Chapter 34: Upheaval (2)
Chapter 34: Upheaval (2)
Fortunately, she had escaped the scene with Joshua. That alone meant her safety was more or less secured.
Now, he could breathe a little easier. He just had to take care of the current situation.
Jin swept his gaze around once more. The protective magic had been breached, but every giant within range who could have taken advantage of the gap now lay dead. All that remained was the chaos unfolding within the Black Fog.
They were little more than mindless beasts driven by murderous intent alone. If one steeled their resolve, they could be taken down with a single blow, yet some soldiers hesitated, unable to kill those who had once been their comrades. They focused instead on defending themselves, barely managing to withstand the attacks. A few, caught off guard, were taken down as a result.
“I told you… hesitation will get you killed.”
A cold murmur slipped from Jin’s lips. He drew the gun holstered at his waist. Magic didn’t work on these monsters.
Before he fully joined the fight, he aimed and fired at the surviving creatures still locked in battle with the soldiers within his range. The monsters that had survived only thanks to the lingering loyalty of their former comrades crumpled under his relentless gunfire.
The sudden collapse of their enemies left the soldiers stunned, their expressions vacant as they turned toward the direction of the gunshots. Even when they finally noticed Jin and stared in shock, he paid them no mind and simply continued his task.
Bang. Bang. Amid the sound of gunfire, his voice rang out flat and emotionless.
“Gather the wounded and get out of here. Head for the entrance. You’ll find first aid there, and an airship waiting to take you to the temple or the pharmacy…”
As he spoke, a thought suddenly crossed his mind, and his voice trailed off.
It was probably the monsters who had hurt her too. That kind of wound wasn’t something a giant could inflict.
“…How dare they.”
The fury he had so desperately tried to suppress, the anger he’d barely managed to restrain when he sent her away, burst free before he even realized it, all triggered by that single thought. A flash of light split the sky, accompanied by a deafening thunderclap that shook the earth.
A bolt of lightning struck the head of a monster approaching Jin, precisely within his line of sight.
With a roar, the monster was instantly killed. No, more than that. Its entire body was scorched beyond recognition, no trace of its original form remaining.
The lightning had been so powerful that a few soldiers standing nearby were caught in the blast as well.
The soldiers who had avoided the strike only by sheer luck stood frozen, staring in horror at the ash heaps that had once been their comrades. If they had been just a little closer, they too would’ve been reduced to cinders. That realization was enough to shake them to their core.
Magic, which draws upon mana, has no effect on monsters born of the Black Fog. Which meant that the lightning bolt that just struck down the monster hadn’t been conjured by magic. It was a natural phenomenon. A simple fact, and yet the soldiers were too gripped by fear to even comprehend it.
Jin was just as shocked. The sound of thunder snapped him back to his senses, and only then did he register the devastation he had caused. His shoulders twitched, and a quiet sigh slipped from his lips.
“…Ah.”
He had tried so hard not to lose control, yet it had happened anyway.
It wasn’t the worst-case scenario, but it was still a tragedy born from his inability to rein in his emotions. The lightning hadn’t been a necessary evil. It was his fury – pure and simple – that had killed people who didn’t have to die.
‘What makes me any different from those monsters?’
The wave of self-loathing hit him hard.
He had spent years suppressing his emotions to prevent tragedies like this. Ever since his first awakening – ever since that one fateful mistake – he had never again caused an innocent death.
But he didn’t have the luxury of wallowing in regret. As his emotions flared again, thunder rolled across the sky. Thankfully, no lightning followed, but he knew all too well that if he lost his grip even for a second, another strike would fall, and the same tragedy would repeat itself. The fury still raged inside him, completely unresolved.
The past couldn’t be undone. So he had to prevent the future from repeating it.
Taking a deep breath, Jin barely managed to rein in his unraveling mind. The sky quieted.
A soldier, who had just snapped out of his daze and was helping an injured comrade away from the scene, was suddenly stopped by Jin. The soldier turned, his eyes clouded with fear. Jin spoke calmly.
“…Don’t go alone. Stay together, even if it’s a hassle. Stick with a mage who can use protection spells and evacuate as a group. Quickly. I can’t let anyone else die because of me.”
“Y-yes… Understood…”
Even after witnessing the carnage Jin had unleashed up close, the soldier, who still hadn’t let go of his injured comrade, nodded with conviction.
