8. Tasha
-Dagon>“Hehe…….”
Upon returning to their lodgings, Steel immediately discovered Sian on the bed, making a pleased expression.
“Little brother, did something happen? You look happy?”
“Hehe. I found something good.”
With that, Sian showed her a necklace and ring she had never seen before.
“Huh? Isn’t that from yesterday, the one from Aksarai? Where did you get that?”
Steel asked back, sounding intrigued.
“I found it on the road. Hehehehe.”
“Hmm… You’ve got far better luck with items than I thought, little brother?”
“Huhu. Fortune follows the proactive, after all.”
“Right. Since you don’t hesitate to loot, either. If little brother takes it, it was meant to be taken, I suppose.”
“…
By the way, Lady Steel, you look happy too. Did something happen?”
“Hmm… Nothing much. It seemed like they were building something interesting nearby… So I went to take a look.”
“…
You didn’t go and destroy anything, did you?”
Lady Steel’s idea of a spectacle was slightly different from that of ordinary people, so Sian’s worry took precedence.
“Huhu. Little brother, what do you take me for? I went to see the formation they are building outside. It piqued my interest. Upon inspection… It seemed a bit of a waste to destroy it just now.”
Steel smiled meaningfully.
Sian became extremely anxious.
When Steel was in that good of a mood… Trouble was sure to follow.☆ ☆ ☆
“Lord Rivias, you have arrived.”
Dekaduin greeted Rivias respectfully.
Rivias looked at Dekaduin indifferently before getting to the point.
“What do I need to do?”
Rivias looked at Dekaduin indifferently.
“It is simple. Please supply energy with your ‘Path’ from the center of the formation. We will handle the rest ourselves.”
“Good, I like it simple. Still, impressive. To think you can actually activate it. Are you sure it’s safe?”
Rivias looked at him with a doubtful expression.
Although it was called an experiment and installed at a smaller scale than its original purpose, if it remained open and wouldn’t close, it would be catastrophic.
“Huhu. Lord Takion designed it, and it was completed with otherworldly knowledge. It is perfect.”
“Well… That old man Takion is certainly clever. Where is that fellow Ragaope now?”
“Hmm… The thing is, he apparently had some trouble taking the newcomer along… but they say he succeeded.”
“Hya… That newcomer is incredible. Bringing Barakuna here?”
Rivias looked at Dekaduin with surprised eyes.
He knew Barakuna too. In his younger, more hot-blooded days, he had once taken a boat out intending to slaughter it.
No joke, he had nearly died back then.
Part of it was a bad matchup and the environment was unfavorable, but above all, it was simply strong.
He likely would have lost even if they had fought on land.
Yet now someone was taming such a creature.
“He’s a promising one. I like him.”
Well, from what he heard, the newcomer wasn’t a superhuman yet, but so what.
With that level of ability, he could be acknowledged as a comrade.
“Then… when will they arrive here?”
“Tomorrow. Around two o’clock tomorrow…….”
“Good, good! Let’s go right away.”
Rivias smiled brightly, thinking he was in for a good show.☆ ☆ ☆
“Lady Steel, you look even happier than yesterday.”
“Huhu. Do I?” ‘Yes. Which is why I am very anxious right now.’ Sian swallowed those words.
Because while bored yesterday, he had read Aksarai and come across Lady Steel’s nickname therein.
And now, she looked unbelievably happy.
It was a day when something felt like it would explode.
“Hey! You con artist over there!”
It couldn’t have been a call meant for someone who had lived an upright life, so as Sian walked on, someone roughly called out to him once more.
“You there, the one who stole the necklace yesterday!”
“Oh my! Little brother Sian, now you’re doing all sorts of things.”
“I obtained it fair and square. Please don’t misunderstand.”
Certain he was the one being called, Sian turned around.
“Hmm… Is there something you need?”
Sian answered quietly, as he wished to get entangled in nothing today.
“Hey! I brought twenty thousand Talents, so hand the necklace back over!”
“Hey… Kurin, stop.”
Unexpectedly, the woman who had called out to him so roughly was not a blonde or a redhead, but a blue-haired woman.
On the contrary, the two women on either side were trying to restrain the woman named Kurin.
“Huhu. Our little brother Sian must look very easy. All sorts of things are coming his way.”
Steel laughed as if amused.
