"Everyone move!"

"Don't rush, take it slow! Don't push there!"

"We still have time, so don't worry!"

The liberation army came out to the streets to guide the people. The people gathered in District 44 moved steadily according to instructions without asking what was happening, though they wondered what this was all about. They too were vaguely sensing that something was about to happen in District 44.

The reaction of those who had just come from outside was immediate.

"I heard soldiers are stationed outside right now?"

"What do you mean all of a sudden? Why would soldiers be stationed there?"

"I don't know. I guess they're blocking people who tried to leave from getting out."

It wouldn't matter if the soldiers just blocked the entrance. The problem was that they had brought heavy equipment and were building barricades.

As if they were trying to prevent anyone from District 44 from escaping to the outside. That's where people felt unease. They instinctively sensed that something was happening.

"What's going on?"

The liberation army officers received reports from their comrades in their respective assigned areas.

"We're trying to evacuate as many as possible to safe zones for now."

District 44 also had emergency evacuation sites prepared for any unforeseen circumstances. They didn't know what the city government and military were trying to do, but evacuating citizens to those places as much as possible was the priority.

"The problem is that there are too many people."

Currently, District 44 had dozens of times more crowds than usual. Conversely, the number of shelters was woefully insufficient. Being an area that had been abandoned compared to other districts, even the condition of the shelters was poor.

At those words, the old man holding a giant steam hammer, Edward, let out a sigh. Based on his long-lived experience, the current situation was heading toward the absolute worst. But they had no particular solution. All the citizens gathered here were comrades who had come to see Lukai.

The liberation army must never abandon their comrades. If they didn't protect them, no one would care about the lower-class people.

'The fact that the military moved means a situation has come where force will be used.'

Come to think of it, he had heard a strange report. Something about a few people turning into balloons. The eyewitness account was so vivid that he knew something was there, and after that, the military had issued a blockade order.

Edward felt unease. His experience seasoned by years was warning him of a crisis.

'It's not just riot police but the military that came out. Don't tell me they're planning to execute some military operation here?'

If that happened, what awaited the people gathered here would be predetermined destruction. To prevent that, they had to send as many people as possible to the shelters.

The problem was the rat bastards who had no intention of just letting that happen.

[H-help is needed! The corporate dogs have come!]

An emergency request came through the radio. Corporate people who had been hiding among the citizens were causing disruption. Either cleverly inciting other citizens with words, or in some cases, causing physical confrontations.

In this case, it was the latter.

The surrounding area was paralyzed with fear due to the sudden gunfight that broke out. Most of the people gathered were poor and powerless citizens. They sat down in place, busy praying for bullets to pass them by.

"These damn bastards!"

Edward was about to put strength into his hand but barely held back. He almost broke the radio.

"Where is it? Wait, I'll come right away."

Then a new radio transmission cut in.

[There's no need for that. I'll go.]

"Who is this? This should be a line only officers can use."

Belatedly, Edward recalled the cold-looking young man. This was his voice.

Immediately after, Edward could see a blue knight running across buildings from over there. Ossian in his Moon Scar outfit glided over buildings as if skating. Afterimages remained faintly in the air wherever he passed.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tang!

Continuous gunfire erupted from the area that had somehow become deadlocked. A few unlucky people had fallen, blood scattered around them.

Ossian, who arrived at the scene in an instant, saw three men confronting the liberation army.

They were the group he had seen last night, wearing all-black clothing and combat gear. They too seemed to sense something as they raised their heads and stared at Ossian through their goggled eyes.

But by the moment they noticed Osian, he had already dropped down like a hawk snatching its prey.

-Thud.

As if he were a feather, he landed on the ground with barely a sound of footsteps. Those who belatedly noticed Osian's approach tried to draw daggers from their waists.

The Moonlight Blade cut through all their wrists. Slash slash slash. The severed cross-sections froze. The cold energy imbued with the moon's power instantly covered their bodies, binding them so they couldn't move.

"Urgh!"

"Bold fellows indeed. Didn't you hear that District 44 is currently under blockade?"

He couldn't understand why they were engaging in sabotage when their lives were hanging by a thread. If not that, hadn't these bastards heard that a baptism of fire was going to happen? The guy wrapped in frost opened his mouth from within his mask.

"We do what we must do."

Osian's eyes narrowed.

"You guys knew you were going to die."

Yet what was the reason for throwing away their lives like grass? Osian realized that one of the guys he had cut down was a modified human. No, not just one. All the guys gathered here were modified humans.

Modified humans. Those who cast off human flesh and replace it with metal. Something between human and automaton.

"We only... follow... corporate... orders..."

"...Brainwashing?"

No. Rather than brainwashing, it was closer to a kind of forced command. Modified humans who replaced their bodies with machines became distant from humanity. They couldn't feel the five senses and had to inject fuel or ether water into their bodies instead of energy.

The five senses are important. Tasting something, feeling texture with your skin, smelling sweet scents. All of these are small pleasures that cannot be missing from daily life.

But when you become a modified human, you become distant from such things. Only hearing and sight are permitted. Even sight, if you change your eyes to artificial ones, you see a world different from ordinary people. If they're playing roles like helping with corporate cleanup as they are now, there would surely be excessive options befitting that role.

The same goes for hearing. If hearing becomes too excellent, you end up hearing even trivial noises you don't want to hear. At that point, it becomes tremendous stress. This soon leads to loss of humanity, the heart becomes barren and approaches that of a machine.

