Chương 84: Chapter 83: Boom

Lio found that the sweltering heat of the bunker actually faded slightly inside the cramped lavatory located next to the medical wing. It was a rather crude chamber, lined with stone to avoid rust and rot, with a heavy copper pipe protruding from the wall, trickling a steady stream of lukewarm water into a stained stone basin. A single sheet of polished steel hung above the bowl, serving as a makeshift mirror.

In the corner, the toilet consisted of a basic stone bowl carved directly into the floor led down into the dark sewers below. Lio walked up to the basin, leaning against the edge. His muscles ached with a deep throb, and he could feel his shattered bones continue to rattle uncomfortably inside of him. Yet somehow, he hadn't collapsed yet. He confronted his reflection in the dull metal. The image staring back at him was entirely alien.

The blood-red sclera was inhuman enough, but it was the pupils that garnered most attention. It almost seemed like the electric cyan had deepened, and appeared to be close to glowing now. Lio narrowed his eyes. He had to approach this analytically. First, the time period. The change had occurred during the blackout, in the missing minutes in his memory. Could it be because Lio had heard"God has no mouth either"? Right after that, the Lamb had bit down on the pill, and called the very apocalypse upon Floor 3.

Lio braced his palms against the basin, staring deeper into his alien eyes. There had to be a connection. Right? He closed his eyes, taking a deep, long breath. He opened them again, tracing the red veins in the mirror. He wanted to solidify the theory, but in the end, it was only a guess. He simply had no proof, and he also couldn't afford to waste energy on guesses. Turning the copper valve, Lio let the tricking water pool in his hands and splashed it over his face, washing away the dried gore and the sweat.

Then, suddenly, the sound of the heavy iron hinges of the bunker door shrieking as it opened reached his ears. Lio stepped out from the cramped lavatory, just in time to see the iron door opening fully, revealing a group of people, their faces exhausted and shell-shocked. Among them, Lio spotted Senna, William and Ergyn. Senna was now awake, though her skin was terribly pale. She was leaning on William's shoulder for support, though William himself looked in no better shape.

He still seemed to be partly deaf, and his head nodded back and forth, barely able to keep conscious. Behind them was Ergyn, looking equally as ragged. His normally immaculate uniform was torn and caked in grime, and his posture radiated such exhaustion, like the entire world was weighing down on his shoulders. The others in the group consisted of the town guards.

Their armor was terribly dented and blood-stained, their faces pale and quiet as they ushered in a small group of children—the same children that had been rescued from the Akkorok. The children looked around the stone bunker with wide, terrified eyes, until smiles broke out on their young faces. Most of the children broke away, sprinting into the arms of their walking parents, who began wailing in relief. However, Lio noticed that one little boy didn't move.

The young boy looked around the room, his eyes looking around at the faces of adults, his lower lip beginning to tremble. When no one stepped forward for him, the boy slowly walked up to Ergyn. He reached out and tugged on the guard captain's sleeve.

"M-Mister?" the boy whispered, looking up with watery eyes.

"Where are my parents? Are they coming soon?" Ergyn froze, a dark shadow crossing over his face. He opened his mouth, but he couldn't say anything. Turning away from the boy, Lio walked forward, stepping into view. Senna saw him first, and immediately stiffened. Her eyes, wide and wild with exhaustion, widened as she stared at his mutated eyes. She gasped, the horrific and alien nature of his new gaze holding her captive. For a second, the surprise paralyzed her in place.

Then, the recognition broke through the shock. She threw herself at him, her arms wrapping around his torso as she began to sob loudly, her hands twisting into the fabric of his coat until her knuckles turned white. Lio's eyes twitched at the impact, the shattered bones in his body protesting, but he didn't resist. Senna buried her face into his chest, her shoulders shaking violently. Standing a few paces behind her, William also noticed Lio. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site.

Support the author by reading it there. But unlike Senna's immediate relief, when he caught sight of her clinging to Lio with that completely raw desperation, his brow furrowed, a heavy frown crossing his lips. In his mind, Lio and Ophila were engaged. He glanced subtly over his shoulder, like Ophila was suddenly going to pop out of nowhere, looking awkward. Then he shook his head. The math was executing poorly in his head, but right now, did it really matter?

William set the bizarre scene in front of him aside, stepping forward. He clapped Lio's shoulder. He didn't look very surprised at Lio's red and blue irises, much too used to the other boy's shenanigans.

"Good to see you're alive," William muttered.

"Though you look like hell." Ergyn stepped forward, the small child still clutching his sleeve, studying Lio carefully. Lio guessed that the guard captain had finished realizing that this supposedly "weak Delver" was actually extraordinarily powerful. Ergyn held Lio's gaze. Then, true to his discipline, Ergyn looked away first, placing a hand on the shoulder of the orphaned boy. Exactly what Lio had expected. The guard captain refused to let his own personal unease to compromise the crisis at hand.

Turning his back on the group, Ergyn immediately began to walk away.

"I'll be reporting to the Mayor," he said, nodding at William.

