Chapter 171 – The Disaster at the Hollow Square

Lilyth

If it wasn’t for the fact that I had a pretty decent idea what awaited me after death, I would have thought the light I was seeing at the end of the tunnel was my eternal reward. I mean, even before I met Ereshkigal, I thought that all awaited me was the darkest and deepest pit of hell, so any light at the end of the tunnel would probably have been an incoming train. The problem was, I was like… seventy per cent certain there were no functioning trains on Dwynveia, which left the mysterious light well… a mystery.

I guess I will add it to the list.

None of my limbs was responding, another mystery to solve at a later date, so I figured I might as well study the light.

It was bright. And roundish.

Conclusion: It is a mystery.

No. There was another thing. It was unchanging. Until it changed. A shape appeared and blocked some of the light. It was elliptical with three protrusions and strands of something hanging off it. I felt a weird sense of safety upon seeing that shape, but I couldn’t quite place it. There was also a name associated with it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember it.

Why can’t I remember it?

‘She’s down there!’ the shape shouted. ‘Lilyth, can you hear me?’

Lilyth? That name rang a bell. Was it my name? Or the shape’s? No. The shape wouldn’t use it in reference to me. Was that who I was then? Lilyth?

Should I respond then? What if this “Lilyth” was someone else, though, and no one was looking for me? Might as well. If I am not the one they are looking for, they will just move on. Better safe than sorry.

It turned out that there was no point to my dilemma since no sound would escape my lips.

‘She’s not responding,’ the shape said with distress in her voice. ‘I’m going down there!’

‘Just be careful!’ a familiar voice responded. ‘Milten sent Sol to get a rope so we can get her out!’

Milten? Sol?

Those names were familiar too, though… not as much as the two voices.

Why can’t I remember?

The light got completely covered, and something began to descend. Were those… wings?

A beautiful woman landed next to me. She indeed had wings, but they disappeared. The shape I saw earlier turned out to be her head. The woman had pale skin, red, long crimson hair and a truly majestic crown of three horn-like protrusions extending up from her forehead.

Her clothes matched her beauty. A black frilly short-sleeved shirt, red pants and a blue cloak with pauldrons. She didn't skimp on jewellery either, as she had obsidian bracelets on her wrists, there was a black choker around her neck and a silver circlet with a green gem on her head.

Two conflicting sets of feelings filled my body. The first was love and gratitude, the other… shame and regret. I have somehow failed this woman, and it wasn't the first time either. And worst of all… she had to worry about me.

Why would such a stunning woman take any interest in a wretch like me?

Maybe if I stayed perfectly still, she would think I was dead and leave. That way… I wouldn't fail her anymore, and I could spend the rest of my likely short life down here. In the darkness. Where I belonged.

Yes. Just stay perfe…

The woman was by my side, crying and calling my name, before I could finish my thought.

Why?

She must have noticed my eyes following her as she happily exclaimed:

‘You’re alive!’

Shit. Why care about such a failure like me?

She wrapped her hands around me and began crying harder. Green, soothing light began to surround my body.

‘I… I… th-thought you d-died… th-that t-the ex-explosion k-killed you.’

Explosion? What explosion?

The last thing I could remember was… not much, actually. There are bits and pieces, but they didn't merge into a coherent whole.

There was a city where I lived for most of my life. A family. A pet. Me losing them and meeting Ereshkigal. Then… there was pain. A lot of it.

Maybe dying won’t be so bad. It will spare me more pain.

But there must have also been good times, right? Why else would I love the woman so much? And not want to disappoint her. And judging by her reaction, she must have had feelings for me?

But why can't I remember her name? Why?! Why?!

The word began to echo in my mind.

why y y ai ai…

That seemed to jog my memory.

Ai… Ai… Why is that significant? Ai… CAEI!

Some memories appeared in my mind after that. Our meeting in the Tower of Trials. My fight to save her life in Akh’ret's Mercy. Our night together in the space station after I confessed my love for her.

‘Caei,’ I finally mustered the strength to croak and tried to hug her back, but my limbs were still unresponsive. ‘S-sorry.’

‘Shut up, you,’ she cried and hugged me even strongly.

They took me to one of the houses at the Hollow Square that was converted into a field hospital. As I was in… not the best of headspaces at the time, the significance of a need for one didn't register. The upside was that my trip allowed me to discover that the reason my limbs were unresponsive was simple. I misplaced the lower half of my body during the explosion, and my arms were too damaged for me to be able to use them.. I don’t think even my interface was quite sure as to why I was alive, judging by the cheery status I had.

Status: On Death’s Door

Effects:

• Incapacitated

• Death is all but guaranteed without immediate medical care.

