Chapter 28
Archeon Genetics' central monitoring room never turned off its lights, even at dawn.
Information on mana waveforms, contamination levels, output, and more, gathered from across Magitera, floated across dozens of holographic windows.
Then, one of them began flashing red.
[Abnormal High-Output Magical Discharge Detected]
The researcher on duty stopped his hand as he checked the screen.
At first, he thought it was a system error.
He had no choice but to think that, because the point where it had been detected was on the upper levels.
It was in Grave Rock Block, in the eastern outer-ring district, not inside a corporate-controlled area.
The researcher immediately brought up another screen, comparing the waveforms and calculating the estimated output.
His face then turned deathly pale.
“Team leader.”
A brief call followed, and a few minutes later, the atmosphere in the monitoring room changed.
Archeon Genetics' night analysis team moved as one.
One researcher checked the City Stability Bureau's public network, another searched the unofficial intercorporate incident reports, and the rest pulled up records of the unregistered magical output detected in the lower levels several days earlier.
Two waveforms appeared side by side on the screen.
One was the high-output magical explosion that had occurred in the lower levels.
The other was the magical output that had just occurred in Grave Rock Block on the upper levels.
The forms and methods of output were different.
One had been closer to a short, violent explosion, while the other was dispersed into multiple spell formations.
However.
They had observed that the distinctive waveform that could be called the core had been emitted in a similar pattern.
The night analysis team leader made his decision before even finishing the report.
“Send it to the CEO.”
“Right now?”
“If not now, when are you going to send it? After it disappears again? Do you want to lose your head like the others?!”
At that, the employee who had asked the question immediately fell silent and opened the emergency reporting channel.
..
..
Archeon Genetics' highest floor.
The CEO's office.
Lea ValenCroft had not gone home yet.
More precisely, the concept of going home held little meaning for her.
There was a sleep capsule on one side of the office and a personal research terminal on the other.
She did not bother commuting to and from another building. She considered even the time required for that a waste.
Lea was scrolling through holographic data while wearing a long white coat.
It was data from Archeon's upcoming clinical trials on circuit adaptability.
Then, a red alert appeared on the wall of the office.
[Emergency Report: Unregistered High-Output Magical Discharge]
Lea's fingers stopped.
“Connect me.”
At her command, the screen immediately opened, and the night analysis team leader's face appeared.
He bowed with a tense expression.
-CEO. An abnormal high-output magical discharge was detected moments ago in the eastern outer-ring district on the upper levels.
Lea's eyebrows rose slightly.
“The upper levels?”
-Yes. It is presumed to be in Grave Rock Block.
She fell into thought for a moment.
Grave Rock.
It was not a district of great significance to her—or to the corporation, for that matter.
An unstable outer-ring district.
A filthy area where illegal residents, low-tier gangs, illegal clinics, and trash on the verge of being discarded were all mixed together.
That was the extent of her impression of it.
But that was not what mattered now.
“The waveform?”
-We compared it with the unregistered magical discharge detected in the lower levels several days ago.
When the analysis team leader displayed the data, the two waveforms overlapped.
-The forms are different. That one was closer to a single explosive output, while this one is dispersed across multiple spells. However….
He swallowed, seeming quite tense, and continued his report.
-The similarity between their distinctive waveforms is high.
Lea's eyes swept across the screen attached to the report.
“….”
She said nothing for several seconds, then muttered softly.
“This time, it was on the upper levels.”
The magical discharge that had occurred in the lower levels several days ago.
At first, she had not ruled out the possibility of an accident.
The lower levels were also where corporations carried out their secret cleanups, backroom schemes, and experiments, so there were many possible explanations.
But this result was different.
Once in the lower levels, and once again on the upper levels.
The locations and circumstances were different, but the distinctive waveforms detected were similar.
If so, it was difficult to regard it as a simple accident.
‘It moved.’
Lea began analyzing every data point in her head.
The point of origin had moved.
In other words, the cause was not something like an accident at a fixed facility….
A person.
