Aftermath of the Rampage (1)
"Thanks for helping, but I'm truly sorry for suspecting my benefactor. I'll admit it cleanly. You know how to read presences."
"I like how clean your apology is, Federation man."
The mention of "Federation man" suggested he came from some kingdom outside the Federation. Nathan nodded with genuine respect, then turned a sharp glare on the elf who had suddenly appeared.
The flustered elf woman raised both hands and backed away. A lens glinted from the device clutched in one of them.
"Hey, calm down. Is it such a crime to follow someone and film a little?"
"To confess your own wrongdoing so readily and then ask if it's a crime? That's absurd."
The elf seemed utterly convinced of her innocence. Still, the fact that she'd been caught, combined with the bloodstains littering the floor, drained the color from her face. The added knowledge that the Sapiens who had just killed two Eleim was now staring her down didn't help.
"What's with her?"
The elf swallowed hard. She tried to sound confident, but her voice trembled at the end.
"...You're not planning to hurt a journalist, are you?"
"Journalist my ass. You're Deep Forum scum peddling footage to illegal broadcast channels. I won't touch you, so forget about leaving and stay right there."
At Hrozka's mocking tone, Nathan felt his vision swim.
"Filming? Journalist? What exactly is this Deep Forum that it deserves to be called scum?"
Meeting a world so far removed from his own was the worst. Every moment brought some unfamiliar concept that left him feeling lost. Nathan's head throbbed. Even more irritating was the way Hrozka's face had brightened, like a man who lived to teach.
"You really know nothing, Federation man? As your senior who was kidnapped to the Heavens eight years earlier, I'll kindly explain—"
"No, forget it. My head hurts! Save the lecture for later. You said robed swordsmen are waiting to capture and kill us, right? Let's deal with that first. ...Wait. Then how did you get in here?"
Hrozka pointed outside the abandoned building.
"From outside. I swam over, then climbed the wall like a tree. Truth is, that's the only exit anyway."
Nathan sighed. The ruined structure was flooded on all sides, like a fortress built on an island in the middle of a lake for defense.
"...I don't have your climbing skills. Do I have to jump?"
"If it's urgent, you jump. Planning to break through head-on? Think you can beat swordsmen who've trained for centuries?"
"I took down five on the way in. Twenty with a hole in my side should be manageable."
"Hmm. Plenty of building materials here. We can tie a rope to something solid and climb down. Let's make an exit before they reach us."
Hrozka, rummaging through the debris, suddenly frowned and looked up.
"Hey. Illegal content creator. Where do you think you're going?"
The elf journalist, who had been trying to slip away while their attention was elsewhere, froze.
"Why? Can't I leave?"
"It's your choice, but if you head down now you'll die. Better to descend the other side with us."
"Ridiculous. Why would I follow you? How do I know what revenge you'll take?"
The elf narrowed her eyes and swept her neat hair back with one hand. Starting from the crown of her head, she turned transparent. Just like before, she vanished completely from sight.
"You two can grunt and struggle down your rope. I have my own way out alive. Unfortunately, I won't be sharing it with you."
The voice drifted from empty air, growing fainter. Deliberately loud footsteps thumped down the stairs as if to taunt them.
"If you're jealous, try being born a light magician next life."
Nilly mumbled from inside Nathan's arms.
"That rude bitch."
Dizzy and exhausted, Nathan muttered like a complaint.
"Feels like I'm seeing every spell I'll ever see in a lifetime crammed into a few days. The arena owner, the street guards, even this crazy long-eared journalist or whatever—all magicians. Come to think of it, you're a magician too, Nilly. Is magic really this common in the Heavens?"
"I don't know about the Lower World, but it's fairly common here. Eleim are born with the Heavenly God's blessing from the cradle. Few can wield it freely, though. As you know, I'm an ice magician. That woman was probably a light magician. She can refract surrounding light to fool the eye."
Meanwhile Hrozka, who had been happily waving a usable rope, suddenly grabbed and tugged his own earlobe. He had sensed something.
"Uh, Nilly, was it? Can you use that innate magic right now? Freeze the stairs or something..."
"Doesn't look like it. If mana is water in a bowl, the bowl is bone-dry. Refilling it would take months. Why?"
"Hmm. Nathan."
The grim note in Hrozka's voice was unmistakable. Nathan, catching on, retreated slowly while holding Nilly. As the outside wind grew closer, Nilly's eyes widened.
"Nathan, wait. You don't mean—"
Heavy footsteps. Suddenly the elf journalist reappeared from thin air at the entrance. She had run so frantically that she tripped over the rope Hrozka had pulled out, a clump of her hair shorn clean away.
The dazed elf looked up at Hrozka.
"Me too. Give me the rope too."
"...I haven't even tied it yet. Your running is useful, though. Let's hope your jumping is just as good."
