Chapter 38: The Flames of Liberty.
"Haaahhh... I-I did it..." Aldrus mumbled, unable to believe it himself. As he struggled to remain on his feet, he quickly shifted his gaze toward his friends.
Ahhgg... Damn, it hurts...
Every muscle he had forced into obedience rebelled at once, as though his own body had finally realized the battle was over. The sudden crash of adrenaline hit his body like a lightning strike, unleashing the full weight of the agony he had been suppressing until now.
*Thud*
He couldn’t manage more than a few paces before collapsing to his knees, his vision blurring more with each passing second.
N-No... Not yet.
However, relaxing now was out of the question. For starters, they had no idea when the jailer might wake up or what he was still capable of. They couldn’t afford to linger and rest either; the cloaked man wasn’t their only threat. In fact, he might actually turn out to be the least of their problems.
There were still at least four more captors out there. Four more monsters. Four more people capable of crushing them just as easily as the jailer almost had. Not to mention their leader...
Just the fact that they had struggled this desperately to take down the weakest among them gave Aldrus a grim certainty: if they somehow crossed paths with the rest, none of them would live to tell the tale.
Grrrhhg...
Dragging his knees across the rotting wood, the black-haired boy slowly crawled toward the blurry silhouettes of his comrades, just a short distance from where the clash had ended.
"A-Alice! Wake up! We have to get out of here right now!"
No response came. Not even the slightest twitch.
In front of him, his defeated roommate lay unconscious on the floorboards, burning with a fever. Her physical injuries weren’t severe, with the sole exception of her mangled hand. However, after destroying the artifact and overexerting her powers for so long, the blonde girl had ultimately succumbed to Perspective Burnout.
Shit! Aldrus bit his lip, turning his attention to the other two.
Gasping for air against the wall, Cedric sat amidst the wooden debris. He had already rewound his leg to its healthy state. Although he was conscious, the blond boy looked terrible. The rest of the wounds the jailer had inflicted still weighed heavily on his body, yet he couldn’t dare risk using [Motion] again, or he would face the exact same fate as Alice.
On the opposite side... lay Aiden. He was the one who looked the worst.
The silver-haired boy was practically a living corpse. His catastrophic injuries remained unchanged, and new ones had accumulated over the last few minutes. Fortunately, having only recently escaped his cell, his Perspective still seemed to be stable, even after the brutality of the fight.
Aldrus hoisted Alice onto his back, standing up with agonizing effort, and took a step toward the others. But before he could make any headway, a raspy, dry voice stammered behind his back.
"Ha... Haha... You got me good, boy."
The moment those words echoed through the corridor, every hair on Aldrus’s body stood on end.
N-No way!
Instantly, he tightened his grip on Alice’s ankles and whipped around, bracing for the worst. Yet, before his eyes, the massive form of the towering cloaked man remained spasming on the floor. He had simply regained consciousness.
"Y-You... Just stay down! I’ll kill you, you hear me? Stay right there!" Aldrus shouted.
The jailer took his time to respond, far too busy trying not to choke on his own blood.
"...I won’t stand. I cannot fight anymore," the monster said flatly. "And you don’t need to kill me. I’m already dead."
Huh? What does he mean? Aldrus scowled, trying to decipher any hidden malice behind his words, but it didn’t seem like the man was trying to trick him. Not anymore.
"...Listen, kid. Cough! Agh... Y-You have to burn this place to the ground," the man added.
Aldrus’s jaw dropped, utterly blindsided by the request. "What?! Hey, what are you talking about? Are you messing with me?!"
"...No, I am serious. T-The sealed room... The trapdoor inside... it’s an artifact."
The boy’s face grew even paler. If that was true... the remaining danger was closer than they could have possibly imagined.
Damn it! Another artifact? If we didn’t even notice it, then... Rank 2? Just who the hell are these people?!
