The Grotesque Powers
So I decided to conduct further investigation alongside Michelle.
'Battlefield control like this is merely an extension of what the Diagrams of Mystery carried out under noble authority during America's formative years and the Western frontier era. Now, algorithmic pioneering and enlightenment drive societal, political, and economic progress, but it's always accompanied by their arrogant insistence on imposing social conformity, deeming loyalty to society a virtue and a mark of intelligence. Yet when facing superiors beyond their reach, they suppress their true nature—just as humanity always has—to chase maximum efficiency. Every goal they pursue boils down to one thing: currying favor with exalted beings like myself. Everything else is just a tool to unleash their innate depravity.'
We were moving toward the outpost near the soldiers on watch at the front lines.
'This presence...'
"Minister, something feels off..."
"It's fine. Tell me what you're sensing. You're not one for jokes, so there's no reason not to take you seriously."
"Something... like my own wavelength, mixed with... something alien, yet carrying the aura of Strange Zombies."
"Separately? Or together?"
"Separately."
"Looks like the frontline guards have turned traitor. Who knew they'd put silencers to such good use at a time like this."
Of course, they knew I could lock all weapons via ID restrictions, rendering them unusable. But since they might not be traitors, I couldn't just trigger the lockdown rashly.
Phineas side—camp outskirts alley, 10 minutes prior
Rumble rumble rumble
Clack
Clack
Clack
"Damn it all, US troops scouting here. Surrounding us this quickly!"
The soldiers who'd insisted on scouting the outskirts instead of enjoying New Year's with Minister and his aide's protection were all traitors, as expected. They'd slaughtered the local residents, secretly incinerating the bodies, and now had their guns trained on us.
"Fuck you, Jefferson! You got my father killed!"
"Oh, Martin Kendrick Lennox, you pulled the trigger yourself. Can't put it that way. No one even knows about the Diagrams of Mystery, and you're the one who did the killing. That'll draw all the attention. You're in no position to threaten us."
"Summoning Strange Zombies to build a new system? That's unreliable, Joseph Hilden Jefferson. Do you really want to reframe superpowers as magic? So everyone thinks it's a simple formula they can copy, then you kick away the ladder?"
I provoked him, and he scowled deeply before replying.
"The Lennox siblings control the battlefield just like early America and the frontier days. I'm just pouring gasoline on it. Humanity's full of envy, hating to see others succeed, terrified of falling behind. Turn that fear into money, and they'll find hope there!"
Bang
Bang
Bang
Invisible shots flew at Lennox from concealed positions, but my high-speed maneuvers and reflexes deflected them all aside.
'Revolver rounds. Probably five- or six-shot, but could be dual-wielded. Can't rush in yet.'
Shrrrr
"And hope enables many things. Even power, murder, plunder, exploitation, violence. They believe money is evil, so anything without it must be good."
Then Strange Zombies emerged, their matter seeping into the ground, slowly encircling us. Even detached cells flew to block escapes, infiltrating bodies to destroy from within.
"Kuhuhuhuhu..."
"Urgh..."
Terry Billis Opalich, Andrew Lewis Milo, and James Clark Devra collapsed in terror and agony. The four ex-hippie terrorists—Zillut Compbrick, Casey Gresfallen, Nutisl Hipotener, and Helen Sandra—who'd been rescued, had nearly died isolated on HX-1547 as civilians. They fainted outright.
"Why? Because those who shun money are seen as selfless. Yet they unquestioningly claim their earnings are justified. Get it? I'm not doing this for money, so I'm righteous and good. Humans exist to work—that's their nature. They have no reasons; they pride themselves on never doubting because they're so smart!"
"When will you realize? The more the wealthy demand loyalty and independent thought, the more value they hold. Hoarding alone leaves nothing. It's not limited to money. Humanity long ago surrendered free will. And that surrender stems from everyone thinking alike. No one truly thinks—that outsources their conscience, faith, efficiency, and respect. Humanity cynically laments the lack of great leaders, craving them. You see only their dogmatic fanaticism, ignoring their duplicitous, hypocritical contradictions. Better to grant them outsourced freedom, liberate them to natural liberty! They at least show minimal reverence to the good they've outsourced through hypocrisy. Unlike you, they don't fully identify with their institutions. This extends beyond money, which they see not just as barter convenience but as bearing intrinsic value."
"Prove it then. Why bother controlling worthless humanity through battlefield oversight? If they're worthless, plot their extinction and rebuild! Watch how these arrogant humans, organized without thought or ego, demonize money while tormenting the poor for pleasure, delusionally deeming themselves clever!"
Whoosh
Joseph Hilden Jefferson unleashed Strange Zombies, followed by his private soldiers' assault.
At the same moment, Martin Kendrick Lennox stepped forward, enduring with sheer will, launching his attack and shouting.
"You think I'll tolerate you dictating humanity's limits through totalitarian dogma, oppressing them in that mental cage? You're my father's enemy, but by my thirst for freedom, utterly unforgivable! What you've stolen isn't just lives—it's everyone's liberty!"
Yet amid it, I pondered the sudden revolver rounds.
'What are they? My psionics detect nothing. Pure reflexes let me slice them... This is bad. Mass-produced, and it'll endanger the Minister and aide.'
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Traitor US troops, siding with Joseph, fired from all sides. Laden with psionics, the shots overwhelmed our durability—we dodged or deflected everything.
