Chapter 90
"Ugh. You madman."
Using Shadow, I took Desun and Shiren out.
Desun cursed and let out a long sigh.
"I never thought I'd live to see the day I'd commit *a bombing*... Wait, didn't I do it before? No, I don't know."
Desun, seemingly unable to grasp the situation, covered her forehead and sank to the floor. I chuckled, watching Desun, and continued.
"It's still fun, isn't it?"
"Fun, my ass..."
Desun seemed too exhausted to even speak, shaking her head before lying down on the floor and saying.
"Hey. So what now? Do you have a plan?"
Of course, I have a plan. But explaining it wouldn't be very cool... just kidding. It was quite convoluted, and I wasn't sure how to explain it, so I just offered a slight smile and a vague answer.
"Ugh, never mind. I'm an idiot for expecting an explanation."
"Yeah, that's right. You *idiot*."
"Hey!"
Desun's indignant reaction caught my eye. Anyway, that's not what's important. What matters is what happened to The North.
With that thought, I called out to Liana, who was checking on The North nearby.
"Liana."
"Yes?"
"How's The North now?"
At my question, Liana stiffened, an awkward expression on her face, and said.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"You can see it using your abilities, can't you?"
"...You knew what my ability was?"
I nodded, confirming it.
Liana gave an awkward laugh and said:
"When on earth did you figure it out? I thought I'd hidden it quite well."
"Living next to you, I just sort of figured it out."
Honestly, if I hadn't read the original story, I wouldn't have known exactly what Liana's abilities were. Liana had been very good at concealing her abilities, to the point where it was impressive. But since I already knew the outcome, her persistent efforts could only be described as futile.
*Anyway, what's important is...*
It seemed like a good idea to start sharing abilities and switch to a more efficient and intuitive method, so I mentioned it. Liana let out a long sigh and said,
"Honestly... you're quite something, in many ways."
Just as I decided to take it as a compliment and chuckled, Liana looked at something, then spoke to me in a hesitant voice.
"Well, The North has been devastated, that's confirmed... but something strange has appeared."
"Something strange?"
"Yes. I think it would be better if you saw it for yourself..."
Liana seemed unable to explain it, speaking in a troubled, murmuring voice. I nodded, deciding to go see for myself as Liana suggested.
*Then Shiren... No, just in case, it's better to leave the companions here.*
Since I only intended to assess the situation and return, I asked Lorraine and the other companions to stay here. Then, with Daisy, who had been on Shiren's shoulder, now in my arms, I said.
"Then I'll be back."
*I'll be back soon anyway, so there shouldn't be any problems.*
With that thought, I stepped into the Shadow and returned to The North.
* * *
As I emerged from the Shadow, a scene unfolded before my eyes that even the word "devastated" couldn't even begin to describe. As I gazed at the result of my actions, I fell into thought for a moment. A somewhat strange sensation; no, I couldn't quite describe it, but I felt a Bizarre Mana emanating, as if countless things were mixed together.
*What is this?*
Unable to articulate what it was, I frowned and looked around. A massive mass of flesh... No, it would be more accurate to call it a grotesque flesh egg, lay in the very center.
*What on earth is that?*
The moment I saw it, all sorts of questions flooded my mind.
Questions like “What exactly is that?” and “Why is it still here even after the bombs exploded?” It was full of things that defied common sense, so I frowned and approached the egg. Suddenly, a massive pulsation began to spread in all directions.
*Thump-thump.*
A heartbeat sound reverberated directly in my mind. Feeling an inexplicable tension from the sound, I gripped my mace tightly.
...A somewhat strange voice echoed in my mind.
[Elysia, the word 'best' is merely what worthless beings use to prove themselves.]
[The world will remember only your results, not your process, and furthermore, it will remember only your failures.]
[So please, do not fail. That is the last thing this Mother can tell you.]
Though it was a voice I'd never heard before, it wasn't difficult to realize who was speaking these words.
*...Elysia's Mother.*
*Why did I start hearing this sound? I felt confused, unable to understand the reason. But it seemed better to smash the egg than to stand idly by, so I immediately swung my mace.
