TWLPOD 42

The scenery seen from the security room connected to the control tower was overwhelming in itself.

Countless capsules were organically connected, with wires and engines intricately intertwined.

It was as if a massive energy source was living and breathing within a giant neural network made of metal.

The citadel’s <Core>.

When Aran placed the key’s ‘core’ on the security device, the triple doors, having completed authentication, opened in sequence.

Approximately 8 minutes until the citadel’s reboot. There was no time to spare.

“Can you do it?”

At the question, Kay took off the coat he was wearing.

“I can do it.”

His sweat-soaked body was revealed.

The fatigue from the things he had seen, heard, and experienced inside this place, on top of using his abilities in the successive battles, was placing a heavy burden on his physical body.

“You’re not going to let me die either, are you?”

Nevertheless, he pretended to be strong. He folded the sleeves of his t-shirt up to his elbows and wiped his constantly sweating hands on his thighs. Even after wiping them, he extended his hands, still mixed with blood, wounds, and soot, toward the core.

[Core contact detected: Unauthorized access]

[Activating defense system.]

[Shield output: 80%]

Listening to the voice guidance coming from somewhere, Kay closed his eyes.

He put strength into his fingertips and began to release his ability, resisting the repulsive force. It was a highly advanced task to gather all the power flowing from his body into one place and release it in a way that minimized its loss.

He focused on the flow.

His heart pounded harder than ever before.

Thump, thump, thump.

The pulsation, which seemed regular one moment and then turned irregular, and then regular again when it seemed irregular, grated on his nerves. As if it were telling him to stop.

[Shield output: 95%]

His mouth fell open from a pain like his lungs were being squeezed. Even taking a deep breath did not clear his head. He needed cold air, water.

[Shield output: 100%]

He came to fully understand why Aran had failed. Breaking the protective barrier was beyond imagination. It was a force so powerful that he wondered if it would break even if he slammed his body into it until it shattered.

Considering that it was the driving force that supplied power to and enabled production in all those capsules attached to the wall, he could not help but realize how foolish his imagination or confidence, which had thought he could naturally break this, had been.

“…”

Just as negative thoughts kept popping up, shaking his faith and will, a hand pulled him in, embracing him from his waist to his chest. He could accurately perceive what was touching his back next, even with his eyes closed. It forcibly cooled and suppressed his body, which was heated to the point of death.

“Focus.”

As if reading his thoughts, the words awakened Kay’s mind, which had been on the verge of indulging in a moment of sweetness. He was as cold in his words as he was in his body, possessing the power to make people move according to his will.

“Do you feel it?”

From the point of contact, Aran’s unique waves seeped in. Having gone through several contacts, the sensation of the waves fitting into his body was faster than ever before. The tingling discomfort that used to occur whenever the spreading waves met was also gone now. Rather…

‘It’s calm.’

It was as if he had fallen into a volcano with no depth. His heartbeat sounded slow and loud. He poured out his ability, realizing the sheer size of the lava he had thought to be endlessly deep.

An ability he had never gauged on his own flowed strongly with the help of Aran’s power.

Exhilaration. A sense of unity. A feeling of floating.

A flow he had never felt before shook him in an indescribable way. At the same time.

“Keuk.”

Was it because the amount of power he was pouring out had become too large? Or was it his already depleted energy announcing its limit? Blood poured out from inside his throat, and the metallic taste trickled down between his lips. Drops of blood fell onto the transparent shield. Plink, plink-plink.

At that moment, cra—ack!

A diagonal crack appeared.

[ERROR: 038]

[Shield output exceeded]

Even amid the pain, as if his body were incinerating, he felt a subtle sense of euphoria.

A kind of arrogance, like ‘See? I knew I could do it,’ arose, but he knew that the moment Aran pulled away from him, he would be in a state of rampage. A sense of disconnect, as if it were his body but not his body.

Warning! Lower energy output.

Warning! Lower energy output.

Warning! Lower energy output.

Seeing the sentences that appeared in succession, Kay knew there was not much time left. From a certain point, his body began to scream, as if it were impossible to maintain this level of waves through mere contact. Excruciating pain spread throughout his entire body, and an extreme agony that pierced him from head to toe repeatedly stabbed at his mind.

“Please. Just.”

Break already. He had said he would break the core even if it meant risking death, but of course, he did not want to die.

No, he could not die. Not until he knew the truth.

Was Elle really dead?

If so, why did she have to die?

