In the deserted, silent corridor, Cid came to a halt, his brow slightly furrowed.
He could feel the Magical Power within him constantly flowing along the threads he had sent out, yet the transferred Magical Power hadn't fully reached its destination. It lingered at a critical point, neither being absorbed nor released.
If it weren't for what came next, he would have known exactly what this meant. Gamma and the others were in danger, drawing on his Magical Power remotely to handle a crisis. But the next part confused him, he'd never encountered this before. What did it mean?
…It stopped.
Before Cid could process it, the point that had been continuously drawing his Magical Power ceased.
Forget it. He'd think about it later and just call Zeta.
After sensing the flow of his Magical Power within Zeta and confirming she was unharmed, Cid redirected his focus to the present.
"Hey, which way should we go next?"
At the fork ahead, Sayaka Kirasaka tapped Cid's arm, seeking an answer.
While he had been lost in thought, Sayaka Kirasaka, having recovered her stamina, had caught up and now walked beside him.
"Hmm… let me see."
Snapping out of his trance, Cid pulled out his phone, opened the architectural blueprint Beta had sent, and compared their route from the entrance. Once he confirmed their location, he replied.
"To the right."
"Are you sure?"
"Because that direction leads to the only prison cell in this building."
Sayaka Kirasaka froze mid-step, her eyes fixed silently on Cid.
"I've been wanting to ask. How did you get the blueprints for this Mitsugoshi Company building? For a remote structure like this, accessing such information would take time, even if I mobilized the Lion King Organization's intelligence network, yet you got them with a single message."
"A friend of mine gave them to me. She happened to have the blueprints."
"What kind of friend could find the plans for a building that's been secretly remodeled multiple times, clearly a Mitsugoshi Company secret, in under twenty seconds?"
"Maybe she was looking at them just as I contacted her. What, is that a problem?"
Cid turned to Sayaka Kirasaka with a calm, refined smile, placing a hand gently on her shoulder and narrowing his eyes.
"I just want to know. Who exactly are you? You wield such immense power and influence, yet willingly pretend to be ordinary, it's genuinely terrifying."
Under his gaze, Sayaka Kirasaka lowered her head, unable to meet his eyes. Her heart pounded wildly, cold sweat forming on her forehead, and the air around them grew heavy.
"Hah, as for me, I'm just an ordinary person who wants an ordinary life."
"Why? I believe that if you revealed your strength, countless factions would seek you out. You could effortlessly gain the wealth and prestige ordinary people only dream of."
"Don't you believe me?"
"..."
She stayed silent, but it said everything.
"You have a point. Indeed, showing my true power would bring countless factions to my door. They'd treat me as a distinguished guest, grant me the authority to control others' fates, and bestow wealth rivaling that of nations. Sounds better than an ordinary life, doesn't it?"
Cid resumed moving along the path he'd just indicated, his voice calm yet strangely hypnotic.
"Because it's filthy. The higher you climb, the more you see the corruption buried deep, born of human desire.
You can't cleanse it, because as long as the position exists, the corruption remains.
You can't ignore it, because it stems from the power you wield.
So, being ordinary isn't bad. Life up there is fine, but I can't stand it, it's better not to see it at all."
"..."
Whether oblivious to her silence or simply indifferent, Cid's lips curved into a wicked grin.
"It's better for me and better for them. Otherwise, I can't promise I won't one day get disgusted enough to go dark and wipe them all out, hahaha…"
Seeing that cruel smile, Sayaka Kirasaka felt her mind freeze. Her body trembled uncontrollably, as if struck by lightning.
"You really are a dangerous person."
After a long pause, Sayaka Kirasaka finally exhaled.
"On the surface, you seem like an ordinary person, but in reality, you're hiding your true strength while quietly building a massive power base. After that conversation where you acted like you had some grand epiphany and wanted to destroy everything, the aura of a big bad behind the scenes just keeps growing stronger."
"Ha, a villainous big bad? Maybe. If this world really has a 'protagonist,' I'd actually like to see what kind of protagonist it plans to create to save itself."
You're quite the talker—I like that.
Listening to Sayaka Kirasaka's low, wary voice, Cid turned his head forward. After confirming she couldn't see his expression, he let out a sly, excited chuckle.
"Actually, I'm more curious why you're questioning my true identity here. I helped you rescue Yukina Himeragi, and you kept my secret. That's a pretty fair trade, isn't it? Wouldn't it be easier to just pretend you don't know? After all, none of this really concerns you."
"How could it not concern me? What exactly do you plan to do with Yukina Himeragi?!"
???
What does that mean?!
Cid's forward momentum faltered at Sayaka Kirasaka's seemingly unrelated question. He looked up silently, wondering if he'd said something inadvertently.
A terrifying, oppressive pressure pressed down on Sayaka Kirasaka.
In her perception, the instant Cid stopped moving, an invisible force filled the cramped space.
Just breathing felt like it drained all her strength, as if someone had a hand around her throat, making it difficult to inhale.
"Why did you say that?"
A cold voice carried through the corridor. The suffocating atmosphere eased slightly, yet Sayaka felt the weight on her grow even heavier.
Unlike his previous words, which had always carried some trace of emotion, this time Cid's voice was entirely devoid of feeling.
Cold? Not exactly. It was simply factual. A superior being had no need to show emotion toward an inferior one. That was all.
But it was precisely because of this that Sayaka Kirasaka confirmed her suspicion. She knew this was the real Cid—everything before had been a façade.
"Because this… is too much of a coincidence."
Forcing herself to meet his gaze despite the pressure, Sayaka Kirasaka saw a flicker of surprise and doubt in his eyes.
"Yukina once told me about her encounter with you. Don't you think all of this is far too coincidental?
