Clang—The elevator descended, its gears turning with a mechanical groan that resonated through Satera’s entire body.

  The dim twilight of the Low-level city gradually lost its color, swallowed by the abyss of the ruins. The elevator's meager emergency light, the glow of electronic devices—they were all but starlight in the writhing darkness below. Satera flinched at the shrieking of a man driven mad, then gasped for air at the sight of another who had just put a gun to his own head. She squeezed Danan's hand, her grip tight.

  "Scared?"

  "..."

  "Don't worry. Even if the rest of them are wiped out, you won't die."

  How...? The words wouldn't form. Satera's eyes fell on the blade extending from Danan’s mechanical arm. A man, cursing his companions, his head bleeding from some earlier scuffle, kicked the suicide's corpse. He squared his shoulders and approached Danan, his own dark eyes glaring from behind his goggles.

  "What're you lookin' at?! This ain't a sh—" A dry crack echoed through the space. A small bullet hole appeared on the man's body armor. "Shut up," Danan said, his voice flat. "You'll scare Satera." He extended the vibro-blade from his cybernetic arm and, with a single, fluid motion, severed the man’s head. The man's eyes were still wide with shock.

  A torrent of blood washed over the metal floor of the elevator, dripping down through the narrow gaps. Danan retracted the blade. He glanced at the other ruin excavators, then gently tucked a stray lock of Satera’s hair back under her hood before disengaging the safety on his assault rifle.

  Move an inch, I'll kill you. Get closer, I'll kill you. Speak, I'll kill you. A cold, murderous intent rolled off him. He had demonstrated death not with words, but with action. No one dared to defy him. The heavy groaning of the elevator, the sporadic sound of gunfire, the air thick with the promise of death—it was already wearing down the excavators' minds, a contagion of madness hunting them down.

  Perhaps this was a test. A test of whether a paltry human could set foot in this unknown domain. A test of their endurance against a fear that gnawed at both body and soul. A test of their ability to maintain sound judgment in the face of a tension, a proximity to death, that dwarfed anything the Low-level city had to offer. Satera took a deep breath of the lukewarm air that filtered through her gas mask and gripped the pistol at her waist.

  A bullet was chambered. All she had to do was release the safety and pull the trigger. Just like Danan’s magnum, one pull was all it would take to kill a man. But not now. The one she needed to kill—the one she needed to aim at—was not here.

  "Satera."

  "..."

  "Get ready. We're almost there. Do as I told you, you got that?"

  "...Yeah."

  A shudder ran through the elevator, so violent that everyone lost their balance. Satera clung to Danan, forgetting to breathe.

  A giant centipede, feeding on a corpse that was beyond rot, desiccated down to the bone. It let out a bizarre cry, like the scraping of metal files, and, sensing the humans with its developed antennae, slithered into a hole from which sparks were flying.

  Was what she had just seen a hallucination? A creature larger than a man—surely such a thing couldn't exist, outside of a fully-mechanized cyborg. Satera's body went rigid. A silent scream caught in her throat as she fumbled for her pistol and pulled the trigger.

  "Calm down. Don't lose it over a money-eater centipede, Satera."

  Just as she'd squeezed the trigger halfway, a high-pitched metallic clang echoed, the hammer of her pistol blocked by steel fingers. She pulled again, and again, oblivious to the sound.

  "Satera."

  "——!?"

  Danan’s fingers were still on the hammer. He looked directly into her eyes. Once, twice... he gently patted her shoulder. "It's okay. You have nothing to fear. Relax. I'm with you. Right? Hey... Satera." A clumsy smile formed on his lips, visible even through the gas mask.

  "Da... Danan, I... I was—"

  "I know. It's to be expected. Most first-timers in the ruins react like you. So you don't need to apologize, and you don't need to make excuses. Listen to me. It's impossible for you to survive on your own, and the others, seeing you like this, they probably think you're easy prey. But."

  If they try to kill you, if they try to hurt you, I'll deal with them first. So, trust me. Trust the adult.

  His words were not a lie. They came from the heart. A strange, contradictory reaction, like glass-thin fluid seeping from a thick, sharp steel blade. A complex labyrinth of the mind. His fumbling, clumsy attempts to soothe the girl's hysteria were a desperate search for the right path.

  "...I think... I think I'm okay, now."

  "You are?"

  "I'm sorry... Danan. For... for being a burden."

  "Don't say another word. It'll just weigh you down."