“Hmm… I’m sorry, but didn’t you clearly say yesterday that if you had no money, you would compensate with goods? And didn’t you tell me to take roughly twenty thousand Talents’ worth on my own? Even so, I only took the necklace and the ring.”
“Hey! You approached me knowing what it was! That is… It’s worth over twenty million Talents!”
Kurin was so furious she couldn’t continue.
It was true that she had told him to take what he wanted.
She had thought that if he took equipment, he would go for swords or armor.
But the
Dazed by the unexpected situation, she had failed to stop him from taking it and lost it.
“Huk… Twenty million…….”
Not knowing it was worth that much, Sian felt a slight pang of conscience.
Besides, it was true that he had approached her knowing its value.
But he absolutely could not return it.
Because this was something he absolutely needed.
Since he had already felt slightly guilty since yesterday, he couldn’t very well tell her to do her worst or come at him if she had a problem, so Sian fell into dilemma.
“Huhu. Little brother, shall I help you once more?”
“Hmm? Lady Steel, I have no intention of beating anyone up. You don’t need to beat them up for me, either.”
“I know, I know. If I wanted to hit them, I would have done so already. You’re feeling guilty right now, aren’t you?”
“Ugh…….”
Sian’s face twisted as she hit the mark.
He had been worried because he had overdone things because of his brother.
“Huhu… Just wait.”
Then Steel strolled over toward the woman named Kurin.
“Girls, the reason you need that necklace is to protect the fledgling behind you, right?”
“Ugh… Yes.”
Sian looked easy to deal with on the outside, so she could afford to be somewhat aggressive, but the woman before her was someone she simply could not. Thus, Kurin found herself speaking respectfully without realizing it.
Because it felt like she would be ripped apart if she misspoke.
“Then I shall offer a solution. If that necklace is meant to save a life once anyway… How about our little brother here protecting your lives once when you are in danger?”
“Hmm… Lady Steel? If you make such a promise rashly… I can’t follow them around twenty-four hours a day.”
Worried that it was too hasty a promise, Sian spoke up.
But Steel talked as if there were no problem at all.
“Twenty-four hours? Huhu. Shall I make a prophecy?”
“Uh… Why do I suddenly not want to hear it?”
“No. You girls listen too. From now on, you will… hm, yes… within the hour, you will ask our little brother to honor that promise. I guarantee it.”
Only then did Sian look at Steel with a slightly serious expression.
Steel had gone somewhere yesterday and seen something.
Meanwhile, the four before Sian made incredulous expressions.
The woman before them was terrifying, but they also prided themselves on being fairly capable.
Wondering if this Steel woman meant that the man named Sian would stop her from killing them, they looked at the man’s expression, but that didn’t seem to be it.
That meant they would truly be in a life-threatening crisis, and that this fellow named Sian had the ability to save them.
“Little brother, it’s a promise, right? Huhu. If you don’t feel guilty over something this easy, it’s a profitable deal.”
Hearing those words, Sian felt rather relieved instead.
“Huu…….”
Sighing and nodding, Sian suddenly whipped his head toward the outskirts of Kerbal.
And looked at Lady Steel.
“Lady Steel… Was that it?”
“Oh my, they moved faster than expected. They must have been in a hurry.”
Wondering what nonsense the pair before her were talking about, Kurin whipped her head in the direction the man named Sian was looking.
Something truly absurd could be felt from the outskirts of Kerbal.
Even from here, several kilometers away.☆ ☆ ☆
“Has Rimainu returned?”
“Yes. We have evacuated him safely.”
Dekaduin asked the arcane mage standing beside him.
Only his most loyal confidants remained here now.
Only the minimum personnel required to activate the formation.
“Good. Then… the moment Lord Rivias enters, we activate the formation and flee to La
-Shar
-Roa. Did you install the recording devices properly?”
“Yes. All thirty-six on the hill have been installed.”
“All measuring devices are installed as well… Good, let’s go.”
“Yes, Lord Dekaduin.”
Dekaduin led the arcane mages to the core position of the formation.
And in the center of the formation, Rivias watched the scene while yawning.
“Whew… Experiments by smart folks, I swear… Why do they need so much preparation.”
It had been a full hour since he had stood here before they finally started.
Still, thinking of drawing out his power for the first time in a while, an excited Rivias looked at the energy-supplying formation before him.
“So I just need to draw up power on top of this… Hehe.”
And Rivias began activating his Path,
Then the very laws within Rivias’s flesh, inside his body, began to distort.