Or an individual capable of moving like one.
She slowly opened her mouth while looking at the waveform on the screen.
“What happened in the lower levels wasn't something exploding on a massive scale.”
Lea continued her deduction.
“It makes more sense to assume it was a mage.”
As soon as she said that, the air in the office grew slightly heavier.
A mage.
In Magitera, that word generally—or rather, virtually always—meant an ACU user.
But there was one critical peculiarity in this waveform.
There were almost none of the traces that would have been left behind if the output had passed through an ACU.
Because the phenomenon was impossible, Lea grew even more interested.
She leaned forward slightly.
“How many?”
-Unconfirmed.
“You don't know whether it's one person or several?”
-Correct. The point of discharge has been narrowed down to one location, but we cannot completely rule out the possibility that multiple individuals share the same waveform.
“Why the high-output discharge?”
-Unknown. However, there may have been a large-scale clash within Grave Rock Block. Part of the local communications network was damaged, and even the low-cost surveillance network was temporarily cut off.
Lea lightly tapped the desk with one finger.
Tap, tap.
“What information have we obtained from Magitera's City Stability Bureau?”
The analysis team leader answered her immediately.
-None.
“None?”
-There is no official incident report and no record of a high-tier ACU user being dispatched. We checked the City Stability Bureau's public network, the contracted security network, and the emergency dispatch network, but found no record corresponding to that output.
Lea's eyes narrowed.
High-output magic had been discharged on Magitera's upper levels, yet there was no record of it with the City Stability Bureau.
What did it mean that there was no official dispatch record, not even in the corporate security networks?
Someone had erased the records, or someone whose movements left no records had acted.
Lea's intuition pointed toward the latter.
“Compare it with the list of high-tier users belonging to corporations.”
-Already in progress.
The analysis team leader quickly switched through the data.
-There are no matching waveforms among the registered users of Seraph, Gardin, Novatron, Helix, Bastion, or any other major corporation. Even after lowering the similarity threshold, there are no meaningful results.
“Then is it an unofficial user?”
-Confirming that will take time. However, an ACU of Tier 6 or higher should be connected to records held by HCAB.
“I suppose so.”
The corners of Lea's lips slowly rose.
Someone belonging to a corporation would not move like this.
Especially not a high-tier user.
This was a city of survival of the fittest, where showing weakness meant being devoured.
A corporation had unleashed this level of high-tier output on the upper levels without following procedure?
And without reporting anything to the City Stability Bureau?
It made no sense.
Each such pretext would inevitably become a bullet fired at them by a rival corporation.
Therefore.
‘There is a high probability they do not belong to a corporation.’
An unregistered high-output mage.
“Interesting.”
The analysis team leader could not say anything at the interest in Lea's voice.
She slowly rose from her seat.
“Could they be a useful talent?”
The blue glow of the holographic waveform fell across her face.
“And if they're someone I like, that would be even better.”
Cold sweat gathered at the back of the analysis team leader's neck.
Lea snapped her fingers, and a new command window opened.
“Have the field response team stand by.”
-Pardon?
“Prepare to deploy quickly. Now.”
Lea picked up the black gloves hanging nearby.
“I'm going to the site too.”
The analysis team leader's face showed clear dismay.
-You're going personally, CEO?
“Is there a problem?”
-It's a dangerous area. Grave Rock has a low security rating, and a high-output magical discharge was just detected there. It would be better to send a reconnaissance team and an investigative team first….
Lea slowly pulled on her gloves.
“I need to see these things for myself before I can be satisfied.”
Her voice was calm.
“Keep the security team to a minimum. Don't move conspicuously. It will become troublesome if the Stability Bureau's surveillance network catches us.”
-Yes.
“Keep checking the City Stability Bureau's public channels, and monitor THC's unofficial alerts as well. Report immediately if Seraph moves.”
-Understood.
Lea looked at the waveform one last time.
Her eyes flashed.
“Someone used high-output magic and left no registration record.”
Lea smiled faintly.
