Shwaaaaak.
The ceiling rapidly approached.
No, I was falling toward the ceiling.
The sky becoming the ground and the ground becoming the sky was utterly strange.
Had this been before I obtained dark energy, I likely would have vomited from dizziness.
Fortunately, my body and mind, strengthened by dark energy, quickly adapted to the inverted world.
["I won't be able to maintain this for long. Since I have inverted gravity through a makeshift method without recovering all my memories, you had best assume there is a time limit."]
Sopeu had said there was a time limit and that moving freely was impossible, but for me, this much was enough.
Instead of shooting magic while looking up at the ceiling, being able to fight toe-to-toe with the enemy was an entirely different story.
As the ceiling drew near, I could see holes drilled through it.
The holes clearly connected to the surface had been made by the Control Subject.
Many holes still had pipes stuck in them, but more than half had been torn away, leaving only empty gaps.
The torn-out pipes swayed downward, pouring out humanoid monsters.
Those pipes were transforming into tentacles.
As the ceiling approached, I stretched out my hand and cast a spell.
"Air, gather. Push away. Air Rocket!"
Air collected from the surroundings shot toward the ceiling through my outstretched palm.
Kwaaa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
Like the palm wind of martial arts novels, wind burst forth from my palm.
Clunk.
My speed rapidly decreased.
From free-fall speed, down to the speed of falling from a three-story height.
It was a speed that would have been dangerous for an ordinary person, but for me, it was safe.
Tak.
I landed on the ceiling as if jumping down from a stair step.
The ceiling, seen upside down, was extremely strange.
It looked like cheese full of holes, or the pockmarked skin of a person.
Many pipes still remained, and holes vomited white blood.
Beyond that, a gigantic black monster was transforming the dangling pipes into tentacles.
The monster hadn't noticed me yet.
I had used magic to suppress my presence as much as possible, but more than that, it was because I was small.
That was how great the gap was between me and the Control Subject.
To a monster the size of a small hill, I would be less than an ant.
Charging in to directly attack a monster of that size was no different from attacking an armored opponent with a toothpick.
So I decided to attack something else.
Tatatata.
I ran across the ceiling while standing upside down.
Leaping over holes, I quickly ran to a gap that still had a pipe embedded in it.
I had heard about those pipes from Sopeu.
["Those pipes made from tentacles are the lifelines of the factory city created by the Control Subject."]
It had sounded like an exaggerated explanation at first, but the more I listened, the more it rang true.
["They serve as connection passages to send dark energy to the cocoons and to share the various organic matter swallowed by the cocoons, and also as ropes for the Control Subject to hang from the ceiling. It does use magic, but if those ropes are all severed, it will have no choice but to fall."]
If Sopeu's words were true, then to stop the monsters from being created and to make the Control Subject fall, I had to cut all of those pipes.
So I swung my glowing spear powerfully at a thick pipe.
Sreok.
As expected, the pipe was not sturdy.
It might have been able to block bullets, but it could not block a spear infused with energy.
The pipe was sliced off, and white blood gushed out.
A half-formed humanoid monster popped out of the hole and plunged toward the ground.
Booooooong!
A dreadful sound came from the Control Subject, the gigantic monster.
It was the siren sound heard in the city. No, not a siren, but the Control Subject's monstrous scream.
Above my head, I saw people covering their ears.
If I hadn't protected my ears with magic, I might have been stunned as well.
Fortunately, the people began moving again.
They were diligently thinning out the monsters.
I kept moving too.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Gigantic tentacles stabbed down toward me.
The tentacles created massive holes in the ceiling as they continuously attacked me.
It was as if colossal pillars were being driven into the ceiling.
They were incomparable to the tentacles of magic monsters or scouts.
Dodging by a hair's breadth as I did with other monsters' tentacles was impossible.
Every time a tentacle slammed down, the area was pulverized, and it felt as though my body would be sucked into it.
I hurled my body in a direction without tentacles.
Thud.
However, I was not merely dodging.
Every time I dodged a tentacle, I swung my spear.
Swish!
Unlike the pipes, the tentacles did not cut easily.
A long wound opened, but it was merely a surface wound on the skin.
That wound disappeared shortly after.
I even tried placing my hand on a tentacle to cast magic.
Tung.
The magic was canceled the moment it activated.
The Control Subject had neutralized it with its own magic.
["If it didn't work on magic monsters, it won't work on the Control Subject either. You had best assume it possesses all the abilities of the monsters it created."]
I had heard those words before.
I had merely confirmed them once more.
Of course, it had been meaningless.
I had thought it might have weakened somewhat after such a long time, but the monster hadn't weakened in the slightest.
Neither the energy-infused spear nor magic worked, so I had no choice but to dodge for now.
It was not yet time to use the Black Stone.
The operation hadn't failed either.
The operation hadn't even started yet.
Even while dodging the tentacles, I kept cutting the pipes embedded in the ceiling.
The siren sound grew worse.
The monster began to scream.
The tentacle attacks intensified, but I could still endure.
There weren't many pipes left.
Just as I was about to hurl my body toward the remaining pipes.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Tentacles embedded themselves in front of me one after another.
Dozens of tentacles blocked my path.
The front was completely blocked.
It was as if a massive wall made of pillars had been erected before me.
"They've already increased this much?"
The tentacles had increased in number because I had cut that many pipes.
As the number of tentacles grew, the Control Subject seemed intent on surrounding me rather than attacking.
The siren sound changed.
While the dreadfulness was no different, the interpretation relic informed me that the sound carried emotion.
A sound that seemed to mock me.