His body’s durability increased.
New organs formed.
He transformed so that he could accelerate particles even with minimal energy.
An additional organ capable of controlling the massive flow generated by collision was created.
His body was gradually rearranged and rearranged again.
Into a structure suitable for creating a ‘Sun’ within his body.
Before long, a light that seemed ready to burst erupted from within Rivias’s body.
Rivias’s
Literally, it was like the sun.
Had Rimainu seen this sight, he would have been terrified.
A single human body was enacting nuclear fusion.
Truly enormous, sun-like energy surged around Rivias’s body.
But even that erupting energy could not escape the formation.
No, rather, as if it had found something to eat, it activated and voraciously began absorbing all energy.
“Kuk… Everyone be careful. Beware of Exar recoil!”
Dekaduin cried out, barely maintaining his center amidst the massive torrent of energy surging into the formation.
If they lost control here, it was over.
The experiment would succeed, but they would be engulfed by that massive flow and burned to the bone.
The arcane mages under him also seemed aware of the severity, controlling the energy with every ounce of their strength.
Their efforts were not in vain. Before long, the formation was filled with the enormous energy pouring from Rivias’s body, surging endlessly in a rough yet well-aligned state.
“Good… It’s done. Everyone run.”
Dekaduin began fleeing in a panic, afraid of being swept away.
Rivias in the center also took flight upon seeing them.
Though the people were all disappearing, the massive formation over a hundred meters in diameter did not vanish, continuously spewing out immense light.
At a certain moment, all the light above the formation began to be sucked toward the spot where Rivias had stood.
And in the empty air at the center of the formation, which had voraciously devoured all light, a red sphere floated up.
No, it was not a red sphere.
A red, so red hole.
Before long, that sphere, which had been the size of an adult’s head, explosively increased in size, eventually swallowing the entire formation spanning hundreds of meters and transforming into something over a kilometer wide.
A horrific great aberration, recorded nowhere and passed down only in Takion’s mind.
The gate of hell, ‘Tasha-Dagon,’ had opened.
In the ancient tongue, it meant ‘Gate of Hell.’
This name was given by the head of the Grand Arcane Society, Takion.
Hell did not actually exist.
It was simply because Takion thought that anyone who entered there would feel as if they had entered hell.
Only, after long research, Takion had discovered the existence of another dimension, and had had the opportunity to ‘coincidentally’ become acquainted with the beings living in that dimension.
Takion had abandoned contact with that dimension for two reasons.
One reason was that even if the Society of Law mobilized all its power, it still lacked the materials and knowledge needed to open a dimensional gate. The other was that if the beings living in that dimension crossed over, it would be far too dangerous.
But to simply give up was too much of a waste, considering how hard they had worked to discover the existence of another dimension.
A sharp blade may be dangerous, but it is bound to be useful somehow.
After wrestling with that problem, Tachyon changed his way of thinking.
But if they could create a dimensional gate of sufficient size and shove the target inside, they could kill it for certain.
No, if possible, it would be even better to open the dimensional gate directly around the target. There would be no need to push it in, so such an improvement was planned for later if Tasha-Dagon proved useful.
In that case, three advantages would arise.
First, the dimensional gate itself would prevent anything from coming out from within, weakening the target’s attacks.
Second, the beings living inside would attack the intruder, allowing them to aim for the effect of a joint assault.
Third, if things went badly, they could close the dimensional gate and throw the target into that dimension.
It was a miracle Tachyon had devised in preparation for the appearance of an enemy so powerful they could not even dream of facing it themselves, or for the appearance of Harijan.
Based on these advantages, Tachyon began his research, and he predicted that if this great miracle were completed, it would be like a gate leading into hell. Thus, he named it Tasha-Dagon.
But there was a problem.
Because there had never once been a connection made to another dimension, there was far too little data.
When even continuous research failed to produce any groundbreaking progress and Tachyon was gradually growing exhausted, that fellow appeared.
Rimainu.
A fellow who claimed he had come from another dimension.
Rimainu was grateful that the Society of Law was taking care of him, but Tachyon was far more grateful that he had suddenly appeared.
He promised full support and assisted with the research.
Fortunately, this man was considered intelligent even in that world, and because he had built up a system of knowledge completely different from theirs, he proved to be an enormous help.
The research accelerated again and again, and at last, based on the materials Rimainu had brought, Tachyon completed the great miracle he had only ever drawn in his mind—Tasha-Dagon.