If Yukina's first meeting with you and your help were mere chance, then what about the second time? Why did I happen to run into you so coincidentally when I was being hunted by those Beastmen?
I admit, it's a bit far-fetched. If that powerful enemy hadn't been careless, I never would have escaped.
So let me put it another way: you've always been watching Yukina, and she's the only one you truly care about. If I hadn't managed to escape, you would have just watched me die to protect your cover. It was only because I got lucky that you were able to save my life."
"Isn't there a chance this really was just a coincidence? And aren't you overestimating Yukina Himeragi a bit?"
Smiling faintly at Sayaka Kirasaka, Cid silently rolled his eyes inwardly.
"Not a bad deduction. There are still holes in it, but you managed to avoid the wrong answers and rely on your intuition to find the right path. I'll admit, I underestimated you a little."
"I have to thank you for your treatment earlier. I wouldn't have figured this out without the energy it restored."
I see. Just full and bored, then.
Easily dismissing Sayaka Kirasaka's sudden outburst as idle curiosity, Cid maintained his calm, unconcerned smile.
"Curious? Curious why I deliberately approached Yukina Himeragi?"
"…Yes, I am. This is clearly Yukina's first mission leaving the High God Forest. How did you know about her, and how did you manage to orchestrate these schemes against her so quickly?"
Staring into the smoldering anger deep within Sayaka Kirasaka's eyes, Cid smiled contemptuously and shook his head.
"I feel I need to make something clear. I've never orchestrated any conspiracy. All of this is purely coincidence."
"A coincidence?"
"Yes. She's just too interesting. When I first met Yukina Himeragi, I casually looked into her. Even before that, she had already been caught up in a conspiracy.
All the cover-ups and secrets you've encountered have nothing to do with me. I'm just a spectator. If anything goes wrong, blame your own bad luck.
My only real interest is to see how far she can go under my guidance. Will she crash headfirst into a wall, or will she carve her own path? I'm looking forward to finding out."
It was all pure bluff, riddles wrapped in more riddles. He seemed to be saying everything, but in truth, said nothing at all. Just Cid pulling a fast one.
Judging by the stunned look on Sayaka Kirasaka's face, the bluff had worked perfectly. The role of the Eminence in Shadow behind the scenes was fully played.
The only regret Cid felt was that, due to the limitations of the scene and the lack of appropriate conditions, he couldn't position himself behind Sayaka Kirasaka to whisper, "I'm truly sorry, but you know too much," while delivering a single stab—truly the hallmark of a mastermind.
"Let's go. Don't you still need to save Yukina Himeragi? As for our deal, as long as you don't go back on your word, I won't either."
Suppressing his regret, Cid called out and turned to continue forward.
"Tsk, feels like I got the short end of the stick."
Muttering a complaint, Sayaka Kirasaka stepped forward to catch up with him.
"Not at all. Like I said before, I just want to see how far you'll go under my guidance. I'm only an observer. Unless absolutely necessary, I won't intervene."
"That's pretty heartless."
"You're lab rats. That's what you're for—to experiment on. Why should I care what you think?"
"…Could you put it another way? I know that's the truth, but 'lab rats' just sounds strange."
"Monkeys?"
"…Never mind, let's go back to the original term."
…
Using the key Asagi Aiba had conjured, Yukina Himeragi unlocked the Anti-Magic Shackles. She stretched her limbs and loosened her joints inside the cell to make sure her injuries weren't severe enough to interfere with her escape plan. Once she confirmed her body was ready, she sprang into action.
Taking a deep breath, she placed her hand on the door lock. After making sure it wouldn't make much noise, she used her Spiritual Energy to destroy the lock cylinder. She pulled open the door and stepped out, keeping her movements quiet.
Using the Spiritual Energy she had left on the Sekkarou, Yukina Himeragi locked onto a direction, crouched low, and moved silently.
Whether to maintain her combat readiness or simply escape, she needed a weapon. Though capable of close-quarters combat, as a spearwoman, she could only unleash her full potential with a spear in hand.
She crept to the entrance of the prison corridor, crouched, and pressed her head against the wall. She could sense the Sekkarou close by, but from the sounds, she realized two Therianthropes were chatting outside.
These two Therianthropes posed no real challenge. She had gotten close enough without being detected, which spoke to their limited strength. The real challenge was taking them down without making a sound.
After mentally rehearsing several times and roughly judging their positions by voice, Yukina Himeragi took a deep breath, gathered Spiritual Energy in her fist, and slammed a heavy punch into the door.
"Black Thunder."
The sound of the door breaking was astonishingly quiet. The two Therianthropes outside didn't immediately realize the door had been destroyed and instinctively looked around for the source.
The instant the door shattered, Yukina Himeragi darted toward the position she had identified at superhuman speed. Facing the two Therianthropes, she raised her fist.
"Falling Thunder."
The Spiritual Energy in her fist surged into the two Therianthropes' bodies, exploding from within.
"I've got them!"
Seeing the two Therianthropes instantly incapacitated, the thought flashed through her mind.
"Whoosh!"
Someone was behind her!
A Therianthrope stood behind her, aiming a gun. He had been lying face-down on a table and hadn't joined the other two in their idle chatter, so she hadn't noticed him.
A whistling sound cut through the air from behind. Realizing this, Yukina Himeragi tried to dodge the attack, but the technique she had unleashed at full power couldn't be retracted so easily.
The sting in her back didn't stop her. After knocking down the two Therianthropes, she landed and spun to counterattack. But as soon as she took a step, a numbing sensation spread through her body, and she collapsed to the ground.
"It's over!"
Lying there, feeling her strength fade, despair filled Yukina Himeragi's heart.