Jin watched as the soldiers made their way past the corpses, then raised his gun again. Whether it was the noise he’d made or something else, a new wave of giants was stampeding in, far more than before. He stared at the dark shadows rushing toward him from the distance and muttered in a voice devoid of emotion.
“You’re in a hurry to die.”
As if responding to that command, bolts of blue lightning, far more powerful than the one before, rained down like divine punishment.
Though he’d aimed precisely at his targets, the devastation was massive. The shockwaves rippled outward, affecting everything nearby. Some of the mages struggled just to shield themselves from the aftereffects. It was only natural. The lightning was strong enough to lay waste to the entire area.
After neutralizing the giants, Jin aided those still struggling with the monsters, helping them retreat safely.
Perhaps thanks to his efforts, by the time everyone had made it out, there were hardly any monsters left.
“….”
At last, he had the freedom to unleash his anger, but no fitting target remained to receive it.
Jin let out a cold sigh, closed his eyes, and sank to the ground like a man collapsing under the weight of his own body. He released the fragile thread of reason he’d been clinging to.
The sky responded with a low, oppressive rumble, and then lightning began to fall. The fury that had been building up was so immense, it didn’t stop at a single strike. One after another, thunderbolts roared across the heavens without end.
In that chaos, Jin suddenly recalled a day long past.
The day he had said it was better to be resented than to see her hurt.
And with it, the memory of his own contradictory actions.
He was afraid she would come to hate him. Afraid of how he might change if someone he loved turned away from him.
That’s why he hadn’t told her the truth.
If he had, she might have resented him as a person, but at least she would’ve understood why he was so desperate to protect her. Still, he had chosen to remain silent.
Only after she had been hurt did he realize what a contradiction that was. Only then did he finally understand which choice had been right.
Jin slowly opened his eyes. In the wake of the countless lightning strikes, nothing remained alive – no flora, no fauna, no magical beasts, no other races. All that was left were the flames slowly spreading through the areas where lightning had struck trees.
Surveying the devastation, Jin made a decision.
When she woke up, he would tell her everything. Even if she came to hate him, at least he would have a justifiable reason for wanting to protect her.
But even if her safety came first, that didn’t make the prospect of her hatred any less painful. The thought alone made his chest ache.
The sky turned pitch-black with heavy clouds. Raindrops began to fall, one by one, then in torrents, as if to smother the spreading flames.
* * *
Nearly half of the Dimont Forest was wiped off the map.
The man responsible for the destruction trudged back to the military base, soaked to the bone, the downpour echoing his grief.
Dripping like a drowned rat, Jin arrived at the barracks only to be met at the entrance by Commander Michelle Frey, who stood with the unmistakable air of someone waiting for someone.
“You don’t look well. Why did you let yourself get soaked like that?”
She addressed him the moment she saw him, as though she’d been expecting him. Yet her tone and expression were oddly calm, as if she already knew the answer.
The discrepancy made Jin pause, his gaze fixed on her. Sensing his unspoken question, Michelle added.
“Because of Miss Elias, I presume?”
Jin’s brow furrowed faintly.
Again.
A memory surfaced from the not-so-distant past, specifically, the day of Ariel’s second deployment, led by none other than Michelle Frey herself. That day, Jin had been consumed by worry for Ariel.
Killing gremlins wasn’t particularly dangerous. Still, the thought of her being deployed somewhere out of sight gnawed at him. Even though he knew she would come back unharmed, even though he knew his worry was excessive, he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
He couldn’t concentrate on his duties. So he’d pushed everything aside, telling himself he could work once he saw her safe and sound.
When he heard she was returning, he dropped everything and rushed to confirm her safety. Knowing she disliked attention, he was careful not to let her see him. In the end, he managed to confirm she was safe without being noticed.
But deceiving Michelle, an elite mage with keen intuition, had been impossible.
“Well, well. You really do like her, don’t you?”
With one line, she had put into words a feeling Jin himself had never consciously acknowledged. The moment left him confused.
Did I want to see her? Do I really… like her?
It didn’t take long to realize the answer. Her words had snapped everything into place.
He had kept thinking about her not just because he was worried, but because he missed her. And he missed her because he liked her.
Because he liked her, he hadn’t been able to tell her the truth.
That was the moment he realized that he didn’t see Ariel Elias as someone he simply had to protect, but as someone he had feelings for.
And the person who had made him realize that… was the very woman now standing before him: Michelle Frey.
Just like back then.
……
T/N: I’m trying to guess Jin’s past with Ariel 🤔
