The ear-splitting explosions and the blinding blue light of the jellyfish vanished as if they were a lie.
All that remained was the rattling sound of the Lumina Lip's engine and the rough breathing of the four crew members.
"Haa, haa..."
Lilia slumped over the helm. As the extreme tension released, her pale fingers were trembling faintly.
"We... survived. We really... made it out, right?"
"Yes, Lilia. You did it."
Jayn staggered over and wrapped her arm around Lilia's shoulder.
Jayn was also covered in dust and soot, but her eyes looking at her companion shone with relief.
Hiss—
With the sound of the airlock opening at the back of the bridge, Vent walked in, holding his helmet at his side.
He was also a mess with soot and grease, but his characteristic stoic expression remained unchanged.
"Damn, that was quite a flashy finale for a trip to hell. One wing of my Nightwolf is tattered."
"It's a miracle you're alive. You covered us in that crossfire."
Leon chuckled hollowly, sitting on the floor. In his arms, the data bank he had protected with his life was held precious.
"Jayn, look at that."
At Leon's gesture, everyone's gaze turned to the rear monitor.
Into the receding sea of clouds, into the darkness of that abyss, a massive shadow was crashing.
It was the 'Forgotten Archives' that had floated in the sky harboring the Empire's secrets for hundreds of years.
Unable to withstand Adrian's indiscriminate bombardment, Caligo's madness, and the internal collapse, the ancient ruin was sinking below the clouds spewing red flames, as if screaming its last breath.
Rumble... Boom!
The final roar from far away rode the atmosphere and faintly shook the Lumina Lip.
It wasn't just the collapse of a building. It was the sound of a part of the world they knew crumbling down, a dirge announcing the end of an era.
In front of that overwhelming scene of destruction, no one could easily speak.
"There is no turning back now."
Jayn's blue eyes reflected the burning debris in the monitor. Her voice was low but incomparably firm.
"We just stole the history the Empire wanted to hide the most... and turned an Imperial territory into ashes. We are not simple fugitives anymore."
Jayn clenched her fist.
"We have truly become enemies of the Empire. Now there is no place in the sky where we can hide."
A heavy silence hovered in the bridge. But that silence was not fear.
It was a cool and solemn resolve that only those who have stepped into the eye of the storm can possess.
* * *
"..."
Suffocating silence hovered in the bridge of the Imperial 3rd Fleet flagship, Fenrir.
While dozens of officers and operators watched with bated breath, Colonel Adrian Valentine stood with his hands behind his back in front of the massive front window.
Where his blue eyes stared was the debris of the Forgotten Archives, crashing below the clouds as ashes.
His territory was burning.
The Imperial order he had to protect was crumbling down.
Breaking the silence, a mocking voice burst out from the bridge's main speaker with rough static. It was Caligo, the leader of the Chrome Hounds.
The communications officer shouted in panic.
"C-Colonel! I will block it!"
"Leave it."
Adrian's voice was as cold as ice.
The communication cut off. Caligo's fleet was already leisurely leaving the battlefield.
Adrian's lips twisted.
Those vulgar outlaws trampled on my front yard and mocked me.
But what was even more unbearable was the 'internal enemy' who stabbed me in the back.
'Shadow Scribe... Daring to deploy an assassination squad in my operation zone?'
It was a clear overstepping of authority and a deception against Adrian, a soldier.
They didn't trust Adrian and tried to use him like a pawn on a chessboard. That arrogance eventually led to this situation.
And, Jayn Rumor.
Adrian's fist clenched until it turned white.
She was no longer a simple 'Junker'.
As if mocking the 'Perfect Control' and 'Order' Adrian had built his whole life, she brought in the unpredictable variable of the jellyfish swarm and turned the battlefield into a messy Chaos. And leisurely disappeared.
This was not a defeat. It was a humiliation.
It was the worst insult that smeared an indelible stain on his pride.
"Adjutant."
"Yes, Colonel!"
"Contact the Intelligence Bureau. Upgrade their wanted level to 'Code Red' (National Subversion Threat)."
"C-Code Red... that is a level equivalent to wartime! Without approval from the top..."
"I process it with my authority. And the bounty..."
Adrian slowly turned around. His eyes were no longer those of a rational commander.
Only the murderous intent of a starving wolf that lost its prey was glowing.
"Raise it to double the existing amount. Even if I have to empty my private coffers, put an astronomical amount on their necks. Make every bounty hunter in the sky go crazy just by smelling them."
