[722] The World We Live In (3)
When Kai fired the signal flare, an identical light answered from beyond the mountain.
Burying the spent flare in the ground, Kai said, "Heh, at least they gave us a flare since we're on the same side. Maybe… the situation changed and they had no choice but to kill him."
If they'd wanted to fool Kai, they'd have had to hand out flares to the other Black participants too.
He must want to believe that.
Shirone didn't voice the thought. The fact that Kai had decided to trade his mage's special ability for a high-tier card was already proof he knew what was going on.
"Are you sure about this? If members of the same Black team start deceiving one another, it'll be dangerous in the final match."
"No one… cares about my life."
Kai turned his face darkly.
"When my parents died, the Black chief just told me to live my own life. Said it didn't matter if I died."
Black was a world of survival of the fittest.
"In the Black zone, if you're not needed you have to die. But you saved me. If we're on the same side, I have to do something too. I'll go collect high-tier cards."
If he'd been in White, they would have decided by vote.
Being rational is always right… but the desperate scramble of a child trying to survive couldn't be labeled wrong either.
Kai can't go to White. If that's the case, I have to win from Black too.
After about twenty minutes, three Black participants pushed through the bushes and appeared.
They closed only to a distance where friend-or-foe could be identified, scanned the area, then smiled when they saw Kai.
"Wow, Kai. You pulled it off, huh?"
There was a venomous edge to it that made Kai step back, but the Black leader stopped his comrades.
"Hold on. There's one more."
Wanting to avoid a fight if possible, Shirone waited where they could see him.
"He's the one who eliminated Faroa."
Until the Law of White and Black ended, death could never be declared.
"Kai! How dare you trick us!"
As a Black member pulled out a card, Kai waved both hands vigorously.
"No! He's a Seeker! Right now we're on the same team!"
"A Seeker?"
When the Black team echoed the question, Shirone produced a profession card and stepped up beside Kai.
"I can choose the Law. And right now we're on the Black team. As long as Kai's alive, I have no intention of switching."
It was hard to take at face value, but they'd been fed up with White's meddling before.
"Hmph. Hypocrites. Still living by votes, huh? Hey, go check it out."
A Black member approached cautiously, confirmed the Seeker card, and stepped back with the same motion.
"Confirmed. Currently on the Black team."
"Hmm, a Seeker. I thought he was a mage."
Either way, it was good news: a skilled fighter who'd avoided a demolition bomb and taken out Faroa was on Black.
"So… which cards are you willing to trade?"
Kai nonchalantly held up an S-rank card.
"We got CPR. I want to trade it for two S-rank cards or four A-rank cards."
"CPR?"
It was clearly a valuable card; the Black team's expressions shifted immediately.
"How'd you get it?"
Shirone asked.
"I got it. As you might guess, I'm a mage. I can use magic even without the Law."
If that was true, the balance of this survival test had already tipped toward Black, but the fact he was a Seeker complicated things.
Damn—there was a mage in White?
White and Black had small populations, but it wasn't unheard of for someone to have reached the Spirit Zone.
"But why were you in White? You should have razed it and come to Black already."
"That's my decision to make. Anyway, we're Black now, right? Are you trading or not?"
The Black team whispered among themselves, then their leader took out his cards and stepped a little closer.
"I'll offer one S and two A. We've got Medios' Mage, Bond, and the Actsi City Zombies."
Kai muttered in surprise.
"Medios' Mage…."
It was an S-rank possession card, powerful in combat.
Medios' Mage (Possession)
Description: Corrupted mages are exiled to Medios to spend the rest of their lives.
Effect: Grants powerful magic for 60 seconds. Cooldown 360 seconds.
Current cooldown: 0 seconds.
With that card…
For Kai it was a lifeline.
"Wait. What we asked for was two S or four A. One S and two A doesn't add up."
"No, it won't be a loss. Even A-ranks have Bond. Kai, you should know it, right?"
Bond (Function)
Description: Trust increases with time, decreases with distance.
Effect: Doubles the activation time of the cards you hold.
Shirone's eyes gleamed as he read the effect.
I see. With Bond combined, Medios' Mage's possession time becomes 120 seconds.
That made CPR even more valuable.
Actsi City Zombies (Summon)
Description: The zombie incident in Actsi was found to be an evolution, not a mutation.
Effect: 20 units. Fast and strong. Either smash the head, or smash everything but the head.
Special Ability: Infection. Bites cause zombification.
The Actsi City Zombies, once confirmed, would be a reliable ally for Kai.
"So, bro? Shall we make the trade?"
At Kai's slick question, Shirone pretended to consider for a moment, then nodded.
"All right. Getting lots of weapons is important right now."
"Wait. I need to check something first."
The Black leader held out his hand.
"Show Kai's profession card. Just in case. I'll reveal mine too."
The leader's profession was Thief, and his special ability was Pickpocketing.
