Chapter 268

Chapter 268: Chapter 268

Cassandra led them through the route Yumeutsutsu revealed, following a trail of red petals through passages that were already beginning to close.

Merek carried the Daedalus Orb against his chest with both arms.

Kaguya and Ryuu supported Rayleigh between them, though most of his weight had gradually shifted onto their shoulders.

"I can walk."

Kaguya tightened her grip around his arm.

"You have said that three times, and each attempt ended with your knees touching the floor. Preserve what remains of your dignity by staying quiet."

Ryuu glanced at the blood running down Rayleigh’s side.

"She is being kinder than Airmid will be when she sees you."

’That is a frighteningly reasonable argument.’

The corridor contracted behind them as Benihime’s reconstructed route began returning to its original shape.

Cassandra stopped at the final junction.

Yumeutsutsu’s petals divided between two passages, but the trail on the right turned black before reaching the next corner.

"Left! The other route collapses before we reach the surface!"

They changed direction without slowing.

A section of ceiling dropped behind Merek and sealed the passage they had just crossed.

The impact threw dust through the corridor, but the Orb remained dark in his arms.

Knossos no longer reacted to it.

The central command had been severed.

They reached the old drainage spine as the final crimson seams from Rayleigh’s Bankai disappeared from the walls.

Fresh air flowed through a broken outlet ahead, carrying rain, smoke, and the distant noise of Ganesha Familia officers clearing the western streets.

Ryuu pushed through the opening first.

Shakti waited outside with a line of armed guards and two healers. Her attention moved over the group, counted five people, and settled on the Orb.

"Valletta?"

"Dead."

Rayleigh’s answer came out weaker than he intended.

Merek lowered the Orb into the reinforced chest prepared by the Guild.

"It is genuine. Valletta’s connection has been removed, the central command network is dead, and nobody can use Knossos as a single weapon again."

Shakti closed the lid.

"Can the labyrinth still defend itself?"

"Individual traps and isolated mechanisms may remain active, but they cannot coordinate without the Orb. Seal every entrance already recorded, and stop sending teams into unexplored routes until I inspect the surviving marks."

Shakti signaled the officers.

The drainage opening was immediately surrounded by sealing equipment and heavy barriers.

Cassandra stepped away from the entrance and looked down at Yumeutsutsu.

The last red petal floated above the blade.

For weeks, every dream connected to Valletta had ended with the stone eye opening beneath a collapsing Orario.

The petal faded without turning black and Cassandra began crying.

Ryuu reached her first.

"Do you see another disaster?"

"No!"

Cassandra laughed through the tears and pressed the Zanpakutō against her chest.

"That’s why I’m crying! The eye is gone, Valletta is gone, and every dream after that point is finally mine again!"

Kaguya rested one hand on her shoulder.

"You were correct when nobody wanted to hear you. Remember that before doubting yourself the next time a dream frightens you."

Cassandra nodded quickly.

Then her attention shifted toward Rayleigh.

"Your future looks terrible."

Rayleigh raised an eyebrow.

"How terrible?"

"Airmid is waiting at the end of it."

Kaguya almost smiled.

"She truly has become more confident."

...

Airmid did not allow Rayleigh to leave the western clinic.

She cut away the ruined side of his coat, cleaned the wound Valletta had opened, and examined the damage left by Bankai while he sat on the edge of a treatment bed.

His muscles had begun trembling now that the fighting was over.

The exhaustion went deeper than his body.

Kannonbiraki Benihime had forced his mind to understand too many structures at once, and fragments of the central chamber still appeared whenever he closed his eyes.

Airmid pressed glowing hands against his chest.

"You maintained several large reconstructions while isolating the Orb, supporting the city, and containing an explosion. Your spiritual power is nearly empty, and your body kept moving by consuming reserves it needed for recovery."

Rayleigh looked toward the door.

"How long?"

"You will remain under observation tonight. After that, you will rest until your hands stop shaking and you can sleep without trying to restructure the bed."

