30 minutes earlier.
Riley was backstage at the Symposium, keeping an eye on Killian as she waited.
As planned, Theia had moved in and detained Derek, and during this distraction, [Vancheon] made their move, but sothing unexpected happened.
A third group had initiated sabotage.
“What the…”
An unidentified ard organization had entered Ortus. Riley was montarily taken aback, but she quickly grasped the situation.
It was the doing of Vern, the CEO of Everett, Derek's most direct competitor.
According to [Vancheon]'s investigation, Vern was also using artificial intelligence similar to Derek's.
Of course, it wasn't as horrific a cri as Derek's. He didn't completely overwrite people whole.
However, the use of data derived from human souls was the sa.
Thus, to keep his own cris from being exposed and to check Derek, Vern was attacking.
The targets were key researchers, Killian and Vito.
Not to detain or kidnap, but to assassinate.
“This is insane!”
Fortunately, Killian seed to quickly realize the situation and had escaped to the rooftop of the Hanja Hotel, with Riley following him.
Boom! Bang!
A series of explosions echoed as they climbed the ergency stairs of the hotel to the top floor.
Killian was standing at the edge of the rooftop.
“Dr. Killian!”
Riley called out to him. Killian turned to look at her.
“lts dangerous! Co this way!”
A fierce wind seed to grab at their clothes.
Killian Leaned against the railing, and Riley slowly approached him.
“Doctor!”
To execute Plan B, it was crucial to secure Killian's safety. More important than any docunt, the real evidence was the 'person' himself.
“Hurry over!”
The air was turbulent. It was uncertain if her shouts were even being heard.
Yet, Riley took one step at a ti towards Ki Ilian…
A Loud noise erupted from the sky as a gust swept through. Riley and Killian both Looked up.
It was a helicopter. Agents were lowering a line to rescue Killian from the trembling propeller above.
Riley was startled, but only for a mont.
Suddenly, a fireball surged from sowhere and struck the helicopter directly.
The helicopter, having Lost power, crashed onto the rooftop and exploded Like a firecracker. Pieces of machinery and human flesh scattered as flas spread. Black smoke enveloped the entire area.
“Dr. Killian!”
Riley seized the mont and rushed towards Killian.
“Stop.”
Suddenly, Killian stopped her. Riley froze in place. Killian was holding a cellphone in his hand.
“Stay there.”
“…Doctor?”
Could it be, perhaps.
Had he received so information?
“MS. Riley.”
Killian called her. Riley responded as usual.
“Yes, Doctor.”
“…I told you, you don't need to monitor anymore.”
A small smile spread across his Lips.
“…”
It was a suspicious look.
No, it was certain.
Riley bit her lower lip.
He knew her role.
“Why did you follow ? It's dangerouS.”
Killian asked. Riley straightened her back. Her expression had suddenly turned cold.
Now was the ti for persuasion.
“Listen carefully, Dr. Ki Ilian.”
Killian raised his eyebrows.
“Derek has been detained. Very important internal docunts have been leaked.”
“…”
He remained silent. He just stood there calmly, looking at her with his usual eyes.
“But Derek won't take the fall. He'll claim he didn't know about it, that he was unaware of such matters.”
The wind stirred, causing Killian's coat to flutter.
“He will definitely betray you.”
Derek's history proves it. He has consistently cut off his own tail by claiming ignorance of all his deeds.
Riley extended her hand to him.
“lf you co with —”
“No.”
Killian shook his head. Then he sat on the railing. Riley's eyes widened.
“Stop!”
“…Fortunately.”
Riley imdiately knew what Killian was about to do.
Suicide, to destroy the 'evidence* that was himself.
“lf you fall, you'll die!”
It was a jumbled plea. Killian smiled faintly, as if he found her endearing.
“MS. Riley.”
“Co down from there, now!”
“You should be more worried about the evidence.”
“Co down…?”
