The moment their spell met, Rue’s ice shattered against the spiralling metallic shrapnel. The shrapnel spun and spun and tore through the sky straight at him. Rue dodged sideways, and the shrapnel bolted through the cobblestone wall behind him and blasted apart all the way to the other end of the hallway.

  Well, that sure was powerful.

  Did she put her Creation point investment into that spell?

  “No,” Rue thought under his breath. “It's probably those spider legs.” That spell allowed her to easily climb the brothel’s top. Those leg grips must be powerful, and Rue could see the brothel's white walls cracking along its path.

  Do I try to save her?

  Lire made it clear that he could save her if he killed Sruka first. Rue also hated everything about what Sruka had done, the forced slavery through magic. His blood boiled at the mere sight of the girl who had clearly lost all of her own self.

  This was no different from their old world… No, that was a lie. This was different. He was standing. And he could perhaps do something about her slavery.

  He prepared another spell to throw, but then the girl climbed back down. Her spider legs moved around her, and four of them reached inside the brothel window, wrapping something.

  Rue kept his eyes on the sight, and his body stiffened as Yom and Gilbert were carried up by her, each still awake, and they slammed down upon the rooftops. Not just them, Emily and Ilyrin were also caught with Paxwell. All five of them were now held by the girl’s legs. Then another figure appeared.

  A demon, with twin horns and completely red skin, just like the imp, but his complexion was darker. The demon only wore a loincloth, revealing his bulky body. He jumped up over the girl and stared at Rue. In the demon’s grip was a whip just like Sruka’s.

  [Demon Warlock—Level 25]

  The demon’s whip snaked through the air like a halo and settled across Yom’s neck, tightening.

  Below, the brothel gate opened, and the knight sauntered out. His armor caught the gleam of sunlight, and blood clearly marred it.

  “Human!” the knight bellowed across the plaza for all to hear. “As you can see, we have caught the rest of the integrators. Surrender yourself now and save them!”

  Rue calmly descended from the house and walked toward the Watcher.

  “This is allowed?”

  “It is not your usual tutorial, but it’s allowed. They find it amusing,” the Watcher merely said.

  They?

  “Surrender now!” the knight screamed once more.

  Rue walked forward, not toward the brothel but toward a random house. The crowd split apart, allowing him space to walk as they still gazed between the knight, hostages, and Rue.

  “Are you listening to me!” the knight bellowed.

  Rue glanced back, not at the knight but at Yom. This was too far to make out his expression. Rue’s hand touched the door, then an announcement almost stopped everything around him.

  “We’re not bluffing,” the knight declared.

  Crack.

  Yom’s neck snapped, and the girl threw his body down.

  A splatter echoed through the sky. The crowd gasped. Rue let out a cold breath, and his grip on the door handle tightened.

  I’m sorry, Yom.

  Rue entered the house, ignoring the knight's call. He would not get provoked. But still, the moment he closed the door, Rue slid down against it. His limbs slackened, and at once, he thought that he might be in a nightmare.

  A knot of pure anger twisted inside him, then slowly it changed into shame. Why? Why shame? What else could he do? He… That was right, nothing he could do, so anger took over again, a white-hot filtered anger, at Sruka, at her husbands, the Imps, and even this event that granted him life.

  “Get out of there now!” the knight demanded.

  Rue ignored it, silencing the world around him, cupping his ears.

  The silence was somehow comfortable. With a shaken body, Rue stumbled upstairs. He began opening doors one by one until he found a storage room. And on a desk, just beside a sword rack, were potions arranged with five mana potions and another five Health Potions. Good, he needed this.

  He needed time most of all to recover his Stasis of Obsidian Ice. He looked upon the sword rack, filled with broadswords. That took his mind off things. Hm, he would pick one later. Rue sat down by the corner and exhaled, trying to bring himself down despite the ghastly cold creeping around his arm like a ghost.

  He sat in a meditative state, arranging five mana potions just beside him first, and began to drink one.

  The knight was still shouting.

  Rue tried to avoid guilt, and it was hard. His… friends were being killed now. And he was here sitting… No, he was not just sitting. This was a strategy, yes, to help anyone who survives. If anyone survives. Silence, silence, he needed silence.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  He needed silence for his Heart of Frost Knight. Well, the spell was still ongoing to heal his body and armor now. But, Rue could strengthen it if he could just focus—another splatter resounded, and Rue rose straight up, knocking over two mana potions, cracking another two as he suddenly took a quick half-step toward the storeroom’s exit.

  He needed to leave. To fight. Now, he was level twenty-five, maybe he could kill the knight and then… Then what? faced both the girl and that demon? And Sruka, who may or may not recover now?

  “I can’t just sit…”

  No, no, no, he had to sit down and heal his armor.

  Rue forcefully sat himself down, and he breathed out. A cold wisp went through his body, and he clenched his eyes shut.

  So far, no new sound—Don’t think about that…

  Just remember—remember the time when whirring machinery worked around.

  When I could not do anything but close my eyes. I've been dead my whole life. You had it worse back then.

  Cold swept through his body. Rue’s neck chilled with an excruciating freezing sensation. A tangle of stings touched Rue's consciousness, and he reached into it, finding comfort in untangling his mana.

  When the sting softened in a knot, Rue let his mana flow through his Heart of Frost Knight. He formed his mana into a pure coldness and funneled the coldness into a strange, dark world where his Obsidian armor lay half-melted.

  The armor regeneration began to accelerate.

  Rue left the world of silence for a bit. He held still a couple of seconds to make sure he did not hear a creaking sound.

  How many of them died now? For now, he could not think about that.

  Rue drank more mana potion, silently cursing himself for destroying two. He repeated the process. Enhancing the armor recovery further.

  It was not enough. He left the room, picking up a sword, and then proceeded to find more mana potions.

