Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

The disproportionately low casualties left Tyrkanzyaka puzzled.

“…Mm? What’s going on?”

Instead of hastily making them swing their swords, she had only commanded her Black Knights to throw their bodies at their opponents; an attempt to at least impede the army’s advance.

However, they couldn’t even fend off that much, as the army rolled around on the ground, utterly collapsing. The army, which had so gloriously bombarded her with threatening firepower a moment ago, ate dirt as soon as she allowed their march into her lines.

“They can’t even endure mere dirt pa-, No, I mean, they can’t even withstand a single Black Knight…?”

How could Tyrkanzyaka possibly know? Even if it was the Military State, the rank and file were no different from common soldiers. Though they were also provided with educational opportunities, only officers could utilize Qi Arts in an effective manner.

At any rate, Tyrkanzyaka repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists before laying down an order.

“…Descend upon them.”

The Black Knights promptly bore down on the soldiers, now void of any pressure. After all, although some were shredded in the storm of bullets, relentlessly summoning the Black Knights was the most basic power at the Progenitor’s disposal.

As sheer quantity bulldozed their front lines, the soldiers lost ground inch by inch.

At this rate, they would be pushed back. The commander, grasping the flow of the battle, stepped forward with a large battle axe in hand, donned in his military gear.

“Cover me! I will handle the main body!”

The commander fearlessly ran towards Tyrkanzyaka. Though the Black Knights charged forward in an attempt to intercept, they collapsed in the face of the soldiers’ concentrated gunfire and the commander’s axe.

A few stray bullets flew towards the commander’s back, wedging in, but the purpose of his Qi Arts and military gear was to endure such a storm. The commander paid no mind and, instead, plowed through with even greater fervor.

The hefty man of steel advanced without hesitation; his vigor alone was majestic.

Right as Tyrkanzyaka was about to raise her fist to match him…

At a thought that suddenly passed through her mind, she halted, her fist merely raised in the air without swinging.

“Take this! Taste the blade of my axe!”

The commander’s gigantic axe whizzed down as it linearly fell on her still figure.

And that very blow was caught by Tyrkanzyaka’s fist.

Plork.

It stopped after only slightly tearing her flesh.

“….”

“….”

An awkward silence descended onto the battlefield.

The axe was lodged precisely between her digits.

The index and middle finger; the extent of the commander’s sole accomplishment was burying the blade halfway into the space between them.

Although the commander desperately tried to pull his weapon out by rousing his Qi Arts…

“Hm. I wondered with what confidence you decided to challenge me. Was it the reckless boldness of a foolish man?”

Crack.

After Tyrkanzyaka twisted her fist, crumpling the axe blade, she extended her arm towards the commander’s neck. His large build, clad in military gear, was effortlessly lifted by a little girl’s hand.

“…At least you were somewhat useful. However, I shall make sure to take into account that you are not an…elite.”

Tyrkanzyaka flicked her wrist, sending the steel-armored commander flying as he cut through the sky. At long last, his large figure plummeted onto the roof of an automaton carriage, flattening it in its entirety.

“Keuk…!”

“Major! AHHH!”

What followed was a legion of shadows, sweeping through like a wave. Countless Black Knights neatly folded the soldiers and flung them towards their commander.

Not long after, a veritable mountain of soldiers were stacked compactly, as if making a miniature version of the one inside the Abyss; from within it, the soldiers’ whimpers trickled out.

Having finished her work, Tyrkanzyaka dusted off her hands.

“…There’s nothing too special to them, I see.”

“Woah! You must have cleared out all of them!”

At that moment, Rasch, who had emerged from the pit with Callis, looked around with exclamation. Following them was Ralion with Shei on its back, snorting in fatigue.

Excluding the Earth Sage, everyone inside was present. Tyrkanzyaka surveyed the surroundings once again.

The more she did so, the darker her expression became.

“What about Hu? Have you not seen him?”

“I have not! Was he not here?”

“I do not see him…. Where on earth could he have gone? No. Surely not. It can’t be.”

At this point, it was impossible not to realize his absence. A very, very ominous notion passed through Tyrkanzyaka’s mind.

Could it be that…

He had departed from this place of his own will?

In an atmosphere where everyone was subtly exhilarated, he alone remained just as he always was.

When hearing Tyrkanzyaka’s proposal to travel together, he answered in circles instead of nodding in agreement.

He had asked whether she could protect him. Could it be that the question he posed was not, in fact, subtle affirmation?

At the sight of her increasingly downcast expression, Rasch gave a pointed look towards Callis. When she, in turn, nodded firmly, Rasch waved his hands and shouted expressively.

“Jeez, come on! There’s no way! I’m sure he’s being chased somewhere!”

“…That’s probably the case, isn’t it? Then, where?”

“First, let’s take a lap around the perimeter! If that doesn’t work, we can light a fire and call out to Teacher! It’ll be all the more easy to find him when day comes!”

Tyrkanzyaka looked back. Tantalus and the massive pit that seemed to have emerged from it laid sprawling on the earth. The structure was so tremendously immense that it seemed to tear the very fabric of reality.

It would truly be a relief if he was hiding somewhere inside the rear of that concrete structure. However…

If he had actually left….