Killian's strange words, sohow odd.
Unknowingly, Riley furrowed her brow. Her head tilted in confusion.
“Everything I say directly can't beco evidence.”
“…Yes?”
“Libra has the power and authority to crush even a single witness. Besides, as you said, if Derek claims ignorance, that's the end of it.”
Riley couldn't understand what he was saying. The anings of the words flowing into her ears weren't assembling properly.
Was it because the situation was too urgent?
“That won't do.”
Boom——！ The sound erupted loudly——!
From the wreckage of the helicopter, a secondary explosion erupted.
Amidst the rising flas, Killian continued calmly.
“I think it's better for to be the perpetrator rather than a witness.”
“…”
At that mont Killian murmured, Riley felt an inexplicable pain. It was as if her heart was being crushed.
“…Doctor?”
Her frail voice called out to Killian. He faced her and nodded firmly.
“I thought I could beco numb doing this job.”
Crackle—Crackle—
The asphalt on the road slowly lted, and dark red ash fluttered in the air, sticking to their faces.
“But I realized that I shouldn't beco numb.”
Killian closed his eyes for a mont.
It seed as if he was contemplating sothing he had lost, recounting things that had already passed.
“MS. Riley.”
Killian called her na. Riley's breath hitched.
“Did you once say you wanted to make a lot of money and retire?”
Riley had claid her goal was money. It was a common disguise.
“l've tried it, but you'll never make enough to retire in your lifeti. The more money you have, the more places there are to spend it.”
Killian Laughed. For so reason, Riley felt his deanor was genuinely pure.
“And…”
Suddenly, his expression darkened.
“There's sothing I'm curious about.”
“…”
Riley blinked blankly.
“lf… our eting hadn't been like this. Could I have spent more ti with you, Ms. Riley?”
Killian's gaze drifted slightly. There was a designer bag placed near where his gaze fell. It was small, but packed with so contents.
“I…”
Riley started to respond but stopped herself. She simply couldn't.
“MS. Riley.”
He called her na again. The burning toxic substances choked Riley's breath.
“Overco this.”
He was encouraging her. Riley suddenly rembered a certain day.
“Don't beco numb.”
Even in situations where she was suspected, he didn't distance himself; instead, he protected her.
Whenever he was by her side, he always smiled shyly.
“Ms. Riley, you've caught . Killian, the key researcher for Derek.”
Riley tilted her head down to Look at her feet. Flas had transferred to her shoes.
“I am a person full of greed, jealousy, and suspicion, so I feared Derek might abandon and I collected a lot of evidence. A lot.”
Facing him was overwhelming. Listening to him was difficult.
“Now you take that evidence. Like so drama or movie. Just like a cliche.”
“…”
“MS. Riley. Look at .”
Riley Lifted her head. He smiled at her.
“lts okay.”
“…Killian.”
“T00 many people have died. Too many have been sacrificed.”
Killian Looked up at the sky.
Wrapped in black smoke, the flaming rooftop seed like a perfect stage for death.
“People shouldn't be like this. We're all human, so why do we do this to each other…”
Killian's body slowly Leaned forward. Riley, startled, took a step towards him.
“Doctor!”
“I trust you, Ms. Riley.”
“Don't move!”
“…SO.”
Before he fell.
Before he faced his own death.
He had sothing he wanted to say to Riley as Killian.
“Don't give up.”
He hoped she would avenge Libra from the highest place in [Vancheon].
Beyond that, he hoped she would continue to pursue the right values as she did now.
“You are a good person.”
Killian's body crossed the railing. He flowed down like a crescent moon. Riley ran and stretched out her hand, but Killian, already falling, had closed his eyes.
He serenely accepted his own death.
She couldn't even utter the word “No.”
She didn't even feel she had the right to.
Boom-
A sudden explosion obscured her entire view. Riley fell backwards.
“Uh.”
Her hand groping the ground grabbed a bag. It was Killian's bag.
