Creed opened his eyes.
"......Urgh."
His whole body ached.
It felt as though he had fought a war for three days and nights without rest.
'What happened......?'
Creed retraced his final memories.
Rohan had thrust out his sword, and a brief light had flickered.
Then came that strange sound scraping at his ears. A noise like thousands of birds crying at once.
'Counter-rotation......!'
Creed's eyes flew open.
Rohan had succeeded.
Just as Creed had suggested, rather than forcibly reversing one force, Rohan had overlaid a force rotating in the opposite direction atop one rotating forward.
'I did think it would create tremendous power.'
He had not known it would be that tremendous.
The instant the pure-white light erupted from the sword's tip, Creed had instinctively forced his squad members' heads down.
He remembered nothing after that.
Creed's expression stiffened.
'Wait. Then what about my squad members?'
Only then did he try to sit up.
"Urgh."
Pain surged through him.
Even so, just as he tried to force his upper body upright.
"You're awake?"
A familiar voice sounded.
Creed turned his head.
"......Company Commander?"
It was Mushurin.
Only then did his surroundings enter his awareness.
He was inside the village meeting hall, lying on a bed.
Creed asked urgently.
"Company Commander. What happened to my squad members?"
"You look for your squad members the moment you wake. A model squad leader."
Still expressionless, Mushurin continued.
"You shielded them with your body just before the explosion? Thanks to that, they're all alive. Johanna and Kaisen have already regained consciousness. Their injuries aren't serious either."
"That's a relief."
He exhaled briefly.
Then another thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Then the Noxis bastards......."
Mushurin's eyes narrowed.
"That is what I want to ask."
"......."
"What in the world happened?"
Her voice was calm.
But Creed could sense it clearly.
Mushurin was suppressing tremendous anger.
"The cottage had completely collapsed, and the enemy corpses were in a state that scarcely deserved the name."
Creed's expression stiffened.
"They were torn apart beyond recognition. Even the ones barely clinging to life had mutilated limbs."
Mushurin looked Creed straight in the eye.
"Unless a mage appeared, there is no explaining it."
"Well......."
Creed closed his mouth for a moment.
How much should he tell her about Rohan's ability?
There was no reason to hide the counter-rotation, however.
If anything, concealing it would be more dangerous.
They had survived through luck this time, but if the same thing happened again, their allies could be caught in it too.
'We couldn't hide it for long anyway.'
Creed spoke.
"It was Rohan's power."
"Private First Class Rohan?"
"Yes."
Creed explained what he knew.
Condensed Explosion.
A technique that rotated force, condensing it into a single point.
And the counter-rotation Rohan had devised to compensate for his inadequate output.
"Counter-rotation."
For the first time, her expression changed.
"Unbelievable. He can reverse a circuit?"
"That was my reaction as well."
Mushurin sank into thought for a moment.
Creed lowered his head.
"Company Commander, I apologize."
Mushurin's eyebrow twitched.
Creed continued.
"Everything that happened was my fault."
"......."
"We found a suspicious person in the village. After confirming that he was a Noxis scout, I had Johanna follow him."
Mushurin said nothing.
"Once we found their base, we moved immediately. At the time, I judged that if we let them go, finding them again would be difficult. It was my decision to act independently without reporting to you, Company Commander."
He had thought there was no time to explain the situation or wait for a response.
Indeed, when Creed burst in, the Noxis forces had finished preparing to leave.
"At least you understand. Unauthorized departure from the operational area. Disregard for the chain of command. Engaging the enemy independently without reporting to a superior."
Creed's expression stiffened.
"And you placed your entire squad in danger."
"......Yes."
"Under military law, that warrants execution."
Creed said nothing.
She was not wrong.
But the corners of Mushurin's lips rose slightly.
Creed had known her for years, yet even he had never seen this expression on her face.
"But soldiers prove themselves through results."
"......."
"Your judgment saved two civilians. You also eliminated more than twenty enemy soldiers, including the Noxis reconnaissance unit and its rear support team."
"......."
"I am not so inflexible that I would refuse to recognize that result. However."
The corners of her mouth lowered again.
Mushurin had returned to her usual self.
"I do not like that you acted alone without informing me. I already know your squad is prone to acting independently. I also know you always find the right answer."
"......."
"So make certain you report to me from now on."
"Understood."
Mushurin walked toward the door, then turned back.
"Can you stand?"
"Yes."
"Then follow me. There is something you need to see."
The ease from moments ago had completely vanished from Mushurin's face.
Creed rose while gathering himself.
"What is it?"
After a brief silence, Mushurin spoke.
"Private First Class Rohan is in poor condition."
***
When they emerged from the meeting hall, the light of dawn was gradually illuminating the village.
The soldiers had already finished preparing to march.
The wagons had been reloaded, and the horses already had their bits in their mouths.
Creed looked at Mushurin in surprise.
"Have you already finished preparing to deploy?"
"Sending scouts means the enemy is nearby. We have to move before Noxis notices something is wrong."
She was right.
Looking around, Creed was relieved to see Kaisen and Johanna too.
Both had bandages wrapped around various parts of their bodies, but neither seemed to have much difficulty moving.
And in the middle of them.
"Rohan?"
Rohan lay on a stretcher.
Creed went straight to him.
He looked fine on the surface.
He had almost no injuries, and his breathing was steady.
"Rohan was at the very bottom when the explosion struck."
Mushurin, who had followed him, spoke.
"Perhaps because you covered him with your body, he has almost no external injuries. The problem is that he still hasn't opened his eyes."
Mushurin's eyes narrowed.
"Do you have any idea why?"
Any idea? Why had Rohan, who suffered the least harm, not awakened?
