"... Sonne."

The students carried their boxes into the carriages. Some tents were being folded, returning the formerly crowded area its space, marking it as the next soon-to-be abandoned place amongst many others. They do not look back at it, they do not dwell on it, just another day where nothing stays stagnant. Even if they complain, those egregious creatures pay no mind and wait for no one. Kill or be killed, nature's rule is the only thing that stays the same for a long time.

"Hey, Sonne!"

"... Yes?"

“Here is your box.”

“Oh, thank you, Vivi.” Sonne received his worn-out box, opening the lid for a second. 

The person beside him rolled his eyes. “Next time, take your own belongings with you. If I wasn’t so kind, who knows how many items of yours might vanish? You’re lucky that you only collect scraps.” Sonne only nodded, clutching the box in his lap. Vivi suppressed his sigh, he was about to point out the gloominess on Sonne's face—that had lasted for two weeks since the failed mission that killed all students in the team but Sonne himself—only to swallow it back.

The carriages began to move along the dusty roads. This was the fourth time in a month. It wasn't a surprising number for most students, and it wasn't the worst. The worst part was the dwindling number of places they could live. The more they moved, the more lives lost to monster attacks, and the more places became uninhabitable.

The building they had lived in for a week slowly receded from view, deserted and abandoned. 

“If only we were stronger and more capable with Silver weapons, maybe we wouldn't need to move out again.”

Vivi’s signature scoff was let out along with his remark, “Easy for you to say. That strange substance will harm you when you don't watch out. Look at my wrist.”

The classmates stared at his wound with the same stunned face from a few days ago for how strange it was. Outside, it appeared to have seropurulent discharge surrounded by wrinkled skin, the Silver amidst the pus still visible to the naked eye. Vivi claimed to sense no pain nor discomfort when the Non-Chemical Research Division tried to forcibly extract Silver from the wound. To a few people like them, it was an important discovery. The phenomenon threw them into a frenzy, they did not know Silver could injure humans despite its usually harmless nature, adding more to their mysteries.

Vivi coughed before assuring them, “Once they figure this out, I’m sure something will change.”

“Only after we finished moving, that is,” Sonne replied with a subtle sigh.

The students knew their condition well. Most activities were automatically halted when they moved to a new place, it has been this way for almost a year. Their progress became unbearably slow; the school can only rely on frontlines' optimized defenses. Reality can be so unforgiving, still, with those monsters that appeared since A.F. 314's explosion as the main cause, as if the preexisting black slime and natural hazards weren't enough to amplify their hardship.

"This is all because of those toxic creatures..." one student muttered, a letter from her late sister has long wrinkled in her calloused hands. "No, it's because of that explosion... It's been months. When will the official enforcers capture that cursed religious group?"

Exhaustion and despondency were apparent, laid bare to the merciless world, to the eyes that witness, to the hearts that feel.

There was a moment where Sonne opened his mouth, only to throw his gaze away to the window. If he were to say something, it has to uplift others, to give them resolve and hope. Yet...

"They are here, senior Sonne! Oh no, this smell... This smell! I can't breathe anymore! Guhk, I can't see! I'm-" splish.

"My legs, senior, they're melting my legs! I'm sorry! Don't kill me! Mother help me! I don't want to die, don't kill-" splash.

Stop. Be quiet.Please. He wanted to forget those visions. A weight was hung inside, the loss he could never recover had been haunting his mind. He couldn't bring himself to the same light he used to emit if it was extinguished.

"I'm sure they will. They better do. Remember, the moment you stay still and mourn, you lose the game. To me, life is like that." Vivi's voice was low, and unswerving to his surprise.

Met with a few seconds of silence, he reluctantly corrected himself, "Sorry, I don't mean to say life is a game. It's just that... I don't want to lose, we... can't lose. Because I want to live. You guys... Feel like that too. Otherwise, why are we here?" It was a stubborn statement, he wanted to believe, and wanted them to believe. 

But no words needed to be voiced, it was enough to loosen them up. Some students nodded, smiled, and some patted his shoulder—Sonne included, though Vivi scoffed at him in return.