“…”
Riley hugged it to her chest. With trembling eyes, she looked inside.
All the evidence was there. All the internal docunts of Libra, Derek, and Vito.
Additionally, there was a single Letter, probably left for her by Killian…
Crash—
There was a noise from behind. Riley quickly grabbed the letter.
“Who's there!”
They were the subordinates of the Holy Knight, Theia. They were the knights involved in the investigation.
All the evidence they collected would have legal effect.
“…”
Riley silently sat on the ground. The knights rushed to her side. Riley muttered very quietly.
“…seize.”
“Excuse ? seize?”
The knights asked confusedly. Riley bit her Lip as if she was about to curse.
“Damn it. Seize . Take away.”
While glancing at the bag in her hand.
“Ah, yes! Seize her!”
Realizing what she ant, they pressed Riley's face to the ground.
Thump! It hurt terribly. It felt Like her cheekbone was splitting.
It didn't matter, the knights secured Killian's bag as evidence.
“…Huh, senior! Look at this!”
The information in the bag was shocking enough. Its a wonder they didn't faint from the surprise.
“Uh, pass it on quickly. Call the professor first…”
“Ah, yes.”
The knights were flustered, their faces flushed, and the sound of explosions echoed from all around.
However, Riley was sowhat dazed.
She turned her head, which was pressed against the ground, to Look at the railing.
The railing from which Killian had just fallen.
He was no longer there.
He had fallen down below and already t his death.
He chose to die… to "destroy the evidence/
“Ah…”
Riley's vision blurred.
I thought he was just human trash, a doctor I considered using just to get close.
Tears clung to her eyes. They were so uncomfortable that she just closed her eyes.
Instead, her mouth moved on its own. A childlike sob burst out.
“What's the? Is she crying?”
The knights* confused voices were irritating, but the crying didn't stop for a while.
“Here it is!”
Derek interrogation barrier set up in Ortus.
Theia received Killian's bag from the subordinate knight.
“…”
Everything was inside.
From information about the formula used by Dr. Vito, to the thod of extracting souls, nas of so people who had been overwritten, and even recordings of conversations between Derek and Vito.
Theia asked,
“What's the source?”
“We acquired it after the core researcher, Dr. Killian, died.”
“…Died?”
“Yes. It was an accident, but it seems these guys didn't trust each other either.”
Theia quietly scanned through the evidence left by Killian.
It was ticulous. Abnormally ticulous, as if he had anticipated this situation.
“T0 engage in the act of overwriting souls into spirits, there's no way they could truly trust each other.
The subordinates say so, but is that really the case?
Did Killian really not trust Derek and Vito, creating this just as a precaution?
Theia was still skeptical, but she would need to hear the details from Riley to know for sure.
“Good work.”
Regardless— the evidence was now sufficient.
Theia looked at Derek in the interrogation room.
He was oblivious to the situation outside, not anxious but rather smug.
Drring——
Just then, a call ca through. It was Yusef, the vice-captain of the Edsilla Knights.
—Theia.
“Yes.”
—…lt's the Limit now. Release Derek.
Yusefs voice was steeped in deep fatigue and hardship. It seed he had been trendously tornted in just half a day.
—There's chaos in Ortus too. The operation has failed, it seems.
“No.”
Theia smiled satisfactorily.
“lts alright. There's no need to release him now.”
—No need? The council is in uproar. If you^e detained Derek without evidence-
“Eviden ce.”
Theia cut him off. She sighed in relief and looked at Derek in the interrogation room.
“lts sufficient.”
At that mont, Derek also Looked at Theia with a relaxed gaze. Their eyes t.
“Quite sufficient.”
Theia smiled deeply. Derek chuckled in ridicule, but soon his expression slowly hardened. He had caught a sense of dissonance in Theia's smile.
It was correct.
“Derek will now be imprisoned.”
Theia asserted and hung up the phone.
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