"Sugawara?!" Mary exclaimed in shock as the unconscious shapeshifter transformed back into his human form. "What are you doing here, you..."
The witch was cut short by the sense of impending danger. She spun around, her obsidian knife already lashing out in attack before she had fully identified the new threat. Two dark whips followed suit.
While the battle between Ketsu and Mary raged on, I wasn't idling by. I had been busy working on my own task, and finally, I succeeded! I had managed to create a full energy copy of Metatron that enveloped my entire body, connecting me mentally to the original. This not only shielded me from outside forces but also neutralized the poison coursing through my physical body. Despite five parts, including the helmet and breastplate, being crafted using a hastened technique, offering me little to no protection, my plan worked. It gave me a sense of freedom that was undeniably liberating.
In a swift, fluid motion, I snatched the fork from the table and lunged at the witch from my seated position. My approach was silent, devoid of any screams or shouts. However, unlike Ketsu, without my access to the Break, I was merely a mortal, unlike the shapeshifter whose combat transformation granted supernatural speed and heightened reflexes.
The moment the energy copies of the First Angel's helmet and breastplate fell into place, the witch sensed the disconnection between her and my Spark. Without wasting a second, she retaliated with a fatal blow. Her ritual knife, already launched from her hand and aimed at my neck, was accompanied by two energy whips aimed at my chest. She hadn't even seen me yet as she was looking in the opposite direction.
I didn't have the luxury of time to dodge these attacks. I was under no illusion that I stood any chance if this fight dragged on. The confrontation between the witch and Ketsu had made it abundantly clear that as a sensum, I was as far from the Dark One's level as I was from the moon.
My left hand shot up to intercept the obsidian blade, causing it to embed in my palm and saving my throat from being cut. Since Mary had stepped on her injured leg while attempting to turn around, her two dark energy twisters hit my legs instead of my chest. The right greave and left thigh guard, forged with the "complete technique," absorbed the blow, fading significantly but holding their ground.
Regrettably, despite her apparent lack of combat experience, Mary's composure and ability to assess the situation were admirable. As I was mid-air, turning my body horizontally in a leap, she launched another attack without hesitation. She didn't pause to question how I had regained control of my body or how I had managed to take the knife blow on my palm. She didn't falter when her dark whips failed to halt my movement. Instead, she acted like a seasoned warrior who had seen countless battles, striking again without missing a beat. I was less than a meter away when two black twisters slammed into my chest. The first one obliterated the hastily created ghostly breastplate, but it also dissipated, evidently having exhausted all the dark energy invested in it.
But the second one...
Without any resistance, it pierced through my chest.
A wave of cold, akin to a winter tsunami, washed over my body, numbing me wherever it passed.
The question of who would die was simply... What would be quicker? The chilling wave coursing through my body.
Or...
The fork in my palm?...
The silverware won the race. By a moment. By a mere fraction of a second. Faster.
The fork outpaced the wave.
Once upon a time, in a past life, our operator asked a ragged mercenary what he feels when he kills. His answer was simple: "recoil."
In the same fashion, I didn't feel the slightest pang of guilt when the fork, clenched in my palm, penetrated the eye socket of a beautiful girl and embedded itself deep within the witch's skull. Observing how nonchalantly the Dark One withstood the horrific injuries inflicted by the shapeshifter, I held no illusions that I could stun or otherwise incapacitate Mary without killing her. Therefore, the moment I initiated my action, I knew what I was going to do - kill.
We fell onto the strangely-patterned veranda floor simultaneously: a dead girl with a fork protruding from her eye socket and me, outwardly unscathed but nonetheless dying. Dying because Mary, like me, had stopped holding back at the last moment and struck with full force, without any mercy. She, too, struck to kill. And her second whip, before she died, hit its mark. The only difference in our strikes was that the witch died instantly, while my death would be a slow and drawn out process. That's only because, even though my spectral breastplate, upon getting hit, had collapsed, it still managed to stop the first whip...
Earlier, when I was seated at the table, I was immobilized, as if paralyzed. Now, after the wave of icy cold from the Dark One's whip had swept over my entire body, I was again unable to move a finger, but this time due to an inhuman exhaustion that enveloped me. I couldn't even lift my closed eyelids. I couldn't and didn't want to. Let alone uttering a word or moving, say, a hand. And I wouldn't say this overwhelming sensation of supernatural fatigue was unpleasant in any way. Quite the reverse, I felt as though I was floating on a warm, tranquil river, being gently carried away into the unknown. There was only a slight "swaying," creating a mild, in a way, even pleasant dizziness.
