Chapter 20

The Genius Knight Who Devours Memories

Chapter 20

Creed opened his eyes.

“...Ghk.”

His entire body ached.

It felt as though he had fought a war for three days and nights without rest.

‘What happened...’

Creed traced back his final memories.

Rohan thrust out his sword, and a brief light flickered.

Then came that strange sound scraping at his ears. A noise like thousands of birds crying out at once.

‘Reverse rotation...!’

Creed’s eyes snapped open.

Rohan had succeeded.

Just as Creed had suggested, instead of forcibly reversing a single force, he had overlaid a force rotating in the opposite direction onto one already rotating one way.

‘I did think it would create a tremendous amount of power.’

But he had never imagined it would be that much.

The instant pure white light erupted from the sword tip, Creed instinctively forced his squad members’ heads down.

He remembered nothing after that.

Creed’s expression hardened.

‘Wait. Then what about the squad members?’

Only then did he try to sit up.

“Ghk.”

Pain surged through him.

Even so, just as he tried to force his upper body upright.

“You’re awake.”

A familiar voice sounded.

Creed turned his head.

“...Company Commander?”

It was Mushurin.

Only then did his surroundings come into view.

He was inside the village hall, lying on a bed.

Creed urgently asked.

“Company Commander. What happened to my squad members?”

“You look for your squad members the moment you wake up. A model squad leader.”

Mushurin continued with her usual expressionless face.

“They say you covered them with your body right before the explosion. Thanks to that, all of them survived. Johanna and Kaisen have already regained consciousness. Their injuries aren’t serious either.”

“That’s a relief.”

He let out a short breath.

Then another thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Then the Noxis bastards...”

Mushurin’s eyes narrowed.

“That is what I want to ask.”

“...”

Her voice was calm.

But Creed could clearly feel it.

Mushurin was suppressing tremendous anger right now.

“The cabin had completely collapsed, and the enemy bodies were barely in a condition that could be called corpses.”

Creed’s expression hardened.

“They were torn apart so badly that it was difficult to recognize their shapes. Even the ones barely clinging to life had none of their limbs intact.”

Mushurin stared straight at Creed.

“Unless a mage appeared, it makes no sense.”

“That...”

Creed closed his mouth for a moment.

How much should he say about Rohan’s ability?

But there was no reason to hide the matter of reverse rotation.

If anything, hiding that would be dangerous.

They had survived by luck this time, but if the same thing happened again, their own allies could be caught in it.

‘Besides, we can’t hide it for long anyway.’

Creed opened his mouth.

“It was Rohan’s power.”

“Private First Class Rohan?”

“Yes.”

Creed explained what he knew.

Condensed Burst.

A technique that rotated force and condensed it into a single point.

And the reverse rotation Rohan had devised to compensate for his insufficient output.

“Reverse rotation.”

For the first time, her expression changed.

“Unbelievable. He can rotate a circuit backward?”

“I thought the same.”

While Mushurin fell into thought for a moment.

Creed lowered his head.

“Company Commander, I apologize.”

Mushurin’s eyebrow twitched.

Creed continued.

“This entire incident was my fault.”

“...”

“We found a suspicious man in the village. We confirmed that he was a reconnaissance soldier from Noxis, and I had Johanna follow him.”

Mushurin said nothing.

“After finding their hideout, we moved immediately. At the time, I judged that if we let them escape, it would be difficult to find them again. Acting independently without reporting to you was my decision.”

He had believed there was no time to explain the situation or wait for a response.

In fact, when Creed barged in, the Noxis soldiers had already finished preparing to leave.

“So you are aware. Unauthorized departure from the operational area. Ignoring the chain of command. Engaging the enemy independently without reporting to your superior.”

Creed’s expression hardened.

“And you placed your entire squad in danger.”

“...Yes.”

“Under military law, that would warrant execution.”

Creed said nothing.

She was not wrong.

