The attacker's cracked lips slowly curled into a grin. His thumb remained pointed firmly downward.
"...It's over."
Aldric's eyes narrowed.
Something about that gesture was entirely wrong.
It wasn't directed at him. It wasn't directed at Sebastian.
It wasn't even pointed toward Zekai.
It was aimed beyond the shattered wall. Outside.
A clean line. Someone beyond the chamber was watching.
Far beyond the interrogation chamber—
Perched atop the ruins of a collapsed support beam, a lone figure lay perfectly still. His heartbeat was suppressed to an almost nonexistent rhythm, rendering him invisible to ordinary life-signature detection.
Only one emerald eye remained open. The other was hidden behind a dark, mechanical targeting lens.
His long sniper rifle rested against his shoulder. Its barrel was unlike any ordinary firearm.
Instead of a standard ammunition magazine, twenty crystalline pendants hung from its side. Some were empty. Others glowed faintly from within.
One contained a tiny, trapped wolf.
Another held a miniature raven.
One specific pendant contained nothing but swirling darkness.
The pendant holding the darkness trembled almost imperceptibly. A faint whisper leaked from inside the crystal.
"Run... Your path is going to end soon."
The shooter didn't even look at it. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"I still have far too many cards hidden up my sleeve."
He adjusted the rifle stock against his shoulder.
"My path... was chosen long before yours."
"I don't abandon a hunt halfway through."
The whisper fell completely silent. Even the imprisoned relics no longer spoke.
The shooter calmly adjusted his scope. His gaze settled directly upon Aldric Marune.
"...Target confirmed." His voice carried absolutely no human emotion.
A faint smile crossed his lips.
"...Relic Round. Release."
Click.
The rifle whispered. There was no deafening gunshot, only the quiet sound of compressed air escaping. The bullet left the barrel. It wasn't made of metal. It resembled a transparent crystal wrapped in tight layers of ancient symbols.
It floated rather than flew, passing silently through the broken wall straight toward Chamber Twelve.
Inside the interrogation room—
Aldric still held the masked fanatic suspended by his throat. His expression never changed.
Then—
Something anomalous entered his perception.
His pupils shifted slightly.
"..."
The unseen protector surrounding him reacted instantly. A colossal shadow emerged behind him, its distorted arm stretching toward the incoming projectile. This invisible guardian had intercepted every single attack until now—fire, shockwaves, Grave Arts, everything.
Its massive arm reached toward the drifting crystal round. The first grasp closed around empty air.
The relic slipped straight through its fingers as though it possessed no physical existence.
The protector immediately adapted. Space folded.
The corridor between Aldric and the projectile twisted inward, compressing into impossible angles. Distance stretched, reversed, and collapsed upon itself, attempting to force the relic onto another path.
The crystal bullet ignored every spatial alteration. It drifted forward without changing speed or direction, as though the distorted space simply didn't exist.
The protector unleashed its full authority. Invisible pressure crushed toward the relic from every direction. Reality itself bent around it. Yet, the bullet passed through every single layer completely untouched.
For the very first time since its birth... the unseen guardian failed.
Aldric's pupils contracted by the smallest fraction. "...Impossible."
The bullet slipped through the protector and struck Aldric squarely in the chest.
Crack.
Not flesh. Reality.
Golden fractures spread rapidly across Aldric's body. Bright light burst from every single crack.
Sebastian's eyes widened in sheer horror.
"...Chief?"
Aldric looked down at his chest.
"...A sealing relic." His voice was quieter than a whisper.
"...So that was your real plan all along."
Golden fractures raced across his body like veins of sunlight. The invisible guardian reached toward him one final time, its enormous hand trying to pull him away from the spreading seal.
The relic answered first. Thin chains of crystalline light erupted from the pendant, wrapping around Aldric's existence itself rather than his physical body. His movements slowed.
It wasn't because he lacked strength. The laws surrounding him were being rewritten.
Aldric quietly observed the phenomenon.
"So..." His voice remained perfectly calm. No panic. No desperation.
His eyes calmly followed the chains wrapping around him.
"...It establishes the seal before reality can reject it."
"I'm looking forward to understanding how you were made."
His body continued shrinking. Normal size. Half size. Palm-sized. Finger-sized.
"...Until then..." A faint breath escaped him.
"...don't assume you've won."
The golden light intensified. The crystal bullet unfolded into an empty pendant.
Click.
The miniature Aldric vanished inside the crystal. The pendant snapped tightly shut.
The unseen guardian reached toward the crystal one final time... then dissolved into black mist. It didn't scream. It simply disappeared into nothingness.
Outside the chamber—
The shooter calmly caught the returning pendant between two fingers. He glanced inside. The tiny, glowing Aldric stood perfectly still within the crystal prison.
"The hunt was worth the trip." He clipped the pendant onto the heavy chain hanging from his belt.
"You were expensive."
"...One Devil. Collected."
His fingers calmly counted the remaining empty pendants. "Nineteen." One occupied. Nineteen waiting.
He reached into his coat and removed another crystal round. Ancient symbols slowly ignited beneath its transparent surface.
Click.
The relic slid silently into the rifle chamber. No wasted movement. No unnecessary haste. His rifle was already prepared before anyone inside the headquarters even realized the attack had succeeded.
He rested the weapon across his shoulder. Without another glance toward the smoking battlefield, he stepped backward into the shadows.
Deep within BSA Headquarters—
The Operations Command Center.
One monitor suddenly flashed a violent crimson.
BEEP.
An operator froze in his seat.
"...Chief Marune's resonance..." Silence gripped his workstation. His fingers trembled across the console. "...is gone."
Nobody answered him.
Dozens of elite officers stared blankly at the tactical display.
The symbol representing Aldric Marune had simply disappeared.
Not weakened. Not moving. Just gone.
The supervisor slowly removed his glasses, his face completely pale. "...Impossible."
For several long seconds, nobody in the command center spoke. The silence itself felt heavier than any emergency alarm. Then, every single monitor in the facility erupted with warnings simultaneously.
Silence consumed Chamber Twelve.
The fanatic stared at the empty space for a heartbeat. Then, wild laughter exploded from beneath his broken mask.
"Hahahahaha! Finally! The rat catcher is gone!"
He dropped back onto the floor, rubbing the deep bruises around his neck.
"Now... no more interruptions."
Sebastian forced his broken body upright. Pain exploded throughout his torso. His vision blurred dark. Still, his eyes locked onto the shattered wall. Recognition flooded his face.
"...No... It can't be..."
Fragments of old, classified investigation reports resurfaced inside his mind.
Missing investigators.
Entire strike teams disappearing without leaving corpses.
Rare witnesses describing victims... shrinking into nothingness.
His breathing stopped.
"The Relic Collector... So the rumors were true..."
The fanatic laughed, stepping forward.
"You know him?"
Sebastian ignored him. Instead, he looked toward Zekai's unconscious body. Blood still pooled heavily beneath the young man.
Sebastian's voice cracked with desperation.
"...we don't let that weapon touch us." His breathing became ragged.
"That rifle..."
"...doesn't kill."
"...It seals."
The fanatic slowly raised his molten sword. White-hot flames wrapped around the heavy blade.
"No more heroes."
The molten sword descended.
"No one left to save you."
Sebastian's voice tore through the shattered chamber.
"ZEKAI!!" His fingers dug hard into the broken floor, but his exhausted body absolutely refused to obey.
"...No..."
The blazing blade entered the deep shadow cast across Zekai's unconscious body.
Silence.
Then—
Within the shadow beneath Zekai...
a single crimson eye opened.
Everything stopped.
✦ End of Chapter 37 - The Relic ✦