My stomach is hot.
It feels like molten metal is tearing through my skin and pouring inside.
Nothing is visible. Nothing is audible.
Even the pain has gone distant, as if every thread connecting me to reality is snapping one by one.
Am I going to die?
I finally saved Dad, and now I'm going to die here?
I don't want to die. I want to live a little longer. But I can't drag my consciousness back up from the darkness swallowing it whole.
Then at the very least, I wanted to touch Dad one last time.
I wanted to fall asleep feeling his warmth.
But even when I tried to move my fingers, nothing reached me. All I could feel was the cold floor beneath me.
Then, suddenly, warmth touched my fingertips.
Someone's warmth.
But it wasn't Dad's.
My eyes couldn't see and my sense of smell had gone numb, but I knew that much.
Then who was it? The warmth was unfamiliar, but strangely comforting.
As I felt it, something sleeping at the bottom of a far-off memory began to take shape.
I can't remember what it was. But I know it clearly.
Half of the foundation that makes me who I am.
The first warmth I ever touched after being born.
"M...om...?"
I barely moved my trembling lips and said it.
"M...om...?"
Did you come to take me? I wanted to ask that, but I couldn't.
My consciousness sank completely into darkness.
In that darkness, I let out a small sigh.
Ah, I need to say it's not time yet...
I need to say I can't go because I still have things to do...
At that moment, fire rose near my chest.
The bright blaze swept away the darkness, then ran through my veins and warmed my cooling body again.
What is this fire?
I didn't know what it was, but for some reason the sensation of something delicious lingered at the tip of my tongue.
**
"Puhah!!"
I pushed away the rubble and sat up.
I spat out the dust that had gotten into my mouth, but it didn't make me feel any cleaner.
Maybe because I'd fallen from about one floor up, I hadn't been badly injured. I'd also avoided getting smashed by any large chunks of concrete.
Still, the only thing I could confirm was that my body was intact.
Before I could check anything else, a dark red tentacle came crashing at me from the front.
"Gah?!"
KWA-GA-GA-GA-GA-BOOOOM!!
I rolled sideways to dodge, and the dark red tentacle shot past me and slammed into the pile of rubble.
Stone fragments burst everywhere like a bowling ball striking a perfect hit.
Shielding my head with my arm to block the flying debris, I cursed myself.
'Idiot! Don't relax just because your body's still in one piece! The fight is still happening!'
Unlike me, a civilian, Hitokawa was a professional after all.
From the moment the floor collapsed until I came to my senses, he had never once stopped fighting the Artist.
Clang! Crash! Clang!!
But the situation didn't look good.
Even two [Kagune] had been giving him trouble. Now that three [Kagune] were whipping around without pause, he couldn't even get close.
On top of that, the environment was terrible.
The place we'd fallen into was an underground corridor. The Artist moved between the walls and ceiling, dodging Hitokawa's attacks and counterattacking from impossible angles.
It was only natural that he was struggling when attacks kept coming from directions he could never have predicted.
He hadn't broken the floor to show off his strength. He'd done it to fight in the only space that favored him.
By now, Hitokawa's body was covered in multiple deep-looking wounds.
What was worse was the Quinque.
Cracks that looked ready to split open at any moment were spreading across the greatsword's body as it kept enduring those monstrous [Kagune].
I had to join in. That thought sent me aiming my gun barrel forward.
"Don't interfere."
"Damn it!"
The Artist noticed my movement and swung a [Kagune] back toward me.
BOOOOM!!
If I didn't dodge again, my head would be gone, so I had no choice but to throw myself aside with everything I had. With the bastard's arms stretching farther, it was hard to support Hitokawa at the same time.
'Damn it! Isn't there any way out of this!'
No matter how I looked at it, we were boxed in on all sides. In combat power, terrain, and killing intent, he had the advantage in every way.
Frustrated, I shouted to Hitokawa.
"Hitokawa! Got any good ideas?!"
Clang!!
Hitokawa shouted back while fending off the [Kagune] stabbing at him.
"How about 'leave this to me and run away with Eto'?"
"Rejected!!"
Say something that makes sense.
I couldn't leave him here alone, and unless we finished this here, that bastard would keep chasing us.
Bang!!
Seeing Hitokawa's stance falter for a moment, the Artist tried to follow up, and I fired without hesitation.
The Artist had no choice but to use one of his three [Kagune] to block the bullet.
But the other two were the problem. Hitokawa, just barely recovering his stance, knocked away one of them, but the other slipped through before he could stop it.
Sharp scales ripped a whole chunk of flesh from Hitokawa's thigh.
"KRAAAAH!!"
"Hitokawa!!"
This time it landed cleanly. His leg was shaking like it might snap at any second, and blood was spraying everywhere.