From the floor below came the thunder of dozens of furious footsteps. The heavy noise drew steadily closer.
Hrozka declared gloomily.
"Everyone ready to jump outside?"
"No, I hate it, I can't! At least let me use the rope from now on—"
"I can't stand her anymore. Just shove the bitch off, Nathan."
"Nooooooo—!"
When the Winter King's Blades rushed onto the fourth floor, Nathan and his group had already jumped. The robed swordsmen slowly surveyed the battle scars carved across every surface. No trace of the Sapiens remained. All they found was the mangled corpse of Kada Sakano, owner of the minor arena and a rising businessman, and...
"To survive even in that condition. The king's blood is thick indeed."
Only Mornid, whose head had been crushed. Having reverted from demonic beast to Eleim form, Mornid was somehow still breathing. His reattaching lower jaw creaked, leaking pained groans. In this state the bloodline's blessing was nothing short of a curse. Even if the incredible regenerative power inherited from his father brought him back, he would never regain his former sanity.
In that case Mornid was a failure. He could never become a Protector Lord. The Winter King's Blades drew their weapons. They had two primary duties: to protect the royal Protector Lords and their candidates, and to cull those who fell in the competition.
"His Majesty the Winter King loves those who can fight, so he might have ordered us to bring the wretch back even if crippled... But as you said, His Highness is not here. Therefore we will record that he died on this spot. For our own sakes, who nearly became permanent exiles to the eternal frozen wasteland under his rule."
The leader of the robed figures laughed heartily. His weapon, dragging along the ground, was a massive blade designed for dismemberment.
None of them had expected the Sapiens to win so impressively. When he had cut down five of the Winter King's Blades on his way up they had thought it mere luck. It seemed the dead subordinates hadn't simply been lax in their training. In the end it was a blessing.
"With his head gone he probably won't remember, but one never knows. Even if it regrows, his temperament might remain unchanged and he could issue the same orders. Farewell, arrogant prince."
The leader raised his sword, then felt something bump against his foot. He glanced down without thinking and his expression turned to shock.
A split fragment of forehead bone. Upon it was engraved the Heavenly God's emblem. The Winter King's Blades recoiled as if it were a live bomb.
High families sometimes paid enormous sums for such procedures, engraving the emblem directly into bone rather than skin for safety. Precisely because of that, it rarely detached like this. They had never anticipated it.
"Damn it, such a stupid mistake..."
The leader roared.
"Get out of here right now—!"
The Winter King's Blades bolted down the stairs together. But it was already too late.
The land of the Heavens permitted only to those bearing the emblem. Disaster would descend upon any living thing without the brand.
Beyond the gradually thinning mist the sky rumbled like thunder in fury.
Hrozka, who had jumped last, reached dry land first. Hearing the growl beyond the clouds, he smiled with dark meaning. His hand still carried red stains. Blood mixed with brain matter did not wash away easily even in water. He had torn the dangling skull fragment from Mornid.
Had the Heavenly God's emblem already detached completely from Mornid's body earlier, this method would have been impossible. There had been a reason he sent the others ahead.
A deadly trap meant only for the slaves of the tyrant.
'Burn to death, fake god's fake citizens.'
Nathan broke the surface with a gasping breath, heading for the manhole—the only dry ground nearby. Nilly, who had swum while clutching his hand, soon followed. Tremors passed through her grip. She had fallen into the lake before her body temperature could return.
As Nathan tried to stand he felt sudden weight. Someone had clung expertly to his back. It was the elf journalist from before.
Nathan felt a flash of killing intent, but shook it off with a sigh and set her down. The elf coughed violently, spitting out lake water.
"I survived. Thank you, Heavenly God..."
"Not the Heavenly God. Thank the guy sturdy enough to carry you out."
A familiar voice came from above. Nathan looked up.
"You two again?"
"Us again. You're good at swimming. Doesn't the bandaged spot sting?"
"It's bearable."
Nathan answered curtly while wiping moisture from his eyelids. Kilika's bright smile greeted him, and Hodrick behind her. Between Hodrick's thick forearms dangled Hrozka, who had reached shore first. The archer in hospital clothes was on the verge of fainting as his carotid artery was squeezed.
"Kek."
Kilika pulled a strangely shaped weapon from behind her back. Attached to the crossbow-like device instead of a bolt was the people-carrying sack he had seen in the back alley. Nathan's jaw tightened.
"Don't make me regret saving you once."
"Ah, how could I forget that day?"
Nathan gritted his teeth and forced his exhausted body upright. The sack flew at him and swallowed him whole.
Ten seconds later the twins had finished everything.
"Stay still, you brats. I know, I was a little hasty! But listen, it's all part of the plan..."
