Chapter 11: Do or Don't

While I have indeed been reincarnated, that doesn’t change the fact that I’ve never killed a person before.

Others might say it's acceptable since I am 18 years old in this world, but when you factor in my previous life, I am actually 38 years old, having died at 32. I can’t help but feel frustrated by the notion that a virgin man at age 30 is considered a magician.

Putting that aside, I was currently discussing something with Pith. This idea was inspired by an anime from my previous life, specifically a spread shot technique. In this technique, when a projectile reaches a certain point or is hit, it spreads out.

There are many variations of this in the anime I watched, where the shot spreads upon reaching a specific range or being struck, with each of the spread shots homing in on the original target. Alternatively, the shot can spread to hit multiple targets.

Initially, I planned to combine the Umwandlung and Wahrsagung schools of art for my test. However, Pith suggested using the Beschwörung school art instead of Wahrsagung, claiming it would be easier to control. She was right; although the power is somewhat lacking compared to using Wahrsagung, I don't need that much power unless I'm facing a powerhouse like Talulah.

I do need to prepare mentally, though, since tomorrow we will enter Chernobog to awaken the sleeping beauty, the doctor.

I also sensed a telepathic message from Orga, which surprised me. He managed to use magic, but then again, remembering that Mon3tr can use magic, I suppose it shouldn't be that surprising.

{Mama, please praise my ability to protect.}

{Sure, but how about you carry Scout back first? I’ll feed you your favorite Originium.}

For now, we need Scout to fall back because I don’t know why Hoederer originally killed Scout. In this alternate universe, the reasons could be different, so I’m not going to take unnecessary risks. Besides, he can assist Amiya with his scouting skills.

In the end, despite my preparations, I couldn’t sleep that night knowing we would be venturing out tomorrow.

"Alisia, I want to thank you for rescuing Scout. However, as you know, today we will enter Chernobog. We’re unsure how many Reunion members are in the city or how severe the damage is. You will lead a sniper squad to the tallest building for scouting. Your primary job is to guard them while they provide covering fire."

"Are you sure I don’t need to be with Amiya?"

"I would like you to be with Amiya because of your abilities, but we need to distribute our forces to mislead Reunion so we can awaken the Doctor before they find him."

Seeing Kal'tsit’s grim expression highlighted the mission's danger. As Alisia walked away, she met up with the sniper squad she would be leading. To her surprise, she recognized several faces: Ambriel, Adnachiel, Firewatch, Greythroat, Meteorite, and, unexpectedly, Rosa.

What confused her was the absence of Ranger, Kroos, and Catapult, who were likely already with their own squads. However, some members should still be with theirs, so she approached Rosa.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, you’re the squad leader, Alisia, right? Let me introduce myself. Today I will be working with you as the field combatant utilizing siege equipment. my codename is Rosa, It’s a pleasure to meet you."

"There’s no need to be so formal; we’re squad mates from now on. Besides, you’re from Peterheim Middle School, right?"

When Alisia asked, Rosa paused for a moment before recalling Alisia as one of the comrades who had rescued her and the other two Rhodes Island operators from Reunion.

"Ah, I’m sorry for being rude. You’re different from when we first met."

"It’s okay; you’re different too. It seems like the weight on your shoulders has been lifted."

Rosa fell silent at Alisia's words, but Alisia began to worry that they had been too late in rescuing them and that they had started to resort to cannibalism. In truth, Rosa was silent for a different reason—she remembered her fight with Sonya before they parted ways, struggling to choose between protecting the aristocrats and the commoners.

This misunderstanding weighed heavily on Alisia, though she was unaware that her actions had allowed them to be rescued just before they ran out of food. Only Raidian and Sharp realized this and agreed not to mention it to Alisia, believing she was too young to know.

Both Sharp and Raidian wanted to protect Alisia, who had just experienced her first kill, which led her to misinterpret the situation and become wary of Rosa. Suddenly, someone patted her on the head, and she looked up to see it was Meteorite.

"Well, pleased to meet you too, leader! I’m surprised that the squad leader is younger than me. What do you think, Firewatch?"

"I don’t care as long as she doesn’t slow down the others."

"Oh, Firewatch is worried—this is a first."