"I did that once."

"You opened the mattress because you believed it contained a damaged support column."

"It made sense at the time."

Airmid’s expression did not soften.

"You are fortunate that Kaguya told me what happened before you attempted to describe it as a minor injury."

Rayleigh looked toward Kaguya.

She stood near the wall with her arms folded.

"You were going to lie."

"I was going to simplify."

"You were coughing blood while holding an ancient magical artifact inside a collapsing labyrinth."

"That is difficult to summarize."

Airmid increased the pressure of her healing magic.

Pain spread through Rayleigh’s ribs.

He decided silence was safer.

Merek entered after the Guild secured the Orb beneath Babel.

Black stone dust still covered his clothes, but the wound beneath his ribs had been properly bandaged.

"The Orb is sealed, and Ouranos has forbidden anyone from moving it without your presence and mine. Valletta’s body was recovered from the central chamber, along with the remains of her ritual plates."

Rayleigh looked at him.

"Any sign that Evilus knew where she was going?"

"Her followers carried maps copied from Daedalus records, but nothing identifies who provided them. Whatever remains of Evilus may still exist in Orario, but they have lost Valletta, the true Orb, and their only method of commanding Knossos."

Merek exhaled slowly.

"My ancestor’s labyrinth will never control my life again."

Rayleigh held out one unsteady hand.

Merek gripped it.

"You chose what his blood meant. Daedalus doesn’t get another vote."

Merek’s eyes reddened, though he covered it by looking toward the bandages around Rayleigh’s side.

"You look terrible."

"I’ve heard that several times."

"It remains accurate."

Merek released his hand and left before Airmid could decide he also needed another examination.

Kaguya followed him after receiving confirmation that Rayleigh would survive.

Ryuu remained long enough to place Benihime and the other four Zanpakutō beside the treatment bed.

"You used every blade you carried."

"Yep."

"You also used magic while already exhausted."

Rayleigh leaned back against the wall.

"That bitch was persistent."

Ryuu’s expression tightened.

"So are you, and that is not always a virtue."

She left before he could answer.

...

Alfia arrived under disguise after sunset.

The clinic guards allowed her through without question, though neither seemed comfortable meeting her eyes.

She entered Rayleigh’s room alone and closed the door behind her.

Rayleigh was awake, despite Airmid’s instructions.

The Zanpakutō’s rested within reach of the bed, while the red thread connecting their souls carried his exhaustion more clearly than his expression did.

Alfia stopped beside him.

"You released Bankai while your spiritual power had not recovered from Ishtar’s covenant."

"Yes."

"You held up part of Orario, dismantled the Orb’s connection, reconstructed several people, and contained Valletta’s explosives at the same time."

"That is an accurate summary."

Her hand struck the wall beside his head.

The stone cracked beneath her palm.

Rayleigh stayed very still.

"You promised to come back."

"I did."

"For several seconds, our connection disappeared!"

The anger in her voice broke.

Rayleigh’s answer died before reaching his mouth.

Alfia’s fingers closed around the front of his shirt.

"When your Bankai ended, I felt nothing from you. No pain, no exhaustion, no irritation—nothing! Do you understand what I thought had happened?!"

Rayleigh covered her hand with his.

"The explosion overwhelmed the bond. I wasn’t gone."

"I did not know that!"

Her grip tightened, then slowly weakened.

The fear flowing through the red thread hurt more than any injury Valletta had given him.

Rayleigh pulled her closer.

Alfia resisted for one heartbeat before lowering her forehead against his shoulder.

"Valletta is dead and Knossos cannot threaten the city again."

"I don’t care about the Orb."

Her voice was barely audible.

"I felt you disappear."

Rayleigh closed his eyes.

"I’m sorry."

Alfia remained against him until the trembling in his hands began to ease.

Then she raised her head and looked directly into his eyes.

"Do not ever make me feel that silence again."