I fly through the sky with Silver Wolf in my arms.
Silver Wolf, nestled in my embrace, lets her eyes shine as she looks down at the city.
We had always been the ones looking up at the city from beneath the skyscrapers, so this was the first time we were looking down on them instead.
“……Are you an idiot? I went to all that trouble to keep you alive.”
“You watched Adrian Servet’s life’s absolute sickest mad movie and that’s the review you came up with?”
“What kind of review were you expecting?”
I move forward, carving a trail like a blue meteor.
I am a pair of six wings scattering light.
Blood keeps spilling from the corner of my mouth, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
I’m at my limit soon.
“Silver Wolf.”
“Yeah.”
“For the last time, want to pick up the speed?”
Han Siu, boasting eighty-nine wing-suit rides under his belt.
Surviving eighty-nine runs was proof enough that I was strong.
“Let’s go!!!”
“W-wait just a second…!”
“What, are you scared? Kya-hahaha! I didn’t think you were such a coward!”
“……Run. Let’s go all the way to the end of the world.”
Whoooosh!!!
The six pairs of wings spread out in dazzling splendor.
Strike Freedom Gundam launch!!!
I pull out a cybernetic pair of goggles and slip them onto Silver Wolf.
Then I keep increasing our speed.
Chicken-coop apartments and old buildings are packed tightly along the outskirts of Neon City.
The people who weren’t caught up in the fighting inside stare at us, their eyes going wide.
The trail of light we leave behind is beautiful.
Even Silver Wolf, who was scared at first, looks out at the horizon of the world and bursts out laughing.
“Adrian!!! We’re flying!!!”
Her smiling face was beyond beautiful.
As we race along the outskirts and head deeper into the city, the artificially made starry sky shines down on us.
“Silver Wolf!!! Let’s go all the way to the top!!!”
“To the end of the world!!!”
“Yeah!!!”
Everyone in Neon City sees us.
The people who never once got to see this view.
The people working inside the buildings, behind their partitions.
The hackers partying on the rooftops.
Everyone is looking at us.
Though the end of my third life was drawing near, we flew as if none of that mattered.
One beat of the wings swallowed dozens of meters. I could feel a thick, nauseating sensation, like my insides were twisting apart, but I didn’t care. In the end, after leaving a blue trail of light over every district of Neon City, we were satisfied.
And then, one last time.
Beyond the clouds, all the way to the summit of the sky.
“Wow…….”
“Amazing.”
Through the thick clouds of Neon City, the real sea of stars appears.
Silver Wolf reaches out toward the starry sky.
The stars looked so close, yet they were impossibly far away.
After staring at the sky for a moment, we once again pierced through the clouds and descended.
After that, we tried to land stylishly on the tallest building in Neon City…….
Crash, bang, thud!
“Ow!!!”
“……You had to ruin it at the very end!”
My legs gave out, and I sprawled across the rooftop in a miserable landing.
“Cough, cough. The air at the top of Neon City tastes different too!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, don’t you feel the air of the upper class?”
Blood keeps coming out of my mouth.
Now that the dopamine rush of flying through the sky has faded, I can see how wrecked my body already is.
How much time do I have left?
Am I… going to leave Silver Wolf behind and go first again?
The view from the tallest skyscraper in Neon City felt different too.
As Silver Wolf staggered forward, I sprang up and carefully supported her, and we moved together.
The edge of the rooftop.
We sat down together with our legs hanging over the railing.
Silver Wolf’s condition was lousy too.
Mine was even worse, like I’d downed dozens of bottles of strong liquor.
Silver Wolf, whose skin was already pale to begin with, had gone almost paper-white, and the playing card I’d given her seemed to have lost its effect too, because her body temperature was dropping again.
“Haa… that was the fastest flight of my life.”
“……You’ve done flights like that before?”
“There’s a sport where you fly with your bare body. It’s a sport where one mistake can kill you, though.”
We talked.
Nothing important, just ordinary, trivial things.
“……Do you still like the same type?”
“Type? What type?”
“Your type in women. You said before that you like big-chested pretty girls.”
“Hmm….”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Beep boop. Flat-chested.”
“I’m seriously going to kill you!”
Even though I knew what would happen after this.
“What kind of person do you like?”
“……Someone who’s warm to me, and who’ll play games with me.”
“Gasp, is that a roundabout confession?”
“You’re so full of yourself.”
“How did I raise you to be like this!!!”
“We’ve only known each other for three months.”
We didn’t speak, as if we had agreed on it beforehand.
“…….”
“…….”
We didn’t keep talking forever.
Without a word, we leaned against each other’s shoulders to feel our fading warmth, and watched the night view of Neon City one last time.
“Don’t you want to eat cup ramen on a rooftop?”
“Out of nowhere?”
“Let’s do the final supper!”
“Yeah, sure. Not bad.”
