Until the roar of the engine faded into the distance, Ifrit no longer held back.
“Wuu…
uuu…” Sobs spilled from her throat like those of a wounded little beast, intermittent at first, then swelling into uncontrollable wails.
“Wuaaaa— Silence— Saria— wuuu—” The girl’s shrill cries echoed through the dead streets, exceptionally harsh and desolate against the quiet night.
Against the backdrop of her weeping, behind the tightly closed doors and windows lining the avenue, countless eyes that had previously hidden in terror now crept back into the open.
These gazes no longer tracked the towering Lava Troll that had marched away into the distance—a force of nature they were entirely powerless to oppose.
Instead, they locked onto the solitary girl left weeping in the rubble.
Though Ifrit was born a Savra, the brutal modifications she endured made her bear the unmistakable traits of a Sarkaz.
In the eyes of the onlookers, the shrinking dread they held for absolute power was gone.
In its place festered a toxic mixture of displaced anger, fear, repulsion, and twisted resentment.
They dared not vent their violence on a colossal beast capable of turning their city to ash.
Yet they felt no burden in pouring their crushing pressure onto a fragile child who carried the dreaded moniker of the Flame Demon.
An invisible, biting malice wrapped around Ifrit like a deep winter frost, silently suffocating her.
She hugged her knees tight, burying her face in a desperate bid to shut out the staring eyes.
But those silent glares pierced through every physical barrier, stabbing directly into her young, terrified heart.
She was truly…
left all alone.
Emboldened by her weeping, the hostile gazes grew sharper.
Low curses began to slip through the cracks of the windows.
“Damned mon…” “Roar—!!!” A deafening bellow erupted, shattering the suffocating quiet of the street and cutting off Ifrit’s desperate sobs!
The malicious stares scalding her skin were instantly yanked back in sheer terror.
Curtains were violently pulled shut, shadows behind door cracks vanished, and the entire block seemingly died once more in the blink of an eye.
Startled by the sudden shockwave of sound, Ifrit trembled from head to toe.
She stopped crying and looked up, her expression blank and dazed.
Then, she saw it.
The Lava Troll that had already left had somehow returned, standing directly in front of her.
Its massive, scorching body leaned slightly forward, casting a deep shadow that firmly shielded her from the cold, hateful eyes of the city.
Burning pupils swept across the surrounding buildings.
It made no further move, yet the silent, crushing pressure it radiated was more intimidating than any spoken threat.
[Mental Chat Group] (Not long ago, while the Boss was leaving) [Boss: What is going on?!
How did that car run off on its own?
Leaving that little kid there all alone?!] [Second: Fourth, explain the current situation.
Why was that child left behind alone?] [Fourth: Uh…
probably a misunderstanding.] [Third: Misunderstanding?] [Fourth: Well…
Ifrit’s body does indeed hold the power of a Flame Demon, but it is just a Flame Demon Fragment.
It is highly unstable.
The scene earlier, where the fragment inside her shrank back in fear of the Boss, and the Boss stopped his attack…
the others likely misinterpreted that.] [Boss: So…] [Second: So in the eyes of those stupid bystanders, this child is allied with the ‘Flame Demon’, or even the fuse for this entire disaster?
Damn it!
A bunch of cowards!
They dare not confront the real threat, so they vent all their malice and fear on a child who has no power to resist?!] [Fourth: Sigh…
we have no choice.
In the original plot, Ifrit is a test subject of Rhine Lab.
She has lost control of the Flame Demon Fragment in her body many times.
That terrifying image has likely been deeply branded into the memories of many who know the truth.
Once prejudice takes root, it is very difficult to eliminate.] [Boss: What did you say!?
A test subject!?] [Third: Such a small child?
They use children for experiments?!] [Fourth:…Although Arknights is a fun game, I have to admit…
the world it depicts has a background that is just that cruel.
On this land of Terra, suffering has never ceased.
