[728] The Body (1)
Shirone arrived at the summit where the White–Black moon hung and glared at the man who had hidden Kai's corpse.
"Don't do anything stupid. If you do, there won't be another chance."
"I know. I don't want to die either."
The man named Jurak was a cunning figure in the Black zone and had volunteered for the survival trial.
"I had my fun. Now I just want to finish this."
His words carried the Black zone's philosophy, and Shirone found himself curious.
"If it's about fighting, you can fight plenty in Black. Why join the survival trial then?"
"I was born and raised at rock bottom. Let's see… I killed my first person when I was about eight. I didn't feel guilty. He tried to kill me first. Anyway, as time passed and I got stronger…"
Jurak grinned broadly.
"I wanted to see how strong I could get. Isn't that how everyone is? No one just looks up all the time. You run like a madman because there's someone under you."
"So… you joined for something as petty as that? To test your strength?"
"Fighting's everyday life in Black. How ordinary? If you're hungry, you just break into someone's house and kill them, then eat their food. It's not fun—that's just life. Not some dangerous game. Think about it—if a demon like that entered the contest, could White handle it?"
Jurak waved his hand dismissively.
"No way they'd win. We're gamblers who use our lives as chips to take others' lives. Whether a gambler enters or not can decide the outcome of a Law fight."
"So that's why the win rates are similar—"
"Ha! Exactly. White needs hope to fight their best, right? They send weak ones on purpose, let them lose a few rounds, and when the tide seems right, they take everything at once. This time it should've been my turn to enjoy it…"
A shadow crossed Jurak's face.
"But I got unlucky and got stabbed in the back. Because of you. How could you send a mage? There aren't many mages in Black."
Shirone didn't want to hear any more.
"Take me to Kai."
"Don't worry. I brought a weak one to raise the difficulty a bit. He'll be guarded like a lifeline, I'm sure."
Jurak headed down the eastern slope of Anaki Mountain and pushed through the thick willow branches.
"Here. It's here."
The scene he presented with pride held no sign of Kai's corpse—or even a single living person.
"W-what is this?"
Jurak spun toward Shirone in a panic, waving his free hand.
"No—no! I told Rusel to guard him! This was never my intention—!"
"Activate. Suicide Commando."
A card flashed from where a voice had sounded.
Suicide Commando (Summon).
Description: The ancient Gilitians chose mutual death at life's end.
Effect: Summon the spirit of an ancient Gilitian by destroying an S-rank card.
Note: Triggers a critical strike.
"For the Gilitians!"
Unlike the usual image of a spirit, the Gilitian—tattooed all over—appeared vivid and solid, as if truly corporeal.
"Guh!"
A blade pierced Jurak's back, and not long after his clothes began to darken with blood.
"H-how did you activate Suicide Commando…?"
It had been Rusel's only card, but activation required destroying an S-rank card.
"You bastard! Because of you—"
Rusel, his face drained as if sick, limped into view, and a familiar woman stood at his side.
"Breeze?"
The one who had activated Suicide Commando was Breeze from the White zone.
How did she even know to come here?
Breeze looked at Shirone with a resigned gaze.
"Sorry. I couldn't help it."
"Breeze! Traitor!"
Three White participants who had chased her staggered from the underbrush, bleeding.
Atria ground her teeth and shouted, "Shirone! Be careful of that woman! She stole all our cards and ran off! Black—huh?"
Atria stopped when she saw the man beside Breeze, and Ballad went blank.
"Rusel? You were in the contest too?"
Rusel had once promised a future to Breeze.
But because his heart was weak from birth, Breeze's parents would not accept him, and their marriage was canceled by vote. Unable to contain his rage, Rusel had turned violent and was exiled to Black three years ago.
"You were seeing each other in secret?"
Even Ballad, who handled White's security, hadn't known the two were still involved.
Now that she thought about it…
Breeze knew the Weapon cards in detail.
"Rusel! How dare you deceive me!"
As Ballad raised his sword and charged, Breeze summoned the arcane revenants Shirone had given her.
"Kiaaa!"
Ten skeletons in tattered armor rose from the earth and shuffled toward Ballad, attacking.
"T-this…!"
They had already handed over all their Weapon cards; they could only fight with raw physical strength.
"Breeze! I'll kill you!"
Cursing as he shattered a skull, Ballad pressed on. Breeze grabbed Rusel's hand and spun him around.
"Quick! This way!"
At the sickening sound of flesh tearing, Breeze's shoulders twitched and her eyes widened.
"You fucking bitch."
Jurak, already stained with blood, stood with a stiletto cleanly planted in Breeze's heart.
"Detective."
By the time Rusel realized a concealed special ability had been used, Breeze's heart had stopped.
"Breeeze!"
Shirone checked Jurak and Breeze, but both were already cold corpses.
"Serves you right, traitor!"
Ballad, who had wiped out the revenants, approached as Rusel collected Breeze's cards.
"Don't try anything stupid. Even with a weapon card, someone as weak as you can be killed in an instant."