‘Your memory should eventually improve,’ the pink-haired demon - Savri said to allay my fears after she and Caei finished healing me. ‘I imagine most of the loss comes from your insides being scrambled.’

There was truth to the words as I could already feel a lot of my memories returning.

‘How’s… P…. F. the woman I was with?’

‘Phosi,’ Savri smiled grimly. ‘Recovering in another room. She got it even worse than you did, if you can believe it. Something to do with her being made of acid, Deirdee told me. Doesn't handle heat well. Worse than you even. Not sure whether she will return to full strength. What happened out there?’

‘Didn’t Phosi tell you?’

Sav shook her head.

‘She’s still unconscious. From our perspective, the two of you breached into the house, smart idea of going through the wall by the way, we heard more gunshots, and as we began rushing to assist you, the house just exploded.’

‘There were two of them. A dwarf, a grunt, I think, and a black-haired man. An officer, most likely. Looked to have some Asian blood in him, if that tells you anything.’

‘It does. Met a few of them when I was… with Paul. You think he was a Terran?’

‘Assuming that was this Strickland, then yes. That’s a Terran surname. Whether he is from my Terra or some other variant of it… I think it is academic. So this Strickland shot me. Then Phosi entered, he threw a grenade and dove into some sort of hatch. Then… My memories are foggy. The last thing I can remember is Phosi trying to help me leave.’

Savri sighed and shook her head.

‘So that was it… Explains a lot.’

‘Why… what… what happened?’ I asked, a feeling of horror starting to grow inside of me as the reality of where I was finally dawned on me.

‘As you said, someone detonated military-grade explosives in a terraced house.’

I felt sick to my stomach.

‘Oh… oh no… how many?’ I asked, dreading the answer.

‘Don’t concern yourself with such things right now. Fo…’

‘HOW MANY, SAV?’

She averted my gaze and said:

‘At least ten. Mostly people cowering inside their homes after they heard gunfire. One of the guards who was with us got hit by a burning piece of a wooden beam that was sent flying by the explosion. Snapped his neck. Nothing I could have done. There were maybe twenty wounded. Healed them all and sent them on their way. As far as our group went, only Caei was seriously hurt as she got her leg artery nicked by a sharp piece of wood that pierced her thigh. Otherwise, just a bunch of scrapes, burns and bruises from the shrapnel. The number of dead and wounded is likely to grow as not all of the fires were put out yet, and the search and rescue is still in progress.’

Each sentence felt like a sword thrust into my heart.

‘What… What have I done?’

‘Nothing,’ Sav said with her shoulders sagging. ‘This is not on you. If anyone is responsible, it is me. I sent you and Phosi there, and you followed my orders. And well… none of us could have suspected that this Strickland guy was psychopathic enough to do… to do… that.’

‘I guess you are trying to convince yourself as much as you are trying to convince me?’ I asked wryly.

‘Yes,’ Sav whispered, tears welling in her eyes.

By the time the search and rescue operation was finished, the total death toll rose to fifteen. I wanted to help, but Sav shut me down by pointing out I was mostly naked after my clothes burnt away and in no shape to do any sort of physical labour. I begrudgingly agreed, and after Aki, who brought me a spare shirt and pants to wear, returned to help with the S&R, I just helped Sav and Caei around the hospital. There wasn’t much to do, though, as only three more wounded people were brought in - one seriously wounded woman dug out from under the rubble, an old man rescued from a burning building and the Viscount. All credit to him, Wilhum took an active role in the search and rescue and got himself injured after running into the burning building to save the poor soul trapped there. Part of the wall collapsed on him, though he muscled through it and got the man out. He then refused any medical care until the search op was finished, and even then, he only wanted mundane treatment rather than magical.

‘It wouldn’t be the best of looks if I got magical healing while there still could be wounded who would need it more. And gods help us if it ran out after I used it up.

‘I’m still at half-tank,’ Sav said with a shrug. ‘And I have mana potions at the ready.’

‘But the people don’t know that. So natural healing it is.’’

That did vastly improve my opinion of the man. Very few politicians cared about things like that.

‘Anyway,’ the Viscount continued,’ I invite you to spend a few days in my keep to recover. Some of you need that more than the others, I reckon.’

He smiled wryly and looked at me.

‘Don’t worry, the ceremony is being cancelled, so you don’t have to worry about that.’

The Viscount explained then that a state of mourning would be declared for the following week and all major public events cancelled for the next month or so, as he didn’t feel quite comfortable holding them until the city guard could confirm that there was no more threat of further disasters like this.

‘Now…,’ he sighed after finishing explaining. ‘I think we could all use a drink, couldn’t we?’