"May I ask if we were safe yet?"
Scout asked everyone else on his team, eyes still darting around their hideout, a.k.a an abandoned apartment building.
"If your word 'safe' means that there isn't a single Reunion here, then, well, we're in a safe place." Macron replied, before sighing and pulling back the curtain from the window.
"But, in the conventional dictionary terms, we're a long way far from that."
Joseph, who was sitting in a corner somewhere in the distance, could still hear his every word clearly. And that, of course, annoyed him even more.
"You've got to be kidding me! I swear, we have to hide in a flat made of steel! That's right! STEEL! SO IT'S SWEATING ME OUT!" Joseph shouted the last part in annoyance, with his hands swinging like a fan to create a bit of wind for his body.
"Hey, shut up, brat! You're only wearing a tank top and a pair of jeans when we're wearing a dense military uniform!" Scout responds, with one of his hands immediately swinging a slap at Joseph in annoyance. But the others didn't really look back at them, as Macron was the only one they noticed.
"What do you mean, Macron-san?" Mimi asked back in concern, her face clearly showing her confusion.
"As a former Catastrophe Messenger, from my many years of work experience, in my point of view, there will be a Catastrophe hit directly here."
Just as he said that, the temperature began to gradually rise in this debt room at a dizzying rate.
"Hey, what the hell is going on?!" Milim picked up the thermometer that was hanging on the wall, her face full of panic at the temperature. Before she could speak, however, the mercury in the thermometer expanded so much that it broke itself.
"Die, really dead!" Macron looked back at the window, where his eyes were met with a-
"AN METEORITE?!" As soon as Macron noticed this Catastrophe, he immediately jumped out and pulled everyone to an escape. As soon as Macron issued the warning, both Joseph and Scout immediately jumped up from their seats and rushed over to them. But, no matter how fast they were, it seemed, they were still 2 moments behind.
*CRASH*
...
...
"...What... is happening...?"
'...awake... are you okay...?'
A faint, hazy voice affected part of his intuition. His eyes were blurry as if they were in a thick fog. Is he on drugs or something?
Just after thinking about that, a large amount of sulfur rushed straight into his nose. It made him choke until his eyes were red, causing his respiratory tract to immediately work, coughing uncontrollably.
"What the hell is this *cough*?! What's wrong with me!"
The unpleasant scent of sulfur took a long time for his sense of smell and a lot of coughing to get used to it. He raised his hand and covered the lower part of his face, trying to let himself inhale as little of the scent as possible.
"God, you should at least get yourself a mask." A voice of someone criticized his actions. Joseph at first thought this was Scout. But if listen closely, this voice is somewhat younger than his serious tone. And that's right. The speaking person was not Scout, but a completely different person. Also covering his head, his uniform carries a symbol of an organization called 'Rhodes Island', but obviously, his accessories and weapons are different from Scout...
"Hey, who-ARGH!" His body immediately collapsed, before he could finish his sentence, causing him to look back at his body in shock. His upper body was carefully bandaged behind this tank top, and his lower body was... needless to say.
"Hey, be careful. It's common knowledge not to move after a wound is bandaged." said the stranger, before helping him straighten up again. He is a little shorter than Joseph. It's understandable because Joseph is taller than 1m9.
"Who are you anyway?" Joseph asked back in wonder, in the presence of this man.
"Just like you. Luckily, Scout managed to find some medical supplies in Azazel, so you and I cheated death." He replied, before revealing a bandaged wound on his hand.
"Scout... Right, where the hell is he?" Joseph asked back in wonder, as he looked in all directions, but no third person was present. "...Why are you asking that question?" A question that made Joseph freeze for a long moment. That's right.
Why did he have to find him?
He didn't know much about him at all.
His acquaintance with that man was not much.
"Who the hell cares?! Just answer my damn question!" Joseph replied in annoyance and annoyance, before firmly grasping the shoulder of the person in front of him.
"...He's over there. Alone." The Guard pointed back to the direction in the distance, saying nothing more. But just like that, Joseph immediately started running along the path he pointed out.
"Thanks."
Without forgetting to say goodbye silently. After Joseph's shadow was out of sight, Guard took out the testament Scout had left behind, before looking back up at the sky.
"Warrior!"
