At last, having completed my tasks on the surface, I picked up a loose power cable from the street for my final errand in Heshbon and tied it to one of the pillars inside the command center.
I cut the end to ensure it wouldn't conduct electricity, so even if there was still a power source left in Heshbon, there was no risk of electrocution.
It could be seen as a makeshift transport line exclusively for Ganesha Tripathi.
'Shall we get going.'
Grabbing the cable with one hand, I headed back to the 42nd basement floor of the Heshbon command center.
It wasn't difficult.
The 42nd basement floor—I'd been up and down that path so many times it was almost routine.
Clunk—
After descending through the seemingly endless darkness of the elevator shaft, I finally reached the 42nd floor and came face-to-face with Ganesha Tripathi, standing anxiously in front of the elevator.
"······Ah, you've arrived."
"Were you waiting long? I was late because I was looking for this."
I showed Ganesha Tripathi the cable I had secured on the surface.
I'd picked a particularly long one, so it was long enough to reach the 42nd basement floor.
"···No, thank you."
"Let's get going then. Are you holding up alright?"
At my words, Ganesha Tripathi looked genuinely surprised but then nodded.
"Yes. Thanks to you."
Just as he said, I checked his injuries briefly, but he looked remarkably fine for someone who had been on the brink of death just a while ago.
'The wounds aren't fully healed, but... the bleeding has definitely stopped. Is it because of the enhancement serum?'
So, did Ganesha Tripathi gain the abilities of the enhancement serum?
Honestly, I wanted to experiment right away, but unfortunately, this wasn't the right situation for that.
'Well, the opportunity will come.'
After all, Ganesha Tripathi and I would be spending a long time together from now on.
All the way back to the Ark.
"Let's go."
I handed Ganesha Tripathi the cable connected to the pillar on the surface.
"Why would I need this······."
"Were you planning to climb 42 floors by crawling up it? Tie it to yourself."
"Ah······."
Only then did Ganesha Tripathi nod his head in understanding.
It was nearly impossible for a normal person, especially an injured one, to climb from the 42nd basement floor to the surface barehanded.
Even if his condition had improved, it was clear that he still needed my help.
"The elevator······."
"It's no longer usable."
The elevator was completely wrecked during my descent here.
To be more precise, it was shredded and torn apart by Ankelenth's Spear.
"Wasn't it you who originally tried to block intruders using the elevator?"
"That was··· I'm sorry."
"I'm not saying it to get an apology. I'm just telling you to take responsibility for your actions."
"Take responsibility······."
"Tie it up."
The conclusion remained the same.
Resignedly, Ganesha Tripathi began wrapping the cable around himself.
"Don't just wind it around. Pad your body with some cloth first. Your organs could rupture."
"Ugh…..."
Though he sounded doubtful, I knew firsthand that it was possible to die that way.
Well… I had once tied a rope only around my abdomen and tried bungee jumping from several hundred meters up, and that's how it happened.
["Why are you trying to scare him with nonsense? Just tying that won't make your stomach burst and kill you, will it?"]
'I've seen someone die that way before.'
["They must have been quite an idiot."]
'······.'
While I was having a pointless chat with Esther, Ganesha Tripathi, seemingly scared by the mention of organ rupture, gathered clothing from the underground bunker and thoroughly padded himself before wrapping the cable around his body in an X shape.
It looked sufficient to safely escape from here.
"Let's go. I'll climb up first and pull the cable from above, so wait here."
"Ah… Understood."
I then began climbing the elevator shaft once more.
Honestly, it would have been easier to just carry Ganesha Tripathi on my back, but that would reveal my true form as Janus.
'Even though he'll find out eventually, there's no need to show him just yet.'
After reaching the surface with the cable in hand, I untied the knot and used the pillar as a makeshift pulley to pull the cable up.
Dragging a person 42 floors from underground might sound daunting, but thanks to the enhancement serum, it was no challenge for me, as I now possessed superhuman strength and stamina.
Screech, screeee…...
The sound of the cable's rubber scraping against the pillar echoed as the line rapidly tightened.
Before long, the cable was fully drawn up, and Ganesha Tripathi crawled out of the elevator shaft, his face as pale as a sheet.
"Ugh…..."
Even though he had done his best, climbing from such a height while hanging from a cable was no easy feat.
"Let's go. We don't have much time."
"Not much time? Is something happening at the Ark?"
"There's always something happening. But that's not the time I'm talking about."
By time, I meant the time remaining until the next wave.
If we had followed the original plan and traveled by Horus, we would have had plenty of time left, but carrying Ganesha Tripathi along changed things.
"···What do you mean?"
"I mean, our time is running out."
"Ah…..."
Finally realizing what I meant, Ganesha Tripathi's face turned ghostly white.
I had expected it, but he wasn't exactly the bravest person around.
'If he had real guts, he wouldn't have been hiding in the underground bunker when the elevator was still functional.'
Because of that choice, Ganesha Tripathi had ended up facing death.
In this cursed world, hiding deep underground doesn't guarantee safety.
Anyway······.
That marked the beginning of a strange journey.
