Strange?
― Yeah. You’re kind of strange. No, really strange.
What is?
― Normally, you’d have checked first. What’s up there, whether your body can handle it, whether it’s okay to move again. But the moment you woke up just now, you attacked!
What’s wrong with that?
― Ah, seriously. That is the problem!
Within the blackened eyes, the clear golden pupils narrowed.
Can’t you tell?
I’m normal.
He knew the scales had not fully hardened yet. The newly exposed layer stung even when air brushed against it, and whenever he put strength into his body, heat spread through every place where the old skin had peeled away.
That much was trivial.
Inside his body was a density he had never felt before. Dao power stood clear near his head, while demonic power had condensed black below his torso. The two had not yet meshed completely, but the flow was gradually improving.
It was more than enough. It was overflowing.
― Hey. No. This isn’t it. You’re now—
Quiet.
He looked upward again.
Beneath the dark clouds, at one end of the structure floating in the air. Flames were still spreading from the place the Byeokroe Thread had touched moments ago.
The strokes on his remaining scales heated up.
One more time.
That was when it happened.
Piyuuung.
A single light shot up over the darkness of dawn.
Soon, dozens of tails of light split apart beneath the dark clouds. At first, they were far away. In the next moment, they were already overhead.
An immediate counterattack?
Their response was quick.
Not bad.
But no reason to dodge came to mind first.
Earth Shrinking.
Space folded.
Just before the tails of light rained down over the ruins, his body was already above them.
A roar exploded below.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Broken concrete and shards of metal surged up belatedly. Above them, his body briefly went weightless.
He should have fallen.
But he did not.
Lightness.
A sensation that had remained in his body from long ago opened naturally. Dao power flowing beneath his scales supported his body. There was no wind, no foothold. Even so, his body hung in midair.
The clear golden pupils moved.
He could see the trajectories.
The next one is coming from the side.
Movement.
His body changed direction in the air. One tail of light grazed past him, and the heat following late swept over the tips of his scales. Below, in the ruins, explosions overlapped and burst.
In that gap, he spread his divine sense.
The sensation, stretching far wider than before his molting, passed between collapsed structures and climbed into the sky. Scattered presences caught first, and soon it reached the places where the tails of light had risen.
He overlaid ocular arts upon his blackened vision.
The trajectories split apart. Where they had risen from, where they would fall. The heat trailing late and the light that had not yet arrived were caught separately within his field of view.
At the end of his divine sense, several powerful auras brushed past. They were far beyond the dark clouds, much farther back than the structure he had just touched.
He discarded the distant ones.
He fixed only on the place where the tails of light had risen, where the presences of humans were gathered most densely.
The AI’s voice was still ringing at the back of his head, but it did not matter.
If it’s now.
Yes.
Now.
Blue light began to spread inside the dark clouds.
The wind changed. Dust drifting over the ruins was swept to one side, and the flames rising from below swayed blue.
He overlaid an image upon it.
The time when the sky collapsed.
The moment rain poured from a clear, dry sky, and lightning fell before even that.
Domain.
A sensation engraved in his body long ago awakened.
The Domain rose before the Gate.
He did not even think of stopping at a single fragment of imagery. The entire battlefield below was caught within his senses.
Another sky overlapped the sky above.
At its center, a black moon rose.
There was no light. The surrounding flashes were sucked toward it, and only blue lightning caught along its edge.
Beneath his scales heated up. Inside his body, the Gate belatedly trembled.
Opening Gate.
The Gate tried to open along with the Domain.
― You lunatic!
The AI’s voice burst out from the back of his head.
― You deranged snakehead! Do you realize you’re trying to shove the sky into your own body right now?!
What?
The wavering imagery slipped out of alignment for an instant.
Lunatic?
― Yes! You! I’m talking about you! Get a grip!
The blue light spreading between the clouds shook.
The heat beneath his scales returned belatedly. Every time air touched the cracked places, it stung. The energy that had been pulling in the Domain faltered.
Hmm.
He closed his eyes.
His body, hanging in the air, slowly swayed. He did not further sharpen the sensation supporting him with Lightness. Instead, he looked inside his body.
The body he had thought to be in peak condition was a mess.
The circulation he had believed was running stably was heaving like an enraged wave. The Dao power surging toward his head had yet to settle down, and the demonic power condensed below his torso continued to boil in his abdomen.
Even the Taiji was disordered.
The circle where demonic power and Dao power meshed and revolved was spinning uselessly, one side caved in. Heat sparked wherever they interlocked, and black energy spread little by little beneath the new scales.
Having power overflowing and having a body in good condition were different things.
He had to acknowledge that much.
I should rest a little.
― Yeah. Right. Finally, we’re communicating. First, get down and check your body—
His divine sense did not descend.
