Bailonz Street 13

Episode 145. The End (4)

After Jane vanished as if swept away, Liam Moore immediately returned inside the mansion and headed to Lucita’s reception room.

He needed to move faster. Only by moving faster than the Black King’s minions could they barely achieve parity.

The moving corpses that Jane called ‘zombies’ would be handled by Plurititas and Jonathan.

After his conversation with Jane, they must have finished preparing inside, as he encountered them while heading to the reception room. Jonathan Osmond passed by him with a rigid face, without a word. He likely thought Liam Moore was responsible for his sister getting caught up in all this.

Even if she wasn’t his sister, and someone else possessed that body.

‘Well, he’s not wrong.’

If they hadn’t become involved, she could have lived her whole life without knowing about any of this. That she crossed the boundary while he took her around as his assistant was truly something he hadn’t anticipated.

He shouldn’t have hired her as an assistant in the first place.

Something whispered beside him. He wasn’t sure if it was a voice in his head or the one he always heard.

He shouldn’t have been swayed by that brown hair and green eyes, by the name Jane. How foolish to have rejoiced at seeing that woman from his childhood appear before his eyes again.

“What are you doing, not focusing on the conversation?”

Liam Moore snapped back to attention at Lucita’s reproach.

“Where were we?”

“Survivor rescue.”

“Ah, yes.”

Lucita’s mansion had sufficient defenses. The space could be expanded adequately, making it very suitable for accommodating survivors. Though the first-floor corridor was concerning, there wouldn’t be any problems unless forcibly opened. Lucita was capable of controlling that much.

The ridiculous man in butler’s clothing approached with something on a silver tray.

“Master.”

“Ranfield, I told you to stop with that ‘master’ business.”

So his name was Ranfield. Thinking this, Liam rose from his seat.

They had discussed enough now. Placing several crystal bottles on the reception room table, Lucita spoke.

“Since it’s the first time you’ve been so active, I’ll help a bit. You’d better take these.”

“It’s a crucial crisis.”

“Indeed it is.”

Judging by the color, it was a paralytic. Something to completely numb the nerves, making one unable to feel pain below a certain level of injury.

Normally he would have refused such a drug due to its dangers. Not knowing one’s condition could lead to death from excessive bleeding before defeating an enemy. However, the threat they now faced was too intense to be cautious about such things.

The fate of the world hung in the balance. In this moment when even seeing the next sunrise was uncertain, Liam gladly drank it. The bitter, unpleasant liquid disappeared down his throat.

“Lucita, what are your plans?”

“I thought I might go hunting for a bit. Shall I stand guard while lazy Greenwich devises plans to protect London’s citizens?”

Liam shrugged. It made no difference to him. Pocketing the remaining medicine, he grabbed the reception room doorknob.

“Let’s try to hold out until morning.”

“Hold out?”

Lucita laughed loudly, then her eyes gleamed.

“We should think about winning first.”

* * *

After leaving Lucita’s house, Liam Moore ran straight toward where the hybrids were flying. They made no effort to hide their movement in groups. They were probably more careless because normal humans couldn’t stop them.

Even when breath reached his throat, Liam didn’t stop. At the end of this road must exist what they called the altar.

The burning streets were surprisingly quiet. It’s hard to describe, but it felt like nothing was alive. That kind of feeling.

A small earring hung from his earlobe. No need to mention his first experience getting his ear pierced. Its pair should be firmly guarding Jane Osmond’s ear by now.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Faint waves returned through the earring. It indicated Jane Osmond’s approximate location. Near the London docks. Though he didn’t know why she was there.

The strange thing was, despite running so openly through the streets, not a single interferer had appeared. It made his preparations for several battles seem foolish. Whatever waited at the destination seemed to have no intention of stopping him from coming.

No, were they waiting?

‘But for what?’

Surge.

He felt his insides lurch. No, not his insides…

Liam threw himself aside. But dodging proved useless. Not just where he had stood, but the entire street was undulating like waves. Buildings crashed together with tremendous noise as the ground swayed. At this rate, he’d be buried under building debris.

He rolled again, barely avoiding the fragments.

“They’re doing something insane…”

Truly insane.

The sky he glared at was now stained with mysterious, iridescent colors. That man must be watching from somewhere. Just as he had watched Jane, just as he had watched him and Owen Cassfire through his servants in that cave.

Was all of London’s ground like this?

Liam Moore gritted his teeth, got up, and started running again. How far remained to the altar?

Suddenly, a low, calm voice struck powerfully through his mind. Their final conversation before parting.

‘I have to stop it.’

He remembered Jane’s face as she said those words.

That being, borrowing Jane Osmond’s body. Simultaneously, the stranger Liam had fallen in love with.

You were always frightened. Always. Even when revealing the truth to him, you had trembling hands and a pale face, seeming to want to run away even while checking his expression multiple times.

But what was truly strange was that despite such fear, you could so easily throw yourself forward again and again.

“By yourself?”

The words escaped his lips unconsciously.

I’ve told you so many times. Nothing matters more than you. I don’t care what happens to this world as long as Jane Osmond remains safe.

Yet each time, Jane would shake her head and step forward ahead of everyone else.

At such times, Liam Moore wanted to shout. Come back. Please be afraid. You don’t need to throw yourself away.

Since Jane Osmond became the person who taught Liam Moore about fear, he always wondered. Where does the force that drives that woman come from?

BOOM!

An enormous sound came from far away. Whether something exploded or collapsed was unclear, but such phenomena were clearly approaching. He needed to move quickly before being caught in the aftermath.

He crossed the street with staggering steps. Monsters swarmed everywhere. Gunshots rang out. Probably Jonathan. He wasn’t sure if Plurititas was following well. That one was so capricious. Anyway, that capriciousness… he could probably use it for London’s sake just this once. He seemed the type to have that much flexibility of mind.

And when he reached the end of the street, Liam Moore faced the glowing altar.

How to describe it? Imagine the most horrific shape you can think of. It’s made of human bodies. Arms and legs randomly woven together formed something like a nest. What made it even more horrific was that the altar was alive.

Groans that couldn’t become language flowed from the altar. Liam Moore briefly closed his eyes at the horror. In other words, he wanted to avoid it. He felt a slight urge to deny reality. But since he couldn’t do that, he opened his eyes again and etched this sight into his retinas. The people he could no longer save.

Since taking the position of Greenwich’s guardian, Liam Moore had seen far too many people who could no longer die as humans. It was also his role to bring closure to their ends. Former colleagues, people who got involved. Everyone.

He had a ‘duty’ to watch.

Even so, Liam felt both pity and devastation.

This couldn’t be saved. What had already merged and stuck together as one mass couldn’t be saved.

As he stepped closer, the hybrids noticeably grew wary. They were using hook-like claws to pile humans into a tower. A tower tall enough to be visible from outside…

Just then, appropriately, the Black King’s voice came through. Jane’s voice too.

—One can’t cross from one side to the other, the walls between worlds aren’t fragile enough for that. It’s impossible even with the power of the doors. After all, a ‘non-existent’ concept cannot ‘exist’.

—By ‘non-existent concept’ you mean…

—Us.

Through this brief conversation, Liam Moore could understand the king’s purpose. It felt like pieces of a puzzle clicking together in his mind. It provided clear answers to all his previous questions.

Why it had to be Jane, why he took his power, why he was accumulating power while building such massive altars throughout London.

Liam bit his lip and murmured.

“So that’s what it was.”