He walked away, turning his back on the burning Archives.
"Jayn Rumor, and her gang. This is no longer a mission."
The words coming out of his mouth were not an order, but a vow close to a curse.
"The price for destroying my order... I will make you pay it to the bone. Even if I have to chase you to the end of the sky."
* * *
As the turbulence caused by the Archive's collapse subsided, a heavy silence returned to the Lumina Lip's bridge.
The gazes of Jayn, Vent, and Lilia focused on one place. It was Leon's back, sitting in front of the central control console.
At his trembling fingertips, the 'Pandora's Box' brought out at the risk of their lives was opening.
"Damn, as expected, not easy. It's a double lock overlaid by those Scribe bastards on top of Adrian's security."
Leon typed on the keyboard, sweating cold sweat.
"But they made a mistake. They left a system backdoor open briefly while planting the virus code. If I dig into that gap..."
Clack, clack!
Leon's finger pressed the final enter key strongly.
The red warning window disappeared, and thousands of lines of data and original order documents poured down like a waterfall on the hologram screen.
"This is... the record of the day 'Arkelos' burned."
Jayn swallowed dry saliva.
Leon scrolled down quickly.
Operation Name 'Twilight of Paradise'.
The scale of troops deployed, forbidden weapons used, and even the 'Cleaning' order instructing the massacre of civilians.
Everything was recorded in terrible detail.
"And... here it is. The final person in charge who designed and ordered all this hell."
Leon's finger pointed to the electronic signature field at the bottom of the screen.
There, along with the Imperial eagle emblem, a name signed in bold and sharp handwriting was clearly stamped.
The moment he saw that name, Vent, standing next to him, gasped.
"Ha...! Cassius? That crazy 'Iron Chancellor' himself?"
"Do you know him?"
At Jayn's question, Vent shook his head with a look of disbelief.
"No soldier doesn't know him. The Emperor's only close friend and a monster who commands the entire Imperial Army. His nickname is 'The Butcher'. He's famous for erasing rebellious cities from the map. He's on a different level from the likes of Adrian."
Vent clicked his tongue.
"Such a big shot personally gave orders to burn just a frontier research city? I don't get it. was Arkelos that dangerous?"
"No... it wasn't a simple military operation."
Leon's voice sank low. He was staring piercingly at the crest of the 'Valerius' family on the screen.
It was a gaze mixed with anger, contempt, and strange conviction.
"I know this crest."
"Leon?"
"When I was in the Aether Technician Guild... The person who tore up my thesis and permanently expelled me from the guild. The head of the Aether Technician Guild, 'Meister Valerius'."
Leon slowly turned his head to look at his companions.
"That man is... Grand Marshal Cassius's younger brother."
"What?!"
The group's eyes widened.
Leon manipulated the hologram screen with trembling hands to open another file.
It was the list of technologies looted from Arkelos.
"Look at this. The things they took after burning Arkelos... they are all technologies related to 'Aether Alternative Energy' and 'Non-military Power Sources'. Jayn, people of your home wanted to make Aether a light for everyone, not a weapon."
As Leon's deduction continued, the puzzle pieces fitted together chillingly.
"But if that technology comes out to the world, who loses the most? The elder brother 'Cassius' who monopolizes the Empire's military industry. And the younger brother 'Meister' who holds the existing Aether vested rights. to these two brothers, Arkelos's technology was not a revolution, but a disaster that would break their rice bowls."
"Then... all that massacre was..."
Jayn's fist trembled.
"Right. It wasn't because of Imperial security. Nor because of rebels."
Leon bit his lip until it bled.
"Just to protect the 'interests' of the Valerius family... those dirty brothers conspired to erase your home from the map."
The truth was much uglier and more massive than thought.
They weren't simply fighting the Imperial Army.
They had started a war with the most massive and greedy family in the sky, holding both the Empire's military power and technological power in their hands.
"Haha... this is getting to be a mountain upon mountain."
Vent scratched his head and smiled bitterly.
"Now we have turned the Imperial Army, Intelligence Bureau, and even the number one power family in the sky into enemies. At this point, I can't even imagine how much the bounty will be."
But Leon's eyes were not soaked in despair. His eyes facing the truth were burning colder than ever.
"At least... we know what their weakness is."
Leon clenched his fist.
"They are packaging their greed as 'Justice'. If this data is released to the world, the morality of the Valerius brothers is finished."
