Глава 13

I see gravel kicked up by tires, pounding the glass.

Similar sights keep retreating from the car window: muddy earth, dried bloodstains, shell craters we carefully steer around... War flows persistently, like an oil slick set alight.

The atmosphere outside the car is tense. Everyone remains silent. The driver is focused on driving, Paprika sits beside her, occasionally turning her head to cast a worried glance.

In the cab, the Miner casually oils his weapon, the Shopkeep from Kazdel mimics him. He cries out suddenly, looks like he cut his palm.

Kazdel has grocery stores, children gazing longingly at candy as they lean against the counter, old folks complaining about the changing price of salt. It makes sense, but... I never really thought about those sights before.

For me, Kazdel is just a distant memory. When I was little, Babel briefly stopped near Kazdel.

I only remember it from a distance, a sight like a steel monster crawling through the wastes, leaving debris and thick smoke in its wake. Theresa held my hand and told me that was her home.

I remember... at the time, I didn't know what the look on her face meant.

Much later, I talked to the operators about Kazdel. Mudrock called it a barren land of houses stacked on top of each other, Stormeye talked about an eternal furnace and crystal clusters on the city walls.

W... she laughed an icy laugh and said: 'If I were a bunny like you, I'd steer clear of the place.'

Kazdel feels like a vague symbol, representing all kinds of things: pain, hatred, oppression, slaughter... I know these are all true, objectively, but they're not everything that is Kazdel.

Setting all that aside, I know it's the place where Theresa sacrificed everything.

Even Theresis, the mastermind behind this war, grew up there. What does the Kazdel they envision look like?

Logos quietly wipes his bone pen. On the other side, I see the Doctor turning to look out the window. What's out there?

I tug on the Doctor's sleeve.

Dr. {@nickname}, when the war is over, I want to visit Kazdel again.

Stop the car. There's something strange up ahead.

All units, prepare for battle.

What is that—

In the distance, the town of Brentwood is already coming into view.

A crimson light rises from the center of the town, staining the surrounding land.

The blood-covered veil gently envelops all living things.

Hngh—!

—This feeling, it's the same one that came when we were inspecting those Arts Circles.

Banshee, Your Lordship, what is this...?

When the war started, no one expected the land to be drenched in so much blood so quickly.

'Modern warfare' is it? Hah.

I'm afraid the Vampire has all the prerequisites he needs for the ritual to fall into place.

The crystals on the other battlefields were just nodes resonating with the ritual. All this time, I've been looking for its center.

Brentwood, this little town, has a special place in the Vampire's wicked design.

Can you handle it, Logos?

This is an ancient Royal Court method, and they have completed the preparations for it.

I need time.

We haven't exposed our position yet, so we might be able to buy some time, but... Wait—

What's that?

...Fire?

There's a firefight in the town there... but who is it?

Looks like they beat us here.

A rather choppy meeting.

The Doctor looks calm.

Right, after all we've been through, we finally get to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our friends again.

Lord Banshee, what... are you going to do? You'll take care of the enemy, won't you?

This, this power... it's a blessing from His Highness the Prince of Blood, is it?

The Sanguinarch... he's blessed the Sarkaz bloodline.

The Ursine miner swings his weapon and a sharp whistling sound rings out.

He looks a little frightened of his own strike, almost losing his grip on the weapon.

The driver and the Shopkeep gather around him, investigating his new strength.

Paprika moves a few steps toward me.

Um... Lord Banshee, I also feel a bit... stronger... a little.

Is it arm strength? Or my brains? I can't tell for sure, but I just feel kinda...

...It's a strengthening altar, witchcraft. We've seen this before. But this one is on a larger scale, and it feels different.

Logos, could this have any adverse...?

Quite unexpected.

It does not demand a price of us, at least not one drawn from our own bodies.

Then why—

Logos looks at the Sarkaz girl.

Paprika, was it?

What do you hope to use this power for?

Well...

The more skilled a Sarkaz becomes in war, the more efficient he spills blood on the battlefield. Doesn't matter if it's his enemies' blood or his own.

The ritual can continue.

The Sanguinarch has prepared for this decisive battle, but their... Theresis's plan was just for this ritual?

The Arts Circles seem to have come under attack, and the Vampiric creatures are going out of control.

Yes, a large colony of crimson worms is drilling out of the ground, rushing around in all directions.

A good number of them seem to have caught our scent.

Leave this to us, Logos.

Please look into the ritual for us.

Amiya, you and the Doctor could accompany me.

I look at Paprika's team in the distance, those Sarkaz unaware of the danger here.

Let's be quick.

...Roger.

Um—

What are you going to do with us?

What do you mean?

I realized a while ago that, well, the ones who've been captured... are us, right?

I know the Royal Court guys pretty well, and you give off a totally different vibe.

Your name is Amiya, right? You and this Doctor are in charge.

I think... you're about the same age as me.

And I can tell that Banshee is a pretty big deal, I can feel it, you can't fake that. But he's working for you?

A few days ago, I met a Caprinae lady who called herself a Sarkaz... is she with you too?

Just who the heck are you guys?

Do you intend to fight us, Paprika?

I can feel that the girl is not hostile.

Well...

I... don't know.

In the distance, the Sarkaz let go of the sudden surge of power they're feeling for a moment, and call out to Paprika.

Captain, how did the Banshee get away? What do we do now? The cracks in the earth are spreading toward us!

Why did they leave those two prisoners behind? Do the big shots from the Royal Court trust us so much?

Um... yeah! Be on guard for threats from that direction!

I'll keep an eye on these two!

You may be stronger, but you still don't know war.

Or I guess, none of you are ready to fight this war.

...Yeah. After all this time, how could we not know?

I get a little closer to her.

But she seems to misunderstand my intent, and retreats half a step. Then, as if making a difficult decision, she holds her ground in front of me.

And at this point, I realize she's about the same height as I am.

I'm the captain of the transport team! If you're going to do something to us, you have to start with me.

They're just regular people who answered His Highness's call to arms across Terra.

They don't even know what they're doing. They just transport the stuff General Manfred says to move—

The instant they answered that call... the Victorians would cease to call them regular people.