I'm fighting Kal'tsit? Really?

"Cannot be stopped?"

"Ah, so that's how it is. You're only realizing this now—"

His voice stopped abruptly.

At first, the change was barely perceptible; the only sound was a low hum from the pipes on the wall.

Gradually, the feeling of slowing down became more pronounced. The entire floor began to shake slightly, the hanging lamps in the room swayed gently, and muffled thuds came from the walls, eventually turning into silence.

If they were in the only corridor where they could see the outside world, they would see the wilderness outside the prison gradually becoming clearer from a blurry, fast-moving scene.

The desolate land is covered with mottled cracks and traces of wind and sand erosion, with occasional dead vegetation and scattered rocks.

The entire mobile sector is like a senile beast, slowly losing its momentum in this desolate landscape and gradually coming to a standstill.

"Wh-what—?"

For the first time, Randolph's voice carried a hint of panic and disbelief. "My child, why?! Why did it stop?! Even if those two [staffs] were killed, it shouldn't have affected their power!! Why didn't it accelerate?! Why didn't it accelerate?!?"

A voice gradually came from afar.

"You talk a lot of nonsense."

The silver-haired pegasus returned to this space, its footsteps echoing the familiar sound to Saria. The upper half of its clothing was gone, and in the unseen world, the colors that had flowed on it were becoming extremely dull and lifeless.

Gerald walked over to Seria and looked at her gradually calming expression.

"You too, aren't you worried at all? Even I don't know if I can stop this thing."

He was met with a look that was both reassuring and inexplicable.

"I have no doubt."

"Saria said."

Chapter 42 Then, a hand stopped the tram.

Decreasing entropy is far more difficult than increasing entropy.

The process of moving from disorder to order requires a large amount of external energy, much like building a castle in a chaotic wasteland.

In the ruins, every brick and stone was scattered haphazardly. It would take a lot of time and effort to pick them up, sort them, move them, and assemble them into a stable structure.

In contrast, entropy increase is much simpler. The castle doesn't need any external force; with the passage of time and the erosion of wind and rain, the bricks and stones will naturally collapse and loosen, returning to a state of disordered ruins.

Just over ten minutes earlier, Gerald had faced this very problem when he arrived in the power room.

His choice was very simple.

Only a fool would think about whether something is feasible at such a critical moment. The current situation is that if he doesn't do this, the Mansfield, which is constantly accelerating, will eventually deviate from the auto-cruise mode that was still in operation. Yes, even if Rendel destroys the brake button, the system itself is still helping the moving plate adjust its direction.

However, the speed at which the material accumulates can still far exceed the threshold, directly causing the moving slab to collide with certain mountains and then explode instantly.

It's impossible to completely block the entire Mansfield with wind; that would be equivalent to falling vertically from thousands of meters in the sky and crashing into the water, causing the entire power layer to explode instantly.

So there's nothing we can do.

He had to use the wind as a catalyst to build a "wind barrier" around the power core within a few short minutes to guide the safe release of the remaining kinetic energy and bring Mansfield to a slow stop.

……

So what now appeared before Saria was Gerald, almost completely burned out.

The color on that cloth was almost exhausted. If he used it sparingly, it would probably be fine, but for a long time to come, he would only be able to manipulate Originium Arts through spellcasting mediums.

Fortunately, the suppressor on his body has been removed, and he can always find a medium for casting spells.

“Then you are really too confident.” He couldn’t help but sigh as he listened to the firmness in Saria’s tone. He didn’t know why Saria suddenly had such unconditional trust in him. “If I fail to do it, I will have to take you with me and force our way out of the air.”

“But the results speak for themselves.” Saria ignored Randall, who had suddenly become delirious and was trembling in his own vomit, and sealed his mouth with a calcification: “We should be not far from Columbia now. Ticalendo must have noticed Mansfield’s strange behavior. Official support will be here soon.”

