AKIHIRO ATLAS
"Again... again the same silence fell upon me. No matter how loudly I scream, my voice always echoes within myself... it reaches no one. It's as if even my existence has been forgotten.
I... am truly alone.
And this loneliness is no longer a feeling—it is a punishment, a way of being. The only thing that belongs to me.
My god... if you are anywhere, hear me.
Forgive me... I don't know what I did wrong, but forgive me.
I'm tired of fading away in this silence.
I'm tired of being alone... I'm sick of it...
Everything inside me is slowly turning to ashes anyway.
If this is the price, take it…
Reduce my body to ashes, destroy my existence…
But please…
Me…
Don't leave me alone in this endless void."
ONE DAY LATER
That night… was strangely quiet.
But this silence wasn't peaceful. It was as if someone wanted to kill me by squeezing my throat.
It was more like something suffocating, heavy, and inevitable. It was as if the world had forgotten how to breathe, and I was breathing pain instead.
I remember the moment when I rested my head on Nyoko's shoulder.
That moment... was the moment when something broke.
I don't know how long I cried. Time... had shattered there. The minutes seemed to blend together, and the seconds stretched and twisted. It was as if every tear droplet dragged a piece of me along with it.
And the worst part was... I couldn't stop it.
Crying wasn't a choice. It wasn't a reflex either. It was... a breakdown. I felt loneliness to its fullest extent again. Again, someone I had spent years trying to make love me with had left me. They had defined me as worthless and walked away without caring.
Everything I had held inside, suppressed, and ignored... suddenly surfaced.
It was as if my mind had been a glass filled with cracks for years, and that night... it finally shattered completely.
Nyoko didn't say anything.
That's why I still remember that moment.
Because if he had spoken... maybe I wouldn't have been able to bear it.
But he was just there. Silent. Still. Without running away.
People usually say something in moments like these. They offer consolation. They say, "It will pass," even if it's a lie.
But she... said nothing.
And strangely enough... this was worse.
Because in that silence, I felt this:
She knew it too.
That it wouldn't pass.
…
At some point, my body gave up.
Even crying is tiring... I learned that the night I found out.
My muscles were trembling, my breathing was irregular, my eyes were burning. But my mind... still wouldn't stop.
The thoughts... were sharp and cruel.
"It happened again."
"You're alone again."
"Nothing is changing. "
These sentences echoing within me were more real than the outside world.
I remember Nyoko carrying me.
It's not clear.
In pieces.
I rose from the ground... my feet dangling in mid-air... my head slipping momentarily from his shoulder...
But I didn't resist. I couldn't resist anyway.
I had no strength to resist.
Maybe... I didn't want to resist.
Because at that moment... I didn't want to be alone.
I'm a selfish, cowardly, and lonely bastard.
When we arrived at the shack, the night had grown even deeper.
It was cold inside. But it was no different from outside. Cold no longer belonged to a place... it was inside me.
When you left me, I opened my eyes for a moment.
The ceiling... was full of cracks.
Strange.
One can get caught up in details even at such moments.
The only thing I thought about while looking at those cracks was this:
"I'm like this too."
Something that still looks like a whole from the outside... but has actually already fallen apart inside.
Nyoko was still there.
I could feel her without even seeing her.
The silence... his presence... his not leaving.
And this... was scary.
Because if someone truly stays...
Then your fall becomes more real.
If you're alone... you can deny it.
But if someone sees you in that state...
You can't escape. There's no chance of denial. Because someone else already knows.
I closed my eyes.
Not to sleep.
Just… to not think.
But it didn't work.
Because my mind became clearer in the darkness.
And that night I understood...
Sometimes one gets tired not by leaning on someone else's shoulder, but by falling into the void within oneself.
While I was looking at the ceiling, I noticed... this wasn't just a shack.
At first glance, it seemed that way, yes. Crooked boards, nails hammered in hastily, walls that had come apart in places... to someone looking from the outside, this place was nothing more than a pile that would fall apart if the wind blew a little too hard. But as I lay there inside, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness... this place gradually revealed itself. Layer by layer. It was as if it had a story to tell, and I was being drawn into that story, whether I wanted to or not.
It looked like a barn.
