Inside the giant tree, Ryner was focused, dedicated, to playing the piano. However, there was a note of turmoil in his eyes. His fingers that were moving nimbly on the keyboard were tense and frantic. The myriad of voices and humanoid silhouettes of greenish white light were gradually disappearing as the song progressed. The puppy, Mi, was no longer among them. But, someone else had shown up, taking its place.

  Someone that, in a way, was far worse.

  “Little brother.” [???]

  A young woman in a dress was standing by Ryner’s side. He froze for a second when he heard her gentle voice, but quickly resumed playing again. Her presence made his heart beat rapidly in his chest like it was going to burst. He had goosebumps on his skin and cold sweat unpleasantly flowed down his back. His eyes were shaking and his pupils were dilated. His breathing quickened and he actually seemed distressed, desperate.

  “Little brother.” [???]

  Ignoring his agitated state where it looked like he was having a panic attack, the woman called out to him again. She had long, chestnut brown hair, dark brown eyes and fair skin. She was smiling gently at him.

  And appeared identical to Alice except for the color of her physical features.

  “Your big sister is here.” [Big sister]

  She said kindly, lovingly.

  “I’ll always be here for you.” [Big sister]

  Her hand reached out to pat Ryner’s head.

  “Because no matter what happens, I will always love you.” [Big sister]

  Before she seemingly managed to touch him, Ryner slammed his hands on the keyboard, stopping the song and making a loud, dissonant cacophony of noise. The woman, and all of the ghosts, vanished from the room, turning the place deadly quiet. Alone, Ryner let out a long, shuddering breath. Then, transparent droplets of tears fell on the keyboard.

  “… Liar…!” [Ryner]

  The word he squeezed out of his mouth was whispered in a voice broken with anger, sorrow, and most of all, pain.

  “Liar…!” [Ryner]

  He uttered a second time and covered his face with his hand, his head hung low. His earliest memories, from a past long ago, flooded his mind.

  The time when he celebrated his birthday with his big sister.

  The time when he read a picture book with his big sister.

  The time when he desperately made up a song for his big sister.

  She was always smiling gently at him in his childhood memories, right until the end.

  “…!” [Ryner]

  Suddenly, Ryner raised his head, stopping his forced march down memory lane. Presences had pulled him back to reality. Presences that he had, sadly, sensed too late. Before he realized it, two other people were in the room, staring at him. One was the High Elder of Hossylei Nac, Itham, and the second person was his daughter, Meirith.

  The handsome man was standing there, silent, with a dumbstruck look on his face and tears freely rolling down his cheeks. His beautiful child was, on the other hand, kneeling, as if she had lost strength in her legs and was powerlessly sitting down on the floor. She was uncontrollably crying, sobbing, her hands on her face that was wet with a waterfall of tears.

  “I keep telling you not to peek in my heart!” [Ryner]

  Ryner blurted out upon seeing the pair and remembering the power that every elf in the city possessed. However, those words weren’t aimed at the two elves in front of him. They were something he had said to others long ago. Their figures overlapped with the father and daughter. He realized that he was getting confused, that the past was bleeding into the present, and, as if to prove it, the room was once again full of ghosts before he knew it.

  Furthermore…

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  “Ryner.” [Big sister]

  His big sister was right next to him, her hand on top of his head.

  “What a cute name.” [Big sister]

  At that moment, it felt as if a lid Ryner had put in place had completely broken. A deluge of his earliest memories surged out like muddy water bursting out of a dam, or lava erupting from a volcano, burning and swallowing everything in its path.

  “We’re here.” [???]

  “We’re here!” [???]

  “We’re always here.” [???]

  Voices called out to him.

  “Ryner.” [???]

  “Ryner!” [???]

  “It’s your! FAAUULT!!” [???]

  “Save me!!” [???]

  They blamed him, asked for his help.

  “Ryner!!” [???]

  “NOOOO!!!” [???]

  “GYAAAHH!!!” [???]

  “HAHAHAHA!!!” [???]

  “RYNER!!!” [???]

  They cried, they screamed, they laughed.

  “I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!” [???]

  And then…

  “Ryner…” [Big sister]

  His big sister spoke to him gently with a smile on her face like she always did.

  “Why did you let us die?” [Big sister]

  At that moment, Ryner’s frozen body finally moved.

  And what he chose to do was to escape.

