༺ Say You Want To Live – 8 ༻

｢Keuk.｣

For a moment, Wolfen’s consciousness dimmed. Blood splattered and his skull rattled. A searing shock reverberated through his head and, as if that wasn’t enough, it overwhelmed his entire body.

Wolfen, through sheer willpower, managed to hold on and regain his stance. The gap he had painstakingly narrowed now widened, but this was not the moment for such concerns.

The sensation was akin to facing a tiger, a tingling feeling enveloping his body. Wolfen had experienced something similar before—in the Abyss.

It was a feeling similar to confronting an insurmountable force, where all efforts seem futile, and the strength appears to create divisions within humanity itself.

A disparity in strength that rendered the desire to resist utterly futile.

He sensed that same overwhelming presence emanating from the young general officer before him.

｢Should this Umbra have… fled?!｣

Yet, it was too late. Just as when he had faced the Magician, from the moment he entered the opponent’s field of vision, choosing to resist was the only correct option.

Wolfen, who had regained his senses, attempted to reach for his shortsword again.

Then, something flashed through his field of vision. Immediately after, his left arm was severed.

Blood spurted from beneath the cloak, and the lower part of his left elbow flew off in an odd direction. Wolfen saw with his own eyes a part of his body betraying him.

Bang.

The sound of a gunshot followed, and then, significantly delayed, came the pain.

“Ah, tsk. Now that’s more like it.”

At the trajectory’s end, the Gunmaster was seen aiming her gun. Blue flames flickered from the weapon she held.

“Now, here’s a simple rule. I ask, you answer. For every question you don’t answer, one of your limbs will fly off. How about it? Simple enough for you to understand, even with your bug-like intellect?”

It wasn’t gunpowder. Ordinary gunpowder couldn’t unleash such force.

The extremity of Qi Deflection. Loading a bullet with highly compressed Qi Art and exploding it instantly to propel it.

Gunpowder was weak. If so, it just needed to be fired with Qi Art.

The barrel couldn’t withstand the impact. If so, it just needed to be reinforced with Qi Art.

The recoil was too much. If so, it just needed to be offset with Qi Art.

Technique, principle, tool.

The most powerful weapon, forged with the Qi Art that surpassed all human invention, overcame even Qi Deflection.

Though called a gun, it was essentially no different from a spear. An infinitely long spear fired with the flick of a finger.

However, there was still hope.

｢…This bullet was created just now. As such, it means her gun is empty. Then…｣

There was one last option for survival. Even if he couldn’t kill her, inflicting even a minor wound could allow him to escape safely.

If that was the case…

Wolfen reached out his left arm. He grabbed his flying left arm with Qi Art and charged, scattering his blood. He presented a horrifying cross-section of bone and muscle.

“Uegh. I’m already nauseous, you know….”

As she grimaced as if about to vomit, Wolfen, crouching low, charged with all his might.

He reached out the half-split shortsword with his still intact right arm. Simultaneously, he stealthily drew the dagger he had been hiding for confronting the strong. Black smoke billowed from his entire body and a sword, its blade painted jet-black, sprang forth from the darkness.

It was the Shadow Sword that could kill a careless opponent at close range. Under the shadow of the shortsword, another blade was hidden, a technique honed only for assassination… and it shattered between the Gunmaster’s elbow and knee.

His right arm broke into pieces between her elbow and knee. Not from a loss of strength, but purely because the hand could no longer grasp; the shortsword and dagger slipped through the smashed fingers.

The looming pain swept over him. In contrast, the Gunmaster remained indifferent after disabling a human arm.

“Two limbs down. Now only two legs are left.”

The Gunmaster muttered and tapped Wolfen’s back with the handle of the gun. It was merely a light tap, but Wolfen felt as if his entire body was being torn apart and crashed to the ground. He felt pain as if the earth had surged up to engulf him.

