KAZAMI KORANE
I woke up at a moment when I had no idea how much time had passed and sat up on a couch I could barely fit on. There was another one of the same kind to my right, and when I turned to look, I saw Kuren sipping something from a cup. When she noticed me, she looked back at me.
"Good morning—though it's actually nighttime right now, but whatever. "I think we've been unconscious for about 20 hours."
20 hours?! General Hiroshi's attack must have been terrifyingly powerful. If it weren't for someone like Magnus, anyone there would probably have died.
"Are you serious? Was that attack that severe?"
"It seems so. If he hadn't saved you…"
I wore a stunned expression, then flung the blanket off me and sat up, turning toward Kuren.
"He saved me?"
Kuren let out a deep sigh.
"Remember when I told you we had to split up and we ran in different directions?"
Yes, he'd done it so at least one of us could survive a potential powerful attack. I nodded to indicate I remembered.
"The direction you went was safer. You had a chance of surviving. However, with General Hiroshi going berserk, I guess things didn't go as I expected."
The look of shock on my face gave way to an angry one; I was furrowing my brows completely.
"Hey! You idiot!! If that place seemed safe to you, why didn't we both run?! Also, where did this 'sacrificing yourself for me' nonsense come from??"
Kuren didn't answer. After glaring at me for a few seconds, he looked away.
"Whatever… Don't do it again," I said, closing the subject for now. Still, it's comforting to know I have a comrade.
It suddenly occurred to me—actually, it had been on my mind, but I hadn't been able to shake off the situation's impact. I immediately interrupted him and asked. I guess I'm a bit rude.
"Speaking of which, where is that guy Magnus, and what happened to General Hiroshi?"
Kuren pointed behind me with her cup, and I turned around immediately. He was there, sitting in his chair. He was gazing at the sky through the window. He'd tossed his coat over the back of his chair, so I could only see his head, but the purple robotic arm on his left side—where he was resting his head—made it clear who it was.
"Ah, Mr. Magnus. I was just about to say—
He waved his hand as if to silence me and spoke up himself.
"Hiroshi is alive. For now, I've sent him back to Cistern."
Sent him back to Cistern?
"How did you do that?!" I exclaimed, letting my astonishment show.
Magnus remained silent for a moment, and Kuren's expression was anxious, her eyes narrowed slightly as she fixed them on the chair where Magnus was sitting.
"Now that both of you are awake, we can talk. Tell me, which faction are you with?"
Since he ignored my question, I thought I had to press him. Still, we couldn't ignore the fact that what he was talking about was impossible.
I turned to Kuren and gave him a look that seemed to ask if we should answer. Then he gave me a surprised look in return. Neither of us seemed to understand what he meant.
Kuren closed her mouth, which had been slightly agape in surprise, and turned her head toward Magnus to ask.
"Sir, what do you mean by 'unit'?"
It seems we'll have to follow his lead. I trust Kuren's logic and will go along with what she does… Wait a minute, what exactly is a unit?
"I'm asking about the unit you're in at Cistern. You can't possibly not know what it is. Don't play dumb."
I took a few steps toward Kuren, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered.
"I think this guy is trying to say 'team.'"
He whispered back to me.
"If he meant 'team,' he'd say 'team,' you idiot!"
I'm not an idiot!
"Maybe he doesn't even know the word 'team' exists!"
He pressed his forehead against mine with a look as if he were eager to kill me.
"The guy who single-handedly crushed an attack that turned an entire continent to ice—do you really think he doesn't know what a team is, huh?!!"
Why not? Yeah, Kuren, you're the only intellectual here anyway!!
"What does your vocabulary have to do with your strength, you id—"
Magnus slowly stood up from his chair and turned toward us.
I trembled with fear and immediately clung to Kuren.
"He's going to kill us!!"
The figure standing in the dim light of the room gave off an air of being anything but ordinary at first glance. His long navy coat and high collar, adorned with gold details, wrapped around his shoulders like a sharp silhouette, while the hood pulled his face into the shadows.
But his gaze immediately locked onto your face.
The purple robotic mask covering the left half of his face, with its smooth metal surface and delicate lines of light, looked almost alive. The sharp boundary where human features met mechanical parts made him appear like a being that was half-human, half-machine.
The single eye visible through the hood's darkness was calm, cold, and menacing.
It was as if it weren't a person standing in the room…
But rather, the shadow itself had taken human form.
Magnus's uncovered eye—the one without the robotic mask—was terrifying and slightly narrowed. He stared at us intently for a moment, then spoke.
"It seems the team's name has changed. It doesn't matter—answer my question now."
