Endless Debt

Aimou is about to run out of power, to be precise, Aimou's ether is about to be depleted, the operation of the Mind Projection will cease, and thoughts will return to lifeless silence.

"Will you die without ether? Or will your consciousness fade away?" Bologue coldly asked.

"I'm not sure, but since I gained consciousness, I've never encountered this situation."

"Because you're also afraid of not waking up, aren't you? Just like death."

Facing Bologue's inquiry, Aimou didn't respond; her ether reserves were running low, with only an hour left to remain active.

Aimou didn't think any miracles would happen within this hour, nor did she believe the two of them could escape in such a short time.

"You can consume the Philosopher's Stone, isn't the energy of the Constant Motion Core reliant on the sparse ether emitted when the Philosopher's Stone fades away?"

Bologue asked, he felt there was always a way that could work.

"It's impossible, this is Alice's Philosopher's Stone, my body has its own protection mechanism; in such instances, the Constant Motion Core automatically seals itself."

As much as she didn't want to admit it, the fact remained that, in Teda's eyes, Aimou was merely a tool to revive Alice; what truly mattered was never Aimou herself, but Alice's Philosopher's Stone inside her Constant Motion Core.

Aimou comforted Bologue, she said, "It's nothing, perhaps I'm simply going into hibernation? After a while, when you escape, come back to save me, and I'll awaken once more..."

"Do you believe that?" Bologue asked, "Aimou, you don't even believe that yourself, do you?"

"You're afraid of hibernation; you fear waking up as someone other than yourself, just as you fear replacing the Philosopher's Stone. You're terrified of such self-extinction... Even though the self you have now is merely someone else's shadow projection."

This is all you have now.

Bologue whispered in his heart.

Aimou did not refute this but asked Bologue, "Then what will you do? If you waste your strength and ether on me, perhaps both of us will die here."

"You're an Undead, but if you're consumed by a Calamity, wouldn't reviving take a long time? Months, years, decades?"

Aimou's attitude grew remarkably firm; she accused.

"Besides, that's a Calamity; if you're eaten by it, even the Order Bureau would find rescuing you difficult."

Aimou's words were quite reasonable; in an hour, she would have depleted all her ether, the Mind Projection would halt, the Constant Motion Core would seal, and she would become a thoroughly useless heap of scrap metal.

Bologue had no reason to leave carrying this iron shell; it would be better to leave Aimou here...

"Bologue, you're my first friend; I hope you can leave here."

Aimou sincerely said.

"Don't worry, I'll enter hibernation mode, fully shield and protect myself completely."

The atmosphere turned silent; Bologue leaned aside, seemingly lost in thought, perhaps wanting to accompany Aimou for a while longer in their final moments.

Aimou didn't bother with Bologue; she felt she had done what she needed to do, meanwhile, Alice's voice persistently churned in her ears.

"Such good acting, he must be completely deceived by you, right?"

Alice sat beside Aimou, inspecting Aimou's cold expression.

"Oh... My Aimou, seeming so innocent and naive, everyone lowers their guard around you, offering hugs and friendship, this guy must have been utterly conquered by you, right?"

Alice mocked the poor Bologue, the man who fancied himself an expert, believing he could control everything, never realizing that he had been deceived by Aimou from the start.

"He should leave reluctantly, and when he escapes and returns to find you, he'll discover you're no longer here... By then, we will have realized our dream and lived the life you long for."

Alice was satisfied with the situation; everything was proceeding as anticipated, initially feigning death to escape everyone's notice, then secretly continuing their plan.

"Next, we'll see what choice Bologue makes."

Alice grew tense, for in her perception, Bologue was a peculiar individual capable of taking any action.

Bologue might be moved by Aimou and leave sorrowfully, or he might cold-heartedly excavate Aimou's Constant Motion Core and leave with the Philosopher's Stone, the scenario Alice least wanted to see, hence why Aimou had to say so much, subtly influencing Bologue.

Not only the defense mechanism of the Alchemy Puppet itself and the sealing of the Constant Motion Core but if Bologue invested emotion into Aimou, he would not damage Aimou's "corpse."

Just like Teda, even though Alice was already dead, she stubbornly kept her corpse merely because it was evidence of her existence.

This is human weakness, the weakness named emotion.

Bologue moved; he turned around, his gaze no longer cold but with traces of anger, always having this angry look, as if wanting to smash everything to pieces.