  "..."

  "The old man... the one who raised me... he would've had a joke for a time like this. But... I can't. All I can do... is fight for you, and teach you how to survive. Sorry, Satera."

  "Right, then." Danan slapped his thigh and stood up. He glared at the other excavators, who were readying their weapons, and then stepped out into the hellish landscape of the ruins. The crunch of cracked bones under his boots, the squelch of stepping on dark, dried blood—he was like a demon, an asura, long accustomed to death. Satera swallowed hard and hurried to walk beside him. She activated the night-vision on her goggles and scanned the various visual data.

  The toxicity levels in the ruins were three times higher than in the Low-level city, and the filter on her gas mask was degrading quickly. The map showed that their destination was still a long way off. At Danan's pace, it would take an hour... no, two at least.

  But she knew that was an optimistic estimate. She was carrying only her armor, a spare filter, a pouch, and her pistol. The man beside her was a different story. He carried a heavy backpack, held his assault rifle at the ready, and had his sword, Heles, strapped to his waist. He should have been the one struggling. She couldn't hide her surprise at the fact that he was carrying a total of sixty kilograms of gear and yet his pace never slowed.

  "Stop."

  Danan stopped and pressed his ear to the wall.

  "What is it?"

  He pointed at the wall, silently instructing her to do the same. Satera, telling herself that there must be a reason for his actions, pressed her ear to the cold, inorganic metal. She froze, hearing the scuttling of insects from within.

  Before her own frantic heart could react, the vibro-blade shot out, piercing the wall and crushing the centipede's head. Green blood dripped down the blade. As the creature slid out, Danan sliced it in two with Heles.

  "H-How did you know?"

  "Don't just look ahead."

  "..."

  "You can tell a money-eater's nest by the cracks in the wall and the size of the holes."

  Danan scanned the passage. "The corpse hanging from the ceiling, the one with only half a body left by the side of the path... Satera, look closely at the bodies. They aren't just lying there. They're markers."

  Now that he said it... Satera’s gaze shifted to the bodies scattered around them, and a spark of understanding ignited in her mind.

  A corpse half-eaten, as if dragged into a hole; a corpse hanging from the ceiling; a corpse half-buried in the ground. Their presence meant that, just as Danan had said, money-eater centipedes were crawling in the walls and ceilings.

  "Everything has a reason. Why they died, why they were killed, everything. Satera, don't think of the ruins and the Low-level city in the same way. Up there, people die for no reason. But down here, death is a stepping stone for those who come after. There's no such thing... as a meaningless death."

  "...Danan."

  "What?"

  "Have you... always been coming to places like this, alone?"

  "...Not always. When the old man was alive, we came down together. I guess... in a way, I was in your shoes."

  "My shoes?"

  "Yeah. You... you're the me of the past, Satera."

  Danan gave a slight nod, as if looking into the distant past. He lightly patted the girl's head and started walking again. And Satera, she followed.

  Water dripped from a peeling section of the outer wall, the sound echoing through the silent passage.

  Though not flooded, there were numerous puddles near the crumbling walls. The water was a murky black, like industrial waste. If asked why it was black, the only answer would be that it had taken on the color of the ruins' darkness, a darkness punctuated by the flickering of meager emergency lights.

  Her dry throat burned. Her body, protesting its lack of water, was building up heat, constantly demanding ice-cold water. Satera willed her trembling legs to move, desperately trying to keep up with Danan's steady pace. As she adjusted her slipped gas mask, she tripped and fell with a loud crash.

  The sound of metal hitting the ground, the thud of a body... it shattered the silence. Satera held her breath, a sense of dread washing over her. She looked up at Danan’s dark eyes. "S-Sorry, Danan..." she muttered, her eyes downcast.

  To make a sound in the ruins meant death. The grotesque creatures that lurked in the darkness were sensitive to sound and would come to finish off weakened prey. Other excavators, hearing that a weak one had fallen, would come with weapons drawn to steal their supplies. Realizing the gravity of her mistake, Satera scrambled to her feet and drew her pistol from its holster.

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  "Don't panic."

  Danan pushed her gun down.

  "There are no enemies yet. We're moving."

  "B-But, that's... a detour."

  "It's to avoid the risk of them pinpointing our destination. It's not a waste of time."

  He pulled a jelly pack from his backpack and pressed it into her hand. Then he scooped her up and ran down the passage. Right, left, straight ahead... occasionally tossing a decoy that played recorded footsteps, he stopped in front of an electronically locked door.