-

On the quiet road, rows of buildings stand dejected and murky. In their sorry state left a precious vacancy the school could use. The walls and floor were dusty, but sturdiness was an absolute priority. Remains of a lively market scattered on the ground unperturbed by the crises. At the very least, there were no monsters nor the toxic liquid they released around the neighborhood. Not until someone saw it.

"A monster far in the east! C-class, solid, floral shaped and oozing with... Silver," the spotter couldn't believe their eyes.

Upon hearing the keyword, the leader of the Non-Chemical Research Division looked out, yelling, "Silver?! Someone, go and catch it!"

"Chiya, you moron! You want to kill us all here?!" The vice leader immediately covered her mouth with a white cloth and dragged her to their new laboratory. "Get a sample of that Silver! If you can't, just kill it and come back alive," they spoke before disappearing behind the door.

Silver was a precious item for its scarcity and usage. Nobody knew about its source, but most students knew that processed Silver has the ability to enhance the power which resides in a few gifted people—such an expensive knowledge was only gained from sacrifice of the many. With only one mystery solved, the rest remains hidden. The curiosity passed onto the courageous who's unsatisfied with current life, like those Non-Chemical Research Division members who study Silver whenever and wherever they can—a student even said they ran a lab test inside moving carriages. They understand that miraculous liquid better than most people do, hence why they pursue after it like madmen.

"Keep your distance within two feet, only approach when you get the signal!"

Shouts echoed in the empty roads, other students stayed away on guard while frontline blades pointed towards the swinging lavender stems oozing with Dissolution and Silver. There were no trails behind the target, as if it suddenly appeared from thin air.

"Bad, bad, bad! Senior, it also has Dissolution liquid, not only Silver!!"

"How on Earth are we going to take that..."

The frontlines grumbled, yet their stances firm and unchanging. The answer was obvious to their eyes, or at least not all of them—some steadied their stances, another fiddling with threads in their head.

"But it might be our only chance..." one of the fighters murmured, which was taken well into the frontline commander's ears.

"Our only chance to die, you mean? Think again if you want to insist on taking a sample, I won't let you."

Vivi glanced at the orange-haired fighter, he remembered his interest in Non-Chemical Research Division’s Silver study, much to the frontline team's dissent. "Dumbass. Don't even think about it. Maybe you can do that club a favor, but you might not return alive, is that what you want?"

"Enough, Viridian, keep your eyes forward."

"Yessir."

As usual, the elimination began with the spotter team identifying the target's weakness and neutralizing it in a short amount of time using concoctions made with available potions provided by the supply team. Sometimes they need more than one mixture, worst if the target is immune to chemicals. The recent target, though, seemed reactive to all kinds of potion.

The commander's eyes darted to multiple directions, Vivi held his bow steady, Sonne gripped his polearm and a little sphere in his fist. It was about time.

"The target is most reactive to ▼▼▼▼▼, neutralization begins now!"

One by one, the team sprayed the potion evenly. The target drooped, its silvery buds fell to the ground before being swept away by the wind.

"Careful, shoot the buds back to the target, retreat a foot!"

Blades thrown along with the little petals, piercing the lavender stems as it trembled, whirred gratingly.

"Push the target away. Shoot the stem, make a way for the longbowmen!"

Thwump! Thwump!! Thwump!!

One arrow pushed the lavender away a few feet, the potion layered point hit its root in a way that reduced the potion's effectiveness by a percentage. With how difficult finding ash trees as of late, any arrows were valuable, and Vivi had checked all the longbows at their best condition. "Your aim missed 5 inches! Redo your shoot!" 

The commander raised his hand. "Enough, Viridian, this distance is enough. Don't waste your arrows." He stared at the monster, its black and silver stems pinned with multiple arrows swung slowly like sauteed spinach. It seemed to weaken, dragging itself further away and leaving a highly lethal pool consisting of unidentifiable toxins. It stopped moving. The threat was neutralized successfully.