The air in the bridge was heavy as lead. The truth Leon revealed was too massive and terrible for them to handle.
The pinnacle of the Imperial military, Cassius Valerius.
The pinnacle of Aether technology, Meister Valerius.
Two brothers holding the most powerful authority in the sky joined hands. And their greed erased Jayn's home, 'Arkelos', from the map.
"..."
Jayn silently stared at the hologram screen.
The signature [Commander-in-Chief Cassius Valerius] on the screen.
The name of the man who ordered to burn the peaceful village and massacre her parents and neighbors 10 years ago was right before her eyes.
Her shoulders trembled faintly. It was not fear. It was cold murderous intent boiling up from deep within her bones.
"Jayn..."
Leon called her with worried eyes. He was also in shock.
The fact that the Arkelos technology he wanted to study his whole life was used to fill the belly of the 'Meister' who kicked him out made him shudder.
But the person in the most pain right now was Jayn.
It was Vent who broke the silence. He let out a deep sigh, wiping his face with a rough hand.
"Speaking realistically. We have drunk a poisoned chalice."
Vent unfolded the map with a serious expression.
"The Imperial Army, Intelligence Bureau, Chrome Hounds... and now the entire 'Valerius Family' is targeting us. We survived for now, but if they track us with full force, we can't hold out with this scrap ship. There is only one way."
Vent's finger pointed to the darkest corner of the map.
"We have to dive into the deepest part of Rust Haven, the Underground Scrap Maze. If it's there, even Valerius can't send troops recklessly. We won't see the light for a lifetime, but at least we can save our lives."
"..."
"Jayn, it's not the time to stand on pride. They are a legion, and we are only four. We have to live first to plan for the future."
"No."
A firm voice cut off Vent. It was Jayn. She slowly raised her head to look at her companions.
"Running away ends now, Vent."
"Jayn!"
"It was the same 10 years ago. People of Arkelos lived holding their breath without doing anything wrong. Because they were afraid of the Empire, believing they would be spared if they just lived quietly. But what was the result?"
Jayn's blue eyes blazed.
"It was extermination. They don't spare us because we hide. Rather, they will treat us like rats hiding in the dark and trample us more cruelly. The moment we hide in Rust Haven, it becomes exactly what they want. The truth of Arkelos will be buried forever."
Jayn looked at Leon.
"Leon. Seeing Meister Valerius trampling on the technology you dreamed of and becoming a hero of the Empire with stolen technology... are you going to just keep watching?"
"...No."
Leon's eyes hardened firmly.
"Absolutely not. My technological ideal, and the truth of your home... I will take them back."
"Right. So we must become hunters, not prey."
Jayn's finger cut across the hologram map. The place she pointed to was not a safe frontier or a slum good for hiding.
The center of the map.
The area shining most brilliantly in gold.
"Let's go. To 'Aurea'."
Lilia and Vent gasped at the same time.
"A-Aurea... isn't that the Imperial Capital? That's the middle of the lion's mouth!"
"The most dangerous place is the darkest under the lamp. And..."
Cool strength carried in Jayn's voice.
"To stab their hearts, we have to go to the heart. The place where Cassius and Meister, those damn brothers are. The place where all the Empire's information and power gather. We have to burst this data there to cut their leashes."
It was madness. But at the same time, it was the only winning move.
Vent stared blankly at Jayn, then burst into laughter as if despondent.
"Ha! Barge into the Imperial Capital? A Junker kid declaring war on a Grand Marshal... I've never seen such a crazy captain in my life."
Vent adjusted his helmet and grinned.
"Fine. Let's go for it. Rather than rotting in a corner of Rust Haven until dying of old age, making a flashy trouble in the Golden City is more my style. Though I don't know if my Nightwolf will last until there."
"Lilia, set the course. Target is the Imperial Capital, Aurea."
"Roger! Coordinates input complete. Raising engine output to maximum!"
Lilia's hands moved faster. The engine of the rattling Lumina Lip let out a magnificent roar.
The ship slowly turned its nose. Leaving the dark and destroyed battlefield behind, toward the brilliantly rising sun.
It was not a suicide flight jumping into the jaws of death. It was the beginning of a great voyage for the revenge of the home buried 10 years ago, tearing through the sky of false peace.
"Let's go."
With Jayn's short command, the Lumina Lip sprinted into the blinding dawn.