Chapter 440
Chapter 440
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 440
Chapter Title: The Day of the Full Moon (4)
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Reflecting the moonlight, the metallic angel's sleek body was modeled after the beauty of a living creature, yet Sein and his party could sense the cold heartlessness hidden within.
Of course, Babel was beautiful.
But it was chillingly cold. Cold enough to freeze one's bones with a single glance.
Sein's Iron Ring Eyes whirred as they spun. His calculations were faster than ever, yet he felt it wasn't enough.
'What is this?'
It lacked the distinct aura one felt only from the powerful.
Instead, it exuded a steely composure that felt as if it would never waver, no matter how strong the opponent.
-Target set: No priority.
-Random target algorithm activated.
Babel's optical lens locked onto Lena.
No one could see the focus hidden behind its red panel, but one person—Lena's father, Witcher—threw himself forward.
“Watch out!”
Was choosing Lena over Kanya a form of psychic ability born from extreme fatherly love?
The choice was correct. As he pushed Lena aside, Witcher's body jolted to a stop.
Babel had closed the distance in an instant, its cold hand piercing through Witcher's chest.
“D-Dad?”
Lena's face turned pale.
Her mind teetered precariously on the brink of insanity.
“Daaaaaad!”
Blinded by rage, Kanya lunged at Babel.
-Enemy approach detected.
-Response type: Instant kill.
Babel vanished without even an afterimage, and Witcher's lifeless body collapsed.
Due to the extreme relativity created by its incredible speed, Kanya's brain couldn't process the incoming scenery in order.
In the illusion that Witcher had fallen first and Babel had appeared before her, only one thing was clear.
'I'm going to die.'
Screeeech!
Babel's hand-blade stopped before Kanya's neck with a chilling sound.
Over her shoulder, Sein stood in a combat stance, his Iron Ring Eyes spinning sharply.
The one Equilibrium he had managed to calculate, thanks to Witcher's death.
But Babel expanded its Aura Body, dismantling the calculation of intricately intertwined gears.
'Impossible...'
Equilibrium was the ultimate crowd control skill, simultaneously calculating both logic and emotion coefficients.
To dismantle such a personalized code in less than a second meant it hadn't used a preset program but had learned in that very moment.
'Not intuition. Is it a probabilistic algorithm?'
A method of reaching a conclusion by repeatedly running random numbers to understand a target.
No matter how much of a savant Sein was, he had to admit that Babel's processing speed was on an entirely different level.
“Get back.”
Sein said curtly.
“B-But Dad...!”
“Now!”
There would be no second chance.
If she didn't understand even after this, she would die.
Fortunately, Kanya still had someone to protect. She desperately clung to her sanity and ran to Lena.
“Lena! This way!”
Even as she forcefully picked up the half-conscious Lena and fled, Babel didn't move.
Its optical lens was focused solely on Sein, analyzing his every move.
-Target: Human. Accuracy 99.8 percent.
-Type: Programmer.
-Result: Highest-level threat. Applying priority algorithm. Primary elimination target.
Babel's body slowly turned toward Sein.
The two beings, both unparalleled in their computational abilities, glared at each other, perceiving their opponent in their own different ways.
“Emergency! All hands, prepare for battle!”
Crude's voice echoed through the night sky as he ran toward the hangar.
* * *
The Clone Cultivation Room.
The two confidants sent by Racesis held a container of water, steeling themselves.
Now that the ingredients for the One-Day Elixir were secured, the things inside were nothing more than lumps of flesh.
The method Racesis had proposed was to submerge the corpse of the Acid Poison King, Muu-sa, in water.
Any living creature that inhaled the potent acid gas it produced would have its lungs dissolve and die within ten seconds.
There was plenty of time to get the job done and get out, but just starting it made them feel short of breath.
“Even one breath and it's over. Let's get this done quickly.”
“Tsk, still feels a bit off, though. Even if they are just clones.”
“What nonsense. Did you get attached to them or something? They're just livestock. Let's hurry up.”
Opening the steel door, a wave of hot air rushed out.
The cultivation room was just a large, spacious chamber, and the clones, oblivious to their impending doom, were absorbed in their own tasks.
The man who placed the container in the center took out Muu-sa's corpse. With a splash, the lump of flesh fell in, and the water began to boil violently.
“Let's go, quick.”
The two men, covering their noses and mouths with their collars, ran for the exit. White smoke began to billow from the container.
* * *
With Ikasa's help, Shirone and Plu escaped the cell and dashed through the underground corridors of the command center.
Since everyone was focused on the One-Day Elixir, there were no guards patrolling.
Of course, that was also because anyone who hadn't been let in on the core of the plan was already detained.
“We can just get rid of the agents, but the problem is Akamai. He'll become like a demon caught in a sealing formation.”
“We should be fine as long as Racesis doesn't notice. Let's go as fast as we can. Where is Garas?”
“I saw a map posted in the genetics research lab. Let's head there first.”
Plu retraced her steps from memory and entered the genetics lab.
While Plu deciphered the map on the wall, Shirone picked up a document from a lab desk.
Thanks to the Ultima System he was equipped with, just looking at the sentences converted the signals into a single code that was transmitted to him.
It was an experiment report containing information on the clones.
Knowing his own duplicate must be somewhere here, Shirone examined it carefully, but he couldn't get past the first page before his brow furrowed in disgust.
“How could they do this...? What do they think humans are?”
