The sight wanders the familiar streets for a week—

Corbock stopped.

That's right, here it is...... Ramsden.

It's incredible, but it's his hometown, the city where the fire is extinguished.

But how did he cross the ...... in an instant?

Thinking is stuck.

The brain released ambiguous signals, standing on the street, looking at the crowds of people, his memory was blurred little by little, and finally approached nothing.

"How could I have stood here in a daze for so long? ”

woke up suddenly, but at this moment he didn't realize that he had lost the ten years he had spent in the training institute, and not only that, but he didn't even realize it in the slightest—at some point, his body had shrunk severely, from a short boy who was inconspicuous, to a little man who looked like he was only about ten years old, thin and weak, as if he would be blown to the ground by a gust of wind.

- Scarred body, stubborn and unwilling face.

If the young man with the sword who had awakened the stigma had not lost his memory, he would not have been unfamiliar with the scene before him.

You can't go wrong.

This was the first time he had participated in the selection of the training center, and he walked alone in the muddy streets after the rain, not knowing how to explain to his seriously ill mother when he returned.

It is also the most important and unforgettable memory of his life.

Here, after this empty rain, in this slightly hot evening, he was covered in bruises and had a low-grade fever, and he met the mentor who had retired from the front line due to injury, and then completely changed the fate of his life.

But this time, the fateful encounter didn't happen.

Stumbling, stumbling, and still young, Kobbuck walked into the dark alley.

And then—

He heard a voice:

"Come here...... Come here...... Come here ......."

The sound was intermittent and hoarse enough to distinguish between man and woman, but even so, the strange murmur that seemed to come out of nothingness was still very tempting to him, and made the little child, who could not yet distinguish right from wrong, come to an empty and dilapidated tiled house as if he had been bewitched by some kind of charm.

There, there is nothing.

Also......

An undefended and dilapidated house, even if there was anything of value, it would have been picked up long ago.

Little Corbeck was disappointed, but at the same time as he was disappointed, the voice, as if it was everywhere and pervasive, sounded in his ears again.

"Open my ......"

"Open you?"

Children in their early teens looked around, looking for the direction the sound was coming from, but found nothing.

Somewhat surprised, he had the idea of retreating.

"Open me...... Open me...... I can give you everything you want......"

Everything-

The word had an uncanny allure to a teenager, and with almost no hesitation, he retracted the steps he had taken, and then looked at the empty room with a thick layer of dust, pursed his thin, slightly bluish shriveled lips, and asked:

"Tell me, where are you?"

"The left corner...... Planing the brick ......"

Corbock complied, using his blood-crusted hands to gouge through the cracked bricks on the ground, and then pulled out a small jar with a dark aura trapped inside.

"Open the bottle. ”

The voice suddenly became much clearer, but it was still so hoarse that it was impossible to distinguish between men and women.

"What do I get?" the philistine nature he had cultivated in the slums made him subconsciously bargain - of course, it could not be ruled out that he instinctively felt uneasy about this strange thing sealed in a bottle.

"It's up to you," the voice said patiently, calmly throughout, "you should ask yourself, what do you want?"

"Money," Corbock bit his fingernails, "lots and lots of money." ”

He needed money, a lot of money - his father died young, and his mother supported the family alone, but the long-term and high-intensity work plus the need to raise children has caused him to become ill and unable to get out of bed.

And...... He also has a younger sister to raise.

Money –

It is a must, and it is indispensable.

He couldn't imagine how sad and self-blaming his mother would be when he dragged his scarred body home.

Even more unimaginable is...... What do they have to do to get through this difficult time, with no hope in sight, and no future in sight?

So, he asked for money.

"Give me lots and lots of money—" Cowberk wished, "money that will never run out." ”

It's a simple, meager and poignant wish.

"Then open me, open my ......," said the black breath in the bottle, vaguely revealing a bit of anxiety, "I can give you a lot of money, enough money to buy this city!"

"Are you sure?"

"It's a fair deal, just open me and you'll be able to achieve everything you want. ”

The little child showed a little hesitation, it wasn't that he didn't know that the bottle in front of him might be sealed with a legendary demon who was good at using words to deceive others, but it was just ...... He, and his family, seemed to have no second choice, but even so, I don't know what kind of mentality, he still said: "No, you must first tell me who you are and why you are sealed here!"

"I am Mammon. The wriggling darkness in the bottle said, "The angel under the throne of the Lord is the source of all progress." ”

"And how did you get sealed?"

"By those shameful depraved, by those madmen who have fallen into the glory of the Lord—"

"If you say so," Cobcock said in a utterly childlike voice, "perhaps Ramsden Cathedral is a good home for you." ”

“......”

"Well, you win. "I am Mammon, the greedy demon king—but what I said before will still work, and if you can spare me, I will give you a fortune that no ordinary person can squander even in his lifetime." ”

Demon King Mammon –

The small, thin child's eyes widened, and in a trance he realized that this was a terrible monster that could never be unleashed, and that any mercy, any luck, was an obstacle in front of it.

"Mortal, tell me your decision. ”

"I ......"

The two futures of the destruction of the family and the destruction of the city wavered before Kaubak, and he hesitated, hesitated, and finally reached out.

Little by little, little by little, slowly but irresistibly moving towards the stopper.

"That's it...... That's it......"

The greedy Demon King continued to whisper demagogically, "Just a little bit...... Closer ......"

And yet—

The blood-crusted hand hovered in mid-air, gripped by a larger, more powerful hand.

"Don't lose to your heart. ”

It was a plain face, the owner of which was neither old nor young, looking about twenty-seven or eighteen, sitting in a wheelchair, with two trouser tubes empty, and nothing in them: "We can't live up to the expectations of our mother, my sister, and my mentor." ”

"-Corbock!"

The darkness in the bottle squirmed into a small man, letting out a hysterical howl.

The obstructor in the wheelchair was gone with a smile, and the small, helpless child was left in the empty room, and ...... The jar in his hand that sealed the demon.

"Turn me on...... Open my ......"

The Demon King Mammon urged, and as time passed, the uneasiness in its heart gradually accumulated.

"I'm sorry—"

The little child withdrew his outstretched hand, put the bottle back into the soil with an uneasy face, and then buried it again: "Although I would like to agree to your request, I ...... I really can't do it. ”

He paused: "Because, there are still people waiting for me, I can't let him wait for a long time." ”

The dusty, dirty face like a little cat crawling in the garbage can showed a smile as bright as spring.

Then, he turned and walked away.

Leaving this empty hut, leaving this deserted alley, on the street, I bumped into the examiner, who was in a wheelchair, with empty trousers, who was always unsmiling, and who had met in the examination room selected by the Correctional Institute.

At this point, this false world has come to an end, and in the frozen time-

Shattered.