Advent of the Three Calamities

Leon remained laying long after Evelyn left.

The door had already closed behind her, leaving the room completely silent save for the occasional noise that filtered in from outside. Even then, her final words continued to linger inside his mind.

"...You matter too."

Leon sat up and stared at the floor.

For the longest time, he had convinced himself that everything he had been doing was for Julien. Becoming stronger, entering the Ranking Battles, putting his life on the line... It was because he was his knight.

Because he needed to become useful.

Because he didn’t want to become someone Julien constantly had to worry about.

At least, that was what he had always told himself.

But...

’Would I really stop if he no longer needed me?’

Leon’s fingers slowly curled against his knees.

The answer came almost immediately.

No.

Even if Julien told him that he didn’t need a knight anymore, Leon knew that he wouldn’t simply stop. Thinking back to everything that had happened since entering Karah Togg, his mind drifted toward the lower floors.

Toward the children.

Toward the people who willingly threw themselves into fights where they knew they could die simply because that was the only way they could survive.

He hated it.

He hated this city, and somewhere along the way, his reason for fighting had changed.

Perhaps Evelyn was right.

Maybe he wasn’t doing this entirely for Julien anymore.

He was by no means a hero, but when something like this appeared before his eyes, his conscience simply wouldn’t leave him alone.

"..."

For some reason, realizing that didn’t make Leon feel guilty. Instead, he felt strangely relieved, the tension that had been sitting over his shoulders slowly easing as he leaned back against the bed and raised his gaze toward the ceiling.

Julien had seen his death.

That fact hadn’t changed, and neither had the danger waiting ahead of him.

But...

Leon closed his eyes.

’I still want to continue.’

Not because he wanted Julien to praise him, nor because he needed to prove that Julien was wrong.

He simply wanted to.

When his eyes opened again, they were noticeably calmer. Leon remained like that for a few seconds, staring silently above him as he contemplated Evelyn’s words before a faint smile appeared across his face.

Right, I’m just at the second level.

"I’ll go higher."

***

Swooosh—

The red veil flickered again.

"...Fuck."

It was barely visible now.

I stood in the middle of the ruined street, my eyes moving rapidly across everything around me as several threads extended from my fingertips and slipped into the cracks beneath the stone.

They didn’t travel far, barely managing to move a few centimeters before something stopped them.

’Again.’

More threads spread outward, some entering the walls while others moved through the rubble. I searched every single crack that I could find, trying to locate something that might lead beneath the city.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing.

And yet—

Swooosh!

The faint red trail continued straight through the ground.

’It’s definitely underneath me.’

There was no doubt about it. Noel was somewhere below, or at the very least, something related to him was.

That alone was enough.

I moved again, following the veil as it shifted slightly beneath the ground. Since I couldn’t go through the floor directly, I followed its general direction instead, moving between the worn buildings surrounding me.

The area grew quieter with every step.

At some point, there was nobody left. Only broken houses and collapsed walls remained, the streets narrowing until I had to move sideways through certain gaps, the rough stone brushing against my clothes as I squeezed through.

"..."

My breathing gradually grew heavier.

Not because I was tired, but because I could feel it.

I was close.

Far closer than I had ever been.

Ba... Thump. Ba... Thump.

My heart pounded loudly inside my chest as the veil flickered once more.

Then—

My vision went dark.

"Ah."

It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but I saw it.

A body lying across the sand.

Silver hair stained red.

Leon’s eyes stared blankly toward the sky.

———!

My vision snapped back.

I stopped, staring at the empty street ahead of me while clutching my eye. My chest heaved up and down as sweat trickled along the side of my face. From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the faded window to my right.

My expression was rather pale. My hair was also disheveled.

’Nothing’s changed.’

The red veil still floated weakly before me, and after looking at it for a brief moment, I continued walking.

Step. Step.

Another few meters passed before—

Flicker.

The world changed again.

Kiera sat on the ground, black veins covering almost every inch of her face as her pitch-black eyes stared at me.

Her lips moved.

Monster.

Her words floated into my mind, echoing over and over again.

"..."

The image disappeared, but this time I didn’t stop.

’They’re just visions.’

I already knew what they showed me. There was no point in looking at them again when all they did was waste my time.

My steps quickened.

Swooosh—!

The veil suddenly curved toward one of the collapsed buildings.