Not stopping there, the Artist swung the [Kagune] he'd used to block the bullet. Even while writhing in pain, Hitokawa raised the greatsword and blocked it.
His will to fight on in a life-or-death situation was impressive, but unfortunately the weapon couldn't keep up with that will.
CRAAAAACK!!!
With a shriek that tore at the ears, the greatsword, pushed past its limit, shattered like a plate.
"No!!"
I ran forward and caught Hitokawa as he was blown back by the impact.
Fortunately, maybe because the Quinque was on the verge of breaking anyway, the [Kagune] hadn't pierced through his body.
But the damage was still there, and Hitokawa's consciousness looked hazy as he flew into my arms.
Step.
The Artist walked toward us. He looked so confident now that he didn't even need the walls or ceiling anymore.
"At last, it's just the two of us."
"...!!"
Click.
I aimed the gun at him.
I knew it was a worthless threat. Sure enough, the bastard looked at me with eager eyes and spread his arms wide.
As if telling me to go ahead and shoot.
He was saying with his whole body: show me your emotions already.
I hesitated there.
Should I really shoot? At this distance I wouldn't miss, but I also knew he wasn't the type to sit still and take it.
If it were revenge, I wanted it. I wanted to be free of the hatred that sometimes tried to bind me.
But no. That wasn't what mattered first right now.
"..."
In the end, I didn't pull the trigger.
Instead, I decided to cross one dangerous river.
"Hey, you. You said you wanted me as material, right?"
"Hm? Well, yeah."
"Then I'll give myself to you. Take me."
"...What?"
"In return, let my friend and the child go. That's the condition."
At that, the Artist looked surprised. Then he narrowed his eyes, clearly displeased.
"What are you doing?"
"What do you think? Making a deal."
"That's not it!"
The Artist shouted in frustration and thumped his chest.
"You're supposed to shoot me! The man who killed your father, stabbed the child, and is now going to kill your friend is standing right here! Show me your rage! Show me your hatred! Show me those vivid emotions of yours!!"
"Does revenge put food on the table? Does hatred save the people close to me? Don't kill those two. Let them go, and then I'll show you all the hatred and revenge you want."
"I don't need some childish little emotion like that!!!"
The Artist raised his voice, genuinely furious. His [Kakugan] blazed in both eyes, pressing down on me.
But that didn't change my mind.
If hatred was mine, and revenge was mine, then I'd decide how to use it.
Whether I'd detonate it and kill someone, or set it down and let someone live.
Apparently, that was something the Artist found deeply offensive.
Scratching his head like he was venting his irritation, he suddenly curled the corners of his mouth into a meaningful smile.
"You want me not to kill them? Fine, I won't kill them."
"..."
"Instead, I'll keep them alive and torment them. I'll cut off their arms and legs, slowly pull out their organs, and make sure you hear every scream they let out! Then let's see if you can still say the same thing, hmm?"
"...Haah."
A sigh escaped me on its own.
I hadn't exactly believed this would work, but I hadn't expected him to threaten me this stubbornly either. If he was going to come at me like this, then I really had no choice.
Well, in a way, I was grateful too.
If there was no way to save them, and no way to protect myself either. If no matter what I did, the outcome stayed the same...
Then that meant I could throw everything away at the end and go wild, right?
"Fine. Then let's die together, you bastard."
The Artist finally smiled as if he'd gotten exactly what he wanted.
I held the pistol in one hand and Hitokawa's broken greatsword in the other.
Most of the blade had been smashed away, leaving only the base, but it still felt heavy. Hitokawa really had been swinging something like this around.
Gripping both weapons tightly, I glared at the Artist.
Maybe he was desperate to preserve what he was seeing like a photojournalist, because he formed a rectangle with both hands, thumbs and index fingers, and looked at me through it.
"Excellent! This is exactly the ultimate form of emotion I was looking for!! Today is truly the best day of my life!!"
Unable to contain his ecstatic feelings, three [Kagune] burst from his waist like explosions. They all came crashing toward me at once. Each one carried terrifying force.
Unless a miracle happened, I wouldn't survive. Accepting that, I braced myself for death and charged straight at him.
And then...
"The happiest day?"
Ridiculously enough...
"You must have meant the unluckiest day."
KWA-GA-GA-GA-CRACK!!!
A miracle happened right in front of me.
The [Kagune] that had been surging toward me like living snakes were all sliced apart and scattered, as if they'd been hacked to pieces by a giant blade.
The Artist and I both sucked in our breath at the same time. Into the center of that brief silence, a bird flew in.
Seeing the bird land on the floor with its torn blanket-like wings folded in, I shouted without thinking.
"E-Eto?!"