Gerald stretched, feeling a chill as he went shirtless. He hoped he could steal a few clothes on his way to the guards' break room: "I guess so. I suggest you put away the enamel and remember to clean up any traces of yourself on your way back. Don't forget why you came here."

"..."

Saria remained silent for a long time, without saying a word.

Although most of Randolph's previous remarks were useless inducements, a few of them were indeed true—she now had to think about how to handle the current situation.

“Was the power layer at Mansfield damaged?” Seria asked.

"I am not sure."

“Although that power level was completely on the path to self-destruction, fortunately, we acted very quickly, which bought us a lot of time.” Gerald glanced at the large hole they had smashed in the wall and sighed, “Theoretically, all we need to do is reset the prison’s braking system, but I don’t know if there are any melted parts inside the power layer.”

"you……"

Saria noticed the difference in the other person compared to before. "Can't you feel it?"

“It’s already exhausting just standing here talking to you,” Gerald slowly exhaled. “The internal workings of the power layer are too complex; we’ll have to wait for rescue from Tikkarendo.”

"So," he concluded, "whether we're here or not, it won't make any difference to this prison; it's all up to fate."

Saria opened her mouth, as if to say something.

Gerald quickly interrupted this action: "Don't overthink it, Seria."

“Although Mansfield is a mobile sector, this anomaly will definitely attract attention,” Gerald added. “Given Randolph’s private experiments, the Colombian authorities will actively help me cover up the traces—those people aren’t afraid of me revealing anything; as long as I can leave Colombia, they’d be more than happy to do so.”

Before leaving, the wind carried all the conversation to his ears, and this deduction is not too problematic at present... perhaps.

To be honest, he wasn't sure about what he was saying.

There is a premise to this situation.

Everything here must not be leaked, especially not to the Colombian military—even though they don't usually care about places like prisons.

In other words, Rendel must die here.

This is undoubtedly a challenge to Vayvan's bottom line.

"Those who survived the experiment..."

Saria's gaze pierced through the wall, landing on the ravaged human bodies ravaged by experimental modifications. Her deeply furrowed brows revealed her inner struggle: "You've been to the battlefield, Gerald. You've seen many cruel sights... Can you tell me, in your eyes, is it still possible for them... to return to normal?"

Gerald stood beside her, his gaze fixed on the twisted bodies, his expression unchanged: "They are dead."

These words struck Saria's heart like a heavy stone.

She didn't respond immediately, but simply looked up at Gerald, waiting for him to continue.

Clearly, Pegasus left no room for maneuver, and Gerald firmly asserted his answer: "You know the answer too, Saria. They have no remaining consciousness; only their spinal cords are mechanically controlling their physical reactions. It has been far too long since we were able to save them."

Upon hearing this reply, Saria's hands clenched slightly, her nails almost digging into her palms.

Her gaze fell once more upon the experimental subjects around her, her emotions churning and tearing at her chest, yet there was no outlet to release her feelings at this moment.

So Gerald did something.

An invisible wind wrapped around Saria's body, suddenly lifting her into the air.

This time the force was even stronger than when she controlled Randall, and there was no point in the air for her to use as leverage. The only method she could think of was to use the enamel as a bridge to gain leverage, but that method was also broken by the internal invasion of the wind.

“I crossed your line, Saria.”

Looking into the other person's clear eyes, Gerald said, word by word, "But not because you didn't try, but because of me, because I stopped you."

"Just blame it on me."

Seria did not answer.

Throughout the entire process of being lifted up by the wind, she did not struggle much, but her complex gaze never left Gerald for a second, until the wind lessened and put her back on the ground.

After a moment, she slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance, Gerald.”

Saria retrieved her enamel, the pure white crystals quickly dissipating into the air. She walked forward step by step, then lightly leaped onto the gap in the center of the wall.

The figure stood alone there, seemingly waiting for something.

After a long while, she turned to Gerald and said:

"Thank you."

Then, the figure disappeared from above and gently landed in the room on the other side.

