Chap 124-The Maggot Noble

 

Around the time the lower layer was transforming into a techno megacity dyed with a red ideology where people could actually live, an unexpected guest arrived.

Unlike the residents of the lower layer, the visitor was a woman who, at first glance, was decked out in expensive-looking, high-end clothing and equipment.

She held a fan in one hand, covering her mouth.

Her rather daring red dress, revealing her cleavage, back, and thighs, certainly drew attention, but it was also a bit vulgar.

Judging by the atmosphere she exuded, she seemed to be quite old, but her face, perhaps thanks to an immortality procedure, could easily pass for that of a teenager.

Rather than a near-future or cyberpunk vibe, she gave off more of a Renaissance fantasy noblewoman feel.

If I had to pinpoint it… Ah, right.

Auntie Fira.

No, um.

Cousin Fira?

Yeah.

She felt very similar to Fira Dunhill, who, along with Oriana, had once nominated me as an Ultima-Class Returner.

One might wonder who would come to the lower layer alone wearing such clothes, but usually, in such cases, it means they are a skilled individual with absolute confidence in their own safety.

Even if they appear to be an ordinary human woman, they could be a noble from a central family who has undergone extensive modified enhancement surgery, or an Awakened with considerable skill themselves. Perhaps, like Sohi of the Saya Guild, she might even be a retired Overseer.

Well, anyway… I was quite taken aback by the woman who suddenly showed up, claiming I had killed her son.

“I heard my son was killed, and I was curious to see what kind of dullard had done the deed, but to think it would be none other than the Grand Governor of the lower layer, who is all the rage up above these days… I’ve lived a long life and seen many things.”

“…”

“What? Can’t you say something? If you dare to touch my son, the bloodline of our family, shouldn’t you at least offer some kind of excuse?”

I was taken aback not only by the mother’s appearance, which didn’t seem particularly grief-stricken or sorrowful considering her son was dead, but also because I didn’t even know who this woman was, let alone the son I supposedly killed.

‘Who the hell is her son? Theresa, do you know?’

【I will scan the human’s memory.】

I try to avoid killing people as much as possible, but even so, the number of times I’ve taken a life since coming to Ark is by no means small.

Just when I was carrying out a request in Satellite City Zain, and in the lower layer, at that Academy…

Anyway, I killed all the Academy students, those human scum who didn’t even see the orphaned children, including Mel, whom I’m currently taking care of, as people.

And while serving as the Governor of the lower layer, I also went through the process of quietly and gently dealing with criminal organizations and subversive elements in the lower layer who opposed me or dared to rebel against the red ideology…

Honestly, I have so many things to feel guilty about that I don’t even know who this noblewoman’s son is.

【I have scanned all the synchronized human memory data, but there is no one whose genetic makeup matches that of the woman before you.】

‘There isn’t?’

【Even after reviewing the data of those who resemble her even slightly or are presumed to be related by blood, including the Pernovis Academy students the human eliminated, there is no matching relationship.】

Even Theresa had given up.

I’m honestly a bit out of it in various ways, and I haven’t even properly grasped the specs of this body, but if Theresa doesn’t know, it truly means she doesn’t know.

“I don’t even know who you are.”

In the end, it’s better to be honest in situations like this.

No, it’s not just anything, but Theresa, who is far more precise and accurate than any ordinary machine or AI, said she doesn’t know, so there’s a possibility that I have no connection with her in the first place.

However, upon hearing my words, the woman raised the corners of her mouth in a mocking sneer, as if she were dumbfounded.

“Ha! I’ve heard that you’re a suddenly successful Overseer from a Returner background, but are you really so ignorant of the order of Ark?”

“…What, were you some very noble and important person in Ark?”

“Ha, this is why you can’t talk to commoners who know nothing… This won’t do. I was just going to take a quick look at your face, but it seems our Grand Governor of the lower layer has been associating with the riffraff of the lower layer for so long that her brain has become just as worthless.”

