The oppressive silent night.
Most people in the west building were already fast asleep, leaving a few dim emergency lights projecting long shadows in the corridor. Zaimokuza's room door was knocked softly.
He was wearing earphones, writing enthusiastically in front of his laptop screen, composing magnificent battle scenes for his novel. That door knock startled him.
"Wh-who?" he asked in a low voice.
No answer from outside the door, only three more knocks heard with a very regular rhythm. One long knock, two short knocks.
This... a code?
Zaimokuza's heartbeat instantly accelerated. He remembered, this was the emergency contact signal agreed upon haphazardly by Darius when giving him the codename "Heavy Infantry" earlier in the day.
(The General is summoning me!)
He immediately removed his earphones and stealthily opened the door. Outside, Darius stood silently in the darkness like a terrifying black shadow.
"Follow me."
Darius only uttered those two words, then turned toward the stairs. Zaimokuza didn't dare ask many questions and immediately followed. He felt as if he had become the protagonist in his own novel, participating in a secret mission determining the fate of the world.
The two walked in succession toward the storage shed behind the west building. That place was filled with used farm equipment and firewood, the air there smelling of dust and decay. Darius closed the door, pulled out a small flashlight from his pocket, then turned it on. The flashlight's beam illuminated the notebook in his hand.
He opened a new page containing rough but clearly structured technical drawings using red marker. In the center of the drawing, the wooden bridge connecting the village with the outside world was clearly displayed.
"This is the 'Scorched Earth Plan'." Darius's voice sounded very clear in that narrow space, carrying irrefutable decisiveness.
"Scorched... Earth?" Zaimokuza swallowed. That term sounded very destructive.
"We have failed." Darius said. "The purification operation failed. The virus has completely taken over this village, infection rate exceeds critical value. We can't save this place, we can only stop its spread."
He pressed his finger hard on the wooden bridge's position in that drawing.
"This is the only exit. The virus will escape through survivors, or infected wild animals, then spread throughout the Kanto Plain."
Darius looked up. The flashlight illuminated his face from below, making his expression appear dark and terrifying.
"To protect the outside world, we must completely sever this route before we leave."
Zaimokuza's brain buzzed. Sever the route? He stared at the red-circled wooden bridge on the map.
"Wh-what the General means..." his voice began trembling, "B-blow it up?"
"Exactly right." Darius's answer was short and concise.
Zaimokuza felt his legs slightly weak.
Blow up the bridge?
This was no longer chūnibyō fantasy, this was criminal! Could get arrested by police!
He wanted to argue, wanted to say this was crazy. However, when he locked eyes with Darius's frighteningly shining eyes in the darkness, his words stuck in his throat. That gaze told him that Darius wasn't joking.
He was serious. He really planned to blow up that bridge.
"This is an order, D-Class Personnel." Darius's tone became heavier. "Do you want to be a loser who only watches the world be destroyed, or become a hero who ends this disaster source with your own hands?"
Zaimokuza's breath quickened, sweat seeping from his forehead.
Loser... or hero... This choice had deadly appeal for someone like him who lived in an imaginary world. Finally, the desire to be a "hero" overcame his fear of real-world law.
"I-I understand!" He puffed out his chest, speaking in a tragic tone as if heading to the execution post. "For the safety of humanity, I'm willing to become Asura!"
"Good." Darius nodded with satisfaction. He directed the flashlight beam to the corner of the storage. "Now, start collecting supplies."
In that corner was stacked a box of fireworks left unused from earlier in the day, prepared by Shizuka for the final night's activity.
Darius pointed at that box of colorful fireworks, "This is 'Plastic C4', has great explosive power but stable nature. We need to dismantle the core trigger and reassemble it."
Then he pointed at the pile of dry firewood and several spare kerosene jerry cans.
"This is 'Effect-Enhancing Combustion Agent', used to expand the explosion coverage to ensure the bridge structure is totally destroyed."
Zaimokuza stared at those children's toy fireworks, then stared at what Darius called "C4". He felt his worldview was being forcibly reshaped. But, he no longer had a way back.
"Ready!"
The two immediately took action. Darius was in charge of dismantling fireworks; he used a small knife, skillfully tearing paper tubes and pouring black gunpowder into a bag. His movements were precise and calm, like an experienced bomb disposal expert.
Zaimokuza was in charge of transporting firewood and kerosene. With his large body and great strength, he quickly moved all those flammable materials outside the west building and hid them behind bushes.
Throughout that process, the two didn't make the slightest additional sound. The night was silent, only the sound of insects and their heavy breathing.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Yukino woke from a nightmare. She dreamed Darius transformed all village residents into zombies, while she herself held a "Holy Sword of Physics," swinging it helplessly in the midst of zombie waves.
Her throat felt dry, she got up intending to go down to get a drink. While walking in the silent corridor, her steps stopped in front of Zaimokuza's room. His door was slightly open, and no one was inside.
(This late, where did he go?)
She glanced at Darius's room, and his was also empty. A bad premonition enveloped her heart. She walked to the window, pulled back the curtain, and looked outside. Under the dim moonlight, she saw two suspicious figures carrying a box, disappearing toward the path leading to the village entrance.
One was large-bodied, that was Zaimokuza. The other wore a black raincoat, that was Darius.
(What are they going to do?)
Yukino's heart instantly sank to her throat.
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