Phelion—the man with white hair—walked alongside the priest who was leading him forward.
He had arrived together with Acrune. Both of them had received an urgent message from that priest.
"…So this is what you wanted to show me?"
Phelion asked as he looked at the charred corpse before him.The body had been burned so severely that there was almost no skin left untouched by blackened scars. Both eyes had been gouged out, and the tongue had been cut away.
"He belonged to our order—the corrupted clergy."
"All right. Let me take a look."
Phelion placed his hand on the dead man's chest, attempting to search for clues. But he quickly realized that the entire body had been carved with thousands of incision marks.
"He was tortured before being burned,"Phelion said, though he wasn't entirely certain.
He glanced at the other two, but Acrune had already rushed toward the corpse.
"Death by suffocation."
Phelion froze at Acrune's words.He saw the young man's pupils constrict as he stared at the body—an expected reaction—but his tone was different.
"Don't touch it carelessly."
Phelion tried to stop him, but it was too late. Acrune had already touched the exposed lung of the unfortunate man.
"Suffocation," Acrune continued."Possibly carbon monoxide, poison gas, vapor… These signs—they're exactly like miners who die underground, sir."
"…How could you—"
Acrune closed his eyes and stood up. His voice trembled slightly, yet he continued.
"Him… I remember he once said—Even if his face were burned, may I ask—what did he do to deserve being tortured to death like this?"
"…."
The priest looked at Phelion. Only after receiving a nod did he speak.
"The Pope."
He added quietly,
"He was one of the Pope's close attendants."
...
Phelion walked through a layer of distorted architecture—structures like houses floating in midair, assembled into disconnected cubes.
The buildings were linked by marble pillars, and doors themselves formed bridges connecting one block to another.
Phelion stepped on a lamppost and leapt into the air. Yet direction was impossible to determine—up or down—because a massive storm surrounded the enormous cube.
All of this was a trap meant for Phelion, who was searching for Wellay.
"…What is your name?"
Phelion—now with black hair and a smaller frame—asked the man crouched before him.The giant, nearly twice his height, finally spoke.
"Bucky."
Phelion nodded.Asking the name of a worthy opponent before battle had been a warrior's custom for centuries.
"I didn't expect someone capable of constructing something like this using static mana alone."
Phelion marveled briefly at the overwhelming scale of the fragmented cube around him—but only for a moment.
He stroked his beard, yanked out a single strand, infused it with mana, and hurled it toward Bucky.
WHOOSH—
THUD!
The strand pierced Bucky's forehead—yet caused absolutely no damage.
Because Bucky did not react.
Phelion realized at once that this opponent would not be easy.Bucky neutralized the emotional volatility in Phelion's mana as if it were nothing.
"So,"Phelion said calmly,"you're not going to ask my name?"
A bolt of lightning struck nearby.
It was Promet, standing atop a ruined building not far away.
"…"
Phelion didn't even glance at him.
He was ready for the hunt—not for the two men before him, but for an entirely different beast.
…
CRASH—
Massive hands smashed through a wall, cutting off Wellay's escape—only to be instantly shredded into thousands of bloody fragments by slicing attacks.
"Alaskin, conserve your strength."
Hadelus warned the red-haired elven youth wielding a greatsword.
Alaskin ignored him and turned to look at the others—those who claimed they had come to help.
A young girl who behaved like a middle-aged aunt, treated with respect by everyone around her.
And a group of youths around the same age.
Emma—the leader of the strangers—spoke to Hadelus.
"Don't worry. We're from Blue Light. For now, let's stay together for safety. All right?"
As she spoke, she held out her student identification card.
Alaskin thought, Isn't this a bit late? Why didn't she show that earlier?
Still, it didn't lessen the caution of the three—Luce, Hadelus, and Alaskin.
"We've been running this whole time," Hadelus said."We've lost track of the princess, Promet, and even Jinxite—the royal guard. What do you think we should do?"
"Calling for help outside won't do any good," Emma replied calmly."The best option is to go down to the city church's underground level. There's a way to get help there."
"Then why should we listen to you?"
Hadelus shot back.
Emma merely smiled, saying nothing.
"Hadelus, right?" she said at last."Listen to me. Down there, there's someone you want to meet.His name is Oxeiburt."
They all ran, questioning one another, trying to piece together what was happening and what to do next—never noticing the sound of a train approaching from afar.
…
(But when some satisfied themselves with wine and lust, with power and knowledge,others chose a different path.
One coin for Art.)