Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Test Subject (1)
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Let’s think this through. The best way to resolve this situation cleanly. I have to take that bastard down, secure the data, and rescue the hostages behind me.
Judging by the way he’s exuding that ferocious, crimson sword aura so freely, he must be a Sword Master. Though it’s probably just inflated by demonic energy.
So, do all five of us need to charge in to beat him?
Absolutely not. The Captain and I are more than enough to handle him.
The team was split up to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances. It was unlikely to end with just this one guy, and we still had data to find.
So, what would the other three do? Rescue the people.
What’s needed right now? A safe escape route for them.
The distance from the prison to the elevator entrance wasn't that far. Just two corners to turn, and they’d be there.
Of course, they might encounter enemies along the way, but that was a problem I couldn't solve for them. At the very least, the White Mercenary Corps should be able to handle that much on their own.
Besides him, it didn't seem like there would be any other powerful enemies. At most, they’d be soldiers, mages, or low-ranking knights.
The order came out of my mouth naturally.
“Reinhardt, Seamus, Adness, focus on getting these people out of here!”
“What? How? That bastard is blocking the entrance.”
“We'll make a path. And set off the flare once you’re outside the base. There’s a wide-range disruption magic field around here, so you’ll have to go far to set it off. Or find another way.”
As I gave the order, I met Peri Batoni’s eyes, who was facing off against the man. He nodded, seemingly sharing the same thought.
“Reinhardt. You take command.”
“Captain…”
“Heh heh… I see right through you. All you little rats think alike.”
“If you know, then get out of the way—!”
Peri Batoni swung his sword, its blade wreathed in a powerful aura, while Kratos rammed his shoulder into the man’s abdomen with all his might.
“Now!”
“Everyone, run—!”
The man was knocked to the far end of the long corridor, creating an opening. People hoisted whomever they could onto their backs and dashed down the hall.
This was perhaps their last chance at survival. They had all seen what happened to the others in this hellish place—treated worse than beasts, used as materials for experiments.
To avoid such a fate, everyone sprinted down the corridor with all their strength.
“Hmph… I can deal with them later.”
The knight pushed himself up and swung his sword, clearing away the dust.
They were strong. One was a Sword Master. The other, while maybe not a Sword Master, was strong enough to send him flying with a simple shoulder charge.
They were worthy opponents.
“I am Rattle, a knight of the Imperial Central Intelligence Bureau. What are your names? I’ll at least hear your names before I kill you.”
“A kniiight? Don't make me laugh! A knight? You're worse than a mosquito, sucking demonic energy from the sacrifices of your own people! What kind of knight is that! Has the meaning of 'knight' changed these days? You’re just a test subject. Test Subject 1! I have no name to give to the likes of you!”
Kratos’s sharp tongue struck the man like a dagger.
To speak of a knight's duel after forcibly sacrificing his own people, to have no semblance of a moral compass. It was utterly repulsive.
*Rumble—*
The man’s body trembled with surging rage, unleashing demonic energy that tore into the walls as if it were alive.
“Well, now. I thought you were just good with your body, but that tongue of yours is quite a weapon too, isn’t it?”
Peri Batoni burst into laughter, unfitting for the situation, as if he was growing more fond of Kratos by the minute.
“That’s right, he's no knight. Not unless any dog or cow can call themselves a knight these days.”
“Graaaaaaah—! You—! If it wasn’t for that explosion! That damn corpse from the capital! If it wasn’t for that damn explosion!”
“Huh? Corpse explosion?”
At the mention of a corpse explosion, Kratos’s lips twitched as if he remembered something.
“Ah. You mean that bomb I stuck inside the enhanced human’s cracked skull?”
“How do you know about that… Don’t tell me?”
“Puhahahahahaha—”
He laughed so hard his stomach hurt. Who would have thought that portal would lead here?
He’d done it with a ‘screw you, wherever this leads’ attitude.
