Chapter 56

Act 4 Cease to Exist 1 Yahiro reached out to stop himself from falling, but it was for nothing. He felt himself float downward, and a feeling of discomfort circulated through all of his organs. Endless darkness below. Plunging into the Ploutonion by Jiguan Xia’s hand. Gravity pulled him mercilessly into the pit. The sound of a strong wind struck his ear. Would it be a hundred feet to the bottom? A thousand? The only certainty was that death awaited at the end of it. “Yahiro, over here!” Iroha’s voice reached him just as he gritted his teeth. Then he felt himself float up. A pure-white Moujuu held him up. Iroha was atop a full-size Nuemaru, and they’d caught him. “Nuemaru, keep us up!” She shouted at the Moujuu. The giant beast used the falling rocks as footholds to jump and hold on to the Ploutonion’s wall. He then kicked the wall to jump to the other side. Nuemaru repeated the motion to break the fall’s momentum and finally landed softly on the bottom of the pit. “…We’re saved?” Yahiro slid down Nuemaru’s back to ground. His whole body was tense, weak with the fear of death. Becoming a Lazarus did not rid one of their innate fear of falling. “Nuemaru’s so amazing, right?” Iroha puffed out her chest and held her chin up. “Yeah. Thanks, Nuemaru,” Yahiro said with sincerity while reaching out to the giant Moujuu’s fluffy neck and petting it. Iroha jumped down from Nuemaru’s back and watched the petting with envy. “You can also thank me! Don’t forget about me!” “Where’re Giuli and the guys?” “Aww… Thank me!” “You called?” Giuli appeared silently from the darkness behind Yahiro. “Whoa?!” He exclaimed. Giuli looked unharmed, despite the huge fall. “You’re okay? How in the world?” “Thanks to this.” Giuli held her light stick with her mouth and held her hands out to him as though playing cat’s cradle. Thin, shiny threads crossed the fingers of her gloved hands like a spiderweb. “Wires…” “Thank goodness it was shallower than I thought. Considering how much wire I have left, seems like it’s about ninety meters?” Giuli retrieved the wires shot into the walls with a smile. A ninety-meter-deep pit was not something you would call shallow, but it certainly did not seem as deep as one would think a Ploutonion would be. The Ploutonion did not end there, however. At the bottom of the pit was the entrance of a long underground tunnel, spurting a stinging amount of miasma. “Here’s your light. One of these lasts twelve hours, but I don’t have many, so take care of it.” Giuli handed each of them a light stick. They were just bright enough for their eyes, now used to the darkness. Then the CFA soldiers came, attracted by the light. “Waon!” “You were fine… Thank goodness!” Sections of Giuli’s wires tangled all around their bodies. She saved them as well. They weren’t as unharmed as she was, though: their uniforms were tattered and covered with dust. “You…!” Yahiro pointed his sword at the approaching soldiers. “What’s the big idea?! What is Xia thinking?!” “Eep! L-l-le-let’s calm down, Mr. Lazarus.” “Wait! Hear us out! We didn’t know anything!” “What?!” Yahiro exuded hostility. Xia not only nearly killed Yahiro, but Iroha, too. And the soldiers were Xia’s men. Yahiro had no reason to pity them. “It’s true! We have no idea why the deputy commander would do that!” Zhu, the younger soldier, pleaded with teary eyes. Yahiro gripped his katana tighter as the blade touched Zhu’s neck, but then, Giuli pushed his hand aside. “That’s enough, Yahiro. It doesn’t look like they’re lying.” “You believe them?” “Not really. They never were our allies, in any case.” “No way! Executive Manager! Mr. Lazarus!” Feng, the big baldie, jumped at their legs. Giuli swiftly dodged him. “But it’s true that their boss cut them off. I was not expecting him to throw his valuable Relict Deservers into the Ploutonion, even if it was to take us with them.” “So they were just decoys to get our guards down?” Yahiro sighed as he sheathed his sword. Right before Xia pushed them into the Ploutonion, his subordinates were already looking at the pit right beside Iroha. That got them to lower their defenses—they had no reason to expect Xia would take his own men out, as well. “Our Relicts aren’t very powerful. I guess he didn’t hesitate to get rid of us second-raters.” “They were shoddy replicas to begin with.” Zhu and Feng explained. So he didn’t cast them away just because they were annoying. “Replicas? Copies?” “They’re making artificial Relict Regalia?” Iroha and Yahiro asked in confusion. It was their first time hearing about technology to artificially replicate the crystallized dragon factor. “I see. Now it’s starting to make sense.” Giuli giggled. Yahiro gave her a look of suspicion. “What do you mean?” “This is why the CFA is obsessed with collecting