Slady approaches the flowers, crouching down and gently caressing their petals.
"Now you've joined them, Raizer, my friend. Beside your beloved and our former friends."
Then he leans against a tree, enjoying this moment alone, in peace.
"My heart breaks watching them die. Having to bury them here breaks my heart. I feel like I'm carrying the burden of all of you..."
He places his arms in an *X* shape over his chest, as if protecting his heart.
"But I can't cry right now; I can't show my despair."
Slady looks back at the flowers in the garden, closing his eyes for a brief moment.
"But I won't let everyone's deaths be in vain. If I have to carry the burden of all of you to seek justice for your souls, I will do so without hesitation."
Then Slady stood up, looking at the library for a few seconds.
"If you can hear my voice, Raizer and Raintalya, I will take good care of your daughter, I will make her strong so she never suffers the same fate as you."
He looked back at the flowers.
"She will be an incredible woman, I promise."
Slady continued walking through the garden, arriving at another group of flowers.
"Here you are, Natasha and Jonhye."
He sat down beside the flowers, caressing their petals.
"I may not have been the closest or kindest friend to you, I recognize that, but I will not let your pain be in vain."
Slady removed her hand from the flower, resting her mechanical hand on her knee.
"You had not only the talent many envied, but the courage few your age would possess if they had it in their own skin."
He let out a deep sigh, looking at the clouds that were beginning to gather.
"Will it rain that day because some deity other than humanity will mourn for Raizer, or simply because the water vapor will accumulate and his doom will lead to rain?"
Then there was only silence. Slady stood up and began walking back to the library.
"I want you to rest in peace, my friends. But if your souls have not yet found eternal rest, I will eliminate your cause."
So Slady thought.
***
At Raizer's "funeral," it was raining heavily. Slady and Elisa were watching from a distance. The young woman couldn't hold back her tears, still holding the hand of the man beside her, as if trying to steady herself.
"Why can't I see my father, Slady?" Elisa asked.
"People will see you and try to take you to an orphanage or just treat you like someone important because you're the daughter of a great man." Slady looked at Elisa. "Do you want that?"
"No." Elisa hugged Slady's arm. "I want to be with you and Shaphira; I feel better with you."
"You will be, don't worry."
He placed his hand on the young woman's hair, stroking it with great delicacy and care. The young woman closed her eyes and decided to hide her face in Slady's chest, wanting to lean on the one she trusted.
That deeply hurt his heart, his paternal side growing stronger. Unable to control his body, he wrapped both arms around Elisa protectively.
"You're safe."
"I know..." Elisa snuggled into the embrace, returning the gesture with all her strength. "I'll always be safe with you and Shaphira."
Seeing the sadness of the one who lost her father figure made Slady's desire for justice and revenge grow even stronger. But he restrained himself, simply not letting Elisa leave his arms and covering her ears so she wouldn't hear the funeral speech. Not wanting her to suffer any more than she already had.
"Today is a terrible day for humanity..." The speech began.
"Today is not just the death of one, but the end of a group that so greatly protected the human race from the Inferius: The Complexity Hunters."
"Those who once saved hundreds or thousands of lives from this great enemy that so curses our world."
"Today, unfortunately, we do not have their physical presence to show their much-deserved respect. But we can pay homage to their strong and resilient spirit."
"So much fuss for so much falsehood," Slady thought. "They didn't even question the disappearance of one of their daughters, as if she weren't important."
Although he didn't appreciate such words, it was clear that, before his eyes, there were many citizens, hunters, and even police officers who were genuinely sad, while others held great respect for the group.
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the crowd.
"Are you sure the group ended? They never found any evidence of the group's secret member."
At that question, Slady raised an eyebrow, curious about the answer. Then the speaker replied:
"No one knows about the Servant of Truth; he just disappeared when he had the Second Renkai Awakening."
""Servant of Truth"?... I never liked those titles," he thought.
Then he continued his speech about the "end" of the Complexity Hunters. It was more of a list of incredible feats the core members had accomplished during their careers, nothing that had interested Slady, who had even left, more concerned with Elisa herself than with a mere speech.
"You don't have your bodies to 'honor' them because I buried them..."
A few hours later...
Slady was sitting on the library bench, fiddling with the camera he'd taken from La Taberna the night before.
"I need to find that day..."
As she scrolled through the videos on the security camera, several moments from the past flashed by, including conversations between Raizer and Raintalya (while they were alive) and even a picture of Elisa as a child. All of this stirred a strong sense of nostalgia in Slady.
Shaphira was in the kitchen, making lunch. Trying to adjust the heat so the pan wouldn't boil over.
"No... not yet... that!"
She seemed quite content with the cooking process.
Elisa, however, was in the garden, trying to forget the difficult time she was going through, wanting to distract herself a little with those beautiful flowers.
Then Slady managed to find the right moment in the video...
***
A few minutes after Slady and the others left, Raizer was sitting at the counter at La Taberna, cleaning and putting away some personal belongings. Then, suddenly, a group of... scientists? strode into the tavern.
"The place isn't open, gentlemen. You may leave," Raizer said.
The group of scientists, consisting of two men and two women, had dark, almost malicious expressions toward Raizer.
"We're looking for your friend, the one you call Slady. But we've become interested in your daughter," a woman in the group asked.
"What about her?"
"We need to do an experiment..."
The man lifted his lab coat slightly, revealing a pistol, like a silent threat.
"Can you tell us where that man is?"
"If you think I'm going to tell you anything about my friend, you're very much mistaken..." He pulled out his sword, which had been resting in a corner.
"Whatever you have against my friend, I won't let you lay a finger on him or his daughter."
The group of scientists hesitated, knowing that even in his old age, Raizer could easily kill them.
"There's no need for that, sir." The man raised his arms. "We're not going to do anything else; we just want to conduct a 'friendly experiment' with that young woman." But then, the man suddenly gave a wicked smile. "If you don't want to cooperate with us..."
Then, all the scientists ran away. Before Raizer could chase them, the tavern burst into flames. Those scientists... had surrounded the establishment, setting it on fire.
Because it was a wooden tavern, parts began to fall, and the toxic smoke began to make Raizer cough uncontrollably, making his heart beat faster and hurt, badly.
"Daughter..."
He tries to climb the stairs to try to save her, but his fragile heart reaches its limit, causing him to spit blood from his mouth and fall, rolling until he hits the ground.
At that moment, Raizer lets out his last breath and tears fall from his eyes, dropping his sword and dying. He thinks he's met his end without being able to save his daughter.
Then, due to the flames, the camera shuts off, ending its last recording.
***
"..."
Slady watches the device with her mechanical hand trembling, her jaw grinding with worry.
"What do they want with me or Shaphira?"
But all her doubts are dispelled when she realizes she's crushed the camera with her mechanical hand. Then, biting her lips, making them bleed, her mind is on a single thought.
"I will kill them."
***
This is the end of the first volume of The Inferius