Black Badger

This is how it unfolded.

“Jack.”

When Cecil blasted Igor and Hildebert into a building—

just as a grim sense of impending catastrophe began to settle over the scene, Shu called out to the junior who was kneeling on one knee, blankly focused on something.

The man who had been a massive issue the moment he arrived.

The junior who had saved her didn’t hear her call.

Not because it was loud, but because he seemed deeply absorbed in something.

Probably rummaging through nearby Creatures.

But Shu didn’t have the luxury of waiting.

She tapped Jack Black on the back.

“Jack.”

“Contractor!”

Surprisingly, the prickly-looking man helped her out.

“Snap out of it!”

That was more aggressive than necessary.

But thanks to it, focus returned to Jack Black’s eyes.

He turned his head sharply, looking at her in confusion.

“Senior?”

“Do you remember when you saved me?”

Shu spoke abruptly. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“When you pulled me out of the flower. You remember, right? You said that the moment you grabbed me, you saw strange memories.”

Jack looked startled, then quickly regained his composure.

“I remember.”

“If I go grab her this time, the same thing might happen again.”

Shu had often heard stories about Cecil from her father.

She knew that because of Cecil, her father had survived and come back to her. That was why—if there was even the slightest chance that doing something could calm that madness, she wanted to try it.

Anything.

“I think there’s a reason she targeted me specifically and kidnapped me.”

Sometimes, she dreamed about that time.

She didn’t think it had become full-blown trauma.

Still, the golden eyes that had looked down at her surfaced often. She hadn’t remembered them right after being rescued, but as time passed, fragments of memory floated up and lodged themselves in her mind.

Jet-black hair and golden earrings.

A pale man who felt like a black lion.

Looking down at her with fury—

‘You became a Badger prepared for this, didn’t you.’

Words she had heard half-asleep.

‘When this is over, send me off without pain.’

She must have shoved those memories beneath her conscious mind out of fear back then.

But now, as she did rehab exercises for legs that refused to move, she found herself revisiting those memories often.

The meaning behind her kidnapping—and the story Simon had told her about Cecil before falling asleep.

“Carry me and run.”

She had to try.

So she made an unreasonable request.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s dangerous. But—”

Jack answered by picking her up.

The black-haired man panicked.

“Hey!”

“Stay crouched, Yoow.”

Jack immediately ran out onto the main road.

A heavy wind slammed into them.

Just as the sounds had suggested, the insane barrage of attacks had paused for a moment. The surroundings were a wreck from the relentless bombardment, but it didn’t seem immediately dangerous.

The former driver began sprinting freely across the gouged ground.

“Cecil!”

Shu called out, crushing the anxiety and guilt burning inside her.

The massive, familiar flower.

The woman clutching her head, bowing as if in agony.

“Cecil!”

The Badger screamed desperately.

“Cecil! Snap out of it!”

The mage didn’t respond.

Instead, someone else did.

“Hey!”

Hildebert’s voice rang out from behind the line of fire.

“Kai!”

The junior so outstanding that envy didn’t even arise was chasing after them.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

The red-haired junior didn’t answer.

Didn’t even look back.

Thankfully, he just kept running, ignoring the furious, worried shouts behind him.

Shu was shocked by Jack Black’s running.

She’d thought he was only fast on the track.

Was he training hard? The distance to Cecil shrank rapidly. The flower loomed larger. The woman screaming in pain came into clear view.

As they got closer, fear struck hard.

If only her legs worked properly.

What if Jack died because of her?

What if Cecil exploded again the moment they climbed the petals—

That didn’t happen.

Jack Black scaled the flower in one breath.

Shu didn’t hesitate and reached out toward the man who had saved her father.

She grabbed a slender arm.

White as plaster.

“Cecil!”

She screamed desperately.

“Simon Diamond—”

The edge of her vision crackled.

Shu stopped mid-shout and looked at what had caught her eye.

Cecil’s body, submerged in shining liquid, convulsing in places.

What is that?

That was her thought—

right before memories flooded in.

And the scene changed.

‘Cecil.’

That man was there again.

Long, flowing black hair cascading to his waist.

Someone who seemed to breathe anger and vengeance instead of air cast his gaze down.

‘You still don’t recognize me?’

He stood amid ashen ruins.

In the colorless void around him ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ yawned a hole reminiscent of a portal.

Wind spilled from it, tossing his hair.

The golden gaze he threw was so sharp it made her insides go cold.

‘I barely managed to find you again, kidnapping a single whelp.’

A longsword hung at his waist.

‘You’ve deteriorated even more in the meantime.’

Shu didn’t understand the words that followed.

But she knew they shook Cecil to her core.

Because her vision began to warp violently—

BOOM!

She was struck by the shockwave.

A heavy pain rattled her consciousness. When she came to, Shu was on the ground. A dull ache wrapped around her body.

But her enhanced body recovered quickly.

She pushed against the rough ground with both palms and lifted her upper body.

“Ah.”

The red-haired man was collapsed a short distance away, brow deeply furrowed.

From his closed eyes and twisted expression, Shu could tell how much pain he was in. He must have taken most of the impact protecting her.