The military boots lightly flipped Wolfen over. As he lay there with his arms shredded, his gaze met with a towering building and the Gunmaster’s face, which looked down upon him as if he were merely an insect.

“Are you willing to answer now?”

An attitude of overwhelming superiority, as if placing all beneath her gaze, that could only be shown by someone of overpowering strength.

Wolfen’s attempt at resistance was futile. Sensing everything had ended, he spat blood and asked,

“…Cough. Why, for just a back alley matter, would someone like you come…?”

No matter how much he thought about it, it seemed far too excessive for a few lower-class people dying to warrant dispatching such a prominent figure. Such a powerful person must be a national asset, necessitating cautious movement.

As Wolfen asked, the Gunmaster scratched her head with a gun.

“How odd. I’m pretty sure I said I was the one asking questions.”

The Gunmaster, murmuring about keeping promises, pressed her military boot lightly against Wolfen’s knee. Observing Wolfen’s contorted face, she spoke languidly.

“Just this once, I’ll answer you, but make sure to respond properly to my next question… You’re familiar with Hamelin, right?”

Of course, he was. Wolfen nodded.

The Taboo of the Military State. An incident involving the mass extermination of secondary school students on the verge of graduation.

Wolfen had planned to use it as bait to draw the Military State into cleaning up the back alley.

It was merely a back alley. A place forgotten by the world, where the discarded gather, a place of no interest to anyone. He could dominate here like a king…or so he thought.

However, Wolfen realized he had been under some misunderstanding all along after what the Gunmaster said next.

“Hamelin. The garden of learning built on a modest hill. That’s my alma mater. How about it? Does that clear things up for you?”

“…Could it be….You’re the last graduate of Hamelin….”

“Shut up. Now it’s my turn to ask. The one who spoke to you about Hamelin was Lankart. That son of a bitch, right?”

That was the case. Wolfen nodded.

He was indeed the one who had spoken to him about Hamelin.

Among the last graduates of Hamelin, there was another. Colonel Lankart.

He was the youngest madman who fell into Tantalus last, yet managed to dominate the prisoners in all sorts of ways.

Sometimes with strength, sometimes with knowledge, and sometimes with desire. This Sorcerer who infused the dimming Tantalus with new life, eventually led them all to escape.

Just before their escape, he approached Wolfen. After he observed Wolfen for a while, as if contemplating his usefulness, he finally spoke.

-Wolfen. I’m in need of competent subordinates. Many of them. Given your timidity and gloominess… Hmm. You might just barely fit the role of a bureauclast in our group!

-Whaaaaat? You’re going back to the Military State? You’re going to turn down the opportunity to become greater and crawl back into that tiny rat hole?

-Haaa. I didn’t realize you were such a narrow-minded fool without a single iota of romance. I’m offering you the power to change the world, and you choose to remain a back alley boss? Geez. Even a horse galloping across the plains takes in new sights it didn’t see yesterday. Yet, you prefer to stay stuck in a rate hole, viewing the same old scene. Uwek.

-Ah-ah, don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you one by one just because I’m disappointed. Why would I bother? As long as someone else is causing a stir in the back alleys of the Military State, I’m content.

-How about I share a secret of the Military State with you on your way out? Spreading this around would drive the Military State mad. It all depends on how you use it.

The red-haired mage reminisced about the past. It appeared that even a monster like him had memories, as his gaze drifted to the distance…

-Do you know about Hamelin? Something very interesting happened there…

“And second.”

The Gunmaster’s voice snapped Wolfen out of his reverie.

“What was your reason for spreading that incident to Black Cat? Was it under Lankart’s orders, or did you act on your own?”

This time, the meaning eluded him. Wolfen voiced his confusion.

“Black… Cat? Are you referring to the territory of Family?”

“That’s right.”

“This Umbra is… not sure what you mean.”

“Hah? You’re pretending not to know?”

