Ch.346Gravity Bomb (4)

Cartesia threw Tarpiel to the ground, then grabbed her by the nape of the neck and dragged her somewhere.

I carefully tracked their whereabouts with Ireh and Sonia.

Cartesia was near the bathroom at the end of the hallway. She was coming out, dusting off her hands.

“Cartesia.”

“What?”

“What the hell did you do?”

“I took care of those vermin. Don’t worry, kid.”

Something felt ominous.

I told Sonia and Ireh to wait while I peeked around the corner alone. Tarpiel was sitting slumped at the threshold, trembling violently.

“Ah, ugh! Please! Pleeeease!!”

Tarpiel’s face contorted unnaturally. Every part of her face was folded except her eyes, which remained unable to close.

Though mostly drowned out by Tarpiel’s horrific screams, there was also a squelching sound mixed in. That sound was coming from inside the men’s bathroom.

“What did she do…?”

I entered the bathroom with equal parts curiosity and concern.

And immediately regretted it.

“Oh, this is insane.”

“Help me, please untie me…! Let me close my eyes! I don’t want to see this! I don’t want to hear it either!”

Tarpiel’s screams suddenly seemed pitiful.

***

We somehow managed to contain the situation.

We restrained Tarpiel and had Elvin disperse the protesters. There was some damage and commotion, but it didn’t spread too far.

And for all the losses, there were also gains. I captured all the high priests who appeared simultaneously, bringing the church’s influence under my control, and I obtained someone else who could turn back time besides the Saint.

Of course, I only captured him; I hadn’t made him submit yet.

“Your name is Morgan, right?”

“Nngh.”

“Answer me.”

“Wait, before that…”

The high priest called Morgan couldn’t sit properly. I had no choice but to make him lie face down before continuing our conversation.

For reference, I was in the multipurpose room in the academy basement. I had locked the door and was interrogating Morgan with only Cartesia present.

Morgan, who had been groaning, finally spoke.

“…Eidel von Rheinland, I despise you.”

I nodded while swallowing a high-tech pill. The pill was my lunch substitute. It was efficient, containing all necessary nutrients in a single pill.

As soon as I finished my meal, Morgan raised his voice.

“How dare you reduce me to such a pathetic state? The Iron Outer God will never forgive your vile acts!”

“Do continue.”

“Even if all of us high priests end up like this in your hands, the church will persistently regenerate. When they discover we’ve all gone missing, they’ll select new high priests within the church.”

“How?”

“Through the baptism of the Outer Gods! So you’d better abandon your shallow plan to control the church by using us!”

“I cannot do that.”

“You bastard… Are you toying with me?”

I smirked. No matter how great a high priest might be, without weapons, he’s just an ordinary human.

“Comrade, we have much to discuss and much to gain from each other. How about joining me in pursuing a great cause?”

“This bastard’s gone mad. Great cause? Pursuit? Cut the nonsense.”

“Just answer me.”

“Ptui!”

Morgan spat. Fortunately, the distance was enough that it didn’t hit me.

“Even if my mind became homosexual, I would never surrender to you ‘End’ lackeys! For Idea, I can endure this much pain easily!”

“Hmm, alright. Good.”

I looked at Cartesia. She grinned and flicked her finger. The man who had been standing blankly beside Morgan, as if his screws had come loose, began to move.

The man’s name was Ukman. He was another high priest of the church and the one who had done something shocking to Morgan when we first found them, draining my mental fortitude.

To be precise, only Ukman had been in a daze at that time, while Morgan had been fully conscious. As Ukman stood up, Morgan’s face turned pale.

“Y-you, what are you trying to do to me!”

“The graduate school will no longer tolerate your troublesome behavior. As the leader of this ivory tower of academia, I shall free the instigated citizens by force if necessary and enlighten you.”

Crunch, crunch.

Ukman approached Morgan making bestial sounds. His shadow fell over Morgan.

“Aaaaargh!”

I didn’t want to go this far. But Morgan was a loyal believer. He wouldn’t break through conventional methods.

Ukman… with his rough hands, began to knead Morgan.

“Gaaaaaah!”

If his mind wouldn’t break, we’d have to start by breaking his joints.

“Ukman, snap out of it! Fuck, we’re men! This isn’t right, you son of a bitch!”

Interrogation by making someone receive physical therapy from a colleague who had lost his mind. Isn’t that rather merciful? As I nodded to myself thinking this, Morgan screamed.

“Eidel von Rheinland! You call yourself a learned professor while doing this?!”

“What a pitiful, rigid man.”

Crack, crunch!

“Gaaaah!”

Screams were coming from elsewhere too.

“I surrendered! I surrendered! Why won’t you stop?!”

Tarpiel was crying miserably. She was on the verge of fainting. However, due to Cartesia’s ability, she couldn’t lose consciousness no matter what.