"Listen to me... I only made it here in time because I was halfway through our base, which is close by. Once they notice my absence, they will come..." the jailer explained through his remaining clenched teeth. "They won’t let you go if they realize you escaped. If they hunt you down, n-not even the academy will be able to protect you."
"Stop lying! You’re finished, you hear? Just give it up!" Aldrus snapped. Yet, even as the words left his mouth, a sickening feeling in his gut told him the man was not exaggerating.
The terrifying cunning of their leader, their access to remote hideouts, the absurd number of artifacts in their possession—including one of the third rank—all of it pointed toward something bigger...
"Why should I believe a word you say? You were trying to kill us," Aldrus said.
The man averted his eyes slightly, hesitating for a few seconds before answering, "I wasn’t."
That simple denial shook the boy’s heart like a gale-force wind. The reason he hadn’t bothered trying to save Alice and Cedric earlier wasn’t just because it seemed impossible; it was because his premonitions had shown them failing... but not dying.
In the future he had foreseen, he had only watched his friends miss their strike and get brutally struck down by the giant. Yet, as much as he distrusted the monster, time itself does not lie. The jailer genuinely hadn’t been aiming to kill them.
Even back then. It was something Aldrus never wanted to admit.
He had always found it strange how easily the opponent had let him slip from his grasp, despite having the perfect opportunity to end his life once the brawl spilled out into the hallway. The monster had held a fragile, defenseless throat in his palm—the throat of an unconscious teenager.
Damn it!
Still, none of that changed anything. To Aldrus, a man willing to torture a high-schooler wasn’t different from a murderer.
"Filthy liar. You spent the entire time beating Aiden to a pulp. Why the fuck should I hear you out?!"
The man closed his eyes. "That’s right, and you have every right to hate me for it. But right now, I am telling you the truth. Whether you choose to heed my warning is entirely up to you."
Aldrus was deeply conflicted. Although he despised the man for his cruelty and desperately wanted to dismiss him, he had learned long ago that keeping a cool head was paramount, no matter how dire the circumstances.
"...If that’s true, then tell me. Why did you capture us? What was the objective?" he demanded.
The jailer remained silent for a long moment, then rasped, "Sigh... W—cough! W-Well, that’s the worst thing you could have asked. Now you really won’t trust me at all, will you? Haha—cough! Cough!"
"Stop deflecting. Answer me," Aldrus insisted.
"...I’m sorry. If I tell you, you’ll set foot on a path you will live to regret. I-If keeping this secret is the only thing I can do for you now that my own chance is gone... then so be it." The man offered a bloody smirk, and after a tense silence, he added, "...I hate them too, after all."
Your chance is gone? What does that even mean?!
Aldrus was drowning in questions, but it was clear the monster had no intention of cooperating further. Besides, their time was rapidly bleeding away. Through his hazy vision, the boy glanced back at his friends with deep concern. Cedric was already making his way over, carrying Aiden on his back.
Soon, the four of them were ready to move, though Aldrus and Cedric both lingered, hesitant to leave.
The jailer shifted his gaze toward them one final time, a hint of understanding in his face. "...Brats. There is no one else here. Just go. Your other comrades aren’t in this place." His eyes met theirs with a sudden, piercing sincerity.
Somehow, Aldrus knew he was telling the truth.
Needless to say, he didn’t forgive his actions, let alone trust his character. He was simply convinced by a single thing: The raw, burning hatred in his eyes.
A man with that much resentment, knocking on death’s door, had absolutely no reason to lie.
Not now. Not like this.
"..."
After a heavy silence, Aldrus glanced at Cedric. The boy answered with a simple, tired nod.
***
Within the fading darkness of that chilling night, the scent of smoke began to rise.
Two silhouettes could be made out against the blinding shine of distant light. They seemed to stagger with each step, and on their backs, two more shadows slumped on top.
Soon, the dark was swallowed by the scorching heat. White and crimson painted the sky. A raging fire. It was the flames.
W-We made it... out.
The flames of liberty.
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