Chapter 54
“It’s my fault… if it weren’t for me, if I hadn’t gotten involved here… If only I had just died that day of destruction, none of this would have happened—”
Sienna muttered, half her body severely burned as she gasped for breath, spiraling into self-loathing.
Her hair was completely gone, and her skin, oozing with fluid, was decayed and rotten with pus forming in places.
Looking at her condition, which seemed beyond any hope, Wendy clenched her teeth tightly.
“Run away, Wendy. Someone like me can die, but someone as valuable as you… You have to live.”
“Sienna.”
“To be honest, I was really jealous of you. Just your very existence seemed to shine…”
Even as she gasped as if she was moments from her final breath, Sienna continued with a sorrowful smile.
“I envied you… You looked like a protagonist.”
As though she didn’t have much time left, Sienna’s voice grew weaker, and her pulse gradually slowed.
“…Actually, I…”
“…”
“…wanted to be your comrade.”
Struggling to get the words out, she forced a self-deprecating smile.
“Funny, isn’t it? Someone like me…”
With those words, Sienna slowly closed her eyes for the last time.
“Thank you.”
Though it was an intangible sentiment, its meaning was clear and deeply conveyed.
Transparent droplets fell from Wendy’s pale face.
Watching her silently, Wendy bit her lip hard enough to draw blood and stood up.
“Sienna, you’re wrong.”
Were it not for the gaping wound on her abdomen, Sienna might have looked as though she were peacefully asleep, free of regret or pain.
Wendy carefully placed the ribbon Sienna had worn every day into her inventory and rose to her feet.
“No one deserves to die here.”
No one deserves to die.
At least not among those who had struggled even once to survive.
They were people who had run with everything they had, fighting to live.
Yes, just like Wendy herself had until now.
[Do you wish to use the relic, Ra’s Whip?]
Wendy lifted the radiant golden whip.
If a person’s life was judged solely by their worth, Wendy knew she would have died long ago.
The original Porcelain had been nothing more than a worthless villainess.
But she had survived.
Even when she fell and grew weary, she never gave up on herself. Instead, she stubbornly pushed through, overcoming and enduring.
In the small stories of falling, hurting, crying, laughing, and growing, she had shaped her true self.
“Your worth is something you create for yourself.”
As Wendy grasped Ra’s Whip, the activation phrase appeared in her mind, and her body began to move on its own.
‘The Father of the Sun, reborn after a night of deep reincarnation.’
Everyone here had faced death at least once in their fight to survive.
This meant they were not insignificant beings who deserved to disappear.
No one was insignificant.
The only things that could be called insignificant were the dust particles that floated around unnoticed.
Wrapped in golden radiance, Wendy raised the whip high.
‘And with the light, all things on Earth regained their vitality.’
Swinging the whip through the air, its brilliant glow engulfed the interior of the base.
The intense light was powerful enough to momentarily suppress even the destructive force of fire.
Under that light, the wounds carved into the bodies of her teammates disappeared without a trace.
“Shhh…”
The scattered life force of her team members began to return to them.
“Hah… hah…”
As the life force of her companions replenished, Wendy’s own energy rapidly drained, ebbing away like the tide.
By the time the radiant light filling the base faded, even standing upright had become a struggle.
But she couldn’t collapse just yet.
With the last of her strength, Wendy staggered toward her final destination.
[New Sacrifice Registered.]
[During the limited time, all attacks within the base will be focused on the sacrifice.]
[Sacrifice: Wendy Porcelain]
She had reached the altar once again.
Catching her breath, Wendy checked her remaining health.
Her life force was barely hanging on at 1.
[Ra’s Whip has been consumed.]
As Wendy glanced at the remnants of the whip fading into light, she collapsed to her knees, retching violently.
“Ugh—!”
Her body was in tatters.
Her entire being felt as though her organs had been twisted and crushed.
To put it precisely, it felt as if her insides had been tangled into countless knots.
The only reason she was still holding on was because she was standing on the altar.
