[164]
A familiar sound.
The roar of a bullet as it tears through the air, grazing past.
Chris recalled the sensation that was vividly alive in a memory from long ago.
Despite it being a moment that connected more to the past than the present, Chris reacted instinctively.
The mental-type Esper’s arm was roughly twisted as they collapsed to the floor.
But it was already too late.
Because the bullet had already pierced through Yuri’s body.
Chris could see Yuri’s chest becoming soaked with red. His body was slowly crumbling.
Those purple eyes, which had seemed more solid than a fortress wall, were fixed on Chris.
The moment he met himself in that gaze, Chris’s heart sank with a loud thump.
Stop the bleeding! We need to stop the bleeding!
Before that cry reached his ears, Chris was already taking action.
The blood that had been gushing out in an instant stopped.
An invisible, formless hand compressed the area where the bullet had pierced through.
Quite literally, the air twisted.
A buzzing noise filled Chris’s ears as he performed a miracle no human should be capable of.
From far away, he heard a woman’s laughter.
No, in fact, she was close enough that he could reach out and break that smile.
“He’s dead… He must be dead.”
To those words whispered like a curse, Chris replied:
“No.”
His voice was extremely calm.
“It missed the heart.”
It was closer to the shoulder than the chest.
It had avoided dangerous blood vessels.
‘But why is there so much blood?’
“Huff… huff…”
Obl, who had deactivated his invisibility state, collapsed. Chris could see that his hand was pierced. He was gritting his teeth while tying up his wound.
Thanks to Obl literally throwing himself in the way, the trajectory was slightly off course.
Chris mechanically assessed the current situation.
The person they thought was Abigail was a mental-type Esper powerful enough to distort vision.
‘A Thorns Order Esper.’
And. The direction the bullet came from.
Chris’s gaze turned toward the rooftop of the building closest to Babel Tower.
It was the perfect position for a sniper to target this location. The wind conditions were also ideal.
Unfortunately, the sniper had already disappeared.
‘I didn’t see that.’
Chris’s perception was probably distorted from the moment he crossed the threshold.
Due to the Esper wearing Abigail’s illusion.
“Haa… haa…”
While Yuri remained still, the white-haired Esper was breathing heavily.
Chris knew what this reaction was.
It was the pressure one feels when breaking free from reverse guiding, when momentarily suppressed senses return.
Without a second thought, he knocked her unconscious.
‘I can’t kill her.’
Slowly reaching out, he carefully lifted Yuri.
Common sense dictated that you shouldn’t move a patient. But Yuri’s condition was completely “fixed” in place.
Chris tilted his head slightly to listen for a heartbeat.
It was still okay. For now.
If the heartbeat slowed down, he could intervene.
Chris knew several ways to forcibly keep someone alive.
With his ability, he could even massage the heart without breaking bones.
Chris’s white face, stained with blood that could have been either Yuri’s or Obl’s, looked as if it had gained some color.
“Boss!”
Chase, with an unusually pale face, came running.
His yellow eyes were filled with agitation.
“Chase. Bring Peter. Now.”
***
The incident at Babel Tower was quickly contained.
Fortunately, Abigail was found by Peter and Chase.
Chase, whom Yuri had called as backup, sensed something wrong when an entire floor was completely quiet during his movement and searched as a result.
They also discovered an Esper wearing an ability control device, an older model than what Northern Light used.
They were also severely injured. Judging by their condition, it seemed there was no intention of using them for negotiation.
‘The reason they were kept alive…’
Perhaps they planned to kill Yuri and frame Northern Light for the crime.
Chris gritted his teeth.
The only good news was that Abigail and the Esper from Northern Light had returned alive.
Yuri, who had collapsed immediately after being shot, still hadn’t regained consciousness.
‘Please.’
Chris paced the white-painted corridor.
This was a hospital in the Spring Continent secured by Barrel Society.
Though somewhat cramped, it had all the necessary equipment.
Stowaways without proper identification couldn’t easily see doctors.
Peter, who had first transferred Yuri, immediately brought Jessica.
It was right after a Guide had been injured. He judged that no matter how calm Chris appeared, as an Esper, he wouldn’t want to show Yuri to outsiders.
After explaining the situation to Jessica, Chris stood waiting outside.
He had been told he could come in. But Chris himself refused.
Because he wasn’t confident he could maintain his sanity if he saw Yuri’s flesh being cut open and stitched.
‘Yuri…’
Chris looked down at his hands.
Hands that could destroy anything and take life so easily.
Yet they were of no help when it came to saving the one he loved.
Chris’s head dropped to the floor. Just then, the light in front of the operating room changed color.
