episode_0149

The Strongest Failure

“…Just now, a trans-dimensional being who noticed the existence of my surveillance cameras for the first time has arrived.”

“Are you the last remaining caretaker here? You’re managing a truly disgustingly childish facility. Or is it that your personality is as messed up as this facility’s nature?”

“Your mouth is quite dirty. Perhaps you should wash it with soap, trans-dimensional being.”

“You’re also a trans-dimensional being, considering the standards of this dimension.”

Dio V Runner slowly entered the control room and began to belittle each other with Stain. Then, Aria, who still couldn’t trust Dio V Runner for suddenly appearing and disrupting her attack, glared at Dio V Runner with a fierce look and shouted.

“What nerve do you have to come here, you who just failed an attack?! Leave this to me and….”

“You don’t have time to be angry with me right now, Aria. Have you forgotten what’s important to you at the moment?”

“Ugh… Aaaargh…”

“….!! Zeke-nim!!”

When Dio V Runner pointed at me, asking if this was the time to be angry with him, Aria finally realized I was still suffering from the flash and rushed over to me. She then unleashed divine power from her hand towards my eyes, beginning to heal them. With Aria’s help, my vision slowly returned, and I gradually opened my eyes, smiling at Aria as I spoke.

“Thank you, Aria…. You saved me.”

“Hnngh…. I’m sorry, Zeke-nim…. I was preoccupied with personal feelings and didn’t pay attention to you….”

“It’s alright… thanks to you, I recovered immediately…. More importantly… Dio V Runner-ssi!!! Weren’t you originally supposed to stop the Saintess and the priests?!”

When Aria despaired, saying she hadn’t paid attention to me because she was angry with Dio V Runner, I stroked Aria’s head, comforting her that it was alright. Then, wondering why Dio V Runner had come here, I loudly asked him. Dio V Runner, who was walking towards Stain, turned his head to me and said with a sigh.

“My apologies, Zeke. It seems the Saintess and priests have already found another entrance. It seemed useless to keep guarding that entrance, so I joined you.”

“Then where is Yuria?!”

“Yuria is currently with Tiavel, re-tracing the Saintess and priests’ tracks and blocking them elsewhere. More importantly… just in case, do you know a name called ‘Cain’?”

“….? I’ve never heard the name Cain before. Why are you asking that, trans-dimensional being?”

“….That’s a relief. That you’re not involved.”

Dio V Runner answered me that Yuria was with Tiavel, blocking other Saintesses and priests, and then suddenly asked Stain if he knew the name Cain. Stain, bewildered, replied that he didn’t know the name Cain. Hearing that answer, Dio V Runner felt genuinely relieved and then pointed at the girl sitting slumped in a cage behind Stain, asking Stain.

“More importantly… did you make that girl behind you like that, and did you modify those creatures?”

“….!!”

The experimental girl was startled when Dio V Runner pointed at her. Stain, seeing the startled experimental girl behind him, let out a snicker and said.

“Yes, that’s right. A stepping stone to create the ultimate being… or perhaps a ladder. Isn’t that appropriate?”

“Ladder, my foot. It looks like she was originally human, so what did you stick all over her? Did you want to make some kind of robot?”

“Robot, you say. It’s insulting to compare her to such tin cans. That experimental subject is meant to be here. She is destined to be modified here and reborn as a new and perfect being. This is a blessing! I… no, we love this world, and our goal is to create perfect beings, not to make such tin cans! Keep that in mind!”

“….You certainly spew a lot of crazy nonsense.”

When Stain revealed to Dio V Runner that they were creating perfect beings because they loved the world, Dio V Runner, like us, found Stain’s words repulsive. Aria and I, hearing that nonsense again, glared at Stain with hostility. When everyone glared at him, Stain let out a hollow laugh and spoke to Dio V Runner.

“Fine. Let’s say I’m crazy, as you say. Then, do you intend to take responsibility for all the experimental subjects we’ve modified?”

“….?”

When Stain suddenly asked if we intended to take responsibility for all their experimental subjects, all of us were bewildered, unable to grasp the intent of his question. What was this sudden talk? Why us, suddenly…? Wait… no way…. As I grasped the intent of Stain’s sudden strange question, I realized something and looked at Stain, dumbfounded. Seeing my change of expression, Stain grinned and said.

“It seems that explorer has caught on. You hate and despise me out of personal disgust. That’s why you’re trying to eliminate me. But what will you do with the experimental subjects left in this facility afterward? You’re trying to eliminate me, the last one remaining in this facility, so that no more failed experimental subjects are born…. But what do you intend to do with the experimental subjects that will be left behind in this facility?”