“I hope you prove entertaining.”
***
I don't know exactly why I did it.
I simply felt that I had to.
That was all.
Why had it felt insufficient merely to defeat Toph?
Why had I ended up using high-output magic again?
There had been no reason to go that far.
No, the right thing would have been not to do it.
Even so, I felt that I had to show Rio something.
A very long time ago.
My homeland had burned under the magic of demons and vanished from the map, and my parents had lost their lives as well.
After that day, I hated demons and magic.
Just hearing the word magic made my stomach churn.
I thought all mages were the same.
Then my master appeared before me.
His name was Theorn, an old mage from the northern frontier of the kingdom.
He had once told me this.
-Magic itself does not possess a will. But that does not mean it can be called a tool, either. To be precise, it is something a little closer to a tool than that.
-Look at that water. Water flows toward low ground. But where it goes depends on the path. When it meets a rock, it goes around it. When it meets earth, it seeps in. When it finds a gap, it burrows through.
-Magic can itself become the power that presses someone into the ground. On the other hand, it can become a lantern lit in a dark place. It can also become a fire that warms someone's frozen hands.
At the time, I did not understand what he had truly meant. No, in fact, I had become angry and snapped at him because of those words.
-The demons took your parents and homeland from you. You must think they have already taken more than enough.
-But listen…. If they make you hate magic as well, then they will have taken one more future away from you.
But now, for some reason, I felt that I more or less understood what my master had been trying to say.
..
..
“….”
Kael stood there for a long while.
The inside of the logistics center had fallen silent at some point, and the Black Ring's boss, who had held Grave Rock Block in his grasp, was no longer moving.
Kael looked down at his fingertips.
They were still trembling faintly.
He had just broken Pale's Tier 6 ACU.
A pain like his circuits were burning was rising from inside his body.
The delayed fatigue then swept over him. His shoulders grew heavy, his fingertips went numb, and every time he inhaled, pain rose from around his ribs.
Even so, it was not enough to make him collapse.
Besides, he still had work to do, so he could not fall apart over this.
Kael walked toward Toph's corpse.
To retrieve the high-tier ACU embedded in Toph's nape.
Since he had consumed Pale's, he needed a high-tier ACU to replace it.
Kael knelt beside Toph's body, then narrowed his eyes.
“….”
Something was strange.
Even its outward appearance was different from that of an ordinary ACU.
Pale's ACU was, simply put, neat and refined.
But Toph's was not.
The ACU in his nape extended deep inside his body along his spine. Some of its circuits were exposed through the skin, while others were directly connected to his metal spine.
That was not all. Cyberware had been implanted throughout his body.
Along with illegal amplification devices that would never be attached together in a proper standardized model.
Kael examined the circuits near Toph's nape with his fingertips.
‘This isn't an ordinary ACU.’
Kael looked at Toph's face.
Even after death, the twisted expression remained.
Kael recalled one of the sayings that circulated among the public.
They said one's tier was determined from birth and never changed until death.
Innate aptitude, the synchronization rate the brain could endure, and even the output the body could withstand.
Implanting an ACU in this world involved all those complex factors.
Then naturally, there had to be people who could not accept that fate.
They underwent illegal modifications and added cyberware to reach a higher tier.
They had to live while being injected with drugs for the rest of their lives, but such things were meaningless to those who had already lost their reason.
As they repeatedly modified themselves, their bodies broke down first, and then their minds.
Such people were called chrome freaks.
People whose personalities had been eaten away by ACUs and cyberware.
Kael muttered softly.
“So this is a chrome freak.”
Toph's ACU was unusable even from the outside, so Kael withdrew his hand.
Looking around, he saw that most of the Black Ring members had fled.
Some were still watching from a distance, but they did not dare approach. Toph was dead. That fact alone would cause the Black Ring to collapse before long.
Kael walked toward Rio.
Rio was staring blankly at him from his wheelchair.
His face still looked as though he had not recovered from what he had just seen.
“Are you all right?”
At Kael's question, Rio belatedly came to his senses.