Had she been an ordinary person, she would have already fainted.
Though her teammates had regained their health and vitality, that only applied to living beings.
The Fire Base itself was still collapsing rapidly.
At this rate, total destruction wasn’t far away.
“Everyone, run… hurry… cough!”
At that moment, a rough cough burst out, followed by a gush of red blood.
I knew I was exhausted to the point of death, but seeing the blood with my own eyes made my head spin.
‘So this is it for Wendy Porcelain.’
I let out a faint laugh, slowly closing and reopening my eyes. My vision blurred and then returned again.
Regret it?
‘Not at all.’
My body had already been sacrificed, and my stamina was completely depleted. If I tried to escape in this state, I would only be a burden to my teammates.
Besides, I couldn’t leave the altar.
The exit from Fire Base only opened when a sacrifice was on the altar.
“You fools, cough… why are you just standing there? Go!”
“But we can’t leave the captain behind—”
“We’d rather die here with you!”
Despite my orders to leave, the team refused to budge. Their determined faces stared back at me as I murmured faintly.
‘I really did pick the best teammates.’
But staying like this would only lead to more pointless sacrifices.
Swallowing the dryness in my throat, I opened my parched lips.
“Don’t let my efforts go to waste.”
“…Captain.”
The tear-filled eyes of my teammates looked at me.
For a moment, my resolve almost wavered under their sorrowful gazes, but the sound of the crumbling structure brought me back to my senses, and I shouted.
“If you don’t want to die, just go!”
It was more of a desperate plea than a command. My trembling voice, laden with tears, finally moved them. One by one, my teammates began to leave, their reddened eyes unable to hide their grief.
Once the others had gone, I turned my head toward the figure that still stood rooted in place like a statue—Sylvester.
“Sylvester.”
Grasping at my fading consciousness, I continued.
“Take care of the others and get out of here. Once you’re out, you’ll be able to regroup with Team A soon.”
During our battle with the Phoenix, Team A had progressed about 50%.
Being an elite group, they should have almost reached the boss room by now.
“I’ll be out soon too, so don’t make that face. You’re the vice-captain, remember?”
Sylvester’s eyes were swollen red, as if they would burst into tears at the slightest touch.
Gently patting his head, I entrusted him with one last task.
“And if… just if… I don’t make it out.”
Fumbling with the bracelet I had cherished, I handed it over to him with care.
“Give this to them.”
“…Noona, I—”
“Tell them I’m sorry I couldn’t grant their wish.”
“…”
“Say it just like that.”
Sylvester’s lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but instead, he gripped the bracelet tightly and ran off, his action speaking louder than words.
Was it just my imagination, or did his small shoulders seem to shake as he ran away?
“…And Lyria, Eden.”
Once Sylvester had disappeared, I turned to Lyria and Eden, the last ones remaining by my side.
“You two need to leave now. This place, as you can see, is about to—”
“No!”
“Lyria!”
“I said no!”
I tried to explain that the place was about to collapse, but I was startled into silence by Lyria violently pulling her hand from mine and shouting.
“No, I… I…”
Her large, lake-like eyes filled with tears, ready to overflow at any moment. Holding back sobs, she grabbed my hand firmly.
“Let’s just go together. This place is too dangerous.”
“Lyria…”
“We shouldn’t have come here in the first place. Uncle Xenon was right. You would have been better off there than with me. So let’s just leave together…”
Trembling, Lyria spoke incoherently, seemingly unaware of her own words.
I pulled her trembling frame into a tight hug.
“I love you.”
Sometimes, simple, honest words resonate the most.
“Lyria, I love you.”
“…”
“I love you so much.”
Just like now.
“Hic… h-hic… waaah!”
As Lyria sobbed uncontrollably in my arms like a child, I gently stroked her head.
“No… no…”
As she clung desperately to my clothes, I painstakingly pried her fingers off one by one.
And at that moment, far off in the distance—
Crash—crack—
The sound of the first pillar of Fire Base collapsing echoed loudly.
—
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