Chapter 61: Black Cloud
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Sighing to myself as I headed over toward Sidney. That black cloud is ominous and is releasing a dangerous aura. I couldn’t see Sidney inside, but I could hear her moving about so I knew she was at least alive.

“What the hell did you do? I only left for about a minute and that doesn’t look like a barrier.” Called out toward her, I inquired about the situation as I approached.

“That… I’m not entirely sure.” I heard Sidney’s confused voice ring out from inside the black cloud.

Without waiting for her to continue, I partially touched the ominous cloud with a nearby stick.

Frowning as the front portion of the stick instantly disintegrated when it came into contact with the ominous black cloud. Soon, the rest of the stick began to follow.

That’s… certainly interesting. Sidney doesn’t seem to be dead, though. Is there something keeping her safe?

Either way, I dropped the stick before it completely disintegrated in my hand.

Sidney continued speaking. “I attempted to use my ability to removing the corrupted mana and prolong the life of the barrier.”

Finally realizing the extent of the dangerous this presented, I staring dubiously at the black cloud and doubted my own sanity.

Why couldn’t you just follow my instructions and to create a barrier normally?

Is it too difficult to follow simple instructions?

Sidney barely has any understanding of corrupted mana. I literally just told her about its existence… then she went off and did this.

The ignorant truly are fearless. It never even occurred to me that she would attempt something like this.

I wouldn’t even dare to mess around with corrupted mana in such a casual fashion.

There’s absolutely no way using a corrosive ability would be able to destroy the corrupted mana in the atmosphere.

…Or rather, there’s no way it would safely destroy the corrupted mana.

The most accurate comparison of the situation is dropping a lit match into gasoline.

The resulting fire would certainly ‘destroy’ the gasoline eventually… but only after everything in the vicinity had been violently burned in the process.

Thus, overall, attempting to neutralize corrupted mana that way would only make the situation worse.

If corrupted mana was that simple to destroy, the inhabitants of this universe wouldn’t have been forced to abandon their universe and the Redeemers wouldn’t have spent so much effort on the mutation process.

Staring at the ominous black cloud, a sinking feeling spread in my gut. I literally have no idea how to fix this.

I mean, time will fix it.

The fire will eventually burn out.

…but I have no idea if Sidney will still be alive at that point.

The only fortunate part is that there isn’t much corrupted mana in the atmosphere for it to burn through.

The situation would be a far deadlier in Hell Difficulty where the concentration of corrupted mana in the atmosphere is far higher.

My brain only has one response to this situation.

“Did you have to do that?” Voicing out my complains, I berated her. My mind combed through possible solutions while continuing my complaints. “Why couldn’t you have just created the barrier normally?”

The only response I received was a small barely audible, “Sorry...”

Realizing this probably wasn’t the time to be berating her, my brain sped into overload.

First, I need to determine how much time I have to work with.

“What does the situation seems like from inside? Do you have an empty space inside there?” I asked, attempting to figure out the situation and a potential timetable until she’s no longer safe.

“I don’t really know. It’s extremely dark. Should I disable the barrier?” Sidney asked from inside the corrosive black cloud.

“NO!” I yelled instantly in response, my heart almost jumping out of my chest from fright. Before I took a moment to explain and apologized for shouting, “Sorry, no. Definitely don’t disable the barrier. It’s the only thing keeping you alive at the moment.”

Realizing that Sidney didn’t exactly have common sense regarding these sorts of things, I took a moment to list of several rules. “Don’t move around. Don’t disable the barrier… and definitely don’t touch the black cloud.”

Spending another moment to think about it, before I scratched my head and summarized, “Actually, just don’t do anything.”

“Okay…” Sidney said shaken by my panic and I heard her movements inside the barrier stop.

Luckily, it seems that Sidney managed to properly create a barrier before she attempted her experiment. The corrupted mana around her is similar to a fire and is burning up the concentrated mana of the surrounding barrier instead of spreading throughout the area.

The barrier is similar to the fuel of the corrupted mana, disabling it would certainly decrease the time it burns.

…but disabling the barrier would be similar to stamping on a hot coal. The ‘fire’ would spread throughout the area instead of staying concentrated in a small area.

If it was prematurely disabled, Sidney would almost certainly end up dead.

The best situation would be for the ‘fire’ to die out after consuming the barrier as fuel.

Messing with it would only make the situation worse.

While I would love to help, I have no idea how to put water on this proverbial fire.

This isn’t exactly a situation I was expecting to come across, nor a situation I would have any idea how to solve.

While I would probably be able to survive contact with it for a few seconds, Sidney would instantly be killed by the corrosive effect.

That’s the most troublesome part. With Sidney trapped inside the corrupted mana cloud, there’s literally nothing I can do without increasing the probability of her death.

In a controlled environment, I would be able to test out different hypothesis without consequences. This isn’t a controlled environment. One mistake could cost Sidney her life.

Acting is too risky, while not acting is also risky… God-Hunter, do you have any ideas?

Why don’t you try asking Mom for help?

