Chapter 361: Management Bureau – Heart of Flame
Chapter 361: Management Bureau – Heart of Flame
The Phoenix, its strength utterly spent, fades away, scattering red flames that no longer burn.
Perhaps it has accepted its defeat.
As it grows faint, the Phoenix quietly descends to the earth and folds its wings. Its eyes, once undeniably sharp, now gaze at me with a newfound softness.
Sensing no lingering will to fight, I let my stiffened body relax and sprawled out on the ground.
It’s finally over.
I’m used to death, but this was a bit much.
In the first place, my real job is being a sniper; it’s strange for me to be fighting a solo battle like this.
Anyway… I did it, guys. I got our revenge.
Though, for the life of me, I don't know what to do about this godforsaken world.
Just as I was pressing my blister-covered body against the cold earth to dull the pain—
「I did not foresee my own defeat.」
A voice speaks.
It is a voice so gentle that it’s hard to believe it belongs to the one who caused all of this.
…Does it want to talk?
That’s fine by me.
Maybe through conversation, I can find a way to bring everyone back.
“Are you shocked? Phoenix.”
「Shocked. A fitting word. To think that human will could surpass mine.」
Will, huh? My actions weren't really that grand.
“It wasn’t will. It was a simple desire. I am a soldier by trade. My calling is to follow orders. Though, ever since I Awakened, I’ve become a Meteor that moves according to the desires of those around me rather than commands.”
「There is no meaning in humbling yourself, O being of strong will. To be born as a living thing, to experience death, and yet to press forward without breaking—that is a thing of pride. Praise yourself. I, who was born from your deaths, guarantee it.」
Powerful words.
But even if I’m praised, the world doesn't just go back to the way it was.
There are more important things.
“What happens to the world if you disappear? Will the fanatics you possessed return to normal?”
「On the day I crossed into this world, The Cycle of the world began to flow through me.」
Whoosh.
The Phoenix suddenly spreads its wings.
Countless sparks scatter outward from it.
Startled, I raised my gun, but soon lowered it again.
Those flames weren't hot.
The burning feathers carried only a faint warmth as they brushed past me.
From the spots where the feathers touched, my body began to heal. The pain vanished.
「I am life and death, regeneration and destruction. The Hero has proven his worth by striking me down, so this is his reward.」
A white light spreads.
Like dandelion seeds, it radiates outward from the Phoenix, further and further.
The red fire that dominated the world is extinguished, and in its place, white feathers drift down like falling snow.
The charred corpses with holes in their heads begin to breathe as if merely asleep.
The volcanoes that spewed black smoke quietly close their maws.
「Since I took my place in this world, none have truly departed. No matter what anyone says, I shall be the center of humanity; those who believe shall rise, and those who do not shall simply sleep within.」
The world begins to turn green.
The sky regains its true color.
New grass begins to sprout upon the scorched earth.
「Beings from outside this world shall not make off with even a single speck of dust; so I have declared. Not a soul shall leave this world.」
It continues to speak in riddles I cannot understand.
「I return to my slumber. The invaders will once again target the wanderers. How pitiful. Lost children cast out into the fireless cold.」
It looked at me.
「I respect the choice of those who carry on life. I respect the freedom to reject a warm oppression barred by cages and to walk beneath the cold rain where hunters roam.」
It wears a benevolent smile.
The Phoenix isn't human, so its expression is a bit strange, but that’s how it looked to me.
However, its expression soon shifted.
「But remember. I exist for all eternity.」
Distorted eyes, searing heat, and a face filled with malice loom before me.
「On the day the weary crave warmth. On the day the fear of death fills the world once more. I shall bloom again from the embers.」
It whispers.
Words both merciful and cruel.
「That future is not so far away. Be wary, children who have left the nest in search of freedom.」
It vanishes.
Scattering white feathers until the very end.
「The flame shall watch over you always. The chirping calls to me.」
The Phoenix’s warning ends.
「A final reward. My residue. The fire that rejects all things. He who possesses it shall transcend all laws of the world.」
This massive nightmare left one last thing behind.
An ember of mingled white and red, burning eternally.
I blankly scooped it up with both hands.
The tiny ember didn't affect its surroundings at all; it just sat quietly in my hands, continuing to burn.
As I stared at the ember, an understanding of what it was flooded my mind.
This is a treasure containing everything of a world.
A treasure like those kept in the heart of the Management Bureau—the ones whose very existence is not permitted.
As I realized this, my mind began to race.
Everything has been restored.
No one is dead, and all we’ve lost is a year of time.
Since no one died, the world will become peaceful again.
However, there is one thing that can never be undone.
The memory of the entity known as the Phoenix.
That memory remains etched in the minds of everyone in the world.
No matter how much it is suppressed or controlled, someone will eventually call upon the Phoenix again.
And this will repeat forever.
This is not a victory.
The Phoenix is reborn eternally.
And this cycle of life and death will repeat forever.
Until one day, even I fall, and the Phoenix triumphs.
But the Phoenix left this to me because it doesn't want that.
The Phoenix knows it exists.
“This isn't even funny…”
The Phoenix has left the choice to me.
Whether I can make an irreversible sacrifice, unlike anything before.
Whether I can stand without fear before a permanent death, one with no future.
The Phoenix’s question echoes in my head.
「Do you not fear death?」
That question pierces through me, carrying a weight far different from before.
“….”
I simply walked, cradling the flame in my arms.
There is plenty of time to think.
The Phoenix told me through the flame.
Twenty-four hours. That is the time remaining until humanity wakes from its slumber.
And so, I walked slowly.
Taking a long, hard look at the finality that could never be undone.
Feeling the green grass and the cool breeze.
Before I could no longer feel them.