But it's not like an abandoned barn... more like a place that was once vibrant and then forgotten. The wooden beams intersected above at irregular angles. Some had a dark, almost burnt-like hue; others were lighter, looking newer. This meant that this place wasn't built all at once. Over time, additions were made as needed. Someone hadn't abandoned this place... on the contrary, they had tried to preserve it.
I noticed the pieces of fabric hanging on the walls. The air entering through the tiny gaps where the wind seeps in was gently moving those fabrics. Each seemed torn from a different place—the sleeve of an old garment, a fragment of a torn curtain, perhaps the last remnant of something someone once cherished. Their colors had faded, but they had not entirely vanished. Dirty reds, tired yellows, stubbornly vibrant blues... all of them stood out like a strange resilience within this decay.
In one corner, there were crates stacked on top of each other. They were covered in bits of straw, dried grass, and a light layer of dust. I noticed the smell at that moment. It was a mixture of earth, moisture, and old plants. But it wasn't unpleasant. On the contrary... it was strangely familiar. It was as if this place had been forgotten but not completely abandoned. As if someone had said, "I'll be back," even while leaving this place.
There were small glass bottles hanging from the ceiling by thin threads. Inside them were dried plants; some had turned brown, while others still retained a pale shade of green. They were hitting each other as the wind blew—making a very faint, almost inaudible sound. But that sound... it echoed in the silence.
Like a heartbeat.
Irregular... but present.
And the light was... strange.
An old lamp standing in the corner of the shed was emitting a yellowish light. But this light wasn't spreading out in a straight line. It was filtering through the fabric in between, getting scattered and broken up. Therefore, there were no fixed shadows on the walls. Everything seemed to be moving. It was as if the shack... was breathing.
And at that moment I thought...
Maybe this place was truly alive.
Just not like humans. There were souls living within them. Perhaps those souls had lost their purpose, perhaps they had lost the people for whom they might have had a purpose. Still, they were alive.
…
The creaking of the door interrupted this thought.
The sound was very faint, but in this silence it echoed like a sharp knife. I didn't turn my head. There was no need. I knew it was her.
Nyoko.
I was beginning to recognize his steps now. They were light... but not without hesitation. With each step, it was as if he were weighing something. It wasn't about choosing between leaving or staying... it was like the cautious progress of someone who had decided to stay.
When he came to me, he paused for a moment.
She didn't say anything.
But that pause... it was heavier than words.
Then something hot touched my hand.
I looked reflexively.
It was a thin container. The steam rising from it formed brief shapes in the air and then disappeared. The scent... was light but distinct. A blend of unfamiliar herbs. Slightly bitter, yet also mellow.
"Drink this." Nyoko said.
Her voice was soft... but there was something suppressed in it. She was careful. Too careful.
It was as if if he raised his voice just a little more... I would crumble.
My fingers closed around the container. The heat… was more intense than I expected. It penetrated beneath my skin. For a moment… I actually felt something.
For the first time in a long time.
I took a slow sip.
The taste was… strange. It wasn't completely bitter, nor was it completely mild. But it didn't burn my throat. On the contrary… it left a heaviness as it slid down my throat. As if it wanted to fill the void inside me.
Nyoko was dealing with something behind me at that moment. I heard the sound of fabric. Then a heavy weight came down on me.
A cover.
But it wasn't an ordinary blanket. It was torn. It was made by combining different fabrics. Some parts were thicker, some parts were thinner. But they all... somehow held together.
Just like this shack.
Its movement was slow. He was careful.
It was as if he wasn't covering me, but protecting something.
Someone was protecting me.
…
When he sat next to me, there was very little distance between us. But that distance... eventually lost its meaning. She slowly approached. She leaned on my shoulder.
I felt the weight of his head.
Its warmth.
And this... felt more than I expected.
Something inside me tightened.
Then it cracked.
"You were shaking so much." she said.
The sentence was simple.
But there was hidden fear in his tone.
"You're a little better now."
The word echoed in my mind. Like a sound beating repeatedly in an empty room.
I wasn't well.
But saying this... was unnecessary.
Nyoko already knew.
We remained silent for a while.
But this silence... was not like before.
This silence... was being shared.
"If you want..." she began.