Beyond the section where the bombardment had just fallen, amid dust that had yet to settle, the presences of infected were faintly caught. He could not tell whether they had scattered to avoid the bombardment or had been drawn in by the explosions.
It did not matter.
That many should be enough to put my body in order.
― ...Huh?
Though the distance was great, his divine sense, expanded after the molting, reached that far. His body was already finding a path to move.
― Wait. You just said you were going to rest.
I said I needed rest.
― Is that the same thing as this?
Recovery is also part of rest.
The AI went quiet for a moment.
― Wow.
― This is seriously unbelievable.
He looked into the distance.
The presences of the infected were scattering one by one. Startled by the light and explosions, they were seeping into the wreckage.
He had to catch them before they scattered any farther.
― No, fine. Fine, it’s still better than trying to pull in whatever that was just now. If you eat and recover first, you’ll come back to your senses a bit. Yeah. That’ll happen. Probably. Right?
He lowered his body.
Movement.
The body that had been hanging in the air bent toward the distance.
---
The first explosion was distant.
The reinforced glass trembled faintly, and the map of District 30 floating in the center blurred for an instant. Several red warning points went out at the same time.
Rin raised her head from the map.
The second explosion was louder.
Kuuung!
The ceiling fixtures shook, and static burst from the communications equipment. Someone in the outer corridor shouted briefly. Before it could be distinguished as an order or a scream, the third explosion followed.
Rin immediately turned.
“Check outside.”
Before she had even finished speaking, the personnel near the entrance opened a path. Hot wind pushed inward. Rin went outside with a terminal in hand.
A great flash was spreading over the darkness of dawn.
It was the direction of the purification stronghold.
White light burst once beneath the dark clouds, and red flames mingled within it. The explosion that rose belatedly reached all the way to the rear headquarters. The floor shook, and several relay pillars erected in the distance flickered uneasily.
Rubel followed her out as well.
He looked in the direction where the flames spread.
“A noble?”
“I don’t think so.”
Eos walked out behind him.
Her blue hair swayed slightly in the wind. Eos was smiling as usual, but her gaze did not leave the flash near the purification stronghold.
Rin turned her head.
“What?”
Eos only looked toward the flames with a smile on her face.
One operations staff officer came running. The terminal in his hand was layered with red warning windows.
“Report. No response from the purification stronghold inside District 30.”
Rin turned toward the staff officer.
“Details.”
“Chain explosions confirmed in Sectors Two and Three of the stronghold. The defensive batteries opened responsive fire at an unidentified entity in the sky. Immediately afterward, the battery control lines were severed, and multiple observation drones crashed. We are confirming survival signals.”
The smile disappeared from Rubel’s lips.
“The point of origin?”
“The airspace near the bombardment point. A large-scale energy wave was detected until just before.”
The staff officer handed over the terminal.
“A blue flash occurred once, followed by a brief blink. Immediately afterward, the response vanished.”
“Vanished?”
“Yes. The energy wave, heat source, and trajectory were all cut off. Our current equipment cannot reacquire it.”
Rin took the terminal and checked it.
The report continued.
“A secondary explosion occurred in a section believed to be the ammunition depot inside the stronghold. It has spread as far as the power unit. The local communications network has lost functionality. It will be difficult for the recovery team to enter.”
The flames flared up greatly once more.
Kuung!
Beneath the dark clouds, red spread, then faded.
Rin stopped listening to the report and looked at Eos.
“Eos.”
Eos only tilted her head slightly.
“Don’t tell me you were aiming for this?”
“Yes. Just as I saw it.”
Rubel turned his head toward Eos.
“I don’t recall hearing any such report.”
Eos’s gaze remained on the direction where the flames were spreading. The smile left at the corner of her mouth only grated on Rubel’s nerves more.
Rubel’s lips twisted.
“I see. So even that is prophecy, is it?”
He swallowed an unpleasant breath.
“This is why Asterion is...”
Rin did not look at Rubel.
“If it isn’t a noble, then what is it?”
This time, Eos did not smile right away.
Rin continued.
“Explain properly. Even for you, this isn’t the time to play games.”
“I’m not playing games, sister.”
Eos continued speaking with a smile.
“I just can’t say everything.”
“Eos.”
“When the black moon rises at daybreak, you will obtain what you sought.”
Rin’s expression hardened.
Eos turned her head back toward the purification stronghold.
“I can’t tell you what comes next.”
The wind passed by.
The flames in the direction of the purification stronghold were dwindling little by little. Instead, black smoke coiled up long beneath the dark clouds.
Rin did not reach an answer immediately.
Daybreak.
What they sought.
The blue flash and blink confirmed in the airspace near the bombardment point.
And the unidentified entity response that vanished immediately afterward.
Rin’s eyes slowly narrowed.
“Don’t tell me.”
After a brief silence, a murmur followed.
“Baengnin?”