Whoosh
Whoosh
Whoosh
Clang
Clang
Clang
"Urgh... Angelique, what the hell! Why not kill them..."
"We'd die first! Everyone else is out cold already..."
"No, look over there!"
The bullets I deflected or dodged struck innocent civilians behind us. Not ordinary rounds—psionic-infused, they tore limbs instantly.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!!!!!"
"Th-this...!"
"We give what we get. Saving them changes nothing—they killed and burned the locals before we arrived."
"R-right? In a way, it's fair to the dead..."
Meanwhile, I sensed a faint presence.
'What? This psionic from outside...'
But as I registered it, a bullet struck my heart.
"Kuh!"
Whoosh
Boom
The single shot hurled me back into a utility pole.
"Kraaaaaagh!!!!"
Strange Zombies drew weapons and fired, but I uprooted the pole—roots and all—and hurled it at them laced with psionics at near-light speed.
Shrieeeeeek
"Kweeeeeek!!!!"
Splatter splatter splat
The 10-meter pole induced nuclear fission on impact, scattering the zombies skyward like autumn leaves, their bodies exploding into fragments.
"Dare challenge me? I'll slaughter you all."
Flash
Teleporting and near-light flight dazed the enemies.
Flash
Shwoooosh
Flash
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
"Urgh!!!"
"Grab him!!!"
Splat splat splat splat
I dodged gunfire, teleported before the ordering traitor officer, and unleashed merciless combos. He countered with martial arts, teleporting behind me—but my faster reflexes teleported me to his back for a knee kick that severed his neck.
Spluuuurt
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
The revolver rounds that hit me earlier flew again.
"Wha...!"
Whoosh
Whoooosh
Whoosh
Whish
I evaded supersonic with minimal motion.
Clack
"Die!"
Another traitor pressed a gun to my head, but I hand-chopped his arm off, shoved a Remington shotgun in his mouth, and fired.
Boom
Splat splat
Whoosh
Crunch crunch
I stomped his knee, using the recoil to dodge two-thirds of incoming shots and kick back the rest.
Vroooom
Boom
Boom
Booooom
Flash
I teleported out of sight, priming a counterattack.
"Wh-where!!"
Fwoosh
Fwoosh
Fwoosh
"Gaaaaaaaagh!!!!"
Splat splat boom
My piercing slashes and close-range shots shredded traitor bodies into near-light speed bone shrapnel, incinerating Strange Zombies, piercing torsos, exploding them, dissolving flesh to leave skeletons. Precision-tearing them nearly dead, another revolver round from blind spot struck true.
Bang
"Ugh...!"
Booooom
I flew back again, unable to evade.
Shwooo
I stabilized, rocketing upward.
Joseph approached, hurling a sharp beam.
Crack
I caught it, knee-kicked his jaw into a blood fountain—but the revolver shooter flanked me.
"Kuh!!!"
Splatter splatter
My spine snapped; I vomited blood.
Weeeeeen
Booooom
Joseph's vacuum waves flayed my skin with blood; my pale, unfocused eyes gleamed eerily.
Fwoosh
I seized his head, sharpening my hands, crushing.
"Uwaaaaaagh!!!!!"
Crunch crunch crunch
Splat splat
His head exploded, eyes and marrow cascading dozens of liters onto my pale face.
"Shit!!!"
Kraaack
Crack
Whish
"You...!"
It was Ivan Reofle Petrovsky. He'd jammed his red-hot revolver cylinder into my spine, burning flesh before yanking to sever it.
"Kuhuhuhu..."
"Kuh..."
I spun, grabbed his arm, ripped it lengthwise.
"Gaaaaaaaagh!!!!"
I kicked his jaw as he screamed; when his nape exposed, my right hand severed his head far away. Left hand pierced his heart, crushing it.
Booooom
"Eat this!!!"
I spun his body near-light speed for nuclear disassembly.
Zeeeeen
Boooooooom
Rumble rumble rumble
The fallout spawned a radioactive tornado, ravaging the outskirts. His spinning body atomized cell by cell.
"Kuh..."
"Hah..."
Only Martin Kendrick Lennox witnessed, legs trembling. Others succumbed to shell shock from the booms—ears bleeding, skulls vibrating uncontrollably.
My mangled body regenerated slowly, but blood wouldn't stop.
"Kuh..."
I grimaced, manually realigning my spine, squeezing flesh to staunch bleeding.
"Kuhuhuhu..."
"Huh?"
"Phineas Maxwell Angelique... No panic means you're formidable..."
"Joseph Hilden Jefferson..."
His mutter carried through his ravaged throat.
"The Diagrams of Mystery are obsolete... Even if you sway people with petty psionics... It just reduces the eyes humanity must evade."
Ivan, reduced to blood and marrow, spoke too.
"Better we all hate without reason, providing it anyway? Lunatics are all lunatics. No more, no less. Just whose name executes them."
"Humanity will bow to the Grotesque Powers, revering biases from their inadequacies. They'll force 'truths' on the weak for intelligence. No exceptions. That's sociality!"
"Even if they fanaticize uniformity as the world, hypocrites who show reverence can still redeem as good."
Then I noticed something odd. Why hadn't this devastation wrecked Mephauric?
'Huh...?'
Ziiiiing
Orange elixir-like orbs burst from people's hearts, gripping their consciousnesses.