Chris quickly raised his head and saw Jessica walking out as the operating room door opened.
“…The surgery went well.”
“When will he wake up?”
Several hours had already passed. To Chris, it felt like more than twenty hours.
Considering how quickly all these measures were taken, it probably hadn’t even been half a day.
“It will take some time.”
“But you said it missed vital areas? Then in a couple of hours…”
Please come back to me.
For a moment, Chris’s lips twisted.
Meeting those blue eyes that seemed lost, Jessica explained in a voice as devoid of emotion as possible:
“The boss is more robust than ordinary people, but… he’s more fragile than Espers. He can’t wake up that quickly after being shot. There are also drugs used during the surgery, so it will take some time for him to regain consciousness.”
“…Will he really be okay?”
“Yes. First of all, the bullet passed through cleanly, and not much blood was lost. Additionally, it avoided important organs.”
Jessica explained step by step. Chris slowly nodded.
“I understand. I’ll wait.”
“Here?”
The place where Chris was standing was a corridor.
“…I can’t see Yuri.”
He was about to say something but bit his lip.
“There was an assassination attempt, but we didn’t catch the perpetrator. I need to finish my job.”
By now, he had returned to a neat expressionlessness.
“Yes. Very well.”
Jessica didn’t ask twice. She went back inside.
A little later, a wheeled bed was seen rolling out.
While Yuri’s closed eyes passed by him, Chris stood rooted to the spot, looking down at the floor.
After the sound of wheels rolling past faded, a presence was felt in the corridor.
“…Chase.”
“Fortuna says she’s finished the interrogation. Are you going to hear it now?”
He meant he wouldn’t stop Chris if he wanted to stay by Yuri’s side.
“Let’s go right now.”
As they moved, Chase explained what he had heard from Northern Light’s Esper.
Being an Esper, they woke up immediately after having their control device removed and receiving guiding.
“The mayor apparently visited Abigail.”
“…”
“Pretending to appeal to old feelings, asking to meet Abigail just once.”
“And that mayor was a fake?”
When Chris asked, Chase nodded heavily.
“Probably. And at some point, all of Northern Light’s Espers lost consciousness.”
That’s when they would have replaced Abigail.
Just then, having arrived at the basement, Chase opened the door.
Inside, Fortuna was seated.
She appeared to have sweated profusely, her hair visibly wet.
“I’ve roughly grasped the situation.”
Aware of the urgency, she opened her mouth without any greeting.
“Did you read the mental-type Esper’s thoughts?”
Chris clearly remembered how Fortuna had struggled to break through the prohibition placed by Thorns Order’s Esper.
“They’re definitely a superior ability user than me. But thanks to the boss’s reverse guiding, I somehow managed to break through.”
Roundabout as it was, the conversation returned to Yuri.
A brief silence fell.
“Was the goal to assassinate Yuri?”
“Yes. And no.”
“…So there was another objective.”
Chris muttered as if to himself.
“Kill the boss, then interfere with the shocked Chris Danil’s mind to induce an outburst.”
Fortuna said distinctly.
“That was what Thorns Order’s mental-type Esper was trying to do.”
Chris could easily imagine the result.
“Babel Tower would have collapsed at the very least.”
The area would have been devastated.
And in that building were Northern Light’s Espers who had lost consciousness.
‘Plus countless civilians working at the city hall would have died…’
Chris closed his eyes.
“If Yuri hadn’t noticed that Abigail Chung had been replaced by another Esper…”
“A war between three continents might have broken out.”
Anong might understand the circumstances, but would outsiders?
Abigail Chung. Northern Light. And even the Winter Continent’s mafia.
Whether gathered in one place or dead in one place, it was a highly suspicious combination.
And if Chris’s existence, who could bring down Babel Tower without a single bomb, became known?
Couldn’t a couple of massive conspiracies be fabricated that even the parties involved wouldn’t know about?
They had been careless because they could enter dangerous places without anyone knowing.
It was also partly because they naturally assumed the mayor was the one who had kidnapped Abigail.
What if Obl had been stubborn and hadn’t come along? What if he had said no?
What if they hadn’t removed his control device and had moved in a visible state?
‘Maybe Yuri would have really… really…’
The rest of that assumption was deleted from his mind the moment it occurred to him.
“Is that Esper still alive?”
Chris’s voice flowed dryly.
“A bit damaged, but yes.”
Fortuna confirmed.
“I would like to meet them.”
Though the voice was polite, Chris’s speech pattern resembled his master’s.
Feeling instinctively that this was a request that couldn’t be refused, Fortuna nodded.
“This way.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
