Chapter 98: Returns

Soon, Dianna got tired of crying, and fell asleep from exhaustion. Cyanide decided to take her back to his base for now, and see what happens once she wakes up.

Luna and Kirika had returned as well, having found and extracted the batteries they were looking for from the many cars in the other parking garage. Kirika had thought it would've taken some fine motor skills to get the batteries out of the car's bodies, but apparently, all they needed to do to harvest it was destroy the car. This was a game, after all.

When the two girls saw Dianna's unconscious body on Cyanide's back, though, they were confused. Kirika glanced between Cyanide's nonchalant face and the slightly down zipper of Dianna's jumpsuit, showing a bit of her cleavage, then quickly backed away a couple of steps, a look of disgust on her face.

"Y-You… what did you do to her?"

Luna, however, was different. She recognized Dianna at first glance thanks to the photo Cyanide brought back all those years ago and the research he had her conduct on her in an attempt to track her down. They didn't end up finding her in the end… but that's because she went into Endzone, as it seems.

"Cyanide, is that…" Luna began, and Cyanide gave a nod.

"… I see. We should head back as soon as possible, then," she said ignoring Kirika's confused looks before whispering in her ear, "I'll explain later."

Kirika was satisfied with this response, and didn't inquire any further.

*****

While Luna helped wash Dianna's body and tuck her into a bed neatly, Cyanide worked on putting together the Teleport Beacon and Portable Teleporter. Some metal, the batteries obtained from the cars, some glass taken from whacking windows, and the Spacetime Cores Luna picked up from the underground lab were enough materials to craft the two items.

By now, several hours had passed since the fight with Ragnar, and the sun had set. Cyanide was resting on the roof of the Aterra Headquarters building, staring out at the sunset and enjoying the breeze. He's always liked the time of sunset the best, and whenever he was bored, he would always climb to a high place and just sit there for hours on end, thinking. Contemplating about the future.

For today, he considered going out for the Scarlet Hour to farm a bit, but before he could settle on a decision, he heard footsteps emerging from behind him. They were soft, gentle, as if their owner didn't want to be detected, but naturally, Cyanide's ears were sharper than most people, and he heard it with no problem at all. In fact, just by the footsteps, he could tell who it was.

"… If you're trying to sneak up on me, it's not going to work," Cyanide said without even turning his head around.

The footsteps paused for a moment, then resumed, this time without trying to hide, followed by a sigh.

"I know, I know… but you couldn't have played along?" The girl asked, smiling as she sat down next to Cyanide, dangling her feet over the edge of the roof.

"… You recovered awfully quickly," Cyanide replied, still not bothering to even look at her. She seemed to be fine with that though, and continued smiling as if there was nothing wrong.

"I've gotten over it. If I'm always fixated on something that happened in the past, I'll never be able to look at the future," the girl replied with a cute wink. "Besides… I still haven't forgiven him, even though I understand where he's coming from now."

The 'him' in question was, of course, Anthrax, and the girl in question was naturally Dianna. She had finally woken up from her sleep, and the first thing she did was ask where Cyanide was. Luna, knowing what this was about, told her the truth, and here she was.

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Suddenly, a familiar blaring noise rang out across the entire lands of Endzone, and following it came the calm but stern voice of the female announcer of the game, here to make another announcement.

[Attention: Arena Closing. Survivors Remaining: 800.]

Neither of the two spoke a word after hearing this, as both of them had already experienced this once before.

"… Hey," Dianna said after a short silence. "After my father died… why didn't the Yingshe still come after me? Assassins are people who like to sever all possible risks. It would make sense for them to hunt me down to prevent me from trying to avenge my father and being a thorn in their eyes, and yet… my life up until coming to this place was perfectly safe and fine. Why is that?"

Cyanide's voice was calm, quiet, as he spoke.

"I wiped them out."

At this, Dianna blinked in surprise, a pink blush on her cheeks.

"You… wiped them all out? To protect me?"

"Yes. Your father taught me for ten years. If I didn't at least do this and fulfill his final wish… I would be an utter failure."

But Dianna only laughed and suddenly tackled Cyanide with a hug, causing him to collapse backwards and end up in a lying down position. The Italian beauty smiled with flushed cheeks, red eyes shining alongside the sunset, and for a moment, even Cyanide was entranced by her stunning beauty and cuteness. Taking advantage of the momentary lapse in thinking, Dianna took the initiative and planted a gentle kiss on Cyanide's lips.

It was short, but effective. A fleeting moment of warmth and pleasure, held just long enough to make him crave more. At least, that would've worked on any normal man—just not this one.

"…" He remained completely expressionless even as Dianna backed away with a wry smile before winking at him playfully.

"That's your reward for protecting me from the shadows~"

Cyanide averted his gaze, staring back at the sunset.

"I only did what needed to be done. It was part of a job. Nothing more."

"Fufu~ sure," Dianna giggled softly, then leaned her head against Cyanide's shoulder as the two sat side by side, romantically watching the sunset. She wrapped her arms around Cyanide's, and whispered into his ear a vow for herself.

"One day, I'll make you say the truth with your own mouth, Cyanide. One day."

From somewhere beyond the grave, Anthrax's soul cheered his daughter on.

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