Relict Regalia. I mean, even if you get a superpowerful one, if only a select few can even use them, they won’t be that valuable as weapons. It’s no longer an age where one-on-one duels between generals decide the outcome of war.” “Uh-huh.” “But what if you could mass-produce the Relicts? The Nagoya Station Fortress isn’t just a CFA base—it’s a Relict factory. Am I wrong?” “No, you got it right,” Zhu responded. It was top-secret military information, but now that Zhu had been betrayed by his superior, he judged he no longer needed to keep it secret. “So they broke the barrier and took the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to make a replica?” Yahiro said as he looked up. “Probably. I imagine that’s why they asked Nina Himekawa to get it. They don’t need Iroha to collect a Relict Regalia, any dragon medium would do.” “But then why would they bring us here?” “Well, to push us into the pit, duh.” “What…?!” “To push you and Iroha, more precisely. Even with Relict Deservers on their side, they wouldn’t want to directly fight a dragon medium and her Lazarus,” Giuli said coldly while spinning the light stick in her hand like a pen; she sure looked like her twin when she got serious. “This also means that, with you two out of the picture, nothing is stopping them from attacking Galerie Berith.” “Attacking… You mean to take Ayaho?!” Iroha gasped. The CFA had been fixated on Vanagloria’s Relict ever since Galerie Berith arrived at Nagoya. The only reason they hadn’t stolen it from them was out of consideration for Ganzheit backing them up, and the Galerie’s own firepower. However, with the power of mass-produced Relicts, the CFA would be capable of opposing the dragons’ threat. Not even Ganzheit would be able to strike back so easily. Yahiro and Iroha, capable of fighting back against the Relicts, had to be taken out of the picture. Now the only obstacle keeping the CFA away from Vanagloria’s Relict was gone. “Vanagloria’s Relict Regalia is perfectly preserved, newly born, and it comes with a Deserver. They figured it would be worth the hassle.” “Is it my fault? Is it because I suggested investigating the reason behind the Moujuu attacks…?” Iroha’s face turned pale. They were away from the Yáo Guāng Xīng because Iroha proposed looking into why the Moujuu were attacking the city. Her decision to protect Ayaho ended up backfiring. Still, that didn’t mean it was Iroha’s fault they went after Ayaho. Yahiro immediately tried to refute it: “That’s not tr—” “That’s not true!” “It’s not! It’s all our boss’s fault for tricking you!” The two soldiers argued fervently, cutting Yahiro off. “Huh? R-really…?” Iroha was caught off guard by their energy. She didn’t look cheered up, but now she had lost her opportunity to mope. “I definitely agree, but it doesn’t feel right when they say it, somehow.” Yahiro sighed bitterly as he looked at the two men. “In any case, we gotta get out of here. I’m worried about Paola’s squad now,” Giuli said as she looked around the hole. “But how? I don’t think we can climb this,” Yahiro asked as he touched the wall. Even with the barrier, the Ploutonion’s walls were weathered; it didn’t look like even Nuemaru could climb them. Giuli’s wires were useless, too. “Nope. We gotta look for another exit.” “Another exit?” “So we said the barrier was broken about a year ago, but that doesn’t mean there were no Moujuu around before that, right? Otherwise, there would be no reason to build that sturdy wall.” Giuli looked at the soldiers. The two of them nodded hesitantly. “So there’s more Ploutonions nearby?” Iroha’s face lit up a little. Climbing the over-ninety-meter wall was impossible, but there could be other pits in Nagoya. This one could be connected to another shallower, slanted Ploutonion. “There’s no guarantee we’ll find an exit. I’m clueless about the inner structure of the Ploutonions. I’ve never met someone who’s come back alive from one, after all.” “But it’s worth looking into.” Yahiro shrugged with annoyance as he glared at the cave connected to the Ploutonion. The hollow full of miasma lured him in with a calm wind that sounded like weeping. 