But the corner of Mushurin’s mouth lifted slightly.

Creed had watched her for years, but even he had never seen such an expression from Mushurin before.

“However, soldiers prove themselves through results.”

“...”

“Thanks to your judgment, two civilians survived. And you eliminated more than twenty enemy soldiers, including the Noxis reconnaissance unit and its rear support group.”

“...”

“I’m not so rigid that I would refuse to acknowledge that result. However.”

The corner of her mouth lowered again.

Mushurin returned to her usual self.

“I do not like that you moved on your own without informing me. I already know your squad tends to act independently. I also know that you somehow always find the right answer.”

“...”

“So from now on, make sure you report first.”

“Understood.”

Mushurin walked toward the door, then turned around.

“Can you stand?”

“Yes.”

“Then follow me. There’s something you need to see.”

The composure from moments ago had completely disappeared from Mushurin’s face.

Creed straightened himself and stood.

“What is it?”

After a brief silence, Mushurin spoke.

“Private First Class Rohan is not in good condition.”

____________

When they stepped outside the hall, the light of dawn was gradually illuminating the village.

The soldiers had already finished preparing to march.

The wagons had been loaded again, and the horses were bridled.

Creed looked at Mushurin in surprise.

“You’ve already finished preparing to depart?”

“Sending scouts means the enemy is nearby. We need to move before Noxis realizes something is wrong.”

She was right.

Looking around, Creed fortunately saw Kaisen and Johanna as well.

Both had bandages wrapped around various parts of their bodies, but neither seemed to have much trouble moving.

And in the center.

“Rohan?”

Rohan was lying on a stretcher.

Creed immediately approached.

He looked perfectly fine on the outside.

There were almost no wounds, and his breathing was steady.

“Rohan was underneath everyone else when the explosion happened.”

Mushurin, who had followed him, spoke.

“Perhaps because you covered him with your body, he has almost no external injuries. The problem is that he still hasn’t opened his eyes.”

Mushurin’s eyes narrowed.

“Do you have any idea why?”

An idea? Why had Rohan, who had suffered the least damage, still not awakened?

Creed’s eyes suddenly widened as he thought.

‘Could it be...’

Rohan always showed strange symptoms whenever he killed someone.

Severe headaches, dizziness.

And for a short time, he became completely defenseless.

The people killed this time were...

‘More than twenty.’

All at once.

If the memories of every Noxis soldier killed in the explosion had flowed into Rohan.

Creed’s expression hardened.

‘Did he absorb all of them?’

But he could not say that aloud.

Rohan’s ability was not a secret he could recklessly reveal.

“I’m... not sure.”

“I see.”

Mushurin looked at Creed for a moment.

She did not press him further.

Instead, she gestured toward a nearby soldier.

“Load Private First Class Rohan onto Wagon Number Two.”

“Yes!”

Wagon Number Two.

It was a wagon used to transport soldiers who had been badly injured in battle and could no longer walk, or survivors who had lost consciousness.

They could not delay the departure merely because of Rohan.

Two soldiers lifted the stretcher.

Creed silently watched as Rohan was carried toward the wagon.

The moment Rohan was placed inside Wagon Number Two.

Rattle!

“...?”

The wagon parked directly behind it shook.

One soldier turned around.

The wagon had already gone still, as though nothing had happened.

Just as the soldier was about to lift Rohan again.

Rattle!!

This time it shook harder.

“What?”

That wagon was different from the others.

Separate guards were stationed around it.

And the entire cargo compartment was tightly wrapped in thick cloth and chains.

The most carefully protected cargo in the transport unit.

It was the wagon carrying the phantom beast egg.

Rattle!

Rattle!

“Huh?”

The guards’ faces stiffened.

“What’s wrong with it?”

The horses seemed to sense something was wrong as well and neighed violently.

The wagon began shaking more and more fiercely.

Soon the entire wagon rocked heavily to one side.

That was when it happened.