A small voice rang out, but even if his voice was small and hoarse by Oripathy, it still showed the power of a mighty and experienced general on the battlefield.
Or rather, the only and the last Wendigo of this world.
"You can, hear my voice." He never approached you. But his voice still slowly grew in his ears.
"You have a chance, to escape. Wait, until nightfall. Go south. Avoid the light. You have a chance. Tonight."
A chance to hide? He was shocked by this open road, when the person who created that opportunity for him was not even an ally.
"...Or. There are still people, in Chernobog, who need help. You can, find them."
He continued, before slowly leaving.
"The choice. It's yours." The sound of his footsteps kept getting farther and farther away, until they were left, just a small wind carrying dust. He pulled out Scout's last will now, rereading it, as a tear rolled down his face.
"Boss, Scout, our brothers..." He raised his hand to wipe away the tears, when he realized, that he had nothing to cry about.
"...I'll do it."
.
.
"Damn it! Is he mad or what?!" Joseph grumbled and kept running in the direction indicated by the stranger. He didn't know if he was on the right track, but most importantly, he still had to save people.
Why? Even he himself doesn't know.
"Where are you going?" Another group of soldiers rushed out to stop him. Unlike the other Sarkaz mercenaries, almost all of them wore a white shirt, mixed with masks with different patterns. "Damn it! Get out of my way!" He finally decided to take out the greatsword he had obtained from the battlefield earlier, picking it up in indescribable exasperation.
"If you don't, then I'll bury you six feet under!" His fiery killing intent, coupled with the great sword in his hand, could not help but make the enemies in front of him wary.
And just for a moment.
Just a moment.
They saw a flame lit by endless darkness.
"Stop resisting... The twelve other members of your team have been eliminated." Ines replied wearily, coldly, before moving around to search for Scout.
"Leafa, Mimi, and Thumbtack died after being surrounded by Reunion casters. One died on her feet." She continued to look around. Still no movement.
"Mary, Macron, Slink, and Scorpion held a section that W broke with her own team." Still not a single reflection of him has been found. But that doesn't mean she will stop.
"Milim, Tipsy, and Mudflower took one of our teams down with them. One of them fought her way out of the trap, but Hoederer's swordsmen got her head. Unexpectedly, Pter died downstairs over there not too long ago. Apparently tried to save some civilian who didn't have time to evacuate. Slanna's still breathing and we took her in, but she's probably looking for some way to kill herself." Her response was still an eerie silence. But frankly, she didn't need to continue doing anything.
"Stop hiding. I know you can hear me. I can see your shadow, and I can tell from your ragged breathing that you're badly wounded." As expected, as she said, his quick breaths echoed in this space, just enough for both of them to hear.
(At this point, I would like to change the conversation style a bit)
Scout: ...How do you know their names?
Ines: W told me specifically for the occasion. You guys keep some kind of dogtags on you.
"At least you have to know who you killed. This isn't Kazdel anymore, so it would be pretty bad if you killed the wrong person."
Scout: Those aren't dogtags, and the operators we lost... weren't all soldiers. I thought W would finish me herself.
Ines: Hmph. She... Would you believe me if I told you she doesn't have the heart to do that. You killed the leader that the Regent sent. She's not the only one who wants to take over, so she has her hands ful. Like the agreement you had with W. As soon as you complete your mission, we'll annihilate you with all our strength, in 'hindsight'."
Suddenly, just as Ines finished her sentence, a third person's footsteps appeared, drawing both of their attention from the conversation.
"Why... Why did you have to come here? I told him to protect you!" Scout asked the third man again in confusion, mixed with some concern for him.
"Shut up." Joseph dropped the bloodstained greatsword on his shoulder, causing it to splash a little on his shirt.
"That sword... Couldn't it be...?" Unconsciously, Ines used his Arts on top of the other.
It was a very wrong decision.
She couldn't see any color in the other person's heart.
When overwhelming her vision was a deep pit of endless darkness.
When her sense of touch was replaced by an unthinkable sense of dread.
"How...?!" She used to be afraid of death just like now. Just like facing the Doctor.
"His eyes, are the eyes of a killer..." Scout struggled to speak, but it was no joy. Rather, it was a desperate annoyance at this dark thing.
"He's prepared to throw everything away...even his humanity."
