Chapter 318: D-Day (2)

I walked toward Kyle with Byung Yeong-baek.

The moment I crossed the white line marking the negotiation zone, Kyle opened his mouth.

“Stop.”

I halted where I stood.

“Hand Byung Yeong-baek over here.”

“At the same time.”

I looked into Kyle’s blazing eyes and gave a faint smile.

“We agreed on that, didn’t we?”

Facing Kyle and his subordinates like this was the first time since the Territorial Reclamation War. Back then, my memories hadn’t been whole, and it had been unbearably painful. Now that I remembered everything, it wasn’t as painful as before—but in the space where the pain had lessened, resentment had welled up instead.

If only Kyle hadn’t chosen to wage an all-out war.

Some humans would have tried to kill us regardless, but if we had resisted while running instead of declaring war, many things would have been different.

We would have stayed together. Even if we had lived our entire lives as fugitives, we would never have turned our blades on each other. Even if someone had died, our friendship would have remained unshaken.

But that story was over now.

The seniors, their wrists and [N O V E L I G H T] ankles bound in chains, stared straight at me.

I wanted to return their gaze, but I couldn’t.

I wanted to bring up Jin Silver, but I had to swallow that as well. Jin wasn’t part of the negotiation terms, and mentioning him carelessly could have ruined everything.

So I said only what I had prepared.

“The condition was that while the prisoners change positions, everyone else stays completely still.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes.

After a brief silence, he gave a small nod.

“Three seconds. We move at the same time.”

His black hair fluttered in the wind.

“If anyone tries anything funny in the meantime, we kill the hostages first.”

That sounds like you.

We were born into a brutal era and grew up inside it. Even though I had lived on Earth for a long time, there were moments when I realized that my standards were fundamentally different from those of humans living in the present age. And this was despite the fact that, in the world where I had been born and raised, I was often criticized for being “too soft.”

“Fine.”

I muttered quietly.

“Now.”

When Kyle nodded, people began to move.

The air tightened with tension.

Byung Yeong-baek took a step forward.

The noble slowly returned toward Kyle. The black cloth draped over his head fluttered in the wind.

I’d heard that Ju had deeply regretted things, saying he had been just about to change Byung Yeong-baek’s mind. Strangely enough, though, I didn’t feel much regret. Perhaps it was because I had already done everything I could.

I didn’t keep my eyes on Byung Yeong-baek as he moved away. Instead, I watched the seniors approaching me step by careful step. They were moving slowly, making sure not to trip over their own feet.

Leeho stared straight at me.

I gave a bitter smile.

“I’m sorry, sunbae.”

When I muttered that, the other seniors turned their eyes toward me as well.

It was Leeho who replied.

“So you were that old.”

I let out a rough laugh.

I could tell he had deliberately chosen a harmless topic.

“In organizational life, age doesn’t really matter.”

“Good grief.”

Leeho turned his head as if exasperated.

“My parents always told me to respect people who are older than me.”

My bitter smile deepened.

The seniors slowly passed by me.

I no longer watched them as they walked toward the line of Badgers waiting behind me. Instead, I looked at Kyle.

The one who hadn’t taken his eyes off me since the moment I stepped out of the helicopter.

Byung Yeong-baek had now passed Kyle and reached his own kin.

Judging by the sounds coming from behind me, it seemed the seniors had returned safely as well.

The prisoner exchange was complete.

We had avoided the worst-case scenario.

As I inhaled a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding, Kyle spoke.

“I have a proposal.”

His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“If you hand Hildebert over to us without resistance, we’ll stop interfering with the human side.”

For the first time, Kyle wasn’t looking at me.

Instead, he turned his gaze toward the Commander-in-Chief and the Badgers lined up behind him.

Fluent English followed.

“We’ll even take care, in our own way, to make sure Creatures don’t enter the Cores.”

I remained still, smiling.

I had no authority to answer this proposal. This was something the organization had to decide.

The wind brushed past the grass that had grown up to my ankles.

A husky voice answered.

“We refuse.”

When I turned my head, I saw Yehyeon with an expressionless face.

“It’s not credible, and even if it were, it’s not an offer we can accept.”

His black eyes narrowed.