"Have you decided?" Aimou asked.

"Yes, I've decided." Bologue said.

"Oh? He's about to bid his final farewell to you."

Alice stood like a spectator, watching Aimou's performance and the mocked Bologue.

The anticipated farewell did not occur; Bologue straightforwardly asked, "Where is your Ether storage unit?"

"Below the heart."

Aimou didn't understand why Bologue was asking these questions, but she replied nonetheless.

"Alright."

With that, Bologue reached out, inserting his hand into the opening along Aimou's abdomen. The cold metal made his hand ache.

Alice's heart grew tense; the most unstable factor in this plan was Bologue's high likelihood of directly taking the Philosopher's Stone.

She slowly raised her hand, an illusionary specter, yet capable of disrupting reality, prepared to realign everything back to origin if Bologue derailed the story.

Bologue didn't touch the Constant Motion Core; instead, he dutifully placed his hand on the Ether storage unit, leaving Aimou bewildered. Soon, streams of Ether began releasing, injecting into the storage unit.

"This..."

Aimou couldn't believe it; Bologue was supposed to be Ether exhausted, where was he getting so much Ether?

Bologue paid no attention to Aimou's reaction, merely gritting his teeth as he released Soul Shards, forcing them to burn into intense Ether, gradually filling the storage unit.

Azure glimmers were rising; this was a phenomenon only Bologue could see. The brilliant azure lights danced like fireflies, fading away, while Alice, as if sensing it, stared keenly around Bologue, attempting to see through the illusion.

To Alice, the burning of Soul Shards seemed more important than the current events.

"You don't have to do this!" Aimou panicked, "It's unnecessary to go this far for a friend."

"Firstly, it's necessary."

Bologue raised a finger, signaling Aimou to be quiet.

"Secondly, this has nothing to do with whether we are friends."

With that, Bologue raised a pocket knife, eager and ready.

"Aimou, you need to understand something; you're not just my friend, you're also an important asset of the Order Bureau.

As an excellent Field Staff, and someone preparing to win this year's Best New Employee award, protecting important assets of the Order Bureau is part of the job."

Bologue aimed at Aimou's mechanical joint gaps, speaking comfortingly.

"Next, you might think I'm a psychotic killer, but there's no choice; you mentioned it yourself, my stamina is almost out, so I just need to lighten the load a bit from you."

At times like this, Bologue would rambles on. In Aimou's puzzled gaze, the pocket knife came down instantly.

Twenty-two minutes later, another wave of intense heat swept through. After a brief burn, the lifted dust returned to earth, the intense temperature receded under the ash.

On the pitch-black rock wall, Bologue opened the sealed Round Shield, plunged the pocket knife fiercely into the rock wall, hanging himself on it.

This time, Bologue's movements were much more nimble; after simple handling, he relieved quite a bit of burden, just that the person relieved was now feeling quite complex and dazed.

"Don't you want to say something?"

Aimou asked behind Bologue, her expressions and schemes had all turned into the setup for this joke under Bologue's erratic actions.

"Say what? Praise myself for having good skills, perfectly fit for being a killer?"

Bologue was too lazy to say much else, "Just lie there, I'll get you out."

Aimou went silent, truly unsure of what to say even if she were to speak, eventually letting out a puzzling laugh.

There's nothing funny, but indeed worth a chuckle; from any perspective, all of this was too strange.

Too bizarre.

Under Bologue's deft craftsmanship, Aimou's cumbersome limbs were severed, unnecessary mechanical structures disassembled mostly by Bologue, only the most basic mechanisms maintained for Aimou's normal operation, leaving her just half a body now, like a trophy caught by the Cannibal Race.

Regardless of how you think about it, the scene was somewhat ghastly, but recalling the causes and aftermath, Aimou simply found it all absurd beyond measure.

She began not understanding what on earth was going on in Bologue's mind; such difficult decisions lacked the tragic sense of farewell in his hands, instead, were bizarre beyond reason.

"Did you imagine he would do this?"

In an extremely low voice, Aimou spoke to the phantom Alice.

Alice merely shook her head, eyes deeply fixed on Bologue, flashes in her vision showed Bologue burning the Soul Shards, azure lights rose, extinguished, turning into the purest Ether pouring into his body.

Bologue's figure gradually overlapped and snugly fit with another.