Origin (13)

The massive body collapsed. No, it crumbled into powder with a soft 'psssst' and scattered.

Not all of it, though—some especially hard areas, like the exoskeleton, retained their shape intact.

As the hand holding me gradually lost its strength, I fell downward with gravity. With a thud, a sharp pain shot through my lower back.

I wanted to flail and scream right away, but all I could do was sprawl out flat.

"*Huff... huff...*"

I was completely exhausted. The willpower and tension that had driven me to the end vanished in an instant, and even the effect of the neuro-substance wore off—my whole body was crying out in pain.

I forced myself to keep my eyes open. I had a vague intuition that if I closed them now, I might never open them again—that ominous feeling pressed on me.

I had been wondering why I felt so bad. Only belatedly did I feel the tingling sensation with every breath drawn into my lungs, and I realized the reason.

'Ah, I don't have a respiratory mask.'

I hadn't brought the respiratory mask from Domestica, and I'd already been exposed to the toxic outside air for several minutes. At this point, I was about to die from the external environment—not from Blue Eye.

That was when I heard a sound rapidly approaching from somewhere. Holding my breath to stretch the time limit as much as I could, I realized it was the sound of Carry's thruster.

My lifeline was coming. It was only natural to be filled with joy and relief at the sound.

"Carry...!"

【♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )】

Carry was flying toward me with a delighted expression after winning. Seeing me, Carry stretched out his auxiliary arm with happiness that I called out to him first, reaching out as if to give me a hug.

If it were a different situation, I would have playfully accepted Carry's charge and ruffled his frame wildly. But this time, I needed to ask him to understand. I felt sorry.

"Ugh, keh, keh...! *Cough...! Keh...*!"

As the stinging pain started to take over my windpipe, I let out a fit of harsh coughs instead of hugging Carry. I opened his storage box first and rummaged through it to find the respiratory mask.

【ﾍ(ﾟ∇ﾟﾍ)】

Carry froze when something different from his expectations happened. Ignoring that, I pulled out an intact respiratory mask and strapped it on as quickly as possible.

"Haaah...!"

Breathing in purified air, I finally felt alive again. Suddenly, the ice-coated satellite seemed beautiful. Even the blood spatters and destruction around no longer felt threatening—the world seemed so full of color.

I had killed the monster—whether it was a bud or Blue Eye or whatever—but to die from poisoning? I almost went out with a whimper after all that.

"Phew... I almost died. ... Hm?"

Finally able to catch my breath, I managed to look at Carry's expression. Even his auxiliary arm was drooping.

【（ｉДｉ)】

Carry wore the face of someone despairing that a mere respiratory mask took priority over him.

"... Why that face? I had an emergency, you know. Don't pretend you didn't know. You saved me, Carry."

Of all else, Carry had flown to me first because he realized I didn't have a mask on. Normally, he would have come with Nadia, but this time he rushed alone.

How commendable. Recently, Nadia had been monopolizing Carry, but he still noticed my condition and came quickly. Without him, I would have been in real trouble.

Is Carry making all those faces just to tease me right now?

【( ⩌_⩌)】

"......"

How odd. Maybe it's no joke. I wanted to shower Carry with praise until he was satisfied, but my body just wouldn't allow it.

It was already hard to even move a finger, and now moving to put on the mask made the rebound double in force.

In the end, I collapsed backward while standing. At least I didn't hit the back of my head—Carry had darted behind to catch me.

- ... What? Did you—did you really take it down? That monster?

"Hyun-woo!"

Licorice and Nadia finally snapped to their senses. Having lost alpha, Licorice could barely speak, but Nadia rushed over as if witnessing the world's end, limping like me—she must have hurt her leg.

"No need to come ru—"

*Bang! Crash!*

All the effort of Carry catching me was for nothing—I toppled over again mid-sentence, not even able to finish.

Nadia sat on top of me. She crushed my abdomen and began frantically patting all over my body, starting from my face, her hands trembling.

With every touch, there were 'thwap thwap' sounds. Nadia was small and light, but at this moment, her weight alone was enough to kill me. She hadn't flopped down, just lightly perched, but I still couldn't breathe. Groaning, I let out a stifled moan.

"Grrkk..."

"Hyun-woo, are you really okay?! Oh, what do I do! I think your bone is cracked here...! And here, and... here, too...!"

"Kyek...!"

"H-hurry, take your medicine! Eat all of this...!"

"Wooop..."

Nadia pulled up my respiratory mask and shoved the high-grade medicine into my mouth. She only needed to put it in, but she was cramming it in so deep—I couldn't tell if I was eating Nadia's fingers or the medicine itself.

I was already out of it, and Nadia's frantic handling almost made what little consciousness I had left disappear. Yet, I couldn't stop her.

When I saw her lips bitten and emerald eyes brimming with tears, I couldn't bring myself to say anything—not even to object.

'... I really did overdo it—a lot.'

The truth was, my finishing Blue Eye with the Polarity Strike at the last moment was a spur-of-the-moment action. Licorice had suggested we run, and the party, exhausted, were about to agree.

It was sheer luck the Polarity Strike worked and bored a massive hole in its torso; if not, I would have died instead of Blue Eye. Knowing that, I had nothing to say.

