[Book 1 Completed] Industrial Mage: Modernizing a Magical World [Kingdom Building LitRPG]
B2 | Chapter 24 – The Point of No Return

Rufus POV

The waiting was more torturous for him than any battle had ever been. Only Rufus and two others had escaped—James and Liam. Rufus had no other backup, and even Velka had left on Rufus's orders. It took a lot to get her to move, and he was still unsure if she'd truly left. After all, she might be hiding here somewhere, and he wouldn't know where. He couldn't really sense her, could he?

A few feet away, James was crouching, his hands glimmering with that recognizable orange-white light that indicated he was directing a significant amount of firepower. After over thirty minutes of work, the [Fire Mage] had created three enormous balls of plasma that hung in midair around him like little suns.

It required a lot of effort on James's part to ensure that he was not scorched by the orbs. From what Rufus could see, this was Rank 2 magic at its best. The air flowed and shone with heat from the plasma balls, and Rufus had to fight the impulse to take another step back. Those things could probably melt through solid stone without breaking a sweat.

Good thing they weren't aimed at him.

However, he had a suspicion that they weren't actually plasma. That would be insane. He had never actually spoken to James's pyromaniacal teacher, but it must have been some sort of superheated fire. Rufus never bothered to ask the man about the spell's details since he would have gone on an unhinged ramble about the specifics if he had.

Liam held his blade with white knuckles and stood there still like a statue. Poor bastard looked ready to piss himself, but at least he'd stayed. That was more than Rufus could say for most people these days. Loyalty was scarce, particularly in positions such as this.

Rufus felt the ring on his finger and flexed his fingers. His family had spent a lot of money on this one-time use item. Something that would undoubtedly change the outcome of any conflict. For years, he had been hoarding it, waiting for the ideal circumstance or crisis to warrant using such a costly trump card.

Well, this certainly qualified.

The irony wasn't lost on him that he was about to use a priceless family heirloom to commit what amounted to murder. This one would be a field day for his brother. Marvin was constantly lecturing him about taking responsibility, considering the ramifications of his actions, and not letting his emotions dictate his actions.

"You never take responsibility for the messes you create, Rufus," Marvin had said during their last argument. "You just make things worse and expect someone else to clean up after you."

Well, brother, here I am taking responsibility, Rufus thought bitterly. I'm finishing what I started, consequences be damned.

In all honesty, he would rather that Theodore perished in that chamber. Would've made everything so much cleaner, so much simpler. There would've been no loose ends, no witnesses, and no awkward explanations about why he had met such an unfortunate end. Accidents happened all the time in this line of work. People were irresponsible, committed blunders, and gambled too much. Rufus would've probably been investigated and would've probably had to spend some time under scrutiny, but if it weren't proved that he had been responsible, then he would've probably gotten off fairly easily.

While their guild wasn't particularly large, it wasn't something to scoff at either.

It was led by a Rank 5, after all.

But alas, Rufus's life could never be that simple. Nothing ever went as planned.

After arguing with Velka for some minutes, he had finally persuaded her to leave him there. She'd kept insisting that they should cut their losses, retreat and regroup, and find another way to handle the Theodore situation. Rufus, however, was wiser. There would be no other option later and certainly no other chance. This was it.

A rumble that appeared to emanate from the earth's very bones caused the cave to tremble all around them. Rock fragments and rubble started to fall from the ceiling, and Rufus felt his heart skip a beat. The entrance to the collapsed shaft moved and groaned, and then the debris started to move outward with a thunderclap.

Massive stones flew in all directions, and Rufus scurried backward. A rock the size of a wagon wheel went over his head. As the cave began to tremble and roar, he dove behind a natural stone pillar, followed closely by James and Liam, all three of them flat against the wall.

Rufus heard something that chilled his blood as the rumble eventually subsided and the dust started to settle. Voices. Steps. The sound of people moving and conversing with one another, alive and not buried beneath tons of fallen stone.

He felt his stomach fall directly into his boots as he looked around the perimeter of his hiding place. From the shaft, people were coming out. His people, not just any people. The adventurers of the raid squad he'd put together, whom he'd guided into that death trap.

They looked roughed up, sure. Bloodied, filthy, and obviously worn out from whatever horror they'd been through down there. However, the majority of them were leaving on their own initiative. Some were clearly injured, but they were still alive and receiving care from their comrades. Much livelier than Rufus had anticipated.

And then he saw Theodore.