“Th-that….”

“Of course, you’ll kill them. Because those who pity those experimental subjects will ultimately kill them on the grounds that they’re harmful to people. Am I wrong? Haven’t you already killed our experimental subjects multiple times? And think carefully. XMC-034, behind me, also cannot blend in with the creatures of this world…. Both the experimental subject herself and you yourselves know that well, don’t you?”

“….!!”

Stain, who had been criticizing us for having already killed experimental subjects we pitied multiple times on the grounds that they were harmful to people, shouted that the experimental girl behind him also couldn’t blend in with this world. At his words, the experimental girl realized something and looked at her own hand. Realizing her grotesque appearance, with the hand of a hideous creature and multiple body parts of other creatures mixed in, the experimental girl slowly began to despair at Stain’s accurate jab.

“….Now that I think about it… even if I were to escape from here…. I wouldn’t have anywhere to go, would I…? There’s no guarantee that all the beings in this place would welcome me….”

“Have you realized it now, XMC-034? Even if you were to miraculously escape from here, you are an incomplete body that would be welcomed nowhere. Furthermore, those people are hypocrites; even though they pity the experimental subjects, they didn’t hesitate to kill them all when they themselves were in danger. The place you belong is here. If I, who can perfectly modify your body so you can go outside, am not by your side, the possibility of you finding freedom is close to zero…?”

As Stain continued to instill despair in the experimental girl, telling her she would have no freedom without him, I, no longer wanting to hear his words, raised Trahan and unleashed flames from its tip. Stain, perceiving the approaching flames, immediately used his bracelet to deflect my flames upwards. As Stain deflected my flames and his gaze turned to me, I shouted with a furiously angry face.

“Where do you get off spewing sophistry, you human trash!!!”

“Zeke…?”

When I genuinely lost my temper and shouted, Dio V Runner, seeing me truly enraged for the first time, turned his head to me with a bewildered expression. The experimental girl, who had been falling into despair at my words calling Stain’s words sophistry, looked up at me in surprise. Then, Aria and I glared at Stain with determined eyes and shouted.

“What?! That everyone won’t welcome that experimental girl?! And that we killed those experimental subjects even though we pitied them?! Did you not hear the groans of those experimental subjects suffering because they were forcibly made ferocious by your experiments?! And let me tell you again, don’t you know that you, who inflicted such pain on those experimental subjects, have no right to love this world?!”

“As Zeke-nim said, you are human trash, only showing your selfish side!! To make Zeke-nim this genuinely angry… I truly cannot forgive you!!!”

Aria and I, having reached our limit with Stain’s continuous sophistry and selfish behavior, began to unleash all our energy to fight him seriously. Aria, in particular, was so angry that she didn’t care that her hair color, which she cared about the most, was changing as she transformed into the Radiance of the Holy Ring. Seeing us get serious, Dio V Runner grinned and said.

“Indeed. How pathetic for a scientist to not know that there are countless possibilities in the world.”

“What…?”

“That while not everyone in the world will welcome that girl, there are plenty of beings in this world who will. It would be best if you stopped with that childish idea that your thoughts are law….”

“…..There are plenty of people in this world who would welcome me…?”

Dio V Runner refuted Stain’s words, stating that there were plenty of people in this world who would welcome the experimental girl, just as I had said, and at the same time, pointed out Stain’s selfish thinking. The experimental girl then gained hope that there might be people in this world who would welcome her, and looking at her hands, she recalled the time she was previously modified.

“Kyaaaah!! St-stop… Please stop it!!”

“Experimental Subject XMC-034 is experiencing pain. What should we do?”

“Haaah…. She’s an experimental subject with reason, which gives her a higher chance of success…. But since she’s already changed so grotesquely, what more is there to care about? Replace her with body parts from other creatures. After all, in this state, she won’t be welcomed by anyone in the world.”

“Ah, I suppose so. She’s a monster anyway, heheh…”

“Ugh… but it’s really hideous…. Her original appearance is gone.”

“The refining work is for later anyway. So let’s just get on with our work.”

‘Why…?’

The experimental girl had no idea why she was being modified. Whether it was merely a means to satisfy the personal desires of the Rebarud researchers, or if she was being modified to be reborn as a perfect being as the researchers wished. But the researchers kept calling her a monster, looking at her state before she became a perfect being, and they instilled despair in her, saying that no one in the world would welcome her. And just now, when Stain also said words that revived those memories, the experimental girl was filled with nothing but despair. However, seeing Zeke and his companions, who for the first time spoke hopeful words that there were people in this world who would welcome her, the experimental girl unknowingly shed tears.