  He turned around and ran as fast as he could, ignoring the voices calling out to him from behind and jumped out of the window. After tearing through the thin film of resin that substituted glass, he landed outside of the giant tree and began running.

  He ran through the streets of Hossylei Nac, ran passed the people busily moving around.

  He ignored the surprised amazons and dwarves shouting at him.

  He ignored the elves and dark elves that stared wide-eyed upon his passing by and suddenly broke down crying.

  The city of elves, home to amazons and dwarves, was not a comfortable place for him. He had stayed long enough and had to get away.

  Besides, there was something important that he had to do in the outside world.

  “Well, well, well. He up and left…” [Rosaminta]

  Rosaminta muttered a bit melancholically as she stared at the gate connecting the outside world to Hossylei Nac. The plant woman was currently in the shape of a rose and was in the process of recovering her energy after the battle. Sometime earlier, Ryner had shown up and had asked her to open the gate so that he could leave. He was visibly agitated and shedding tears, but, though puzzled, she quickly did as he requested without inquiring about anything.

  After all, despite his unusual condition, Rosaminta could see a strong light dwelling in his eyes, one with a sense of purpose. He would be fine without her, not to mention that in her current, weakened state, she would only slow him down. Furthermore, the Gatekeeper couldn’t leave and follow him, no matter how much she wanted to. She had to stay and protect Hossylei Nac.

  Besides, Rosaminta knew that there was no creature more powerful than Ryner in the world.

  And there was no way she could disobey him.

  She had felt it from the energy he was radiating when he took on that form.

  That strange form that felt so otherworldly, and that overwhelming force that felt so familiar.

  “May you accomplish your goal, and may we meet again.” [Rosaminta]

  Rosaminta muttered wistfully before falling into a state resembling slumber.

  “An when we do, may you grant me a new name… My master.” [Rosaminta]

  “So, you are saying that the mission failed?” [???]

  A voice asked Gerard as he stood in the middle of a tribunal, though he couldn’t really see anything. The single source of light in the room shone down from the ceiling on him only. Everyone and everything else was shrouded in darkness. He knew people were sitting and looking down on him from elevated rows of long tables around him, their shadows barely visible, but he couldn’t identify them, nor would he try to.

  “Yes.” [Gerard]

  Gerard answered respectfully and obediently while ignoring the stinging pain from his wounds.

  “Pitiful, Gerard.” [???]

  “We expected better news than this.” [???]

  He was bandaged all over like a mummy. The healing potions did the trick and healed his bruises, cuts and broken bones, but the burns he received from pushing himself to the limit still remained.

  “You were supposed to report your success with the Broadcast System, not use it to escape in defeat.” [???]

  “Running away with your tail between your legs thanks to Lovel’s powerful blessing. Pathetic.” [???]

  They alone needed time to heal properly, which was one of the reasons why he didn’t like using his unique ability in such a manner.

  “How many loyal servants of the First Order have been lost because of your failure?” [???]

  Whenever the magma in his giant body turned blue, his firepower would increase and he could incinerate all in his way, but it would leave him out of commission for a while.

  “And we had provided you with magic swords, Thunder Screamers and a forbidden parasite.” [???]

  Though powerful, it was a double-edged sword.

  “We truly should have sent someone better.” [???]

  Still, he couldn’t incinerate his latest enemy, even though run-of-the-mill S ranks wouldn’t remain standing when he spat a beam of concentrated, extremely hot, glowing blue fire at them.

  “(Who was that guy?)” [Gerard]

  Gerard wondered while ignoring the criticism flying at him. The human he met in the elven lands endured his attacks, shot through him like a bullet and kicked him out of his giant form without getting burned to a crisp. Gerard knew several who could pull off such feats, but he wasn’t among them. Any S ranks that powerful already joined the First Order or were marked as dangerous elements that were kept under observation.

  “Enough. You may step away. We will call upon you to serve again in the future.” [???]

  “And at that time, we expect better.” [???]

  Having been given permission, Gerard obediently got up and left. The insults didn’t faze him. His mind was more preoccupied by the one that nearly killed him, massacred the majority of his team and most likely murdered his apprentice.

  “(Rest in peace, Hames. We escaped thanks to you and the bastard’s dead… He must be. He and everything in that land. There’s no way anyone can survive that parasite.)” [Gerard]

  He offered a silent prayer to Hames as he walked away and convinced himself of his victory despite the unease he felt in the pit of his stomach.