The duel ended in a flash of blood. When the dust settled, Pikrus was dead.
Yui arrived at that very moment. She saw everything. Her father—the man she had just fought, the man who had tormented her throughout her childhood—now lay lifeless. And Opehajos, whose son had been killed by her father, stood over the corpse with a bloody sword.
Yui did not cry. Did not scream. She simply ran away. Far from the palace, from death, from everything that had happened.
---
In the middle of her escape, the radio crackled to life. A panicked voice came from the other end. "Commander Opehajos, please respond! There's a rebellion declaring the independence of a New Vanpien. Total casualties have reached thirty thousand soldiers. Please respond. It's being carried out by Earl Theodore and his lackeys."
Opehajos did not answer. He remained standing in his dead son's blood.
Yui kept running. Her goals now were two: retrieve her trade union card—balance 3,500 Pins—and then head to Dism Edizinische City, the number one medical city in the world.
Vanpien was burning. And she would not return.
---
At the trade union office, Yui said, "I'd like to withdraw my savings. 3,500 Pins."
The receptionist replied, "I'm sorry, but we can only process 1,500 Pins here. Due to recent unfortunate news, the trade union will be dissolved within five days because of global issues that no longer support it. Only branches in neutral trading cities will continue functioning normally."
Yui said, "Oh, fine. I admit things are crazy right now."
The receptionist marked her card and handed over the money. Yui immediately rushed off. Forty-seven minutes later, she arrived at Dism Edizinische City and entered the hospital. Right then and there, she collapsed from exhaustion and lost consciousness.
When she woke up, she was in a hospital bed with IVs everywhere. The attending doctor said, "Your condition is extremely critical. I'm amazed you're still alive. Don't worry—this hospital can heal you in two days. But you won't be fully recovered, just patched up."
Treatment there was relatively cheap—1,382 Pins, thanks to a 90-95% discount from Sikharns Academy.
---
Yui was now in critical condition. The Meoksama, Dons, and Forg routes—Hisme-Tyusin, Tyusin-Vius, and Tyusin-Hisme-Vanpien—were all cut off due to the war. Sikharns Academy's current location was on the Dosk route (Tyusin-Tidtimus), which required passing through the Forg and Dons routes first. Yui was isolated.
Sikharns offered pickup services in permitted countries—Vius, Tyusin, Vanpien. The problem was Vanpien was in the middle of a coup, and Vius had no sea access. Like it or not, Yui would have to walk. Dism Edizinische City was inland—no floating ship like Sikharns could reach it. The academy's ship system had stopped refueling; if a request was made, the route would be adjusted to the location or city where the request originated.
---
At the academy, Gis said, "How long until they arrive?"
Tyusue's voice came through the radio. "About five more minutes."
Suddenly, a flashbang blinded Gis and put him on alert. Gunfire rang out, but Gis easily evaded by leaping and crashing through the command room's window. After the gunfire subsided, he climbed back up with one hand. His assistant was dead. Before him stood several figures—he recognized them as Kruscep, Tidtimus's elite unit, on par with the elite unit led by Yuri in his prime.
Gis said, "Just take Yikop and leave this place. Don't put my students in danger."
The Kruscep commander replied, "Yikop is useless to us now. We're here to kill you. Tidtimus's natural enemy. In your prime, your threat level to the federation was 9.7/10. Now it's 9/10. Still dangerous. We will kill you."
Gis challenged him. "Try it, if you can."
Gis advanced and immediately stabbed two soldiers in the neck with his knife. Sirens blared. Soldiers gathered. Gis calmly threw a grenade. BOOM. The grenade exploded. Before the smoke cleared, Gis easily threw knives that struck several soldiers.
"Damn it," one soldier said—but before he could finish, his head was twisted and his eyes gouged out by Gis. Then a hail of gunfire erupted. Gis used his knife to break their focus, then kicked their legs. The soldiers cried out in pain. Gis grabbed a rifle and BANG.
On the upper deck, the Tidtimus commander said, "What? There's an intruder? Find him! We are Tidtimus, the strongest nation!"
Suddenly, his adjutant was shot. Then someone was already aiming at him.
"Tidtimus is a federation, not a military force. So it's you, the so-called best soldier in the Tidtimus academy. Made Lieutenant in two years and Commander in one year and two months. An insane achievement, Yikop," said the figure—it was Gis. He didn't kill Yikop; he knocked him unconscious and left for the academy. The ship was now empty.
At the academy, Gis said, "Tie Yikop up. Strip his uniform if possible. Leave no chance for escape. He's valuable leverage to keep Tidtimus from daring to attack. He's easy prey."
---
Opehajos entered a room. Sure enough, Wilh was sitting there calmly, reading a book.
Opehajos said, "Congratulations... on your grimoire. And goodbye."
Opehajos advanced with his sword. Wilh advanced with his battle axe. Their fight was fierce. A brutal melee ensued. Opehajos struck Wilh; Wilh responded by driving his axe into Opehajos's stomach, then shot Opehajos's sword out of his hand.
Wilh said, "You will die this time. My goal will be achieved."
Opehajos calmly said, "Aneyuisa."
Wilh gasped. "How do you know about that?!"
Opehajos didn't waste time. He punched Wilh in the chest and snatched his pistol.
Opehajos said, "Aneyuisa. That's enough for me to find it."
Opehajos continued, "Yuri. V###. F### C###. J#####. W######. X####. And you, Wilh."
Wilh said, "My plan and his have been set from the beginning. It's useless for you to resist. You will die. That pistol has only one bullet. Go ahead, shoot. The fact that you could figure out the entire terrorist network impresses me. But remember, this plan can't be stopped. Only two names on that list are dead. The rest are still sitting calmly at their desks playing chess."
Wilh injected something into Opehajos and said, "Goodnight. I can't kill you. Killing you would be suicide—80 million Vanpien soldiers would gladly die for revenge."
Opehajos tried to shoot, but it was empty. He fell unconscious.
---
At the Tidtimus headquarters, Giurmes said, "So we're going to help Wilh's faction in Vanpien, huh? Interesting. I approve. Fuis Caks, you are my best general. This will certainly benefit our nation."
Fuis replied, "Absolutely, sir. Don't worry. This will be very profitable."
---
Opehajos woke up. He just sat there.
"Yuri's dream was to achieve utopia across the entire world. And with Histep, he partially realized that dream. If I had stopped him back then, would he have agreed? Of course not. The Grimoire of Freedom—the book Yuri always carried, now in Wilh's possession. The grimoire that tells of Nakas's freedom and the utopia of ancient Kuras. Yuri's dream is now being carried on by his network—his friends. But their methods are even more insane."
Outside, explosions could be heard. Wilh's faction was clashing with the military.
Opehajos finally stood up and said, "As his friend, I have to resolve this matter. He must be allowed to rest in peace."
---
END OF VOLUME 5
VOLUME 6 STARTS IN JULY