Chapter 21: He Came to Be Executed

“Who are you?”

“Move aside!”

He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but even in the moment when his mind had gone hazy from overexposure to guiding, Juju understood this much, Colonel Shan had rushed out because he sensed danger.

To protect his guide from it.

What Juju needed to do, as a guide, was to support his esper.

Ah, of course, the colonel wasn’t Juju’s esper yet.

As Juju tried to dash out in a daze, he was stopped from all sides.

“It’s dangerous, Juju-nim.”

“I know. I’m just going to support him nearby.”

“That won’t be necessary. It’ll be over soon.”

One of the standing squad members muttered in a bitter voice.

Most of them seemed to know why this situation had happened.

When Juju looked at them with a confused expression, the nearby lie detector, no, Lieutenant Frank. opened his mouth.

“He’s come to be executed.”

“What… are you talking about?”

“To begin with, there aren’t many espers who can handle elemental powers. Among them, the only one I know who can wield fire of that magnitude as a weapon is Lieutenant Colonel Miles. I heard he recently returned from a gate exploration, and it looks like he finally went berserk. At this rate, he’ll burn everything around him and kill allied forces until that stubborn life of his finally runs out, so he came to die by the colonel’s own hand. …It’s unfortunate, but you could call it the best possible choice.”

‘So he’s not even a villain, he’s an esper from the same organization?’

At that moment, a cold sensation settled heavily over Juju’s chest.

He’d always thought a world without guides was impossible, yet that horrific reality was unfolding right before his eyes.

Unable to receive guiding, an esper’s body is driven closer and closer to its limit the more they use their abilities.

But if they don’t use their abilities, they’re rendered obsolete, unable even to protect themselves.

So they use their powers to survive, only to be pushed closer to death by those very powers.

It was a cruel paradox.

On the faces of several officers who knew Lieutenant Colonel Miles personally, there was sorrow, and grim resolve.

Amid the fireballs flying like artillery shells, a manic laugh rang out.

“Hahaha!”

When the flames floating in the air were finally exhausted, a man with red hair and pitch-black eyes revealed himself in front of Colonel Shan.

Blazing fire traced a wide circle, threatening to engulf the base as it surrounded the buildings.

‘Th-this is a wooden structure!’

If even a single spark caught, everything would go up in flames in an instant.

The other squad members must have thought the same, because they scattered and began setting up defenses.

Watching them, Juju quietly slipped away and moved toward where Colonel Shan and Lieutenant Colonel Miles were.

They weren’t far from the base.

As he drew closer, Juju could hear their voices.

“Stop this, Miles.”

“If you don’t want to see the entire base destroyed, why don’t you just finish me off now?”

“Are you really doing this because you want to die?”

“Yes. Right now… I think I could die happily.”

Colonel Shan stared impassively at the ground, which was beginning to melt from the extreme heat.

Whether he had activated his ability or not, Lieutenant Colonel Miles began to float into the air.

Unable to approach any closer due to the insane heat pouring down, Juju saw the colonel’s true power for the first time.

‘Spatial control is completely broken.’

Lieutenant Colonel Miles remained suspended in midair, but it was as if the space around him had been cleanly cut away, no sound, no presence escaping.

Muttering something under his breath, Miles gave a faint smile and closed his eyes, like someone calmly accepting his own death.

At the same time, the flames that had lost their energy supply from Miles sputtered out.

The melted ground, too, began to harden as cold currents swept over it.

Only then did Juju move closer.

Lieutenant Colonel Miles’ face began to lose its natural color, slowly turning purplish.

Having seen countless espers at the Guide Headquarters, S-class guide Juju vaguely guessed that when Colonel Shan isolated Miles’ space, he had separated it into a vacuum.

“Colonel!”

“Juju?”

A voice that should not have been there reached him.

Startled, Colonel Shan appeared directly in front of Juju, having transferred his body into the space right before him.

Juju wasn’t particularly surprised; he’d seen the colonel teleport countless times before.

Juju immediately released Radiation Guiding.