Within them was the same cold decisiveness that reminded me of Lee Seunghyun.

“In the first place, the land you’re standing on is ours. We’re taking back everything that was stolen.”

A crease formed between Kyle’s brows.

Yehyeon rolled his eyes and looked at me.

“Hilde. Relay our proposal.”

“Yes.”

I turned to face Kyle and his kin.

There were some whose names I knew, and others I didn’t. Those I didn’t know looked strikingly young—practically children.

Born and raised on Earth, yet unable to speak the common tongue.

I spoke in the Imperial language.

「If you surrender, you’ll be allowed to live mixed in among humans.」

The faces of my kin twisted.

Ignoring that, I continued. This time my tone was even firmer. Before, everything had been uncertain, and there hadn’t been others like us who didn’t age.

But now, there was an organization called Black Badger.

Strangely enough, it was the outbreak of war that had created the conditions for us to hide.

「There are now humans inside the Cores who don’t age. That means it’s possible to blend in for real. If you surrender at this point, the past will be overlooked. This has already been agreed upon with the human representatives.」

The Elders’ side had contacted us the day before the negotiations.

The night before the talks, the leadership gathered and crafted this proposal based on the decision they had made.

「In fact, the majority of our kin have already blended successfully into human society.」

We had debated whether or not to reveal this fact.

In the end, we decided to disclose it, because we wanted them to accept the proposal.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want revenge. Yvon was killed by Kyle. Many other subordinates fell, pierced by the blades of Rei and Kyle.

But the desire for revenge couldn’t take precedence over the peace and safety of the many.

Never....

「You haven’t changed.」

Kyle sneered.

「Still believing the humans’ ridiculous lies.」

「The humans, including the Elders, don’t want the war to escalate. It’s not a completely false offer. It aligns with their goal of burying the past as well.」

「Those people who are pathologically afraid of Rei?」

Kyle laughed sharply.

「Those bastards who are terrified of our immortality? The moment we surrender, they’ll blow my head off first as a potential bomb. There’s no guarantee you’d be safe either. You could go berserk like Rei. After killing me, who do you think they’d point their guns at next?」

「That could happen.」

I didn’t completely trust the humans’ claims either.

I knew Kyle’s argument had merit. But this was the lesser evil.

「Even so, it’s better than being defeated and exterminated.」

That way, at least some opportunity might fall into our hands.

「If we accept, some of us will get to live peacefully. Kyle, humanity has been steadily increasing its nuclear stockpiles in preparation for a first war, and even now those numbers have only grown, not shrunk. On top of that, humanity has created the Cores, and they’re now aware of us, of Creatures, and of berserk entities. Compared to the first war, the situation is overwhelmingly unfavorable. Do you really think we can win?」

「Spineless bastard.」

Kyle growled.

「Why don’t you just say you want to hand us over to the humans on a silver platter? How long do you think they’ll tolerate us? We’d be lucky if they didn’t quietly capture us one by one and strap us onto operating tables for experiments!」

「This was a game that couldn’t be won from the very beginning. It was that way from the start, and that fact has never changed.」

I had thought about it thousands of times. What should we have done? Where had it all gone wrong?

Every time, I arrived at the same conclusion: the place and the timing had been wrong.

Thinking back, ever since we arrived on Earth, we had never truly had a choice. The moment we took our first step, we revealed that we didn’t age in order to avoid annihilation. If we hadn’t even offered that, back when we didn’t know what missiles or helicopters were, we would have been burned to ashes by humanity’s firepower.

Would things have been different if we had landed somewhere remote, rather than near a powerful government institution...?

Would the outcome have changed if we had arrived among friendly humans?

I always thought in “what ifs.”

But reality never changed.

Immortality—our trump card—melted away with Eve’s success.

That was why my stance had been to take the hands of friendly humans, hide among them, and eliminate hostile elements one by one.

Because Earth was full of humans, and not all of them shared the same opinions.

Because there was nothing more foolish than starting a war you could never win....

「By now, there must be more and more kin who are aging normally.」

I muttered gloomily.

Rehashing these tiresome arguments from the past was pointless.

「But among the Children of the World Tree, it’s basically just you and me left. Kyle, we’re definitely thorns in their eyes. But the others might be able to live lives without violence.」

The man who had once kissed the Emperor’s red ring.