Simultaneously, my exposed Spark, which was extraordinarily sensitive that evening, made it ominously clear that I was on the brink of death. Yet, this impending reality didn't bother me in the slightest. Not even a tad. It was as if I was not the one destined to depart this world in about five minutes. The fact that there would be no one left to prevent the End of the World after my demise didn't interest me either. I wasn't even elated that the witch was dead, and my friends, most importantly Maya, were alive. The one thing I desperately desired was for the imagined river to carry me further, to a place where I could finally rest and sleep. This intense desire to succumb to slumber was overpowering, and I knew it would soon be fulfilled - in five minutes, I sensed it.
However, despite my weakness, I was acutely aware of the happenings around me. Had I had the strength and the inclination to open my eyes, I could've seen it all, but I possessed neither. Somewhere to my left, about four meters away, there was a noisy movement and a loud inhale; presumably, it was Maya struggling to free herself from her bonds. With the witch's demise, the potions had lost most of their potency, so it was likely she would succeed. This difference seemed to highlight the distinction between alchemy and ordinary chemistry. The former was closely tied to an individual, while the latter was always effective, regardless of who initiated the reaction.
Yet, despite the weakening of the poison's impact, Mary's most potent potion still obstructed the entrance to the Break. I could sense the other dimension; it was tantalizingly close, as if separated by a glass wall - thin and fragile, yet sufficiently sturdy to keep me out. With a final surge of willpower, I momentarily pushed away my drowsiness and attempted to transition into the Break, hoping it could save my life. Alas, the ethereal barrier, which seemed so feeble, resisted my efforts and refused to yield. I was certain that I would easily shift into the Break if I could repeat this attempt in an hour. But I didn't have that hour. And... it was even a relief because soon, I would succumb to sleep. A sleep so deep that no one would ever rouse me. The thought brought a wave of serene joy and relief.
Somewhere nearby, a chair creaked, then again, as if someone was rocking back and forth on it. Suddenly, the sound of falling furniture and a body hitting the floor filled the room.
"...uck!" I heard a curse slip from Claire's lips after she tumbled onto the floor.
From what I could gather, the redhead managed to recover quickly from her fall. But the effects of Mary's potions still lingered, albeit weakened, making Claire's body less responsive. As a result, the usually polite girl found herself sprawled on the floor, attempting to stand, and swearing like a sailor.
"Don't waste your energy!" Maya, who had apparently managed to remove her gag, quietly but forcefully admonished the redhead. "You need to help the guys, not wallow in self-pity!"
"You... Damn! You're right!" Claire retorted. "I'll crawl over to Chris and bandage his wounds."
"No!" Maya countered. "Your hands are shaking. Untie me first - I'm almost fine and can take care of it quicker."
"Logical," Claire agreed, her cursing ceasing. "Hold on, I'll crawl over. But I can't promise I can untie your knots in this state."
"Then grab a knife and cut my ropes."
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Where am I supposed to get a knife? The only thing available is a fork, and it's stuck in someone's head!!!" Claire's sarcastic tone suggested she was regaining her senses.
"Grab it from over there," Maya instructed, presumably indicating the location with a nod of her head.
"Are you kidding?!!" Claire's voice echoed with disbelief at Maya's suggestion. "No, you're not kidding... Damn it! You're right!"
I felt Claire crawling towards me, her swearing barely audible as she yanked the obsidian knife from my hand.
"Sorry," she whispered softly before moving towards Maya.
There was no need for apologies - I couldn't feel any pain at the moment.
"It would be funny if it weren't so creepy," Claire remarked after a while.
"Really?" The Valkyrie sounded surprised.
"I know Tu Chong's prophecy about you," the redhead panted.
"And?"
"Something robot-related actually saved you!" Claire exclaimed. "And all of us, for that matter. And that 'robot-related something' is lying over there..." She gestured towards me. "And dying."
"Dying?" Maya sounded astonished.
"Were you asleep during the briefing on the Eshin hunt?!" Claire was taken aback by the question. "Izao shows all the typical signs of delayed death, as if he's been hit by dark energy. Maker Zanh Kiem described these symptoms to us!"
"I must have dozed off then," the Valkyrie admitted.