Ha, I’m starting to get annoyed.

I don’t even know who this woman is in the first place, and I know even less about the woman’s son I supposedly killed.

It’s not like I have nothing to feel guilty about, but that doesn’t mean it’s okay for her to come here out of the blue and start telling me what to do.

And I really hate people with high noses.

“I don’t even know what you could possibly gain from managing these lower layer riffraff that you’re enjoying the title of Governor. Do you know that there are many questioning gazes directed at you from above? For a mere Third-Class Overseer to try to take this vast lower layer into your grasp could even be seen as grounds for treason, you know?”

I instinctively loathed nobles and the privileged, those filled with a sense of superiority who have enjoyed everything they could for their entire lives while not even seeing the people below them as human beings.

The fact that I killed the Pernovis Academy students was largely due to that instinct. Even before, I had seen too many times how those who were called kings were unwilling to let go of what they had, leading to the loss of many lives and the destruction of the world.

…No, when did I ever see such things? Did some vague memories from my time as the Demon King suddenly resurface?

Anyway, this woman came out of nowhere and started scratching at my nerves, so there was no way I could be in a good mood.

“I originally came to receive an apology for the murder of my son, but I’ll put it simply. I would like you to give up your rights to this lower layer.”

“……”

“Do you know? There are far more people above who prefer to leave this lower layer alone than to see it become prosperous? When you suddenly try to disrupt something like order or balance, not many people like it.”

Is this bitch trying to sell me out?

No, no.

Is she saying this so openly?

Even those above can’t officially say, “Let’s just abandon the lower layer.”

I know well enough what kind of consciousness the nobles living in the center have.

“…Then what about the people here?”

“The riffraff of the lower layer? Are you aware that these creatures are originally rats who secretly infiltrated Ark?”

…Overseers are beings who can carry out their duties even if the other party is a noble or someone high up, so no matter how high this woman is, she’s not my direct superior, so she has no right to tell me what to do.

Besides, if necessary, I can just summon Rilstia.

In the first place, Rilstia told me to inform her immediately if such a problem arose.

But damn it.

This is really crossing the line.

“The lower layer should be like the lower layer. The upper layer should be like the upper layer. That is the balance and order of Ark. If you suddenly interfere and disrupt the well-adjusted balance, there will be more than a few people who will be in trouble…”

“Ah, you’re fucking noisy, you titty bitch.”

“…What?”

“I said, I don’t know you or your son at all. And what? You want me to let go of what I hold in my hands? Did you think I’d come crawling to you and apologize if you came here and threw a tantrum?”

“Ha…”

The woman glared at me with a dumbfounded expression, as if her neck had stiffened.

But so what if she does?

Those who have reigned over others their entire lives act as if the heavens and earth will be enraged and the ground will be turned upside down if someone dares to defy them, but it’s me who’s dumbfounded and angry.

“Don’t just ‘ha, ha, ha’ like that, you fucking bitch. Watch your fucking mouth. This is my territory.”

“This is why you’re just an ignorant brat…”

At the same time as those words, the woman’s face split vertically.

It was as if a monster disguised as a human was opening its mouth vertically.

I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before?

No, that’s not what’s important right now.

She just revealed hostility towards me, and she’s stirring up murderous mana in the lower layer, where I’m the Governor.

She might not have been seriously planning to fight and it might have just been a threat, but what’s important is that she revealed hostility towards me.

She revealed hostility towards me in my territory?

She revealed hostility in the lower layer to me, the Governor of the lower layer, even though I’m just a figurehead with no real authority?

So what does that mean?

‘Justification secured.’

Rilstia or Oriana will take care of the aftermath.

Instead of answering the woman, I suddenly opened my mouth wide.

-Clatter!

[Liquefied Breath]

“…!”

The liquefied molten metal held in my mouth was in a much purer state than when I first came to Ark.

