Chapter 181: Episode (5)
Chapter 181: Episode (5)
A past spent enduring sleepless nights, clutching a hollow stomach in a frozen sewer on a snowy day, or huddling in the shadows beneath an underpass when it rained.
In the depths of that free world—a world where the very concept of ‘Aran’ had vanished, where the Empire had transformed into a Republic, and where all races, be they Sled, Mer, Yedlem, Izenheim, Westerner, or Easterner, lived in harmony—
I read their story.
“Hey. You sure about this? You really wanna trade this for a piece of paper?”
A homeless man grinned, holding up a loaf of bread and a bottle of liquor. I traded those precious lifelines for a single comic book.
[Outcast: The Continental War Arc]
The Outcast, now officially part of the Revolutionary Group, had entered the Continental War. It was a series of episodes following them as they assassinated the Empire’s key figures and sabotaged its legions.
“Kuhuhu. This booze is the real deal.”
Enemies appeared endlessly, no matter how many were slaughtered, until finally, the elite fighting force known as ‘Knights’ made their appearance. My old comrades, Chiron and Reynel, were among them.
And then...
[…One day! Zebestian noticed Filty’s gaze!]
The ultimate cliffhanger, left on the final page—the back of Zebestian, depicted for all the world like a final boss.
Though I was an Imperial noble who had been broken by them in that story, in reality, I was little more than dregs abandoned by the Empire. I felt a strange sense of catharsis watching it all burn.
[To be continued in the next issue]
“Ah…”
The latest issue I had struggled so hard to obtain was over. I carefully tucked the comic book into my bag. Its pages were always tattered and torn. I secretly wished for a clean, collected volume, but such things were a luxury for a fugitive like me.
“Ha! What kind of era are we living in that some nutjob is still spouting this crazy shit?”
In front of a drum-can fire, a homeless man chuckled as he read a newspaper. I picked up the article he’d tossed aside. The headline detailed a politician’s racist remarks.
[Transcript of Minister Mekin’s remarks: “The entire media has been taken over by those Izenheim bastards. This is a crisis. The news pages are owned by the Izenheim, and we’re being dominated by their editorials. The Entire Times and the Gemion Post have been completely handed over to them…”]
In response to the transcript, every public figure and media outlet in the Republic swarmed to condemn and bury him.
Anti-discrimination had been codified into law, and the genocides perpetrated by the old Empire were now featured in textbooks as a cautionary tale for all humanity. A collective resolve had formed: never again.
And so, humanity was to move forward into a future of harmony.
I, too, as a remnant of the Empire, once sincerely believed in the peaceful future they would create.
Their choice was undoubtedly the right one.
If only it hadn’t been for the Izenheim.
──── Fwoosh.
Pain’s face, which had been hovering in the air, slowly sank. His massive frame was the first to collapse. His head and body, now separated, tumbled across the pavement. As blood sprayed and his heart finally ceased its rhythm, the pulse of my virus stilled as well.
Pain was an Izenheim.
“You… son… of a… bitch…!”
A slow, viscous shout flowed toward me. I turned my head. Kaden. He was emitting a powerful mana wavelength. The frequency immediately disrupted my disguise; my black hair bled into gold, and my dark eyes became as arid as a desert.
Spitting out my false teeth, I moved.
“Paaaain—!”
Kaden charged, having lost all reason. His mana disrupted all vibrations—a supernatural ability that directly attacked neural pathways. He had used it to kidnap high-ranking Imperial officers, shattering their minds to extract information.
It was a power best avoided at all costs.
I twisted my upper body slightly. Letting the mana wave flow past me, I readjusted my grip on my longsword.
Then, a single leap. I drew an arc meant to cleave him in two.
Clang—!
Someone forced their way into my sword’s path.
It was Meden. The protagonist. He used his hardened left arm as a shield to block my blade. The Ebenholtz steel bit into his skin, scattering a pure white mist.
“Kuaaargh—!”
Meden pushed me back with all his might.
I willingly allowed the momentum to carry me away.
“…”
The space fell silent.
A lull descended, filled only with the ragged sound of breathing.
“…You.”
Elze glared at me, her eyes burning with vibrant animosity. Meden’s gaze was the same. Kaden’s, too.
They were such perfect comic book characters.
I simply faced them, my expression devoid of emotion.
“Ha. Haha. Ha. Haha.”
Suddenly, a bizarre laugh echoed from behind me.
Falkenrat.
The man who had been fused together by Elze’s ability had somehow raised his torso.
“─…This. This power. Is the. Empire.”
His red prosthetic eye blinked erratically. On and off. Like a broken lightbulb.
“─This. Is the great Empire.”