She paused.
I felt his breath on my shoulder. Light, irregular.
"You can stay here."
My eyes didn't close. But I wasn't focused either.
I just listened.
"You can continue the task you received from Cistern here..." she said. "You don't need to go out. No one will force you. Nobody... wants you to go back to the things that put you in this situation. "
Her voice... wasn't breaking.
But she was struggling. While speaking her words, she was constantly hesitating.
"You can stay here, Aki."
This time she said my name.
This… was different.
More personal.
Heavier.
Something moved inside me.
She was talking about staying. For three years, she had wanted me to do something with her that I had done with someone else.
How simple a thing it seems.
But for me… it wasn't like that.
Because staying meant not facing it.
And I… had already run away from so many things.
I took a deep breath. My chest tightened.
"If I stay..." I said slowly.
My voice didn't sound like it belonged to me.
"...nothing will change."
Nyoko didn't move.
But I could tell his attention was fading. This wasn't the answer he wanted.
"I can't stay like this."
The words came out of my mouth word for word. Forcedly.
"This... would be running away."
The moment I said that word... something else inside me broke.
"And I..." I paused, "I've already run away enough."
This was a confession.
But it was also… a judgment.
Against myself.
"I need to go."
This time I said it more clearly.
Harder.
As if I would stay if I hesitated...
"No matter what, I have to go."
From the outside, it looked... maybe it was determined.
Maybe... that was the "right" thing to do.
But inside me...
It wasn't a choice.
It was... a necessity.
It's like a punishment.
Because what needed to happen had already happened. My nearly three-year journey was over and I…
I hadn't yet gained enough self-knowledge.
I had lost my connection with Magnus. After finding someone I could trust...
Before I could even say I trust you...
I lost him.
Meanwhile, Nyoko's head grew heavier on my shoulder. She leaned against me even tighter.
This wasn't an answer.
But it was an objection.
It was a silent "don't go".
And that silence said more than words ever could.
…
I opened my eyes again.
I looked at the ceiling.
To the cracks.
To the fragmentation.
Then… I spoke slowly.
"Lieutenant Nyoko…"
My voice was calmer now.
But this calmness... was exhausted.
"Why is Team 11 here?"
I turned my head slightly towards him.
"You… don't come to places like this. "
A pause.
"Both Magnus and you being in this Sacred Domain…"
Even saying the word made me feel heavy inside. Because, I finally understood. Even though I was aware that something was happening... Magnus must have had a specific reason for not telling me.
"This place... it's not a coincidence."
My eyes didn't look away this time.
I looked directly at him.
"What happened?"
This question… wasn't just out of curiosity.
This... was an acknowledgment that things had changed.
When the weight of Nyoko's presence on my shoulder gradually lightened, I immediately noticed it; it was more than just the end of physical contact. It was as if, as that warmth was taken away, it was also carrying away something invisible that kept me balanced. The way she lifted her head was not hasty—quite the opposite, it was unnecessarily slow and overly cautious. This was the kind of movement where someone slows down not only because they need to move, but because they fear the consequences of that movement. After lifting her head, she didn't look at me for a few seconds; her eyes were fixed on something in the space between us. Her lips parted slightly, but no sound came out. It was as if the words were caught in her throat, and releasing them would set something irreversible in motion.
As I watched her, a strange uneasiness began to grow inside me. Nyoko wasn't someone who had trouble speaking. At least... not like this. This silence wasn't the usual kind of silence. This was the silence of something being seriously wrong.
Finally, her eyes turned to me.
This time, directly.
Without running away.
But that look lacked the familiar balance I was used to. Instead, there was a suppressed vulnerability; as if something was teeming just beneath the surface, ready to crumble.
"We…" she began, but her voice didn't sound as I expected. It was a thin, forced, and almost fragile tone. She swallowed, her gaze wavered for a moment, then she tried to regain composure. "Team 11..." she said, this time choosing her words more carefully, but there was still a tension in her voice that she couldn't quite control. She paused for a moment. That brief pause was filled with hundreds of unspoken sentences. "…We were expelled from Cistern. "
This sentence hung in the air.
