'What...?' Ryo was caught off-guard. His hands still gripped the man's collars tightly. 

"L-Let me go!" The man said. His voice sounded weird. Weirdly hesitant. 

'It... wasn't like this before. What... changed? Why's he acting like this now? Is he trying to get me to drop him somehow? Is he planning something?' Ryo was confused. Rightfully so.

"Why?" He blurted out without thinking. "You're... scared?"

The question had added at the end made the man's eyes tremble. His hands were shaking. Ryo could see that the man's heartbeat was growing faster. 

"No... I'm not!" The man shouted out, however, his voice lacked conviction. It was hesitant despite being loud. 

This confirmed what Ryo had been thinking. 'He's lying. He is scared. But, of what?' Ryo took a deep breath, thinking of a way to make the man confess. To make the man speak out. 

Suddenly, he had an idea. The corners of his mouth couldn't help but lift up. 

"Do you think, you being here and... dying will allow your child to have an Impulse?" His voice was calm. 

It made the man in front uncomfortable. But regardless, he did not bulge. 

"Of course it will! Isn't that how one gets an Impulse?! Something bad must happen right?!" He continued, his voice suddenly growing deeper, quieter, "What's the worst thing that can happen to a kid? The death of someone close!" 

Ryo's eyes widened. The sentence he had heard was infuriating. But, above all, it was correct. But, it wasn't the only reason why Ryo was shocked. 

'I... can't rem-' Ryo shook his head, snapping out. 'I don't have time to think about this right now. I need to go back.' 

He looked at the time left till the Final Scenario is complete. His hands trembled slightly. 'I need to be quick!!'

He forced saliva down his epiglottis and said, maintaining his calm exterior, "But, what if I tell her that you lived? Then what? I'll just tell her that you were transported away somewhere else. It's that simple! Your death will be in vain, and she won't have an Impulse."

The man stared at Ryo with a tense look. "Th- Think about who she would believe more! It's obviously not you, who she just met!" 

"She will." He was confident that she would. 'She will because I'm a Resistance Soldier. Even before the Resistances Treatment Act got passed, we were always treated to be more 'trustworthy' and more 'valuable' by common people. It's why so many citizens had committed sacrificial acts too, for these 'valuable' soldiers. That Act made us even more 'valuable.' But, even now, without that Act, she'd still trust a Resistance Soldier!' 

It seemed that the man had realized this too. His voice cracked further, "I- I'll take the chances... She'll- " He was cut off.

Ryo lowered his voice, deepening it, "It won't happen. I'll make sure it doesn't. You don't deserve to be called a 'father' you bastard. I'll make sure she won't get an Impulse, nor will she hold any sentiments towards you." 

His coldness sent a chill down the man's spine. 

The man repeated opened his mouth, only to be silent. He couldn't think or form a single rebuttal. 

Tears began flowing abruptly down the man's sullen face. 

'It worked.' Ryo smiled inside his head, while maintaining his calm and indifferent demeanor on the outside.

"Come with, now." He lifted the man up, putting him on his back, in a piggy-back manner. After a few seconds of adjusting, Ryo quickly began running out the town.  

He could hear the man's whining and crying, but he chose to ignore it. He wasn't ready to take the risk of saying something which might end up reversing his efforts. 

'Huff...' The man was heavy, and Ryo had less time. However, he was determined to reach his destination. 

He ran, and ran. 

'I- I'm... still around... forty miles away!!' Ryo's eyes wavered faintly. 

He blinked. The golden-hue disappeared from his eyes, now back to their original shade of crystal blue. 

'This'll... save me some... energy...' His pace was steadily increasing. But, the Safe Zone was still far away, still to be seen.

Suddenly a sound pierced Ryo's ears. A pressure-cooker-like sound coming from above him. 

It was significantly louder than before. 

Ryo quickly glanced upwards, as he did, his eyes froze. 

The bullet-like object falling down from the sky had drawn closer. He could even feel the ground beneath him shake slightly. 

Small parts or debris from the object above began falling down at great speeds too. 

Ryo noticed that two of them were headed towards the path he was to cover. 

"Huff! Huff! Huff!!" His pace increased. His muscles were now screeching in pain, his stomach violently twisted in pain, his back hurt severely. 

He quickly glanced at the timer.

"AGH!" He let out a cry. 

One of the debris from the sky had crashed down right behind them. 

He could feel the heat it radiated, the smell of land burning lingered too. Long after they had left behind the spot where it crashed. 

'Huff... I can...do... this...' His speed increased further. 

The other debris that was enroute towards their path crashed. Right ahead of them. 

Ryo moved his hands back, grabbing the man tightly as he rigidly turned towards the left, then to his right, falling back onto his path. 

His sight began to grow blurry and moist, but, a smile came onto his face. 

The cubical artifact. The 'Safe Zone' became faintly visible to him, despite his watery sight.

'Almost... ther- URGH.' Ryo almost fell down. He stopped for a second, trying to calm his body. However, it was a fatal mistake. 

"Why're you stopping here, you bitch?! Are you crazy?!" The man shouted, gripping Ryo's shirt tightly.

The man was indeed correct, as soon, the adrenaline running through his body began subsiding. He grew dizzier. 

Realizing this, he quickly ran again, before the adrenaline wore off entirely. 

He began hearing faint beeping noises. 'I'm... here!!' 

He could hear faint voices, cries. He could see a crowd appear in front. However, he also saw strange sparks of green surround him. A small hand grabbed him, and ran alongside him. Faster than him.

However, Ryo was feeling intoxicated, he couldn't help but laugh in joy. 

He crossed a faint, green line. With his blurred vision, he saw a crowd gather around him. He quickly dropped the man down, before falling onto the ground. The hand which had grabbed him left, the sparks of green now focused on one place.

Aside from the usual pop-ups, an additional blue-colored hologram appeared.

He couldn't see the pop-ups, neither his surroundings. He just kept on smiling.

"T- Thank... you..." A familiar voice said, sniffling. 

As Ryo's sight grew dryer and clearer, he was met a shocking spectacle. 

The faint sparks and the familiar figure merged had merged as one. Or rather, they were the same.