Pshhhk—! Acrid steam spewed from his severed mechanical arm. The mana stone within the circuit reacted, and automated repairs began.
It was the nature of Falkenrat’s innate mana. He truly had a terrifying aptitude for merging with machines.
“─We are the Empire.”
Pshhh! He released the mana stone’s residue, cackling grotesquely.
“─Worms like you. No matter how much you struggle. You can’t escape. Power. Power. Power…”
Falkenrat’s nonsense continued—a delusional tirade about the glory of the Empire. He seemed to be under the impression that I was his ally.
“─You are all just… manure to be crushed… beneath the Empire’s feet. The Emperor… wants… us.”
I had no desire to hear any more. Nor was there any reason to.
I twisted my longsword. My feet dug into the pavement.
—Tick.
Hyper-acceleration. I forced my body through the suspended flow of time. I decided to destroy him first. I never had any intention of letting a monster like that live.
—
In the next heartbeat, I was directly in front of him. My longsword pressed down on the gap between his shoulder and collarbone—the biological flesh not covered by mechanical armor.
“─What…”
Falkenrat’s red eye widened as if it would burst.
“You are not the Empire.”
I twisted the sword in my grip.
“You’re nothing but a filthy, foul piece of scrap metal.”
With that, I unleashed my aura. Falkenrat’s body exploded into dozens of pieces—a shower of machine parts and shredded flesh.
He would not be getting up again.
Swish.
Lightly flicking the oil and blood from my blade, I stood straight, every inch a Knight. I calmly surveyed the area.
“By the authority of Articles 14 and 31 of the Imperial Criminal Code.”
As I spoke, for a moment…
A very brief moment.
“For committing acts of terror.”
It was just an instant, but my voice trembled slightly.
Though I didn't show it, an unidentifiable hesitation arose from deep within my heart.
“And for the murder of innocent Arans, the perpetrators caught in the act will be…”
They were the heroes from the comic book that had helped me endure those hellish days. The people who had given me a reason to live for tomorrow, and the week after. The people my past self had admired.
Perhaps they were the last fragments of ‘humanity’ etched into my soul.
“As a Knight of the Empire—”
Bang—!
A gunshot rang out from behind me.
The armed group, Onyx—those who had joined to support the Outcast—unleashed a barrage of firepower at me.
“Run, Elze! Meden! We’ll handle this!”
Rat-tat-tat-tat—!
Deflecting the hail of bullets with an Aura Sphere, I hurled my longsword.
Vwooooom—!
The mana-infused blade spun like a helicopter rotor as it closed the distance to the Onyx members.
—Krrrrrunch!
Their torsos and limbs were shredded. Chunks of their bodies scattered in every direction. Screams and shrieks. Blood and offal. Humans were torn into lumps of meat, their remains dripping to the ground.
They didn't have the strength to stop me.
Whoosh.
The sword returned to me like a boomerang, cutting through the air thick with a rain of blood. I gripped the hilt tightly.
I took a deep breath.
“By the authority of Articles 14 and 31 of the Imperial Criminal Code.”
Now, the time had finally come to erase the past.
“This reactionary group, which has committed acts of terror and mass-murdered a large number of Arans.”
Before the great cause I shouldered, my personal sentiments were a luxury I could not afford.
“As a Knight of the Empire—I shall deliver summary judgment.”
I sprinted across the pavement. As if in resonance with my movement, Kaden was the first to rush me.
Shweek!
Kaden was fast. He could manipulate his own nervous system to achieve superhuman speed. His plan was to match my pace, close the distance, and hit me directly with a mana wave.
That was his way of fighting, but I retreated. Creating a platform of mana beneath my feet, I stepped back half a pace. The distance between Kaden and me widened. The wind whistled through the empty space.
I thrust my sword forward.
—!
The blade pierced his heart. The mana that had been as vivid as an electric current faded into nothingness.
Next, Meden charged. It was originally meant to be a coordinated attack, but Kaden had died too soon.
Enraged, Meden activated his hardened body and threw a series of punches. I deflected his fists with the flat of my blade.
Clang! Clang! Claaang—
Meden’s fists rushed at me like a storm, but the guard of Ebenholtz remained serene. My longsword flowed in a continuous chain, flawlessly parrying every strike. Meden’s mana was impure, tainted by the mana stones his body had absorbed.
Clang—! Claaaang—
He could not withstand my sword. In an instant, the silver light of Ebenholtz flared, and his right arm was severed clean off below the elbow. The body that had been depicted as invincible in the comic was cut down by my superior technique.
“—Kuh!”
Even so, Meden did not back down. He swung his remaining left arm. I ducked beneath the blow and, in the same motion, swung my sword upward.