Swish—

Three petals sharply thrown into three different directions, trajectory unclear, causing some fighters to lose their guard. The forefront fighters lifted their polearms to take the petals down. One thing they didn't realize sooner was the upcoming petals that came down abrupt, aberrant, and massive in quantities.

"Commander!"

"Lift the shields!"

The first row of forefront put up shields, the petal bumped on its hard surface and soon created a hole through the steel. "It passed throu—" the petal created the next hole on the fighter's armor and torso. The first victim fell, they shouted in panic. Some flew from their position to save themselves.

I should use this Silver sphere. Sonne held tight his polearm before gripping the sphere. There were no other options, he had to use it, even if the commander would scold him.

Light gleamed from the marble ball sized Silver, blazing amber appeared as its enormous, gaseous form burnt the darkening lavender.

"Dumbass!!" Vivi skipped several feet and dragged the orange-haired student to the back row, but he who hugged his polearm and sphere tightly won't budge. His back arched, soaked in sweat.

"Don't break away from the formation—"

"He's using it again, commander!"

The commander looked at the burning monster, its stems and petals melted into charcoal. The frontlines knew how effective his ability was, it was just too risky. But this time, the commander would have to make him through immeasurable dangers, they couldn’t afford to lose anything this quickly. "Let him, Viridian! We need his help."

"No, he's not good! The Silver ball isn't as reliable as it seems!" not getting the response he hoped for, he chose to check the stubborn student who stood close to the source of the flame by his own accord. He pulled his ear and yelled, "Stop this, Sonne! I told you to never use this again, listen to me this once, dammit!!" he shook his shoulders, even pulled his hair, still no answer came out from his mouth. 

"Why are you trembling so much this time? You're only getting weaker because of that ball!! Or have you gone crazy from using that thing?" 

He had an inkling that Sonne heard everything he said, he just didn't want to listen. When words fail to change something, action takes over. It was when Vivi reached his hand that he felt temperature too high for a human, higher than before, exactly from the fist in which the Silver ball was in, his epidermis felt like newly forged steel right from the anvil. 

Vivi gritted his teeth, “Enough is enough, dumbass…”

-

Sonne handed his polearm, a streak of Silver was on the blade. "I'm sorry, senior, I couldn't get more than this." 

The members of the Non-Chemical Research Division rushed to witness the miraculous liquid preserved from the terrible lavender monster that made 1/5 of the buildings uninhabitable just by having its melted, charcoaled petals corroding the burnt walls. 

Sonne sighed, "In the end, we still suffer casualties. I have not mastered this ability yet."

Chiya, the leader of the division stared at the polearm blade, fixing her 1.57 index eyeglasses and replying with, "Are you an idiot?" which plummeted the entire room into silence.

"Moron, don't say it like that." As usual, the vice leader called Neri smacked her head with a report book. "What she meant is, you already did a good job by getting this Silver, even if you had to burn a portion of the buildings in the end. That's a fair price to pay. Not the worst, at least." Sonne could only scratch his cheek with an awkward smile.

"We're really thankful for your help as always because our movement is secretive and thus, very limited. But with your place already in the frontline, you couldn't join us and you already have your tasks—you didn't have to do this." They stared at his red irises, in hopes they could convince him to change something in himself, and he knew why they still tried to.

"Don't worry about that, I know the risks, and I did this for my own gain. Please, you have to dig more about Silver. Maybe if you succeed, we might find a way to utilize it properly, without injuring more people or destroying more things."

"That has been our goal since the first time this division was formed, Sonne. Our most recent test was seven hours ago, using the analytical report our late seniors had and with only a very small amount of processed Silver that we managed to take from the last place, we found a few things and discussed some theories based on the result. Yet before we could confirm anything, it was the last bit of Silver that we had," Neri explained as they tightened their scarf.

"What a shame... Wait, late seniors?! Did they sneak into the frontline to take a sample??!" He never saw the Non-Chemical Research Division had more than ten members, losing anyone—and worse, the experienced students—puts the team at a considerable disadvantage.