While I was dealing with Morgan and Ukman, Cartesia was handling Tarpiel. Tarpiel was trembling with her eyes covered.

Cartesia trampled on Tarpiel’s knees and growled.

“You barge into my and the kid’s lab trying to kill him, and you didn’t prepare for what would happen if you got caught? Did you think you’d be 100% successful?”

“That doesn’t mean you have to go this far!”

“You haven’t been punished enough yet.”

Compared to mine, Cartesia’s interrogation was more severe. As expected of an Outer God, her technique for breaking minds was impressive.

“Cartesia, let’s switch.”

Cartesia took over Morgan and Ukman, while I took Tarpiel.

I removed Tarpiel’s blindfold and faced her. Her eyes were soaked with tears. The initial ferocity she had shown was completely gone.

“Are you coming to your senses?”

“Hic, stop, please stooop…”

Her behavior was identical to the Saint’s. I guessed she was originally an ordinary citizen.

When our eyes met, Tarpiel calmed her ragged breathing on her own. Her pupils rotated quickly.

“Heh, heheh.”

“Why are you laughing?”

Has she finally gone mad?

“Professor Rheinland, you’re really a-amazing. Using yourself as bait to make me lower my guard earlier was kind of cool. And having an Outer God reduce those two to that state, you’re no ordinary person.”

Tarpiel unnaturally pulled up the corners of her mouth. She spoke pleadingly.

“I, I like men who are smarter than me. I’ve fallen for you. Rheinland, I’ll give you my body and heart, so how about creating Idea together with me?”

“Idea? Sounds good.”

“I’m g-glad we understand each other.”

Tarpiel slowly lowered her handcuffed hands. She slightly lifted her priest’s robe. Her seductive apricot-colored legs were revealed.

“This cave is Idea. Come on, don’t be shy.”

Tarpiel tempted me, raising both legs. Her voice was thick and sticky.

I took out my calipers and tapped Tarpiel’s head with them. She shrieked and rolled around.

“Kyaaaa!”

“I thought you were just an ordinary woman at heart, but you’ve been crazy from birth. Don’t you have any sense of chastity?”

“How dare you hit a woman? And a beauty like me…!”

“I didn’t hit you. The calipers did.”

I raised the calipers high. Tarpiel let out a high, thin moan and clutched her head.

“Y-you’re completely insane!”

“Compared to heretics who’ve risen to become high priests, I’m perfectly normal.”

“Aha, I get it! You’re impotent, aren’t you? Kyaaaa!”

After a few more taps, Tarpiel’s spirit was completely broken. Of course, it wasn’t all my doing. Cartesia had done quite a thorough job beforehand.

Now I offered her a binary choice. By showing mercy, I would completely subjugate Tarpiel and use this momentum to make Morgan kneel as well.

“Now, I’ll give you a choice.”

“A choice?”

“One is to be handed over to trial as you are. You’ll spend your life in prison… actually, no. The government has taken a harder stance against terrorists.”

I made a throat-slitting gesture. I threatened her using the same method I had used on the Saint. Tarpiel gritted her teeth.

“W-what’s the second option?”

“Convince Morgan. Help me.”

The conversation was brief. Tarpiel wasn’t a woman of exceptional fortitude. She bowed her head and agreed to follow my instructions to persuade Morgan.

After that, Cartesia and I focused on breaking Morgan. As expected of a former elite swordsman, it wasn’t easy. His mental strength was impressive.

However, the situation changed dramatically when his belly started to swell. Naturally, Morgan screamed all sorts of things.

“W-what is this?!”

“Congratulations on becoming a mother.”

Clap, clap, clap. Cartesia applauded. She observed Morgan’s condition with interest and took notes.

“I wonder. Can a human with YY gender be born? Where would a male mammal give birth from? If that happens, the criteria for male and female become ambiguous, hmm.”

“Ugh, uwaaaaaa——!!”

And the next moment, time rewound. It was only a few minutes, but enough to deflate Morgan’s belly that had been swelling like a tumor.

“Nngh, haa, haa.”

“Rewinding time is useless. Until I release my skill, you’ll get pregnant tens of thousands of times.”

“Just kill me!”

“Why?”

Cartesia’s eyes glowed blue. Seeing that evil face made even my knees weak. I truly realized… I’m quite fortunate.

“If I kill you now, you won’t move anymore. That’s boring. Make me a little more interested. Then I’ll let you go.”

“Interest? What do you mean? How?”

“There are two ways. One is to give birth to a child between you and that man to satisfy my private curiosity…”

Morgan turned ashen and shook his head. Several strands of hair fell out.

“I’d rather die than do that!”

“Then there’s another way.”

I stepped forward.

Honestly, at this point, I was starting to feel sorry even for an enemy. While he deserved consequences for trying to kill me, if this continued, I’d have nightmares later.

So I decided to show as much compassion as possible.

“Join my laboratory.”