đźź Chapter 80:
🟧 Narrator's POV:
The chaos was far less intense than before after the arrival of the dragon swarm that Ryo had summoned. One by one, the gang members fell, and those who managed to survive went into hiding.
Meanwhile, Mirai carried all members of the royal retinue and the palace workers out of the palace. No sooner had she done so than Haizen and Number Five arrived.
Haizen was the first to notice her.
"You're the girl who studies at the academy. You're here… where is Takeru?"
She turned around to find him severely injured, yet she understood that he had managed to defeat Number Three.
"The dark-skinned swordsman—looks like you managed to defeat that giant. Your companion inside the palace."
Haizen examined the unconscious palace personnel carefully, then asked Mirai what had happened to them and why she had brought them out.
"What happened to these people? Was this done by the gang boss? And why are you taking them out of the palace?"
"They're asleep. They won't wake up for hours. I didn't want to leave them inside the palace—there might still be someone there who could threaten their lives. But all of this might be pointless anyway."
"Why?"
"Because the capital is going to be destroyed by a massive explosion."
Haizen couldn't tell whether Mirai was joking or being completely serious. He asked where she had heard such a thing.
"What are you talking about… an explosion? Who told you that?"
She pointed toward Number Four, who was bound. When Haizen saw her, he recognized her immediately.
"Isn't that Number Four? Did you defeat her?"
"Yes. She's the one who mentioned the explosion."
"But how would such an explosion even happen?"
"They plan to use a Vitalis Crystal as a catalyst for a stone called the Red Ruby, to blow up the capital."
"I can't believe this… this is a real catastrophe. If we survive, I won't let Takeru make any decisions as long as I'm around."
"In any case, let me treat your injuries."
Using her healing technique, Mirai treated Haizen's wounds. Number Five, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke after seeing Number Four bound, mocking the reversal of roles between them.
"Look at you now, Solto. You used to mock my previous situation, but you've ended up in a pitiful state yourself."
Number Four snapped at Number Five's words and tried to attack him despite being restrained.
"What are you saying, you weak traitor? Look at yourself—they even shaved you bald."
As soon as Mirai finished healing him, Haizen stood up and headed straight for the palace. Mirai grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Wait—where are you going?"
"To the palace. Isn't that obvious?"
"But you don't even know where Takeru and the others are."
"Then we'll search for them."
"Why don't we take a faster approach and ask her where her boss is?"
Haizen and Mirai turned toward Number Four to question her, but she answered before they could say a word.
"They're beneath the palace. That's where the crystal stockpile is."
Mirai was surprised by how easily Number Four replied.
"You said that so casually. Do you not want the capital to be destroyed as well?"
"No. I just got annoyed by your questioning. Besides, you won't make it in time anyway."
"Oh really? We'll see about that."
What she didn't know was that this exact moment was when the ruby reached its peak inside the underground chamber—where Takeru, Ryo, Elnar, Elythius, as well as Khefi and Rey, were located.
The ground began to tremble beneath them as red sparks formed in every corner of the crumbling palace. The cracks widened rapidly, and the light leaking through them grew so intense that it swallowed everything.
Then the explosion happened.
A colossal wave of fire burst forth from the remaining rubies, shattering pillars and ripping walls from their foundations. The ceiling collapsed instantly, and the chambers turned into clouds of dust swirling through the air. The sound was deafening—so overwhelming that it drowned out everything else, as if the palace had exploded all at once without any resistance.
The shockwave expanded rapidly, hurling everything in its path outward. Nearby trees bent violently, and even the air itself seemed to be pulled in and then violently expelled.
At the center of the explosion, the place where the battle had taken place, Takeru, Elythius, and Elnar were surrounded by Ryo's body, which had been shielding them. His body was completely charred by the blast.
The corpse fell to the ground. Elythius rushed toward it, breaking down in sobs, while Takeru lifted the injured Elnar onto his shoulder. Elnar's face trembled for a moment, and a faint violet aura appeared over his eyes, threaded with thin black lines, as if the shock itself had bled directly into his features.
All of this was caused by the sight of Ryo's body. And although Takeru had known Ryo the least among them, even his subdued expression couldn't hide the sorrow he felt at the death of a dragon he had met only days ago.
But this moment of grief was interrupted by the appearance of their primary enemy. His body was grotesquely deformed by the explosion—Khefi stood before them. In the final seconds of the blast, he had been focusing on repairing his heart while using Shock Absorption.
The injury to his heart greatly reduced the effectiveness of his skill, leaving him unable to save his brother Rey, who had died in the explosion. Even Khefi himself could barely stand, his body healing at an agonizingly slow pace.
Takeru and Elnar couldn't comprehend how Khefi was still alive, while Elythius was struck by a mix of rage and panic upon seeing him.
"Haaaa—how are you still alive?! Ryo died because of you!"
Khefi's body was collapsing, yet he stubbornly forced himself to move. His desire to kill had not faded despite everything that had happened.
"My brother is dead… I'll burn you all. I'll burn everything."
He focused his hand on Elythius, who was trembling with fear, preparing to fire a red energy pulse—only for his body to be riddled with bullets around his heart, his abdomen, and other parts. He tried to retreat, but in the end, he collapsed completely in front of his brother's charred corpse.
Standing before him was Takeru, holding the handgun that had filled Khefi's body with bullets. He looked down at him with cold eyes and spoke calmly.
"Khefi, you're not Number One. You're Number Zero. You never understood the value of human beings. They may be nothing more than numbers to you, but even numbers have value.
Positive values reflect good deeds, and negative values reflect bad ones. You can't see those values—so you are nothing. Just a zero, without worth."
Those words struck Khefi to his core. At the very moment he believed he understood humanity, he realized he was more ignorant than he had ever imagined. His body could endure no longer. Blood pooled around him and his brother's corpse as he breathed his last, still clutching his brother's hand.
After confirming Khefi's death, Takeru went to help Elnar stand. He noticed that his severed arm was still intact, as it had been right in front of them when Ryo had shielded them earlier. He picked it up and walked over to Elythius.
Elythius's eyes were swollen from tears. Elnar comforted his younger brother over Ryo's death.
"Elythius, I'm not telling you to hold back your tears for Ryo. But what he chose was the best option. In the end, his sacrifice was not in vain."
As Takeru watched them, he heard a voice from above.
"Heeey, Takeru! Is that you?"
Takeru looked up to see that the voice belonged to Haizen, with Mirai beside him.
The battle between the Numbers Gang and the royal palace had finally come to an end, with victory for the latter—though at a devastating cost.