It described the vile process of mass-producing clones through a triangular mechanism involving Shirone, Plu, and Garas.
His hand, which had been flipping quickly through a page or two, flinched to a halt.
His eyes, slowly reading with the Ultima System, trembled in shock.
“Hey, senior. Have you read this file? The research data on clone cultivation.”
Plu, as if suffering from a headache, was focused on examining the huge map with one eye squinted.
“Senior.”
“...No. I only looked for what I needed. Ugh, this drone's decryption speed is too slow.”
Shirone let out a long sigh.
He wanted to tell her what he'd read in the document, but he couldn't bring himself to say the words.
'What should I do? I should probably tell her, though.'
“Found it. The Mormot Isolation Chamber. Luckily, it's not far.”
Plu hurried out of the lab.
They didn't know when Racesis would notice their escape, so every second was precious.
Shirone felt it was for the best. Sometimes, ignorance was bliss.
Following Plu, he arrived before a steel door that reached the ceiling.
She drew Phoenix from her Kubrick and cast a fire spell. The lock glowed red-hot before melting into molten metal.
As they grabbed the handles on either side and pulled, the door opened with a tremendous groan, revealing an extraordinary sight.
“My god...”
Like an ark from a great flood myth, all sorts of creatures were packed tightly into a 14-story apartment-like structure.
Walking to the end of the isolation chamber, they saw a container sealed not with steel bars, but with a glass wall.
Inside the two-meter-tall glass tube, a black creature the size of a human torso was squirming.
Garas, the King of Proliferation.
To be specially isolated even here, among so many other creatures, spoke volumes of its danger level.
Eight spider-like legs clung to the glass wall, and on the underside of its torso, a lip-like organ constantly gaped, as if about to spew something out.
A single eye sat atop its squishy head, its eyelid wide open, making it look startled.
“Is this... Garas?”
“Garas has no specific form. This appearance is just one individual from an infinite line of succession.”
Garas's squishy head folded in half, and its eye turned forward.
Shirone's skin crawled as he met the gaze of the creature, which wiped the membrane of its eyeball with its upper and lower eyelids.
One desire, thus one purpose.
This was why there could be creatures stronger than Garas, but no species stronger than Garas.
Garas turned its gaze to Plu, its superior intellect examining her species' characteristics.
When the creature, having understood something, narrowed its eyelid into what looked like a smile, Plu felt a surge of emotion.
The scene she had witnessed in the warehouse flashed through her mind, and her left temple began to throb. It was a terrible headache.
“Kiaaaaaaaah!”
At that moment, Garas shrieked, straightening all its legs stiff as spears.
“Whoa...!”
The force of it, as if it would burst out, made Shirone and Plu hastily lean back.
Only when they felt their backs damp with sweat did they realize how tense they had been.
“What should we do, senior? Are we really letting it out?”
To neutralize Akamai and stop the One-Day Elixir, they needed Garas's power.
But they couldn't bring themselves to open Pandora's box.
No, perhaps this was a gate to hell itself.
If Garas were freed, the command center would be annihilated.
Anything living would become a target for proliferation, and its numbers would inevitably increase exponentially.
“We still have to do it. We release it and run, no matter what. After we rescue the captured rebels, we'll strike at Racesis.”
It was the only way.
They weren't in a situation where they had the luxury to plan an exit strategy.
“Then... I'm opening it.”
Shirone's hand trembled as it reached for the lock.
With no one able to predict the consequences, he pressed the button, and the lock clicked open.
Confirming that, the two of them turned around simultaneously. Without daring to look back, they activated Teleport.
Crash! Kicking open the glass tube, Garas slithered out.
As it wobbled on its eight legs to find its balance, its body began to grow, adapting to the scale of the space.
“Kiaaaaaaaah!”
Naturally, the shriek grew louder. Shirone and Plu screamed, under the illusion that it was right next to them.
“Aaaaaah!”
As if on cue, they threw themselves sideways, rolling and slamming the steel door shut.
A moment later, piercing through the cacophony of thuds and bangs, the screams of countless creatures transmitted through the steel door.
Shirone was finally certain.
What he had opened was undoubtedly a gate to hell.
* * *
“You idiots!”
Racesis burst through the door.
Just as the researcher had reported, Shirone and Plu were gone.
Akamai, shriveled like a deflated balloon, lay forlornly on the ground, and inside the cell, only Ikasa remained, seated.
“I told you to check, didn't I?”
“W-well, because Akamai was here, we were preparing for the experiment...”
The researcher's face was sent flying with a sickening thud.
The attack was too fast to be seen, but Ikasa could see it.
The monstrous whip hidden beneath her cloak.
“Hmph, and you call that a body? Truly hideous. Even Gorgol, the ugliest of the Mara, is not as unsightly as you.”
Grrrrrr!
Racesis gritted her teeth, a savage growl escaping from between her clenched fangs.
“You dare critique my body, you weak little angel? Soon enough, you'll be inside my stomach as well.”
“Hohoho! Yes, you must be dying to have my beautiful body. But what can be done? It seems no matter what you do, there's no fixing that hideous appearance of yours.”
Ikasa's venomous words were relentless.
She could do nothing until the cause for the Valhalla Action was fulfilled, but an angel's pride was more sacred than death.
“I'll tear you to shreds!”
The ground rumbled with every step Racesis took.
Her skin turned red and her monstrous face was revealed as she charged the cell, her massive maw stretched wide.
“Kraaaaaaaah!”