The red glow inside the core chamber had grown so thick it looked like congealed blood. The teeth grinding vibrations made the steel floor beneath their feet feel as if it might split apart at any moment.
Kōichi's sharp eyes caught sight of a dusty but extremely conspicuous emergency cooling lever behind the core. Unfortunately, countless arcs of blue and white high voltage electricity were coiled around it like venomous snakes, crackling and snapping.
"Kazuma! Stop shaking over there and go pull that lever! Your Luck stat is EX class, right? Arcs like that are definitely going to miss you because of some convenient coincidence! Hurry, you're our only hope!"
Kōichi grabbed Kazuma by the collar and shouted while pointing at the spark spitting death trap.
"Are you kidding me?! Kōichi, you sadist! That's high voltage electricity! Luck isn't insulation! If I get shocked, I'll turn into charcoal! Go pull it yourself! Whoever wants to play hero can do it. I'm not done living yet! I haven't even started my retirement life in Axel!!"
"Tch. A useless deadbeat who's no help at all when it matters."
Kōichi let go of his collar in disgust and was about to think of another plan, when Aqua suddenly planted her hands on her hips beside him and let out an incredibly arrogant laugh.
"Hmph, hmph, hmph. So in the end, you still have to rely on the beautiful Goddess, don't you? You two lowly humans are cowering in front of a few little sparks. How embarrassing for the Axis Order!" Aqua lifted her chin proudly as a dazzling blue watery glow gathered at the tip of her staff. "It just needs to be cooled down, right? Watch me put out this fireball with the purest sacred water! Sacred Create Water!!!"
"Hey! Wait! Aqua, stop!!"
Kōichi and Wiz screamed in despair almost at the same time.
But it was already too late.
With Aqua's confident strike, a massive torrent of Sacred Create Water poured out like a waterfall and slammed straight into the red hot Coronatite core, which was already covered in arcs of high voltage electricity.
At that moment, the basic laws of physics dealt this group of otherworld adventurers a devastating blow.
"SSSSSZZZZZ!!!"
First came the piercing sound of electrolysis. Then, the instant the superheated core met the cold water, a violent vapor explosion erupted.
A huge cloud of white steam expanded wildly through the cramped core chamber. Combined with the raging electric current conducted by the water, the entire room instantly turned into a living hell.
"Aaaah! Hot, hot, hot! And electricity! I'm numb, I'm numb, I'm numb!!"
Kazuma let out a warped scream as the steam blast knocked him to the floor, where he convulsed wildly like a salted fish being electrocuted.
"Ooooh! This feeling of scorching heat and electricity piercing my entire body at once... Could this be the baptism of ancient civilization?! It's so, so wonderful... No, I mean, so intense!!"
Darkness was smoking all over from the shocks, yet her face showed an extremely dangerous, dazed expression. She even took the initiative to inch closer to the densest cluster of electric arcs.
"Huh? Huhhh?! Why did it explode?! I was trying to help cool it down! Kōichi, save me! My clothes are going to get burned!!"
When Aqua saw the steam rushing toward her, she got so frightened that she threw away her staff and leaped directly onto Kōichi's back, wrapping both arms tightly around his neck.
Kōichi's eyes rolled back from being choked, but he still had to endure the heat and numbness from the electric current while observing the state of the core.
Although Aqua had caused a small explosion and total chaos, the wild red light of the Coronatite really had dimmed slightly thanks to that "violent cooling." Unfortunately, the ancient defense system around the core had gone completely berserk from the short circuit.
"Kōichi-san! It's chaotic, but the core pressure has dropped!" Wiz shouted through her magic shield. "Now! Before it overheats a second time, someone has to pull that lever manually!!"
The steam in the core chamber was so thick it felt like it would boil them alive. With blue electric arcs crackling everywhere, the entire space had basically become a massive execution site.
Kōichi was almost strangled unconscious by Aqua, his ears full of that idiot Goddess's meaningless screaming, while Kazuma did an electric breakdance at his feet.
"Cough, cough! Let go! Aqua, you idiot! If you keep choking me, I'm going to report to Eris before anyone else!"
Kōichi forcefully broke free from Aqua's grip, wiped the steam from his face, and gradually took on a sadistic look.
Kōichi looked at the lever surrounded by high voltage arcs, then looked at Darkness nearby, who was standing there in a daze with smoke rising from her armor.
A battle plan perfectly suited to Axel formed in Kōichi's mind.
"Darkness! Listen carefully. Axel's survival depends entirely on you now!" Kōichi gripped Darkness's hand with a righteous expression, even though her gauntlet was shockingly hot. "Do you see that lever? That isn't just a switch. It's the final trial on the path to ultimate suffering! The voltage there is enough to knock even the toughest warrior unconscious in an instant. The agony of having electricity tear through your whole body, leaving you unable to live or die... only you can endure it!"
"Huh?! You said... ultimate... agony?" Darkness's unfocused pupils instantly snapped into focus, even bursting with a terrifying red glow. "Being struck head-on by enough energy to destroy the town... maybe even getting shocked until my entire body is charred black... Ngh... Kōichi, you're a genius! Something like this... Please, you must leave it to me!!"
"Hey!! Kōichi, you're definitely a demon, aren't you?! She's your companion! How can you push her into the fire without even changing expression?!"
Kazuma finally caught his breath and pointed at Kōichi, cursing him out. His body, however, honestly shrank backward, afraid Kōichi would push him over too.
"Stop whining! Kazuma, get Steal ready. If Darkness can't pull it, steal that lever for me!" Kōichi shouted his orders while shoving aside Wiz, who was about to stop him. "Go, Darkness! For your... ahem, for our justice!!"
"OOOOOOOH!!!"
Darkness let out a high pitched battle cry. Her heavy footsteps splashed across the water covered floor, sending electrified water spraying everywhere.
She braved high voltage arcs powerful enough to instantly carbonize an ordinary person and moved toward the lever step by step.
"ZZZRAAAK!!!"
A thick arc of electricity struck her silver armor viciously. Darkness let out an extremely miserable scream, yet there was some strange pleasure mixed into it. Surrounded by countless sparks, her hands in their heavy gauntlets clamped firmly around the red emergency cooling lever.
"Go... down!!!"
Darkness pulled with all her might, and the lever let out a heavy mechanical grinding sound.
"Click!"
The rampaging core froze for one second.
Immediately afterward, a lazy, worn out middle aged man's voice came over the core chamber's speaker.
"Ah, did someone finally pull that useless lever? Good work. Unfortunately, to prevent enemy infiltration, that lever is actually the self destruct acceleration switch. By the way, I feel like having tonkatsu donburi for lunch today..."
Dead silence filled the room.
"...Huh?" Kazuma's mouth fell open.
"Um, Kōichi-san... the core's energy readings... seem to be rising at ten times the speed..." Wiz was dripping with cold sweat.
"Waaah! Kōichi, you big liar! You killed us! I want to go back to Heaven! I want to go back to Heaven right now!!"
Aqua broke down crying again and shook Kōichi's shoulders with all her strength.
Kōichi looked at the core, which had already begun giving off a blinding white light and was about to become a nuclear bomb. The corner of his mouth twitched.
"As expected, this world's ancient civilizations... were all a bunch of hopeless idiots!"