  “My, my, look at this,” a voice said suddenly.

  Rue turned, too tired to raise his sword.

  A middle-aged, lean man pinched his twirling moustache and smiled widely at Rue. He wore a linen cap that shielded his hair completely, and a garb of clean orange cloth that signaled him as a wealthy individual.

  [Human, Merchant—Level 15]

  “I need a Mana Potion,” Rue said.

  “Potions, you say… I’m afraid our dear angel down there made it clear I could not give you anything. Although if you somehow raid my second storage room just at the end of the hallway. Then who can say…”

  Rue moved immediately, ignoring the man who suddenly stepped forward and walked beside Rue.

  “The Watcher—angel, allowed you to talk to me?”

  “Well, I reasoned it’s my house, and I didn't invite him in. It was quite funny, I tell you. I, a humble merchant, tell off the ancient angel—the watcher. A creature of legend that by all minds needed to be given proper respect. But, I must seize the chance when I see it,” the merchant lunged forward, opening his second storage room for Rue. “I will ask one thing only. Remember me. My name is Guln.”

  “I will remember,” Rue said, entering the storage room to find a dozen mana potions inside cased glass containers. “Alert me if someone enters?”

  “Don’t push your luck, my friend. But well, as a home owner…” he grinned. “I will scream if someone enters my house uninvited.”

  ---

  “Hey, you, you’re finally done,” Guln said, crunching a crispy bread as he casually sat on a dining chair.

  “Did it take long?”

  “Long enough that the knight is no longer screaming.”

  That was bad. How many died? He should ask—no, it did not matter. Now what mattered was that he marched straight into the brothel.

  “Is it too much to ask you not to destroy the brothel?” Guln asked, offering him a piece of bread. Rue took it and ate it wholly in one second bite.

  “It is.”

  He left the building, and there was a crowd surrounding Guln’s house. They parted ways when Rue emerged. Some began to follow him with excitement, bounding behind their steps.

  The Watcher still silently watched.

  The knight stood, crossing his arms, and his gait clearly pissed off. Rue spotted two bodies from afar, a woman and a man. Emily or Ilyrin had died. Anger threatened to take over his body, but Rue still calmly walked toward the knight.

  “Finally,” the knight said, summoning a great sword that settled comfortably in both of his arms. “You sure levelled up a lot. Arch-Core is truly wondrous. But you will still need to apply the technique in a proper fight. I recommend that you surrender, now.”

  The paved path stretched between them. Now much closer, Rue could see Ilyrin, Gilbert, and Paxwell being held by the girl. Her dead eyes stared down at Rue. The demon’s whip began to creep around Gilbert’s neck. But Rue ignored that.

  Nothing he could do about it. Even if he were captured, there was no guarantee they would be spared. They had chosen their classes after all.

  So that was why Rue raised his broadsword, making it clear that he would not back down.

  “Cold one are you?” A tint of excitement coloured the knight’s voice.

  Then a bat. Two bats flew up with their paper-thin wings.

  Rue's eyes followed them. They flew from the balcony and silently glided around the brothel.

  “What's so funny?” the knight asked.

  “Am I laughing?”

  “No, you’re smiling.”

  “Tell me, you’re a human, are you not?”

  “Ah, let me guess. You’re a human!” The knight opened one arm, playfully shaking his great sword in the air. “So, we must support each other! So narrow your world is! Integrator, the world is huge. Domains upon domains. Worlds inside worlds. Galaxy upon galaxies.”

  “And soon they will be combined into one.”

  “Oh? You knew about that?”

  “I can surmise well enough.”

  “So? What is your point then? Should we work together? Entire races against other races?”

  “No, not at all. But I do wonder what kind of mess I will be stepping into in the future. That is. I don’t think I have any grand ideology. Everything was… white to me until recently. I just want to live. It's that simple.”

  The knight was silent for a while, then he spoke. “Your actions are different than your words.”

  “I told you I’m still figuring things out,” Rue shrugged, training his sword on the knight.

  “Hm, I see, I suppose talking about it does help to form what you want in the future. Although I’m not sure I can help much. Everything I have is for Sruka, and you shall fall for her sake.”

  “Yes, I know someone like you. Wait, that's silly. I suppose almost everyone is like you. They would rather save their loved ones than let hundreds die. Yes, that's normal. However, it’s also normal for someone to sacrifice their freedom for the sake of hundreds or millions. That I can understand to some degree, but I also hate it. It’s a conundrum. I suppose just living for the sake of myself is the best path, no? Maybe seeing this universe of yours, to walk on it, to reach things I never felt before.”

  “The world is—”

  “Reborn, not ending.” Rue corrected him.

  The knight nodded, not offering any argument. He entered a battle stance. “If you survive this. The tutorial. Me. Sruka. Then, make sure to go out there after you secure the Last World with other Integrators. There will be a slight gap before the grand migration happens—always does—trillions were about to leave their dying world. That will be the only chance for you to explore before stepping into the mess that is the Last World.”

  “Thanks for your recommendation.” That did not sound bad. Rue gazed up, and the bats shone brightly.

  That's enough talking then.

  The knight noticed yet again and screamed. “Beyong! Above you!”

  Lire and Agi manifested into their full-body. The Succubus wrapped her legs around the demon’s neck while Agi tackled the girl into a rolling heap. The girl’s spider legs released Paxwell, Ilyrin, and Gilbert. And above the brothel’s roof, a fight took place.

  The knight’s body trembled. It was the second time this happened. Was that anger?

  The knight laughed out loud, his armor clattering. “Was that all a distraction?”

  “No, I just won’t be able to talk to you the moment we fight.” Rue widely lifted both of his arms, and dark frost began to creep around his body. “There was a lot I wanted to say to that Gargoyle too.”

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