2 Ayaho Sashou heard a gunshot rupture the air from the dining hall of the Yáo Guāng Xīng. She was in the middle of slicing an apple pie Head Chef Shen had prepared for the kids. “An enemy attack… Just as the lady feared.” Josh, who just happened to be there for a snack, clicked his tongue before beckoning Ayaho. “…Enemy attack?” “Yes. They took the chance now that Yahiro and the princess are away.” “Wait, is it…because of me?” Ayaho’s voice trembled as she held her right hand down with her other. Josh ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry. The Yáo Guāng Xīng is sturdier than your average tank in case of occasions just like this. It won’t fall easily so long as we keep them outside,” he said firmly while looking down at the screen on his arm. Reports were flooding in from the operators in battle to the temporary commander of the Yáo Guāng Xīng. The attackers were surprisingly few. A company, including backup. Only a dozen were currently firing. As the armored train’s heavy weaponry could be used for self-defense, the Galerie had an overwhelming advantage in simple firepower. The balance was about to tip, however. Ravaging fireballs appeared out of nowhere, ignoring the laws of physics. Lightning and ice spears followed. The impossible attacks shattered the Galerie’s defenses in the blink of an eye. The Yáo Guāng Xīng’s autocannons were rendered unusable, frozen. “Regalia! Relict Deservers!” Josh’s temples twitched as he glared at the video on screen. The Galerie’s operators were not heavily wounded, thanks to their being accustomed to Yahiro’s Regalia, but their hopes to stop the attackers’ approach were already close to nil. It was only a matter of time before they infiltrated the train. “Not good. Chris, deploy the Boxer. Get the children out of the fortress,” Josh indicated to his subordinate in the same car. Two armored fighting vehicles were stored in the rear car of the Yáo Guāng Xīng. Josh judged the best way to keep Ayaho safe was to get her out of the fortress in them. Because Giuli and Paola’s squad was out there—Yahiro and Iroha were, too. However, a shock from the side blocked Josh’s plan. The armored wall of the dining hall was ripped apart, its debris raining on Josh and his men as they were blown away. “The wall!” “We have to run!” “But where?!” Ayaho heard her siblings exclaim in disarray, but she lacked the calm to care for them. “Mr. Josh!” Ayaho ran over to where the man lay covered in blood. Runa stood between them. The youngest of her siblings, only seven, and she looked even younger. Runa spread her arms to stop Ayaho. “Don’t.” “Why, Runa?! We have to help him or he’ll…!” Ayaho tried to pick her little sister up to put her aside, but then her sight turned crimson. Scorching flames blew through the hole in the Yáo Guāng Xīng’s armor. Ayaho would have been engulfed by the Relict Deservers’ fire had Runa not stopped her. Soldiers avalanched into the scorched, unarmored train. They wore not the Chinese Federal Army’s uniforms, but PMC suits with the logo of Melora Electronics. “Found you, Japanese children,” one of the assailants said in English, a thick accent coming from his face mask. “Which one’s the girl in the picture?” “Don’t care. Take them all!” “Come here.” “NOOO!” “Rinka!” Ayaho yelled as she heard her sister’s scream. The attackers caught Rinka. They aimed to capture every child in sight to be sure Ayaho didn’t escape. “No, let me go! Help me, Iroha! Iroha! Mama!” “Rinka!” Ren, seeing Rinka fearfully call the name of someone absent, tried to punch the assailant grabbing her. However, the man brushed him aside as one did a fly. “Ren!” Rinka cried as she saw Ren kicked away. “No… Please…” Ayaho fell to her knees, holding her head and trembling in fear. At the same time, a fierce rage overtook her. Anger at her own powerlessness. Iroha was always the one protecting them, but she was not there. Now Ayaho was the oldest of the siblings present, and she had to protect them in Iroha’s stead, but she lacked the power. She…lacked the power? Truly? Ayaho felt heat filling her right arm. Something within reacted to her loathing of the attackers. “STOP!” Ayaho glared at the assailants. Guided by her gaze, steel-colored blades thrusted out of the Yáo Guāng Xīng’s floor and walls. The metallic crystal blades resembled an accumulation of infinite swords. They pierced and skewered the attackers armed with Relicts. “A Regalia…?! It’s her?!” A survivor aimed his gun at Ayaho as he spat blood. Ayaho could not counter the attack. She was in a daze, shocked by the damage her Relict caused. “A-aaah…” she cried out weakly as the man pulled the trigger. A gunshot followed. A small hole opened in the attacker’s forehead, fresh blood gushing from the back of his skull. “Well done, Ayaho,” Josh said. Blood dripped from his lips, but he was now on his feet and had his gun in hand. He finished off the survivor to save her. “Mr.…Josh… I—I killed…!” Ayaho held down her trembling right hand as she turned to look at him, her face scrunched up in misery. Josh gave her a gentle smile. “No, Ayaho. You protected your siblings. It was me who killed him.” “But…all that blood…” Ayaho looked at the other skewered attackers. Her face tensed up in fear. The men who the metallic crystal blades had torn apart were moving once again. They glued their sliced arms and legs back together, and the holes all over their bodies closed up.