Глава 14

King of Sarkaz...

The revenant's voice suddenly reverberates in Amiya's mind.

Before she could even react, the shadow at her feet explodes like a raging flame.

Amiya's ears ring with urgent cries calling for her.

Doctor... Dr. Kal'tsit...

King of Sarkaz!

The revenant's bellow shakes the walls of the cabin.

A lance breaks free from within the shadows, forming itself into a monstrous symbol before piercing through Amiya.

She is pinned midair in front of the black sphere.

Chimera! I will use your death to inscribe this brand!

The mark of the ones without roots.

The chains chafe against one another, shear apart and slacken.

Blood drips upon the ground.

What was that?

She could still feel Amiya's presence accompanying her, somewhere, somehow.

Little bunny... Damn it. I better find that old coot fast.

'Where emotion flows clearest'... Where the hell is that?

It's too dark in here. Let me light this place up for you, you old bast—

Where are my *Sarkaz expletive* bombs?! No way I'd forget—

The flowing shadows engulf her.

She suddenly feels no support under her feet, like she is drowning in the abyss.

Argh—

It's cold. Ice cold. Why is there not a single sign of life here?

This... isn't the airship, is it?

She sees a great suit of armor, stained with rust, hacking away at a boulder in the wilderness.

A metal man... without a head?

(Ancient Sarkaz language) I have followed you along this campaign of yours, but now that even death has left us, what meaning does slaughter have still...

(Ancient Sarkaz language) If not for slaughter, where would I even go, you say?

I don't understand a damn word they're saying—

Wait... is that rock... talking?

She carefully inspects everything she has on her, realizing that she truly doesn't have any pre-prepared bombs at the moment.

Revenant. Consciousness. Emotion.

The words suddenly jump into her mind.

A revenant... is inside that rock?

Was that you talking, little bunny? This was the help you said you were going to give me, right?

There is no answer.

Just hang in there, Amiya. I'll be back real quick.

She looks toward the headless suit of armor as it drags a boulder into a Catastrophe.

A moment of silence, then she chases after it, rushing into the Catastrophe as well—

She sees the storm within the Catastrophe sweep towards her, revenant tearing apart revenant.

She cannot sense any emotion from within. Just broken consciousness thrown into disarray by the Originium storm.

The core is not here.

Among the ruins of a battlefield, a crazed revenant within a blood-drunk sword is restrained by the headless armor, forced into an ancient rock.

W is disappointed. The core is not here either.

Within a forest, the headless armor breaks apart an altar that a witch coven had once worshipped, collects a runestone covered in inscriptions, and bears it upon its back.

A cowardly revenant had escaped into it, hiding among the carvings.

The core is not here either.

A desolate waste, far from humanity.

A plundered settlement.

She follows the emotions, searching unceasingly, wending her way through the emotions. Fear. Joy. Greed. Hate.

The great revenant within the armor seals away his fellows within massive chunks of rock, dragging them behind him as he wanders the lands.

But he spares a revenant below the volcano, who is concealed within a metal body.

She experiences the bursts of weak emotion that the revenant felt as he wandered, with nothing to show for it in the end.

She feels even more bewildered. What was this revenant trying to do by collecting his own kind...?

<i>How many other revenants cut from the same cloth as him exist? Why were they scattered to every corner of this land?</i>

<i>Who were they, the ones that he spared, the ones who continuously reset their own memories, the revenants who were far from Kazdel?</i>

<i>And then there is the revenant in the airship, the one that set himself ablaze—</i>

The feeble flame within the forge sputters and flickers.

Is this... the Soul Furnace in Kazdel?

No, no way. I remember the fire inside it, bright enough to light up the night sky above the city.

Why is it... so weak?

Wait, this isn't the Soul Furnace I know...

(Ancient Sarkaz language) Why have you bound us back here?!

My friends.

Since death spurned us, we have fought together for near a thousand years.

We have witnessed Kazdel fall and rise and fall, over and over, to the point that we have grown weary of this unchanging, endless cycle.

You left me.

Left Kazdel.

You have hidden away in despair, gotten lost within chaos, forgot yourselves in the slaughter.

But I never left our homeland.

I have walked every inch of every Kazdel!

I still remember every howl of grief for each and every Kazdel!

Kazdel...

I must do something.

And so I carve away a part of my self, to serve as kindling for this forge.

But this flame is too weak, barely able to keep the Sarkaz alive through the winter.

I must do more.

I must grow this flame so that it may shelter them from Catastrophe.

I must grow this flame so that it may admonish any intruder!

No! It is not enough!

I want this fire to burn away those who would bring war to our doorstep!

I want this fire to rewrite our fate!

I tear more of myself away, turning myself into ever more wood for the pyre!

But it is still not enough!

It is far from enough!

Even if I burn my all, it is still not enough!

But there is still you! Death rejects us, and the myriad souls will not admit us!

For you, I left our homeland for the first time, this home that has ignobly died a thousand times upon a thousand times!

Why... Why do you resist me?!

We once swore to protect Kazdel!

Why do you yet resist?! Do you not wish to burn it all?!

All our enemies! All our fates!

Ourselves! We too shall burn away into ash!

The revenant roars in fury.

He throws his rust-stained armor into the forge, and then the boulders that had sealed his kin after it.

The revenant who was the first to set himself ablaze now binds his fellows, igniting them.

The flame of the Soul Furnace erupts.

He feels exhilaration, then anguish, and finally, numbness.

It needs more.

More...