Clenching her heart that ached due to her inauspicious thoughts, Tyrkanzyaka turned her gaze forward.

“…Indeed, it is akin to some skit.”

After the Earth Sage finished spectating such a scene, she sprinkled alcohol around the corpse of the Grandmaster. The potent Hundred Crimson Blossoms splattered, flying directly in my direction.

Oops. Oh no.

It went up my nose.

Cough Cough.

“Why are you trying to evade them?”

While licking my alcohol-stained lips, I hoisted myself up from under the pile of corpses. After cursorily patting my clothes to remove the dust, I found a spot near the Grandmaster and sat down.

“I felt like if I carried on like this, I might end up following them.”

“What is wrong with that?”

“You see, I’m not some cowardly prophet, but I still am someone who is capable of making common conjectures.”

I mumbled as I felt their distancing thoughts and with it, their fading presences.

“If I follow them, I will undoubtedly die.”

Their journey ahead was none other than a battle to prevent the destruction of the world.

My fight with the Earth Sage? Let’s say she had actually rushed at me with a singular determination to kill. Honestly speaking?

I would have died.

In some vulnerable gap where neither Tyr nor the Regressor could protect me, I would only be able to meet my end helplessly, even if I was wielding Jizan.

While my ability to read minds might be considerably helpful in combat, ultimately, it could not bridge the existing definitive gulf between our strengths.

I could not thwart a direct assault, any more than I could fend off an onslaught of fire and steel. Even if I dodged, it would all be for naught if she was right on my tail. If she tried to grab at my clothes at any cost or poured out her Qi in every direction, I would not be able to last long.

Mind reading could only take me so far; in the end, it was limited to the range of what I could personally do. True superhumans were in a completely different stratosphere compared to my paltry parlor tricks.

I twirled a card in my hands and declared.

“I was born in the back alleys. In essence, it suits me to quietly sneak around in the midst of a crowd. Directly facing such a formidable enemy is…not what I was born to do.”

If the Earth Sage was not so set on seizing Jizan…

If she had attacked me while armed with enough hostility…

I would have died then and there.

“Huh. And someone like that dared to block my way?”

Drip.

Just like I did previously, the Earth Sage sprinkled alcohol in all directions, before refilling the glass in three divisions.

“You did not seem particularly fearful of death.”

“Who in the world wouldn’t be? Humans are animals as well. They fear death all the same.”

“Yet, such an individual, even if he held Jizan, decided to stand against me?”

I smirked as a chuckle escaped my lips.

“It’s because I was infected by the others, including you, Earth Sage.”

Like Azzy, Nabi, the Undying, or Callis, I was supposed to hide in some corner, holding my breath until the storm passed. That was my duty as a life form wired to survive, as well as a measure I had to take as an obligation to myself.

However, how was I supposed to hold it in?

Their gale of desires were clashing into each other, swirling into an inescapable vortex that could mean death. Yet, they did not falter, utterly prepared to forfeit their lives if it meant fulfilling their wishes.

It was unfathomably worse than if they yearned to kill me.

Since, sooner or later, they would make me die of my own accord.

Emotions that triumph over life.

A mission that one longs to achieve even at the cost of their own life.

Even an existence that had their life itself shackled to an infinite purgatory.

All such beings, all such desires were present, mixing and whirling like a maelstrom.

They were all too indifferent to death; the problem was that, at the same time, they changed me to mirror them as well.

“It might have been a different story if we did not meet in the Abyss and our relationship consisted of only occasional encounters. However, over the course of my time with them, I have gained a wish that is simply too dreadful for me to stay idle by their side.”

The calculations were complete.

To put it nicely, Tyr was very noble and pure; to put it badly, she was hardheaded, utterly set in her ways. If I showed my intentions to distance myself, she would be sad, but would still respect my wishes.

The Regressor would probably be curious about me. However, more important matters than my identity remained, so she would not be able to chase after me. She would focus on the present, postponing any questions and concerns for the next round.

Azzy? Nabi? Like the beasts that they were, the Beast Kings would just go their way without much thought, moving on with their lives.

The Undying was not one to dwell on such trivial matters; thus, he would likely follow Callis and depart from the Military State.

The Regressor may be suspicious about my identity, leading her to interrogate me or pry into my life in the next round, but that was the extent of it. It was something the me of the next round had to overcome on his own.

Moreover, the Regressor had a tendency to be soft on her allies. It was all too evident given the attitude she displayed to Tyr, who was her comrade in the previous round. Since we had developed amity in this round, it was possible that she would be lenient or even favorable towards me in later rounds.

“They will do just fine even without me. This is an adequately beautiful farewell.”

“Huh. Is Mr. Hughes a prophet as well?”

“There’s obviously no way that’s the case. If I was, I would have never been caught and sent here.”

I was not a prophet. I could not repel a fate that suddenly arrives at my doorsteps, like the arrest that happened back then.

However, I was a Mind Reader. I had an ability that made me far superior than others when it came to reading one’s psychological state and deducing their behavioral patterns.

“I just happen to understand people’s hearts a little better.”

Regrettable as it may be, this was a definitive farewell.

Now, I must return to my original orbit; not out there in the unknown, where beings way beyond my league roamed, but instead, in the homely back alleys where I belonged.

“It’s a perfect calculation.”