I knew I had heard it. The words had reached my ears, my mind had recognized them... but the meaning didn't fit into place. The word "we were fired" was in the wrong context. It had been used for the wrong people. Team 11... wouldn't have been fired. This was like the system rejecting itself.
Because they were Cistern's entire external power. Without them, there would be no functioning system.
My eyebrows furrowed unconsciously, and my shoulder tensed involuntarily. As I slowly sat up, I felt something shift inside me; it wasn't just surprise, it was something sharper, something more unsettling.
"What do you mean we were fired?" I asked. My voice was low but not flat; it contained a suppressed harshness. It sounded like a request for information, but it was actually more of an objection. "Someone must have said something wrong," I added, without taking my eyes off him. "Or maybe you misunderstood. Who could fire Team 11?"
This time, Nyoko did not look away, but her gaze grew heavier. Her shoulders sank very slightly, as if she felt the weight of what she had said again. "We have been officially expelled," she said in a clearer tone, but there was still a hint of brokenness beneath that clarity. "Our licenses have been revoked, our records have been erased. We no longer exist in the Cistern system. It's as if we never existed. Moreover, we can never return. We are now known as traitors…"
These sentences sank into me one by one. Each was like a separate blow. I didn't rise to my feet slowly; my body tensed, my muscles tightened unconsciously. This… couldn't be a mistake. This was not a systemic failure or a misunderstanding.
"This is not possible," I said, this time clearer and firmer. The tone in my voice was no longer open to debate. "This cannot be just a decision. It's... the result of something."
Nyoko's expression changed slightly at this sentence; it seemed as if seeing that I had reached the same conclusion both reassured and further unsettled her. "Yes," she said, almost in a whisper. "That's why we think this is a conspiracy." She chose her words carefully, weighing each one before speaking. "This didn't happen overnight. It was presented as a process, but everything seemed to have been prepared long in advance. We protested, we questioned, we requested reports from our contacts at Cistern... but nothing changed. The decision... had already been made."
"Who gave it to you?" I asked immediately. This question came out without thinking. What was rising within me was no longer merely surprise; it was transforming into a rage seeking direction. "Who could do such a thing? Such a big thing? And you… didn't find any trace? "
The expression on Nyoko's face cleared up with this question. Her eyes flickered for a moment, then she nodded very slightly. "No," she said. "That's the worst part. We don't know who did it. Still, 'Nirvana' made its decision. " The break in his voice was more pronounced as he said this sentence. "There are traces... but they all seem deliberately mixed up. Fake redirects, missing records... someone didn't want us to figure out who specifically they were."
Nirvana…
The most powerful device known as humanity's Nirvana. Cistern is that device that provides Spirit Power to its people and establishes our connection with the Second Founder. Hidden within an unknown pocket universe inside Cistern, Team 0 preserves its existence. These were the only things I knew.
This answer increased the tension within me even more.
Uncertainty... was always the most dangerous thing.
An enemy you cannot identify can be anywhere.
I exhaled slowly, but it didn't relieve the pressure inside me.
Nyoko remained silent for a while, then spoke again. When she said "Magnus...", that name changed the atmosphere in the room. My eyes narrowed slightly. "The fact that he's here too... doesn't seem like a coincidence to me. I don't know why you're here, but…" she paused, searching for the words, "…they might have experienced something similar. "
"Similar?" I repeated. This time my voice was softer but more intense.
This is impossible. No one... not even Magnus, could be smart enough to devise such a conspiracy. All the people of Cistern feared him.
"If this is a purge… or something aimed at removing specific people from the system…" she said, fixing her eyes on me again, "that too could be one of the goals. "
This possibility quickly took its place in my mind. The pieces were beginning to fit together, but the resulting picture was… more disturbing.
At this point, Nyoko's gaze shifted again. As if she had said what she needed to say but could no longer bear the weight of it... she slowly drew her legs to her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself and rested her head on her knees. This gesture was... vulnerable. A kind of vulnerability that Nyoko rarely shows. Her shoulders shook very slightly; she wasn't crying, but she was dangerously close to it.
"We…" she said, her voice now hoarser, "have lost everything, Aki. Not just our mission… but who we are."
This sentence broke the last remaining balance within me.