So I wound up unable to do anything except progress through the stages of 'dying, gonna die, dead...' A certain hazy memory was starting to surface.

Even when fighting Blue Eye, I hadn't seen my life flash before my eyes—but now I was. Dying, pinned by a furry tail. In a way, maybe that's a good death.

But before I slipped entirely into that final stage, both in body and mind, I was saved.

Nadia, her tail drooping pitifully, sniffed her nose and, seeing my pale face, shifted to the side.

"... Why did you overdo it? Hyun-woo, you promised me."

Not to get hurt, not to overdo it, always to fight together. It wasn't an extravagant promise—just a wish for each other's safety.

But circumstances refused to leave us alone. Unfairness made it impossible to keep even that simple promise. I ended up so lacking, I couldn't even keep that.

Saying things like, 'If we miss this, it'll just get worse,' or, 'I didn't want to lose my one sure chance to kill it,'—those were all excuses. Saying I became a risk, you became a risk, we all became a risk—same thing.

At least that's how it was now.

"Sorry."

"... You almost died. What if that last attack didn't work? Huh? What would you have done...?"

"......"

I had nothing to say. Honestly, I had plenty to say, but I didn't know if it was right or what was right. I could at least speak again thanks to the medicine's fast effect, but my heart wouldn't cooperate.

As I sat there, staying stupidly silent, the sadness in Nadia's emerald eyes deepened and wavered. She'd never been like this before. Nadia's gaze was making me uncomfortable.

Was it because I knew the scolding was out of concern for me? Or was there another reason I was deliberately trying not to face?

Carry, wedged between us, was fidgeting anxiously. Its lens whirled restlessly, and then, seeing Eric arriving while supporting Domestica, it brightened up.

Seeing that, Nadia seemed to realize the delicate standoff between us was ending, so she grabbed both my cheeks in her hands and bonked her forehead against mine.

"Hyun-woo, let's talk later, okay?"

"......"

It's never scary when an enemy says, 'I'll remember this.' But when your partner says, 'Let's talk later,' it's terrifying. I nearly burst out laughing at my own trembling.

On the surface, her expression still seemed conflicted, but I could tell. Her milk-soda colored tail trembled minutely—that was the giveaway.

Not that I let it show. I had enough sense to know now wasn't the time for jokes. Instead, I asked if she'd taken her medicine. I'd only seen her desperately shoving the high-grade stuff into my mouth, never saw her take any herself.

While we briefly forgot what just happened and checked on each other, Eric and Domestica caught up to us.

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌ )】

Carry, pleased with the perfect timing, flashed a thumbs-up—his signature move. Eric hesitated, then awkwardly returned the gesture.

"Mr. Hyun-woo, are you all right?"

"I'm alive, at least."

"Thank goodness. I thought we were goners."

Eric glanced around and let out a long sigh. His breath trembled—the tension still hadn't left.

I also swept my gaze around. Maybe it was because I was focusing on Nadia earlier, but in truth, this place was nowhere near safe or suitable for resting.

Blue heat beams had scorched the surroundings so thoroughly that debris was still falling from the ceiling. Containers sliced by superheated plasma had spilled all their cargo like innards. The anchor, with nothing left to cling to, hung loosely by its wire.

And in the central clearing, torn up by Blue Eye's rampage, the grotesque exoskeleton stood on display like a trophy.

With Carry and Nadia's help, I managed to stagger upright. My legs still wobbled, but I could at least walk.

- This is all well and good, but let's save the celebration for later. It's time to go. The quarantine on the maintenance sector is over. No idea if they'll come here, but it's smarter to get out in advance. Everyone's in terrible shape, too.

That was true. As bad as I was, Domestica was even worse. There was a basic difference in stamina, and even after taking medicine, her condition wasn't improving.

"We need to call Roxy."

- Hyun-woo, just rest. I've already called Roxy.

- No time for rest! Get to the deck. I've already landed!

Roxy grumbled, saying he'd gotten as close as possible—so hurry up. We quickly loaded Blue Eye's exoskeleton onto a crane and boarded the shuttle. That exoskeleton had withstood high-output plasma—Carrot or Kyle would love to get their hands on it.

I was a bit sad about the containers we left behind. I wanted to take them all, but time and circumstances didn't allow it. Still, we got the most important stuff, so I shook off any lingering regret.

As soon as we boarded the shuttle and felt it take off, we all collapsed, nearly unconscious.

***

【Grrrr....】【Kiiiiii.....】

In the cargo sector, prowled only by ghouls with no sign of human presence, a console in the control room that oversaw the station and warehouse projected a faint hologram window.

Across it was a message: communication connected. Even though the base's antennas, which handled internal comms, had long since stopped working after Blue Crystal's power ran out.

And then a desperate voice spilled out through the console.

—Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Requesting rescue! Is anyone there?! Damn comms malfunction...! This is Refinery! We're under attack! The damn pureblood supremacists are about to break the blockade! Requesting rescue! Repeat—*kzzzt...*

The emergency transmission, once initiated, played on repeat, almost as if someone had deliberately set it to do so. The voice and tone never changed.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=Is it another mission after barely getting back alive?【( ⩌_⩌)】

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