Chapter 513: • Naive Hopes of a Powerless Man
It was a starless night sky—where the ceiling of the city’s upper arcologies cast a dull violet hue over the world below. Towering neon spires blinked faintly in the far-off skyline, but here, at the edge of Sector 1, the lights were soft and sparse.
Ren moved quietly.
He wore a black hoodie zipped up against the night chill, the hood drawn low over a matching cap.
White pants and sneakers stood in stark contrast to the rest of his attire, immaculately clean.
In his arms, a carefully bundled clutch of white flowers glowed faintly under the path lights.
The cetery’s entrance wasn’t marked by a gate, but by a sleek tallic pillar standing at attention. A hovering scanner pulsed with dim blue light. Ren approached, holding his black card over it. A soft beep followed, along with a calm, digital voice:
➤ “Thank you for your donation.”
He stepped inside.
The cetery wasn’t like the overgrown stone fields of old Earth history books.
This was Eterna Rest, Union-sanctioned, a mory-synced digital graveyard carved into the upper edges of the mid-city.
The graves were crystalline obelisks, each one unique—so tall and narrow, others short and wide—but all thrumming with soft internal light. The brighter the glow, the more recently soone had passed.
People ca and went in near silence. A couple sat on a low bench, holding each other tightly, heads bowed. A group of young n stood in a circle, flowers in hand, grief etched into every movent. Others walked slowly between the rows, the light casting shadows over tear-streaked faces.
Ren kept his head low as he passed a crying group of friends. He tugged his cap further down, shoulders hunched slightly—whether to avoid their eyes or hide his own, even he wasn’t sure.
He arrived at a small cluster of four graves set close together, clearly a team even in death. Faintly glowing tokens had been left behind: a cracked combat headgear, a faded White Cot team insignia, the hilt of a broken Dura-steel blade, and a perfectly preserved ribbon tied around one crystal spire.
Ren knelt wordlessly. One by one, he laid the white flowers down, careful not to disturb the items already there.
When the last bouquet had been placed, he let out a sigh, then dropped into a squat, arms resting loosely over his knees.
A soft smile crept onto his face—not forced, but… almost too fragile to last.
“Hey, team. It’s your team leader, Ren, speaking…”
He chuckled weakly, the sound barely audible over the ambient hum of the city beyond the cetery’s barrier walls.
“Thought I’d drop by and fill you all in on how I’ve been… again.”
He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, eyes flicking between the four softly glowing obelisks.
“Believe it or not, I’ll be turning forty this year.” He sighed through his nose. “Sad to say, but I’m still single.”
A dry grin tugged at the edge of his mouth.
“I can already see Gius laughing at .”
Ren shook his head, gaze dropping to the ribbon tied around one of the graves.
“‘What kind of team captain can’t even score a date,’ right?” he muttered, mimicking Gius’s voice with a faint smirk. “You always had a big mouth.”
His fingers brushed a petal that had fallen from the bouquet, absentmindedly twirling it between his fingers.
“I’m still a team leader in the guild. Crazy how I didn’t step down after what happened that day… leading you all to your deaths… Sad to say, but the guilt still haunts ,” he continued after a mont, voice quieter.
He looked up at the crystals again, their glow reflecting softly in his eyes.
“I visit when I can. So days it feels like that last mission was just a few weeks ago. Then I catch a glimpse of my reflection and—” he chuckled again, this ti bitterly, “—I rember we’ve been apart for almost two decades.”
His hands fell into his lap.
“There’s a lot going on lately. Too much. A red mist… People turning into monsters, crazy civilian casualties. Disappearances… The city was beginning to feel less safe every day… Well, that was until our star rookie pulled an insane power move and is now using his summons to protect the entire city. You know, I used to respect him for it. Sure, he’s accomplished so much, but his recent decisions and plans are making him feel… dangerous. Apparently… the world is in danger… and only he can save it.”
His jaw tensed slightly, his tone tightening just a little.
“But to do so, he must risk innocent lives… The lives you all died to protect. Those who don’t bow to him will be forced to die… What a load of crap!”
A breeze moved gently through the rows of crystal graves, making the faint light shimr across the polished ground.
“A lot is at stake… Lives are on the line… The Guildmaster is saying he’s in a lot of pain, and that his actions are valid… But I do not approve. If pain serves as a justified reason for one to trample upon others, then every tyrant in history would be a saint. We all suffer. We all break. But that doesn’t give us the right to shatter others in return.”
Ren paused for a mont, then spoke again after a deep sigh.
“I’d stop him if I could, but I don’t possess the strength he does. I can’t guarantee the safety of a select few like he can… So perhaps my ideals are just naive hopes of a powerless man.”
Ren looked up, chuckled weakly, then let out a sigh, rising to his feet.
“…You’d tell if I was going crazy, wouldn’t you?” he asked with a tired smile. “Or maybe you’d just make fun of for growing paranoid.”
He rubbed the back of his neck again, then added, softer:
“I miss you all. Every damn day.”
Suddenly a deep male voice spoke behind him.
“What if there was a way you could help… To prevent the deaths… Sothing only you can do?”
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