Not only mana, but also the ownerless Industrial Complex, metals, and discarded materials in the lower layer were absorbed by me for reconstruction purposes and became victims of component analysis, but at the same time, they also became materials to advance me even further.

At first, it was just a molten breath with high mass, but now it was like a Bolshevik Steel smelting furnace.

-KWAHHHHHHHH!!!!

“W-What is that!?”

“That sound came from the Grand Governor’s office!”

The noblewoman whose face had split vertically was hit head-on by my liquefied breath and flew out through the office window.

I can’t let people get caught up in this.

‘Theresa, order all the workers to return to their residences immediately.’

【The Immortal Girl Malrang and the 48 dolls have noticed the battle.】

‘Tell them to hold their positions.’

【Understood. But Alice, can you handle this?】

“What the fuck, when have I ever thought before acting?”

【Well, that’s true.】

No, Theresa. You should at least argue back and say that’s not true in situations like this…

“And damn it. That fucking bitch is causing a ruckus in front of me. Do you think I’d be happy or not?”

【Well, I agree with that.】

It seems Theresa didn’t like the woman looking down on and despising the lower layer either.

It’s not that she was angry about the lower layer being looked down upon, but that I and Theresa had been carefully cultivating and decorating the lower layer, and then she suddenly came and started spouting nonsense about it being worthless?

Theresa has every right to be angry.

【Combat system ON】

【Lower layer system – vertical synchronization initiated】

【Main biological frame heating initiated】

“Gah! You, you damn brat!”

Oh, she’s alive?

The woman, covered in molten metal from outside, glared at me with a face distorted by anger.

I had adjusted the power appropriately so that the office wouldn’t be destroyed, but seeing that she was unharmed even after being hit head-on by tens of tons of liquefied breath, it seemed there was a reason why she was boasting about being a noble from the center.

“To think you could lay a hand on me and get away with it…”

-Kwaaang!

“Gah!?”

But before she could finish her sentence, a giant mechanical tendril that sprang up from beneath her feet began to constrict her from all sides.

“T-This is…!”

I even thought about piercing her vertically from her lower hole to her upper hole as she was, but perhaps because she was indeed a noblewoman from the center, she began to tear off the mechanical tendrils that had trapped her with her bare hands.

But I had no intention of letting that woman escape safely in the first place.

At my command, Theresa, synchronized with the lower layer, activated the giant mechanical tendrils in combat mode all at once.

The giant mechanical tendrils usually only played the role of dismantling and reassembling buildings, but that doesn’t mean they can’t fight.

No, if they tried to dismantle a person with that giant and massive mass, that would be scary too.

-Keeeeeeng!

Along with the driving sound of the magic engineering engine igniting from the giant mechanical tendrils, I could hear the metal’s scream, audible only to me, from all sides.

Soon, giant mechanical tendrils, each with a diameter of 3 meters and so large that their ends couldn’t be seen, began to converge around me, sparking from the pincers that had been dismantling buildings.

There were 50 of them.

【Formula setting – Explosion】

【Formula setting – Penetration】

【Formula setting – Detonation】

【Formula reset – Wide-area concentrated destruction formula simultaneous activation】

-Keeeeeeeng!!

Magic circles began to be engraved on each of the mechanical tendrils.

I still can’t use the great magic of the old days simultaneously, but each of the mechanical tendrils contains replicas of my personality.

It is possible to extract energy from the vast electrical energy and magic engineering drive devices embedded in the mechanical tendrils and implement something similar to magic.

“Ah…”

That woman is a high-ranking person from the center?

Shouldn’t I be careful because she’s a noble or a member of the privileged class?

Don’t be ridiculous.

She caused a ruckus in my territory, so why would I show her mercy?

The aftermath?

Tell them to fuck off.

The time it took for the magic formula loaded into the mechanical tendrils to activate was less than a few seconds.

“Kyaaaa! Alice! Stop it! Please wait a moment!”

At that moment, a familiar scream was heard from somewhere.

Fira?

It’s Fira Dunhill.