"RAAAYM!!!"
That name echoed in everyone's ears, but the one who'd cried it out hadn't yet grasped that Raym wasn't in a state that even allowed for a smile...
The voice's owner — Vail — hurried toward the group, most of his focus fixed on Raym. Vail caught sight of his hollowed features, his shattered arm, and a few missing faces — but what truly shattered the moment he'd been waiting for was the way Raym's spirit seemed to have vanished entirely. Vail felt that what stood before him was Raym's body — or, let's say, what remained of it.
Before he could take another step, Daniel caught his arm and gave a small nod...
"Now... is not the time. Not at all."
Vail lowered his head, as though he understood something he'd been pretending not to.
As the camp's gates opened, no one had been expecting their arrival. The place was nearly empty, its stillness broken only by a few men running left and right as though in a hurry. Daniel glanced around, then let out a sigh without a word...
They took another step forward, and a voice called out to them from a distance: "Hey — you're back..." — but it cut itself off the moment it took in their state.
At the sound of that voice, Aldous snapped awake at once, and stood as though bracing himself, saying in an exhausted voice:
"Haaah... Lord... Leo. I'm sorry... I wasn't... worthy of it..."
Deputy Commander Leo took in their condition for a moment, a glance sweeping from top to bottom, and thought to himself: Hm. I wonder who could possibly have brought Aldous to this state...
The moment he saw Raym's condition, he froze in place for an instant, then began looking around, and understood most of what had happened almost at once — at least the parts that were obvious. He ordered immediate care for Raym and Aldous, while the rest of the group rested. Leo turned quickly and left, and Vail too looked like a man wearing the face of a crushing disappointment...
Before they could go their way, Daniel stepped into Vail's path and said in a firm voice:
"What's going on here??? Things aren't right. You can't hide it. Where's the Commander??? And where's Sephar, too??? And Irene???"
Vail sighed briefly, then said in a grieving voice:
"Ooh, where do I even start... Things have moved fast. The SI army has started intensive movements searching for us, and they've destroyed a great deal along the way. They're spreading everywhere, and we can't keep up..."
He lowered his head:
"Things are slipping out of control — to the point he's been sending only a handful of men to places crawling with them. Most of them don't come back. And worse, the battalion commanders have started going out alone."
Vail clenched his own hand tight, dropped his head, and closed his eyes, saying:
"And they're getting close to... to that place. Specifically. They could arrive any moment..."
Daniel's face showed shock and dread, but Vail cut in quickly:
"But there's one piece of good news. Commander Seroh is close to an agreement with the town of CORE, and they'll be joining our side..."
Daniel's expression shifted instantly to clear irritation, and he said with sarcasm:
"That isn't even a village. There's nothing there, not even life..."
Vail smiled with a false kind of hope, and said:
"Heh — and that's exactly where the trick lies. Those broken houses were only a decoy. It's an entire vertical city beneath the ground, crawling with people ready to lend a hand — for one purpose: ending the SI army completely."
Daniel smiled with that same smile, and said, his voice carrying a trace of relief:
"Alright then — we'll finish the rest later. I'm exhausted..."
They walked off in opposite directions, but each of them held his own hand clenched tight — Vail's especially so...
A few days passed. Raym began to regain his strength, but he was still as he'd been since that moment. His sword — shattered...
A memory suddenly surfaced in Raym's mind, strange and blurred, as though it didn't quite belong to him:
A small boy, six years old, covered in blood and wounds everywhere, dragging a sword that looked far too large for him — even the sword itself bore marks and blood...
A few men found him. Vail was among them...
A small boy, in a state like this??? How had he survived??? He'd heard that this mountain forest was full of dangerous cliffs and predatory beasts. His appearance suggested he'd been out there for days...
The men drew closer, but he brandished the sword in their faces.
What sort of boy was this??? How old could he possibly be, to be playing with something this dangerous???
Vail approached him without hesitation. Little Raym fell into a strange stance with the sword — impossible to tell whether it was meant to defend or attack. Vail drew closer, and closer still — but Raym felt something like comfort toward him, and his guard fell, and he collapsed into Vail's arms from sheer exhaustion...
Vail shouted, his voice heavy, just as the memory began to fade:
"Quick — someone bring a towel and bandages!!!"
And the last words he spoke, for that moment, were:
"Please... live!!!"
Raym snapped back to the present all at once, his eyes wide with shock. He couldn't understand where that image had come from, or why he'd felt it from the inside rather than the outside — as though he were the boy collapsing into those arms, not merely a witness to a story he'd only ever been told...