The fragile hope illuminating Silence’s face slowly calcified into a mask of stiff, cold dread.
She understood now.
The personnel cowering inside the transport vehicle—her own colleagues from Rhine Lab—had witnessed the devastating devastation just moments prior.
Even though the colossal Flame Demon had shrunk down and currently displayed zero aggression, the sheer terror of its existence had paralyzed them.
They refused to step anywhere near its attack range, let alone approach to help.
She drew in a sharp, ragged breath and engaged her communicator, broadcasting directly to the transport.
“Medical support team, this is Silence!
Director Saria is in critical condition and requires urgent transfer!
I need immediate assistance out here!” Only the faint, indifferent hiss of static answered her.
Through the reinforced glass of the vehicle, she could see silhouettes shifting nervously, yet no one reached for the door handle.
No one replied.
Silence slowly lowered the communicator.
A bitter, trembling line formed at the corner of her mouth.
Fear had completely strangled their courage.
But she refused to surrender.
She turned her gaze to the towering, half-ruined structures lining the desolate street, their doors and windows bolted tight against the catastrophe.
Drawing upon every ounce of strength in her lungs, she screamed into the dead silence of the suffocating darkness.
“Please!
Is anyone there?!
Please, I need help!
Someone here is bleeding out!
She needs to be taken to a medical facility immediately!
I beg you!
Please help us!” Her voice tore through the empty avenue, fracturing into a desperate, raw plea that echoed against the rubble.
“…” The only answer was a deathly, hollow silence.
It was as if every living soul in the district had evaporated into thin air.
Not a single lock clicked.
Not a single curtain twitched.
Only the wailing of the freezing night wind, sweeping mercilessly through the debris, seemed to mock her pathetic, naive desperation.
Ifrit stared at the desolate surroundings with numb, hollow eyes, her small hands gripping the fabric of Silence’s coat in a white-knuckled death spiral.
Silence stood paralyzed in the biting wind, a suffocating wave of powerlessness threatening to drag her under.
Was she truly going to watch Saria die in the dirt?
“Creak—” The agonizing groan of rusted hinges turning pierced the quiet, echoing from a half-collapsed residential building at the street corner.
Silence whipped her head around, her eyes widening in shock, only to freeze at the sight.
Emerging from the shadows of the ruined doorway was not the able-bodied savior she had prayed for.
Instead, it was an elderly Perro, his face mapped with deep, weathered wrinkles and his spine severely hunched.
He was swallowed by a massive, tattered robe, his gait so unsteady that every agonizing step seemed to drain the last reserves of his life force.
“You…” Silence parted her lips, desperate to speak, but the old man slowly raised a trembling, withered hand to stop her.
His cloudy, cataract-veiled eyes drifted calmly over Saria’s broken form on the asphalt, then shifted to the silent, imposing Lava Troll standing a short distance away.
“Let us go, little girl…
Did you not say you needed help…” Silence snapped her mouth shut.
Swallowing her pride and her tears, she moved to the old man’s side, and together they carefully hoisted Saria’s dead weight.
The elderly Perro possessed barely any physical strength, his frail arms shaking violently under the burden, yet he gritted his teeth and anchored himself, shuffling alongside Silence toward the idling off-road vehicle.
The Eldest watched this peculiar scene unfold in absolute silence.
He had assumed the cowards hiding in the rubble would leave the women to rot, and he had even been mentally preparing to step forward and haul the injured woman himself.
The sudden intervention of this dying old man completely subverted his expectations.
Just then, a sharp gust of wind howled through the street, violently whipping up the hem of the old man’s oversized robe.
The Eldest narrowed his glowing eyes.
Exposed just above the Perro’s frail ankle was a cluster of jagged, pitch-black crystals.
They were not merely resting on the skin; they were violently embedded, growing outward from the necrotic flesh and pulsing with a faint, ominous energy.
[Mental Chat Group] [Four: Oh, it’s Oripathy.] [Eldest: Oripathy?
What is that?] [Four: It’s a bit complicated to explain…
Just understand it as a terminal illness in this world, equivalent to a highly contagious, magical cancer.] [Four: People who contract this disease are classified as ‘Infected.’ They are violently discriminated against, hunted, and ostracized by society.] [Four: Looking at that old man’s crystal density, he probably doesn’t have much time left anyway.
That is why he isn’t afraid of you, Eldest.
After all, a dying man has nothing left to lose.] A heavy, suffocating silence descended upon the mental link.
A contagious cancer…
[Two: Is it contagious to us?
Four!
Answer!] [Four: Uh…
Probably not?
This thing operates on a special biological mechanism targeting the native races of Terra.
Strictly speaking, we are not from Terra.
Our anatomical structures and energy systems are entirely different, so maybe…
we’re fine?] [Two: Maybe?
Probably?
Since you lack empirical certainty, log this into our absolute rules of engagement immediately.
From this second forward, try to avoid all close-quarters contact with known Infected.