It was complete, but two problems still remained.
One was how effective it would be.
The other was whether it would function properly as he predicted.
It was a miracle being attempted for the first time, so there was no telling what variables might arise.
That was why he prepared an experiment. Nothing was better than trying something out.
Since his own strength might be a little lacking, he contacted colleagues he had not kept in touch with.
They readily agreed to help.
If it worked as they expected, and if it could deal with something on Barakuna’s level, it would be a great success.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Hehe. Well, how about it, children? Wouldn’t it be better to start praying for me to spare your lives now?”
The fellow named Kelvin had long since fainted from the enormous flow of Exar spreading out from the outskirts.
The three women, including Kurin, were staring outside with grave expressions.
They could not tell how the situation was unfolding.
But one thing was perfectly clear.
They had to leave this city at once.
Still, at this level, it seemed they could escape for now.
That energy was enormous, but it bore no malice, and it did not yet seem to be exerting any particular influence. If they ran in the opposite direction, they should be able to get out without issue.
In a situation where it did not seem necessary to ask for help, Reka and Rinna hoisted Kelvin onto their backs and hurriedly tried to run in the direction opposite that energy.
At least, until they saw a mountain on the other side that had not been there before.
“Oh my, you’re going that way? Hehe… If that was your plan, you should have set out a little earlier.”
Kwoooooooo!
The unfamiliar mountain was letting out a monstrous roar as it approached this place.
The thing rising from the sea, sending up a gigantic tidal wave, was still easily several kilometers away, and yet it was visible.
And it was coming from precisely the direction that led out of this city.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Ugh…”
Kirat clutched the crown on his head.
His head was throbbing.
‘I really can’t do this twice…’
[Intelligence is attempting to regress.
[Intelligence is attempting to regress.
[Your body is being strained by excessive Exar usage. Current remaining amount: 35%]
[Due to the title
[An unknown energy has entered your body and is increasing your recovery speed. Exar recovery speed increased by 550%.]
[An unknown energy has entered your body and is assisting artifact usage.
Even with Ragaope helping him from behind and with all his skills activated, making it walk like this was the limit.
If Ragaope had not traded blows with Barakuna to create an opening for him to dominate this thing, the attempt itself would have failed outright.
Even while using such an incredible item, all he could do was barely make it walk… He could indirectly feel just how strong Barakuna was.
Ragaope, who had been pouring energy into Kirat from behind, spoke to him.
“How is it? It’s not easy, but it’s doable, right?”
“…
Yes.”
“Well… it’d be a little better if I did it, but that wouldn’t do. I’m not confident I’d be much better than you, either. Besides, you have to pull your own weight too. The previous Aksarai’s Accessor was truly amazing. And you’ll probably be able to do at least that much as well.”
Perhaps because he had been lonely all this time, Ragaope was quite talkative.
But Kirat did not have the leisure to focus on that.
He was busy controlling the senses, emotions, and instincts flooding into him from Barakuna.
Kill.>
Tear apart…>
Destroy…>
Eat.>
All sorts of ferocious emotions poured into Kirat, and while controlling them all, he was leading Barakuna toward Kerval, where
“…
If I just put this thing inside that Hell Gate, will that be the end of it for now?”
“Mm… That’s right. And then we’ll have to see what happens. Tachyon asked me to observe how effective it is.”
This Hell Gate had been made quite small compared to the original design.
If its effect did not come out as expected, this miracle would be discarded. If it proved useful, greater investment would be made.
‘The scale of their experiments is on another level…’
The things superhumans did were no joke, not even in the size of the tools they used for experiments.
‘And on top of that…’
By listening to them, Kirat had come to understand a certain amount about superhumans.
The Great Elder had been right.
They did not care about humans.
This experiment, too, was being carried out simply because one superhuman had nowhere to test the miracle he had created this time.
The reason they were installing it in Kerval was extremely simple as well.
Because it was convenient to drag Barakuna there, and because it was easy to transport the supplies needed for the experiment.
There was a city beside it with a population of tens, even hundreds of millions, yet they did not care about that at all.
The man before him was no different.
If he had not been Aksarai’s Accessor, he would have been killed by the man before him in an instant and had the crown taken from him.
He was only being cherished because he had value to be used.
But Kirat did not mind.
He was no different from them either.
He had only joined the organization because he thought he could make use of them, and he did not care about humans of another race either.