I walked, my feet clicking against the hard, man-made stone floor.
The whimsical sound of my footsteps echoed through the silent city.
Creeeeeak.
I entered the building, opening the rusted front door that didn't open easily, rather than the automatic door right next to it.
Though the city was draped in darkness because the power was cut, the Management Bureau alone shone brightly.
Countless perpetual motion machines delivered energy to the Bureau under any circumstances.
To return to the source of that grace, I began to bypass the security.
I delved deeper underground, and natural things grew scarce.
A hum of vibration spread. The heavy air took hold of me.
The vibration of the massive doors opening as I entered the passwords shook me.
That vibration whispered to me.
‘You can still turn back.’
That probably wasn't just an auditory hallucination born from my crumbling psyche.
The heart of the Management Bureau. This place is a den of horrors.
A den where items that grant wishes roll around underfoot.
But they demand a price.
One’s own heart is a modest request; some demand large-scale Human Sacrifice or the defilement of concepts.
But what I’m looking for now is something else.
I need three things.
The Coffin of Despair, which revives the one lying within as an Otherworldly Being.
The Pocket Watch, which turns back time at the cost of the world.
I don't know if the synergy between these two treasures will work properly.
But the residue of the Phoenix tells me.
It says it will work.
And so.
I swallow the ember I had been clutching to my chest until I got here.
A warmth that isn't hot slides down my throat.
The moment that heat settles in my stomach—
“■■■■■■■■■…!!!”
Everything is severed.
The perspective that maintains me as Meteor, the Otherworldly Power I held within, the life I am living, and even the death that waved to me at the end of a long journey.
Everything that allows me to remain as myself is cut away.
And only after it was gone did a new realization dawn on me.
“What are those things…?”
From somewhere high in the sky, someone is looking down at me.
Sights so numerous and heavy that I only noticed the sense of liberation once they were gone.
Are they the ones behind all of this?
But it doesn't matter now.
There is no one left to tell this to, and I am no longer Meteor.
The next generation’s Meteor will be born anew in my place.
I am a nobody.
However, in this state, I cannot use the Pocket Watch.
If I were to use it now, everything, including myself, would vanish.
So, enduring the severance, I laid my body down in the coffin.
Rumble, rumble.
With the sound of grinding stone, the heavy sarcophagus closed on its own.
Amidst countless pains and darkness.
When the torture ended and I opened my eyes.
Everything had changed.
I want to possess.
I am a being with nothing.
I want to fill myself.
Who was I, originally?
But I did not act on it.
There was still work to be done.
【Since there is nothing】
Otherworld Erosion flows out.
A hollow Otherworld Erosion with nothing in it.
With this, I became a world.
I held up the Pocket Watch.
Why am I holding this up?
I remember nothing.
But I remember the fact that I must do this.
The world glows.
Click. Click. Click. Click.
The clock hands spin like mad.
I laugh.
I don't know why.
But I laugh.
Because I knew that with this, everything had ended.
Yes, with this, it all ends.
Goodbye, guys.
…Who were "the guys" again…?
Anyway… goodbye.
* * *
“Yes, that is the full account of the Phoenix incident.”
“The watch did not reset everything. Whether that was a flaw in the watch itself or because the nameless one who used it designated certain things not to be reset, we cannot know.”
“What remained outside the watch’s range were the pilgrims who walked the path of pain to face the Phoenix, and the members of the Management Bureau’s leadership who survived until the end.”
“As the testimony of my core—who was once Meteor—states, the Phoenix still watches us from the land of fire beyond. On the day death overflows again, it will be reborn and repeat its actions.”
“Knowing this, the Management Bureau agonized for a long time. This information… no one must ever know it.”
“The Phoenix is whispering beside us even now. Anyone who knows the full truth of the Phoenix could call those flames back. A desperate desire will rekindle a dead fire.”
“You’re thinking of the Terminal Plague? Yes. The Terminal Plague is of the same kind. They are equal in that they are cruel, horrific, and difficult to control. But the Terminal Plague falls within the realm of what can be managed. As if someone made it that way.”
“That is what created the difference between the Terminal Plague and the Phoenix. Even the higher-ups of the Management Bureau, who think they know all the dark sides of the world, must not know of the Phoenix’s existence.”
“Disinformation mixed with truth and lies. An utterly hollow record of the Phoenix’s defeat. Lighthearted jokes about death that belittle its existence. All of these are mechanisms to control it.”
“…You’re sweating a lot. Do you see the flames? Do you feel the weight of the memories you erased to turn your eyes from the truth?”
“It doesn't matter to me if it happens again. I am an advisor, an observer, and a seeker. According to my contract, I only move when the world is certain to be destroyed. If such a situation occurs, wouldn't I be able to move from this house once more?”
“I see, you endured it. Yes, your perspective on death may have changed over time. But be careful. A small spark can become a great fire in an instant.”
“Now then. Have you obtained everything you need? Then go. Continue on the path you believe in. Lee Ha-ram will be here soon; it would be troublesome if you ran into him, wouldn't it?”
“Ah, I see. A new question has arisen? A question as to why the Management Bureau erased all the information? Isn't it obvious? The Terminal Plague and the Phoenix. Through them, the Management Bureau realized one thing clearly.”
“We must protect humanity. By any means necessary.”
“Even if memories were erased, the single fact that such an event occurred was etched into everyone’s mind.”
“That was the moment the Management Bureau was reborn—not as a Bureau that manages Heroes, but as a Bureau that manages humanity. Fear accumulated from witnessing the catastrophe, leading them to abandon old oaths and adopt an elitist mindset. This is the shackle that no one has been able to remove.”
“We are going to hell.”
“If such a place exists, that is.”
“At least that hell will be warm. Don't you think?”