Concept: World - Chapter 13: The City Without Sun (2)

Ethel returned to his room.

The moment the door shut behind him, he collapsed onto the floor.

It felt as though something were crushing his throat, making every breath painfully difficult.

At his weakest moment...

The voice returned, as if it had been waiting.

"This is all your fault."

"You're the one who's too weak."

"With only this much resolve... do you really think you're worthy of me?"

The hallucinated voice had become even stronger.

He could almost feel its owner crouching beside him, whispering directly into his ear.

Her words wrapped around him like chains, dragging him deeper toward the abyss.

He couldn't deny what she was saying.

Somewhere deep inside...

A part of him believed she was right.

He clutched both hands over his ears, trying to shut the voice out.

But covering his ears did nothing to silence the whispers inside his mind.

She continued speaking—

Again and again—

Trying to shatter his sanity completely.

Just as the emotions buried inside him were about to overflow...

He heard another familiar voice.

"How pitiful."

"Allow me to help you."

Ethel's consciousness sank like a stone dropped into the ocean.

Lower...

And lower...

Until he could no longer remember what happened.

Then he fell into a deep sleep.

Three days later...

Ethel finally stepped out of his room.

His memories of those three days were fragmented.

He barely remembered anything.

The only clear memory he retained was attending the funeral on the second day.

He had gone as well.

At the front of the ceremony, a woman was crying uncontrollably.

"That's Tier's wife."

Someone had quietly told him.

The sight of the bereaved family only deepened his guilt.

He gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain standing until the service ended.

Everything after that...

He couldn't remember.

Yet somehow...

He felt much better now.

For reasons he couldn't explain, he had finally begun to let go.

He still remembered Tier's and Michael's final words.

He still believed that the person who had ordered them to their deaths—

Was himself.

But now...

He could coexist with those feelings.

Accept them.

Carry them.

Though he had no idea who had helped him do so.

He took the elevator back to the nineteenth floor.

This time, however, he was stopped at the entrance.

"Sorry. Only captains and members of the First Squad are allowed inside right now."

The guard naturally assumed he belonged to the Third Squad because of his purple uniform.

As Ethel wondered how to explain himself—

The door opened from inside.

Cypher stepped out.

"It's alright."

"Let him in."

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 toward Cypher.

The wound across his chest had mostly healed.

Only a horrifying scar remained, one that would stay with him 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 looked at him.

He seemed...

Fine.

Far better than she had expected.

She couldn't understand how he had managed to recover in such a short time.

But since the outcome was a good one...

She chose not to pry.

"Ethel."

"I'm sorry I handed command over to you at the critical moment."

As Vice Captain, Cypher should have been the one to assume command after Tia fell.

But with manpower stretched to its limit...

He had been forced to pass that responsibility to someone who was still little more than a rookie.

Not only had Ethel fulfilled that duty flawlessly—

He had also issued an order that anyone would have hesitated to give.

A suicide order.

That burden should have belonged to Cypher.

But the instant he transferred command...

He transferred that burden as well.

Until now, Ethel had still been, in Cypher's eyes, merely a trainee on the battlefield.

Now...

He regarded him as a true soldier.

"You did well."

"It was the best possible strategy."

"Even if it had been me..."

"I couldn't have done any better."

Cypher raised his hand in a formal salute.

The solemn gesture caught Ethel completely off guard.

Fortunately...

Oenone spoke before the silence became awkward.

"How are we supposed to tell her the truth once she wakes up?"

When Tia learned that her own decision had ultimately led to Tier's and Michael's deaths...

It would almost certainly shatter her.

If only she had brought one more person.

If only she had allowed the others to fight from the beginning.

None of this would have happened.

She had insisted on fighting alone.

She had been forced to activate Concept Release: Radiance Unbound.

The brief moment of weakness after releasing it had been exploited.

Everything that followed...

Stemmed from that single choice.

And the cruelest part was—

It truly had been her mistake.

She had ignored every warning Oenone and Cypher had given her.

No one would blame her.

Her contributions to Sunblaze City far outweighed this single failure.

The only person who would hate her...

Was herself.

"I should get going."

Cypher slipped on his coat.

Although he had only recently recovered, he still needed to meet with the other two squads to discuss future strategy.

As Captain of the Third Squad, Oenone also had to attend.

With the First Squad temporarily without its captain...

The next extermination mission would almost certainly fall to the Third Squad.

"I should leave as well."

"Ethel..."

"Could you stay here with Tia?"

"If anything happens, notify one of the medical officers."

"Alright."

"Thank you."

After the two of them left...

The already quiet hospital room became utterly silent.

Only the steady beeping of the monitoring equipment remained.

ns216.73.217.139da2

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