"Shut up! Well, pleased to meet you, leader."

"Ahahaha! I’m still young, so I’ll probably rely on your experience since this is my first time leading a squad as well."

Alisia’s response made the entire squad anxious about the operation, but Rosa watched Alisia with sparkling eyes.

Inside the helicopter, we were discussing the checkpoint and details of the operation—where to defend and so on—when suddenly, I heard an explosion, and my vision went black.

Shaking my head, I looked around at the wreckage of the helicopter we had just been in. The last thing I remembered was the explosion that hit us, likely indicating an ambush by the Reunion members.

As I healed myself, I slowly surveyed the other operators and proceeded to tend to each one, focusing especially on the critical cases. However, the Reunion gave us no chance to catch our breath. With others still unconscious, it fell to me to guard them.

"ARGH, COME HERE, YOU BASTARD!"

Thinking quickly, I transformed my railgun into a vector and used the technique I had just practiced to shoot at every Reunion member that approached.

"The enemy is swarming us!"

For the moment, I dragged all the operators into a corner to hide them better while I held my ground, ensuring none got past me.

I wondered how much time had passed.

Though I was grateful for my training with Pith, fatigue began to creep in. I had to keep them safe; after all, I was the squad leader.

After a while, I used everything I could from my abilities, including my skills, and finally saw Amiya approaching with the Doctor. It seemed we had managed to get the Doctor first, but I needed to hold on because Talulah was still a threat.

"ALISIA."

(Huh... why is Amiya moving sideways?)

Suddenly, my consciousness was cut short.

The mission was proceeding well until all operators inside Chernobog were ambushed by Reunion. The most intense confrontation occurred at Alisia's location when they received news that the helicopter she was on had been shot down. Amiya panicked but was calmed down by the other operators and the Doctor present.

They navigated the city to reach the crash site where Alisia was supposed to be, hoping to rescue any survivors. With the Doctor's guidance, they finally arrived at the crash site, only to witness a scene of carnage with hundreds of Reunion corpses scattered everywhere.

To make matters worse, gunfire and sound of art being fire still echoed in the area. As the Doctor slowly deployed a drone to assess the situation through P.R.T.S., he was taken aback to see a lone girl, not much older than Amiya, fighting off waves of Reunion attackers.

Amiya caught a glimpse of the girl and immediately issued a command to rescue Alisia. With the Doctor's strategies, they managed to fend off the remaining Reunion members. However, the scene was horrific; several operators struggled to hold back their nausea. Amiya ran toward the girl, shouting her name.

"ALISIA!"

Perhaps sensing her safety, the girl slowly collapsed sideways. Amiya caught her before she hit the ground, biting her lip hard enough that blood began to drip. Meanwhile, the other operators began inspecting the surroundings and were shocked to find that all the squad members had no visible wounds.

Although a few had died, they bore no marks at all. Confusion set in as they recalled stories of a new elite operator who could cure Oripathy while healing others. What puzzled them even more was that Alisia's body was covered in wounds.

"Amiya, who is this girl?"

"Ah Sorry Doktah, she is one of the elite operators named Alisia. She is a Sankta, skilled in healing and curing Oripathy. She even cured my Oripathy a while back."

"Wait, Amiya, from what you said, she should be a medic. Why is she holding a gun?"

"Let's continue this discussion later Doktah, this place isn't safe."

They carefully carried the surviving members of the sniper squad, but time was of the essence, and they could not afford to carry the dead. They needed to travel as quickly as possible.

Scout led them toward one of the few medical facilities that accepted the infected. As they rested there, Amiya sat in front of the Doctor beside a bed where Alisia lay, bandaged and injured. Amiya began to speak.

"We met a couple of years ago and became friends. She was known as the Originium Saint in Laterano, or so I heard from Doctor Kal'tsit."

"Originium Saint?"

Hearing the Doctor's question, Amiya slowly gazed at Alisia.

"I don't know how much you remember, Doktah, but Oripathy is a deadly disease with no cure. Once infected, the only thing you can do is slow the progression before death. However, she is the only one who has managed to cure it."

Amiya slowly stood up and led Doctor and the others out of Alisia's room.

"We need to plan our next move."

