There were voices echoing in his mind; the voices of children running through the Lanes, fleeing from adults—a memory from long ago that was slowly fading away. But putting that aside, right now, he felt as if he were sinking to the bottom of the sea, yet the water, instead of being cold, was comfortably warm. In fact, the water felt softer than it should have.
Was Midas dying? Not even he could answer that. All he perceived was an infinite darkness that chilled his soul.
'Briar… I hope you managed to escape.' The thought drifted through the edges of his mind, echoing in the water.
For a few moments, he saw the scene again—Briar standing before Darius. He remembered how stupid he had been, throwing himself at someone who looked like a mountain, despite having no chance of winning.
'I acted on pure impulse.'
And he really did. The decisions he made led him to death. If there was anything to regret, it was that he couldn't say goodbye to his sister before leaving.
Wherever people's souls go, it's probably a horrible place. Maybe life itself is an endless and terrifying cycle that keeps going even after you're dead. It's paradoxical, but in this vast world, anything is possible.
For Midas, it was possible to summon tiny particles of light, just as it was possible to turn entire armies into golden statues. It was a shame he could no longer use that power after the psychological shock he suffered ten years ago. That trauma had guided his life ever since, shaping the depression and bitter, reserved attitude he carried.
Come on—any normal person would end up like Midas after suffering that much.
'Even if I can't do anything to save anyone, I hope they can all forgive me. Especially you, sister. I know that wherever you are, you'd be disappointed in all the horrible things I've done.'
Midas was completely ready to leave, but it would be ironic to end everything with such a pathetic effort.
Then, he felt real pain.
His back and head hurt. He felt like he'd been crushed ten times over. The pain was so intense that it forced him awake.
He groaned, and when he opened his eyes, he was met with nothing but more darkness. He was lying on what felt like sharp rocks. The ground was damp, and the place smelled like wet earth. Needless to say, his entire body ached, but there was also something else—something special—near him.
No… on top of him.
It wasn't heavy, really, but Midas groaned because whatever it was… it was breathing. It was soft—very soft—too soft… but it also reeked of dried blood.
"I can't move."
Of course. If you fall from a height of ten meters, the best you can hope for—if you're lucky—is to survive. For Midas, surviving at all was incredible luck.
Yes.
He was alive.
"Still… am I already dead? Is this what comes after death? I don't feel dead, really…" After going through something as horrible as agonizing between life and death, Midas felt strangely calm. Whatever happened next wouldn't surprise him.
He tried to move like a worm, but it didn't work. His whole body felt numb and stiff, like a living corpse. Also, the pain in his chest had almost completely disappeared.
"What do I do?" He rested his head against the ground and breathed calmly. Now he understood he wasn't dead—feeling the inhibitor on his hands brought all his memories back with clarity. "I'm alive. How is that possible? Where is she?"
An interesting last question. After trying to sacrifice himself heroically to save a girl, Midas remembered nothing else.
So… where was Briar?
"Aah… why are you moving so much?" Briar's voice sounded above him.
It felt too convenient, but a soft ray of light stretched from the end of the strange tunnel they were in. There seemed to be an exit nearby, at least. But that wasn't what mattered right now.
If Briar's voice was above him… then the thing on top of him was—
"Briar…?"
"That's my name."
The faint light slowly crept closer and closer, like a hand reaching out—ready to reveal the secrets of the world.
Yawning as she woke up, Briar sat up—right on top of Midas, her weight settling on his abdomen.
"Where are we?"
"I have no idea. I don't remember," she said, just as confused as he was. The fact that they were alive at all was strange. Lucky, even.
And speaking of luck, the light finally reached them, illuminating the end of the tunnel.
When the light revealed the scene, Midas's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
He froze as the dim glow illuminated Briar's grayish skin.
During the battle at the Immortal Bastion, Darius's axe had cut across Briar's chest. That meant her clothes had been torn—and after her fall, they were ripped even further.
Now, the result was clear.
Her chest was completely exposed.
"Hm? Why are you looking at me like that?" Confused, she glanced down—and realized her shirt was torn, leaving her breasts uncovered.
She didn't feel embarrassed. Briar was completely unfamiliar with those kinds of human emotions.
Midas, on the other hand—though his eyes were pulled like magnets in that direction—immediately looked away when he noticed her gaze.
"I—I—I didn't see anything."
Of course not. A gentleman must feign ignorance in situations like this. You never know when you might get slapped by a fair maiden.
Well… Briar was the complete opposite.
