"..."
Yujin, who had fallen face-first onto the ground, regained his senses and stood up, looking around.
There had been an explosion. He had opened his eyes in a place piled high with corpses.
Looking at the spot where a body had just detonated, he saw nothing that resembled a human being anymore.
Only Originium particles drifted like ash in the wind. Born from this earth, they returned to the earth.
"Ugh... haah..."
How many times had he retched? The memories he had witnessed without reason remained like shards piercing his heart. The final memory of an Infected dying in agony was something Yujin could barely handle.
"You bastards... tearing you apart wouldn't be enough."
Yujin muttered, his eyes glowing with a terrifying light. Through the memories he had read like a book, he knew exactly what was happening in Sector Zero.
He knew what the people hiding behind the name of the Merchant Association were doing.
If this came to light, the Merchant Association wouldn't be able to avoid a catastrophic fall. He didn't know why they would commit such atrocities in the middle of a city, but everything here was their shame made manifest.
Stumbling, he moved forward. The memories that had washed over him like a waterfall still weighed on him, but he forced his body to move before the aftershocks could paralyze him.
He had to save those who were suffering as quickly as possible.
Hiding his presence, Yujin walked on.
Raquelamalin walked down the road with an angry expression. She had told Yujin not to go, but that stubborn man had gone anyway.
There are many variables in combat. No matter how strong a human is, they cannot live forever. History proved it, and the knowledge Larin possessed proved it.
"Seriously... I should have just gone with him."
Sighing, she looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, clear and cloudless, the sun shining brightly.
Only one day remained until the match, yet Yujin hadn't returned. Her anxiety was screaming at her to go find him herself, but for now, she had to wait.
Even if she hated him right now, there was nothing she could do. She could only hope he returned without a scratch.
"Miss Larin! Miss Larin!"
Someone was running toward her frantically. It was one of the servants she had seen at the mansion. Larin frowned, puzzled.
"What is it...?"
"It‘s a disaster! Young Master Kiril and the girl, Kisha...!"
The news was not good.
Kiril and Kisha had gone out for a brief walk, feeling stifled, and had vanished along with their guards.
Hearing that bloodstains had been found at the scene, Larin nearly collapsed.
She hadn't expected a kidnapping to happen in broad daylight, in a place crowded with people.
She had to find them. Before Kiril and Kisharsinagh could be used as leverage to strangle them.
As quickly as possible.
Kiril woke up in a shaking vehicle. His last memory was walking outside for a moment before being grabbed by someone.
The guards assigned to protect them were nowhere to be seen. His hands and feet were bound tight, leaving him helpless. He couldn't even see Kisha.
"…Awake?"
"..."
"I'd prefer if you didn't ignore me. Someone of my caliber can tell if you're faking sleep."
"…Am I supposed to chat with my kidnapper?"
Kiril retorted sharply, gritting his teeth.
He had to stay focused. There was only one day left until the finals. A group that kidnapped him and Kisha at such a critical moment...
And boldly enough to do it in broad daylight without raising suspicion.
"Hmm, prickly."
"If you're planning to use me for something, you should give up. Kidnapping just me won't change anything..."
He spoke out of fear that the man would use him for some scheme, but meeting the man's blue eyes silenced him.
"You're young. So young. Your youth blinds you to fear."
The hunter's eyes scanned Kiril.
"Since we're here, why don't I introduce myself? I'm quite talkative. I can't give you my real name, but I can tell you my code name."
Unlike the pure white archer his Master had mentioned, this man was draped in deep blue and gold.
"People call me Lazurite. Well, that is my code name."
The second-highest ranking executive of the Armorless Union had kidnapped Kiril and Kisha.
That fact alone made Kiril's mind go blank. An ordinary person might not understand, but Yujin had told him that the Union's executives were in a league of their own.
Any clumsy attempt at escape would mean forfeiting his life.
Platinum, Lazurite, Darkiron.
The enemies who had attacked Larin and Yujin from beyond visual range were the Darkirons. Skilled hunters and assassins who fired spear-sized arrows to kill.
Platinum had already attacked his father, Daniel. Their skill was beyond doubt.
"What... what do you want from us?"
Kiril asked Lazurite, but the man just smiled.
"Nothing."
"What...?"
"We want nothing. The Merchant Association has a lot of problems right now. If we had the resources, we would have dealt with you properly. But the Adeptus... oops."
A voice crackled in Lazurite‘s earpiece, sounding like a reprimand. Kiril narrowed his eyes at him, and Lazurite shrugged.
"Talking too much is a problem. Got yelled at for saying unnecessary things. Anyway, go back to sleep."
With those words, Kiril's vision went black again.
2.
Discarding the uncomfortable rags, Yujin looked at the unconscious researcher.
To get inside, he needed a keycard that functioned as ID. So he had knocked out a researcher, stripped him, and tied him up.
Yujin was now wearing the researcher's clothes.
Too much time had passed. He hadn't realized how long reading the memories would take. To Yujin, the memories had flashed by in an instant, but in reality, time had flowed quickly, slipping through his fingers like sand.
"Dammit, I should have checked the time sooner."
What about the mansion? The tournament? With only one day left, what could he possibly do?
At first, he considered turning back, but for some reason, the sewer passage was blocked by a thick steel wall. The water had stopped flowing as well.
He considered cutting through the wall, but its thickness was absurd—designed to deny entry to monsters.
"Why...?"
A simple barrier would have sufficed. Why this?
He questioned it, but time was short. Yujin had to focus on getting out.
Even if he couldn't get information, he had a backup plan. He connected the electronic device he brought to a laptop the researcher had been carrying.
It was fortunate the researcher had a laptop.
"Ready?"
[…Knight, what have you been doing to only connect now?]
The voice was familiar. Since Yujin couldn't hack into networks or extract server data like a spy in a movie, he had brought a solution.
He just dumped the task on PRTS.
Of course, PRTS had protested, saying it wasn't omnipotent and it might be impossible. But Yujin had goaded it—So you can't do it? Is this the limit of a strong AI?—until PRTS declared it could do it, and Yujin brought the device housing the AI along.
"Something came up. Just scan the network as fast as you can..."
[Wait a moment. They likely built a fortress with an independent network here. Finding it will take time...]
"Then I'll take this terminal with me?"
[Affirmative.]
Leaving the laptop behind and taking only the terminal the researcher held, Yujin moved.
"I need to get to the Infected quarantine zone..."
Let PRTS steal the data. He needed to find out what happened to the Infected here. If the memories he saw were correct... the Infected here were...
He tried to use the elevator, but pressing the button yielded no response. Puzzled, Yujin took the stairs down.
As he descended, the familiar scent of blood grew stronger.
And when Yujin arrived, hoping to save those still suffering...
"…They killed them all?"
He found only the corpses of Infected and a laboratory in ruins.