Creed's eyes suddenly widened as he pondered.
'Don't tell me.......'
Rohan exhibited strange symptoms every time he killed someone.
Severe headaches and dizziness.
Creed remembered that Rohan became defenseless for a short while.
This time, the people he had killed.......
'There were more than twenty.'
And all at once.
If the memories of every Noxis soldier caught in the explosion had flowed into Rohan.
Creed's expression stiffened.
'Did he take all of them in?'
But he could not say it aloud.
Rohan's ability was not a secret he could reveal carelessly.
"I...... don't know."
"Is that so?"
Mushurin studied Creed for a moment.
She did not press any further.
Instead, she beckoned to a nearby soldier.
"Put Private First Class Rohan in wagon 2."
"Yes!"
Wagon 2.
It was used to transport soldiers who were too badly injured to walk or survivors who had lost consciousness during battle.
As things stood, they could not delay the march for Rohan alone.
Two soldiers lifted the stretcher.
Creed silently watched Rohan being moved to the wagon.
It happened the instant Rohan entered wagon 2.
RATTLE!
"......?"
The wagon directly behind it shook.
One soldier looked back.
The wagon had gone still again, as if nothing had happened.
Just as the soldier tried to lift Rohan again.
RATTLE!!
This time, it shook a little more violently.
"What the hell?"
That wagon was different from the others.
It had dedicated guards stationed around it.
Its entire cargo bed was securely wrapped in thick cloth and chains.
The most important cargo under the transport unit's care.
It was the wagon carrying the Phantom Beast Egg.
RATTLE!
RATTLE!
"Huh?"
The guard's face stiffened.
"What's wrong with it?"
The horses whinnied harshly, apparently sensing something strange as well.
The wagon shook more and more violently.
Soon, the entire wagon lurched sharply to one side.
That was when it happened.
"......Wait, what's that?!"
One soldier shouted.
He was pointing at Rohan.
Something was slowly rising over Rohan's face as he lay in wagon 2.
From the tip of his nose, the corners of his mouth, and around his closed eyes.
Pitch-black energy slowly seeped out.
"What......?"
HSSSSSS—
The black energy steadily grew denser.
It looked like smoke but did not disperse upward.
Instead, the energy that rose hovered in the air.
As though searching for somewhere to go.
"Everyone, get back!"
Mushurin shouted at the soldiers.
They hurriedly retreated.
At that moment.
SHAAAAAA—!
Black energy poured from Rohan's face all at once.
"W-What is this?!"
"God......!"
The terrified soldiers murmured.
The black energy did not spread in every direction.
The energy surging into the air bent toward one side.
As though something invisible were pulling it.
And at the end of its path was the wagon carrying the Phantom Beast Egg.
SHAAAAAAAA—!
The black energy was sucked toward the wagon.
RATTLE! The wagon shook violently.
"Don't go near it!"
Rohan's hair stirred despite the absence of wind.
His clothes fluttered.
By the time no more black energy emerged from Rohan.
SWOOOOSH—!
All the black energy spread through the area was sucked into the wagon at once.
"......!"
The light, smoke, and presence all vanished in an instant.
......RATTLE!
The wagon shook violently one final time.
Then no sound could be heard.
Everyone stood frozen, staring only at the wagon carrying the Phantom Beast Egg.
No one dared approach it.
That was when it happened.
"......What is going on?"
A young voice sounded.
Creed whipped his head around.
"Rohan?"
Wagon 2.
Rohan, who had been unable to open his eyes moments earlier, was sitting up.
***
'I feel refreshed.'
Rohan blinked.
His mind was strangely clear.
The heavy sensation that always pressed down on his head.
The feeling that had grown steadily heavier as the memories of the dead accumulated.
They had vanished completely.
"R-Rohan...!"
"You just..."
Looking around, he found the soldiers staring at him as if he were a monster.
As he surveyed his surroundings in confusion, Mushurin seized him by both shoulders.
"Private First Class Rohan. It appears you owe us an explanation."
"What happened?"
"What happened? An extremely sinister energy just left your body. It was sucked into the wagon containing the egg."
Into the wagon containing the Phantom Beast Egg?
Rohan's eyes widened.
'Was that not a dream?'
Immediately after the explosion killed a great many people.
In a pitch-dark place, Rohan had been surrounded by things resembling souls whose forms he could not discern.
Being stuck with them had been unbearably painful.
Then a small, pitch-black entity approached, opened its mouth wide, and all the souls were sucked into it.
As soon as that happened, the agonizing emotions subsided as if they had never existed.
"The egg is intact!"
At that moment, one of the soldiers who had checked the wagon shouted.
Only then did Mushurin relax her grip on Rohan's shoulders.
"I don't know what happened."
Rohan feigned ignorance.
Mushurin narrowed her eyes and murmured.
"...I heard you caused an explosion by rotating a mana circuit backward. You appear fine now."
There was little information about the Phantom Beast Egg itself.
Rohan suspected something else, but decided that letting Mushurin keep her assumption would be better, so he remained silent.
"The operation nearly failed before it even began."
Mushurin appeared relieved that the egg was unharmed.
'That isn't what's important.'
The moment he woke, Rohan's mind had begun rapidly organizing the memories he had absorbed.
Despite absorbing countless memories, his head did not throb.
Among them, Barkan's memories as a reconnaissance commander revealed an important problem with this operation.
Rohan spoke.
"Company Commander. I have something to tell you."
"What is it, Private First Class Rohan? Are you feeling unwell? Or did you remember something related to the egg?"
Rohan glanced around, then whispered quietly enough that only Mushurin could hear.
"If we go to Niagara Gorge like this, we'll be annihilated."