Both of them know that.
But, of both of them, Scout thinks differently.
He couldn't let this happen again. Because of this-
"-isn't Kazdel anymore."
*BANG*
He raised his gun and fired it at Ines.
"What?! Why are you still resisting?"
As a distraction to escape, he used the last of his strength to get up and continue running, with the gun now thrown aside.
"... Tch... He's gone." Ines cursed under her breath, before someone's hand rested on her shoulder
"Hey, woman." She immediately turned back, and greeted by a punch from Joseph.
She was knocked back to the point of spitting up blood, before landing painfully on the ground. Joseph didn't use Ripple for this fist. He used his pure strength to punch her.
Ines looked back at the split of blood on his gloves. It made her really want to kill this man as soon as possible. But, the order had been given, so she couldn't afford to waste time on these fights.
"Tch. I'll do the math with you later." She ignored Joseph, continued running along the other road and chased Scout.
"Where do you think you're going?!" exclaimed Joseph, wielding the greatsword, taking a stance.
"TAKE THIS!" He used all of his strength to throw the greatsword straight to Ines's position.
"What-?"
*CRASH*
Before she could finish her sentence, the sword immediately flew past Ines's face. Although it didn't hit, its attack power penetrated a wall behind her, leaving her stunned and wondering what would happen if she got hit.
"Hey! How about tasting some Ripple?!" He continued to rush forward to attack her with the Ripple. But, like the wind, she immediately jumped out from her position and chased after the main target. Seeing that, Joseph did not hesitate and immediately chased after her.
'Goddamn it! How can that woman be so fast?!' Joseph ran, cursing the words in his mind. He really couldn't say more when he had to use all his strength under his feet to chase after the person who had cut his tail in the first place.
'Don't die! Just don't die!' He kept begging in his heart. But, no one was there to answer his request. When in front of him now, was Scout's motionless body, lying in the middle of a road strewn with dust and rubble.
No movement could be found from him. Not a single breath could be heard from him.
"Hey! Wake up you bastard! Who allowed you to sleep here?!" Joseph immediately knelt down and tried to pick Scout up.
"That's right! Hamon! Hamon will stop the bleeding!" Joseph begins to breathe to create ripples of energy to heal the other. But it was those panicked thoughts that caused his breathing to become ragged.
Those ragged breaths hardly produced a small ripple of Ripple energy in his hand. It was passed down from his hand and to the other, like an electrocardiogram. "Live! Please!" He couldn't understand why he had to beg like that.
"AUFGH!" With such an emergency as an electric shock, Scout couldn't help but cough up blood, trying to hold his last breath.
"*cough* I-*cough*-how long have I been asleep?" Scout's mouth mask begins to soak up a long patch of blood. But, he still tried to laugh bitterly, like this was nothing more than a joke.
"You bastard, is this look like a joke to you?!" Joseph shouted back at Scout. But it wasn't because he was angry, but because he was extremely worried.
"People like you... I, have a piece of advice..." He mumbled, trying to raise his eyes to look Joseph in the eye.
"What?! Say it!" Joseph tried to focus all his attention on his ears, to hear the last remaining words from the other.
"Use your own eyes, to see the truth of this damned world, and, don't die in vain before you do." He tried to reach out his hand to point back somewhere.
"And, if you've seen the truth, then, promise me..."
He stretched himself up, trying to make his words could be heard by the other person.
"Don't give up because of that. Don't let the wheel of this world overwhelm you... as it did to me." Time has run out. With whispers in her remaining breaths, Scout too... collapsed.
"Hey! Hey! You haven't finished yet! Hey!" Joseph tried to scream, desperately shaking the other.
"Damn it! Damn it!" He clenched his fists, repeatedly swinging his fist at the pavement. He couldn't find a word to describe his helplessness in the face of this person's death. He just knew, that it was exactly the same as when he was faced with Caesar's death.
"If I had come earlier... If I hadn't been careless..."
He muttered in excruciating pain, with tears streaming down his cheeks.
*CLANK*
But, it seemed, he really didn't have time to think about and mourn this person's death. These things reminded him of the day Caesar died. He looked back at his teacher Lisa's role model in the past, before wiping the tears from his cheeks.
"I promise."
He replied, even though he knew it was too late.