Oenone rushed to the medical ward on the nineteenth floor the moment she received the report. The day she had feared had finally arrived.
She shoved the doors open.
Two people lay inside.
Cypher occupied the bed nearest the entrance. A massive gash stretched from his right shoulder down to his left abdomen. Even after treatment, the wound refused to close completely, though thankfully the bleeding had stopped.
On the farther bed lay Tia, an oxygen mask covering her face as she remained unconscious.
A gaping hole pierced straight through her abdomen. Under normal circumstances, the blood loss would have been fatal. But the extraordinary physique of a Complete One had saved her life. Her body had instinctively reinforced itself, sealing most of the damaged blood vessels. Combined with the emergency first aid performed on the battlefield, she had barely survived.
Even with medical equipment, injuries this severe could not be healed quickly. Although her destroyed organs had already regenerated, the hole through her abdomen refused to close. For now, the doctors could only suture the wound to keep her internal organs from remaining exposed.
Oenone walked to the bedside. She had prayed this day would never come, but the sight before her forced her to accept reality.
"Has the Seal Sanctuary been notified?"
"We've already informed them. Eboro is on the way. She should be here any minute."
As if on cue, the person they were talking about arrived.
A woman stepped into the room.
Her crimson-black hair was braided and draped over her right shoulder. Sharp golden eyes and sun-darkened skin gave her the wild elegance of a black panther. She wore a pristine white long coat embroidered with the emblem of the Seal Sanctuary.
She was the strongest healer among the Seven Cities, the Squad Captain of the Fourth Squad of the Seal Sanctuary, and the wielder of Concept: Reverse—Eboro.
"Where's the patient?"
"Over here."
Eboro walked over to Tia's bedside. The gaping hole in her abdomen made her furrow her brow.
Not because it couldn't be healed.
She simply couldn't believe something like this had happened to Tia.
"How did Sunblaze City's Squad Captain end up like this? What kind of Concept did you run into?"
"We're not sure. The others are compiling the battle report."
Every extermination mission was documented and archived. Tia normally handled the reports herself, but in her current condition someone else had to do it.
"The records."
Eboro spoke to the man standing beside her.
The man, dressed in a suit with black gloves and neatly cropped dark-blue hair, looked more like a somber butler than a combatant. With practiced ease, he swiped across the tablet in his hands and pulled up Tia's medical file.
"Let's see..."
Eboro carefully examined every piece of data, mentally reconstructing what Tia's body should have looked like.
Then she placed a hand over Tia's abdomen as golden Force gathered in her palm.
"Concept Release: Reversion Trick."
The wound visibly closed before everyone's eyes.
Within seconds, it was as though it had never existed.
"There. Same instructions as always. I don't know when she'll wake up. No using her Concept for one week. Preferably no Force either. Plenty of rest. Plenty of food. Watch her mental condition. I repair bodies, not minds."
Eboro recited the post-treatment instructions with practiced efficiency, raising one finger for each point.
"One more thing. This counts as a work-related injury, right?"
"Yes."
"You're not lying to me? If I find out you are, the fee becomes one hundred times higher."
"We're not."
"Good. Then you get the ten-percent rate. Transfer the payment to my account. I'm busy."
The moment the treatment was finished, she turned and left without another word.
As the door opened, she brushed past Ethel and Quent, who had just arrived.
Although Ethel instinctively sensed the overwhelming presence of the woman who had passed him, he had no attention to spare for anyone else.
He and Quent joined Oenone beside the beds.
Seeing only the two of them, Oenone immediately understood.
"...Only the two of you?"
"Yes."
The confirmation from Quent made her heart sink.
"Oh no... no... no..."
One piece of bad news after another.
Oenone slumped into the chair beside Tia's bed.
"Tell me exactly what happened."
She wanted to deny reality.
But she needed to know.
They moved to a corner of the room away from the patients.
Quent quietly recounted everything that had happened. Beside him, Ethel barely spoke, only adding a few brief details whenever Quent unintentionally left something out.