I suddenly stood up. My movement was forceful, not uncontrolled, but it felt like the sudden release of something repressed. The cover on me slipped and fell to the ground; the container in my hand shook slightly but did not fall. None of this was important.
"Whoever did this..." I said, my voice this time was strangely calm. But this calmness felt like a lull before the storm. "…I will find them." My eyes were fixed, and plans of action were already forming in my mind. "And this won't end with just finding them. Whoever is behind this... whoever planned this... I will uncover them all."
Nyoko didn't look up, but I knew she was listening. These words weren't meant for her... they were mostly for myself. It was an attempt to find direction. An effort to regain control.
I couldn't stay there any longer. The need for movement within me could not fit within the confines of that enclosed space. I headed towards the door, my steps determined. When I opened the door, the cold air from outside hit my face, but it did not diminish the warmth within me.
When I went into the next room, the atmosphere had changed. It was smaller, messier, but… a livelier space. And there, a figure sitting upside down in a chair immediately caught my attention.
General Urizen.
As soon as he saw me, a wide, almost unnecessarily relaxed smile appeared on his face. It was as if nothing that had just happened had touched his world at all.
"I like this style of introduction," he said, rocking slightly in his chair. "If you had slammed the door a little harder, the dramatic effect would have been one hundred percent. "
I didn't react at all. I closed the door behind me and took a few steps closer without taking my eyes off him.
"I need to talk to you," I said. My voice was flat, but there was suppressed intensity beneath it.
Urizen tilted his head to the side and studied me for a few seconds. His sarcastic smile widened a little, but an instant of seriousness flashed in his eyes. "Of course," he said finally, sitting up and standing with exaggerated seriousness. "But first, let's clarify this: is this conversation a 'chat over tea' or 'determining strategy before tearing someone to pieces'? "
I didn't answer.
I just looked.
In that brief silence... it wasn't hard for him to understand what I meant.
Urizen laughed lightly and nodded. "Okay," he said, this time his voice shifting to a slightly deeper tone. "Understood. Then… you're at the right time. "
He took a step toward me, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. "Tell me, General Akihiro," he said, fixing his eyes directly on me. "Who made such a terrible mistake that put you in this state?"
"This is the universe." I replied.
The atmosphere in the room changed the moment I closed the door. That fragile, silent heaviness outside was replaced here by something different—a tension that was sharper, more dynamic, yet veiled in an artificial ease. Urizen was still standing by that chair; his shoulders slumped, his posture careless, that familiar half-sarcastic smile on his face. But his eyes... they weren't as relaxed. As he eyed me, something was working beneath the surface. Something that calculates, weighs, and measures.
I took a few steps closer. The distance between us shortened.
"General Urizen," I said.
This address brought a different atmosphere to the room. It was no longer just an ordinary conversation.
One of Urizen's eyebrows rose slightly, and the corner of his lips curled up a little more.
"General Aki," he replied, bowing slightly with an exaggerated show of respect. "How formal... this made me a little scared, honestly. Generally, when people address me this way, either someone has died... or they will die soon. "
I didn't react at all.
I kept my gaze fixed.
This time, her smile froze for a moment. Then she exhaled slowly and relaxed her shoulders.
"Okay," he said in a lower tone. "Got it. I'm lowering my joke quota a bit."
His joking attitude was annoying me more than ever right now.
There was a brief silence. But this silence felt like preparation.
"Team 11," I said directly. "They were expelled from Cistern."
Even as I said this sentence, it still sounded foreign.
Urizen tilted his head slightly to the side. He did not take his eyes off me.
"Yes," he said. "I would say we made quite a dramatic entrance. The stage lights were missing, but everything else was in place."
I realized I was clenching my teeth. Maybe if I hadn't tried to suppress myself, I would have attacked him.
"Explain in detail, General Urizen."
This time there was no patience in my voice.
This was not a request.
This was an order.
Urizen looked at me for a few seconds. Then he took a deep breath. That slight mocking glint in his eyes hadn't entirely disappeared... but it had receded.
"All right," he said slowly. "Then… let's start from the beginning."
He gently pushed the chair aside with his foot and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms over his chest. This was a more serious stance for him.
"While you were gone," he began, "Cistern... got a little messy."