I took out two small cups of ramen, bought from the remnants of the past.
Then I flicked my fingers in the air and put on a little show by instantly drawing out hot water.
Silver Wolf laughed delightedly at even that and clapped her hands.
Slurp.
“Wow… it tastes better when the scenery is like this.”
“I think so too. It does taste better than when we eat at home.”
The conversation continues.
About killing three Rank 7s.
About the question of why bank branches were blooming from that froggy old man.
About why that psychopathic crazy woman had suddenly tried to kill me.
The moment Silver Wolf silently held out her hand, as if craving warmth.
I silently took her hand too.
“……Hey, are you asleep?”
“…….”
“I’m the one talking about all kinds of things, and you’re just sitting there.”
“……Hup! Who’s asleep? I’m not asleep yet.”
“You are getting drowsy, though.”
“It’s because cup ramen makes me sleepy after eating.”
My body was cooling too.
But anxiety kept circling around me.
Maybe there was a way?
Maybe there was still hope to go on without ending this world?
Useless hope.
The end of the story.
There are no miracles.
“Silver Wolf.”
“Yeah?”
“I want to ask you one thing.”
“What are you getting all dramatic for? What do you want to ask?”
“Why did you really save me back then? You should’ve just let me die. You’d have done fine on your own.”
Selfishness?
Anxiety?
I don’t know.
After asking a question I didn’t need to ask, a long silence fell.
“Because I wanted to save you.”
“That’s such a boring answer.”
“You don’t need some huge reason to do something. I just wanted to save you.”
Her ears turned a little red against her paper-white skin.
I could almost hear Silver Wolf’s heartbeat.
A brief tension.
After that moment passed, the warmth in our clasped hands faded.
Please.
Just a little longer.
I don’t know how long we talked.
But for me, it still wasn’t enough time.
I wasn’t ready to let someone go.
“……Silver Wolf.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll show you one last good thing.”
Like a handful of sand.
I spread out the power of Pleasure that I was barely holding onto.
“Look over there.”
Fiiiiiiing! Pop!
The sky was hidden by clouds, so the stars couldn’t be seen.
And then flowers bloomed across that sky.
Light tails stretched out behind them.
Flowers of fire burst open.
Babababak! Pop!! Pop!!!
The sound of fireworks rang out.
Fire, unlike when I fought, exploded purely to create beautiful light.
Hundreds of fireworks bloomed around the rooftop.
“Ah…….”
“Pretty, right?”
All eyes turned toward the sky.
Among those gazes were ours too, sitting on the rooftop and looking up at the fireworks.
“……Pretty.”
Every time a firework burst, Silver Wolf’s eyes filled with light.
Multicolored fireworks fell from the sky down toward us.
“Huu….”
After the fireworks display, which had consumed all my strength, ended.
Silver Wolf collapsed against my shoulder.
I caught her swaying body as best I could.
Even I had no strength left, and my hands were trembling, but I clenched my teeth and swallowed back the blood rising with every breath.
Her body leaned into mine as if she were about to collapse.
When I barely managed to turn my head and our eyes met, Silver Wolf cupped my cheeks with both hands.
A brief moment.
Our lips met and parted.
“Hmph, this time I’m the one leaving a mark.”
“……A mark of what?”
“Territory.”
Silver Wolf laughed like a little troublemaker.
“Adrian.”
“…….”
“Don’t make that face. We’ll definitely be okay.”
I don’t even know what kind of face I’m making.
With trembling hands, I gripped hers tightly.
Her voice was fading.
I could hear a heartbeat.
“I love you, Adrian.”
A voice so small, yet so clear I heard it unmistakably.
When I opened my eyes again, Silver Wolf had closed hers and completely collapsed into me.
Our bodies overlapped.
I could no longer hear the colorful breaths anymore. I hugged Silver Wolf hard, as if trying to crush her body into mine.
Right.
It’s nothing.
I’m used to losing things.
I’ve seen everything slip uselessly from my hands before.
Used to it.
Used to it.
I’m not used to it.
I can’t get used to it.
I must not get used to it.
How many times had I thought about the words I needed to say?
Unable to answer her in the end, I laid her down and stepped up onto the railing.
What hit my body was a brief sensation of floating.
And then, a terribly long silence.
Crack.
With the sound of my skull breaking.
My consciousness sank beneath the sea.
=======
『Ending 2 - I Do Not Know the Name of the Light I Saw That Day.』
If you are not strong enough, there are things you cannot protect.
Human who walks the Path of Destiny.
Will you be able to find the answer?
<■■>
♠ Successful achievements: 26
◆ Title obtained: One Who Walks the Path of ■■
♥ Current points held: +124 Pt
♣ Quest cleared: 0 times
- At present, ■■■ ■■ ■■ 사■ 페■■ cannot be applied.
May you reach destiny at the end of the sea of stars.
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