  "Eat and drink. I'm making a safe point."

  "...Okay."

  The skill with which Danan extended a hack-cable from his cybernetic arm and plugged it into the lock's socket was a sight to behold. Without using one of the common hacking tools that flooded the Low-level, he used the hacking program built into his own arm to bypass the ruin's electronic lock in an instant. He pushed Satera, who was still clutching the jelly pack, into the room first, then sealed the door, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

  "...I'm sorry, Danan."

  "Don't apologize. It wasn't a big mistake."

  "But, if I wasn't here, you would have been much faster—"

  "I was looking for a safe point anyway. The timing was perfect."

  "..."

  "Eat. It tastes awful, though."

  Danan stuck a straw into his jelly pack, connected it to his filter, and sucked down the entire contents in an instant. He crumpled the empty pack and tossed it aside. Satera, following his lead, took a sip of her own jelly pack and grimaced at the foul taste. She choked, forcing the jelly down her throat.

  The taste of mud and industrial oil, and a cloying, artificial sweetness that had been added in a desperate attempt to mask it. Even knowing it wasn't harmful, the taste was viscerally repulsive. It made the girl's stomach churn and cramp as it went down. To be blunt, this was not food for human consumption. She would rather eat the scraps left for dogs and cats.

  "Bad?"

  "..."

  "The trick to eating a jelly pack is to swallow it all at once. Before you can taste or smell it, just think of it as water and drink. No matter how much you hate it, this is all you can eat while you're in the ruins. You'd be better off getting used to it."

  Breathing through her nose, her eyes watering, Satera finished the jelly. She managed to calm her protesting stomach and let out a deep sigh.

  The life of a ruin excavator was, in a word, brutal. A constant fear for one's life, pressing forward while terrified of both humans and monsters. Even if they found a relic, there was no safe way back to the surface. They had to retrace their steps through the same dangers.

  There was no guarantee that the value of the relic would outweigh the risk. It was absurd... even a common machine part from the Low-level might seem like a treasure to a child like Satera, but in reality, it was never a treasure. Even if they managed to sell it through the proper channels to a buyer who knew its true worth, if they themselves didn't know its value, they would be bought out for a pittance.

  The risk and return were not balanced. If you placed life and death on a scale, the needle would swing sharply toward death. Satera genuinely couldn't understand why Danan had chosen the incredibly dangerous profession of a ruin excavator, why he wore away at his life day after day. She hugged her knees, staring at the faint glow of the emergency exit light in the darkness. "Danan... why do you keep doing this?" she asked, the question slipping out unconsciously.

  "..."

  "Oh, I mean, if you don't want to answer, that's fine..."

  "...I wonder why."

  "Huh...?"

  "Is it because the old man taught me how to live as an excavator, or is it because I'm curious about the blue sky he used to talk about...? Even I don't know."

  "..."

  "Satera."

  "What...?"

  "I... I don't want to die. I absolutely do not want to die a meaningless death. But... I don't even know why I don't want to die, why I want to live."

  "You just said you didn't want a meaningless death."

  "That's just a reason, Satera. A reason not to want to die. You probably think it's stupid... but I'm sure there's a reason I was born. Even in a shitty environment like the Low-level, even for someone like me who's never known his parents, there's a reason. And... I think I want to find it."

  In Danan's whispered words, a wish not to die layered with a prayer to live, Satera sensed a deep sorrow. His eyes were different from those of the asura who had fought the Ruffian leader, Damocles, head-on.

  She didn't want to share the burden he carried. She couldn't bear the pain of a man who lived a life that ground down his very soul, and yet still whispered that he didn't want to die. Even if she said she wanted to share his pain and suffering, he would refuse. He would scream that the will that resided within him was his alone, and bare his ferocious, murderous fangs.

  "Danan."

  "..."

  "I thought you were strong."

  "Did you."

  "I'd never seen anyone fight Damocles head-on, survive, and even take one of his arms. So, I thought you were incredibly strong, that you could live freely in the Low-level city."

  "You have too many illusions about me."

  "Maybe... maybe I did."

  "..."

  "But, yeah. Your answer... it made me understand a little. Everyone... is weak."

  "Weak? What do you mean?"

  "Not in terms of strength, but... uhm, the heart? I think it's something like that."

  While Danan stared at her, his eyes wide with utter confusion, Satera nodded to herself, as if she had reached an understanding.