"'A little'? " I interrupted. My eyebrow rose slightly.
Urizen's lips curved slightly.
"Okay," he said. "I underestimated it a bit. It would be more accurate to say that it has come to the brink of disaster. "
My eyes trembled with anger, and I clenched my teeth; then they narrowed in parallel with my attempt to listen carefully to him.
"What happened?!"
This time my question was more pointed.
Urizen bowed his head slightly.
"One of the Supreme Five." he said.
At that moment… something inside me tightened.
"Who?"
"Kira."
That name… cut through the air.
It echoed in my mind.
"This is impossible," I said immediately. "The Supreme Five do not intervene directly. Especially not in a Sacred Domain like Cistern."
"Normally, it wouldn't," Urizen said. "But Kira... wasn't one to adhere to the concept of 'normal.' I don't know what she was or her purpose. We don't know much about Supreme Five either. Except for Tobias... But you know. And he can't say everything that's written in his book."
There was silence between us, and I lost myself in my thoughts. Which one of the Supreme Five was "Kira"? I didn't know directly. However, I knew some things about them, and I knew they were all powerful enough to perhaps easily destroy Sacred Domains.
But this time's silence... was too heavy. While I was lost in my thoughts, he didn't say a single word. He continued to look at me with his sarcastic smile.
Finally, I broke the silence.
"What did Kira do?" I asked.
Urizen closed his eyes for a moment, as if he didn't even want to remember.
"He went into the Cistern," he said. "With its massive army."
He paused for a moment.
"And he nearly collapsed the entire system. He and his army nearly killed the entire population."
This sentence…
It suddenly echoed in my mind.
"Almost?"
Urizen shrugged slightly.
"Yes. 'Almost'. Because if it had completely collapsed, we wouldn't be having this conversation here right now."
The tension inside me increased.
Still knowing that you killed everyone in Cistern.
Back in the day, I wouldn't have been able to sit still for everyone... But now, all I care about is my loved ones. For some reason, I can't care that much about everyone else.
Even admitting this hurts me, but...
My brothers, Aurelia, my master, and the others... If anything happened to them, I would cremate the bodies of all the members of the Supreme Five.
"Do you have any documentation regarding who lives there?"
Urizen waited a few seconds. Even he couldn't be joking in the face of such a question.
"No one from your team died. However, more than half of the civilians in the areas allocated to each team were wiped out."
…
Most of my people were wiped out.
"How?" I said. "A lone person… How could they bring Cistern to this point? ! What did the generals do? What about the lieutenants? What about our soldiers! Were we such a simple Sacred Domain that could be destroyed so easily?!"
My voice and my anger rose steadily as I said these words.
Urizen looked at me. This time there was a hint of seriousness in his eyes.
"Because she... is Kira," he said. "And she knows exactly what she's doing. "
This answer... wasn't enough.
But for now... it had to be enough.
"Why?" I said. "What was the reason?"
Urizen remained silent this time.
For a few seconds.
Then he nodded slightly.
"We don't know."
This answer…
Wasn't what I expected.
But it was the most disturbing one.
"Don't we know? " I said, my voice this time was harder. "One of the Supreme Five is coming, bringing Cistern to the brink of destruction, and you… don't know why?"
Urizen raised his eyebrows slightly.
"General Aki," he said in a calm but slightly sarcastic tone, "that's exactly what we've been questioning. But you can imagine that… in such a situation, no one sits down to give you a detailed explanation."
I exhaled sharply.
This... made sense.
But it wasn't acceptable.
Urizen continued.
"During that attack," he said, "everything descended into chaos. Systems crashed, data flow ceased, and some regions became completely isolated. We…"
A short pause.
"…we saw this as an opportunity."
My eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"An opportunity? "
"Yes," he said. "Black Dragon Company."
This name...
It opened another door in my mind.
"You were investigating their secrets," I said.
Urizen smiled.
"From what I see, you're still fast, General Aki. Still, you can't be as fast as Nyoko, hehe."
But I didn't laugh.
"Go on."
This time, Urizen seemed a bit more serious.
"We've had suspicions about some of their dirty dealings for a long time," he said. "But we had no concrete evidence. Security protocols were compromised during Kira's attack. Some access layers have been exposed."
