When Bronya arrived with her people.
The scene was already in ruins.
"...Seele."
Every Silvermane Guard on site had been knocked flat by the waves of fire, and Seele herself lay heavily on the ground, her face charred black.
Her clothes had several large holes burned through.
"...Cough cough." Hearing Bronya's voice, Seele slowly opened her tightly shut eyes and said weakly:
"Bronya... I'm fine."
When she and the group of Silvermane Guards were engulfed in the sea of flames, Seele clearly felt something wrap around her—icy cold, blocking most of the searing heat.
Even so, many Silvermane Guards had lost their combat ability.
"Sigh."
Seele slowly propped herself up, sat, held her forehead, and said:
"Why is his Path power so ridiculous... it's completely different from ours."
That kind of flame—Seele had only seen Zeig use it a few times back in the Underworld.
Though he was never serious those times, Seele still felt... if Zeig truly intended to set a fire, the power would definitely be far more terrifying than this guy's.
"Now half the forest has been burned down." Bronya crouched down to check Seele's wounds. "In Belobog, there aren't many with large-scale destructive abilities... but he definitely counts as one."
"Tch." Seele said disdainfully:
"If I hadn't been thinking of taking him alive back then, he'd already be dead by my hand."
Though Seele's attack range wasn't large, its power was unquestionable.
If she fought that guy one-on-one again, Seele had no confidence in capturing him alive—but she was absolutely sure she could kill him.
"Mm, I believe you."
...
After setting that blaze, Brother Dao finally broke out of the Silvermane Guards' encirclement.
Before, he actually hadn't dared do this—as long as Gepard was there, a head-on clash meant he couldn't burn through the Silvermane Guards protected by Gepard.
But now... the latter was still lying in the ICU on an IV drip.
"Hm?"
While running, Brother Dao spotted two black dots ahead.
When he saw that familiar red broom-head, rage surged in his heart as he cursed loudly:
"It's you guys? You still dare come back!"
"To be honest, we couldn't run anymore."
On a distant rock pile, Zeig and March 7th lay exhausted. Both stared up at the sky pondering life, not even glancing at Brother Dao.
"Brother Dao, how about this—let us stay behind to cover the rear." Zeig looked up at the sky, melancholic.
"We've figured it out. Anyway, dead is dead—might as well go out with one last heroic blaze before dying."
"Get lost...! You should've figured it out earlier. Now that I've killed them all before you woke up, don't you think it's too late?!"
"Huh?" March 7th furrowed her delicate brows in confusion:
"Killed them all? Big Bro, really?"
"Of course!"
Brother Dao panted as he reached the two:
"Hmph, that woman who kept chasing and hacking at me probably never imagined I'd suddenly pull that move! She was the closest at the time—I had a ninety percent chance of making sure she died!"
Zeig frowned:
"Actually, I've always had one question."
"What?"
"Since you had that kind of move, why did you only burn a museum before? And you only used it now while escaping. If you'd gone all out, even if you couldn't kill the strong ones, at least you could've wiped out all the weaker Silvermane Guards, right?"
Before, Zeig had always thought Brother Dao only wanted to bring down Cocolia and the nobility—without intending to harm the lower-rank Silvermane Guards.
But from the earlier situation, that assumption seemed completely invalid.
Without March 7th's intervention, whether Seele would die was unknown—but those slightly weaker Silvermane Guards would definitely have been burned to ashes.
"Hmph, it couldn't be helped!"
Brother Dao also sat beside them, patting Zeig's thigh:
"If I died or got caught, what would happen to the organization?"
He questioned:
"You know very well—most of us here are from the abandoned Underworld, or poor upper-worlders who got bullied. Almost all pitiful folks."
Brother Dao gazed at his sharp blade, murmuring:
"The builders always prioritize the big picture. When Belobog was teetering, they decisively withdrew all defense forces from the Underworld to hold the Overworld. In terms of Belobog's survival as a whole, that decision was correct, of course."
"Those nobles always put personal gain first—whether in times of national prosperity or crisis, they always measure by their own interests first. Living for themselves, for their desires—not wrong for them, at most extremely selfish."
"But... what the fuck did we do wrong?"
Brother Dao leaned against the rock, looking up at the overcast sky, despondent:
"We were abandoned, we were bullied, we hate! We hate so much! Losing family, losing children! We don't want to live anymore—we just want, in the final moment of life, to declare to this world that we once existed, that we once raged!"
"Could it be... we don't even have the right to rage?"
Brother Dao turned to Zeig, saying gravely:
"Kid, you probably don't have a wife, right?"
Zeig nodded:
"I'm still a single dog."
"Hmph, no wonder... you only lost your master, but I lost my love forever."
"My son was a Silvermane Guard. After the lockdown order, no matter how unwilling, he still followed orders and went to the Overworld."
"Do you know how many years we hadn't seen each other?"
Zeig started to say something but suddenly thought of a possibility and shut his mouth.
Brother Dao continued shaking his head and sighing:
"Heh heh... I was one of Wildfire's earliest members, but I quit after a few months—so very few know I was once in Wildfire."
"Can you understand... coming back from a mission and seeing that damn Fragmentum creature... devouring your own wife?"
"I went to protect others, but who was there to protect my wife?"
"After the lockdown lifted, I went with my last hope to find my son... only to be told he died in the second year of the lockdown?"
March 7th pursed her lips slightly. She wanted to say something too, but seeing Zeig stay silent, she consciously closed her mouth.
Brother Dao continued furiously:
"Hey, do you know how my son died? Not killed by Fragmentum creatures—but starved to death, damn it!"
"Someone targeted his military pay—he was at the front with no food...!!"
"Guess how I found out? Heh heh... all thanks to a deserter. Of course, at first I didn't believe it—until I put a blade to a noble's neck!"
The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, his whole body trembling.
A blazing fire burned in his eyes, as if it would scorch the entire world to ashes.
...