Who was responsible for that death? And…

—Hello, child.

Who were you in the first place…

“We’re almost there. Kay.”

And this man, who resembles you so much he seems like a copy, what on earth is he?

The death of humanity, the fate of the world—none of it resonated with him.

What came to mind at the end of this pain, where death would not be strange, was ultimately.

Warning! Risk of core destruction.

Warning! Lower energy output.

Warning! Risk of citadel collapse

ERROR: 038, 041, 088, 159, 39753578754345…………….

“Break.”

The one person he wanted to see so badly.

How cruel is a love where you wish they were not dead, but the fact that they are dead brings you peace?

“I said break already!!”

A self-pity that risked his life to cling to an idea that was, at most, a fleeting moment of life.

[CRITICALERRORUNAUTHORIZEDACCESSDETECTEDSYSTEMCOREOVERRIDEFAILEDREBOOTATTEMPT#3FAILCONNECTIONLOSTCODEREDALLPROTOCOLSTERMINATED…]

The jumbled mechanical sounds rang, scratching at his ears like the sound of playing an old, stretched-out videotape. Kay, with both hands and both arms, fully embraced the crimson core exposed beneath the shattered shield and squeezed out his last ounce of strength.

From the very fine scratch that had formed when the shield broke, the crack grew larger.

As much as the euphoria he felt watching the core begin to shatter—crack—the pain also grew. The sensation of pain itself became so faint that he could not distinguish which one was breaking.

Crack— crack—

The cracked pieces finally shattered with a sharp bursting sound.

The large, scattering crimson fragments glittered.

As some theory about time being relative went, every moment until he closed his eyes seemed to pass very slowly. And the eyes that were about to blink never opened again. As if his eyelids weighed a thousand pounds.

“Let… go…”

“If I let go now, you’ll collapse.”

Just as he said, his whole body drooped as if completely exhausted. He could no longer even expect the inertia of standing on his own two feet. His body was completely separated from his consciousness.

“Would you rather pass out?”

“Don’t, want to.”

“Then hold on tight.”

“To what…”

Aran, who kissed Kay as he somehow managed to spit out words despite his dazed state, tasted the metallic flavor and sucked on his tongue once. The bulging veins on his skin confirmed his body’s condition. However, without a single moment to guide him, the building began to collapse.

[Separating and destroying server due to core destruction.]

[Citadel structure cannot be maintained.]

[Evacuation is recommended.]

Aran lifted Kay’s body, placing his arms over his own shoulders.

Kay realized then that the reason he had managed to stay sane until now was because of Aran’s guiding, even if it was just in a radiant form. The moment his waves left his body, regurgitated blood flowed down in a stream.

“Just hold on a little longer.”

He could not tell if it was waves or all the blood in his body that was flowing out. Kay simply gathered his last strength and held on tight to the back he was touching.

Aran, feeling the faint movement of his fingertips, unleashed his ability.

Dashing through the gaps of the crumbling spire at the speed of light, he arrived at the barracks, which had not yet even raised a victory announcement.

“It’s Mr. Aran.”

“Mr. Aran…!”

“Mr. Ara—!”

Aran passed the murmuring people without hesitation, entered a tent, and commanded.

“Don’t let anyone in.”

His toes tickled.

A subtle itch, as if only his big toe was dipped into water and then pulled out.

‘Ah. Not there.’

The damp moisture traveled from the tip of his toe, over the top of his foot, and grazed his anklebone.

At that moment, zzzt—his body trembled unknowingly at a stinging sensation, as if an electric current were flowing through it. Even as the fleeting, static-like touch brushed up from his heel to his calf, knee, and thigh, his body would not move as he wished.

“Don’t run away. It’s hard enough as it is.”

Something was tickling his skin, and his blood vessels continued to sting. Dozens of hands roaming all over his body were forcibly suppressing the ability within him, as if quenching it in cold water… The lack of freedom was maddeningly frustrating, but… the touch felt good. He felt like he was at a crossroads, not knowing whether he should refuse this or accept it.

“Haah. Ah—…”

A sound escaped as his eyes slowly opened. Something hazy obscured his vision, and only after blinking a few times could he identify the person he was touching, following the hand that was pulling his body.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

“Why are you…”

Not wearing any clothes?

His sense of smell provided the answer to that question. A thick smell of blood came from his lips every time they moved, and the white sheet he was lying on was also soaked with the blood that had flowed from his body.