'The reason there are modified humans among Lady Rose's enthusiastic audiences is also for that reason.'

What they can feel comfort in life from is flashy spectacles and pleasant sounds. If not that, the scope of modification must be minimized. At least in the direction of preserving taste or smell. Only then can humanity be maintained.

'Installing one prosthetic arm or leg doesn't make you a modified human. They replace most of their overall physical body with machines.'

Except for important parts like the brain or heart, most would be mechanical. If they're modified humans handling corporate work, this would be even more so.

Without any human rights, done solely for performance improvement. The pleasures and happiness of being human are castrated.

"A life where even your own will is caught in another's grasp and manipulated at will."

Ossian thought he understood why these people remained in District 44. If they had normal thinking, they would naturally have known it was dangerous and left.

But the higher-ups didn't allow it. Right. They were essentially left behind to throw away their lives and cause disruption. This way, no information could be obtained either.

-Slash.

Osian cut their necks. At least he sent them off without pain. This was the mercy he could give them.

"Th-thank you."

The liberation army, who could finally clean up the scene belatedly, expressed their gratitude. But instead, Osian jumped high from his position and disappeared beyond the building.

Similar things were happening in other places too.

'Chaos is spreading.'

And such chaos inevitably empowers that clown bastard. He had deliberately made moves to trigger the baptism of fire, and there was no telling what else he might do here.

'Moreover, the citizens' anxiety is also increasing. If this continues...'

Chaos would multiply further, and that would give the clown even more power. Thanks to Rose, the city's chaos had subsided and the clown had weakened, but they couldn't let it return to nothing again.

To prevent that, first they had to deal with all the rat bastards who had sneaked into District 44.

"Urgh!"

He stabbed the Moonlight Blade into the back of a guy who had been secretly inciting citizens while remaining behind. These bastards were the same. Puppets who could never refuse their superiors' orders. They were essentially no different from automatons with only ego.

'Automatons with ego.'

It was a day when he suddenly missed that talkative automaton guy.

He was an automaton who acted like a human. Conversely, the guys falling before his sword now were humans who only followed orders like machines.

What an irony. Born as people yet giving up being people. What on earth had they hoped for by going that far?

'No. Let me stop these pointless thoughts.'

Osian picked up the radio.

Requests for help were heard from various places.

'Even if I had ten bodies, I couldn't handle this.'

The irregular incidents occurring simultaneously throughout District 44 were beyond what even Osian could handle.

This exceeded the scope of what an individual could do. Great strength entered the hand gripping the sword hilt. It was when Osian was pondering.

Squelch!

Osian raised the Moonlight Blade and aimed at the back. There was a writhing tentacle there.

'This is...'

The tentacle was holding a radio. Ossian took the radio. The tentacle that had finished its role was sucked into the ground with a slurping sound.

Hiss. Crackle. With several signal sounds, communication was established.

[You seem to be in trouble.]

"Gaien."

[I don't know why you're still remaining in District 44, but the situation is not good. You need to evacuate from there quickly.]

"I know that too."

Osian looked down at the scenery of District 44 from the rooftop of the building.

"But I can't do that."

[...I see. Well, I vaguely expected it would turn out this way. You are too noble to abandon those people.]

"Noble, my ass."

Osian snorted. Well, depending on perspective, it might look that way.

"So what's the reason you contacted me separately like this?"

[I'd like to help.]

"Help, you say. Hasn't Zero Ground withdrawn from this matter?"

They had noticed the military's movements and immediately evacuated their people. What happened on the surface was unrelated to Zero Ground. That was one of their rules.

[This isn't me speaking as Zero Ground's administrator, but as one person named Gaien. No. As one knight.]

"You..."

[We have to save people, don't we?]

Osian found a smile flowing out without realizing it.

"So, do you have a plan?"

[District 44's shelters are woefully insufficient. The district itself is aged and abandoned to begin with, so how good could the facilities be? If the military seriously shells it, the shelters will collapse along with everything else. So we need to move to a safer place.]

"A safer place."

[Underground. The sewer area below hasn't been touched by the military yet.]

"There should also be a way to District 45."

[It would be better to proceed with both. If we move this size crowd to only one direction, there'll be a bottleneck. Oh, by the way, I've also spoken with the District 45 side.]

"With them?"

When on earth?

[Camilla, was it? There's a spirited woman there. We communicated well.]

Osian recalled a familiar face from that name. The woman who had guided him and Diolan when he visited District 45. It seemed she was doing well. And the fact that she negotiated with Gaien like this meant she held considerable influence there too.

[District 45 people also have a surprisingly reasonable side. They said they'd help too and plan to evacuate as many people as possible.]

Two places untouched by control had stepped forward to help. A path forward was beginning to appear.

[So Osian, please relay this to Lukai as well. It seems their wariness is quite something for me to convey directly.]

"Understood."

[This is all I can do for you.]

"No. This much is enough. Rather, it's more than enough. Thank you, Gaien. Thanks to you, I can breathe easier."

[Rather, I should be the one thanking you. I still haven't repaid even half of half of what you've done for me.]

Gaien, who offered humble greetings, said one more thing before ending the communication.

[Lord Ossian.]

"Yeah."

[I wish you good fortune in battle.]

Osian's gaze turned toward one particular place in District 44. He could see disgusting stench becoming visible and rising from where chaos was concentrated.

Right. You were there.

"Indeed."