--------

All that remained in the space was Pegasus, who was looking up at the ceiling and counting down, and Randall, who was lying on the ground looking like a madman.

And the remaining two, still in the room, were the experimental subjects—no, the two poor children.

They are now about sixteen or seventeen years old. How many years have passed since they underwent the experiment?

Gerald didn't know, but there were only two things he could do at that moment.

This is the first one.

"Although I don't know if you can hear me, if you can't, just consider it my own muttering."

Gerald sighed, coldly fixing his gaze on the old man convulsing on the ground. "When I stood before my father's coffin, watching the flag of Kazimierz draped over it, yet even a gust of wind could blow that tattered rag off, I made a vow."

"This power will be used on myself."

"Not for Kazimierz, nor for a higher ideal, but for my desires, for the people I love, for the people I trust, for the people I respect."

"Therefore, I don't care what your reasons or hardships may be... Since I have witnessed the suffering you have created, this suffering should naturally be returned to you, otherwise it would be too unfair. Of course, the same will be true when I die; I will be prepared for suffering a hundred times greater than yours."

"And now."

"May your death bring peace to others."

The moment he finished speaking, countless blades of wind, as thin as knives, appeared beside Randolph.

When his flesh was cut open, along with his bones and tendons, and blood gushed out, the agonizing screams were forced back into his abdominal cavity by the wind, and his face turned as red as a purple sweet potato.

Five minutes later, the wounds completely covered his body, and death arrived as expected, taking away his life.

The first thing is done.

Gerald slowly straightened up and walked into the room behind the marble door.

On the two beds there sat two children who would never respond again.

Gerald walked to the bedside and reached for the storybook on the bedside table.

"Let's forget about this. You probably don't want to hear about the hypocrisy those two bastards put on for the experiment. Of course, it's also possible that I misjudged them."

He slowly placed the book back on the table and said softly to the two people sitting on the bed, "I'm sorry, if I had known earlier, I should have gone to see Ramalyn and learned from her how to chant the banshee's lament."

"But it's okay, I know, I've been through it."

Gerald lowered his voice, and the wind transformed into a sword that fell into his hand. "It will only be a moment before you go to a new place and begin a new life. I know this because I once walked the same path. It is a smooth path, one without pain... I assure you."

"So good night, children, sweet dreams."

The sword in his hand gently sank into their bodies.

A tear, unnoticed, slid down their cheek and landed silently on the spotless ground, making a soft sound.

Finally, everything returned to peace.

Chapter 43 What should we do if these tails sleep together?

As Gerald left that space, the wind shredded everything around him into dust.

Walls, instruments, documents, and even tiny particles on the ground were all swept into the raging vortex, turning into debris that drifted away with the wind. When later arrivals came, all that remained was an untraceable void and silence, along with blood seeping into the rubble.

The search and rescue team tried to find clues about what had happened here. The maintenance personnel came to the bottom of the power layer and the moving plate. They saw that the engine main shaft was almost completely torn apart. Several dark red burn marks were faintly visible on the ground. Some metal melted and then cooled into irregular blocks.

This core that once propelled the entire mobile sector forward has now become a cooled corpse.

As the search neared its end, the focus of the investigation shifted from the ruins as a whole to a more targeted area, and the other prisoners who had escaped by chance were no longer of concern.

After the intelligence was reported up the chain of command, the person in charge of the case threw the file into the trash can. The new warden will soon take office in Mansfield and take over the prison that has lost its master.

The new prison will use a brand-new power system, and in order to "commemorate" the sacrifice of the former warden in this incident, Mansfield, which was originally a pilot prison in Columbia, was quickly renamed.

And so, everything about Rendal was blown away by the wind and returned to the wilderness.

But these are all things for later.

At least for now, the search and rescue team from Tikkaruno has not yet arrived, and Gerald and Seria have only just left the moving platform. From morning to noon, although many things have happened, time has not progressed much.