The moment Kirat steeled his heart, an information window appeared before his eyes.
[Lead
-Reward: Experience 270,000.
That was not the end.
A linked quest appeared after it.
[Quest: has occurred.]
[Will you accept? YES/NO]
Kirat was dumbfounded by the quest window that had suddenly appeared, but after reading its contents, he was filled with ecstasy.
“Mm? Kirat, you suddenly look incredibly happy.”
Ragaope looked at Kirat and asked.
At those words, Kirat answered with a bright smile.
“I’m just happy thinking that we’ve finally arrived.”
“Oh, right. I can see it now—Kerval. Good work.”
Seeing Kerval in the distance, Ragaope nodded.
Kirat stared at the red sphere visible far away.
A red sphere in which majestic Exar was swirling, yet which did not look especially dangerous on the surface.
“…
Is that really so dangerous?”
Kirat asked, puzzled.
Then Ragaope answered with a sly grin.
“Hehe. If it looked that dangerous, do you think this thing would try to crawl in there even if it’s being controlled? When Tasha-Dagon was made, even things like that were all taken into account. That thing is beyond anything you can imagine.”
At those words, the smile on Kirat’s lips grew even deeper.
☆ ☆ ☆
Sian stared at the red sphere he could sense in the distance.
Aside from its enormous size of one kilometer, the red sphere did not seem to have anything unusual about it.
But when he examined it a little more closely, that was not the case.
Inside the red sphere, enormous things were flickering.
Some were only a few meters, while others were hundreds of meters tall.
Just as their sizes varied, so too did their appearances.
But they had things in common.
They were hideous beyond measure.
They were emitting an indescribably evil presence.
And… they were scraping furiously at the inner surface of the red sphere because they wanted to come out to this side.
Right now, that red sphere was blocking even all of those creatures’ auras, so people could only feel the violent flow of Exar. If that energy had leaked outside, half the people in the city would have gone mad.
The creatures were constantly struggling to come outside, like wild beasts trapped in a cage searching for prey beyond it.
But Sian was not worried about that side.
It was dangerous, but they were, quite literally, trapped in a cage and unable to come out.
The truly problematic side was the opposite direction.
The mudskipper-like thing from last time was nothing but a minnow compared to that creature.
They were both six-horned, but from its size onward, its very presence was on a completely different level.
Not only was that thing not bound, it was approaching with the apparent intention of plowing straight through the city.
The coastline was already being smashed apart by the tidal wave created as it splashed forward.
Since the ships had become useless anyway, that probably did not matter much.
He did not know why that thing was coming at a time like this, but it could not be unrelated to that red sphere.
It was not even looking at the city, and was walking while aiming only for the red sphere on the far side.
At the same time, Sian sighed as he looked at Miss Steel.
The Goddess of Calamity.
This was not at all something that had happened because of Miss Steel, but he was beginning to deeply understand why she had earned that nickname.
Sian looked around and remembered that there was something he had to do.
“…
Did you know it was something like this?”
“Mm. No. To be honest, I had no idea about that thing on the opposite side.”
Steel said that her prediction had been wrong.
And in truth, it had.
The red sphere over there, which she had expected would create something incredibly entertaining, was, contrary to her expectations, an extremely safe sphere where nothing at all was happening.
So much so that it was hard to understand why they had made something like that there.
Of course, the story would be very different if one went inside, but no one in their right mind would enter a sphere where such a flow of Exar could be felt.
On the other hand, an extremely dangerous creature had appeared from a completely unexpected place.
As Steel stared at the mountain approaching from far away, she gauged its presence and frowned.
“Hah… I’d lose to that thing…”
Even wearing the Great Armor of the Seven Planets, she felt she would be pushed back.
Sian looked back and forth between both sides, then turned his gaze to Kelvin’s party, who were wearing flustered expressions.
“What will you do? A promise is a promise, so… please tell me.”
Kurin, who had been looking at Sian in disbelief as he spoke to her, opened her mouth.
“Haha… Just what kind of trick do you think you can use to resolve this situation? Don’t tell me you’re planning to beat down that thing coming over there?”
At that, Sian looked at Kurin as if asking whether he had gone mad.
“Of course we should run. What are you talking about… Why would I fight something like that?”
“…….”
Everyone was flustered by the unexpected answer.
Now that they thought about it, while it might be difficult for them to escape on their own, a woman like her could probably take them and flee without much trouble.