The twins, sweating profusely as they shouldered the sacks, suddenly looked at the sky. A massive pressure hummed as it bore down on the world. Beyond the clouds loomed a shadow—an arm and hand large enough to cover the heavens. The silhouette was just about to meet in prayer.
Kilika and Hodrick had seen it before. It was a sight that could shatter the mind of any first-time witness, yet most Eleim had grown used to it. Such things happened more often in the Heavens than one might think. And precisely because of that, the fear only deepened. The twins' hair stood on end—not from mere chills, but from the precursor to the calamity about to strike nearby.
"Oh shit, shit—! Run! Hodrick—!"
The twins with sacks on their backs frantically threw open the manhole and dove inside. Heavenly punishment flashed, splitting the sky. Terrifying lightning crushed the abandoned building's crude structure from the ceiling down. It had come to punish the sinner who remained in the Heavens without the brand.
"It seems suspicious no matter how you look at it."
"To our eyes, the gentlemen who came to Graveyard Valley look even stranger."
"Why? Are we not allowed to be here?"
"No, that's not it. Honestly, you people rarely visit the shadows, right? Not that it's wrong. Even I wouldn't set foot in a shithole like this if there was no money in it."
The truck driver grinned with easy charm. She was a woman with a bruise around one eye and a striking scar at the corner of her mouth. A faint smell of burning clung to her. In the passenger seat beside her sat a large figure wearing a helmet pulled low, apparently dozing. The nodding head looked slightly unnatural. Strange sleeping habits, or an act to avoid answering?
A faint suspicion flickered in the eyes of the Celestial Guard officer who had stopped the truck.
"What did you say your name was?"
"It's Emil."
The alias Kilika always used when deceiving others never changed. Trying to calm her pounding heart, she quietly slipped a hand under the seat. Her fingers found the handle of the chain sickle. She wasn't planning to fight the officer. Touching it simply helped her relax. Of course, if things went wrong she was ready to swing it without mercy.
Graveyard Valley was literally a graveyard—a tomb for those who died without rat or bird noticing. A lawless zone where lowering your guard meant being buried on the spot. Knowing that, fear would be natural, yet this investigator showed no such sign. Was he thick-nerved, or simply a fool who didn't value his life?
The officer, maintaining his consistently rigid attitude, snorted.
"I am Officer Empato of the Celestial Guard. I'm looking for a runaway arena slave Sapiens. Have you seen a face like this?"
A portrait of Nathan that looked far more violent and stupid than the real man.
Before Empato could even produce the poster the answer flew out.
"There's no way we have."
Even so the officer stubbornly raised the poster. Kilika barely held back the laughter threatening to burst out.
"The whole Heavens is in an uproar over this Sapiens and you claim ignorance?"
It was certainly an uproar. Celestial Guard patrols were a rare sight in the shadows. Besides Empato, hundreds of guards blocked every path and conducted inspections. Every dark organization in the area must have gone on emergency alert. It was all because of one man—Nathan.
'It can't help but cause an uproar. Escaping the Great Arena owner's grasp and even summoning heavenly punishment.'
What an incredible guy. Kilika tried to stay calm. Normally they would have avoided the Celestial Guard out of fear, but after witnessing heavenly punishment from so close, the officer seemed almost harmless.
"I saw it on the news. They say he's dangerous, right? But if he's drifted into this neighborhood, he'd have become meat before we even noticed."
Kilika held up a bag of fried meat. Only the cooks of Graveyard Valley knew what kind of meat was inside the batter.
"Care for a bite?"
"...No thanks. Heavenly punishment occurred not far from here. Any idea what happened?"
"How would I know? Regular fried-food stalls disappear like that sometimes too."
Frowning, the officer walked to the back of the truck and began rummaging through the bundle of nets.
"I lost that Sapiens the other day... and he definitely fell onto a truck like this."
"Hey, you shouldn't be digging through that!"
"What doesn't apply to the Celestial Guard? Cooperate for the safety of the Heavens—"
Yet inside the net were only scattered carcasses. Sewer ghouls and giant crayfish. That ownerless forearm probably belonged to some poor soul who had fallen and drowned...
"It's daily food down here. Fry anything and it's edible."
Empato covered the net in horror. The assistant behind him looked ready to vomit.
Even after that the investigators fought their nausea for several minutes, trying to inspect the cargo thoroughly. But when one officer scratched his arm on a sharp net hook they finally gave up and let the truck go.
Watching the departing officers, Kilika muttered.
"Diligent, so frightening. Naive, so grateful."
Hodrick, who had been pretending to sleep, nodded. The truck that had turned as if leaving the road instead swung into an alley and stopped before a warehouse. The neon sign on the building glowed with gloomy light.
The twins disembarked in perfect sync and quickly hauled the sacks out of the nets and from between them.
"Hey, are they still breathing?"