When the story was over, Oenone buried her face in both hands, as though refusing to look would somehow make reality disappear.
"Quent... you should go. I'll leave... the rest to you."
Quent nodded.
Dragging his feet, he left the room.
He still had one final duty to perform.
He had to send his comrades on their final journey.
Oenone still had countless responsibilities waiting for her, but two demanded her attention above all else.
After one long glance at the unconscious Tia, she turned toward Ethel.
"Ethel... are you alright?"
"I..."
His voice trembled.
Only days ago, he and Oenone had discussed this very possibility.
Now it had happened.
It wasn't ironic.
It was cruel.
"Tier... wanted me to do it."
That was all he said.
He wasn't trying to shift responsibility.
If anything, those words made it hurt even more.
He had desperately searched for another solution.
There hadn't been one.
All he could do was follow the choice Tier had entrusted to him—and sacrifice them as expendable pieces.
It was the curse carried by those who survived.
Now that curse belonged to Ethel as well.
He hadn't wanted to do it.
He truly hadn't.
Yet his Concept had immediately presented him with a solution.
He relayed every instruction to the two men, guiding them through their defense until the decisive moment arrived.
When the demon's tentacles finally converged into overlapping attack patterns...
He gave the order.
Throw away your weapons.
Launch a feint.
The result...
The greatest concentration of tentacles pierced straight through both of them.
Before they died, they had to remain conscious.
While enduring unimaginable agony, they restrained as many tentacles as possible, creating the opening Quent needed to deliver the killing blow.
"After the battle... I walked over to them."
"Their bodies were covered in holes..."
"I'll never forget what they looked like."
"If Quent hadn't dragged me away..."
"I think I'd still be standing there."
"Ethel..."
Oenone stepped forward and wrapped him in a tight embrace.
She held him until the trembling finally stopped.
"I'm sorry you had to face all of this by yourself."
"It's alright."
"I'm okay now."
Oenone slowly let him go.
The faint smile he forced onto his face hurt her more than anything else.
How she wished she could bear this pain in his place.
"I'll carry them with me."
"Just like you told me."
"I'll keep living for them."
A strained smile appeared on Ethel's face.
It felt like a blade carving into Oenone's heart.
"I'd like to go back and rest."
"Good night, Captain Oenone."
"Good night, Ethel."
She wanted to stop him.
But she couldn't think of a single reason.
All she could do was watch his retreating back and pray that when he woke tomorrow, the burden would feel even slightly lighter.
Oenone knew better than anyone.
There was no cure for this.
Only time.
Time never erased the pain.
It merely dulled its edges until it became another part of who you were.
Left alone, Oenone looked toward the two patients.
Cypher had long since grown accustomed to sacrifice.
Like her, he had become numb.
Tia was different.
She had fought so desperately to protect everyone.
Yet because of her own stubbornness, two of her squadmates had died.
When she finally woke...
How could she possibly face any of this?
Oenone remained beside the beds throughout the entire night.
By dawn, she still hadn't found an answer.
50Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8AcqEYMOt
Chapter 13: The City Without Sun (2)
Ethel returned to his room.
The moment the door closed behind him, he collapsed onto the floor.
It felt as though something were crushing his windpipe, making every breath a struggle.
At his weakest moment, the voice returned, as naturally as ever.
"This is all your fault."
"Because you're too weak."
"Is this really all you're capable of? Can you honestly face me like this?"
The hallucinations grew worse.
He could almost feel their owner crouching beside him, whispering directly into his ear.
The woman's words wrapped around him like chains, dragging him deeper and deeper toward the abyss.
He couldn't refute anything she said.
Some part of him believed she was right.
He clamped his hands over his ears, trying to block her out.
It didn't help.
The whispers weren't coming from outside.
They echoed inside his mind.
Relentlessly.
Patiently.
As if determined to shatter his sanity completely.
Just as the emotions within him were about to overflow, another familiar voice reached him.
"How pitiful."
"Let me help you."
Ethel's consciousness sank like a stone dropped into the ocean.