“...Wait, what is that?!”

One of the soldiers shouted.

He was pointing at Rohan.

Something was slowly rising above Rohan’s face as he lay inside Wagon Number Two.

From the tip of his nose, around his mouth, and around his closed eyes.

Pitch-black energy slowly flowed out.

“What the...”

Sssssss―

The black energy gradually grew denser.

It looked like smoke, but it did not rise upward and disperse.

Instead, the energy lingered in the air.

As though searching for somewhere to go.

“Everyone, back away!”

Mushurin shouted at the soldiers.

The soldiers hurriedly retreated.

At that moment.

Whoooooosh―!

Black energy poured out from Rohan’s face all at once.

“W-what is that!”

“Gods above...!”

The soldiers muttered with terrified expressions.

The black energy did not scatter in every direction.

The energy rising into the air bent toward one direction.

As though something invisible were pulling it.

And at the end of that path was the wagon carrying the phantom beast egg.

Whooooooooosh―!

The black energy was sucked toward the wagon.

Rattle! The wagon shook violently.

“Don’t go near it!”

There was no wind, yet Rohan’s hair fluttered.

His clothes flapped.

Around the time no more black energy came from Rohan.

Whoosh―!

All the black energy spread around the area was sucked into the wagon at once.

“...!”

Light, smoke, and every trace of presence vanished in an instant.

...Rattle!

The wagon shook violently one final time.

Then no sound could be heard.

Everyone stood frozen, staring only at the wagon carrying the phantom beast egg.

No one dared approach it.

That was when.

“...What happened?”

A young voice sounded.

Creed whipped his head around.

“Rohan?”

Wagon Number Two.

Rohan, who until moments ago had been unable to open his eyes, was sitting up.

______________

‘I feel refreshed.’

Rohan blinked.

His head felt strangely clear.

That heavy sensation that always pressed down on his mind.

The feeling that had grown heavier as the memories of the dead accumulated.

It had completely disappeared.

“R-Rohan...!”

“You just...”

Looking around, he saw the soldiers staring at him as though he were a monster.

Just as he looked around in confusion, Mushurin grabbed both of Rohan’s shoulders.

“Private First Class Rohan. It seems an explanation is in order.”

“What happened?”

“What happened? An extremely sinister energy just left your body. It was sucked into the wagon where the egg is being kept.”

Into the wagon containing the phantom beast egg?

Rohan’s eyes widened.

‘So that wasn’t a dream?’

Immediately after countless people died in the explosion.

In a pitch-black place, Rohan had been surrounded by things resembling shapeless souls.

Being attached to them had been unbearably painful.

Then a small pitch-black creature approached, opened its mouth wide, and every soul was sucked into it.

The agonizing emotions then vanished as though they had never existed.

“The egg is unharmed!”

At that moment, a soldier who had checked the wagon shouted.

Only then did Mushurin loosen the grip she had on Rohan’s shoulders.

“I don’t know anything about it.”

Rohan feigned ignorance.

Mushurin narrowed her eyes and muttered.

“...They say you created an explosion by rotating your mana circuit backward. You look perfectly fine now.”

There was very little information about phantom beast eggs themselves.

Rohan suspected something else, but he decided it would be better to let Mushurin keep her own assumption and remained silent.

“We nearly failed the operation before it even began.”

Mushurin seemed relieved that the egg was unharmed.

‘That’s not what matters.’

The moment Rohan awakened, his mind had already begun rapidly organizing the memories he had absorbed.

Despite absorbing countless memories, his head did not ache.

Among them, Varkan’s memories in particular allowed him to recall an important problem with this operation.

Rohan opened his mouth.

“Company Commander. I have something to tell you.”

“What is it, Private First Class Rohan? Are you feeling unwell? Or did you remember something related to the egg?”

Rohan glanced around, then whispered quietly enough that only Mushurin could hear.

“If we go to Niagara Gorge like this, we’ll be annihilated.”