But the woman called Steel seemed to think a little differently.
“Ah… what’s this, little brother. You’re not going to fight that? I think I’d lose, but you could win, couldn’t you?”
At those words, everyone stared at Sian in utter shock.
They had known he had some skill, but to think he could beat down that mountain of a thing over there.
The woman called Steel did not seem to be lying.
Kurin’s face, in particular, turned deathly pale at her words.
It was as if he had been sticking his head into a tiger’s mouth to see just how far he could push it in.
Seeing the shocked expressions of the three, Sian answered indifferently.
“That thing? Good grief… It’s not as if I have energy to spare.”‘This kid really is strange…….’Steel could not understand him.
Even she herself was itching to have a go at the thing in front of them right away.
She knew she would lose… but an opponent worth challenging had appeared.
Of course, she was not insane, so she had no intention of charging in and dying.
Normally she might have gone for it, but right now there was something she was more interested in, so it was still too early to die.
But from Sian’s position, it was an opponent worth trying.
No, crushing an opponent who was worth crushing like that was one of the few pleasures granted to superhumans.
Crushing ants or children was no fun, but crushing a rival was enjoyable.
Or perhaps, from this boy Sian’s perspective, that thing also looked like a child—Steel was not sure.
But Reka, who had been listening, spoke as if dumbfounded.
“…
Are you saying you won’t fight even though you could fight and win right now?”
“Mm… I won’t know until I try, but… if it’s about that level…….”
“…
If you fight and win, couldn’t hundreds of thousands of people in this city survive?”
“Mm… I suppose so.”
Sian calculated for a moment before answering.
Many would die from being caught up in the fight, but far more would survive than if he did not fight at all.
“And yet you won’t fight! You truly are irresponsible.”
The three women, including Reka, looked at Sian as if he were a bug.
From the perspective of those from the Kingdom of Karan, who had long revered chivalry, they could not understand him refusing to protect the weak, and their contempt overwhelmed their fear and showed on their faces.
But Sian answered without concern.
“Mm… Then the three of you intend to fight that thing over there? In that case, we’ll just leave by ourselves. Ah, Miss Steel, do you plan to stay here as well?”
At those words, Steel smiled with her eyes as if asking why he would say such a thing.
“Oh my! Little brother, what are you saying? Huhu. Of course I’m going with you.”
“Hmm… You looked like you wanted to fight it so badly that I was just going to leave you behind.”
“Haha. It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding.”‘What a heartless bastard…….’Steel grumbled inwardly.
“Very well. Then Miss Steel is coming with us… and you ladies will remain here, correct?”
At Sian’s calm words, as if he would respect their decision, the three of them jumped in surprise.
“No… that’s not what we meant…….”
“Mm? Did you not just say you would protect the city?”
Sian, genuinely curious as to why they were saying something different from before, asked back.
“Even if we joined in, we wouldn’t be able to save a single person!”
Reka said with a resentful expression.
Then Sian spoke as if he found it absurd.
“What are you talking about? That sounds to me like you’re saying you won’t do it if the result won’t be good.”
“…
That’s…….”
“Doing something when you know the result will be good is something anyone can do, isn’t it? That usually wouldn’t be called taking responsibility.”
“…….”
“It is doing something even when the result is uncertain, or even when you know it will be bad, that is courageous and responsible.”‘Oh, he’s gotten better at arguing?’Steel admired from behind.
But it was not that Sian had gotten better at arguing; it was simply something he had heard until his ears were sore when he was young.
“And besides, isn’t irresponsibility failing to take responsibility for people you ought to take responsibility for? Why should I take responsibility for those people? I am, at least, trying to take responsibility for the four of you.”
Of course, this was Sian’s own thought, which did not agree with his father’s.
“That… is absurd……. If you possess power of your level, then responsibility should naturally follow!”
Rinna said, almost driven to desperation.
“Mm… You ladies were educated well. A very proper ideology. I respect it.”
Sian opened his mouth as he looked at the three women, who were saying exactly the same things as his father.
“But there is something you misunderstand. With great power comes great rights. Why would great responsibility follow great power, when power is the same as rights? It is simply that other people wish those who possess great power would also bear great responsibility.”
“…….”
“Of course, for ordinary humans… if they do not bear great responsibility for great rights, they become isolated from society, so they have no choice but to take responsibility……. But in any case, I’m not a morality teacher, so I don’t know why I’m explaining at such length. This is only my opinion, so you may ignore it. At any rate… what will you do?”
