The squad captain moved as if leaving afterimages. It was a speed hard to track with the naked eye. The difference in sheer power was overwhelming. The rabbit mask’s hoverboard was split in two with a mere wave of the hand, and the tiger mask was flung away and slammed into the wall after failing to withstand a few exchanges. “Tsk tsk. That must’ve rattled the bones quite a bit.” Eagle smirked grimly as he checked the condition of his former comrades. “......You filthy traitorous bastard.” The rabbit mask, Sensi, spat. In that moment, the squad captain twisted his body toward her. Eagle raised a hand to stop him. “It’s understandable that you’d think that way, but no, Sensi. This isn’t betrayal. It’s betrayal out of necessity. A choice out of inevitability.” “Fuck off─!” “I’m serious.” Eagle looked up at the mana stone vein of Gigantes that hummed behind him. A crimson light cast a strange shadow across his mask. “In the end, our goal is the same. You seem to believe that Gigantes must be destroyed to achieve that goal, but that’s not true. That’s actually a mistaken belief.” He began walking slowly toward the collapsed Tagan. “We’ve been preparing for the cause much longer than you.” Tagan raised his upper body with a trembling arm and breathed heavily. “......We?” “Yes. From a place far deeper and more damp than where you’ve come from. So don’t worry. What you desire will surely be achieved. In one way or another.” Eagle placed a hand on the shoulder of the squad captain standing beside him. The armor, constantly charged with high-density mana, was hot, but he didn’t mind. “This guy will become a hero of the Empire who thwarted a terror attack. And the Empire will continue to have its lifeblood sucked dry by the cancer that is Gigantes. It’s the perfect scenario.” Tagan raised his sword and let out a hollow laugh. “......So that was your plan from the beginning.” “Yeah. Tagan, unfortunately, this was your doing. You rejected my methods.” Tagan shook his head. “A revolution needs the support of the people. And a revolution must embrace the people. We needed to give them the strength to rise up. We needed to convey our purpose, and Gigantes, as a symbol of the Empire’s exploitation, had to be destroyed.” ─You talk too much. A dull voice echoed from within the squad captain’s helmet. ─I’ll just kill him. “Yeah. Let’s kill him. He’s not listening.” Eagle nodded. The squad captain began gathering mana into his armor to strike, right at that moment. ───. A soundless flash of light descended from above. *** ──Tap. My toes left the ledge. In the instant gravity seized my body, I gained complete freedom. A 400-meter vertical shaft. I descended into a place where darkness and heat intertwine. Wind howls loud enough to tear my eardrums, but my consciousness sank into calm as if within a vacuum. Focusing all of myself on a single point...... I released mana. ─── The world slowed in stillness. Silvery-white mana particles gathered around my body, soon forming a transparent barrier beneath my feet. I stepped on it while gripping my sword. There was no explosive sound. Even that moment was silent. Because Ebenholtz is as quiet as moonlight. Pffst! In midair, I added another burst of mana propulsion. My speed had already surpassed physical limits. Click. In frozen time, the targets were locked. The bottom of Gigantes. From the two men, confident in success and carelessly off guard. The squad captain seemed to sense a primal danger and lifted his head, but it was already too late. ───! A silver flash struck down vertically. The elegantly arriving blade sliced through both the squad captain’s helmet and neck. His mana armor was cleanly cut through. Sensing the chill, the eagle mask beside him turned his gaze. My sword didn’t stop. Continuing the flow, I raised my longsword, and the eagle’s neck was severed from his body as well. Thud. Two heads hit the floor with a nearly simultaneous dull thud. A heavy silence pressed down in the underground chamber. “.......” The Revolutionary forces members stared at me blankly. I examined their faces. Few people remained alive, but most were hopeless cases. No need to finish them off. Sending them off with Gigantes would suffice. “Who.......” Just as the relatively unscathed rabbit mask was asking who I was. Thump- My heart responded. I quickly turned in that direction. Creeeak. Crack. Crkkk. The squad captain’s corpse twisted grotesquely as it staggered to its feet. Black steam leaked from the severed neck, and the headless body fumbled through the air as if trying to find its orientation. This was the true nature of the Ezenheim. I