Specifically, avoid any exposure to their bodily fluids, blood, and open wounds!] [Two: Until the biological risks are definitively clarified, treat all Infected as lethal, potential threats!] [Three: I agree.] [Four: Huh?
No…
Three, why are you also…
This disease isn’t that scary, many Infected can live for a long time…] [Two: Four!] [Four:…Huh?] [Two: This isn’t a game.] [Four:…] [Two: We do not have save files.
We do not have extra lives.
One single, arrogant misjudgment could lead us all to total ruin.] [Two: In this world, every unknown variable must be treated with maximum, paranoid caution.
Do you understand?] [Four:…Yeah.
Understood.] The tactical discussion in the mental link temporarily ceased, but the grim reality of this world’s lethality had just been violently hammered into their minds.
Back in the physical world, Silence and the elderly Perro had finally dragged Saria’s limp body to the side of the armored transport.
The personnel cowering inside finally mustered the nerve to crack the door open.
In a chaotic, panicked flurry, they reached out and hauled Saria into the sterile interior.
Silence supported the old man, who was now gasping for breath, his chest heaving painfully.
She bowed her head, her voice thick with genuine gratitude.
“Thank you!
Thank you so much!” The old man merely waved his trembling hand dismissively.
His cloudy gaze swept over the towering Lava Troll in the distance one last time before he turned, his hunched silhouette shuffling back toward the dilapidated ruins he had emerged from.
“Wait!
I am Silence, a researcher from Rhine Lab!
If you need any medical assistance or supplies, I can…” “No need…” The old man interrupted her, his voice a raspy whisper.
The eyes he turned back upon her were as dead and stagnant as a dried well.
“You had better worry about your colleague first.
Oripathy is not an easy torment to endure…” Inside the vehicle, the logistics personnel who were frantically applying pressure to Saria’s wounds instantly froze.
Their outstretched hands flinched, retracting slightly in a subtle, instinctual spasm of revulsion.
Silence’s face drained of all color.
She had deliberately wrapped the crystalline growths in thick gauze to hide them, yet the old man had seen right through it.
The elderly Perro did not speak another word.
He simply melted into the suffocating shadows of the alleyway, vanishing as if he had been nothing more than a ghost.
“…” Watching the sickeningly ironic display of human prejudice unfold before him, the Eldest felt a surge of inexplicable, cold annoyance.
Even though this winged woman had just risked her life to shield them from the drone strike…
humanity’s ugly nature remained universal.
Without a word, the Eldest turned his massive, molten back to the transport.
He walked away, his heavy footsteps thudding against the cracked asphalt, moving in the exact opposite direction of the Rhine Lab personnel.
Ifrit dropped her head, her messy hair shadowing her eyes.
Silently, she turned and began to follow his retreating path.
Her tiny, battered figure looked exceptionally fragile and lonely against the jagged backdrop of the devastated city.
“Ifrit!
Come here, quickly!” Silence called out, gesturing frantically toward the open vehicle door.
It was only then she realized the girl had stopped several paces away, her feet rooted to the ground.
“Ifrit?
Come on!” Silence urged, her voice cracking with mounting anxiety.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead as she darted a nervous glance at the towering Lava Troll, who had also paused his departure.
“Get in the car!
Saria is in critical condition, we have to return to the medical bay immediately!” Ifrit kept her gaze locked on the ruined pavement.
Her small, soot-stained hands twisted the hem of her scorched clothes into tight knots.
When she finally spoke, her voice was a weak, shattered whisper.
“…I can’t go back, Silence.” Silence blinked, momentarily stunned, before a stern, desperate edge bled into her tone.
“Ifrit!
I do not have the time to play games with you right now!
Saria needs emergency surgery this second!
Come here!” “I can’t go back anymore!!!” Ifrit violently jerked her head up.
Hot, heavy tears spilled over her soot-streaked cheeks, falling like shattered pearls.
“It was me!
I was the one who brought the Flame Demon here!
He is the big monster, and I am the little monster!
Everyone is terrified of him…
and I’m so afraid of him too…
But…
But…” Her voice cracked, a choked sob tearing through her throat, rendering her almost unable to breathe.
“The way everyone looks at me…
it’s the exact same way they look at him!
I can’t go back…
I don’t have anywhere to go back to!” Silence felt as though a serrated blade had been violently twisted into her chest.
She immediately lunged forward, her voice fierce with denial.
“You are not a monster!
Ifrit!
You listen to me right now…” She closed the distance in a heartbeat, reaching out to grab Ifrit’s trembling hand, intending to drag the child to the safety of the vehicle.
However, the absolute microsecond her fingers brushed against Ifrit’s skin— “Vroom—!” The armored off-road vehicle’s engine roared to life.
Without a single warning, the driver slammed it into reverse.
The heavy tires shrieked against the asphalt, violently tearing the vehicle a dozen meters backward, desperately putting distance between the crew and the girl!
“What!?” Silence gasped, her eyes stretching wide in sheer, unadulterated horror.
She stared at the retreating transport, completely unable to process the betrayal unfolding before her.