I froze at that suggestion. Not because it was a bad suggestion, but because it had been the suggestion I wanted to avoid thinking about. I had just yelled at Rin for lying to me. Going back literally two minutes later and begging for help is rather pathetic.

You’re going to have to apologize eventually. Unless you’d prefer to let Sidney die first?

I was just hoping that I would be able to delay apologizing longer than two minutes… Gah, fine. Better to get it done quickly.

Tensing my shoulders, I looked back toward the direction Rin. Unlike before, where Rin refused to look at me, Rin was staring straight toward me.

Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, I turned back toward the ominous cloud.

What happened to Rin avoiding looking at me?

Apparently when you confronted her about it, she took notice.

Sending another quick glance toward her, I felt intimidated at her prolonged stare. While Rin is very cute, her expressionless and analytical gaze feels extremely creepy.

Exactly how long has she been staring at me?

Since you yelled at her.

…And you didn’t think to mention it sooner?

Better for Mom to stare than to completely avoid looking at you.

Speechless at God-Hunter’s logic, I decided against arguing the topic. Turning back toward Rin, I indicated for her to come over here.

…and was promptly ignored.

Giving up at calling Rin over, I walked toward her instead. Her gaze followed me the entire way, which made me feel extremely awkward.

Once I arrived within talking distance, I asked about the topic at hand. “Do you know of a way to get Sidney out of that barrier safely?”

Rin didn’t respond for several seconds before nodding.

My eyes lit up in response. While it’s painful to have to ask for help, knowing a solution would be worth it.

But… Rin stayed silent without revealing the solution.

Coughing awkwardly, but Rin didn’t seem to take the hint. Realizing that she didn’t plan on telling me that solution, I took the opportunity to apologize. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have accused you of lying to me. I realize that was inappropriate.”

We continued staring at each other, neither of us said anything. I finally took the opportunity to ask, “I don’t suppose you can tell me the solution to get Sidney out?”

Rin wolf-ears flicked in my direction before she responded with only a single word, “Payment.”

I stared at Rin in disbelief. Weren’t we having a fight? She really wants to do this now?

I don’t particularly mind kissing her, but this isn’t really the time for it.

I hesitantly bargained, “That… Sidney’s life is in danger. Cannot we do that after saving her?”

Rin shook her head and plainly stated. “Payment first.”

It didn’t take me long to decide it would be faster to kiss her than convince her.

Leaning down, I awkwardly press my lips to hers.

She readily accepted the kiss, grabbing the back of my head before forcing her tongue into mouth.

The indescribable sensation of thin waves of electricity formed on my lips and my tongue once again. This time I was far less hesitant and quickly reciprocated by grasping the back of her head.

Enjoying the sensations of the kiss and the taste of Rin’s saliva in my mouth, I was suddenly interrupted by my rude daughter.

Mom and Dad sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

Nearly coughing my lungs out in surprise by the sudden mental attack. I hadn’t expected God-Hunter to randomly interrupt with that children’s lyrical tease.

Rin took jolt as an indication to finish and released me from the kiss.

Did you have to do that?

No, but it was really funny.

Somewhat regretful I didn’t get to enjoy the sensation for longer, I refocused on the task of saving Sidney. “What solution do you have to get Sidney out of the barrier?”

“Have her walk out.” Rin deadpanned while staring straight into my eyes.

What? How is that a solution?

Rin seemed to notice the disbelief on my face and explained further, “Her ability grants her resistance to corrosive effects. She can safely walk out of the barrier.”

Staring back toward the ominous black cloud. In other words… Sidney wasn’t in any danger whatsoever.

There was absolute no reason to ask Rin for help or give her payment.

My face contorted, I’ve been scammed… Although kissing Rin is enjoyable and I wouldn’t mind doing it even without being coerced by imaginary payment, it suddenly felt like I’d been played for a fool.

Glancing back toward Rin, I realized she had a playful expression for the first time.

She obviously knew exactly what she’d been doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rin had lived through a similar scenario and began planning from the moment she noticed the black cloud. That would explain why she was staring at me.

I’d forgotten that I’m dealing with an experienced time traveler. If she wants something, she can quite easily utilize her experience to get it.

But, why bother to go thorough this charade?

Why do I still get the feel that I’m missing something important?

… and, that still doesn’t explain why she was avoiding to looking at me initially.

“Fine, I’m going to go let Sidney know the good news.” I sighed, rubbed my hand atop Rin’s head and set off back toward the corrosive cloud.

Stopping in my tracks, I realized that if I’m going to need to elevate the danger level of Sidney.

With a corrosive effect like this, it’s entirely possible to kill me if used effectively.

I have kidnapped her, regardless of my good intentions letting her have this powerful an offensive ability is dangerous. Especially, considering she’s immune or resistant to it.

Maybe I’ll should tell her to wait for the barrier to dissipate.

Going up to the ominous cloud, I finally called out. “If we wait until the barrier dissipates naturally the danger should be minimal.”

Sorry, Sidney. It's better to wait until we know each other more and you properly develop Stockholm syndrome before I inform you of this particular ability.

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