The Spark of Change

A torrential downpour was coming.

Hank's boots crushed dry bones, each step splashing dark red mud.

Sarasa's burning breath scorched the back of his neck, like a will-o'-the-wisp that might flicker out at any moment.

The battlefield washed by last night's acid rain lay in ruins-broken, withered branches resembled the knuckles of the dying, and footprints in the moss had hardened into bloodstained imprints. Every clue spoke of the desperate battle fought in the downpour.

The trail of broken branches continued onward, and a patch of dark red ground gradually came into view.

"Franklin, do you think Carl... do you think she's still alive?"

Sheila's fingers nearly dug into Franklin's shoulder blade.

Feitan caught sight of her trembling eyelashes out of the corner of his eye and suddenly stamped down hard on a piece of bone hidden beneath the moss. Everyone heard the sharp crack, like the turning of fate's gears.

Franklin hesitated and opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say.

Six hours of torrential acid rain were enough to extinguish any hope of survival.

When a broken skull came into view, Franklin's pupils contracted sharply. Its jawbone opened and closed in the wind, as though trying to bite through his neck.

"Urgh, urgh!"

The sound of retching immediately rose all around.

"Carl, she couldn't have..."

Shalnark's heart stopped. He staggered backward, the blood and mud around his ankles as sticky as a serpent's tongue.

The moment his voice fell silent, the atmosphere plunged to freezing.

"Those are the enemies' bodies." Chrollo's voice cut through the curtain of rain, Hank's retreating figure reflected in his obsidian eyes.

"Sarasa is still going forward. Let's follow!"

Chrollo stepped forward. The sky was growing dark, and the black clouds overhead covered the sun, sinking him into shadow.

Rumble!

Thunder rolled deep within the leaden clouds, like the roar of a thunder dragon.

"Squelch!"

With a heave, Shalnark pulled his right leg out of the bloody mud.

Seeing that his companions had already followed, he felt his tightly clenched heart slowly relax, and strength seemed to return to his stiff body.

"Smack!!!"

Shalnark slapped himself across the face and gave himself a pep talk.

"Come on, you can control yourself! You're Shalnark, not a coward!!!"

With that, Shalnark chased after his companions. Though every step sank into the bloody mud, he pulled himself free again and again.

"Tap, tap!"

Swift, jumbled footsteps drew closer.

"Sarasa? Why did she come back again?"

Looking at the familiar figure that had appeared on the panel, Carl raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

She had saved her because she still had a conscience.

Carl really hadn't expected the girl to be willing to come back for her...

The sky grew darker, and serpents of lightning raced through the thickening clouds.

Stepping over fragments of dead wood, Hank shook the girl on his back. Sarasa hadn't spoken for a while, and he was deeply worried about her condition...

"Was this place... ravaged by a magical beast?"

Hank looked at the broken rocks and splintered wood strewn across the ground and muttered to himself.

A three-meter-tall dead tree had been snapped in half, vicious marks remaining at the break.

How could a magical beast appear on the outskirts of Meteor City?

But if it wasn't a magical beast, could someone have done this with their bare hands?

"The trail ends here. I'm afraid that child named Carl..."

Hank stepped back and surveyed his surroundings warily, but aside from the ever-louder thunder, there seemed to be little movement nearby!

Should he keep looking?

Hank turned his head slightly. Sarasa's burning forehead rested against the back of his neck, like a coal about to burn out.

"Forget it. It's about to rain, and Sarasa's body can't take it!"

After hesitating for a moment, Hank turned to head back.

He could take Sarasa's feelings into account and carry her into the outskirts to take this risk.

But only if Sarasa's health wasn't put in danger!!!

After what had happened last night, their foster mother had specifically instructed him to take good care of Sarasa.

"Tap, tap!"

Chrollo and the others came running over. From a distance, they saw the cleared area. The open space was less than six meters across and littered with shattered wood and stone, a complete mess.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.

"Let's go back. We can't find her!!!"

Seeing the others hurry over, Hank sighed and reached for the black cloak in Sarasa's arms.

The rain was coming. He would put it over Sarasa first.

"Huff!"

Chrollo came to an abrupt stop and stared blankly at the open ground before him, Hank's regretful voice echoing in his ears.

"Patter!"

A raindrop struck his forehead, then rolled down past his brow.

Fine drops of rain drifted down after it.

"Chrollo..."

Paku looked at Chrollo's tense back and recalled the gravestones he had carefully cleaned in the cemetery.

"Hey, Paku."

When the boy turned around, raindrops were falling from the tips of his hair, tracing a wet line down his pale cheek.

The rain had soaked Chrollo's hair. He brushed it back with a quick sweep, leaving it in a messy slicked-back style.

His challenge cut through the rain. "Why can others treat us like a garbage dump, abandoning and taking whatever they please so easily? What gives them the right?!!!"

"Chrollo, the books say it's legal."

Paku pressed her lips together and spoke helplessly.

When her voice fell silent, no one argued.

More than a ring of garbage mountains separated Meteor City from the outside world.

Food wasn't the only thing they, these abandoned children, lacked.

"Legal? Who made those laws?" Chrollo clenched his hands into fists, his nails digging into his palms. Beads of blood seeped out, but he felt no pain.

"Who made the laws that declared we deserved to die from birth?"

Something surged and thrashed inside his gut, like a trapped beast trying to burst through the top of his skull.

Paku opened her mouth, but she was at a loss for words.

"Did we make them? If not, what gives them the right to demand that we obey?"

"Today it's Carl, tomorrow it's me, and the day after that it's you. Are you willing to accept a fate like that?"

Rain fell from his jaw in strings of droplets, but it was as though lava churned in Chrollo's throat, sparks flying from every syllable.

Nobunaga's wooden sword traced an arc, cutting through a hanging dead branch. "Whoever wrote those laws should have them wiped away with their own blood."

"Are we killing people? Count me in."

Uvogin pulled open his shirt, revealing a body covered in scars. His gleaming white teeth opened and closed, like those of a beast ready to devour someone.

"I agree."

Machi leaped down from Uvogin's shoulder and spoke up immediately after him.

Her intuition told her that the boy before her wasn't wrong, so naturally, it was those damned laws that were wrong!

Rumble!

Muffled thunder exploded overhead.

When lightning illuminated everyone's faces, Shalnark suddenly noticed the same flames dancing in every companion's eyes-the resentment and unwillingness to submit that Meteor City had accumulated over centuries.

The strands of rain gradually joined into a sheet.

"Me too!"

"For the children of Meteor City."

"I agree!"

After a moment of silence, Shalnark, Franklin, and Feitan spoke up one after another.

"No objections from me."

After a long while, Phinks sighed, raised his hand, and spoke.

Afterward, he gave Sheila, who was on Franklin's back, a long look.

Seeing that she remained silent throughout, Phinks silently crossed her off the list of his companions.

"Whoosh~"

Rain poured down, the curtain stretching from sky to earth and blocking everyone's view.

"Let's go." After a long silence, Chrollo calmed down and spoke to the members of the Phantom Troupe.

Rumble!

The moment thunder exploded, Carl stepped out of the manor.

Pale green droplets dripped from her eyelashes. Looking through the thick curtain of rain, she could see Chrollo's clenched fists.

"Where are you going?" Carl cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted.

In an instant, Chrollo spun around. The sharp curve of the boy's smile was reflected in his suddenly contracted pupils.

"You're not dead?"

"Still alive!"