The members threw glances on each other. The wind blew out the dried leaves from the trees, scratching the rough, blackened concrete slabs outside the door. Their shared silence sharpened the sounds most of them wouldn't notice amidst conversations. If human thoughts and inner conflicts were audible to average people, it might—or might not—be this uncomfortable. The vice leader did not let it last too long.

"Friday last week, I remember at 2 am, someone knocked on our laboratory door. Our late seniors who were there said it was a man whose ripped clothes and deformed face battered, crawling on all four, muttering strange words. They didn't get to talk, his injuries were too severe. But they found a piece of paper in his hand. On it was written, the book of the old, wicked ▼▼▼▼▼ in the south tells a lot about Silver in this world. For all who have lost many things to this crisis, it was a promise, a hope. You know those seniors had stayed in this team to prevent disbandment, they are the most passionate about this research, and so they went. Today is Thursday."

Sonne used a moment of silence to carefully digest what he heard. He had not recovered enough from the newest and weeks old losses to own the ability to compose himself in milliseconds.

The leader was sorting out their equipment when she said, "it was their own choice, they also knew the risks after seeing that dying man. We didn't manage to stop them." The vice leader nodded with a sigh.

"We didn't have the chance nor manpower to send someone after them, we couldn't risk others' safety by telling them about this either. I hope you won't do anything dangerous after hearing all this. Because just like you, I wouldn't want to lose more people."

-

It was a pity that the people he put so much trust and hope in began to lose courage, and it was a pity that he would do the opposite of what they asked him. He wasn't sure if that answer convinced them—he wouldn't know. It's too late. He had brought himself into the dim hallways, stepping so quietly he could hear wild animals' noises far in the forests. He didn't step furthermore when a shadow loomed over him.

"Where are you going..." A familiar voice rang in the still air. His sharp dark green eyes washed over Sonne's run-down cloak where blades and waist bags filled with smaller weapons hide behind its protection. At the time when most were preparing to rest, such readiness is not something easily overlooked, too flashy, even. "... At this hour?"

It was still the same black hair and scarred face whose head was as stubborn as his own, whose appearance was the least expected, but Sonne did not have the time. He gripped the wooden pole in his hand.

"You're in no place to ask."

"I certainly am. Who knows what kind of recklessness you would do when nobody is around?"

Sonne suppressed a sigh as he walked past, only to be dragged back by the shoulder.

"After what you did today, do you really not realize anything?"

Silence answered him. In it, refutation was the loudest.

"Your power isn't reliable. No one would blame the damage you caused but just think of yourself. It's unreliable not because you're bad at it, but rather because it took too much from you."

Of course, Sonne knew what he meant. Though, right now, rest was the last thing in his mind. "I know what I'm doing."

"Maybe you're just convincing yourself that you do. Constantly throwing yourself into dangerous situations, what good would it do to yourself?"

"I'm not you, I do things not just for myself." Sonne knew what expression he would put, just from the tightening grip on his shoulder. "Sorry but, when you do something for others, do you also do it for your own good?" The second the grip loosened, he dashed away from concrete ground to grassy soil.

"Dumbass!!"

Vivi might possess incredible eyesight and everything as an archer, but when both run, he was no match against Sonne in speed and agility.

He remembered Neri's story; the south. For his entire lifetime, he had gone to many places in this region, both during his unattended childhood and school days—so it was only natural that he knew the route he should go. 

In the abandoned forest tracks, he saw traces of horse hooves and shoes which edges were sharp and well-defined. But that was the last thing he cared about, because soon after, he saw bodies lying on the ground with arrows from ash wood impaled their torsos. Some writhed and groaned, more have succumbed to their demise.

"Senior Sonne!!"

He gasped. It returned.

"Senior Sonn—"

No...No.Now is not the time.

Before those visions had any more chance to create a mess out of his head, he propelled his legs into a frantic run, the horrible sight around blurred in his eyes. Every step sent the sand beneath his shoes flying, forming a cloud of dust in his wake. Breath labored, chest heavy, but he could not lose focus now. That book, he must obtain that book as fast as possible.

He was still running in a frenzy when the gate of a house amidst the trees and bushes came into view. The footprints stopped close to the ground he stood on. This must be...