“Even me… someone who can no longer be called any kind of being… there were people who could accept me…!! They were here… they were in front of me… all along…!!”

Just as she was about to loudly ask Zeke and his companions if there truly were people in this world who could accept her, the experimental girl realized that the people who had accepted her all along were Zeke and his companions, who had just spoken those words, and she began to grasp the hope she had forgotten. As the experimental girl regained hope, we slowly released our energy and approached Stain. Stain, seeing us, did not show fear; instead, he grinned and explained to us.

“Yes…. I understand your intentions well. And I truly thank you for buying me this much time. Thanks to you, our ultimate weapon has had time to reach here.”

“Ultimate weapon…? What….”

“….!! Z-Zeke!!! Earlier, Stain told me!!! That he had the strongest fa—!!!”

When Stain thanked us, saying we had bought time for his ultimate weapon to arrive here, I was bewildered, not knowing what he meant. At that moment, just as the experimental girl was about to explain the ultimate weapon to us, suddenly the right wall of the control room… a hole three stories high was pierced through it, and from within, a creature with glowing red eyes slowly… entered…!!!! N-no, what on earth is that?!

“….This is insane…. A creature about three stories tall exists in this world…?!”

“Well… there was no guarantee it wouldn’t exist. This place, after all, is where beings are reborn as grotesque creatures… so it might be natural for such a creature to be here.”

“How can you be so nonchalant looking at that…?! No, wait… perhaps it’s because you’ve already encountered a World Tree of that size… but I still get the feeling it’s a difficult opponent to fight?!”

As I was greatly bewildered seeing the creature slowly stepping into the control room through the hole, Aria nonchalantly said that it might be natural for such a creature to be here. Then I shouted at Aria that even though I had fought a World Tree before, fighting such a gigantic creature was still just as difficult. Dio V Runner let out a hollow laugh, watching the creature slowly bringing its body inside.

“This is maddening. Fighting a colossal creature is truly… it’s been a long time… and I had hoped never to see one again…. This fight seems like it’s going to be tougher than I thought.”

“That’s… what Stain was hiding…. The strongest failure….”

“Hahahaha…!! Allow me to introduce you. This is Omega, our strongest failure!!!”

As Dio V Runner and the experimental girl were greatly flustered seeing the experimental subject that had fully revealed itself inside, Stain spread his arms and introduced the creature to us as Omega, their strongest failure. Omega’s body was covered in black skin, and its form was that of a bipedal dragon. However, it had no wings, its two feet resembled those of an ox, and its hands were those of some creature with sharper claws than a typical dragon’s hands. And its face was not a dragon’s head, but rather a mixture of a human and a beast’s face. Dio V Runner, seeing the experimental subject with such a formidable appearance, hastily equipped an orb into his flamethrower and, sweating with tension, said.

“Damn it…. Even the name is Omega? Damn it… it reminds me of those weapons of destruction…. Those guys were also as huge as this one…!!”

“Don’t worry, Zeke-nim! If it’s the Radiance of the Holy Ring that even defeated a World Tree… a creature of that size isn’t even a match for a single punch!!”

“Is… that so…?”

Dio V Runner, as if he had encountered something with the same name before, was greatly flustered and entered battle stance. Aria, having already transformed into the Radiance of the Holy Ring which had defeated a similarly gigantic World Tree, reassured me not to worry. However, despite Aria’s encouragement, I couldn’t shake off my anxiety. As Dio V Runner and Aria prepared to confront Omega, Stain grinned and said.

“You intend to confront Omega?! That truly sounds entertaining!! This creature is a failure that was almost a perfect being…. I shall test whether you are beings capable of surpassing this failure!!”

“Hah…. We don’t need your test!! What makes you, who are incompetent to begin with, so superior as to arbitrarily test us!! The only one who can test me is Zeke-nim!!”

“Come on… let’s do it!!!”

When Stain declared he would test them, Aria, provoked by his words, soared into the air. Dio V Runner, seemingly ready, propelled himself into the sky by blasting flames from his shoes. Thus, the two of them confidently flew towards Omega. Seeing that, a corner of my heart felt relieved. Yes… they were the two who had fought and won against not just the World Tree, but also dragons… if it’s those two, surely…. Just as I was reminding myself that the two of them had easily defeated dragons and thinking there was a chance….

“Cough…!!”

“Kyaah!!”

“Huh…?”

When Omega swiftly swung its arm at an unexpected speed, I saw Dio V Runner and Aria get hit by Omega’s hand, flung all the way to the opposite wall, and crash into it. I felt that something had gone terribly wrong and was left dumbfounded. Just now… what happened…?