The first obstacle on the way back to the Ark was descending the Hesh Mountains, where Heshbon was located.
Unlike the sacred Noah Mountain, the Hesh Mountains were home to numerous beasts and monsters.
When I arrived with Horus, it wasn't a problem, but now we had to navigate through them on foot.
"This way."
"Ah, yes."
Contrary to my worries, Ganesha Tripathi followed me rather well.
Wondering if it was thanks to the enhancement serum, I deliberately chose a rough path, and soon enough, Ganesha Tripathi stumbled and fell.
"Ack!"
"Are you alright?"
"It's just a scratch, nothing serious."
Helping him to his feet, I casually checked his body.
As he claimed, only a minor scratch was visible.
'If he had acquired the Sigma-type enhancement serum ability, this wouldn't have happened.'
As expected, without injecting the Alpha-type serum first, merely consuming blood containing enhancement serum didn't grant the full ability.
'But it definitely seems to have helped with wound healing.'
Since I had to return to the Ark with him, it was a good thing—dealing with constant minor injuries would have been a headache.
'Of course, that's assuming I don't change my mind about keeping him alive.'
For now, I was leaning towards keeping him around, but that could change at any time along the journey.
In other words, this journey itself was a test to determine whether keeping Ganesha Tripathi alive would be a benefit or a burden to me.
At that moment.
["Hey, master."]
'I know.'
A foul stench wafted through the air.
It meant that a pack of beasts was approaching.
It wasn't anything unusual.
We were outside the Ark—near Heshbon, which had recently fallen.
This place was practically the heart of hell in this wretched world, so it was only natural for beasts and monsters to be swarming nearby.
Fortunately, the wind was blowing in our favor, so the beasts hadn't yet detected our presence.
"From now on, we move quietly."
Ganesha Tripathi nodded without a word.
At least he was perceptive enough to understand.
Woof! Woof woof!
Grrrr…...
The pack of beasts passed by not too far from us.
Judging by their direction, they would catch our scent before long.
"From now on, we'll pick up the pace."
The path ahead was a steep downhill slope, making it difficult for Ganesha Tripathi, who was still not in great shape, to run down.
But the beasts wouldn't be considerate of our situation.
"Ugh!"
Due to the treacherous terrain, Ganesha Tripathi practically rolled down the path rather than running.
Even so, the distance between the beasts and us continued to close.
[Bloodthirsty beasts…...]
[They're coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming. Coming.]
[Let's kill them all…...]
The ether's warnings rang out.
It meant the beasts had fully detected our presence.
Meanwhile, Ganesha Tripathi couldn't move fast enough to escape.
Even if I carried him on my back, it was only a matter of time before the pack caught up now that they knew our location.
'···I have no choice.'
If I tried to protect Ganesha Tripathi while fighting the pack, I would inevitably have to draw on Janus' power.
Fighting while protecting someone else was an incredibly difficult feat.
Since I didn't want to reveal my identity as the Fallen One, I made a decision.
"Hide around here."
Reluctantly, I left Ganesha Tripathi behind and turned around.
"···What? What are you─"
"We'll be caught soon. I'll go take care of the beasts."
Before Ganesha Tripathi could respond, I started moving toward the spot where I sensed the beasts gathering.
Since we would inevitably confront them sooner or later, it was better to attack first.
'This is safer anyway.'
If I tried to fight while awkwardly protecting Ganesha Tripathi without using Janus' power, we might both end up dead.
'There it is.'
I steadied my grip on the Ark-15 automatic conversion rifle and focused on the approaching pack.
Time to hunt.
*
[You have defeated the Level 8 Beast Class, Starving Sabretooth.]
[Damage dealt to Level 8 Beast Class, Starving Sabretooth, increased by 0.05%.]
[You have defeated the Level 8 Beast Class, Starving Sabretooth.]
[Damage dealt to Level 8 Beast Class, Starving Sabretooth, increased by 0.05%.]
.
.
.
[You have defeated the Level 8 Beast Class, Starving Sabretooth.]
[Damage dealt to Level 8 Beast Class, Starving Sabretooth, increased by 0.05%.]
About five minutes.
That was the time it took to eliminate the entire pack of beasts.
And I did it without relying on Janus' power—purely using the Ark-15 automatic conversion rifle and a machete.
My physical and combat abilities had reached a point where I could take down a pack of Level 8 beasts in close combat without suffering a single injury, even without drawing on Janus' strength.
'Hmm.'
I glanced at the line of beast corpses before immediately turning around.
Honestly, I wanted to let Janus devour the carcasses, but there didn't seem to be any named beasts in the pack that could have been leading them.
'Which means there's another pack out there.'
It didn't take long for my guess to prove correct.
Roar───!
A deafening howl echoed from a distance.
The pack was converging to hunt Ganesha Tripathi.
'Of course.'
Whether they had deliberately lured me away as a diversion or it was just a coincidence, the result was the same—I had been baited.
And because of that, Ganesha Tripathi was now in danger.
'How dare they try to play games with me…...'
It seemed necessary to make that reckless beast pay the price.