"Did you have a hard time reaching here?"

It was a quiet voice from someone who had surpassed more time and place than him. He turned his head to see an old woman sitting on a wooden chair with a steamy cup of tea in her hands. Rather than the unknown person, he had more reaction to the bodies on the same open courtyard, just several feet away from her. The smell of blood and dust seeped into his nostrils, he nearly retched if not for the old woman's voice.

"Oh, poor kid, how did you even get here if this sight terrifies you so much?"

She must be the person holding the book. I am certain.

He straightened his back and decided to say, "I won't waste my time here, where is the book?"

The old woman took a sip of her tea, unperturbed by the bloodstained ground as if she relished the horror it served to her eyes, unperturbed by the weapon in Sonne's hands.

"Please, whoever you are, give me the book, or let me borrow it for two days. I need it."

She made sure to feel the tea flowing down her throat very thoroughly before saying, "Young man, do you know about the worlds?"

The... Worlds?

Sonne had no slightest clue about what she meant, but there was no time to waste, for he must return before anyone noticed that he was out. He took a deep breath. "Yes, of course I know. This world used to be a nice place to live in before that explosion. We didn't need to be close to the source of the disaster to feel its impact, it chased us down before we knew it. When it all suddenly happened, we lost so many things, we moved to a lot of places. Our only option right now is protecting ourselves, but even so, we're having a hard time. The resources that we have aren't that reliable because of Silver's intricacy and some monsters' immunity against chemical potions. If our survival rate declines further, we might not make it. That's why I came here, to get the book which talks about Silver."

To his surprise, the old lady nodded with a thin smile. "I know about that very well. But pay attention to what I said—worlds. The other worlds that coexist with this world."

Undoubtedly, this was the first time he heard of such a thing, it was too strange he could hardly believe her. Besides, what was the correlation between that and their current state of the world?

The old lady kept the smile on her face as she began to narrate, "Us humans don't understand how the universe works, no matter how much we claim to be the conquerors of the Earth that we know of, we just never will. The universe is not as narrow as the human mind, and some gifted people found out about it earlier than anyone else. They know something we would not begin to understand, and for it, they will give everything. They are the same group that is being hunted by the enforcers, I was one of them."

Sonne was about to say something, though interrupted by her raised hand. "Listen first."

"Their goal was only one: among the many, they wanted one singular god. But the god, or whatever he actually is, wouldn't be so easy to satisfy. They offered this world by changing this Earth into something completely foreign from other worlds. The explosion occurred from profuse imbalance; hell began its spectacle. I couldn't remember how many died from it, only in the overwhelming misery I felt so powerless."

"In their plan, they will completely deplete all humans from this earth and move to another planet or even another world. If they manage to call the god into this world, even the group members, my friends, wouldn't live by then. Everything they were doing was pointless in my eyes. But stopping their actions was beyond dangerous, the only thing we could do was record what we know of into a book and run away from them.”

The old lady took a deep breath and held her cup in front of her chest.

“Young man, we killed a great number of our former colleagues, and we still killed more people who came on our way to steal the book. That’s the price that we pay to create this book, as that cult said, this is a cursed book. The longer we stay alive in this world, the more bloodshed we will inflict. It is inevitable, and in our twilight years, our sins caught up to me and my friends. They died from guarding me and our book from the bushes, just ten minutes ago." 

He did not dare to glance at the shrubs with bloodied viscera, nor at the hanging limbs from the tree branches. The smell was enough to tell him everything.

"If I tell you the ancient runes below my feet won't let you reach the book before I die, would you be the one who delivers my final verdict?" 

-

Running. He was running, the exhaustion was not as great as the chaotic threads in his head. It did not make sense. He so wished he was in a long slumber that would wake him with a nice finale—and not whatever this was. In the reality where he suffocated, dreaming was his greatest reprieve. Yet he seemed to forget where the dreamlands were.

Once he entered the temporary dormitory, he hung his wet cloak and polearm and opened the first page of the book. Perhaps his head was too messy to capture anything that he was reading, perhaps he was beyond weary, perhaps he couldn't forget those sights—he didn't understand.