  Everyone is weak, so they search for something. They fan the smoldering embers of their desires into a blazing fire. They add the kindling of their wishes to the flames, trying to illuminate that something they seek. The Ruffians, in their pursuit of lawlessness, deepen the darkness with the flames of their solitude, and lose sight of what they seek in the crucible of their carnal desires.

  If you understood, it wouldn't be a struggle. If you live, you can catch a glimpse of something. If you try, you can surely find what you're looking for. But these are endless detours. You lose sight of what you initially sought because you avert your own eyes, because you let it go.

  "Danan."

  "What?"

  "I... I'm still weak, but... I'm going to get stronger. Even if you're not there for me anymore, even if Lyrus and Eve go somewhere else, I'll definitely survive and find everyone. So... watch me, Danan. From this moment on, don't take your eyes off me. Watch me."

  "...I'll protect you. You're the one who better not leave my sight, Satera."

  "That's not what I meant, but... still."

  Even if I can't catch up to you, I'll find my own way to live.As she said this, Satera smiled under her gas mask and gave a thumbs-up to the tilting, confused Danan.

  What shape did the world take in each of their eyes?

  A desolate stench of blood, maggot-infested corpses, vagrants muttering to themselves as they crouched under the glittering neon lights. The scent of death that pervaded the Low-level city was like a cancer that devoured healthy cells, a gruesome spectacle that embodied an endless despair.

  The sight of strangely-shaped wild dogs devouring a baby was unbearable. The eyes of the weak as they pulled organs from rotten corpses were the color of muddy water, the color of ghouls. The Low-level city was a cage of limbo where the living dead crawled, where the strong oppressed the weak.

  It was difficult for a child to survive in that chaotic city. The principles of survival instilled at a young age, the sound of abuse that sought to break the spirit even as one tried to live bravely, the intensifying struggle for survival with age... The Low-level city that Danan knew was nothing less than a gudok, a venomous insect pot, that constantly tested one's life and strength.

  But... in the Low-level city, if you had even a little power, you could live as a human. If you flaunted your power, trampled the weak, and took everything, you could obtain the right to survive. Even at the very bottom, it was a world where you could maintain a human form and live. It was a darkness illuminated by a meager light... like the bottom of a well, a cold world where you were waist-deep in the well water of the law of the jungle. Unlike the ruins they were now in, an incomprehensible absurdity did not steal your life.

  The bottom of this hell, where grotesque creatures roamed, was drenched in darkness. The sound of illegally modified killing machines' caterpillar tracks echoed in the silence. The sound of flesh bursting in the distance, and the screams that accompanied it. The madness of a half-mechanized severed head, its brain and skull being chewed by a creature that resembled a shadow. The amount of blood spilled in the ruins was far less than in the back alleys of the Low-level city, but the quality of death was far, far lower.

  A world where the cycle of life did not exist, where life was consumed one-sidedly, was a lawless hell. The Low-level city, where one had to kill many people and constantly display their power to survive, was lukewarm by comparison. Clenching his jaw, Danan thrust his blade into the head of a money-eater centipede. He looked at the killing machine, "Rindou," whose engine was rumbling in the depths of the darkness, and let out a hot breath.

  Fighting, fighting, and at the end of all the killing, what is there? He glanced at Satera, silently gesturing for her to hide around the corner.

  His life force was wearing thin, red blood coursing through his veins. The crazed machine had no blood. Under its armor was only the power circuit that controlled its drive system, and an electronic circuit board programmed to detect and attack enemies.

  Danan dodged a chainsaw dripping with entrails and drew Heles, severing Rindou's arm with a single slash. A dazzling shower of sparks erupted from the cut, and old oil spilled out instead of blood.

  Killing a person, breaking a machine—it was all the same. Whether it was inorganic or not. The only difference was whether you cut cells or steel. If the electronic circuit board was the machine's brain, then the human brain was just a lump of protein... a biological component that ran the program of thought. Therefore... nothing was different. People, machines, everything.

  He swung Heles, slicing off all of Rindou's weapons. Then he extended the vibro-blade from his cybernetic arm and pierced and destroyed the machine's power unit. As Rindou ground to a halt, spewing black smoke, Danan tore off an armor plate. He called Satera over and pointed at the circuit board. "Satera, I'll show you the usable parts." The sparks reflected off the lens of his goggles.