After glancing at the nearly blackened Lieutenant Colonel Miles, Colonel Shan released the spatial control.

Gasping for breath, Miles collapsed onto the ground, coughing violently.

The Radiation Guiding reached him as well.

“…Th-this… what… is…?”

Lieutenant Colonel Miles muttered with a vacant expression.

Ignoring him, Colonel Shan scolded Juju.

“What were you thinking, coming all the way out here? This place is dangerous. Go back immediately.”

“Go back where, exactly?”

When Juju pretended not to understand, sparks flew in the colonel’s eyes.

“Juju. I won’t say this twice.”

“Have you ever seen a guide avoid battle?”

“…What are you talking about?”

With a sigh, Juju grabbed the colonel’s hand and activated Contact Guiding, raising the purity of the Radiation Guiding as well.

Because of that, a scream-like sound escaped from Lieutenant Colonel Miles, who had been writhing on the ground like a caterpillar, before cutting off abruptly.

It seemed the colonel had separated the space again.

Unlike earlier, when Miles had been locked in a tiny, sealed-off room, this felt more like transparent walls had been erected around him.

“When an esper fights while receiving guiding, they become stronger.”

Juju said proudly.

But Colonel Shan didn’t agree.

He looked at Juju with a visibly hardened expression.

“I can’t put you in danger.”

“You can just protect me, can’t you? I clearly signed a contract with you as a squad member, so being excluded from combat is a bit surprising.”

“I’m more surprised that no one stopped you from coming this far.”

Colonel Shan muttered coldly.

Only then did the officers realize Juju was there, sprinting over at almost lightning speed.

“H-huff- Juju-nim!”

“You’re late, Lieutenant Frank.”

Colonel Shan said in a voice cold as frost.

The officers’ faces went ashen at those words.

Watching them, Juju turned to the colonel and complained.

“I plan to participate in combat from now on. You shouldn’t take it out on innocent squad members.”

“…Do you really think I’d allow that?”

“Then do you want me to stay in the squad like a useless freeloader? Are you hoping my self-esteem tanks so badly that I leave the squad altogether?”

“Juju. You’re not needed in combat.”

Not needed.

The words echoed heavily in the colonel’s voice.

Juju clenched his teeth.

‘One of the top-ranked phrases guides hated hearing the most, and I, S-class guide Juju, had just heard it.’

“If that’s what you think, then-!”

“Hey… guys.”

A creeping voice slithered in from behind Colonel Shan.

‘Crap! Radiation Guiding.’

He’d been so angry at the colonel’s words that he’d forgotten to maintain it.

With eyes nearly blackened, Lieutenant Colonel Miles whimpered.

“I think I’m about to go berserk again…”

Juju hurriedly resumed Radiation Guiding.

****

The sensation was like stepping barefoot onto ground that was sizzling and boiling.

Startled, Juju yanked his hand away.

He didn’t dry-heave like he had with Colonel Shan, but he moved just as fast.

“Is something wrong?”

Captain Russell, who had been standing beside Juju to monitor whether Lieutenant Colonel Miles would go berserk again, asked urgently.

He looked ready to drag Juju out of the room if necessary, but after Juju waved him off and said he was fine, Russell returned to attention.

“I forgot I needed to melt things down first with Radiation Guiding.”

Since espers were always on the receiving end of guiding, they didn’t know the process Juju used.

Imagining a sprinkler, Juju released Radiation Guiding.

As a result, the expressions of Captain Russell, Sergeant Michael, and even the medic, Michael, softened.

They were in the process of moving Lieutenant Colonel Miles to the infirmary to treat his critical condition.

His state couldn’t be healed by guiding alone, his internal organs had been damaged after several clashes with Colonel Shan.

After Miles vomited blood and fragments of organs several times, Michael stood up with a weary expression.

“Emergency treatment’s done, more or less.”

Only then did Juju truly get to act as a guide.

Though Lieutenant Colonel Miles lay there completely exhausted, his body jerked like he’d been shocked the moment Juju’s hand touched him.

An esper on the verge of going berserk was always painfully sensitive to guiding across their entire body.