[I didn't betray you. I didn't betray you. I didn't betray you. I didn't betray you. I didn't betray you. I didn't betray you. I didn't betray you...]
[It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me.]
[If I keep saying it wasn't me, then why won't you believe me...?]
[Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me. Why won't you believe me.]
An overwhelming ether storm, seemingly laying bare Esther's raw emotions.
As if resolving an old grudge, it swept away Sart of the Shadows in an instant.
"Keuh-huk..."
Even Sart of the Shadows, renowned for his skill in fleeing, belonged to the material world at his core.
Naturally, he had no defense against the ether storm of an entirely different nature.
"..."
I found myself blankly staring at the scene for a moment, then quickly regained my senses and gripped the Ark-15 automatic conversion rifle firmly.
"Esther...!"
Turncoat Rook's voice was filled with palpable betrayal.
Regardless, I drove a wedge into his aching heart with an A-985 explosive round.
KWA-AAANG!!!
A thick cloud of smoke rose from the explosion.
But if someone like Turncoat Rook could be taken down this easily, we wouldn't have struggled so much to begin with.
"...So, you made that choice after all."
As Turncoat Rook emerged from the smoke, speaking with a bitter tone, Esther responded with disbelief.
["Hah... what a joke. Weren't you the one who kept calling me a traitor? So arbitrary."]
"That was... Sart running his mouth."
["And now? What about when you just stood there doing nothing? Whatever. I don't need any of it anymore."]
Esther's eyes glowed with a fierce light.
["If that's what you all want... then I'll give it to you."]
She added, as if chewing the words.
["Traitor."]
Ether around Esther began to writhe.
But it wasn't just her own ether moving now.
Since Esther was now bound to me, with my permission, she could freely wield my ether as well.
Which meant the ether she now controlled surpassed even that of a top-tier Named Spectral Entity.
[Kik, kikik...]
[Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.]
[Kikikikiki...!]
Until now, Esther had never gone all out for me.
She merely did enough to not disobey my commands.
But this time was different.
"Esther! STOP!"
["Nope."]
Despite Turncoat Rook's shout, Esther scoffed and continued expanding her ether field.
'She's completely taken over the area.'
No matter how formidable Turncoat Rook might be, Esther going full power wasn't someone he could easily overcome.
As if to prove it, the creeping ether seized the incoming bone tendrils.
"Are you... really going through with this?"
["How many times are you going to make me repeat myself? And you saying that... is just rich."]
Turncoat Rook's voice dropped.
"Then I won't hold back any longer."
["Oh, please. As if you've been holding back until now."]
"You'll regret this."
Esther sneered.
With that, Turncoat Rook stepped back briefly before unleashing bone tendrils from all over his body.
Then, he began reshaping his bone armor.
Crack, crunch...
Soon, his arms were adorned with bone glaives.
A battle form I was well familiar with.
From this point on, Turncoat Rook was ready to fight in earnest.
["What, you think changing your outfit is going to make a difference?"]
No sooner had Esther's mocking voice echoed than Turncoat Rook's form blurred momentarily.
He had moved with incredible speed.
However, since I already knew his attack pattern, I could easily guess where he'd strike next.
'Behind.'
Without needing to look, I ducked, dodging his attack and returning fire.
Bang!
KRANG!
Explosions erupted from the A-985 rounds, but they weren't enough to pierce the thick bone armor Rook wore.
'So it's not enough.'
Knowing A-985 rounds wouldn't do significant damage, I quickly swapped the magazine for armor-piercing rounds.
It looked like this fight would drag on.
Screeeech!
Turncoat Rook didn't let up, swinging his glaive-like bone blades at me with brutal force, threatening to split me in two.
'Fast, as expected.'
Even though I fired back while retreating, his armor wasn't so weak that a few armor-piercing rounds would slow him down.
'In that case...'
I redirected my aim.
Rather than his body, I targeted the threatening blades of the incoming glaive.
Bang!
"...Hm?"
One of the swinging glaives was deflected, momentarily catching Rook off guard—but he immediately resumed his assault.
Bang!
Another shot, another deflected glaive.
At last, Rook realized what I was doing and let out a growl.
"You crafty little...!"
What I did was simple.
Every time his glaive came at me, I aimed precisely at its edge, subtly knocking his attacks off course.
But I wasn't just buying time.
In fact, the real plan started now.
["Forgetting something?"]
With Esther's quiet murmur, the ether around us surged.
No longer just raw force—it began taking an entirely new form.
Whooosh!
Ignition.
A spiritual phenomenon triggered by ether erupted like it could engulf the whole world in flames.
The ether flame blooming around Esther surged and engulfed Turncoat Rook.
I didn't waste the opportunity and pulled the trigger of the Ark-15 again, adding to the firepower.
Tatata-tat!!
Perhaps the combination of Esther's attack and my armor-piercing barrage finally had some effect.
Fine cracks appeared in Rook's once-impervious bone armor.
Crack, crackle...
Bone fragments fell to the ground.
Sssk!
However, not long after, newly formed bone tendrils filled the gaps, and the cracks were completely healed.