“Y-yes….”
When Kael went behind the wheelchair and took hold of the handles, Rio carefully raised his head.
“Big brother….”
“What?”
“Toph….”
“He's dead.”
At those words, Rio fell silent.
He looked as though he did not know what expression to make.
Rio was still a child, so Kael could understand how he felt.
So Kael said nothing more and pushed Rio's wheelchair out of the logistics center.
The night air outside was cold.
..
..
Mira and Nia were waiting outside Last Round.
Nia had been standing by the door with a face on the verge of tears, but the moment she saw Rio, she ran to him.
“Rio!”
She knelt in front of the wheelchair.
“Are you all right? Did you get hurt? Does anything hurt?”
Rio looked at Nia with a blank expression.
Then the corners of his eyes slowly reddened.
“Sis….”
Nia pulled Rio into her arms, her small shoulders trembling.
“Thank goodness…. Thank goodness….”
Rio could not say anything for a while and only clutched the hem of Nia's clothes tightly.
Mira looked at Kael.
Her gaze swept over his shoulder, the back of his hand, and his torn clothes.
“You….”
“I'm fine.”
“Fine? Do I have to show you what you look like in a mirror for you to understand?!”
“No.”
“Haa….”
Mira gritted her teeth, then let out a sigh.
“What about Toph?”
Kael answered briefly.
“It's over.”
That one sentence was enough.
Mira's eyes wavered for a moment.
Anyone from Grave Rock Block would understand the weight of those words.
Nia looked up at Kael while holding Rio.
Her eyes were wet.
“….”
Kael raised a hand before she could speak.
“Later.”
At that, Nia pressed her lips together.
Fatigue lingered in his voice.
“I need to get some sleep now.”
He reached the third floor on weary legs, opened the door, and went inside.
The room was still nearly empty.
One bed, a small table, and a box containing the ACU and his tools.
That was all.
Kael took off his mask and threw it onto the table.
The damp fabric made a soft thud when it struck the table.
His body felt heavy.
The magical circuit he had forced open still seemed to throb.
He could not tell whether what he had done had been the best choice.
His knuckles throbbed.
When he slowly sat on the edge of the bed, it creaked.
Toph's final appearance came to mind.
Chrome freak.
People who changed their bodies into machines and received illegal procedures and drugs in order to forcibly raise their tier.
His ACU had been unusable.
If Kael had tampered with it carelessly, it could have contaminated even his magical circuit.
He did feel it was a little wasteful, but leaving it behind had been the right decision.
The end of someone who had ruined his body by coveting unusable power had been right before his eyes.
Kael exhaled softly.
‘That doesn't mean I don't regret burning Pale's ACU, though.’
He had used an entire expensive experimental material as kindling.
In exchange, he had saved a child, killed the boss of a district, and even set off magical fireworks.
There was nothing rational about any of those actions.
Kael chuckled.
“What would my master have said if he saw this?”
He probably would have hit me on the head with his staff first.
Then he would have said this.
That I had chosen a battle to teach a child about magic during combat.
Then he might have fallen silent for a moment before eventually saying I had done well.
That was the kind of person my master was.
When Kael looked at the mask on the table, Rio's eyes came to mind.
A familiar gaze.
It resembled the way I had looked when I first saw my master's magic.
Back then, I had not admitted it.
That the small light was beautiful.
That the warm fire was not entirely frightening.
That the gentle breeze was different from the ashes of my homeland.
I did not want to admit it.
Because if I did, I felt that the hatred for magic I had clung to would begin to waver.
Rio must have been the same.
But perhaps a small crack had formed.
That was enough.
Kael lay back and closed his eyes.
His consciousness quickly sank into darkness.
..
..
The next day.
The first thing Kael felt when he opened his eyes was pain.
He slowly sat up and took a moment to steady his breathing.
But when he sensed something strange and different from usual, he concentrated and looked within himself.
“….”
In his magical circuit, which had been closed for so long… he could see the flow of mana, however faint.