My eyes have sharpened.
"And you entered through that gap."
"Absolutely," said Urizen. "As Team 11… it's one of the things we do best."
But this time, his smile didn't last long.
"But…" he said.
That word…
It changed everything.
"This was a trap. "
At that moment… something inside me hardened.
"Explain."
Urizen took a deep breath.
"The data we accessed… was too easy," he said. "We didn't notice at first. Everything seemed real. But then… things started to fall apart. The data streams were conflicting, the timestamps were mismatched... and most importantly..."
He paused.
"...someone wanted us to access that data."
There was silence. Someone else must have planned this at that company Magnus founded. So who was it?
This time's silence... wasn't heavy.
It was dangerous.
"Then?" I said.
"Then," said Urizen, "we were caught."
He emphasized the word specifically.
"Not officially. But… we were isolated. We were interrogated. And from that point on… everything happened very quickly. "
My eyes fixed.
"Interrogation," I said.
"Yes," said Urizen. "But not in the classical sense. It was more of a process to 'prove' that we were guilty. "
I clenched my teeth.
"So the decision had already been made."
"Absolutely," he said.
There was a short silence.
Then he continued.
"And as a result… we were expelled. Our titles were taken away. Our records were erased. And…"
He tilted his head slightly to the side.
"…we were sent here."
That moment…
Everything fell into place.
Kira's attack.
Black Dragon Company.
Trap.
Inquiry.
Exclusion.
This… was no coincidence.
This… was a planned chain reaction.
My breathing became heavy.
"So," I said slowly, "someone triggered chaos at Supreme Five level... then used that chaos to eliminate Team 11."
Urizen looked at me.
This time he didn't smile.
"Should I tell you the bad news... or the worse news?" he said.
I didn't squint my eyes.
"Tell me." I said.
"This might just be the beginning, General Aki." he said.
Silence.
But this time…
The anger within me had now found direction.
It was clear.
This was not a crisis.
This was... the beginning of a war.
When Urizen's last sentence hung in the air, none of us spoke for a moment. That silence was different from all previous silences; it was not emptiness but fullness. Within it were unspoken plans, unfinished decisions, and a threat that had yet to be named. In such silence, one becomes cautious even while breathing; for one feels that even the slightest sound could trigger something.
I continued to look at Urizen. My gaze was fixed, but my mind had already begun to piece together the fragments. The name Kira still echoed in my mind. One of the Supreme Five... Someone powerful enough to enter Cistern alone and bring the system to the brink of collapse... This wasn't a simple attack. This wasn't a message. This was an intervention directly targeting the structure. But what was more disturbing was that this did not happen in isolation. Because Urizen's account indicated something more complex than the attack itself: a manipulation, a loophole, a plan.
"So..." I finally said, my voice low but clear, "someone from the Supreme Five breaks into Cistern, crashes the system, creates chaos big enough to expose the Black Dragon Company's data... and at that very moment Team 11 is pushed through this gap. When I finished the sentence, I noticed the coldness in my own voice. This was no longer a guess; it was stating aloud the point at which the parts touched each other.
Urizen tilted his head slightly to the side. The usual sarcastic expression was no longer on his face; instead, a more calculated seriousness had taken its place. "That's exactly right, General Aki," he said. "But the point is… no one pushed us directly. This was something more subtle. The system appeared to be open at that moment. We thought this openness was natural. Because the existence of vulnerabilities, especially in a place like Cistern, is generally not an error but an opportunity."
He paused for a moment, then added with a slight twist of his lips: "And we took that opportunity."
This sentence made me even more nervous.
"Opportunity," I said again, this time weighing the word carefully. "You saw this as an opportunity—at a time when an attack was underway, when a Supreme Five-level entity was tearing the system apart? "
Urizen shrugged, but it was not a casual gesture; rather, it was like an old reflex, a habit he had not lost even as he confronted his own actions. "General Aki," he said, his voice slightly sarcastic but careful, "if we had stood in that gap and done nothing, we wouldn't be having this conversation here today. Cistern was already very close to erasing us at that moment. The damage left by Kira wasn't just physical; the trust mechanism within the structure had also been broken. Everything was in disarray. Within that chaos, we detected data traces of the Black Dragon Company."