It was impressive he hadn’t lost consciousness.

He didn’t even have an enhanced body—his injuries wouldn’t heal right away...

「Aaaah! Aaaah!」

“Jack.”

She murmured his name blankly.

It was drowned out by Cecil’s despair-filled scream, but—

Ah.

Jack Black narrowed his eyes and looked at her.

Hildebert was drawing Cecil’s attention away, pulling her farther from them. Because of that, spells weren’t pouring down near Jack for the moment.

That didn’t mean Jack was fine.

Guilt twisted inside her.

But before Shu could say anything, the red-haired junior mouthed words silently.

She could read his lips easily.

‘Go.’

Just one word.

‘Again.’

Shu didn’t ask him to repeat it.

She steadied herself and nodded.

Then, pushing against the ground with her hands, she began crawling toward the flower.

She would keep trying until her arms gave out and she could no longer crawl.

Because Cecil had given her father back to her.

As many times as it took.

This time, it was her turn to repay the debt.

***

Kyle.

Even as I aggressively threw sword strikes to keep the Grand Mage’s attention on me, the memory I’d just seen made my blade waver several times.

Jagged-edged attacks flew in.

I clenched my teeth and swung my sword.

I saw him—the one from the memory.

It was probably because Shu had grabbed Cecil.

When I’d grabbed her, memories had flooded in too, so maybe it didn’t matter who it was. But unlike when I’d touched her, when Shu did, the memories spilled outward, indiscriminately.

Even I, standing relatively far from the flower, was forced to see the past.

So were Igor and Yoow.

The bewildered mutters of my subordinates confirmed it. We were all being forced to watch the overflowing memories.

Bright golden eyes filled with anger.

A Swordmaster standing in ruins.

Kyle had said this while looking at Cecil:

「I told you it was a futile wait.」

It sounded cruel precisely because there was no intent to provoke.

「Enough with the pointless waiting. I’d like to ask you to finish treating the mages.」

Those words shook Cecil.

The memory wavered, then cut out.

I could piece it together now. Meierbold and Navarate had received Cecil’s treatment and fully awakened.

And at some point, Kyle had encountered Cecil.

Finding her before I did, Kyle must have tried desperately to revisit her world to completely heal the Grand Mages.

To find that ashen world, he had kidnapped Shu as well—

knowing she possessed a strange portal affinity.

Ah.

I suddenly wanted to cry.

Kysis wasn’t coming.

Even though Kyle commanded mages, he had succeeded in finding Cecil again—someone he’d believed dead.

There was no way Kysis would have failed all this time.

Kysis wasn’t searching for Cecil.

He couldn’t come.

Dead—or in a state little different from it.

Unable to come...

BOOOOM!

The mage turned fully toward me.

I neutralized the bundled spells pouring down with sword strikes.

I let some through, but ignored them and pressed the attack.

I stopped calling her name defensively. Ignoring the spells slamming into my body and flinging me around, I attacked relentlessly.

If Cecil’s attention turned back to Kairos or Shu, it would be a catastrophe.

I assaulted her like I meant to take her head.

Focus on me!

BOOOOM!

[Ami is on her way.]

Half lost in a trance of trading slashes and spells, the aide’s voice came through the communicator.

[Yun and Jason too.]

“Tell them to pull Jack out!”

[Jack is already being dragged away by your subordinate.]

The dazzling spells made my eyes sting.

[That tactician.]

A mage’s biggest weakness is cooldown.

Without it, this is hell to deal with.

[The black-haired swordsman is back on his feet.]

At this rate, my mana circuits will burn out regardless!

Rampage is like an athlete doping—using the body far beyond what it can handle.

Until it burns black and turns to ash.

[Nearby, Jin and Kai—]

「Cecil!!」

I raised my sword.

「You said it yourself!」

Something surged up from deep in my chest.

I vented it as I swung.

「That you wouldn’t rampage because you couldn’t meet someone if you turned to ash!」

When had she said that?

「That even if you withered and died, you wouldn’t become ash!!」

Thoom!

The sword strike surged forward—

burning away every incoming spell.

It was strange. I felt as though something was burning out from inside me, becoming part of the slash itself.

What is this?

It felt different from usual.

Like I’d glimpsed some kind of clue.

BOOOOOM!

That spark of intuition snuffed out like a candle.

A deafening roar, white smoke billowing upward.

And blood burst.

For the first time, I landed a solid hit on Cecil. The mage twisted, brow furrowing as the outer side of her exploded arm wracked her with pain.

And behind her—

a small hand appeared.

It was Shu.

I stared in horror as the senior crawled up the flower.

How did she get there with those legs...?

“My dad.”

Shu refused to give up, grabbing the writhing Cecil.

“Cecil. My dad says please change.”

In that instant, memories flooded in again.

Fragments of the past overflowing, sweeping over everything.

The ashen world appeared once more.

Now, she was looking down at the ground.

More precisely, at me lying on it.

Me, smeared with blood and black ash.

‘This is enough.’

My past self muttered.

‘Let me die.’