Even though Theodore's armor was damaged and scarred, he was still moving with the effortless confidence that had always annoyed Rufus. It seemed as though he was untouchable and unstoppable.

Rufus felt like a man watching his own execution. The dread in his stomach had changed from terror to the icy, unwavering knowledge that he was fucked. Completely and utterly fucked.

It was like standing in a field during a thunderstorm and watching lightning strike the tree right next to you. That moment of perfect clarity when you realized that death had been inches away, that you'd survived through nothing but dumb luck, and that luck was about to run out.

Theodore wasn't just alive. He was better than alive. The kid had broken through. From what he could see, Theodore had fully entered Rank 2. And if what Rufus was hearing from the other survivors' mutterings was true, Theodore had taken down the Slime King in the process.

A fucking mana slime. A Rank 3 monster.

Even with a whole squad supporting him, Rufus would have struggled against one of those things. Evidently, Theodore had managed it by himself, or close enough, while protecting a bunch of lower-rank adventurers, no less.

What a monster that kid was. A genuine, honest-to-god monster wearing human skin.

Under ordinary circumstances, Rufus would have given up. Retreated, reorganized, and maybe looked for a means of achieving peace or avoiding conflict altogether. Knowing when he was outmatched and having the cunning to escape when it was the best course of action had allowed him to survive this long.

However, these were not normal circumstances. Theodore knew too much and had seen too much. He had likely realized that the tunnel collapse wasn't quite an accident because he had been down there when it happened. Astute youngster, he would have connected the dots. And Rufus would be facing something far worse than death if he did.

Once more, his fingers found the ring. He might have defeated the Slime King himself with this. Instead of becoming the antagonist of this small mission, he might have been its hero.

But he'd held back. Saved it for a rainy day, for some hypothetical future crisis that might never come.

Well, the rainy day had certainly arrived. With interest.

He made himself stop considering all the possible outcomes and the reasons why this was a bad decision. He pushed all of his uncertainties, anxieties, and second guesses to the back of his head and slammed the door shut.

Instead of cowering like a coward, it was time to fight like a warrior.

Theodore's eyes found his across the cavern, and Rufus saw recognition flicker there. Not exactly a surprise. Theodore seemed to have anticipated this confrontation—possibly even eagerly anticipated it. Theodore's countenance had gone blank the instant their eyes locked, so perhaps Rufus was projecting.

At last, the survivors had also noticed Rufus, and although some of them had complex facial expressions, the majority had pure rage and resentment on display.

"—you son of a bitch, Rufus. You LEFT us—"

"—the squad nearly died because of you—"

"—what the hell were you thinking—"

"—you're a damn coward. Sat up here, safe, while we bled and screamed in the dark—"

"—if Theodore hadn't stepped up, we'd all be corpses. And you? You were ready to bury us—"

Rufus snorted as he sent mana into the ring, sensing its instant reaction. In his hands, the artifact sprang to life, flooding his system with raw power that caused his body to throb and his eyesight to become blurry around the edges. As the enhancement took effect, every muscle in his body stiffened, and he felt power coursing through him like liquid fire. But this was just preparation, the ring hadn't yet fully activated.

"NOW!" he bellowed.

James didn't need to be told twice. The [Fire Mage] had been holding those plasma balls for so long that Rufus was honestly surprised he hadn't passed out from the strain. The first one launched forward like a comet, trailing superheated air and leaving scorch marks on the stone walls as it screamed toward Theodore.

It had a dreadful beauty to it. It was perfectly shaped, hot enough to transform sand into glass and that glass into nothingness, and thick enough to pierce through anything. Hopefully, this battle would be over before it actually started thanks to a masterwork of devastating magic.

However, Rufus wouldn't bet on it, knowing his luck.

Theodore looked at it with what seemed like mild curiosity. There was no fear on the man's face, certainly no panic, and not even concern. Just curiosity, as if he were seeing a novel and intriguing kind of bird or anything as innocuous.

The other survivors were frantically trying to escape the blast radius while yelling and running for safety. Roland moved aside as well.

Theodore, however, only stood there, completely unfazed by the coming projectile. He didn't even change his posture or use any spells. Heck, he seemed to have also released his [Mana Shield]. What the hell was he thinking? Was this kid an idiot? As if it were the most normal thing in the world, he simply watched that ball of focused doom hurtle at him.

Holding his breath, Rufus strained to hear any noise coming from the impact location. Some indication of whether he had just made the worst decision of his life or whether his risk had paid off.

***

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