Crack. A weight seemed to press down on Wolfen’s knee as if a rock had been placed on it. Accompanied by the pain of his joints feeling crushed, the Gunmaster’s voice pierced his ears.

“Black Cat is a tabloid that deals with gossip. It occasionally uncovers military misconduct, so naturally, the Intelligence Division keeps an eye on it. But to blatantly write down that name… What in the world was that? Isn’t it no different from summoning me?”

“What…do you…mean…that…name.”

As if warning him not to feign ignorance, the Gunmaster frowned and pressed him for an answer.

“The valedictorian of the entire secondary school, Huey. I’m not sure why Lankart shared that with you. If he disclosed that punk’s name to you… you were manipulated from the start. It’s essentially the same as asking me to kill you.”

While he concurred with being manipulated, the information the Gunmaster provided was new to Wolfen. He responded with his doubts.

“It is a name that this Umbra is hearing for the first time.”

“What?”

“All this Umbra knew was that their deaths were suicides. That they cursed the Military State before dying. And that Lankart… had come in second place. Beyond that… this Umbra…embellished the details as he saw fit.”

“That fucker was third place! Other than that, it’s somewhat accurate.”

Wolfen’s statement was truthful and conveyed with sincerity.

Caught off guard by this unexpected revelation, the Gunmaster pondered deeply. She scratched her head with her gun, searched her pockets as if looking for something, then sighed deeply and clicked her tongue.

“Well, I guess that doesn’t seem like Lankart’s style. And you had no reason to do it as well. Then, what is going on? Who exactly did it?”

Ignoring Wolfen beneath her feet, the Gunmaster was lost in thought, treating Wolfen as if he were merely a stone on the roadside.

However, Wolfen, treated like an insignificant pebble, felt not anger but helplessness.

｢…How powerless.｣

This was precisely what Wolfen realized in the Abyss.

In a world with predetermined ranks and capabilities, all resistance was futile.

Whether it was talent, the Arcane, or time. There existed a barrier that defined human strength and that wall was insurmountable. No matter the effort, it remained unreachable and those above did not even bother to glance below.

Perhaps someone might manage to surpass that barrier, standing alongside the absolutes.

But those who were so blessed were few and far between. Moreover, they were already chosen.

The rest just crumbled against the wall that they faced.

For Wolfen, who had once dominated as the Shadow in the kingdom era, accepting the harsh realities of Tantalus was exceedingly difficult. Like a believer who realized the absence of God, Wolfen was plunged into despair and disillusionment.

To Wolfen, the Abyss was indeed an endless pit of despair, just as its name implied.

Then one day, when he had a chance to escape from the Abyss…

Wolfen chose to dominate over the lesser, forsaking aspirations for higher achievement.

Yet, he ultimately faced death after catching the eye of a superior being.

｢This Umbra erred while confronting the Magician. This Umbra should have never faced him directly.｣

The Magician, though frail, used various tools to deceive and outmaneuver him. They directly crossed swords only twice. If he had recognized his prowess from the start and attacked with full force…

No, if he had at least not abandoned his tactics during the battle…The outcome might have been similar, yet possibly better….

Something nagged at him, but no matter how hard he tried to pinpoint it, he felt like he was flailing in the dark….

In his field of vision. On the roof of a building that was tapering off towards the sky.

I made my appearance.

I stood at the rooftop railing, holding a wand and donning a hat. I was unseen by the Gunmaster engrossed in thought. Visible only to the defeated, I tipped my hat slightly and extended my wand in greeting.

Wolfen let out a faint sigh.

“Ah.”

Although lacking in finesse, one triumphed and the other was defeated.

I managed to escape, while Wolfen lay defeated beneath military boots.

If he had wanted to survive, he should have kept a lower profile. He was the one who caused the commotion, after all.

Well, I won’t go out of my way to boast about it. Since I possessed Mind Reading, it wouldn’t be fair to make a direct comparison.

But one thing was certain.

Though you are the one lying defeated, you were still stronger than me.