NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 271: Melting Ice
The sudden gunshots in the cold, snowy night awakened most of the district's residents. Startled by the towering flames, panicked cries for help echoed through the streets. Soon, firefighters arrived at the scene, extinguishing the blaze that had consumed the small cabin.
"Gunshots, we heard gunshots." The police, investigating the incident, questioned the nearby residents, but the cabin had been abandoned before Ren and Kiana had moved in. They learned little of value.
Of course, some residents had seen Ren coming and going, but seeing the corpses and blood, they remained silent.
As the police investigated the scene, several strangers in black robes entered the cabin with them, searching the charred remains.
Finally, one of them stopped before a scorched corpse, gently nudging a spent pistol from the carbonized fingers with his foot, then picking it up with a gloved hand.
He brushed the dust from the grip, revealing several engraved letters.
After confirming the deceased's identity, the man signaled to his companions, and they quickly left the scene.
…
The biting wind whipped against Kiana's face, like icy blades against her skin, but she ignored the pain, pulling her coat tighter around Ren.
She paused, looking back at the cabin. The flames had been extinguished; someone had discovered the fire. The road ahead was shrouded in darkness. She waited, making sure no one was following them, before continuing.
"Ren, hang in there." She murmured, drawing the cold air into her lungs. She looked ahead, the snow-covered ground offering no discernible path. Their footprints in the snow would only lead their pursuers to them.
She glanced at Ren, his head resting on her shoulder, confirming he was still unconscious. A golden light flickered in her eyes.
Her vision sharpened, and she saw the path to the nearest town, continuing her journey through the snowy night with Ren. Behind her, the snow seemed to magically close up, erasing all traces of their passage.
Carrying the blood-soaked Ren, Kiana trekked nearly ten kilometers through the snow, reaching another part of Berlin. This area was much quieter; no one here had heard the gunshots.
Exhausted, Kiana reached a house, carrying Ren, and knocked, seeking help. But the moment the homeowner saw the blood on Ren's face, their expression changed, and they slammed the door shut.
Ren needed immediate medical attention. The aftereffects of the fight and the blood loss were taking their toll, especially dangerous in this freezing weather.
However, no matter which door Kiana knocked on, no one offered them shelter. Some simply refused to answer, while others cursed at them or even threatened them with weapons.
The night grew darker, and the temperature continued to drop. Kiana, left with no other choice, found a dirty culvert, seeking refuge from the blizzard with Ren.
Before entering the illusion, Kiana had briefly spoken with Welt Joyce. However, with the Herrscher core suppressed by Ren, Welt knew little, only able to tell her about the nature of the illusion.
This world was Ren's dream. Within it, he was an ordinary human, and due to the core consciousnesses' hostility, he would be continuously targeted.
However, Kiana hadn't expected the attack to come so suddenly, shattering the brief peace they had found.
The only fortunate thing was that the Theater of the Domination in her mindscape, for some unknown reason, was connected to the illusion, allowing her to access a portion of her powers.
It wasn't much, but it was invaluable in this situation.
Using her night vision, Kiana carefully tore strips of cloth from her own clothes, wiping the blood from Ren's wounds. She then used cloth dampened with her saliva to clean his injuries, recalling that saliva could be used as a disinfectant in emergencies.
After carefully removing Ren's bloodstained and snow-covered clothes, Kiana opened her thick coat, wrapping it around both of them.
Her Herrscher abilities maintained her body temperature, turning her into a small furnace in the blizzard, warming Ren's cold limbs and his frozen heart.
Kiana didn't notice the slight tremor in Ren's eyelashes as he lay seemingly unconscious.
The wind howled outside the culvert, a noisy companion in the silent night. Snow fell relentlessly, blanketing the world in white. Kiana held Ren close, their bodies pressed together.
She remembered warming Ren like this in Nagazora, but back then, she had only been focused on keeping him alive. She hadn't known he was deceiving her; there hadn't been time to stop and think.
But now, things were different. Time flowed differently in the illusion. There was no Honkai to worry about, no Schicksal or World Serpent. They had twenty days. When time ran out, it would just be the end of a concert.
Time slowed down, allowing them to become more intimately acquainted with each other.
For Ren, the cabin had been the anchor to this illusory world, giving it a sense of reality. The same was true for Kiana.
Before entering the illusion, she had never imagined a day where she and Ren could live together peacefully, sharing a home, sharing meals.
While Ren had merely been momentarily swayed, Kiana was completely immersed in this peaceful daily life. If she could, she would gladly spend years with him in this illusion.
But she couldn't. She knew that Ren's acceptance of her was based on him mistaking her for a phantom. If she revealed her true feelings, he would realize the truth and discover the flaws in the illusion.
If the illusion shattered, this precious time would vanish, and even in the real world, they might never meet again.
She couldn't let Ren see through her disguise. She had to suppress her emotions, maintaining a calm facade.
"Let me stay with you until End of time, okay?" Kiana whispered, nuzzling her face against Ren's cheek, her warm breath forming a white mist in the cold air, like a fleeting dream.
Ren didn't respond, still unconscious.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as a yes." Kiana smiled.
In the long, dark night, the two homeless figures huddled together for warmth.
"Thank you. Good night."