After saying this, he grabbed his chair with one hand, closed his eyes, lifted it, and carried it to the corner of the room.
I learned that in the past, teams were called "units" in Cistern. To be honest, I was surprised. Who knows what else I don't know.
"The Second Unit, sir," Kuren replied.
Without shifting his gaze from his chair, Magnus said, "Your rebellion now makes sense," then opened his eyes again and walked toward us.
I tensed up a bit.
Still, I forced myself to stand up and replied, staring him straight in the eye.
"Do you know our unit?"
Magnus answered as he walked calmly past us toward the door.
"I know your general."
We stared at him in shock for a moment; he was about to walk out the door. We needed to say something. But we couldn't process our confusion and curiosity about what kind of relationship he had with our general. Thankfully, Kuren spoke up at the last moment.
"Magnus!"
Magnus turned around immediately, as if he'd been expecting it, put on his coat, and leaned against the wall. Then, slipping his hands into his pockets, he looked at us and began to listen.
I looked at Kuren as if to urge him to speak, but he looked a bit anxious too. I wasn't used to seeing him like that.
"You, um… What are you? Or rather… Who are you?"
Magnus waited a moment without changing his expression or showing any sign of reaction, then closed his eyes and simply replied.
"I am not something that can be explained in a single word."
Was that supposed to be an answer? I didn't understand. We needed more information. This time, I asked.
"What you said back there… You were criticizing people. General Hiroshi referred to you as his former master and general, but I'm seeing you for the first time. You said you knew our general too. I want you to explain who you really are. And why you saved us, and what we should do… Please, answer."
He opened his eyes and looked at me like a tiger—no, like a dragon. I flinched, and then he spoke:
"How ridiculous. Your eyes can only recognize your own kind; that's why you're forced to call the thing standing before you 'human.' But me? I am beyond the limits of your understanding. My existence shatters the walls of your mind. You cannot see me, you cannot understand me; you can only feel me in the depths of your intuition, like a terror that suffocates you. Are you wondering what you'll do from this moment on? I'll do you a favor and train you for a few days. After that, I'll leave you at the Cistern, and with your general's help, we'll do what needs to be done. "Don't ask any more questions about this, or I'll leave you lowlifes to fend for yourselves, and you'll be killed soon."
I wasn't in a state to recover from the impact of those words. Kuren stood up and stepped in for me, continuing to ask questions. My only hope was that I wouldn't provoke him. But I didn't think I could speak right now.
"Do we really need your help this much?! You put on a little show of power, and we're supposed to trust you right away?! What if you're planning to kill us too? And how exactly are you going to take us to Cistern?! There's no way, absolutely none. Either explain to us what's really going on and the source of this power. Or I'm out. If I die, at least I'll fight. You, this entity of unknown origin!"
Idiot. Is that how you talk to a man? If even someone as rational as Kuren is this angry, he must truly sense danger in him. He should be the one keeping his cool in this situation, but I guess I have to take on that role now—otherwise, we'll both get killed because of my friend's tantrums!
Magnus chuckled.
I turned to him in surprise. It was so sudden. Maybe he did it without meaning to—probably so. Frankly, it only increased my unease. I was about to say something when he began to respond.
"Birth is uncertain—what a tragicomic phrase… The answer to what you seek is too heavy for you to comprehend, even if you lived for billions of years. I am different from you. When I was born, I was not given a gift; a curse was cast upon me. A curse that steals the peace of the ordinary. I was forced to see the naked truth of the order that humans cannot see, the decay of meaning, and the emptiness of existence. And ever since that day, in this fake theater you call 'life,' I am the sole spectator sitting behind the stage. You, beings in search of a purpose… You invent gods, you worship lies. I, however, know that the purpose itself is an illusion. That is why you cannot touch me. Now all you must do is tremble before me, do as I say, and follow me. Follow me—not as a master, not as a god, but as something you will regret if you do not follow. Do whatever I say; do not question. Because you have no right to question."
Not a single sound came from either of us until he finished speaking. What could I possibly say…
Kuren let out a hesitant, timid voice.
"A-Are you one of the gods?"
Magnus narrowed the single eye we could see, and his expression was clearly clouded with anger. It was either rage or hatred—I couldn't think fast enough to tell which.
"God is merely a concept that comes into being when put into words. My name is Magnus. If you try to explain me through other things, you won't find the answer, Kuren Y. Knowing more won't do you any good. Shut up."
Kuren's shoulders began to tremble. At first I thought it was from fear… but it wasn't. His fingers slowly clenched into fists, and he gritted his teeth. The blank fear in his eyes gave way to a sharp, searing rage.
