Chapter 53
Where was the boundary of space? Just how far did the hospital's domain extend, and where did it connect to reality?
He couldn't know. Because he couldn't know, he had to keep running without rest. Ian ignored the two enormous monsters fighting behind him and checked how much fuel was left.
‘There’s not much left…….’
There hadn't been much fuel to begin with when he first got on the bike, but after pushing its speed like a madman, it was already on the verge of running dry.
Maybe it was because the flow of time in this space was warped, or maybe it was simply because the bike's fuel efficiency was terrible.
Whatever the reason, the fact remained that time was running out. Ian tore down the open road without even worrying about the safety of the ones following him.
“Kyaaaagh!”
Now and then, aberrations leapt out at the end of the road, but Kim I-seo sniped them all and blew their heads apart.
Precision marksmanship practiced from inside a moving car.
That overwhelming focus and shooting skill must be the force that had kept her alive until now.
It was reassuring when she was an ally, terrifying when she was an enemy. Ian fixed her pink hair in his mind and floored the accelerator.
VROOOOM!!
The noise, as if it were tearing the air itself, kept battering his ears. The fierce battle behind him shook the world, and heaven and earth trembled, throwing everything out of balance.
He forced himself to endure it. Ignoring the blood running down his face, he ran with nothing but escape in mind. He raced onward, with Cecilia moving alongside him and the Bureau's engines roaring behind.
After a long while, the hazy shape of a city began to appear beyond the open road, blurred like mist.
Skyscrapers soaring so high they seemed to pierce the sky. And a forest of buildings.
It was Seoul, the capital of Korea.
Park Hee-soo shouted as he looked at the city blurred like a silhouette.
“Ah! There it is! Head that way!”
끼기긱!!
Ian turned straight onto the road leading into the city. Cecilia followed him, and the Bureau agent trailed the two of them with a drift that looked almost possessed.
“There should be a place where the space is breaking apart! Go in there!”
A place where the space was breaking.
Keeping low, Ian lifted only his head and moved his eyes to search for where the space was distorted.
Looking for minute distortions in space while racing at over 150 kilometers per hour was by no means easy.
But he had to do it to survive. He endured the wind stabbing at his eyes and scanned the surroundings.
“……!”
After a while, a stretch of air shattered like glass came into view. Instead of saying it aloud, Ian reached out to signal the route and turned his front wheel to the right. The two vehicles followed him.
콰아아아앙!!
At that moment, a watcher sent flying from somewhere crashed into the middle of the road. The watcher, with its whole body crushed, lay there for a moment before spotting Ian and lightly waving its tendrils. The sight was so much like a friendly greeting that Ian let out a laugh before he knew it.
꾸드득……!
Rather than getting up right away, the watcher that had been blocking the way shaped its tendrils into a road and led the three vehicles through.
Reason clearly came before instinct. Compared with a Transmitter, it was an entity whose intelligence was clearly higher. He didn't know whether greater force also meant greater intellect, or whether this watcher was simply unusually special, but with intelligence like that, communication should definitely be possible.
Maybe he could even stop its indiscriminate devouring. He couldn't try it right now, but if an opportunity came later, it wouldn't be a bad idea to test it.
Yes, later.
For now, escape came first.
부아아앙!!
They rode the road made of tendrils without refusing it and pressed onward. Cecilia hesitated for a moment, but quickly ran after Ian, and the Bureau agents, though grimacing, didn't refuse either. The three vehicles raced toward the exit, their wheels crushing the slippery, sharp, and sturdy tendrils.
콰가가각!
The other tendrils that hadn't formed a road were writhing like harpoons, stabbing wildly at something somewhere.
The hospital director was probably over in that direction.
Since he could faintly make out blood spurting there, it didn't seem to be far away. Ian stared at the watcher for a moment, wiped the blood off his face, and then floored the accelerator toward the distortion in space.
The bike tore through the wind and soon touched the shattered space. At that moment, a clear sound like glass breaking rang out, and the distorted area grew even larger. A beautiful yet grotesque white scene flooded his vision, and Ian vanished as though he were being sucked into the broken space. Cecilia and the Bureau agent followed him.
The distorted space kept its shape even after the whole group had disappeared. But since the aberration had already become part of the space itself, it couldn't cross over, so all it could do was stare after them with a regretful expression.
[……Heh.]
The watcher laughed to itself as it watched the hospital director rush in from afar and ram his head into the space. A moment later, it turned into a mist of blood and disappeared.
Its belly had already been filled long ago. The only reason it had remained until now was simple curiosity.
A human that the 'Creator' had taken an interest in. A pale-blue-dot creature that it had taken as a companion, and to whom it had revealed deep affection, desire, and interest.
Its own power was insignificant, but perhaps because of the Creator's will, it was a type of human it quite liked. It couldn't be certain that its own kin would be the next to be summoned, but if it got the chance, it wanted to see that face again and try talking.
