Chương 68: Incursio's Dimension?

Liam stared up at the wall. Last time, he had walked around a large part of the city before heading to the center, but he hadn't seen any damaged area's from the outer wall he could climb during that time. 'I hate not being able to use Incursio here,' he thought bitterly.

'I should check the rest of the area. There's no way a city this size doesn't have a gate or something,' he reasoned. 'It has watchtowers, but they were all destroyed. There has to be a gate somewhere.' Even if the gate was destroyed, it might be good enough for him to climb up.

With a plan in mind, he set out.

He walked through the massive city for over three hours, eventually finally getting to the spot where he'd been ambushed last time. The memory made him pause. 'Let's avoid going anywhere near there,' Liam thought with an awkward laugh, keeping his distance as he hugged the wall on his right.

'This city is way too fucking big,' Liam muttered internally. As he continued, he decided to climb onto the ruins of an old house to get a better view. He held one hand over his eyes, looking at the area ahead. Far in the distance, something caught his attention. A part of the wall looked lower than the rest.

'That has to be it.' Liam thought, but he kept his guard up. He wasn't about to get caught off guard like last time.

Walking through the streets, Liam stopped every now and then to check some of the ruined houses. He hadn't found any new runes yet, but he knew he had to check everything carefully while he had the chance.

Eventually, Liam reached the gate. Seeing it up close confirmed what he had suspected. The gate was completely destroyed, leaving behind piles of rubble—perfect for climbing. He started to run, wanting to close the remaining distance as fast as possible.

He stopped at the bottom of the ruined gate, looking through the gap. Beyond it, he could see more destroyed houses and a sandy road leading out of the city. Liam decided to climb the wall entirely to get a better view.

He began going up the wall, jumping from one rubble pile to the next, pulling himself up where needed. After some effort, he finally stood at the top of the wall.

The sight before him stole his breath. Charred trees and frozen ones stood right next to each other, followed up by a massive area of destruction on the landscapes around it.

'What the hell… happened here?' Liam thought, completely speechless.

Turning around to look back at the city, Liam felt that he had seen it somewhere before. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the structures and the way the city was build. Though the city was completely destroyed, from the top of the walls, he could still somewhat imagine how everything used to be. He looked at the center wall, and when he did, everything fell into place.

'This dimension… is this the world from Akame Ga Kill?' His mind raced. 'But why is everything destroyed? Where are the inhabitants of this world? Are there even any left? Why is this world all dark? it doesn't even feel like a proper world.'

Though some of his old questions had been answered, they only led to twice as many new ones.

Liam looked at the walls he was standing on next, seeing the remains of what had once been watchtowers. Yet in place of the towers, there were now circular holes at the top of the wall.

After scanning the area from his view, he decided to explore behind the city walls. He wanted to find a particular place: Night Raid's first headquarters, which should be in the nearby forest.

Having no clear idea of where it was, Liam set out, choosing to follow the some specific destruction marks. 'If I follow the devastation, it might lead me somewhere,' he reasoned. 'I have nothing else to follow anyway.'

The forests behind the walls were total withered wastelands. Dead trees everywhere, the dark clouds everywhere. 'Just everything here is completely either dead or destroyed.'

Liam continued forwards, staying alert. After about half an hour, the trail of destruction ended abruptly, leaving him at the edge of a massive crater.

Inside the crater was the skeleton of a massive beast—a lion-like creature with two horns growing out from its skull. Burn marks covered the bones and the surrounding ground.

Liam approached cautiously, standing beside the remains to compare its size to his own. He had to look up to see the creature's height, even as it laid on its side.

'While it's lying down, it's about eight times my height, like the size of a large tree. If it were standing, it'd probably be the height of two and a half trees stacked on top of each other.' Liam shuddered at the thought.

Sure, he'd fought creatures four or five times his size before, but something over twenty to thirty times his height was on a whole other level. 'Size doesn't always mean strength, but I'm betting this one was powerful. Its bones are still here afterall, unlike anything else I've seen so far.'

'The specific destruction path ends here,, I guess this was the fight that caused some of the destruction around which also speaks for its strength. Anyway, lets keep looking around.'

He moved on, continuing to look through the dead forest. Time felt meaningless in this dimension; there was no hunger, thirst, or even a day-night cycle. Liam had slept multiple times during his search, but because he never really got tired, he had no way of knowing how much time had passed.

Eventually, he found what he was looking for.

'I don't know how long it's been—it feels like weeks—but I've finally found it,' Liam thought.

The half-destroyed building was build between a mountain and the ground, almost as if it were keeping the mountain from collapsing. Liam approached cautiously, seeing that the entrance was still intact despite the surroundings being ruined.

Stepping through the doorway, he entered the building. The corridors were quiet as he explored each room, inspecting them thoroughly. In some rooms, he found books. Though they were written in the same strange language as the runes he had seen, Liam took them all with him anyway.

Eventually, he entered a room decorated with faded yellow carpets. At the right side of the room was a pedestal holding broken pieces of what looked like a belt. Beside it was an old tap attached to a large wooden barrel, which used to be filled with beer.

'This was Lione's belt, wasn't it?' Liam thought, recognizing the pieces. 'It was broken after her fight with the prime minister. But why is it here?'

He reached out and carefully removed the case covering the pedestal. Picking up the shattered belt, he held it in his hands.

Suddenly, the ground beneath him rumbled. The black clouds gathered in the sky, getting even darker until his vision went completely dark.

When Liam opened his eyes again, he looked up at another white ceiling. A sharp pain coming from all over his back.

'A hospital?' He thought. 'Did I really die again?'