He took a step forward.
"Enough…"
His voice cracked, but he didn't stop. On the contrary, it grew harsher with every word.
"Enough already!" he shouted, his voice shaking the empty space around us. "You're always talking down to us… always acting like you've seen it all, solved it all! You're looking down on us—maybe we could've gotten out of that situation even without you! How do you know you're belittling us?! On top of that… you still want us to follow you?!"
He exhaled sharply. His chest rose and fell.
"You tell us not to question… but I've done nothing but question my whole life!" he said, his voice trembling—not from fear this time, but from the overflow of suppressed anger. "If it's really as you say—if everything is meaningless, if everything is an illusion… then your words are an illusion too! Your path is an illusion too!"
He paused for a moment. His eyes locked onto Magnus.
But this time, there was more than just anger within him.
There was a cracked resolve.
"And yet…" he continued, his voice deeper and heavier this time. "And yet I want to believe you."
Those words hung in the air.
Kuren took another step closer.
"Do you understand?! I don't want to… but I do!" he said, pressing his fist against his chest. "Because what you're saying… is terrifyingly logical. Because even if I can't see things from your perspective… I feel that there really is something there!"
His eyes were trembling.
"I'm a weak person, okay? I need a purpose. A direction. Something to hold onto!" he shouted. "Even if everything is empty… I don't want to get lost in that emptiness!"
His voice cracked slowly.
"If you can really see that void…" he said in a quieter but sharper tone, "then take me there too."
He took a deep breath.
"I won't blindly obey you. But… I'm not strong enough to defy you." He looked at Magnus without blinking. "That's why… I want to follow you."
He paused for a moment.
"Not as a god… not as a savior…"
His voice cleared for the last time.
"But as the only thing that will either destroy me… or lead me to the truth."
Silence fell.
This time, the silence wasn't born of fear.
My feet seemed to move on their own; I took the first step. I was walking toward Magnus. I… I wanted to follow him even more after what Kuren had said.
Magnus shot Kuren a sharp, clear look. Instead of moving forward, I stood frozen in fear where I was.
"I come from the depths of this universe, Kuren Y… I'd like to tell you about my past, but even if I could, it's a truth your minds couldn't handle…"
I heard the sound of Kuren's knuckles grinding together as he clenched his fist tightly. My eyes turned to his clenched hand.
"You're belittling us again!"
Magnus took a step forward, released the arms he'd crossed over his chest, and slammed his right hand hard against the wall.
"I'm only protecting you! I, too, was a master, a brother, an uncle, a partner, and a general in the past. I lived just like you… I can understand you; I can understand this universe. There's no end to what I can understand. There's no end to what I've seen. That's why I saved you from there. I fully support what you're trying to finish in Cistern! That's why you'll follow me now, and I'll teach you!"
After a brief silence following his words, he turned toward the door and opened it.
As Magnus walked out the door, I followed him. Kuren, seeing me, did the same. I was scared and trembling. But I felt that if I followed him, I could grow stronger.
"Kazami, are you sure?"
Even though my voice was trembling, I had to answer. There was no point if I couldn't convince Kuren of this too.
"Look... He's not just human. He's a being of power beyond what we can see or imagine, like the gods in the books we read in Cistern. While we were playing like ordinary children, it was as if... You know, I'm interpreting what they said! What they say, he's writing the rules of the universe! Whatever he's talking about, he was born with a curse, but thanks to that curse, he seems to see everything; we need to learn about that. He's definitely a superior being, like he knows everything. And that's why obeying him isn't just submitting; it's like purifying one's own soul... I know you, Kuren; with every step you take, you leave behind your fears, your pain, and your limitations. Like me... every time I get lost, I draw a little closer to reality, to power. I understood this within Hiroshi Matsumoto's technique while on the ice. I understand what this man is saying. He is the strongest person who can be on our side. Do you understand? This is not a game; this is a journey... and we ordinary ones can only walk this path."
Kuren paused for a moment, and when I looked at him, he seemed to be looking at me with hatred. His eyes appeared mixed with anger and confusion, and after a while, he squinted. He replied as if acting:
'Okay. So be it, Kazami. I will listen to you. However, I am not pleased with this idea. Be yourself and don't let your mind be washed away.''
"Don't worry, I'll never let anyone brainwash me—"
They walked right past me, didn't even look at me.
"The Kazami I knew wouldn't obey anyone. You've even forgotten why we were expelled from Cistern and that it was the generals and lieutenants who are trying to kill us now... I'm following Magnus's lead right now. Because it has the potential to lead us to what we seek and our purpose. My path is not obedience. Remember."
END OF CHAPTER