Only, it hoped the next thing it ate wouldn't be Mystery.
As expected, clean and pure life, especially humans, was the greatest delicacy. Eating about a thousand would probably leave it reasonably full, so it hoped they would summon it again from reality when needed.
Thinking that, the watcher dispersed completely. Now only the hospital director remained on the road.
Bleeding profusely and moving on all fours, the hospital director wildly flailed his arms alone in the place where no one remained.
It was a blatant expression of anger, but there was no one there to receive it.
*
The moment he crossed the space, Ian flew awake as if rousing from sleep. He immediately sat up and looked around.
“……Here.”
There was no need to look around in detail. It was a tiny square space. Just by the roll of toilet paper beside him and the sign that read 'Please do not throw toilet paper into the toilet,' he could tell this was a bathroom. Ian idly fiddled with the toilet paper for a moment, then let out a long breath and leaned back against the backrest.
‘So we made it back…….’
His last memory was of crossing the space on the bike. He had worried he might suddenly open his eyes back on the road, but fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
“……Phew.”
Ian briefly splashed water over his face, then picked up the bag lying on the floor.
He checked the contents and didn't see anything missing. The two grimoires were still there, and the other alchemical items were still in place as well.
‘There's no way we're still inside the hospital, right?’
For a moment, a dizzying image flashed through his head, but he quickly pushed it aside. Since there was no smell of blood spreading through the air, he had definitely escaped safely.
Still, just in case.
Ian sat on the toilet, calmly reloaded the revolver, and cocked the hammer in advance. Then he went outside.
Click.
When he opened the stall door, he saw a bright-white hospital bathroom. He also saw an ordinary-looking man standing in front of a urinal.
‘So we’re back.’
There was no room left for doubt.
He lightly washed his hands at the sink and looked into the mirror. Blue-and-red blood had dried in clumps on his black hair, but at a glance it didn't even feel like blood.
Still, it was unsettling, so Ian took advantage of the bathroom being nearly empty and splashed a lot of water over his hair.
“Dad, that big brother is washing his hair in here!”
“Ignore him…….”
He ignored the voices he heard and cleaned off the bloodstains on his face and neck as well. There was nothing he could do about the blood on his clothes, but since they were black to begin with, it wasn't very noticeable. Still, dirt was dirt, and it left him feeling gross.
‘……I should probably go back, shower first, and change clothes.’
He rinsed out his mouth once, shook off the water on his head, and stepped out of the bathroom. At that moment, Cecilia came into view, looking like a beggar as she stood leaning against the wall.
“…….”
“…….”
Silence fell between the two of them. People whispered as they looked at Cecilia, whose clothes were nearly torn to pieces and soaked with blood, but she paid them no mind and looked up at Ian. Ian looked down at her as well.
“Um…… are you perhaps an emergency patient? Ah, but you don't seem to have any injuries…….”
The silence was broken by the voice of a nurse who approached cautiously. Cecilia shook her head at the nurse and mouthed the words.
“I’m fine. These are clothes I picked up.”
“Ah…… are you perhaps homeless……?”
“……Yes.”
Apparently unable to think of a proper excuse, she fumbled her answer and then firmly grabbed Ian's wrist.
“Let’s go. Shower and clothes first.”
“……Who are you?”
“Do you really think that would work?”
Cecilia let out a dry laugh and dragged Ian out of the hospital. Ian had only said it to see if it might work, so he simply followed her.
The two of them quickly bought clothes at a nearby clothing store, went into a motel, showered, and changed.
Even though a man and a woman had washed up and come out of the same room, there was nothing odd or suggestive about it. If anything, all they felt was the awkward sting of each trying to keep tabs on the other.
Ian changed clothes at a distance from her and sat down in a chair. Cecilia sat at the foot of the bed and stared at him.
Silence fell between the two of them once more. They had talked and even cooperated inside the hospital, but it would be foolish to believe that relationship would hold now that they had escaped. They might have grown acquainted, but they didn't feel any affection for each other.
They still weren't in a relationship where they could trust each other that much. At least, that's what Ian thought. He didn't know what Cecilia thought, but she was probably much the same.
“……For now.”
After a while, Cecilia was the first to break the silence. She smacked her lips for a moment as if choosing her words, then finally opened her mouth and continued.
“The reason I came to Korea is—”
Ding.
Just as she was about to continue, Ian's phone vibrated. He asked Cecilia to excuse him for a moment and checked the message.
[Sister: Ian, did you check Soyeon's condition? What did they say?]
“Ah.”
He let out a sigh after reading the message.
Come to think of it, this was the original reason he had gone to the hospital.
Things had been so urgent that he had forgotten.
Ian awkwardly relayed Sister's message to Cecilia. Cecilia also let out an ah of her own and scratched her cheek.