I immediately followed it, stepping over several pieces of broken stone before entering through what remained of the doorway. The interior was completely destroyed, with half the ceiling having collapsed and buried most of the room beneath rubble while thick cracks stretched across the remaining walls.

There was nothing here.

Or...

My gaze lowered.

The veil.

It was stronger.

Not by much, but I could see it more clearly than before.

"...Here."

I crouched and pressed my hand against the stone beneath me.

Several threads immediately spread through the cracks. At first, nothing happened, but then—

’Hm?’

One of the threads sank deeper.

My eyes narrowed as I focused on that particular thread and pushed it farther.

One meter.

Two.

Three.

Then...

The resistance disappeared completely.

’An empty space.’

My heart jumped.

There was something underneath.

I immediately stood up and looked around the ruined building, searching for an opening. There had to be one. A staircase, a hatch... anything.

But just like before, there was nothing.

"How...?"

My breathing grew slightly rougher as the veil flickered again.

No.

No, no.

Not now.

"Come on."

I moved toward the wall and started pushing aside the rubble, tossing one stone after another behind me as dust scattered through the room.

"Nothing."

I moved toward another pile and searched through it.

Still nothing.

"Where the fuck is it?"

My voice came out louder than I intended.

I stopped, forcing myself to breathe as I closed my eyes.

’Calm down.’

Getting emotional wasn’t going to help me. There had to be a path.

If people were bringing Noel’s blood up from somewhere beneath the city, then there had to be a way down.

Unless...

My eyes opened.

"...Unless they aren’t using a normal path."

That was possible. Considering Dawn was involved, expecting some ordinary staircase might’ve been stupid from the start. No, this was logical from the start. In that case, should I just force my way down?

’That might alert him.’

I pressed my hand against the floor again.

[Mana Sense]

A thin white layer formed around my hand as I tried to feel for anything beneath me. The world around me shifted subtly beneath the effects of the spell before—

———!

My head suddenly jerked back.

A vision struck me again.

This one was clearer than the ones that I had seen in the past.

Karah Togg was burning.

The walls had collapsed, and enormous creatures moved through the streets while screams echoed from every direction.

I stood among all of it with Noel on my back.

And behind me, people died by the hundreds. By the thousands.

I could hear it all.

Their cries of desperation.

Help...

Please...

Don’t leave—!

"..."

My hand trembled as I remained completely still, staring into a scene I had already witnessed before.

Then another voice reached me.

You never change, Emmet.

Toren.

No matter what you do, you’ll fail.

My fingers slowly curled against the ground.

"...Shut up."

The vision continued.

Leon appeared again, his body lying broken beneath the sand. Then came Kiera, followed by the city and Noel.

Again and again, each image flashed faster than the last until it almost felt as though someone was deliberately shoving them inside my mind.

Warning me.

Telling me to stop.

That the path that I was taking would only lead me there.

Ba... Thump! Ba... Thump!

My breathing grew rough as pressure continued to build inside my chest.

But then—

I suppressed it.

Fear, anxiety, hesitation...

One after another, I pushed them down until the noise inside my mind slowly faded.

The images remained, but they no longer mattered.

"..."

My hand steadied, and the trembling stopped.

’I’ve already seen this future.’

I knew what would happen if I followed that path. Leon would die, Kiera would turn, the city would fall, and apparently I’d become some sort of monster in the process.

Fine.

I understood.

But—

Swooosh...

The red veil flickered before my eyes.

It was almost gone.

My gaze hardened as I stared at it.

Noel was beneath me. Toren was also aware of my presence. Who was to say that he wasn’t coming right at this moment? This was my only chance. There was no other way around it.

After all this time, after everything that I had gone through...

He was finally within reach.

’I can’t. I can’t...’

Was I supposed to turn around now because of a future that hadn’t even happened yet?

"...No, no."

I pushed myself up while the visions flashed once more at the edges of my sight.

I ignored them.

There was a path beneath the city. I knew that much now, and if there wasn’t an obvious entrance...

I’d make one.

My gaze lowered toward the ground as mana slowly gathered around my hand.

If Leon wanted to continue climbing despite everything I’d told him, then there was nothing I could do about that for now. I had something else that I needed to accomplish first.

Something that had waited far too long.

I stared at the fading red veil beneath my feet for several seconds before quietly muttering,

"I’ll go lower."

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