Chapter 80: Song of the Faceless Ones (4)
Chapter 80: Song of the Faceless Ones (4)
I sat on a chunk of rock, watching Han A-bin and Irua distribute supplies to the people.
“I wish I could give you more, but we’re out for now! I’ll be back, so please wait until then!”
“Oh, my. I feel so bad taking this. Thank you, truly.”
I wondered why. Even after seeing the unique, distorted appearances of the ruin dwellers, Han A-bin remained composed, showing no sign of discomfort.
Was it because she was a former nurse? At the very least, she’d had a startled reaction when she first saw them. Now, her poker face was perfect.
Well, her hands were trembling ever so slightly. But that was something only someone like me would notice.
Canned food, clean water, and sturdy clothes made with Otherworld fibers to ensure they lasted—these were common items outside the Great Barrier, but the faces of those receiving them were bright with smiles.
UN support. With just that, a sense of certainty bloomed that people could truly survive even in the Contaminated Zones.
“So, this is where you were.”
A strangely syrupy, overly sweet voice. I already knew who it was, but I turned my head to look at her anyway.
“Al’shirin.”
Despite having a broken neck and a cracked forehead because of me, she approached with a beaming smile, showing no sign of hostility.
“How’s your neck?”
“Followers of the stars are resilient. We can survive even if our brains are blown out or our hearts burst.”
So, in other words, that octopus bastard won’t die even if I torment him? For someone claiming such resilience, that cast wrapped around her neck was quite conspicuous.
Perhaps she noticed where I was looking.
“Are you referring to the cast? You snapped it so cleanly that my head won’t stay upright without it. I ask for your understanding.”
Kek, kek.
With a laugh that sounded like she was vomiting something stuck in her throat, her skin flushed a shade of pink.
What a fascinating race.
I thought Al’shel, that Octopus Head, was the weird one, but it seems the entire species is like this. Always positively mad, a race that doesn't know how to hide their inner thoughts.
“Can you cast a spell to prevent sound from leaking out?”
“It is possible. But may I ask why?”
…I suppose I have to hear it.
“The Entities at The End of the Story. I want to hear about them.”
the moment I uttered those words, her pink-tinted skin turned pitch black in an instant. Was merely bringing up the subject that terrifying?
Despite her reaction, she obediently moved her tentacles. Otherworldly Power spread rapidly, staining the surrounding air.
“What is it you are curious about?”
“Everything.”
“Even if you say everything, I have no way of knowing the gap in knowledge between myself and you, Ha-ram.”
“Our world has no knowledge of the ‘Entities at The End of the Story’ at all.”
There was no way we would be ignorant of such vital information. I had scoured the knowledge of countless enemies and listened to their stories.
And yet, this was information I didn't have.
However, that octopus had called it the most basic information.
That meant something was different.
“You said it’s information that should have been known when the invasion first began.”
“Yes.”
“Then, were you an invader? Or were you from a world that was invaded, like Earth?”
“….”
Her skin began to swirl with mystical colors. Like a polluted river, her skin shifted through various hues. I simply watched the spectacle of her colors changing brilliantly, giving her time to steel herself.
“We were an invaded world.”
“And The End?”
The shifting colors stopped.
Black.
“We could not withstand the Waves of the Otherworld. Eventually, a hole was torn open, and our entire world was absorbed.”
I see. So she’s a survivor. It’s possible that octopus bastard is a survivor too, surprisingly enough.
“There’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“What is your question?”
“What happens to the remaining survivors?”
I threw her the question that had gone unanswered for a long time.
Even if a world becomes contaminated, humans don't just suddenly drop dead. Humans dying is merely a byproduct of the invaders clearing obstacles during the invasion process.
So, what happens when the entire world is swallowed by the Otherworld?
Since there were no samples, this was a topic of constant debate within the Management Bureau.
“…That is a cruel question to ask in front of a survivor.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Being called cruel while extracting information from an enemy is nothing but praise.
Was she surprised by my nonchalance? She gave a hollow, bitter smile and opened her mouth.
“They become unwilling invaders, like me. Their world becomes a factory that produces such invasion weapons.”
Invaders, huh.
“Since you say ‘unwilling,’ I assume it’s forced.”