*Fwoosh!*
Before the mace could connect, a powerful Wave of Power erupted from the egg, creating a massive Shield that repelled my attack. The Shield was far more powerful than I'd imagined, and as I struggled to hide my bewilderment, the egg suddenly let out a roar, emitting a scream that was difficult to describe in Human language.
*What on earth is that?*
*It's definitely not normal, but... I have no idea why something like that suddenly appeared.* Just as I was pondering how to deal with it, the egg suddenly began to solidify into pure white.
Like a caterpillar wrapping itself in a pure white cocoon to become a butterfly, the object, turning pure white, pulsed even more intensely, beginning to throb.
*Is something being born inside?*
Just as I was bewildered, unable to understand the reason, the events I had experienced so far suddenly came to mind.
The discovery of the experiment injecting Negative Emotions into Shiren. The destruction of the experiment that sought to gather the Negative Emotions of living beings to create a massive energy source (Artificial Sun). And the realization that Demonkind was born from Negative Emotions.
As all of this flashed rapidly through my mind, I instinctively understood why the egg before me had appeared.
*Were those Dark Mages doing all that to give birth to something?*
The moment this thought spread through my mind, I paused and stared at the egg.
*I don't know what they're trying to give birth to by doing such things. But one thing is certain. They're trying to create an existence using an unimaginable amount of energy. And that is highly likely not to be a good direction for me.*
The moment I realized this, I immediately tried to smash it with my mace. But just as before, a voice echoed in my mind.
[I was born in the harsh North, where everything comes back to responsibility.]
A slightly softer voice than before. The moment I realized it was Elysia's voice, I couldn't help but freeze completely.
[For me, life was suffering, a Curse that bound me, a sin that stained my life with unreasonableness.]
The pure white egg split in half with a grotesque tearing sound. It began to emit a pure white light, releasing immense mana in all directions.
Whether it was Demonkind or something else entirely, I couldn't tell. From the torn egg, a Monster that looked as if thousands of Humans had been crushed and ground together slowly revealed its body, dropping its massive Flesh Mass Body onto the floor.
"Grrrroooaaar."
The colossal mass of flesh, though vaguely humanoid, was something that could not be called human. It slowly approached me, melting and burning everything it touched.
[Perhaps that is why I wanted to be acknowledged, no matter the cost.]
[Because I wanted to prove that the suffering I endured was not in vain, and that my existence was not meaningless.]
"...Da...mi...an."
It called my name and reached out a hand.
The entire surroundings erupted in Pure White Fire, and powerful Waves of Power burst forth from all directions, stirring up a fierce gale. Just as I felt tension from a power twice as strong as I had anticipated, the Monster continued to approach me, making a sound like something melting. Listening to it, I bit my lip for a moment, then called out to the opponent in a calm voice.
"...Elysia."
As if it had been waiting for my answer, the Monster's movements became faster than before.
I couldn't be sure if the colossal mass of flesh before me was Elysia. But my intuition, which had given me the correct answer countless times, strongly told me that it was Elysia. I could only gaze at the Monster with a complex expression.
*Whoosh.*
The Pure White Fire generated by the Flesh Mass Monster grew fiercer, melting everything in its path. Feeling the increasingly intense heat, I spoke calmly.
"Let's end this now."
"..."
Too many lines had already been crossed for us to understand each other. With so many things tangled beyond repair now... I knew it was impossible to resolve this. I gripped my mace and slowly raised it.
The moment I raised it, the Monster quickly extended a hand, trying to stop me. But no matter how fast the mass of flesh extended, to me, it was simply too slow, so I easily dodged it and unleashed an Origin Explosion directly onto the mass of flesh.
*KABOOOM!*
With a massive explosion, chunks of flesh scattered everywhere. As I, lost in complex emotions, watched the suffering mass of flesh, Daisy, who was perched on my shoulder, rubbed against my cheek as if to say it was okay, and mumbled something.
"It's okay."
I didn't know what she meant was okay. But finding strange comfort in it, I imbued my mace with Daisy's power and my own, deciding it was time to finish this.