Several tentacles were no longer attacking me but circling above my head.
It was a sudden mockery, but I could tell why that monster was doing so.
["They've arrived."]
From the direction of the sewer, at the edge of my senses, I sensed new monsters.
They weren't monsters wandering the sewers, but monsters that had come down from the surface.
Monsters that had been defending the city.
Defense-type monsters probably couldn't make it down, but magic monsters and scout monsters could easily enough.
The Control Subject had been mocking me, knowing its subordinates were coming.
A hollow laugh escaped me at the monster's mockery, which I was hearing for the first time.
"It's far more human than its subordinates."
["Rather than human, it is simply rich in emotion. The only monster truly resembling a human was the Demon King."]
The more I listened, the more curious I became about what kind of monster the Demon King was.
But I had no intention of ever voicing that curiosity.
I was struggling enough as it was; if I said something unnecessary and he ended up breaking the seal, it would be troublesome.
It was best to let sleeping dogs lie.
I raised my spear and pointed it at the monster.
"Did you think you were the only one who could mock? I'll mock you right back."
Along with those words, I pushed energy into the spear.
["Sopeu, now."]
At my words, Sopeu sighed.
["You built up the mood so much, yet in the end, I'm the one casting the magic?"]
["We are of one mind and body."]
This time, Sopeu couldn't refute it.
Though Sopeu was the one casting magic, I was the one who had devised the plan and brought and installed the bombs.
["Burst, oh lightning."]
Kwaaaaaang!
Along with Sopeu's words, an explosion rang out.
It was an explosion from the direction of the sewer, very far away.
Not magic, but an explosion created by bombs.
The sound of bombs I had installed while making my way here.
Through the explosions, the screams of monsters could be heard.
The screams of scout monsters and magic monsters.
Of course, bombs alone couldn't kill those monsters, but the sewer was different.
The sewer, built tens of thousands of years ago, received the massive shock of Earth's bombs.
Kwaaang! Kwaaang! Kwaaang!
It might have endured a single blast somehow, but the explosions continued.
Bombs installed at the weak points of the sewer I had checked with extrasensory perception.
Plastic explosives detonated in sequence, collapsing the sewer.
The monsters screamed not because of the explosions, but because they were being buried under the collapsing sewer.
Those monsters might be able to endure underground, but it didn't matter.
I only needed to buy time.
The shock of the sewer collapsing reached even here.
Crack.
Cracks began to form on the already ruined ceiling.
The deeply connected pipes were fine, but the tentacles embedded in the ceiling just moments ago slipped out.
A gap formed in the wall made of tentacles.
I leaped through that gap.
I sprinted forward and swung my spear at the remaining pipes.
Sreok. Sreok. Sreok.
The pipes were sliced off one after another.
I kept running as white blood poured down on me.
The tentacles didn't follow anymore.
The Control Subject reinserted its tentacles into the cracked ceiling.
It had embedded them to support its body in place of the severed pipes.
But short(?) tentacles couldn't support the monster's gigantic body.
I arrived before the last pipe.
The last pipe was different from the others.
A growth-like lump was attached to a pipe more than twice as large as the others.
A lump from which powerful energy emanated.
["Inside that lump is the Control Subject's Black Stone."]
"It's a shame. I wish I could end the fight with that Black Stone."
["As if that would happen. The Control Subject doesn't possess just one Black Stone. That one is a Black Stone for creating and maintaining the factory city. It is also a magic Black Stone that gathers energy for the sewage purification facility and lightens the monsters."]
Since the tentacles weren't attacking, I could chat comfortably with Sopeu.
The Control Subject had no time to pay attention to me.
The monster was entirely focused on supporting its body with its tentacles right now.
Although the magic Black Stone remained, it seemed difficult to support its body with just one pipe.
Before cutting the last pipe, I asked Sopeu.
"How is the facility?"
["I was worried because of the explosions, but fortunately, it seems we can operate it."]
Was it because it was a facility made by mages?
The sewage treatment plant seemed more troubled by the recent explosion than by the passage of time.
Anyway, it seemed operational.
"That's fortunate. We'll go with Plan A."
["It would be troublesome to go with another plan. Fleeing is Plan C, what kind of nonsensical battle plan is that!"]
Contrary to Sopeu's words, merely escaping alive was an excellent plan.
In fact, Plan B was also only to buy time, not a plan for success.
In that sense, Plan C was also a sufficiently good plan.
Anyway, since I had received Sopeu's confirmation, there was nothing to hesitate about.
I swung my spear with all my might.
Sreok.
The last pipe and the lump were cut off together.
A dark-blue Black Stone flew out.
I snatched the falling Black Stone.
The moment I snatched the Black Stone, a siren rang out.
This time, it was a genuine scream filled with pain.
Crack-crack-crack.
The tentacles embedded in the ceiling began to fall off.
Along with the tentacles, the gigantic body of the Control Subject plummeted downward.
Sopeu dispelled the magic.
The world flipped back over.
Floor and ceiling switched places again, and I began to fall downward.
As I fell, I shouted with all my might, infusing magic into my voice.
"Retreat! Everyone run toward the sewers according to plan!"
Hearing my words, people began to run.
There were people who had already run before I spoke.
It was only natural.
Because it would be hard to just watch as a gigantic monster fell from the sky.
Between the falling monster and me, the spear began to glow.
The light came from the Black Stone at the tip of the spear.
Sopeu had begun casting magic.
Woooooom.
As Sopeu cast magic, the facility awakened once more.
Beyond tens of thousands of years, the sewage treatment facility, the large-scale spatial displacement device, activated once more.
Control Subject (3)