gripped my longsword again. It- no, that thing charged at me like a beast. Kwaaa─! It was just a punch, but the impact was greater than that of most artillery shells. Even though I blocked it with my sword, my body was pushed back significantly. It chased me down and unleashed a barrage of attacks. Chaeng─! Kang─! I was barely able to defend. The difference in strength was extreme, and the headless body had no concern for defense as it recklessly charged forward. Kwaaak─! Kadeuk! Thud! This is dangerous. If I keep being pushed back and reach the wall, I’ll die. A single misstep in breathing, and my entire body would be crushed. Just as that warning seared through my mind. Sshraaaaaak! The rabbit mask launched a wire. Its body shook ever so slightly. Immediately after, the tiger mask charged low and sliced at the back of its knees. If it were a living being, that strike would have rendered one leg useless. But the thing casually swung its arm and flung both of them away. In that brief opening, I caught my breath. I also realized how to counter it. It is not alive. It is not a creature. The black steam pouring out of the severed area is proof. It’s nothing more than a machine forcibly operating a corpse using the mana pooled inside its body as fuel. In other words, once its mana is depleted, it will stop. Which means there’s no need to clash with it head-on. I shifted my stance. I filled my lungs with clear energy. I calmed my entire being. “Hoo.......” Ebenholtz Mana Breathing. I suppressed my boiling fighting spirit and formed cold reason at the tip of my sword. I stood still and drew an invisible line on the ground. I recalled Freya’s words. The sword of Ebenholtz was originally a noble’s sword. It does not entangle and roll about crudely. It simply and elegantly repels those beneath it who trespass into its domain. Kuoohhh! The headless monster charged again. The black gauntlet dove toward my solar plexus, but I didn’t retreat. I merely stirred my sword like a flowing stream. Swoosh. It was not a clash of strength against strength. I carried the thing's force on the blade surface, very slightly twisted the trajectory to let it flow off, then swung the long sword widely again to push it away. The thing tried to force its way in crudely, but the single line of sword extended overlapped into two lines. The two lines sprouted again into four lines. Silver trajectories bloomed like flower buds. There was no path to penetrate. Slice. My blade brushed through various parts of its body. Slice. No need to cut deeply. I only need to make openings for the mana to escape. Slice. Still, it charged like a monster, but it couldn’t step a single foot within my line. Like moonlight reflected on a lake, my sword quietly deflected its violence. Swoosh. Slash. Swish. Every time my blade cut it, mana hissed out with a ssshh sound. Thigh, flank, wrist, as the shallow wounds accumulated, its movements noticeably dulled. Creeeak── Soon, a grotesque frictional noise leaked from its torso, which had no vocal cords. Like a doll with a broken spring, its fist hesitated in the air. I withdrew my sword. There was no need to strike anymore. Creak─ creeeak. Its armor dropped to its knees and then toppled forward. I stared at the hunk of scrap metal before retrieving my sword. Neutralization complete. Afterward, silence settled in. “......Are you with the Revolutionary forces?” The tiger mask asked, lifting his head with difficulty. Beside him, the rabbit mask was already unconscious, and the other comrades had become cold corpses. The tiger spoke. “Looks like we’ve failed. Sorry about that.” I examined his condition. More than the wounds from being crushed by the Ezenheim, he had been seriously exposed to mana toxins. His veins had turned a swollen blue, and every breath he took was accompanied by bloody foam. He was as good as dead. "There's no need to be sorry." “Then I guess I’ll give you something worth being sorry for. Sensi, that rabbit, she’s still alive. Here, there’s a map marking the location of the underground passage......” The daring tiger threw the map. I caught it. “Please, take Sensi and leave with her.” “.......” I looked quietly at the tiger and then gestured with my chin toward the mana vein. “Do you want to destroy it?” The heart of Gigantes pulsed as if alive, emitting red and blue light. “......Yes, I want to destroy it.” The tiger’s eyes flared briefly. “Why?” “......My father died here.” The tiger coughed up blood. "Because he complied. Because he just accepted everything that broke him down." He panted, as if recalling a distant past. “He was beaten