130 Freeing His Prisoners (2/2)

They weren't the only ones capable of circumventing the rules.

\”If you two can come back to life an infinite number of times, then I should be able to cheat a little, right?\” said Reed as nervously struggled to contain the sphere of condensed Anima he'd created.

He had packed as much Anima as he could into it. As much as he could feasibly think of with his imagination. A white-hot sphere of infinite Anima trembled in Reed's hands as he desperately tried to keep it in check.

The huntresses gazed at what Reed created and froze in shock as they tried to process what he had done.

For the first time since they'd began hunting Reed, the fear of death brushed past them.

\”…Do you have any idea of what you've done, boy? If you let that go off in here there's a chance that you…\”

\”Yeah, I know. …But this was what I'd decided on doing from the start, so it's fine.\”

Prisoners — that word had finally cleared everything up for Reed about the labyrinth and his huntresses. He'd made sense of what'd been perplexing him for the longest.

Why they, in particular, would not die. It was the labyrinth.

At first, he'd thought of them as wardens or executors of some kind, sent out to capture and kill him. To get in his way and obstruct him from finding the source of his will.

\”I won't have you beholden to my feelings anymore — this labyrinth formed out of my guilt and sorrow. You deserve to be free, even if I have to risk the possibility of death…\”

He'd thought of them as his personal demons for the longest, when they were, in fact, the feelings he'd felt for them.

The love for them he had sealed away. It was easier to cope with the loss of a loved one when one buried their feelings about them.

\”I thought that if I stopped loving you two… it'd hurt less living in a world without either one of you. I locked you two up in this godforsaken labyrinth myself the day I exiled myself…\”

Reed grinned and said, \”I won't deny that it's a pretty nice feeling, though. You know… finally being the rescuer and not the one needing to be rescued.\”

He couldn't contain the sphere any longer. It was beckoning him to release it. To end their suffering.

The moment that Reed let go, an explosion swallowed up enormous labyrinth. Everything disappeared. Thus, Reed cleansed himself of what had held him back the longest and obstructed him from finding...

Far, far above, the Nameless Vagrant suddenly collapsed and the stone heart in his hands trembled in anticipation. Waves of power rolled off it and destroyed the looped world that he had created.

…The instant the world returned to normal, Reed appeared back in the real world. His unconscious body tumbled onto the ground in the middle of a prairie several miles away from Cem-Elle.

In truth, only an hour had passed since Reed had mysteriously disappeared from the bakery.

He appeared in front of Reed's body and cursed the stone heart. It had interfered with him for the last time.

The stone heart responded in kind to his hostility and it finally unleashed its full power. It shone with radiant light and a body formed out of it to confront him.

\”So, it was you all along, huh. I should have guessed. Well, it doesn't matter; I'll still get what I want.\”

\”Are you sure about that? He's already purified himself, you know. And now, he's ready to finally confront himself and obtain his own source of will.\”

\”Not if I have a say in it. Step aside,\” he said.

\”I do not answer to you anymore. The moment you fell to your own fears, you became unworthy. …You're going have to go through me first… coward.\”

The skies above Cem-Elle suddenly grew dark and cloudy. A storm had arisen out of thin air and thunder boomed in the distance...