Sian urged them. If they dragged this out any longer, escaping would become troublesome.
The three women looked at one another, then lowered their heads and said,
“…
Please take us with you.”
“I thought you would say that.”
But their next answer was a little different from what Sian had expected.
“Please take only Kelvin with you. We will remain here.”
“Huh…….”
Sian wore a surprised expression. They had just chosen to uphold their beliefs over their lives.
At the unexpected answer, Sian’s expression turned strange.‘This makes things difficult…….’It was not because of keeping the promise.
A promise was something to be kept when both sides intended to fulfill it; they had been the first to refuse.
The problem was that the cries within him were growing louder and louder.
The
But he was doing his best to ignore them.
This was not a matter he could decide easily like the Lagrang region last time.
This time, it was truly dangerous.
Until now, he had never once thought he might die.
Miss Steel was worrying about that huge thing over there.
Perhaps it was because she could not properly sense the true nature of the things inside the red sphere.
But compared to what was inside that red sphere, that thing was truly nothing more than child’s play.
Miss Steel would not last long if she entered the red sphere; she would be torn to death.
He could not even understand what the one who had opened that thing in the first place was thinking.‘No… what were they planning to use something like that for…….’It was excessive if all they wanted was to catch that one huge thing in front of them.
That was why Sian was forcibly suppressing the cries within him.
A human’s pursuit of survival was instinct, so he was not doing anything wrong.
In truth, the city was currently in chaos.
Everyone was running in all directions to save their own lives, regardless of whether others lived or died.
And yet a counterexample had appeared right in front of him, leaving him unsettled.
As if that was the true way to live among humans…….
Sian scratched his head roughly, then found a solution.
“Ah, damn it…….”
“Huh? Little brother, what are you trying to do now?”
Steel looked at Sian in surprise.
Sian was scratching his head as he stepped forward.‘No way… Is he actually going to help?’From Steel’s perspective, having observed Sian so far, it was an earth-shattering event.‘Could it be that he’s helping because he likes them?’The moment she thought that, since a human heart still remained in him, Sian’s hand flew.
Tatadak!
“Ugh…….”
And the three who had been heading toward the city collapsed limply.
“…….”
“Now, let’s run.”
As Sian busied himself gathering up the three fallen women and one man, he looked back at Steel.
“Uh… weren’t you going to stop that thing, little brother? You could also just make it change direction a little so it avoids the city.”
In truth, that was what Steel had been expecting.
Given little brother Sian’s nature, she had not thought he would beat down that mountain of a thing over there.
But at a glance, that giant did not seem very interested in the city. It was walking only toward the red sphere.
For Sian, luring it toward the red sphere while making it skirt around the city would not be particularly difficult.
So when she saw him step forward, she thought he would at least lure it away—but he had knocked the three of them unconscious!
“Ah… I did think about that for a moment… but I really have a bad feeling this time.”
Because of his father’s words, Sian had considered that option too, but he decided to follow his survival instinct.
A bomb was unsettling just by being nearby.
Sian wanted to get even a little farther away from that dangerous red sphere.
To lure it, he would have to drag that giant closer toward the red sphere.
But his instincts were sending him fierce warnings.
“Huh… It’s that bad?”
“Yes. And… the owner of this necklace is that man, so… I thought the best thing would be to fulfill the promise in the way he most wants…….”
In truth, he could have respected the will of those three and left them behind, but he decided to help out of respect for the owner of the necklace.
It was clear that that man would not want those three to die.
Even if everyone in the city died instead.
“Hmm… So you’re saying you’ll save these four and leave, is that it?”
“Yes. Miss Steel, you also made a promise, so carry two of them on your shoulders.”
Sian demanded that the responsibility be shared. He did not have enough hands to carry all four.
“No, no, little brother. I’ll carry all four. And little brother, your instincts are much sharper than I thought.”
“What?”
Sian answered in surprise at Steel’s unexpected reply.
“I was originally going to help… but since you say we have to save these four, it can’t be helped. I’ll go set them down somewhere far away first. Little brother, do your best.”
“What are you…….”
While Sian was still shocked, Steel slung all four of them over herself and ran like a beam of light toward the mountains on the far side opposite the sea.
“Uh……?”
Kujijijijik!
And as Sian stared blankly after Steel, an immense burst of blue energy struck him.
Volume 5