After his venture into the Dimensional Rift, Noir returned to Majesty with other students.
However, he separated from them in Haven Liberty before the group could use the Warp Dock to travel to Majesty.
And as expected from a would-be observer, Noir did it without anyone noticing. Even Fotia seemed not to be aware of his departure.
His apartment was only 15 minutes away, so he walked instead of calling public transportation.
On his way home, Noir seized the view of the most advanced city in the post-apocalyptic world.
Compared to his old world's technologies and architectures, the Earthium seemed to fit more of a title of a post-apocalyptic world. The inventions the New Civilization developed over a century did a good job of overshadowing the darkness beyond the gate.
Satisfied, Noir continued walking.
Finally arriving at his room, he free-falling toward the cloud-like bed.
Puft.
It was so soft. And comfy. And...
Made him sleep at the speed of light. All his worries suddenly washed away as his unconsciousness faded.
He slept soundly. But...
Unfortunately, the hope of a dreamless sleep didn't come that night.
***
"...ir"
A faint voice sounded somewhere in the darkness.
Noir's vision was blocked. He tried moving, but he couldn't. He tried to open his eyes, but something always pulled them back.
"...Noir"
Until finally...
"Noir! Get up!"
An unfamiliar voice rang inside his head, surging his body from a comatose state.
He could finally open his eyes. All his senses slowly came back. Rumbles and noises assaulted his ears. The pain throbbed all over his body. His throat felt dry—how long had it been since he drank water?
Noir looked up when he smelled—or at least he thought he had caught a flower scent.
A girl with blond hair grabbed his shoulder as tightly as she could.
"Are you okay?"
While she did so, Noir frowned when he realized a stone golem as big as a four-stories building ran amok in the city. Luckily, there was no one else other than him, the blonde girl, and five other people who were currently fighting against the creature.
Noir remembered he was in a battle against a stone golem but was thrown away and lost consciousness due to lightning overcharge. A backfire from his own skill.
But something was wrong with his head.
'Who are they?'
He knew about the golem and the history of why he was fighting the stone golem. He also knew he was working together with the other survivors of the abandoned world.
It was just that he couldn't recall who they were.
'Are they the survivors that are working with me?'
Although Noir felt like the blonde girl before him was familiar... especially her unique scent, which sometimes appeared, sometimes disappeared.
"Don't just stay there, Noir. We need your help!"
Right. There was a more important matter in his hands.
Throwing the useless thought, Noir rose to his feet.
When he stood, he suddenly felt like he had done this before.
Nevertheless, Noir focused on his target.
Observing the battlefield, he began formulating his strategy in place.
"Dodge!"
Noir shouted at two individuals who seemed like they were long-ranged combatants. At his warning, they flashed, dodging the colossal creature's
attack. Both of them turned to a mist-like form. One was flame, and the other was darkness.
"Bind it, blonde!"
"Hey! I have a name, remember?!"
Despite being offended by Noir, the blonde girl unleashed her power. Thick roots emerged from the underground and quickly wrapped the colossal creature.
"Windie and Lizard Girl! Go!"
Both of them, whom Noir was called by weird nicknames, showed annoyed expressions but quickly diminished it.
They climbed the golem through its stretched hand. As they ran over it, they dealt damage and reduced the golem's hardness using their respective power.
Windie, or the wind guy, scraped the stone with his wind cutter. Meanwhile, the lizard girl used her enhanced strength to crush it.
When the giant stone golem finally showed a sign of vulnerability, a man who stood at the backline with the blonde girl and Noir made a move.
He touched the ground—soil and made a giant spike out of it.
Noir jumped and stood on the spike while charging his electricity. Then, when the spike pierced the golem's stone body, Noir released his Azure Lightning, reducing the creature to dust.
He leaped down as the spike and golem crumbled, landing smoothly on the ground.
"Nice job, everyone—"
Before Noir could finish his words, he was shocked.
The six people who fought together with him gradually disappeared. Their bodies, as though getting sliced like meat, slowly floated into the air.
"You fvcker! Why are you the only one who lives?!"
"Traitor! You should've died together with us!!"
"I'm disappointed, Noir."
"Heh. What a selfish bastard. I shouldn't have listened to you."
"If I ever see you again. I'll kill you on the spot!"
Windie, Flame guy, Lizard girl, Earthbender, and the Black Mage. All of them threw curses at Noir as their bodies shone and disappeared, leaving only their clothes.
Noir stumbled at the sight of their clothes dropped to the ground. His heart beat fast.
'What the hell... the storm... is it coming back?!'
Stepping into his line of vision, a blonde girl smiled, unlike the other guy who had just disappeared.
"Noir. Are you okay?"
She extended her hand to him.
Noir hesitated. He only stared at her hand for long until she herself reached out to him.
She pulled Noir in her embrace.
"It's gonna be okay. Because I'll be watching you always..."
When the girl began stroking Noir's head, his eyes suddenly felt heavy.
"For now... you must become even stronger. The system will make it possible. And go to Magnitude Tower as soon as you can, okay?"
As his consciousness faded, he lost all his senses gradually.
The vision was first. Then gustation. Next was tactile perception.
Before he lost his sense of smell, Noir caught a soft and sweet scent for the last time.
And at the moment he went deaf, he heard the blonde whispered to him in a very sweet voice.
"Wake up."