And children without the strength to protect themselves often bear the heaviest malice.] A brief, heavy quiet fell over the mental link.
Silent anger boiled within it.
[Boss:…I am going back.] [Second:…Go do what you want to do.] [Third: Yeah!] [Fourth: The Boss is mighty!
Give those guys who judge people by their appearance a taste of their own medicine!] Ifrit stared up at the towering, physically warm lava body standing before her, a living wall blocking out the world’s malice.
Fear lingered in her chest, but an indescribable sense of security quietly took root alongside it.
She no longer cried.
She merely watched in a daze, as if trying to confirm whether this was reality or a hallucination born from absolute despair.
The Boss lowered his massive head.
His burning pupils met Ifrit’s dazed gaze.
Lacking the ability to comfort her with words, he tried his utmost to restrain his searing heat and oppressive aura, looking down at her with eyes that were as gentle as a creature of living magma could manage.
He raised a giant hand.
Without actually touching Ifrit, he gently stroked the air above her head, soothing the erratic energy of the Flame Demon Fragment.
The movement was clumsy, even a bit comical.
Yet the intention conveyed was unmistakable.
‘Do not be afraid.
I am here.’ Feeling the scorching but restrained temperature, Ifrit’s tightly strung nerves finally found a fulcrum to rest upon.
She did not speak, but her slightly trembling body slowly, very slowly, began to calm down.
The Boss glanced around the ruined street.
His gaze landed on a chunk of Saria’s Calciumization crystal nearby.
It was relatively intact, resembling an irregular white stone platform.
He picked it up and placed it gently in front of Ifrit, offering it like a small step stool.
Ifrit raised her head, looking at the silent Lava Troll through tear-blurred eyes.
“Are…
are you going to take me away?” “Roar…” Ifrit subconsciously looked back toward the direction the vehicle had fled.
The road was empty.
Silence had told her to wait here.
But it was so cold, and the eyes watching her from the dark were so terrifying…
She turned back to the Lava Troll exuding its steady, warm aura.
He was scary, yes, but his roar had driven away the malicious gazes.
And now…
he seemed to want to pull her out of this nightmare.
Her internal struggle lasted only a fraction of a second.
The deep loneliness of being a perpetual outcast, the stinging pain of being abandoned by her own kind, and the primal, instinctive desire for warmth and safety finally crushed her hesitation.
She lifted her small face, stained with tear tracks and ash.
“I will bring you trouble…” The Boss did not respond.
He could not speak the words.
He simply watched her quietly with those burning pupils, his giant palm steadily supporting the crystal step, waiting.
Ifrit took a deep breath.
She lifted her foot and carefully stepped onto the white crystal platform.
The moment she stood firm, the Boss’s giant lava palm steadily lifted her and the crystal off the ground, raising her to a height suitable for him to carry.
Standing securely on the crystal, Ifrit looked down at the Rhine Lab ruins—a place that had given her countless agonizing memories and only the briefest flashes of warmth.
She cast one last glance in the direction Silence had disappeared.
She whispered into the night air, bidding farewell to the departed researcher and to her past self.
“Silence…” Turning her head, Ifrit fixed her gaze on the unknown darkness stretching beyond the city limits.
“They are right…
monsters…
should be with monsters…” One large and one small.
Two outcasts, two monsters feared and rejected by the mainstream world, moving under the hidden gaze of countless terrified eyes.
Without looking back, they walked slowly and firmly toward the dark wasteland outside Trimount, far beyond the reach of the city lights.
Their figures gradually melted into the night, swallowed by the indifferent expanse of Terra.
They left behind a dead ruin and countless silent watchers, whose eyes held an unreadable mix of relief, terror, and guilt.
The street remained dead silent.
The malice had not vanished.
But at least for tonight, a child abandoned by the world had found a harbor willing to shelter her from the wind and rain.
Trimount Arc: End [Rhodes’s Note: Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?
(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!
to use the links!)