"And what's wrong with that?" she asked, standing up and looking around.
Midas sat up and tried to erase the image from his mind. He felt like something dangerous might awaken at any moment, so he forced himself to think of horrible things instead. When he remembered the experiments performed on him, his expression darkened briefly.
Walking toward the light, Briar examined the area and began speaking, completely ignoring her exposed chest.
"This is a cave. I've been in lots of caves before, and this one seems shallow. Hm… I think caves like this form because of rain or something. I heard someone say that once."
"Uh… hey."
"If the light's coming from there, then that's the exit."
"Uh… Briar?"
"What?" She turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow in confusion as Midas sat on his knees, staring at the wall.
"I… I mean… you should probably use this cloak to cover yourself."
"Cover?" She looked down at her torn clothes again, then raised her head as if she'd made an important discovery. "Oooh. Right. Humans get embarrassed about this stuff. Got it, got it, little Midas."
She walked over and, using her teeth, pulled the cloak off him. She struggled a bit to put it on—the pillory on her shoulders got in the way.
"Hey, Midas. Can you help me?"
"Huh?" He turned—and immediately looked away again when he realized the cloak wouldn't fit properly because of the restraint on her shoulders.
Right. The cloak could work… but only if it was adjusted to fit around her arms. That meant biting and tearing it a little.
And doing that… that close…
Midas was in complete mental chaos.
Midas was twenty-seven years old. He arrived in Noxus at ten and was imprisoned at seventeen. In all those years, he lost the youth a normal man would have—including ever getting to know women.
Now he was a twenty-seven-year-old virgin dealing with a very… complicated situation.
Nothing about this was going to end well.
"Hey, hurry up. Are you scared of me?"
"Yes. I mean—no, I'm not—but… ugh… damn it, fine, I'll do it."
He gave in surprisingly fast. This was the real Midas. No longer locked in a dark cell, now free in nature alongside an adorable monster.
Maybe life hadn't been so cruel to this poor bastard after all.
Midas stood up and walked toward her—facing away, for obvious reasons.
A gentleman keeps his principles, even on the day of his death.
Carefully, eyes shut tight, he leaned toward her shoulders and used his teeth to tear the cloak.
"Hehe. Come on, bite it. Bite the cloak like it's a juicy piece of meat soaked in blood."
"Can you shut up? This is already hard enough."
After tearing it, Briar slipped her arms through the openings easily. Now all that was left was tying it at the neck and chest.
Unfortunately… that was the hardest part.
And Midas was extremely nervous.
Doing this with his eyes closed was impossible, and Briar's innocent gaze only made him feel worse. She waited patiently, smiling, which only deepened his guilt.
'Whatever,' he thought.
He grabbed the cloth with his teeth and started tying the knots. It was difficult, but he was used to doing things without his hands—ten years in the inhibitor had made sure of that.
"Hey, that tickles."
"Please don't talk…"
After several long, painful minutes, he finished.
The cloak was secured. Briar's chest was finally covered.
"Alright. That was fun too," Briar said proudly—despite not having done anything.
Meanwhile, Midas dropped to his knees, trying to calm himself. This had been harder than fighting Darius.
He forced himself to think of something else.
'My wound…'
Yes. He had noticed it earlier, but now in the sunlight, it was clear—his wound was gone.
In its place was a large black scar, and the skin around it had turned slightly gray.
Midas quickly concluded it was something strange—another result of the Black Rose's experiments.
Back then, he never fully understood what they did to his body. On his back, strange rune-etched plates had once caused him immense pain.
Now, they seemed fused with his skin.
"You have to see this! There's an exit!" Briar shouted from the tunnel's end.
Midas sighed. Everything had happened so fast that this moment of calm felt unreal.
He stood up and walked toward her.
His legs no longer felt as weak. His body still hurt, but the weakness was fading. For once, he felt… better.
His mood, too, was lighter.
"This place… is…" he whispered as he reached the opening.
It was a hole along a slope, sunlight pouring in.
Beyond it stretched a vast green forest, and in the distance, towering mountains with pure white peaks.
Snow.
Midas's eyes lit up with hope.
"It's nice, isn't it?" Briar said.
He let out a small laugh. "Yeah. It's beautiful."
They were truly free now.
Standing before the horizons of Noxus.
This was only the beginning—the prologue to their journey.
"Then let's not waste time. The soldiers might find us," Midas said seriously.
Briar smiled at his words.
The bitter, crying guy was very different face-to-face than he had been behind that wall.
This guy…
was her friend.