As they began discussing their strategy, the sniper squad started to awaken. Meteorite and Firewatch looked around in a panic.

"What happened?"

Upon hearing Meteorite's question, Amiya began to explain what had happened to the helicopter they had been riding in and how they managed to find them.

"What happened to Squad Leader Alisia?"

"She's still asleep from overusing her art. As you noticed, she healed all of you, even those who were dead."

"What do you mean?"

One of the operators detailed the situation when they finally caught up with Alisia, who was fighting off a horde of Reunion alone while simultaneously protecting and healing her teammates.

Both Firewatch and Meteorite wore grim expressions, ashamed to be a burden to someone younger than them.

As they talked, a surprised gasp came from the room where the infected resident was. Rushing in, they found Alisia, still covered in bandages, curing the Oripathy of the infected resident. Her halo and wings shone with a warm yellow light.

Everyone froze at the sight, even Doctor. But then he noticed signs of infection appearing on Alisia's body, prompting him to walk over and grab her hand. When he looked closely, the signs were already gone, but the girl was staring at him instead.

"Doktah."

"Oh, Amiya, you're the one who picked me up, huh? Ahahaha, I'm sorry for letting my team down because of my incompetence."

Alisia looked down, bracing herself for punishment, but Amiya hugged her so tightly that it started to hurt.

"Amiya, it hurts."

"That's what you get for making me worry, Alisia."

A slow smile spread across Alisia's face as the light of her halo and wings gradually returned to normal. She hugged Amiya back, gently rubbing her back.

"So, will you introduce us now, Amiya? I mean, who is this handsome man?"

Alisia teased Amiya, even though she already knew the answer.

"Oh, right! This is the first time you’re meeting him. This is Doktah. And you know, Alisia, Doktah is amazing; he managed to lead us to victory even though our numbers were fewer than the enemy's."

"Hohoho! By the way, have you met the young-looking boy?"

"Huh? No, we haven't."

Hearing that made Alisia start to think.

(Amiya hasn't met Mephisto or Faust?)

The difference began to concern her, but then she remembered something and stared at Amiya.

"AMIYA, WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SQUAD?"

Alisia grabbed Amiya's shoulders, shaking her for answers.

"Oh, they're still resting over there."

As Amiya pointed in the direction, Alisia dashed away with a speed that surprised everyone, even the medic still inside the room.

But she stopped when she noticed that a few were missing, as Amiya followed her into the room.

"Amiya, what happened to the others?"

Although Alisia knew the answer, she turned to Amiya, her hand clenched so tightly that it began to bleed.

"When we arrived, they were already beyond saving. I'm sorry, Alisia."

"So I was late in healing them, huh..."

As the medical staff approached, they noticed the blood on Alisia's hand. However, upon closer inspection, there was no wound; in fact, the injuries all over her body had already healed.

"Sorry, Amiya, I need to take a walk outside for a bit."

Amiya tried to follow Alisia, but the Doctor, who had finally caught up, held her shoulder and shook his head.

"It's better to leave her alone."

"But Doktah..."

"I know you're worried, Amiya, but a lot is happening, and she needs some space."

Amiya was about to agree with the Doctor when she heard a panicked voice. Rushing toward the entrance of the medical facility, she saw Alisia patting Orga while feeding him Originium.

"Oh, Amiya, what is it?"

Amiya carefully looked down and saw the lifeless bodies of the sniper squad at Orga's feet—those who had not made it.

"You see, their names were Aris, Otern, Lugia, and Laos. They were all newbies, just like me, and each of them joined Rhodes Island with pure intentions. I failed them."

Alisia slowly took out a large chunk of Originium and transformed it before their eyes into a necklace with a pendant shaped like a coffin. This surprised both the Doctor and Amiya, but what happened next astonished them even more.

Alisia gently touched each corpse one by one, and they slowly dissolved into particles of light before gathering into the pendant on her necklace.

"After this is over, I will hold a funeral for each of them."

Alisia stood and faced Amiya, gently patting her head.

"So let's go and finish this troublesome mission. We've already sacrificed so much; let's end it before more lives are lost."

Amiya nodded in agreement as they slowly entered the medical facility to discuss their next move.