Ishiki's eyes widened a little. "Opened? The gates were actually opened... Did you see inside?"

"No," Yuki shook her head, frustration flickering across her face. "It was obscured by the people, I couldn't see what resided beyond the walls."

"Then what did you find out?"

Yuki leaned in slightly, closing the distance between them just a fraction.

"One of the Imperial Ministers came out," she said. "And, he had an escort in golden armor with him... actually I am not sure if he was even human, that thing was around 8 feet tall."

She paused for effect.

"He took someone inside with him. I suspect, that person was a player... and he was even promoted on the spot to be one of the Inner Guards."

Ishiki felt a jolt of recognition slam into him like a physical blow.

'The Inner Guards.' He shook a little thinking about that.

His mind flashed back to the illusion, that he had seen all those months ago... In that hallucination, he had lived a life where he was one of them. A perfect life that ended into nothingness.

He pushed the dark thoughts away... that wasn't important, it was just an illusion.

Abruptly, Yuki shifted gears. "How is Filch?"

Ishiki froze. The color drained from his face, leaving him looking almost like a ghost. His gaze dropped to his hands, clenched in his lap.

"He is still not awake," he said quietly.

Yuki's eyes narrowed slightly. "It's been over four months, Ishiki. How is his body holding up?"

"He is perfectly healthy," Ishiki replied with a bitter edge creeping into his voice. "I mean, there isn't a single wound on his body and he is most certainly, not dead. But he's just not... there. None of the healers in the Outer Ring could do anything about it."

Almost after two months, Ishiki and Yuki arrived in the capital... the squad four of the outer regiment had stumbled upon two battered figures just some distance away from the bridge, inside the Crimson Canopy.

They found Filch and Nina.

Nina had been awake, though 'awake' was a generous term. Her eyes were wild and she was terrified of even the shadows. No one came out of the Crimson Canopy sane after two months.

It was a miracle they were alive at all.

Filch... had been conscious right until the moment they found them. The guards said that he asked them a few questions and then smiled creepily. He collapsed with his eyes open just the next moment and he has not opened his eyes ever since.

Ishiki didn't ask Nina about what they had witnessed in the harrowing forest... he was sure, it would be anything but pleasant.

Filch's skill had turned into more of a mystery now... and there was no doubt to one thing. He was certainly stronger than Yuki and himself.

After their arrival, Nina had found her family here in the city—a stroke of luck that defied all odds. But, no one related to Filch was found. Nina took him in, caring for his comatose form in her small apartment.

Yuki let out a long, visible sigh. "Something is definitely wrong here," she murmured. "Not just with the Scenario, but... with everything."

"You're telling me," Ishiki snorted. "Speaking of miracles and coincidences... what is your brother doing here? What are his motives for playing soldier here?"

Yuki shot him a look and asked the same kind of stupid question. "What is your mother doing here, Ishiki?"

Ishiki chuckled, though there was no humor in it.

Yuki looked down at the grass. "I mean... i don't know what he is up to. He never even cares to talk to me."

Yuki's big brother was a player too... and he was one of the big shots in the army of Aethelburg. He was the one who found and rescued them from the Crimson Canopy on that fateful day.

Thanks to his position, Yuki and her whole family was allowed to live inside the Secondary ring.

In fact... It was the greatest irony of their situation. Against all statistical probability, almost everyone they cared about had ended up here. Yuki's brother, her father. Even her mother.

And Ishiki's mom. Kenji and Kaori... they were all here.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Yuki said, shifting her gaze up at the glass like leaves. "One or two people becoming Players and landing in the same Scenario... that would have been luck. But entire families? My father... my mother... they're all here. It feels... orchestrated."

"Maybe the System has a twisted sense of humor," Ishiki offered "Or maybe, it pairs people... who knows."

"About that," Yuki intervened. "My father sometimes don't feel like he is the same person. I didn't ever really knew how he was... but he seems different. Its almost as if he loves his family now."

Ishiki shrugged. "Perhaps he had changed after loosing everything."

"Anyways," Yuki said, ignoring his comment "We need to end this. Let's complete this Scenario quickly and go back to earth."

Ishiki laughed lightly, shaking his head. "Quickly? You think it will be that easy?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Yuki asked, frowning. "If we want to finish this and go back... we will. Don't most of the players want that."

"No, Yuki," Ishiki said, his voice dropping to a somber, serious tone. "That's where you're wrong."

He leaned back, looking at the artificial sun burning above them. "Not everyone wants to go back. While counting the numbers, i realized that most of us... we've found what we always wanted, here. I am actually one of those people."

Yuki stared at him, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it," Ishiki said, gesturing to the opulent garden around them. "Why would someone whose life on Earth was trash want to go back? My apartment was moldy, I was broke and let's leave me. The world of people who lived in the lower sectors was ending before the System even showed up.

But here? I have power, they have power and respect. We have food. My mother is safe and we can live peacefully here for as long as we want."

"Peacefully?" Yuki scoffed. "Under a fake sun? Surrounded by monsters? This is just a cage..."

"What does it matter?" Ishiki countered. "This capital is self-sufficient, we have monster meat. There are farms within the walls. The weather is controlled."

He shot her a amusing glance.

"What else do we need? We are humans, Yuki. We live for maybe a hundred years at best. What does it matter, what happens to Earth? Let it rot."

"You don't mean that," Yuki said, her voice rising. "We have a duty to rebuild and save what's left of civilization."

"Duty to whom?" Ishiki snapped, leaning forward. "To the people who ignored us when we were starving? I do not care about them. To the governments that didn't d shit to help us? Yeah, they can strangle themselves as far as i care."

He looked at her with pity in his eyes. "You too Yuki... You owe them nothing. You can live here peacefully and with your family."

She was silent for a long moment staring at him and then spoke in a quite tone. "Live here... and let humanity die out?" Yuki spoke, her eyes blazing. "And become nothing more than pets in a cage?"

"Better a living pet than a dead hero," Ishiki said coldly. "What If the System destroys Earth? What if there is no one left to save by the time we go back? That's not our problem. Is it?

Those people there... they are not children, some of them are better than us. Don't try to act like a God, Yuki... there is no profit in saving humanity. There would be inevitable conflicts... they are not worth what you want to give them."

Yuki stood up abruptly, her shadow falling over him. Ishiki looked up at her graceful figure... it radiated a soothing cold in the oppressive heat.

"I know that I am not a God," she said, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "But is it wrong to think for others? Is it wrong to wish that humanity can thrive once more?"

She looked down at him, her pink eyes were frozen solid with a conviction that terrified him. Ishiki's pupils couldn't help but shake a little.

"I will make it happen. I will make sure there is peace. Humanity will walk forward, and I will guide them. Even if I lose myself in the process."

She turned and walked away. Ishiki watched as she disappeared into the crowd with her white dress fluttering behind her.

Ishiki sat alone at the table for a long moment... frustration boiling in his chest. "Idiot," he finally muttered to the empty air. "She's going to get yourself killed."

He stood up and walked in the opposite direction, his heart was heavy with doubt. In all honesty, all Ishiki ever wanted was to survive. He just wanted to be safe and enjoy what little life he had.

Was it that hard?

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