Maze (6)
Thud. Thud.
We were walking toward the vault room where Nicholas would be waiting.
In front of where Calvin had fallen, concrete walls were sparse, so there was no need to hop over them with frequent Blinks the way we had before. On top of that, Usher still had one more fight ahead of him.
For that reason I was taking the lead in his place, and from behind me Usher spoke up.
"Hey, Dark Merchant."
"We're almost there. The vault room should be just ahead—"
"No. That's not what I wanted to talk about."
"…What is it you want to know?"
Seeing Usher look like he was wrestling with something, I stopped walking and asked.
Usher held a type advantage against Nicholas, but that didn't mean facing him would be free of complications. If he wanted countermeasures, I was ready to re-explain the plan I'd already mapped out in my head, just as I had before the last fight.
What came out of his mouth was the opposite.
"In the fight earlier, that guy suddenly went berserk."
"…"
"He never looked like the type to lose it for no reason. You must have done something."
"Who knows. Smoke got into his wounds — maybe it just hurt."
So that was what this was about. While reviewing the fight with Calvin, something had stuck with him. Usher always had a reliable advisor glued to his side. Asking about something from the middle of combat after the fact wasn't strange at all.
As he'd said, what had shaken Calvin was my telepathy. If Sinel asked me about it, it was information I could answer truthfully without any problem. The problem was that the one asking was Usher.
We were fighting on the same side for now, but no one knew how our relationship would develop going forward. I needed to keep exposure of information about myself to a minimum.
"I'll take back what I said at first. Your magic doesn't seem to be the kind that sees the future."
"Then what is it?"
"I figure it's the type that disrupts an enemy's senses. But that knowledge of yours… I can't even begin to guess where it comes from."
"That so."
With just that small hint, Usher seemed to have drawn close to the answer. Still, he couldn't guess the source of my information. Well — no sane person would think the person standing next to them had possessed a character from a book. It was only natural that Usher hadn't figured it out.
Unbothered by my lukewarm response, he kept going.
"But if you really are some remarkable person who knows every scrap of information in the world, there's one thing I want to ask you."
"I'm an information broker. Nothing I tell you comes free."
"I'll pay the price somehow. If necessary, I'll do whatever you ask of me — once."
I already had a guess what information Usher was after. He was looking for the one who killed his little sister. The reason Usher had committed a massacre in the middle of the city and was now surviving as a hunting dog for the security forces — all of it was because of his sister. A ghost wearing the face of family always drifted at his side. His obsession with revenge was only natural.
"I only take payment in money."
"It shouldn't be that difficult a piece of information. Even after you hear what it is—"
"Then go gather it up after you're a free man."
"…Fine."
When I shut down Usher's request, he closed his mouth. There were things in this world that, even if you knew them, you couldn't easily speak aloud. Especially if the content would drive the other person to ruin. There were still many stories left in War City. The story of the protagonist, Usher Hayes, couldn't end here.
"Setting that aside — you remember the plan I laid out earlier, right?"
I urged my steps forward again as I spoke to him. I couldn't speak information about Usher himself out loud, but when it came to Nicholas, I could talk all day. Usher recalled the operational details we'd discussed before and nodded.
"When a wall comes up, Blink behind it. That was it."
"Right. Don't hesitate — use it immediately."
"I remember."
Nicholas's fighting style was unusual in many ways. That style stemmed from the nature of his magic, which could only raise walls vertically — and with Usher along, breaking through wouldn't be particularly hard. Battles between mages were heavily influenced by magical compatibility. In Usher's case, his matchup against Nicholas was extremely favorable. Most of the problems arose from not being able to get over the walls, after all.
"Hmm."
As I moved while thinking about Nicholas, sounds from the surroundings made me stop again.
Clack. Clack.
Listening carefully, I heard something being shaken violently.
"…What's that?"
"Someone's up ahead."
It wasn't a sound Usher was making. Someone other than us was moving nearby. I carefully moved my legs in the direction of the sound.
"Why won't this open?"
Beyond a concrete wall narrower than the others. Rounding the corner of a wall that looked suspicious by any measure, I could make out a man shaking a metal box. The man with long hair tied back matched the description of Nicholas I'd seen in the novel.
Builder Nicholas. We'd finally come face to face with the man we'd been searching for.
"…"
Nicholas, still shaking the box, seemed to sense our presence and immediately raised his head. His eyes met Usher's as Usher looked at him. There was no time for a long conversation. The moment Nicholas confirmed our presence, he pulled a grenade from his coat. The guy's situational awareness was far too sharp.
"Looks like a face that saw something it shouldn't have."
Pik.
A wall surged up in front of Nicholas the instant he pulled the pin and threw the grenade. The wall settled into place at speed, splitting us from him. Front and back both blocked by concrete. To deal with a situation where the grenade couldn't be dodged, Usher used Blink exactly as I'd instructed earlier.
KWAANG—!
An explosion roared beyond the concrete wall he'd transferred past. The aftershock of the transfer mixed with the blast, creating a stronger tremor than before. I staggered against the wall for a moment, then found my balance again. If I spent too long recovering, we might lose Nicholas.
"No time. Move again."
Usher used Blink once more. Whether he'd erased the wall he'd raised to confirm our presence, Nicholas was looking at the traces of the grenade. But at the sight of us reappearing, his eyes went wide with shock. Looking back and forth between me and Usher, Nicholas clenched his teeth.
"This is…"
"Go after him, now!"
After scanning the surroundings, Nicholas charged toward a direction with a glass window. Usher, chasing him, didn't stay still either. Usher transferred behind Nicholas and reached out toward him. Just as Usher's hand, having moved behind him, was about to seize Nicholas's head, the ground Usher was standing on moved.
A pillar surged upward as if to slam Usher's body into the ceiling. A moment later and the pillar would have crushed him against it. Confirming the moving floor, Usher hurriedly leapt off the pillar. Then he used Blink again to stick close to Nicholas.
"Go for the box first! The contents take priority!"
"That's the plan."
Usher, clinging right behind Nicholas, grabbed the box. Nicholas kept raising walls to shake him off while desperately trying not to let go. But his opponent was Usher Hayes, who moved while carrying space itself. Usher, still touching the box, used Blink toward his original position. Running Usher came to a stop in place, holding the box that still had Nicholas's hand attached.
"Guh — my hand…!"
Even the most expensive item was apparently worth less than a life. Nicholas kept running, clutching his severed wrist. Usher tossed the box to me as I followed from behind.
"Dark Merchant. Catch."
"Got it — grab him before he gets away!"
"That's the idea. I'll take his head along with it."
"Ugh… would you just hand it over if you were me?!"
Running at full speed, Nicholas had already reached the glass window. Without slowing, he charged straight into it. Crash. A wall rose and vanished beneath the window frame, shattering the glass. Beyond the broken window, a long stone pillar platform had risen beneath the charging Nicholas.
"Usher! Keep chasing! If you use Blink, you can control your falling speed!"
"…"
Nicholas landed on the stone pillar after leaping through the window frame. The moment he mounted it, the pillar reduced its height and moved downward. It looked exactly like a stone elevator. But Usher just stood there, watching Nicholas descend.
"Usher Hayes?"
"It's over."
"…It's already over?"
Hearing me, Usher approached the shattered glass window instead of answering. Then he quietly stepped up onto the window frame. Immediately after, a dry voice rang out heavily around us.
Do not leave the restricted range.
If the distance from the supervisor becomes too great, the detonator may activate.
Just a little further, and Usher's head would have been gone.