Chapter 10

The wind howled in the distance. A wind that brought with it a low and heavy ring like a coming storm.

The wind at his cheeks was still balmy. But before long a downpour would surely come.

"…Uh…?" Marco opened his eyes. But even though he tried to straightened up his body, he couldn't muster his strength well.

Even so, he somehow raised his head. And then he saw it.

"This…"

The surrounding space was colored dark red and rumbled like a from a tremor. Like a tornado, the wind beat furiously. A bit apart, he saw the collapsed Yuki. Looks like she received some kind of impact and lost consciousness.

And then In the center of the torrent of dark red surges that shook everything--- there was Rebecca.

The color of her hair had changed into deep crimson which gave the impression of a blaze and the color of her irises had changed to dark red.

Marco understood right away that Rebecca's power was out of control. And that precisely this was power of her Chaos magic.

Most likely the trigger for it was,

"Me, huh." Just when she was saved and relaxed, Marco collapsed in front of her eyes from an ambush. She must have felt responsible for it and couldn't forgive herself.

"Yo, Rebecca... I'm just fine.. Hey."

"M-Marco..." On his outcall, Rebecca bewildered, met his eyes.

At least she still have her senses. With that, the situation might still somehow be saved. With no sign of the enemy, they must have retreated for good now.

Or they were destroyed. Either way, it should be safe to assume that there was no more danger from them.

"Calm down… I'm fine… Everything is over… Okay?"

"I'm trying… but it's no good…!" Rebecca shouted and shook her head.

"I can barely restrain my power. I, I can't subdue it all. It's not working… Wh- Why?"

The flustered Rebecca was partly in a state of panic and Marco's expression changed into a bitter one.

"Damn, she can't calm it down after all…!" Marco thought to himself. But, that said, he couldn't leave it at that.

Chaos magic gives it's user the ability to manipulate reality and warp the fabric of existence. Then, what would happen if it went out of control?

"Eh…?" Rebecca raised a surprised voice. The space around her started to flicker like a heat haze.

"Here it comes." Marco clicked his tongue. An excessive mass that couldn't be controlled ended up--- at the singular point of space. At this point, a vacuum would form around Rebecca and suck in the surroundings.

Naturally, Rebecca being the source of it, the singularity would disappear if she were to be erased.

It certainly wouldn't cause the destruction of the world, but even so the vicinity would get completely wiped out. Most likely it couldn't be prevented that part of the town within the radius of several kilometre could get erased.

However that was just Marco's guess. The mass of energy from this rampage has an unknown quantity. It might cause less deaths, or even more. But, he didn't want to find out.

"P- Please, Marco… I can't, restrain it any longer… So" Knowing what She was trying to say with her trembling voice, Marco raised his voice.

"No, I'll think of a solution now! I'll come up with some kind of--"

"There's no more time. Before I destroy the world like this, before I drag you and others into it," With a grim voice, Rebecca stated her last request.

"Please--- kill me..."

It is certainly the fastest way to solve their current problem. If Rebecca was killed, the town, Marco and the others, everyone would be saved. But,

"I refuse." Marco said as he slowly stood up.

"Idiot… Between the world and me, it's obvious which is more important!"

"Like I care about something like that." Marco said with a wry smile.

Killing Rebecca will be the most logical choice to end their current predicament but he wanted to save her. He had the power to do so. He knew the one and only way for that.

In the past he could use it, but not anymore. The unique power in the world that was just his.

It was easy. The situation called for it. For the sake of the future, right now--- he had to overcome his past, right here and right now. Therefore, Marco slowly advanced forward.

"Rebecca, I don't care about the world and I don't see myself as hero. But, I'll be hero if it means protecting you. I'll protect my you, even if it means fighting the entire world!"

Marco threw out those words yelling. Not to convince Rebecca, but himself.

"I'll definitely save you, so shut up and leave everything to me. Got it?" Marco threw his own feelings at her. It wasn't about logic or reasoning, just pure emotion.

But, precisely because of that, it was conveyed. It reached her.

"Okay." Rebecca said with tears in her eyes while nodding. On her words, Marco halted his steps. It was as close as he could get to Rebecca, who rampaged her power.

While the dark red energy urges shook the atmosphere, Marco took a deep breath and relaxed his body. He started the preparation to perform a perfect <Vanishing Shift>.

He had to feel out Rebecca's rampaging power--- Its source of existence. But all kind of matters - substances were faintly swaying its existence.

Naturally, the position of the source constantly changed. Furthermore, Marco is trying to erase the torrent of a raging power. The source was moving irregularly around at apex speed. If he missed, it was all over.

Moreover, even if he cut the source, he couldn't afford to harm Rebecca. Not to mention, erase her along with it. Not the slightest mistake was allowed.

His vision had already become hazy from blood loss, that alone made it harsh already. Yet Marco felt his own heartbeat jump up and his hand started to shake.

Damn it

It happened because he factored in a failure. The words of the masked man echoed at the back of his brain.

"Are you going to erase her as well." He remembered the tragedy from six years ago. The never healing wound in his heart and his guilty conscience over his past, mercilessly trying to swallow him whole.

"I can't do it after all." Marco thought to himself. He absolutely couldn't do it--- Yeah, right. He definitely couldn't do something like let Rebecca experience the same pain as him.

When he suddenly looked up, Rebecca was watching him with gentle eyes. When he met her eyes, she closed them. Her mouth formed a "I believe in you". In that moment, Marco made his resolve. Like Rebecca, he closed his eyes.

He entrusted his body to the fiercely blowing wind, the torrent of the raging power. On top of that, he sharpened all his senses, his mind, body and soul--- to feel it.

The only possibility for him to save Rebecca. In the next moment, all noise vanished from the world as the rampage of Rebecca's power had gone up in one go.

The spreading destruction and surges of nothingness. Marco quietly swung down Brynjar.

Afterwards, Marco's world turned pitch black.

He didn't know if it was from activating <Vanishing Shift> or from being swallowed up by the black hole. All he knew was that he had used all of his power.

Marco slowly collapsed forward. Suddenly, a soft warmth enveloped him and that pleasantness made him smile inadvertently.

For the first time in six years, he had finally used Vanishing shift.