—
Without a sound, Meden’s left shoulder was also cleanly severed.
Having lost both arms, he tried to bite me, but someone’s mana caught him.
Fwoosh.
Elze. She had pulled him toward her.
She had admitted defeat.
“Meden.”
Leaning against a pile of rubble, Elze hugged Meden tightly.
“It’s okay to stop now…”
Meden stared blankly up at her.
“…”
I watched them. Letting my sword hang low, I approached, one step at a time.
Elze did not avoid my gaze. She did not run.
“Do you… do you think you’re right? Do you even know what the Empire… what the Empire has done?” she asked. Her voice was a mixture of resentment, hatred, and the sheer helplessness of being crushed by violence.
“I know,” I answered, lowering my blade. Elze gritted her teeth.
“And you still—”
“The Empire is neither good nor evil. It is simply the best option.”
It exists merely for the sake of survival. The monster known as the Empire is necessary simply to endure. Good and evil, right and wrong—such moral values are utterly meaningless before the great premise of humanity’s survival.
“Mason is the best option? Are you insane? Didn’t you see what was happening while you were pretending to be a researcher? You idiot!”
“Mason Industries will fall.”
At my words, the expressions on Elze and Meden’s faces wavered.
“Because I have obtained proof of their illegal human experiments, according to Imperial law.”
As a Knight of the Empire, I will tear down this cradle of mad experiments with my own hands. As the heir of Ebenholtz, I will show Hector Mason what a ‘ceiling’ truly is.
“So that bastards like you will never be created again.”
“…Well now, that’s a relief.”
Meden let out a hollow laugh, his lips pale. Elze, too, managed a bleak smile.
“No more people like us? That sounds wonderful. I truly hope you succeed in that, Sir Knight.”
I reached the space just before them.
“Finally…”
My senses suddenly detected another gaze watching from the darkness far away.
Filty.
Was her clairvoyance recording this moment?
“Do you have any last words?”
At that, Meden and Elze looked at each other. Meden no longer had arms to attack with, and Elze’s mana was depleted. Resistance was impossible.
The two shared a nod.
“Ah. Yeah, I do. It’s a bit weird to say this since we’ve just met, but…”
Meden looked at me and smiled brightly. He was the officially recognized most handsome man in the series; even covered in blood, that reputation didn’t fade.
“Fuck you!”
Hearing Meden’s shout, Elze smiled as well. She powerfully raised her middle finger.
“Yeah. Go fuck yourself, you fucking asshole!”
I looked down at them quietly.
Unconsciously, a sense of joy spread across my lips. A genuine laugh escaped from the bottom of my chest.
“…Right.”
If it were possible, I would have liked to show them the future where Mason Industries is completely destroyed.
But that was not to be.
If Elze and Meden were to survive, the Empire would only put them on the operating table again. For them, whose lives had been utterly ruined by the Empire, it would be an insult worse than death.
“…”
I surveyed the area.
The mechanical wreckage of Falkenrat, split in two. Pain’s headless body. Kaden, killed instantly with a pierced heart. And Meden and Elze, holding each other, their eyes closed as if they had already foreseen their deaths.
They accepted their end without a word, with complete transcendence.
“You did well.”
Because I understood their banner—the ideal of freedom they had so desperately craved.
I willingly swung my sword.
I beheaded them both.
———
The moonlight briefly swept across the ground.
Silence settled over the ruins.
This should be enough.
I took a couple of steps back and looked down at my hands.
And then…
‘Hey. You. Who’s your favorite in that Outcast group?’
Suddenly, the voice of a homeless man from my fugitive days echoed in my ears. A cancer patient who, like me, had been a fan of Outcast.
‘…My favorite?’
‘Yeah. Just pick one.’
Ruminating on the now-faded memories of the past, I sank down onto a pile of broken concrete.
‘What’s the point of picking? I like them all.’
I lifted my face to the night sky. A crescent moon, faint and shrouded in mist, seemed to meet my gaze.
‘Aw, no fun. Still, just pick one.’
Those days when I could like someone purely, without any reason. That day when I was free, at least in spirit, even though I could have been caught and killed at any moment.
‘…Then it would be meaningless.’
I, who had not known of this world’s impending doom. I, who had not yet shouldered this fucking burden. And yet, strangely, I, who had struggled to live just one more day.
“If they’re not all together…”
I closed my eyes gently. The night wind wrapped around me, as if stirring an inexplicable sense of loss.
“It’s meaningless.”
At some point, I seemed to have come too far. The path back was submerged in darkness, and my hands were stained with too much blood.
At the end of it all, I stood utterly alone.
However—
Believe, Maximilian.
This is your only path.