When this name appeared again, another layer opened in my mind. The Black Dragon Company... was not merely an organization; it was something that operated like a shadow organization, with unclear boundaries but whose influence was felt everywhere. The exposure of their secrets... could not have been a "coincidence" even amidst such chaos.
It was the darkest organization of Cistern, founded by Magnus.
"And you accessed that data," I said. It wasn't a question.
"Yes," said Urizen. "But it didn't turn out as we expected. At first, everything was fine. Access was easy, the roads were clear, the system showed no resistance. This was not normal. Cistern's core security never behaves like this. But at that moment... it was behaving that way. It was as if someone was specifically directing us in that direction."
With this sentence, my gaze sharpened.
"So it's a trap," I said.
Urizen nodded slightly. "Yes. But it's not like a classic trap. The door had been left open, and when we entered, it didn't close from behind... it just disappeared."
He fell silent for a moment, then lowered his voice even more. "And while I was inside, the interrogation began. But it wasn't conducted in a room, through a system, or with a single person. This was… the process. With data, contradictions, artificial gaps. It was as if our own actions had been pre-recorded to be used against us. "
I realized I was clenching my teeth.
"This is not possible," I said.
Urizen smiled slightly, but this smile was no longer sarcastic. It seemed more like a weary acceptance. "Not under normal circumstances," he said. "But General Aki... we don't operate under normal circumstances anyway."
I stepped forward. My voice was now more controlled, but the pressure inside me had increased even more.
"And then?"
Urizen took a deep breath. "Then the system made its own decision. The inquiry ceased to be an inquiry at some point. Now it was just a process of confirmation. It wasn't about proving we were guilty... it was about making us admit we were guilty anyway."
He paused for a moment, his eyes fixed on me.
"And in the end, Team 11... was erased from Cistern. Our titles were taken away. Our access has been blocked. Our records have been removed from the system. And in the final stage… we were sent here."
After these sentences, nothing changed in the room for a while. But inside me, a lot was changing. Because this was no longer just an export story. This was the targets chosen by an organization as it cleansed itself from within.
"You are not part of this plan," I said slowly, more like talking to myself. "You were not the target... you are the tool."
This time, Urizen bowed his head slightly.
"If so," he said, his voice had almost calmed down, "then the real question is this, General Aki: who used us?"
This question sank back into the room.
And this time there was no answer.
There was just a bigger gap.
I turned around and walked toward the door, and the moment I grasped the doorknob...
Even though you, as a team, failed to discover this... I will keep my promise to your lieutenant, General Urizen. I have no luxury of forgetting anyway. When I return to Cistern, I will change many things. I will change this universe. I will change people. While I am here, no one will lose their life. Even if I cannot save everyone, I will save everyone's loved ones. I will create things that he loves. I will protect my home."
I wasn't looking at where Urizen was, but I noticed he had sat back down in his chair. Therefore, I was certain our conversation was over.
I opened the door and left without waiting for an answer from Urizen. I was angrier than I had ever been, and I was trying not to convince myself that I was sorry.
I slammed the door behind me and leaned my back against the wall, staring at my palm.
"I... why wasn't I here?" I thought, clenching my teeth. "Why couldn't I stop anything while my people were being torn apart, the system was collapsing, and people were having their names erased? " I clenched my fist involuntarily. "I should have stopped this… I should have protected them. If I were a general, if I meant anything, I shouldn't have allowed any of this to happen."
The heaviness in my chest was turning into anger, but this anger wasn't turning outward; it was turning inward. "Was it a mistake to undertake this mission…?" I whispered to myself. "If I had been here… perhaps the Cistern would still be standing. Maybe people wouldn't have lost their names."
My teeth clenched even tighter.
"No..." I said firmly, my voice sounding less like an admission and more like a denial. "No, I won't think about it that way. But if this happened in my absence... then when I return, nothing will be the same as before. Because when I return, I will not just restore order… I will burn everything that did this. And no one will ever be able to touch my people again."
I closed my palm and made a fist. Slowly, I lifted my back away from the door and took a deep breath.
"This is enough. I need to spend my last remaining months here and return quickly…"
END OF CHAPTER