Just hope

Everyone was startled out of their reverie by a yell from someone in the front.

Voye glanced up and saw the red light reflecting off of Lucius's tears.

Lucius's eyes began to slowly emit a faint yellow light as they turned a darker shade of brown without anyone noticing.

Due to his height and position at the front, he was primarily affected by the fast travel. His face was covered in injuries, and his hair was disheveled. He appeared pitiful, his clothes ripped and stained with blood.

"We've lived for so long already, we are getting out of here! Even if we have to crawl out, even as we are getting crushed doing so! At least you will feel like you've done your best! When your life flash before your eyes, you won't feel this shitty because you've done your best!"

His brown eyes darkened with each word he spoke, but they never turned completely black.

With each of his words, a weak yellow light gradually became stronger. "Hope is something that is hard to hold on to right now, but place your hope on the tunnel not collapsing!" he said, "Place your hope on the nanotech bringing us out! Place your hope on yourself that you will make it out alive!"

"How pitiful of me to despair so easily, I am not worthy to be called a Knight if I fall so easily," Rai laughed as he slowly moved his legs, "It doesn't matter if I die in battle or die saving others, as long I die trying without giving up! I will fight till my last breath!"

His words acted as a kind of trigger, causing the nanotech within his uniform to brighten and take on a hint of yellow light.

"The tunnel will not collapse," muttered a survivor, clenching his fist and opening his bloodshot eyes, "It didn't collapse just now, it won't collapse now."

The other people also stopped thinking negatively after these two finished speaking.

Although some chose not to express their hopes openly, they all secretly held one.

Faint yellow light filled the entre tunnel, as if the world heard their hopes.

They felt as though their hopes were actually heard when they saw this yellow light, and they gradually grew more determined to get out of this tunnel.

"Let's crawl out of here!" Lucius took command and led by example.

Only Lucius knew that he had awakened, and no one else could see his brilliantly shining yellow eyes.

'The knight didn't seem to notice, is my power invisible to others?' Lucius wondered: 'Well, hope is often invisible but present.'

He smiled a little and crawled on forward.

His vision became blurry as blood slowly seeped out of his nose.

He saw something else, as though he were floating in a sky devoid of objects.

He heard voices everywhere he looked, and he saw a lot of little points of light.

He gave it a go, hearing different mummers as their scenes flickered in front of his eyes.

"Someone will save us." Breathing heavily, a man covered in blood held a small boy in his arms.

"Please make it! You have to!" A youthful lady was sprinting down the street while carrying a wounded person.

Seeing those scenes made his heart sink, feeling their strong hope yet seeing how dire their situation was.

Don't listen to what your heart can't handle

Before Lucius, audacious words materialized, unbounding in the air before fracturing apart.

Don't let anyone know you awakened

"It's not time yet."

A gentle female voice spoke.

"Who are you?" When Lucius attempted to move, he was unable to even move a finger.

"It's not time yet."

The scene shifted once more, and he became aware that he was once again slowly crawling through the real world.

His memory was clear, even though that vision felt fuzzy.

'It's not time yet?' Though it felt like those words were echoing in his head, Lucius ignored them right away and concentrated on escaping

With each step, fatigue attacked him, but he took a breath and continued.

Outside the tunnel

Ros's eyes grew wide, and he began to feel as though someone was supporting him in maintaining his barrier and that he could hear faint murmurs.

His vision went black and he felt something trickle down his ears.

'Don't faint now!' Gritting his teeth, he pulled down his bandana to improve his breathing.

One of the rescue workers peered into the tunnel and noticed Lucius crawling out.

"Tackle!!" He suddenly shouted and charged at the Knight, catching him off guard.

One member leaped forward to seize the gun, but the other followed suit and headed for the tunnel.

It was not the first time they had collaborated with an outsider to save their lives, nor had it been the first time a Knight had gotten in their way.

"Grab my hand!" yelled a helmeted crew member as she sprinted into the tunnel.

With hazy vision, Lucius pushed himself forward more quickly after hearing a different voice.

The tunnel at the entrance was larger, able to accommodate three people, so the crew crawled in and extended her hand, "Come on!"

Lucius took hold of her hand and saw that she did not recoil in spite of his filthy and bloody hand.

"Thanks." Muttering under his breath, he felt as though he were being dragged out of hell.

She pulled him out before moving on to Voye and the other survivors.

Finally, when she reached Rai, the red barrier vanished.

With wide eyes, she tried her hardest to yank Rai out, but all Rai did was smile weakly and pat her hand.

She could understand his look; they had collaborated for such a long time.

"Persevere to keep on fighting, fight to keep on persevering... thanks for trusting in me, Res," Rai whispered.

She calmed herself down by taking a deep breath and realized how much blood Rai had lost. It was impossible to get help right away given the outside circumstances.

She knelt in front of him, a white fragrance emanating from her hand. "Rest well, Rai. I hope you can escape this troubling time."

That white light fragrance was mixed with a faint yellow light that caught her attention.

Her sigh was muffled by the collapsing tunnel. Standing up, she gave Rai one last look, "Cya Raison," and dashed out of the tunnel.