“I was the one who did that. Wow. I really sent it flying in style, huh? So that’s why the chimera escaped. Because of that explosion.”
At those words, the man seemed to lose what was left of his sanity, swinging his sword wildly as demonic energy billowed around him.
“You—! You—! Because of you!!”
That single explosion had ruined his entire life. His life as a knight. His life as an ordinary person.
“Cut the crap. The people you used as materials never even had that chance.”
*Crack—!*
The hammer slammed into the man's side, cracking his armor. Dark red blood trickled from the gap.
However, the armor mended itself as if it were a living creature, and the wound healed in less than a minute.
“I am not a monster. I just… just… *Grk*.”
Rattle, who had identified himself as a knight, began to speak less and less as his sanity slipped away. Soon, his eyes lost their focus, and only beast-like roars escaped his lips.
It wasn't as if he suddenly stopped being a knight. It was obvious the demonic energy had seeped into his brain and consumed his reason.
What an idiot.
“Grrrr—”
Simultaneously, the crimson demonic energy began to expand, its color deepening to an almost pure red.
“Well, look at that. He’s become a real monster.”
Whatever experiment that man had undergone, it was clearly a failure. A being that had lost its reason was no different from a beast.
***
Victor Braak clawed at his head, writhing in agony as a splitting pain tore through his mind. The data he had been organizing in case of an emergency scattered across the floor.
It was data he absolutely had to take with him, even if he had to escape to another research facility through the emergency exit. With this data, he could produce an even more improved version.
Not the half-baked one currently fighting those intruders. It should have been given enough time for demonic energy infusion and stabilization, but the raid had left him with no time.
It was a success, but only a success. Just up to the intended level.
“Ugh—”
Perhaps due to his exposure to the condensed demonic energy from the recent experiment, the demonic energy within his own body was running rampant, making him feel like he was dying.
Even the wound he had sustained back then was reacting to the demonic energy, further aggravating the pain in his head.
An unbearable agony, as if his entire head was being pierced by needles, washed over him.
“Hoo… Hoo.”
He gasped for breath, but nothing improved. It was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress the rage boiling inside his chest.
“Aaargh—!”
An impulse to destroy everything in sight consumed his entire body. Everything he saw was a source of rage.
“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.”
He didn't know why that memory from the past suddenly surfaced, but it was advice Prometheus had given him during his days as a mere researcher for the Empire.
At the time, he hadn’t understood what it meant. Or rather, even if he had a vague idea, he had simply brushed it aside. He thought he was someone who could control and manage such things himself.
He believed it was necessary for the Empire. If his research could help the Empire advance and improve the lives of its people!
“Always be careful that the abyss does not gaze into you. What a tragedy it would be if a talented individual like yourself were to fall into the abyss.”
He swept everything off his desk and punched the mirror, but it only amplified his rage instead of diminishing it.
“You know nothing… Nothing. Nothing at all!”
In the shattered mirror, the dozen or so reflections of his face each wore a different expression.
“Why can’t I be Da Vinci? Why?”
He saw the expressions in the broken mirror. None of them showed his original self.
They were all dark and red. And their faces were filled with rage.
“Hah. What’s so bad about the abyss…”
For over a decade, he had striven endlessly to become a great researcher. He had sacrificed everything. But in the end, nothing remained.
He shattered the fragmented mirror once more. In the pieces that rained down to the floor, his reflection was mocking him. Even though he himself wasn't smiling.
“It’s not about the abyss gazing into me. I... will become the abyss. The abyss itself.”
Once he reached that conclusion, the splitting headache that had tormented him began to fade. In its place, euphoria and joy filled him.
Why had he only tried to research and use the abyss? When he could just become the abyss itself.
That would solve everything.
He opened the lids of the demonic energy containers in the lab and poured them directly over his head. When that wasn't enough, he devoured all the other demonic energy extracted from the nearby town.
“D-Director! What are you—!”