A passive that, if someone enters within two meters without the opponent noticing, allows stealing one card.
If the Law took effect, sensation could be dulled, but there were no cards to be stolen anyway.
The problem was Kai.
A mage's special ability, Magic Card, can change only one card into any other card. Having just converted an old copper shield into CPR, there'd be no room to change his profession card now.
"What are you doing? Show your profession card quickly."
Kai's smile trembled.
"All right. But there's a condition. We check it alone, just the two of us. If you come close, the pickpocket will trigger."
There were no cards to steal, but bluffing was part of the tactic, so Kai's proposal was reasonable.
Maybe he has another strategy he hasn't told me.
Kai looked back at Shirone and said, "Don't worry. I'll be quick."
Acting unusually grown-up to reassure Shirone, Kai faced the Black leader in the center of the clearing.
"Let's check the cards first."
"Here are three. Now show your profession card and the CPR together. You must show them together."
"Of course. Here."
The profession read Mage.
But the leader felt a moment of cognitive dissonance—Kai presented the card with such casualness.
What the—he's a mage? Huh, a mage?
The CPR was fake.
"This bastard…!"
Just as anger surged and reason threatened to fly out the window, Kai snatched the card from the leader's hand and shouted.
"Bro! Run! I'll hold them off!"
As Kai raised the Medios' Mage card to shout, the leader plunged his dagger into Kai's abdomen.
"Damn you… you tricked me?"
"Kai!"
As Shirone pushed off the ground and rushed over, the leader who'd taken the card immediately activated Medios' Mage.
"Magical Fire!"
Blue light flickered over the leader, possessed by the mage, and a massive fireball fell from the sky.
"Activate! Actsi City Zombies!"
"Gaaah!"
Twenty zombies were summoned and charged at Shirone with terrifying speed, claws bared.
"You bastards…!"
Photon cannons blew zombie heads away, while the remaining two Black members joined the fight.
"Activate! The Outcry of the Mass Burial!"
The Outcry of the Mass Burial.
Description: The people of Kvashtra village were buried alive by their mad lord.
Their voices seize the feet of the living.
Effect: Binds the target for 2 seconds after activation.
"Uooooooo!"
Phantoms of the dead rose and grabbed at Shirone's ankles as zombies closed in.
Berserk!
While zombie limbs shattered like shards against Shirone's light veil, the burly Black team member lunged.
Special Ability: Werewolf.
Fur sprouted from the body of the man who held the Druid profession card, and a long snout split open.
"Kraaaang!"
The weapon card hooked on the wolf's claws glinted.
Wild Action.
Description: Anyone can become violent.
Effect: Recreates the action you imagine exactly. Safety is not guaranteed.
Can he really dodge this?
The werewolf's dazzling motions, recreating the image in his mind, pierced Shirone's weak spot.
Shoeni Bardo!
A sharp claw passed through the place where Shirone had just stood, and everyone on the Black team widened their eyes.
"What—?"
For the Outcry of the Mass Burial to end before its effect finished meant it didn't violate the Law.
"Damn! Where did he go…!"
As the leader twisted, shotgun-like bursts from the Photon Cannons hammered the Black team one after another.
"Guh! Gag!"
With the Black team felled almost simultaneously and collapsed into the grass, Shirone had no time to inspect them and sprinted straight to Kai.
"Kai! Wake up! Kai!"
Kai opened his eyes to see the dagger still lodged and the wound soaked dark red.
"Bro… I'm sorry."
"…Why?"
Why had he done it?
"Why didn't you ask for help? You know I'm a mage. Why did you do something so stupid?"
Kai shook his head with effort.
"I don't know. I was just… scared."
"Scared of what? What were you so afraid of?"
"I was afraid you'd be disappointed in me."
Shirone was at a loss for words.
"I tried to help somehow… I'm sorry. I was all bluster and couldn't do anything…."
He understood, in a way, what Kai meant.
"You don't have to say it anymore. Treat the wound first."
"You saved me… so I wanted your approval… I was afraid of being suspected by you…."
"Don't say it! The bleeding won't stop!"
"Sorry… bro."
Kai's head sagged to the side and the frantic thump of his chest slowed into stillness.
"Kai! Kai!"
What was this world?
The contradiction of White and Black was that there was no way to return from Black to White.
True good…
Good and evil weren't being separated.
Lost in thought, Shirone laid Kai's body in a cozy patch of grass.
He glanced sadly at the profession card Kai had held until the end.
Mage: One who deceives for the most part.
For a child abandoned by the world, it was probably the first thing he truly wanted to protect.
"CPR."
Shirone gently placed the profession card on the back of Kai's hands, folded neatly together.
"Wait. I'll come back for you soon."
Out of the hundred cards born from the harmony of White and Black, what were the odds that CPR would be among them?
No, it has to be there.
Shirone stared up at the Law's moon. His body became a flash, and he shot up into the night sky.