The crimson tea was warm from the steam, the blood spatter, and the shallow breathing, then warmth fades, soon turns cold. She was limp, because the red in his hands darkened.

The students' snores hid his low whine from the glimpse of dawn. As if afraid of its judgment, he curled up in the corner of the room. "I'm sorry." the words written right in front of his eyes became a blur, the shaking book in his hands did not make it any better.

"Senior Sonne! Help me!"

"I'm really sorry…"

-

It all happened too fast. They seemed to forget time waits for no one in the world so cruel. Sonne was with Non-Chemical Research Division members analyzing the contents of the book when screams were heard. Right when they stepped outside, their makeshift gate was breached by monsters and humans whose deformed face became the only clear distinction. Dense corrosive liquid was all over the place.

On top of the flaky concrete stood a headless man, speaking, "The one who took the book of ▼▼▼▼▼ shall come forth, for a reward of mercy."

It's them!

A brittle voice rang out from the frontline, fierce and fearless, with a blade pointed forward, "None of us here took any book!" footsteps rushed to back the commander up, the experienced professors and guards went ahead, putting themselves as shields.

No…

"Be careful, everyone. They are the cult that's hunted down by enforcers," one of the professors who recognized their appearance whispered. None of them would admit how unprepared they were when the notorious group stood on the same ground as them. It was their responsibility to protect the students, even if they have to charge to their own end. The sweat on their grimacing face did not lie about their fear, yet their stances had never been steadier.

The headless man raised his hand and swung it forward, sending his people to attack. Blade clashed against blade and flesh, the gray concrete slabs turned into red and black. It didn't take much time, soon there were more headless humans than before, falling to the ground with a dull thud.

"Students, make your escape! Don't let them—" slash.

One more head severed from the neck.

Stop, please stop!

Screams pierced their ears. The cult surrounded their north and advanced towards them. All the students scattered away to the south, be it with their own feet or a horse, they ran without looking back. Only when they reached the slope of the mountain, the same headless man in bloody white clothing appeared with dozens of weird creatures right behind him. The students who arrived there first were on the ground, lifeless.

A gaze swept over them, one by one.

"Is someone among you the stealer?" he asked, calm and measured. "If you show us where the stealer is standing, and where the book is, I will grant you mercy."

They witnessed how he decapitated the commander and the professors in seconds, such ability was a source of terror in itself. If they were safe from that, they could run to a safe place and continue to live.

Clouds drifted away unveiling the sun in the sky, its light shone down on them, painting their grim faces with a clarity. It was bright, but not the kind that comforts and soothes their unease. The silence only increased their anxiety. The headless man lifted his hand.

Is this enough hope to give up our effort? Or is this how I will die? I want them to live, but I too want to live.

He took a deep breath, if this means handing his own fate over, then he will do it. "It is—"

"There is no stealer!" the familiar, now brittle voice cut his words, a finger pointed at the cult, "because the actual stealer is you yourself."

The students turned to Vivi as he held his bow tight, preparing his ash wood arrows.

"Viridian, what are you..."

"Giving yourself to that headless bastard means suicide. Fight, then you will have a chance to survive, as long as we live. Draw your weapon!" he shouted as he went to Sonne. "You, this way! NCRD members too!" he didn't waste a single second—he immediately shot the weird creatures multiple times and dragged all of them to run past the cult barricade.

"Vivi, why are you making them fight the cult? You're telling them to die!"

"Because I am! Just run, don't look back!"

The slope wasn't the best place to run on with its horrible terrain conditions, one clumsy NCRD member tripped and fell downhill. "Olive!!" the other member shouted and ran after the fallen one.

"Senior Sonne, help me!!"Again, and again.

Sonne looked back at the commotion and yelled, "Someone tripped!"

"Don't help! Just run!"

"No! I will—"

Instead of shouting, Vivi clutched his bow and spoke in a strained voice, "Sonne, if you help them... You will die." on his sweat-soaked face, Sonne saw the kind of dread that Vivi had never shown in any grim situations before. "Don't die. Run."