Seeing Victor Braak suddenly drink the condensed demonic energy, the researchers turned pale and tried to stop him, but they were sent flying into a wall by a swing of his arm.
“This is insane! Everyone, run! Run!”
“Ahhh—yes. This is the feeling. This is it. It’s amazing.”
With each intake of demonic energy, his rage subsided and swelled, again and again, steadily expanding his vessel.
He didn't know why he hadn't used this method sooner. Something this good. How much stronger could he become when he had consumed all the demonic energy?
The thought that he might gain power comparable to a god raised its head.
“I will become the abyss and devour everything. Every continent… Everything. Heh heh. No one will ever look down on me again.”
To head toward where he felt the most rage, Victor Braak shot up to the surface through the emergency exit. Once above ground, he could clearly feel the aura of rage from all directions.
It was an irresistibly attractive aura, a delicious taste. His tongue instinctively licked his lips.
“Director…?”
The security forces rushed over at the sudden appearance of Victor Braak, but upon seeing his crimson eyes, they recoiled and stepped back.
*Swoosh—*
Tentacle-like extensions of demonic energy shot out from his body and pierced the surrounding guards, draining them of all their energy.
A few seconds. That was all it took for the dozen or so pierced guards to turn into mummified husks without even screaming.
The soldiers fled, but he paid them no mind and began walking toward the place where he felt the most demonic energy.
“Not enough…”
He was hungry. He felt as if he could devour everything.
***
“Low!”
As Peri Batoni blocked the man’s sword, Kratos swung his hammer at the back of the man’s knees.
The man’s knees buckled, and he brought his sword down from above, but the demonic energy that erupted from the blade knocked Peri Batoni’s sword away.
“Damn this demonic energy.”
It would have been difficult to face such an opponent alone while protecting the others. Especially since it had been quite a while since he’d been in a real battle.
A painful mistake. He should never have let go of his sword, even if it meant just practicing, let alone real combat.
In contrast, Kratos was remarkably quick on his feet. Decisive, too. It was as if he never hesitated. Either that, or he had anticipated this situation.
What would he have done? He would have deliberated over whether this was the optimal course of action before reaching a conclusion. He probably would have wasted at least five more minutes thinking.
But that man still hadn't lost his composure. It was almost strange to see him cracking jokes and acting so relaxed even in a situation like this.
“Tch. Again?”
Kratos threw the sword, which had been snapped in half after clashing with the man's blade, to the floor. He had picked it up because it seemed decent enough, but it had broken far too easily.
“This is why I can’t use swords. I just can’t. Hah, really.”
An ordinary sword was far too fragile to contain his immense strength.
He gripped the hammer with both hands. Spiritual power rippled along its length.
Seeing that light for the first time, Peri Batoni murmured quietly.
“A gray light.”
It was a strange, gray aura, the likes of which he had never seen before. A whitish-gray rather than blackish. It must have looked gray because it was mixed with black, yet it didn't feel repulsive.
When the sword and hammer clashed, the massive greatsword began to give way.
A battle of monstrous strength against monstrous strength. Just clashing blades with the man made his own hands ache, yet this man was meeting the sword so effortlessly.
“You can’t beat me.”
Kratos hadn't fought alongside Peri Batoni because he thought he would lose.
A being tainted by demonic energy? He was stronger than Kratos, but it didn't matter. With spiritual power added to the energy of Annihilate Evil, if he fought with all his might, ready to die, he was confident he could win.
Besides, this wasn't a knight with his wits about him, but a mere beast swinging a sword, having lost all reason.
There was only one reason he fought with him. Fighting together was a more efficient use of their strength and a way to save time.
In times like these, one had to conserve strength efficiently. It wouldn't do to go all out and then be defeated in the next battle.
This wasn't some kind of championship match.
***
“It’s confirmed. They went to the research facility. We will proceed with the plan as is.”
The man in the coat finished his report and began to release demonic energy. Slowly. And secretly, down into the ground.
“All of you, become fertilizer for the greater good.”