"Just trust me," Claire said softly. "Without immediate treatment from a sensum of at least Seer rank, Izao has only a few minutes left. But Christian, if bandaged properly, will survive. Sugawara most likely will too - he took a hit, but his breathing is normal. He's just lying unconscious. It seems Mary wasn't aiming to kill him; she wanted to immobilize him and find out how he ended up here."
"Hey, hurry it up! No need to play detective," Maya demanded from the redhead.
"I am hurrying! But these ropes might as well be made of Kevlar!" Claire retorted.
"They're just regular ropes, your hands are just weak and shaking! That's what happens when you drink all the wine you can get your hands on!" the Knight maiden snapped back.
"Really? Why don't you try it yourself then? Oh right, your hands are tied!" the redhead shot back angrily.
I wanted to tell them to keep it down and let me sleep, but my lips wouldn't cooperate. Speaking would require effort, and any action was repulsive to me right now.
"I'm sorry," Maya said, significantly quieter than before. "I was wrong. What we definitely shouldn't be doing now is arguing."
"Agreed. Damn it! I thought we had finished off Eshin and their goons," Claire commented as if talking to herself.
"It seems everyone thought that," I could 'hear' the grin on Maya's lips as she said this. "We did too. And the worst part is... You, me, and Chris, we didn't get hurt without reason..."
"Yeah, that witch was getting revenge on us, the raigs who participated in the hunt for Eshin," the redhead picked up the thought.
"Exactly. But we'll survive, and the only one who had nothing to do with this... I mean Izao... He's the one who's going to die," I detected something akin to sincere moral pain in Maya's voice.
"Sugawara also got involved," Claire interjected.
"He was just after Izao," the Valkyrie brushed it off. "He has a personal grudge against our smart guy. And you yourself said that he would survive."
"And Ketsu still doesn't know that he's been banned from leaving the country and won't be returning to Japan anytime soon..." The redhead's voice held a mix of sympathy and malice.
"Why all of a sudden?" Maya asked, confused.
"He's been hiding in the bushes since the party started, clearly. So, he must have heard everything that bitch said! Meaning, he now knows the real names of two hidden Break Knights... Which automatically makes Sugawara in possession of a state secret of Novilter. So, he either swears an oath of non-disclosure and accepts the travel ban, or he gets put in a special cell."
"I just can't believe you're Kael. I totally couldn't picture you without Thora," Maya confessed.
"Actually, we were both adopted; our birth mother abandoned us right after we were born, and we were taken by different families," Claire explained in a soft voice. "We only learned about each other's existence a year ago by sheer coincidence. So, in reality, we hardly know each other at all and rarely see each other. We each live our own lives."
"Sounds like a story straight out of the Vijayanarat movie[1]," Maya said incredulously.
"Why would I lie now?" Claire retorted calmly. "And...done! Your hands are free. Now you're on your own, and I'm crawling to Chris. Wow, damn it, Christian is Rex?! What's truly surprising is that I... I!!! I didn't notice that another raig was studying next to me all this time! Wow, it means I'm totally blind!!!"
"I didn't notice anything either," Maya agreed with her.
"Your case is understandable!" The redhead brushed her words aside. "You're always busy, buried in troubles... But how did I miss it?!! Now my sister will be making fun of me! And... What's most offensive, she will be entirely right."
"Is that really what worries you the most right now?" The Valkyrie was sincerely surprised by these words.
"These thoughts distract me from the mess happening here and now!" Claire admitted.
From what I could tell, Maya got through the ropes on her feet pretty quickly. I heard the sound of tissue being cut.
"Here, I cut the bandages from my blouse." After saying that, the girl most likely handed over the strips of cloth to Claire for dressing.
"Yeah, thanks. Won't you help?"
"You can handle it yourself, and I need to say a few words to Izao."
"Go then. The guy is really in love with you. So much so that he gave his life for you without hesitation. This is worth a few words." Claire's voice was full of undisguised sadness. "Crap! Izao, if you were older, I would yoink you away from her!"
"What?" Maya didn't understand.
"I'm saying he's a cool guy, but a little not to my taste."
"I know you have a crush on Gabriel."
"What?!! How..." Claire began to make excuses and immediately realized that she admitted the truth of Maya's words this way.
"I also have eyes, and I can see with them."
"Let's keep this between us girls... Okay?"
"I'm not a gossip girl." Maya snorted in response.
"Gossip girl... You say that like it's something terrible!" The redhead was indignant.
The Valkyrie did not answer her at all.
Maya approached me, sat down next to me, and then lifted my head and put it on her lap. It... It was surprisingly pleasant.