Within minutes, they reached the steep hills. So much of their energy had drained they had to slow down. Yet, those egregious monsters, the cult, they did not wait. Or maybe they did. By the time all of them came to a stop, they felt strong winds from their back, then a loud roar.

One A-class monster—with the appearance of a stout maggot and at least six sharp appendages—was behind them, thrown by the headless man. Two of its appendages were broken by the impact.

"Shit." Vivi drew his bow and began to shoot the body of the 10 feet creature. Without the spotter team, supply team, and commander's assistance, he could only inflict so much damage. As the counterattack, the monster swung its appendages in indiscernible patterns. One swoop to the forest, the trees decayed in an instant. The next attack nearly hit him, only his bow was destroyed. Vivi let out a scoff and took out his daggers.

"Vivi, stand back! You're not a close-range battler!"

"I know what I'm doing, you all stay back and run from here!"

"Definitely not!!" Sonne went forward and lifted his throwing knives that were coated with the potions he always brought.

"Dumbass! Run with them! Study that book and Silver!"

Sonne shook his head firmly and threw the knives at the monster's slowing appendages. It stopped for a while, only to swing it even more aggressively. Its speed was enough to cut and injure the humans around it without giving them the time to realize what was happening, then two NCRD members got swept out of view in an instant.

"Dean! Flynn!" Neri shouted, their hand outstretched to empty air, soon to be cut by a swinging appendage. Chiya pulled them up to their feet as they cried out.

Vivi gritted his teeth, if this keeps up, they will die here. With a short scoff, he spoke, "Hey, Chiya, bring Sonne with you and run away! I'll hold this creature here." She nodded and held Sonne's arm. The latter refused with all his might.

"No, no, you can't hold this monster alone! Vivi, have you gone insane?! Let's just run!"

"I'm doing this for myself. Besides, someone has to stay and make sure you escape smoothly." He let out a long exhale. He had never been so sure before. But right there, he could do what should be done with no hesitation, no second thought—just himself and his own buried threads in mind.

"Go, now," his voice softened as he whispered. Without looking back, he pushed all of them away before facing the raging creature.

The leader and vice leader dragged the orange-haired student up to the hills.

"No, stop him from fighting! He will die!" his hoarse voice, laced with exhaustion, echoed in the silent forest that had become suffocating and merciless.

Vivi could hear Sonne's scream and resistance from behind slowly fading as he pushed his daggers against the appendages. His uniform was torn and bloodied, he couldn't even feel his limbs. But at least, he managed to do something for others.

Or so he thought.

The headless man appeared behind the monster Vivi was fighting instinctively to put a dark, slimy creature on its back. The monster melted entirely within seconds. The headless man let out a chuckle and threw the same slimy creature to the road behind him—it was the last thing he witnessed, along with vague, panicked shrieks from afar which turned silent once his throat was cut.

-

"He was in the mist barrier with an awakener when the guards found him. Currently, he is... in a trance."

With a slight nod, a smooth, monotone voice replies, "Are his injuries fatal?"

The nurse looks at the person lying down on the bed, facing the ceiling with empty, reddened eyes. "He has recovered, quicker than we expected..." Her eyes dart anxiously at the patient and Doll.

"Are you afraid of those eyes?"

She nods right away at her question. "It's naturally impossible for regular humans to have eyes in those areas... But he has those."

"Assuming he's a regular human might not be the best approach in this case." Doll glances at the black irises around the patient's neck and arms that are partially covered in bandages. She sighs quietly, "He also bears a high resemblance to someone who's been missing for two years without a single trace. To think this coincidence would happen."

"Oh, he wakes up!"

The orange-haired boy blinks slowly, soon sits up and sees two strangers in front of his bed.

"How do you feel?" the nurse takes out her note and asks.

He looks around the white, dull room he's in before answering in a quiet voice, "I feel... Fine."

Doll observes his movement and behaviors and proceeds to ask, "What is your name?"

He turns his head to her direction, a bit perplexed with her strange appearance.

"... Sonne."