“Yes. That is where the dominance of the Entities at The End of the Story I mentioned earlier comes in. Even if we do not wish it, we become soldiers used to expand the Otherworld.”
“The reason I haven't heard this from other Mutants—is it because they aren't survivors like you?”
“Yes. They were Otherworldly beings from birth. They live for the Entities at The End of the Story, and they die for them.”
She fell silent for a moment after saying that. Her mouth twitched as if she were about to correct herself.
“…No, it is slightly different. They do not perceive the Entities at The End of the Story. They simply do what they do because they have lived that way since birth.”
I understood what she meant.
Regardless of any entity’s dominance, they acted that way because they were born and raised in such a society. It was their "natural."
However, that created a discrepancy in her words.
“Then why did you stop invading and start protecting people like this? Weren't you being forcibly controlled?”
“Before I answer that, may I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Is it truly true that you do not know of the Entities at The End of the Story? When the first hole opened and they appeared, they should have announced themselves as the ones who exist at The End of the Story.”
White spots began to appear on her black skin. Small spots.
Normally, such an appearance should have been repulsive, but instead, it looked beautiful. Like a figure trying to rise from despair.
“Yeah. We know nothing about such entities. We don't even know why these incidents are happening.”
“Could it be that you are too young to know? Based on what I have seen of the people of this world, you seem very young.”
…I shouldn't get angry.
“I may look like this, but I’m over forty. I’m a veteran who awakened and fought from the very first day of the invasion. If I don't know, then probably no one in this world does.”
The white spots that had risen on her skin spread, covering the black and changing her color entirely.
“O stars in the heavens, thank you! Finally! Finally, a world like this!”
The white octopus waved her tentacles, expressing her joy with her entire body.
Tentacles flailing in every direction.
Her black clothes fluttering.
Sticky mucus splattering toward me.
“No wonder my reason returned when I entered this world! I thought the connection had just gone haywire! To think this is truly a world they cannot observe!”
Isn't she being a bit too happy? Thanks to the mucus you’re spraying so enthusiastically, my hair is now stained green.
“This is no time for this. I must immediately establish peace with the people of this world! I cannot let a land of such sanctuary fall into the hands of those damn pieces of trash!”
“‘Damn pieces of trash’? Weren't they something like your bosses?”
She looked so excited that I didn't feel like stopping her.
“That was the polite version. In our world, we have an insult that goes ‘??? ???? ? ??? ??? ????’ and that’s exactly what they are!”
I didn't know what it meant, but judging by her tone, it wasn't anything good.
“What does it mean?”
“A smooth-mucus-headed bastard who’ll die without ever getting to use a tentacle in his life.”
The fact that a certain Octopus Head immediately came to mind was probably just due to a simple tribal similarity.
I watched her for a while, but since her dance of joy showed no signs of ending, I grabbed her sticky hand to stop her.
“What is the matter?”
“I still have questions.”
“Please, ask away. Right now, I feel like I could even tell you the viscosity of my skin.”
I’m not curious about that.
“The Entities at The End of the Story. What are they? And how can they be defeated?”
Thirty years. I had finally reached this point. The Key that could end this entire situation. Give me the answer.
“I do not know.”
Are you kidding me?
“You were acting like you knew everything just a moment ago. What? You don't know?”
“I only know that such entities exist. You know how it is, right? Scum that you know exists, but you don't know exactly what they are. That’s what they are.”
Unbelievable.
Just when I thought I had grasped something, it vanished again. Should I at least be glad that I have a new goal to aim for?
My head was getting unnecessarily complicated.
Restoring justice.
Training my disciples.
And now, the Entities at The End of the Story.
…And then there was the Thunder God.
Emptying my cluttered mind, I watched the bizarre dance before me.
The dance of an octopus, waving tentacles and scattering mucus.
It was a chaotic dance without any rhythm, yet a strange regularity could be felt within the mess. Should I call it beauty?
If you looked closely, the scattering mucus almost looked like stars.
“Star Maiden. If I had to give you a title, is that what you’d be?”
“Oh? How did you know my official title?”
I had just muttered it randomly. So she really was one of those.
Looking at her now, she seemed like quite a waste. We communicated better than expected, and she was quite capable in various ways.
Maybe I felt that way more because I had that Octopus Head to compare her to.
…The more pawns, the better.
