| Blame

Gusion lets out a soft groan, his eyes slowly fluttering open. Everything was a blur to him. He tries to sit up, the pounding in his head making it hard for him to even move. Gusion blinks, he was in the fountain, but despite the energy it gave, he still felt pain all over.

Beside him, Fanny silently sobs over Tigreal's body, her head buried in her arms. Gusion's breath hitches at the depressing sight, he finally recalls what had happened before he passed out.

"Gusion," the sound of Fanny's shaky voice pulls him from his thoughts, "Please. . Tell me what happened."

Gusion stares at her desolate state, unable to utter a single word from the aching he felt in his chest. To see the woman with such a broken look in her eyes felt like a stab right in the heart. Gusion hesitates, how would he explain to her anyway? Was the game malfunctioning? And if it was, how would it progress when one of the faces of the game suddenly disappeared?

Fanny notices his troubled expression, "You have to tell me, you have to!" she walks over to him, grabbing his collar and pulling him up, "My brother died, my only family died! DO YOU THINK I CAN HANDLE NOT KNOWING HOW TIGREAL DIED?!"

Gusion winces, pain shooting throughout his arm and torso from the bandaged wound on his shoulder. Fanny sees his face twist in discomfort, and she lets him go. She turns her head away from his, feeling her eyes sting with tears, "You know," she pauses, sniffling, "I probably could've saved him."

Tears start flowing down her cheeks, and Gusion can do nothing but stay silent. Would hugging her be okay? No, that would be too weird—wait, why was he thinking of this right now? How shameless.

Gusion stands up and pulls her into a hug, his hand gently patting her back. "Shh," Gusion hushes her, "It's okay to cry, let it all out."

His words result in Fanny sobbing harder, her fist hitting Gusion's chest. "Why didn't you save him? Why? Why wasn't I there to save him?" she bawls uncontrollably, "We weren't even in good terms, why did he suddenly have to go like that?!"

No sound comes out of Gusion's mouth, afraid that he might saying the wrong things that could make her current situation worse.

'It was all so sudden, Fanny.' he thinks to himself.

'You wouldn't have been able to do anything, either."

× × × × ×

Dark circles were around Fanny's closed eyes. Gusion gently sets her head down on his folded scarf, careful enough to avoid waking her up. Light snores came out of Fanny's lips; Gusion was thankful that she'd fallen asleep. She needed rest after bawling her eyes out, there'd be a chance that she'd collapse if she didn't.

"Gusion," he turns around to see Minotaur beckoning him to come, "Kaja's waiting for you."

Gusion glances back at Fanny's sleeping figure before nodding, "Yeah, let's go."

The two of them rush to the mid lane, Gusion was eager to know what really happened. Maybe Kaja would have an explanation? Well, it was Kaja after all, he must've at least theorised the possible causes.

Gusion sees the opposing team and a few other heroes gathered together, the way they were silent implying the serious atmosphere. Kaja sees the two running to them and clasps his hands together, "Finally, we are complete."

"Wh—" Gusion pants, noticing one missing person. "What about Kagura? Where is she?"

"Rafaela and Angela took her and Claude to the castle's infirmary. Kagura had taken too much damage, she'll be in a coma for at least a month," Kaja answers his question. Hayabusa looks down, guilt crushing his heart from hurting the girl he loved. "Claude himself was also unconscious, he must've fainted from the stress, as well as exhaustion."

Gusion nods slowly, it must have been traumatizing for the marksman.

"Listen, all of you," Kaja calls for everyone's attention. "What we are about to discuss shall not be disclosed to any other heroes aside from the supports and the heroes that were involved in this battle. Do not reveal any piece of information to anyone else, especially to heroes outside of the Moniyan Empire, and Fanny."

The name of the assassin gains all of their attention. Gusion tries to speak up, but is stopped by Minotaur, signalling him to stay quiet and wait for it to end before asking any questions.

Kaja begins speaking, "I'm certain that each and every one of you is aware of our world existing as a mere system for amusement," he pauses, receiving nods from them. "Remain calm when I say this; this world of ours is no longer that of a game."

Gusion's eyebrows furrow. Kaja wasn't one to jest.

"This universe has been separated from the one we were originally created in," he continues. "In this new universe, we can die. We can meet our demise from the wounds that we never feared of getting before."

"Why is Fanny not allowed to hear about this information?" Minotaur questions. Gusion, who wanted to ask the same question, also speaks up.

"We can't really hide this from her, can we?" Gusion speculates, "Tigreal is dead, how would we explain that to her?"

Kaja doesn't bat an eye at them, but answers nonetheless, "Fanny is the reason as to why this happened."

"What?" Gusion blurts out, surprised. How could Fanny be the cause of everything when she didn't even have an idea as to what had happened earlier?

"What do you mean, Kaja?" Grock asks, just as confused as everyone in the area. "Fanny wasn't there to even witness the clash, how could she be the root cause of this?"

"It's just as the prophecy foretold," Kaja announces. Everyone has the same look on their faces. As they stare at Kaja for answers, he responds,

"Our world's end would be its beginning."