The First Finale (2)

I ran. I ran and ran some more. The elevator connecting the Hood and Sentinel stood at the center of Border Town. From the Clock Tower to Border Town was roughly a ten-minute sprint. With all of Sentinel plunged into pandemonium, the streets lay wide open, letting me tear forward at full speed like a runner on an empty track. A small mercy in the middle of hell.

Even while sprinting like a madman, countless tragedies clawed at the edges of my vision. Was this what the end of the world was supposed to look like?

People screaming for rescue while crushed under collapsed buildings. People staring blankly at monsters squeezing their heads out of rifts that had just torn open in front of them.

—Splat!

The sight of something tumbling from the burning hotel rooftop and leaving a crimson stain on the spotless pavement. Every single scene was shocking enough to rattle even me, a man who had witnessed every kind of horror the Hood could offer. But I treated it all as nothing more than background noise and kept running.

There was only one thing I had to do.

“Krrraaaargh!”

Any monster that blocked my path—whether I shot it, punched it, or kicked it—I cleared away with everything I had and kept sprinting. The result: I reached the elevator in under five minutes. My lungs felt ready to explode.

“Huk… huuuk…!”

Blood still streamed from my eyes and mouth. The agony was so intense I felt like I could pass out any second. I had no idea where this insane burst of strength was coming from, but that didn’t matter right now. I took a few short breaths, then lifted my head. Rest could wait until after I boarded the elevator.

A colossal cylindrical structure of brass and steel, thick support pillars, hydraulic mechanisms. It was the same elevator I used to sneak inside cargo containers to ride when I was a kid. A somewhat fond memory, but I had zero time to indulge in nostalgia. My legs trembled, yet I ignored them and pushed forward. No matter how chaotic things had become, the elevator was one of the most vital facilities linking the Hood and Sentinel, so security personnel remained on duty.

“Who goes there! Approach and I will open fire!”

“This is an emergency! Access to critical infrastructure is strictly prohibited!”

Only two guards. Lucky me. I ignored the warnings and kept walking. Both men panicked.

“H-hiiik…! L-look at all that blood!”

“Idiot. Can’t you see he’s not normal? If you’ve got time to talk, just—”

—Bang!

“Shoot!”

The sharper-looking guard’s musket spat fire. The slower one quickly followed.

“E-eek!”

—Bang! Bang!

They were firing right in front of me, yet for some reason I felt strangely calm. More interestingly, the bullets looked slow in my vision. The same sensation I’d felt when staring down that eyeball monster summoned through the Arcana. That transcendent entity had vanished somewhere, so now, inside this frozen moment, only I was free to move. I slipped past the bullets crawling by like snails and stepped directly in front of the quicker guard.

“Huk!”

A gasp leaked from behind the pitch-black ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gas mask that completely covered a Sentinel guard’s face. I twisted the musket barrel aside and drove my fist into his solar plexus. His body crumpled without resistance. The dim-witted guard beside him screamed and fell backward.

“U-uaaaah…!”

Pathetic. He probably still had bullets left. Just as I thought—always take out the smart one first. I crouched over the trembling guard and spoke in a low voice.

“Activate the elevator. Now.”

“Y-yes, right away!”

The bottom-rung guard nodded frantically.

“Lowest floor. Do not stop it under any circumstances. If it halts midway, I’ll climb back up and start with you.”

“C-confirmed!”

He frantically worked the control panel. The heavy steel barrier door slid open with a hiss. I stepped inside the elevator.

—Hsssss…!

With a burst of steam, the massive elevator began its slow descent toward the Hood.

“Phew.”

Only then could I finally breathe.

A short break had been granted, but I couldn’t afford to sit idle. I leaned my exhausted body against the railing and peered intently through the glass window. The Hood, which had already been a living hell, was now becoming literal hell.

—Craaaack…!