to death without resisting even once... even in front of his child watching.” There was a tremor of rage in the tiger’s voice. Tick. My soul sensed absolute time. I could still talk to him a little longer. "My father died because he complied with his shackles." I looked at him. Like a fading flame, the tiger murmured his conviction without pause. “We must fight endlessly. We must fight to the end. We must not accept it. We must rage, and rage again.” Even the grand cause of revolution, in the end, began from the deeply personal wish of one individual. Perhaps, because of that, it was all the more precious. “Even if we ultimately fail...... we must burn until the last moment. If not, we will slowly rot away.” I looked down at him. Suddenly, an emotion like dying embers arose. “......Sorry, but we’re all bound by shackles. We can never break free, nor can we reject them.” With a sigh, I tossed the bomb I had slung over my shoulder to the tiger. “Because the name of that shackle is life.” The tiger mask instinctively caught it. A heavy weight. His expression, partially visible through the half-broken mask, subtly changed. “Just as those who betrayed you said, the complete destruction of Gigantes might actually benefit the Empire. It could be a chance to throw away the old and fill it with something new.” I slung the unconscious rabbit mask over my shoulder. “However, if you still want to be angry in spite of that.” I looked back at the tiger. Pointing to the bomb in his arms, I said, “Then achieve what you desire.” I left the choice to his wish. Turning around like that, I was about to leave this scorched underground. When he called out to me again. “Tell me your name.” At some point, the tiger had taken off his mask and thrown it aside. His face was stained with blood and oil, but he had the face of an ordinary young man with eyes as clear as could be. “I’m Thomas Wagner. A worker at the Zepheltron Printing House.” His name and job were the epitome of an ordinary commoner. But with that talent and spirit, had this world been just, he would surely have been a successful man. “.......” I stared at him blankly, then swept back my hair disguised as black. It fell again as golden blonde. “Maximilian.” I told him my real name. “Maximilian Ebenholtz.” Thomas’s eyes widened in an instant, then a bright smile spread across his face. I quietly turned away. *** I exited through the Revolutionary forces’ underground passage to their hideout. It was a cave cleverly hidden between rocks, not far from Gigantes. Thud. I set down the rabbit mask on my shoulder. “.......” At some point, the mask had come off. I let out a brief, hollow laugh when I saw the revealed face. Celine Dubois. She was the editor-in-chief of Jemion Daily. I thought she only worked with a pen, but she turned out to be something else entirely. I laid her down on the bed in the hideout. She, too, was suffering from mana toxin exposure, her breathing harsh. “......Because I made a promise.” I took out a Super Stimpack from inside my coat. If I injected the full dose, she could die from shock, so I administered exactly one-fifth. The rapidly boosted mana circulation would greatly help expel the toxins. Her chances of survival were probably around 60%. If she survives, the situation will likely already be over. I emerged from their hideout to the surface. From a distant hill, I looked toward Gigantes. Smoke so thick it blocked even the starlight covered the place like a burial shroud. ───! At some point, the flash came first. The sound followed after. Kugugugugugugugung────! The earth cracked. The heart of Gigantes, the mana stone vein, collapsed, and the energy it released shook the very ground. Massive factories crumpled like sheets of paper and were sucked into the abyss beyond. Complete collapse. Thomas Wagner was consumed along with Gigantes. “.......” I tried to imagine what he might have thought at the very end. He had smiled brightly when he heard my name. Perhaps he mistook me for a fellow member of the Revolutionary forces, or even someone hidden deeper within. Perhaps he died with the overwhelming hope that his death wasn’t in vain, and that the great cause would be fulfilled. Whichever it was. Thomas Wagner was a man of conviction. He was someone who deserved respect. Therefore, I hoped he died in the way most beneficial to him. Because life is suffering, I wished that he might be free of this hellish shackle, and dream a better dream, wherever he had gone. “Let’s go.......” The grueling shift was over, but I would probably have to go to work again soon. This time, as a knight of the Empire.