"You know," She said it very softly so that only I could hear. "Once upon a time, it seems very, very long ago, one Maker close to me left a prediction. I told everyone it sounded incomprehensible, like, 'How long I live depends on something related to robots.' In fact, this prediction sounded much more specific, and it said that one day a boy with robots would save me. And then, by chance, I met you. And... You, in my understanding, were so unsuited for the role of my savior... That even seeing the obvious, I could not admit to myself that it was you who would save me one day. You were too different from what I had already imagined to be my savior. You... You saw yourself in the mirror... Only later, much later, I realized that behind your average appearance is an unbending will, a sharp mind, and a pure heart." She placed her hand on my head and began stroking my hair. "I'm sorry... Honestly... I managed to change my mind about you; you have earned my respect and... even admiration. But I, like Claire, like older men, and I... I'm in love with another... If it consoles you - I'm in love, like you, completely hopeless." Her strokes became almost weightless. "Absolutely hopeless. So I, like no one else, understand you, and I am sincerely sorry that you are suffering because of me. You saved me today. Fulfilled a prediction you didn't know about. And I will save you in return."
The girl withdrew her hand from my hair and placed her palms on my temples.
"I tried something like this once on you... And it didn't work out for me then. But now, now I can do it! I will shatter your unconscious resistance, conquer my weakness, and overcome the spell this witch has made me drink. I can do it," she whispered these words as if assuring herself. "I'll pull you into the Break, and you won't die... Not today."
But why? Why does she want to wake me up? I don't want to - I don't want to wake up. Through the heightened sensitivity of my Spark, I feel the otherworldly wind attempting to escape from Maya's palms. A wind that has the power to lift and carry one beyond the boundaries of materiality.
The wind of the Break.
This ethereal breeze, erupting from the Valkyrie's palms, breaks the invisible "glass" cage in which Mary has trapped us with her potions, with a sound that is barely audible to me, as a raig, a faint crackle and ringing. A phantom wind escapes from Maya's hands and envelops my body, hugging me. Its strength intensifies with every passing second.
I can easily shield myself from this wind. It wouldn't be difficult. And if I wanted to, having "observed" the process through the Spark, I could even replicate it. But at this moment, I desire nothing and allow this wind to "lift" me.
"Ra-a-a-a-a-i-i-i-ig!!!" The roar of the transition into the Break, so jarring in this moment, assaults my ears.
The sound is so harsh and unpleasant that I force open my eyelids despite an overwhelming sense of lethargy.
It was worth it, though.
The surprise on Maya's face... It's total.
Her eyes have become enormous.
Ah, of course... We are in the Break...
And now she sees not Izao before her, but my Projection. She sees Maestro lying in her lap. Surprise makes her lips part, disrupting her concentration and severing our connection.
"Ra-a-a-a-a-i-i-i-ig!!!"
And I am thrown back into reality. My head hits the wooden floor with a jarring thud.
I close my eyes.
I don't know if the brief trip into the Break helped me. I can't tell because the fatigue and the almost overpowering desire to sleep haven't subsided.
"Ra-a-a-a-a-i-i-i-ig!!!"
It seems that Maya has rejoined reality. Familiar hands rest on my cheeks. Yes, she has.
"You... You... It has always been you... You..." The girl whispers, leaning so close that I can feel her ragged breath. "How blind I..."
She doesn't finish her sentence but leans closer, and I feel a stranger's lips touch mine. So sweet, so gentle, so desired. This almost rouses me from my stupor. Almost... But no... I'm still being swept away on the waves of a sleepy river. Only now, the sensation of these waves and the river is heightened by a kiss, which makes it all the more enjoyable...
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Claire's sharp shout interrupts our kiss.
The redhead forcefully, and with a hint of anger, shoves Maya away from me.
"Who taught you to perform mouth-to-mouth like that?! You're supposed to force air into the patient's lungs, not slobber all over his lips! Did you sleep through all your safety classes too? This is how it's supposed to be done!"
Once again, my lips are pressed against a stranger's. Only this time, they're assertive and unyielding, attempting to push air into me.
For what reason?
I'm doing just fine.
With that thought, the river of sleep sweeps me away to some distant place...
[1] TLN: Here, the author offers an explanation that this is a parallel to our "Bollywood movie" in this world, and I've explained this expression in detail at the end of "Gleam. Chapter 19." In brief, it's an event where long-lost relatives are found through an unbelievably coincidental twist of fate, resembling a cheap movie script.