"Stay safe." He gently guided the young boy along with him, and they disappeared down the adjoining hallway. Lio and William stood in awkward silence, while Senna continued to cling to Lio, her sobs having lessened into small sniffles by now. Then, the sound of hurried footsteps came. Benny came rushing around the corner from the medical wing, his eyes wide and breathing heavily as he scanned the room. Spotting Lio, his face lit up. He hurried over, ignorant of the tense atmosphere.

"Hey!" Benny panted heavily.

"You're girl's awake!" Hearing the news, Senna immediately pulled herself away from Lio. Without a second thought, she bounded away toward the medical wing, her exhaustion now completely forgotten. At that, Lio gave a small frown. It seemed that Senna had now developed a true care for Ophila. Whether that development would conflict his plans, only time would tell. William chuckled tiredly, nodding at Lio before turning to follow her. Inside the medical wing, Ophila lay propped up on a dirty cot.

Her face was pale and gaunt, but her eyes were clear and awake as Senna burst through the door.

"Ophila!" Senna cried, rushing to the side of the dirty cot. She reached out, but hesitated, as if she was afraid of how fragile Ophial looked.

"You're okay. I thought… I thought you were…" Ophila managed a weak smile.

"I'm not going to die that easily," Ophila murmured, her voice raw and dry. She cleared her throat painfully.

"Though… I would like some water."

"I don't think there is water," William said, biting his lower lip. He nodded at the nearby cots, where patients groaned.

"Besides, even if they do have some, they need to save it for the most injured." Ophila winced, then chuckled.

"Well, this place isn't exactly hospitable, is it?" She glanced at the boy.

"You look like shit though."

"You too," he replied. Senna cupped Ophila's cheeks gently.

"Don't strain yourself. We thought... we were so terrified, Ophila. Just stay still."

"I am still," Ophila said softly. Then, she glanced past Senna's shoulder, towards where Lio now stood silently in the shadows, his newly altered eyes fixed on her. She frowned. Then she let out a sigh, reaching out to pat Senna on her shoulder.

"William. Senna," Ophila whispered.

"Could you give us a moment? I need to be left alone with Lio." Senna and William shared, but given Ophila's condition, neither argued. They quietly shuffled out of the cramped medical wing, leaving the two in silence. Lio didn't move, leaning against the wall. Ophila didn't waste time with a greeting. She simply stared at him, raising an unimpressed eyebrow as she took in his new gaze.

"What the hell happened to your eyes?" she asked bluntly. Lio offered a thin smirk.

"Why do you need to know?" Ophila rolled her eyes, then winced as her ribs protested.

"We made a promise, remember?" she shot back.

"Besides, whatever happens to you also affects me. So spill it." Lio sighed. There was honestly no need to lie. He himself didn't know what had happened after all.

"Truth to be told, I don't know. It happened when I got knocked out." He gave a helpless shrug.

"Whatever caused it, I can't reverse it. And I don't have the energy to guess how it works right now." Ophila held his gaze, searching for any obvious lies. Finding none she could act upon, she let out a small scoff and eased herself back onto the dirty cot.

"Fine," she muttered.

"We'll leave the freak show aside for a second. Right now, we need to talk about Sparrow." Lio nodded.

"That mystery woman. When did you first meet her?"

"At the lodge. Me and Senna were there because we were worried about William," Ophila said.

"She already knew who we were. She was hunting us." She scowled.

"And she was strong. That wasn't some newbie." She bit her lower lip.

"Then I fell down the hole into the Akkork den to escape, met up with William, dealt with the Akkorok, and then… after that, it's all just a blur. What happened after I fell unconscious?" Lio narrowed his eyes, leaning more against the wall.

"I defeated her. But I couldn't kill her." Ophila looked surprised." You couldn't kill her?"

"No," Lio said flatly.

"And it wasn't because she was powerful or whatnot. No, a little girl named Lily showed up." Ophila's brow furrowed.

"A kid?"

"She was waiting for me down there," Lio continued, his voice low.

"She mentioned someone called 'the Magistrate.' Right when I was about to finish off Sparow, she just appeared. She also mentioned receiving an abrupt retreat order. The second the word came through, they dropped everything and pulled out completely." Ophila looked away.

"It's… those guys, aren't they? The organization that's chasing me."

"It's the most logical conlclusion," Lio agreed.

"But there's something else," he added.

"When the retreat order came, Lily didn't just run or slip into the tunnels. She teleported. And it wasn't some standard rune, Ophila. That was one powerful spatial manipulation." Ophila's eyes widened.

"If they can throw around teleportation magic of that caliber, then…"

"Exactly," Lio said, his expression unreadable.

"They are much, much stronger than we initially anticipated." Ophila shook her head, a dark look of exasperation crossing over her face.

"How did they reach us so fast? We got to Floor 3 in little over a week, and yet…" Lio crossed his arms.

"Well, like I said, they have a very powerful teleportation rune. But maybe if we—" He didn't get to finish his sentence, as a massive BOOM! violently cut him off.