation wall activated."
"Central area sealed."
In the cold, heartless announcement, the automatic door's upper, lower, left, and right sides rise separately and tightly close, sealing the Control Room.
Rozen stops for the third time.
Staring at the sealed automatic door, he is left speechless.