CHAPTER 522

SANCTUM’S END (IX)

The world was falling apart.

Eldon, Reli, and others jumped out of the spinning car, rolling down onto the quaking ground. All around them blaze consumed everything, the last remaining buildings, the last remnants of the civilization, toppling over, destroyed. However, none had the luxury to either admire or dread the spectacle.

Reli helped Elta up, dragging her despite the latter’s protests as she scrapped her knee, while Eldon still held onto Alana tightly. Though both his arms had suffered greatly, blood pouring out, he didn’t care. They were almost there.

The research facility was also in the ruins, debris scattered everywhere, shards of glass forming pools on the ground. But, it didn’t matter; the hangar was underground, and they couldn’t give up hope. Not after coming so far.

The two men besides Eldon, Artur, and Itor, helped Reli and Elta as the small group raced madly through the collapsing stone around them. The ground was uneven, slightly sloped, several dozen corpses lying about -- a ghastly sight that they couldn't afford to take in completely.

Eldon's heart started as he saw the nearby column of the slanted stone give in under gravity, collapsing. He roared and jumped forward, barely evading it. He landed strangely, however, and twisted his ankle. With the adrenaline still pumping strong, he ignored the pain as he regained the balance and resumed running. It was so close he could almost feel it.

As they reached the entrance, they quickly realized there was no way in; everything had collapsed. Chunks of stones lay on top of the building, with no doors or windows to be seen. Artur quickly called from the side, informing them there was another entrance.

Eldon followed, his body screaming at him. He hadn’t exerted himself this much ever before -- but he had to maintain it. His arms ached, his twisted ankle wept, but he ignored them. He could still feel Alana shaking in his arms, the young girl remaining crumpled in his embrace. For her, he’d ignore everything. He’d skin himself alive if need be, just so she could live on.

The back-end entrance was lying wholly exposed, angled into the ground. There must have been a massive steel-frame guarding it, but it, too, had collapsed, alongside everything else around them.

One by one they trickled into the hole and descended down the lengthy step of stairs. The deeper they went, the less the earth shook and quaked, though they knew it was just temporary. Soon, even the planet’s innards would begin collapsing.

From the stairs, they entered into a set of complex hallways as they began running blindly. Nobody knew where the hangar was exactly, so all they could do was explore every passage. The flickering fluorescent lights hanging on the hallways' ceilings gave little insurance, and it seemed it was only a matter of time before they stopped working.

“Damn it,” Artur cursed as they reached another dead end. “Where the hell is this?”

“T-there,” Alana suddenly spoke out, pointing at a small gap with her shaky fingers. “I-I can see a ship...”

Turning toward where she was pointing, the group saw a small tear in the wall. Beyond, just like the young girl said, they saw a set of ships scattered about the massive open space.

Without another word being said, Artur and Itor ran over to the gap and began pulling on two opposite ends. Though it seemed the gap was quite high up, they would cross that bridge once they reached it.

**

Lino observed the entirety of the escape, feeling rather impressed by the small group. They’ve eluded death numerous times, and despite the cataclysmic scale of the collapse, they persisted -- as just ordinary mortals. He hardly looked down on them, but it was hard to say that the mortals could do everything the immortals could. Yet, whether through sheer luck, or a combination of other factors, they managed to survive the complete destruction of the planet.

He had never thought that he’d get to experience Ataxia’s life like this -- namely because he never thought Ataxia even had a life. Just until recently, he had wholesomely believed Ataxia was just a realization of the concept -- a sentient realization. Even when Lino learned he was not of Noterra, that belief didn’t disappear; he was just a concept that arrived from somewhere.

It turned out, however, that Ataxia was leagues more similar to him than he ever expected. He, too, had experienced grueling hardships -- ones beyond even Lino's understanding and empathy. Just like Lino, he had a daughter -- and just like Lino, he was willing to do anything for her. Would he have made any other choice? No, he quickly realized.

He'd make a deal with anyone who offered salvation without thinking of the consequences. For Aaria... indeed, he would condemn the world itself, just like Ataxia did.

Thinking back to their journey, Lino felt bitter. How many times had he gotten angry with him? Countless times, he knew. He threw countless tantrums, bickered like a child, while Ataxia upheld all this in silence. The whole world was against him, but he was doing exactly what they asked him to do.

Everyone had given up on him at one point, Lino realized. Be it the other Writs, the Devils, Gaia, the Descent, the Holy Grounds, and even the Primes, his own children. They’d all considered him a scourge of evil, a relic that had to be purged.

Lino sighed, his thoughts muddled. He always found it easier to get by in life by adapting the easygoing nature. He found that the perpetually serious people rarely had happy and wholesome endings. However, he was unable to take in all this through his easygoing nature. He couldn't make a joke or a remark. It was above him. This sort of a struggle... this sort of resolve.

The war that Ataxia spoke of... began worrying him. They weren’t strong enough. No, for starters, they weren’t even united. While he could force the world to fight through the sheer terror, was that something he truly wanted? All the while he fought to remove exactly that -- to remove the overhead governance of the few who played with the people’s lives as though it was a game of chess. He didn’t have the heart to inherit that position.

He could already predict many things that would happen in case Ella returns with an army. She still loved him, he knew that much. And he still loved her. But love... love faltered beneath the weight of faith. Beneath the shackles of determination. At least the kind of love the two of them shared.

He understood it, faintly, after becoming an Agent. While he wasn’t subservient to the Edifice, he did feel an innate desire to please it. And this was the effect after only a few hours. What about Ella, then, who had been an Agent for god-knows-how-many-eons? How could a bond formed within a few decades compare to something that large? He was lucky she loved him enough not to immediately commence a slaughter.

If she returned with the intent of warring, he also knew what would be her first move -- she will give him an offer she knew he’d be unable to refuse. His life in exchange for Noterra. He contemplated in silence, deliberating over countless possibilities. While he was undoubtedly strong, so strong that it was difficult to express it to those not on his level, he was, in effect, a calf. He was the solitary Agent of Destruction, but what if two Agents of Creation showed up? What about three? Or five?

Ella knew Noterra just as well, if not better than him. If the war was inevitable, she wouldn't bring a pitiful force. She would bring enough to overrun him and everyone around him without a chance of resisting. He knew that he was the determining factor of whether Noterra would end up like Adur or not. Though he told Ataxia he would fight, and though both his heart and his will were telling him to fight, his mind was uncertain.

“-R-Raise--Us.” instead of Ataxia’s voice, a different one now lived inside of him. That of the concept he couldn’t even begin to fathom. “And--You--Shall--Win.”

“... how?” Lino asked. “How do I raise you?”

“D-Destroy--Destroy. Create. Modify. Augment. Replicate. Obliterate. Reforge. Annihilate. Dissever. Recover. You--Are--Destroyer--; Yes--Destroyer---but--You--Are--Chaos--First--”

"..." Lino resumed the silence. Too many things hung on his mind as he watched the small group descend the sloped wall of the hanger, racing toward one of the ships where another group of people was waiting for them, urging them in panicked voices. Fight. Yes, he knew it -- he would have to fight. He fought all his life, since the days of the orphanage, all the way until today. He never bent and he never cowered. However big of a battle it was, battles he knew -- he adored them. He thrived in them.

He could give up, accept her deal. But he couldn’t trust another to secure the lives of those he loved. That was something, he knew, he had to ensure himself. It didn’t matter if others couldn’t match up to Ella and her army. He’d take them all on if need be. He’d overcome, as he always had. Just like many times before, if death stared at him coldly, he’d stare back and defy. Just as he always has. Just as he always will. Until the end of time.