  "It's a weapon... right? Are there any usable parts?"

  "I'm telling you because there are. It won't take long."

  Danan's eyes were serious as he traced the power circuit, the control board, the electronic components. If he, who knew the destroyed Rindou was no longer a threat, was saying this, then it was worth believing.

  "Besides the relics of the ruins, if you can destroy these kinds of killing machines, you can get parts that are worth credits. You've dissected corpses in the Low-level city, right? It's the same as that."

  "Tools?"

  "Use these."

  A palm-sized tool kit was handed to her. A steel finger pointed to a small control board.

  "Turn the screws and it'll come off easily. Try it."

  "Okay."

  Following Danan's instructions, Satera turned the screws with the tool in her hand.

  Once, twice, three times... The screws, which were tight at first, loosened with a little force, and the board came off easily. Satera took the small control board in her hand and let out a breath of admiration. "I did it," she whispered, her voice filled with joy.

  "Put it in your pouch. It's a low-spec board from a Rindou, but it's still worth credits."

  "Got it. Uhm, what about the relics of the ruins?"

  "I'll teach you about those as we walk. They're not related to the job we're doing now."

  "Can you walk?" Danan held out his hand. As Satera took it and stood up, her eyes caught a shimmering shadow.A shadow like a mirage... a beast of shadow, its fur standing on end, its fangs bared and dripping with blood and flesh. It had crept up behind Danan without a sound and was raising its sharp claws.

  "Danan! Beh—"

  "I know."

  A series of gunshots and a piercing scream that vibrated in her eardrums. The beast, gushing black blood, tried to escape into the darkness. Danan kept pulling the trigger of his assault rifle. Seeing his chance, he threw Heles, piercing the shadow's head.

  "It's a Shadow Wolf."

  "A Sha...dow Wolf?"

  "An omnivorous biological weapon. A gluttonous beast that will even resort to cannibalism outside of its mating and breeding seasons."

  Danan’s eyes scanned the area, and he pulled Satera close.

  Her heart pounded. Blood rushed through her body, amplifying her fear. She was panicking, her life was in danger, but instead of her body heating up, her temperature dropped rapidly, and she began to shiver.

  "There's another one."

  "..."

  "Are they acting as a pair, or are they a pack looking for food...? Satera, don't you dare leave my side. No matter what."

  "O-Oka—"

  Before she could finish, the sickening stench of death pierced her nostrils through the filter of her gas mask. The visual information on her goggles updated. The moment she activated the heat source detection, she saw an incarnation of death... no, a nightmare spewed from a hell that was a ruin in name only.

  An excavator, their limbs severed but still alive, being dragged along. And a bipedal Shadow Wolf, feasting on it as it walked through the darkness. Was it looking for its dead mate, or was it searching for new, live prey...? Several eyes opened on its faceless, black head. The Shadow Wolf saw Danan and Satera and let out a cry of joy.

  It moved without a sound, hidden in the darkness. The sound of blood pouring from the excavator rippled through the silence. Suddenly, the bloody excavator was thrown at them. The vibro-blade sliced it in two, and lukewarm blood splattered across Satera's goggles.

  How much easier would it be if I could just go mad? To be entranced by the scent of death, to become one with the darkness of the ruins... for a moment, it felt like salvation. The stronger the mind, the better the chances of survival in this deadly place. Satera’s heart, like thin, fragile glass, was on the verge of shattering. But... even in the face of this gruesome scene that made her want to cover her eyes, she did not look away from Danan's fight.

  The sound of the assault rifle, the clatter of empty casings on the ground—a kind of concerto. The blade of Heles sliced off the Shadow Wolf's claws. When its fangs lunged for Satera, Danan's cybernetic arm extended its blade and thrust it deep into its throat.

  This was a rhapsody of madness. A polyphony of life clashing with life, each trying to bestow death upon the other. Two lives, their weapons as batons, conducting a symphony of death. The reason Satera didn't go mad, the reason she could watch the fight between Danan and the Shadow Wolf... was simple. It was because the means to survive was right there.

  "..."

  The sound of exploding gunpowder and dripping blood.

  "..."

  Danan kicked away the Shadow Wolf, its heart and brain crushed simultaneously, its life ending with a short, piercing scream.

  Even in this hellish ruin, he did not stop. Satera, sensing the overwhelming presence of a strong man in his figure, swallowed hard. Her eyes followed his pointed finger to the end of the passage... to a decaying electronic door.