Rusel had lost his reason in the face of his lover's death.
"Shut up! You're no different from those who drove me away! What did Breeze ever do to deserve dying here?"
"It was decided by vote! We drove out violence, so White stays peaceful! And Breeze betrayed us! She was conspiring with you!"
"…Don't spout nonsense."
Rusel pointed at Shirone. "Breeze joined the survival trial to save me. To get the CPR card!"
Marco shouted, "You really think that'll work? CPR won't cure heart disease."
"Of course not. But if you resurrect someone after death, their body comes back clean as new. Everyone in Black knows that."
Atria frowned. "So she joined to save your life? You were already exiled to Black. One of you had to die, right?"
"There's no place for someone like me in Black. I was less than trash. Not a place for the sick to live."
Rusel's voice faltered.
"The village chief told me to take part in this survival trial and end my life with dignity. I'd been abandoned. But Breeze…"
Rusel's gaze fell on the dead Breeze.
"Breeze never gave up. She said if I got better we'd run away together. If only this damned heart had beat right! I could've made her happy for the rest of her life!"
Regardless of White and Black's outcome, the two had planned to cure his illness and cross Anaki Mountain.
To a world not split in white and black, but somewhere entirely gray.
"But now it's all over."
Rusel turned to Shirone with despair in his eyes.
"Kai is already dead. Please use CPR on Breeze. I'll die—please save her!"
Shirone glanced at the cards with a bitter expression.
Whose card was this?
At that moment Marco lunged and tackled Rusel. "Give me my card! Now!"
With two Black participants still remaining, a weapon card was essential.
Ballad and Atria rushed in and piled on Rusel in a scramble.
"That's my card! Give it to me!"
"Shut up! I have family! I'm keeping this to protect them!"
"I fought the hardest here! It's all mine!"
Pinned by White's participants, Rusel squeezed his eyes shut and screamed, "Breeeze!"
As the cry of despair ripped the night, Shirone hurled the CPR card and sent it spinning on the wind.
Human life.
No matter how White and Black might be balanced, the fierce struggle of a living thing can never be beautiful.
So Law, do not mock it.
Isn't that how one must live?
"Mother! I'm coming home! I— I—!"
"Breeeze! Breeeze!"
Shirone looked up at the White–Black moon, slowly spread both arms, and said, "Do not mock human life."
The body that had opened the Immortal Function began to glow.
* * *
Jin Seongeum said, "It's different from the rumors."
Indeed it was.
'I thought it would feel a bit warmer.'
She had eyes as cold and sharp as Shirone's.
'More than anything…'
Watching him made Jin Seongeum uneasy.
Like a concentrated flash about to explode—a pale temperament that seemed ready to emit something at any moment.
'He's almost reached something.'
If prodded he would explode, but at this point he was likely to erupt even if left alone.
"You, Shirone, candidate for the Ivory Tower, I am Jin Seongeum, princess of the Jincheon Empire and a mage."
"I know. I've heard about you."
As Jin Seongeum stepped forward, Mungyeong's eyebrows twitched and he measured the distance with a serious face.
'Twenty paces.'
Jin Seongeum measured distance to everyone.
"I've heard about you too. I'm jealous, annoyed, and perhaps a little… expectant."
'Fifteen paces.'
Her approach toward Shirone stayed steady.
"You seem very precarious, but there must be a reason. I'm not disappointed by that. On the contrary, it reminds me that you are my rival."
'Ten paces.'
Now she reached a superhuman level.
"But I am not someone who has come this far by leaning on others' understanding. So when I look at you now…"
'Five paces.'
Jin Seongeum stopped.
"Honestly, I'm angry."
"...."
Frowning and muttering, she took another step toward Shirone.
'Four paces.'
"To a candidate for the Ivory Tower, the Ivory Tower itself is meaningless. What I truly hoped for was—"
'Three paces.'
Mungyeong's eyes widened.
"That I might, for the first time in my life, meet someone who could walk beside me."
'One pace!'
Mungyeong was crushed.
"Shirone, your Kardo is undoubtedly remarkable. But sadly, I don't think you can walk beside me."
When Jin Seongeum finally stopped, the Sambo warriors gaped in disbelief.
"I'll grant you one pace."
Her fingertip aimed at Shirone's brow from a distance where their breaths could touch.
"I am one step ahead of you."
In the silence, Mungyeong cried in his heart: Take pride! Worship the princess! To be granted even one pace is a tremendous honor!
Shirone, staring at Jin Seongeum's face up close, thought, So this is Jin Seongeum.
What was so important about it?
Before coming to Andre, he might have snapped at her words, but now he felt nothing.
"Kardo this, Kardo that…"
"Hm?"
Jin Seongeum frowned in puzzlement, and Shirone smiled and stepped aside.
"If you intend to keep that one step to the end…"
Then, glancing back along the path they had come, he said, "Please go ahead."
"...,"
Jin Seongeum's eyelids fluttered.