Down...
And down...
Until he could no longer remember what happened.
He simply drifted into a deep sleep.
Three days later, Ethel finally stepped out of his room.
His memories of the past few days were fragmented.
He could barely remember anything.
The only thing that remained clear was the funeral on the second day.
He had attended.
He remembered seeing a woman weeping uncontrollably at the front.
"That's Tier's wife."
Those words had only made the pain worse.
He clenched his teeth and somehow endured the entire memorial service.
Everything afterward was a blur.
Yet now...
He felt much better.
For reasons he couldn't explain, he had finally begun to let go.
He still remembered the last words Michael and Tier had spoken.
He still believed that the man who had ordered them to their deaths—himself—was their killer.
But somehow...
He could now live with those feelings.
Accept them.
Carry them.
Even though he had no idea who had helped him do so.
Taking the elevator once more, he arrived at the nineteenth floor.
This time, however, he was stopped at the entrance.
"Sorry. Only Squad Captains and members of the First Squad are allowed inside at the moment."
The guard glanced at Ethel's purple uniform and naturally assumed he belonged to the Third Squad.
As Ethel considered how to explain himself, the door behind the guard opened.
Cypher stepped out.
"It's alright. Let him through."
The guard immediately stepped aside.
"You should remember to wear your First Squad identification badge. Not everyone knows who you are."
"I will. I'll remember next time."
Ethel looked at Cypher.
The wound across his chest had mostly healed, though a grotesque scar would remain there forever.
"Hi, Ethel."
Oenone greeted him from beside Tia's bed.
Tia was still unconscious.
"How is Captain Tia?"
"We're not sure."
Oenone tilted her head as she studied him.
He looked... alright.
Far better than she had expected.
She couldn't understand how he had recovered so quickly, but since the result was a good one, she chose not to dwell on it.
"Ethel... I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have handed command over to you."
As Vice Captain, Cypher should have assumed command after the Squad Captain fell.
But with their manpower stretched so thin, he had been forced to transfer that responsibility to an inexperienced young man.
Not only had Ethel carried out the mission flawlessly—
He had also made the sacrifice order that anyone else would have hesitated to give.
Originally, that burden should have belonged to Cypher.
The moment he relinquished command, he had passed that burden on as well.
Before this battle, he had regarded Ethel as little more than an apprentice on the battlefield.
Now...
He saw him as a true soldier.
"You made the right decision."
"It was the best strategy."
"Even if I'd been the one in command... I couldn't have done any better."
Cypher raised a salute.
The highest expression of respect he could offer.
The solemn gesture caught Ethel completely off guard.
Fortunately, Oenone spoke before the silence became too awkward.
"What are we supposed to tell her after she wakes up?"
Once Tia learned the truth—
That Michael and Tier had died because of her own decisions—
It would likely destroy her.
If she had brought just one more person with her...
If she had allowed the other four to fight alongside her from the very beginning...
None of this would have happened.
She had chosen to fight alone.
She had been forced to activate Concept Release.
The brief moment of weakness after it ended had allowed the demon to ambush her.
Everything that followed stemmed from that single choice.
And the cruelest part...
Was that it truly had been Tia's mistake.
Despite the countless warnings from Oenone and Cypher, she had stubbornly refused to change.
No one in Sunblaze City would resent her.
Everything she had done for the city far outweighed this single failure.
The only person who would hate her...
Was herself.
"I should get going."
Having only just recovered, Cypher slipped on his coat.
He needed to meet with the other two squads to discuss their next course of action.
As the Captain of the Third Squad, Oenone had to attend as well.
With the First Squad temporarily without its Squad Captain, it was all but certain that the Third Squad would be responsible for the next extermination mission.
"I have to go too."
"Ethel, could I ask you to stay here with Tia?"
"If anything happens, notify the medical staff immediately."
"Of course."
"Thank you."
After they left, the ward—which had already been quiet—fell into complete silence.
Other than the steady beeping of the medical monitors...
Not a single sound remained.
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and then Add to home screen.