Just as I expected, countless rifts had already torn open inside the green smog. The bustling upper levels and the industrial zones across the middle layers were all being devoured without discrimination. Every time the elevator dropped another floor, I saw people screaming, cursing, and desperately fighting the monsters. A few decent mages and fighters lived in the Hood, so they seemed to be holding out slightly better than Sentinel, but it was only a matter of time. After witnessing monsters dozens of meters tall burst out, I knew hope was pointless. Still, one small comfort existed: the farther down we descended, the fewer and smaller the rifts became. New ones kept appearing, so the lower levels would eventually fall too, but the lowest floor still looked relatively safe for now.

—Ding!

A loud chime rang overhead. We had arrived. The moment the doors opened, the filthy air of the lowest floor rushed in to greet me. After breathing clean air for only a few hours, the atmosphere I had lived in for over a decade felt unbearably toxic.

“Ugh…!”

On top of my wrecked condition, nausea surged up my throat. My head spun. It felt like it would split open. Maybe it was my imagination, but after perceiving bullets in slow motion, my body seemed to be deteriorating at an alarming rate. My mind refused to function properly. My condition was at its absolute worst. Suppressing the urge to simply ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠collapse rather than rest, I ran toward the shantytown. I staggered repeatedly, nearly falling several times. Twice my vision went completely black. Still, I poured every ounce of strength into movement until I finally stood in front of our house.

“Ah.”

I reached for the key but paused. Come to think of it, the guards up above had nearly fainted at the sight of me. My current appearance must have been truly nightmarish. Even the brief reflection I’d caught in the elevator glass had been grotesque. Before entering, I lifted my sleeve and scrubbed my face as hard as I could. I couldn’t let Sarah see me like this. Her body was so frail she might still be asleep. Waking up to her brother’s blood-drenched face would be terrible for her health.

“Cough! Pff…”

Blood mixed into the cough, but I ignored it. I had overexerted myself; it was to be expected. Most of it was probably from my gums anyway. It would heal once I rested. I swallowed the blood that kept pooling in my mouth and stepped inside.

“Brother’s home.”

No answer. She must be sleeping. With that thought, I moved past the thin screen that barely separated the pathetic living room from the bedroom. My mind was hazy, so a strange idea floated up. No matter how sick ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she was, my extreme overprotectiveness might look downright creepy to outsiders. Honestly, even I didn’t fully understand how I had become so attached to Sarah. We only shared half our blood. Right after I first possessed this body, when it was still young, we had fought like normal siblings—cursing each other constantly. I remembered calling her a useless money-sucking hippo because of her weak body. Since she was Cain’s sister and not truly mine, I once questioned why I should bother. But the day after Cain and Sarah’s mother died, those thoughts vanished. In their place came a vague fear: if even Sarah died, what reason would I have to stay in this world? That was probably when I began protecting her to an excessive degree. I still wanted to escape this wretched Hood as soon as possible, but without Sarah, what glory or wealth would be worth it? At some point, the burdensome little sister had become part of my very life.

“Ha.”

I shook my head, clearing the thoughts, and carefully pulled aside the screen.

“Sarah? Are you sleeping?”

I wanted to see her face, stroke her dry hair, and feel the faint warmth of life from her small hands. But Sarah was gone. A small rift had opened in the dirty floor beneath the bed, like hell itself yawning wide. Scattered around its edge were the shattered fragments of the air purifier canister from the mask Sarah always wore.

The moment I saw it, my mind went completely blank.

“Ah.”

I felt no anger, no sorrow, no madness. Just… emptiness. Strength drained from my legs. I collapsed on the spot. My grip went slack.

—Clatter.

The revolver I had refused to release even for an instant since locking eyes with that monster rolled uselessly across the floor.

—Eeeeeeeeeee…!

A high-pitched ringing filled my ears.

“Kieeeeeek!”

I never even noticed the monster that had either been hiding inside the house or slipped in at some point charging straight at me. In the final instant, I saw a scrap of Sarah’s old clothing caught on the tip of its blood-soaked hooked claw.

—Squuuuish!

The claw drove straight through my heart.

Toward eternity. Pioneer your fate.