At a glance, it might've felt hopeless—but I knew better.
'The power of the bone parasite isn't limitless. That means Rook's using up his strength.'
The tides were starting to turn, just a little.
Unfortunately, it didn't last.
Sart of the Shadows, who had been blown away earlier by Esther's ether wave, had recovered and reappeared.
"Ugh... So, you really chose betrayal."
["Then why'd you open your mouth in the first place?"]
"Well, no matter. Lady Traitor. I knew it'd come to this eventually."
Darkness shimmered around Sart of the Shadows.
"Allow me to show you a true nightmare."
Nightmare Reenactment.
Sart's true power, which had once pushed me to the edge, began manifesting again.
What occurred here wasn't real.
But the fear and pain were.
—Now, my lord. Let me hear you scream. A beautiful scream!
Back then, I had no answer for Sart's Nightmare Reenactment.
But now, things were different.
'Esther, get rid of that.'
["Do I even need to be told?"]
Indeed, Sart of the Shadow's technique was difficult to handle.
If he trapped my mind while Rook attacked from outside, it would be a flawless pincer move—no wonder the two of them had such fearsome reputations.
But you know...
["Hey, get lost."]
Esther's banishment decree.
And it wasn't just words.
"...What the—!"
Sart's startled cry echoed.
A storm of ether had surged before anyone noticed, sweeping away the shadows in one go.
[Get── lost──────]
That was the end of Shadow Sart's once-feared Nightmare Reenactment.
But the fight wasn't over.
Proving that point, the turncoat Rook didn't miss the moment when the Nightmare Reenactment crumbled.
Even if I had escaped from it relatively quickly, it was still a long enough window for someone like Rook.
'A little late—'
Before I knew it, the Turncoat Rook was right in front of me.
And his glaive was rising.
[Gigit!]
Janus moved the bone tendrils inside the protective suit to defend against the surprise ambush.
In that moment, I saw it.
Rook's body twitched for just a second.
"...Ugh!"
As I was bracing for Rook's next attack—
For some reason, Rook just passed me by.
'Huh?'
What was that?
I wasn't sure what had just happened, but Rook, who I'd clearly sensed as dangerous, had suddenly backed off.
Still, weird or not, I wasn't about to let the chance slip.
Ziiing—
The BLT-47 Plasma Launcher spat out a crimson flash.
I finally had the chance to use what I'd been saving.
Kwa-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka───!!!
The flash of destruction struck Rook at point-blank range.
"Gah!"
Rook blocked it at the last second with a hastily raised bone shield, but I had no intention of letting up.
'More, more, more.'
The unending red light surged forward, piercing the bone shield.
Eventually, Rook's left arm flew into the air.
* * *
A left arm soaring into the air.
But Rook couldn't spare attention for his lost arm.
It was because of a voice echoing in his head.
『Submit.』
『Submit.』
『Submit.』
It had been quiet for a while, and he had thought it safe to go on this mission—but now this.
'No... it's probably because I saw Carl Marcus again.'
Rook had tried desperately to remove the shard of Janus embedded in his chest.
But before he realized it, the shard had melted into him completely, becoming a part of him.
Because of that, Rook had no choice but to accept Janus as a part of himself.
Rook muttered quietly.
"...Sart."
"Ugh... Speak."
The shattering of the nightmare projection had left Sart too dazed to think clearly.
That was how powerful Esther's ether storm had been.
"We're leaving."
"What? But the orders—"
"They're impossible to carry out now. We retreat."
At those words, Sart of the Shadows nodded reluctantly.
"You're taking the blame with the Commander, then?"
"...Just get ready."
At that moment, Carl Marcus and Esther stepped in front of Rook and Sart.
["Heh, seriously? Who said you could leave?"]
"You'd best let us."
["Try it, then."]
A tense current ran again between Rook and Esther.
Just as the clash seemed ready to reignite—
"Enough."
["...Master?"]
The one who stopped it was none other than Carl Marcus.
"Go."
["Master! This is our chance!"]
"I know."
["Then why are you—!"]
Carl Marcus didn't answer. Instead, he jerked his chin toward the inside of the wall.
There, a full company was rushing toward them.
It was Ark's reinforcements.
["That's all the more reason to press harder! They're on our side! "]
"Not sure."
["What...?"]
Carl Marcus didn't reply.
He simply stared at Rook and said,
"Go. There won't be a second time."
"...Don't think of it as mercy."
"Think whatever you want."
And with that, Rook turned his back.
Soon, Ark's reinforcements would arrive, and when they did, it would become much harder for Rook and Sart—the culprits behind this whole mess—to escape.
'Just letting them go, huh...'
The more I learned about Carl Marcus, the more enigmatic he became.
Of course, even if he and Esther had tried to block our escape, I wasn't sure we couldn't break through—
But I hadn't expected him to just let us go.
'Either he's quick to assess the situation, or... he knows something.'
Whichever it was, he was no ordinary man.
Not someone you could just let go of.
As Rook left Ark's wall behind, the voice echoed in his ear again.
Louder and more forceful than ever.
『Submit.』