Ifrit was equally paralyzed by the sudden mechanical roar.
She watched the steel beast flee from her as if she were a walking plague.
In that split second, the very last, fragile shred of hope in her heart shattered into dust.
Violently ripping her hand out of Silence’s grasp, Ifrit let out a gut-wrenching wail.
She stumbled backward, retreating step by step until she was standing exactly where she had been before.
Only when the girl was safely distanced did the driver ease off the accelerator, allowing the transport to idle cautiously.
Watching this sickening display of cowardice, the shock paralyzing Silence’s chest instantly violently ignited into a monstrous, blinding rage.
She whipped around, her eyes blazing as she roared at the armored windshield.
“How dare you!?” From the previously dead communicator clipped to her belt, a suppressed, trembling voice finally crackled through.
It was laced with undisguised terror and absolute rejection.
“Director Silence…
Do you actually intend to bring that monster back with us!?” “She is not a monster!” Silence screamed into the receiver, her voice tearing at her vocal cords.
“She is the Flame Demon!” The voice on the other end spiked into a hysterical, panicked shriek.
“Every single one of us saw it!
That colossal Lava Troll did not attack her!
That is the ultimate proof!” “They are the exact same kind!
Who is to say she won’t suddenly lose control inside the base?
Who is to say she won’t summon that massive abomination right into our labs!?” “We cannot take this risk!
For the safety of Rhine Lab, for the survival of everyone!” “I can personally guarantee—” Silence desperately tried to interject, to reason with their madness.
But her plea was met with nothing.
A cold, mechanical busy signal echoed from the speaker.
The communication had been unilaterally severed.
Silence stood utterly frozen in the desolate street.
She looked at the armored transport idling in the distance, its heavy doors locked tight against her.
Then, she turned her head to look at Ifrit, standing entirely alone amidst the jagged ruins.
A colossal, suffocating wave of grief and absolute powerlessness violently swallowed her whole.
The freezing night wind howled past, whipping up a cloud of ash and dust from the shattered asphalt, chilling the very marrow of Silence’s bones.
She looked back at Ifrit.
That tiny, trembling silhouette looked as though it could be consumed by the surrounding darkness at any given second.
She whipped her head back toward the transport.
Inside, Saria was bleeding out, her life slipping away with every shallow, agonizing breath.
On one side stood the child she had sworn to protect, the girl she viewed as her own daughter, now violently isolated by human prejudice and blind terror.
On the other side lay her closest friend, her steadfast companion, hovering on the razor’s edge of death, desperately requiring immediate surgical intervention.
Time seemed to violently stretch and warp in this agonizing moment.
Every passing second was measured by the fading rhythm of Saria’s heartbeat and the silent, catastrophic collapse of Ifrit’s soul.
Silence bit down on her lower lip so fiercely that the skin tore.
The hot, rusty taste of her own blood flooded her mouth.
She had to go back.
Saria had just become an Infected.
If Silence did not personally oversee her medical transfer, Saria would be left to the mercy of those terrified cowards.
Drawing in a shuddering breath, Silence forced her facial muscles to contort, squeezing out a broken, trembling smile that looked far more agonizing than weeping.
She turned to face Ifrit, modulating her voice to the gentlest, softest frequency she could muster.
“Ifrit…
will you wait for me right here?
Okay?” She raised a shaking finger, pointing toward the idling transport.
“Just wait for me…
wait for me to take Saria back so she can get treated…
I promise you, I will come back to pick you up immediately!
Very soon!
I will be back so soon!” Ifrit did not raise her head.
She did not utter a single syllable of response.
She merely maintained her broken, head-down posture, standing as still as a frozen corpse.
Silence’s heart plummeted into an endless abyss.
Cold panic wrapped around her throat like thorny vines.
“Ifrit?” she pleaded, her voice cracking, completely failing to hide the desperate begging beneath her words.
Finally, with excruciating slowness, Ifrit offered a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
It felt as though a serrated dagger had been violently plunged into Silence’s chest.
But she had run out of time.
She could not afford a single second of hesitation.
She stared at Ifrit one last time, her eyes burning as if trying to permanently carve the child’s lonely silhouette into her very soul.
“Bang!” The heavy slam of the armored door echoing through the dead street sounded exceptionally harsh, like the final nail being driven into a coffin.
The off-road vehicle did not linger for a fraction of a second.
The tires squealed as the engine roared, tearing down the ruined avenue and rapidly vanishing into the suffocating darkness at the end of the street.
Ifrit stood perfectly still, quietly watching the red taillights fade into nothingness.
Once the street was completely empty, she calmly walked over to a shattered slab of concrete, wiped the ash from its surface with her sleeve, and sat down.
“…” Drip…
drip…
Ifrit pulled her knees to her chest, burying her face into her arms, hugging her small body as tightly as she possibly could.
…How strange.
It isn’t raining tonight.
So why is there the sound of rain…
[Rhodes’s Note: Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?
(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!
to use the links!)