「You made the same judgment once before. Can’t you make that choice again?」

「I say this because I already made that choice once.」

Kyle shot back without the slightest hesitation.

「I know what kind of future awaits those who kneel. I’d rather fight to the end and die than kneel before humans or betray my kin. You’ll never understand.」

Yeah. I don’t understand.

I couldn’t, even as I envied the fact that you could say something like that.

What about the kin who still have long lives ahead of them? The newly born children? The blood of our people that will be spilled meaninglessly?

You’re their leader.

I couldn’t voice those thoughts.

Kyle would think it through to the end. He would believe that if I hadn’t turned my back, we would have won. That in the end, even the hardliners would have changed their minds. That they wouldn’t have dared to press the mutual-destruction button because their lives were too precious.

And then we would have stood above humanity, become beings like the current Elders, looked down on humans, and ruled from the shadows with “reason”....

I wanted that too.

More than anyone.

「Humanity was the one who pointed their guns at us first.」

Kyle’s cold voice cut through my thoughts.

「I’ll make them pay for it.」

Those standing behind him looked at me with the same eyes.

In that society, this was probably considered normal. Those who fought humanity head-on and perished gloriously would become heroes.

But if even the faintest possibility of changing their minds existed....

「What if I let you kill me with your own blade?」

I looked at Kyle.

「Would your choice still remain the same?」

For the first time, Kyle’s expression wavered.

I added desperately.

「We can blend in first and then strike back. You know attacks from the inside can be more effective. If criticism pours down, I’ll take it. If the Elders change their stance and point their blades at us, I’ll step forward and dance with the sword. If you want revenge for Rei, then you can kill me—」

「Shut up.」

Kyle growled.

He looked like he was barely holding himself back from drawing his sword.

「You’re going to die by my hand anyway.」

Rage surged up from my core and struck me hard.

「Do you really think that can be a negotiation condition?」

Please.

Please....

「Kyle. I’m begging you with my life. Look at reality.」

But Kyle didn’t waver.

Staring at me with eyes blazing with hatred, he said,

“The negotiations are over.”

「Once again, you leave me with only one choice.」

I laughed sharply.

「Blinded by hatred toward humanity.」

「And you’re blinded by trust in them.」

Kyle shot back, his voice boiling.

Veins stood out along his pale neck.

「You cowardly traitor—」

Woooong!

The ground lit up.

Golden light burst forth from beneath the ground I was standing on.

At the same time, dozens of layers of magic circles wrapped around my body.

Binding magic.

“Hilde!”

When I twisted around, I saw the seniors charging toward me.

Ricardo, Yun, and Jonathan were the fastest.

As adrenaline flooded my system, reality slowed. The people placing fingers on triggers, the ones sprinting toward me—all of it looked like slow motion.

I tried to grab the hands they were reaching out to me.

But my body below the chest wouldn’t move.

The magic constricted me tightly. My body wouldn’t advance, so only my arm stretched out.

Click, click!

The seniors raised their guns, spitting curses.

Between them and me, dozens of monsters dropped down.

Kuuung!

“If you fire, we’ll blow up the Creature attached to the hostage’s neck!”

One of the kin behind Kyle shouted sharply.

“If you don’t want to go home collecting the pieces of your blown-up comrades, keep your fingers where they are!”

“Move!”

Those charging forward didn’t even pretend to listen.

The three men, voices thick with irritation, shoved aside the rock monsters forming a wall.

Those weren’t things you could just shove aside.

Even as I felt a force tugging at my feet, that thought crossed my mind.

How did they move them?

“Ah.”

My body sank abruptly.

Starting from my feet, I began to fall into another space. At that moment, the three men burst through the Creatures and lunged toward me.

If the teleportation circle had activated just one second later, they would have caught my hand.

Just one second too fast, and our hands failed to meet.

The seniors shouted curses in their respective native languages.

Their figures vanished from my sight in an instant.

The hands they had desperately stretched out disappeared just as quickly.

Darkness swallowed my vision.

So this is how it ends.

“It can’t be helped.”

I muttered as I fell.

“Please come save me.”

And while we’re at it, we should wipe out the mages in one sweep.