The smoke drifting across the ruined courtyard slowly settled.
Zekai stepped through the fractured wall of Chamber Twelve.
His crimson-stained clothes fluttered in the hot wind. His breathing remained calm.
Yet his eyes never left the man standing atop a collapsed section of concrete.
The rifle resting in the stranger's hands wasn't made for ordinary warfare.
Black metal intertwined with crimson crystal. Ancient runes crawled across its barrel like living veins.
Most unsettling of all—
The chain hanging from his waist. Dozens of crystal pendants swayed gently against one another.
Some were empty. Some glowed faintly.
One contained a tiny figure dressed in a long black coat.
Aldric Marune. Imprisoned.
The figure wasn't frozen.
It moved. It was watching.
"...That crystal isn't preserving a corpse."
"...It's preserving a person."
Zekai's pupils narrowed.
"You're taking him out of that prison."
The wolf slowly rose inside its crystal prison...
A low growl echoed through the tiny space.
Another pendant answered.
The raven unfolded one black wing. Its glowing eye fixed itself upon Zekai.
Even the pendant containing nothing but swirling darkness trembled faintly.
One after another...
...
The imprisoned relics awakened.
Not to their master.
To the crimson-eyed boy standing across the battlefield.
The Collector noticed immediately. His fingers tightened around the rifle.
"...Be quiet. I was preparing a delicious feast for you."
The man looked down at the pendant before raising his gaze again.
His expression remained emotionless.
"So..."
"You noticed."
His fingers gently brushed across the hanging crystals.
"They're quite beautiful, aren't they?"
"They're my collection."
"Every one of them was difficult to obtain."
He slowly reached toward the side of the rifle.
Click.
A fresh crystal pendant slid into place beneath the chamber.
Without looking away from Zekai, the Collector spoke quietly.
"Once it's fired... it belongs to the next prison."
His thumb rested against the weapon.
"Every shot demands a prison."
Unlike ordinary ammunition...
The pendant itself became the bullet.
"My relic accepts only one soul per crystal."
"Once filled..."
"It can never be used again."
His gaze drifted toward Zekai.
"So choose carefully."
"Become another memory..."
"...or survive."
His left thumb brushed lightly against the small communicator hidden beneath his collar.
No words. No signal.
Just one deliberate tap.
Then he returned both hands to the rifle as though nothing had happened.
A violent explosion interrupted him.
BOOOOM!!
A wall of molten fire burst upward behind Zekai.
Beyond the shattered courtyard...
Columns of dark smoke drifted upward from damaged sectors of Headquarters.
Barrier specialists had already begun bending the smoke back toward the facility, preventing civilians outside Greyhaven from seeing the true extent of the destruction.
Only the distant glow above the underground entrance hinted that anything catastrophic had happened.
The world beyond continued moving...
Completely unaware.
The fanatic crashed back into the courtyard, chunks of broken concrete flying in every direction.
His clothes were torn. Blood covered his face. Yet madness still burned within his eyes.
He laughed hysterically.
"I'm your opponent!"
"I'M THE ONE WHO'LL KILL HIM!"
His enormous magma blade reignited.
The Collector calmly sighed.
"...Always impatient."
Without another word—
He raised the rifle.
The fanatic charged.
The Collector pulled the trigger.
Click.
The crystal round floated silently through the air.
At the exact same moment—
The magma sword descended.
Two attacks. Two completely different trajectories.
Both converging on Zekai.
Sebastian's heart nearly stopped.
"No—!"
Yet Zekai didn't panic. Something inside him became unnaturally quiet.
The world slowed. Not time itself. His thoughts.
The fanatic's muscles contracted. Weight shifted to his leading foot.
The Collector's finger tightened against the trigger.
The crystal round rotated once.
Twice.
Its flight path unfolded inside Zekai's mind. Not as certainty.
As possibility. One path.
Then another. Then hundreds.
His body moved before his thoughts finished forming.
One step.
The magma blade passed less than an inch from his shoulder.
Another step.
The crystal bullet drifted harmlessly past his cheek.
The Collector's calm expression flickered for the first time.
"...You've survived two Relic rounds."
A pause. "...You're the first."
His emerald eye narrowed. "...No wonder they failed."
For the first time in many years...
The Relic Collector's thoughts stalled.
Interesting...
His emerald eye followed every step Zekai took.
That wasn't speed.
He never outran the attacks. He simply wasn't where they were destined to land.
The rifle lowered by a fraction.
He didn't evade. He selected the only surviving path.
A faint smile slowly appeared.
"...Now this..."
"...is worth hunting."
Zekai looked directly at him.
"You sound certain."
He slowly took another step.
"Try."
"Because I'm still standing."
The fanatic stumbled.
"Stand still!"
He unleashed another barrage of blazing slashes.
The courtyard became an inferno. Concrete exploded. Steel melted.
Smoke swallowed everything.
Within the chaos—
Zekai continued walking.
Not quickly. Not dramatically. Every movement was minimal. Every step was perfect.
The Collector lowered his rifle slightly.
"...You're not faster."
"...You're choosing the correct path."
Zekai frowned.
"I just know..."
"...where not to be."
For the first time since entering BSA Headquarters—
The Collector felt genuine curiosity.
"...Impossible."
Behind them—
The fanatic roared once more.
"I SAID LOOK AT ME!"
He launched himself toward Zekai with both hands gripping the blazing sword.
The blade carved through the smoke—
Straight toward Zekai's neck.
Zekai didn't even look back. He simply waited.
Three.
Two.
One.
Now.
His body pivoted. His left hand shot backward—
Grabbing the fanatic's ankle in midair.
The fanatic's pupils shrank.
"Wha—?!"
Using the attacker's own momentum—
Zekai spun.
The fanatic's body became a projectile. He flew directly toward the Collector.
The fanatic's eyes suddenly widened.
The glowing relic round was no longer flying toward Zekai.
It was flying toward him.
"...WAIT!" His face lost every trace of confidence. "DON'T FIRE!"
His voice cracked into genuine panic. "IT'S ME!"
For the first time—
The Collector's expression changed. His finger was already tightening around the trigger.
The crystal round had already left the barrel.
And now—
His own ally was flying directly into its path.
"...Move!"
the fanatic screamed. But it was already too late.
The glowing drifting crystal pendant reflected three figures.
The Hunter.
The Fool.
The Sacrifice.
The relic glowed brighter.
Waiting.
Ready to accept its next prisoner.
Then—
the crystal bullet reached the fanatic.
End Chapter 38 — The Relic Collector Vs Zekai (Part 1)