“What do you plan to do?”
“I heard there is an organization called the Management Bureau under the UN outside the Great Barrier? Seeing as they haven't been defeated yet, they must be a competent organization. I shall entrust myself to them…”
I wouldn't recommend that.
“If you want to live like a normal person without ever using your power again, then go ahead.”
The moment I said that, her movements stiffened.
As the dance stopped, the stars that had been fluttering in the air turned back into mucus, soiling the ground.
“What do you mean by that?”
As I thought, she really was of that octopus race. She couldn't live in peace. Even now, her fighting spirit was boiling over like crazy.
“How do you think the Mutants who entrusted themselves to the Management Bureau are living?”
“Did you not say you had a friend? Surely they are implementing an integration policy…”
“The head and the heart.”
“Pardon?”
“They are fitted with machines to block Otherworldly Power and forced to blend into society.”
Slowly, she moved her hand to stroke her chest.
“For you, even that might be difficult. No matter how you hide it with clothes, you don't look human at all.”
“….”
“Most likely, you’ll end up as a creature living in the basement of the Management Bureau, giving advice or having magic extracted from you…”
Crunch.
Her skin flushed red. A glowing staff appeared in each of her tentacles, and the two hands attached to her human-like torso grabbed my collar.
I could feel an endless fighting spirit radiating from her.
I didn't know the lifespan of this creature, but the moment the resentment she had built up over a long time was about to ignite as fuel, it was forcibly suppressed.
In that case, where would that emotion go?
“I. Want. To. Fight.”
Smoldering rage. Swallowed by that emotion, she didn't even seem to know who she was attacking anymore.
“Then, if I provide the battlefield and the position, can you fight?”
My mouth split into a grin.
Wide. Wider. Dark. Darker still.
“If I can burn this rage, then anywhere.”
She was easier than I thought. Is her true nature the same as that octopus?
“Even if it means becoming an enemy of humanity?”
Her head tilted slightly. Her face leaned to the right, shattering the cast around her neck.
“Are we. Betraying. The world?”
“No. We protect the world in our own way.”
“What about. The people. In the settlement?”
She’s kind. Even in this situation, she worries about the residents of the settlement.
“I’ll provide a place where they can live.”
I have enough money for that.
“Very well. If it is a place where I can burn my rage. Anywhere. I swear it by the stars and my mother.”
Good. Very good.
I reached out and grabbed the Pry Bar from the air.
“Ah?”
Her rage—the Otherworldly Power she was manifesting—was sucked in.
Her red rage transformed into a black dress, staining the inside of the narrow barrier she had deployed pitch black.
“Linshua. Come out.”
Pop.
With the sound of a small puddle splashing, my cute daughter rose from beneath the Black Shadow.
With her jet-black hair fluttering, she—who had assimilated with my Black Particles—stuck close to my side and spoke.
“Since when did you know?”
“Your attempt at hiding your presence was clumsy. I’ve known since we left.”
“Then I guess I wasn't caught until then!”
Had she been watching since even before that?
“Ah. Uah. Aaaaaah.”
While I was celebrating the reunion with my daughter after a while, a rough voice was heard.
It was the voice of Al’shirin, who had been stripped of her Otherworldly Power and was now mesmerized by the being before her.
“Let me introduce her. My daughter, Linshua. She is the leader of the organization that protects the world: The Society.”
Though she insists it’s for conquest.
“I’m Linshua! Nice to meet you, octopus friend!”
Following my introduction, my black daughter skipped forward and reached out her hand to the octopus.
“Uh. Ah? Eh? Nice to meet you?”
In the midst of this bewildering situation, she took the hand. The hand of the ruler she had wanted to avoid so badly.
“Sorry. I thought you were a mindless one like the others! I should have said something sooner.”
“Uh. No. It’s fine. You have very beautiful eyes…”
Was she truly being dominated, or was that her honest feeling? I threw the final question of the day to her, who had suddenly become docile.
“Is my daughter… an Entity at The End of the Story?”
“She’s… a bit different. Now that I’m facing her like this, rather than a sense of compulsion… I feel like I want to be friends with her…”
That’s a relief.
It seems I won't have to scold Linshua.
Thinking it was a good thing, I smiled at my daughter. Linshua smiled back in return.