The Ground of Fanaticism

The administrator’s reason for existence is fundamentally to maintain the ‘order and peace of the Ark.’

Dozens of large and small incidents and accidents in the Ark, conspiracies that threaten order and peace, are crushed every day, and days of dismantling various criminal organizations and those who dream of rebellion continue endlessly.

However, not all administrators focus solely on peace without personal gain.

Some administrators… focused on ‘compromise with reality.’

The calamities threatening the Ark are so vast and menacing that those who cannot be protected are offered as sacrifices to appease the calamities, and when dialogue is possible, the Ark is protected through negotiation.

Of course, the price of peace is not cheap.

All sorts of unethical and inhumane costs.

Sometimes, it’s just enough organic matter and food to fill the calamity’s belly. There are also calamities that are satisfied with simple rituals like playing musical instruments.

However, in most cases, calamities preferred human flesh over ordinary meat. Depending on the danger of the calamity, the number of humans they demanded increased exponentially.

Therefore, in some controlled areas of the central administration, ‘flesh factories’ were built and operated 24 hours a day.

But what can we do?

Calamities are beyond dangerous, they are irrational and absurd to the point of completely destroying human common sense, and if we don’t ‘compromise,’ the very existence of the Ark is threatened.

“Everyone’s here.”

Thus, some administrators began to pay attention to Alice, who had been showing remarkable talent lately.

At first, they just had the impression that ‘a useful Overseer has joined.’ But as time passed, several administrators began to feel that Alice was not an ordinary individual.

Some stopped at vague déjà vu or a sense of unease, but others began to watch Alice as a being with the potential to pose a significant threat that could shake the peace they had made through vigilance and compromise.

“I’ve heard the story… hmm, do we really need to keep an eye on her?”

“Alice. She seems like just a fledgling.”

“I don’t know if we can call a Second-class Overseer a fledgling.”

A place where administrators who hid their faces gathered.

Perhaps knowing that their actions were shameful, they wore masks with perceptual interference or cast formulas to prevent each other from identifying each other, and then held a conversation.

No matter how much it was to protect the order and peace of the Ark, they were also the ones who had compromised and sold out humanity.

If they were ashamed of the sky and ashamed of themselves, they would not have the right to show their faces openly.

Of course, there would be those who were not.

“Everyone’s here.”

A woman said.

“Thank you for your precious time, administrators.”

“Enough with the long talk.”

On her head was a white sacred cloth, and around her neck was a rosary of twisted shape of unknown origin.

Her skin under the fluttering, translucent scraps of cloth was covered with tattoos and curses of all shapes.

She was not an administrator, but a priestess and Shaman Aiya who spoke for the calamities.

“Shaman Aiya, if we’re here, does that mean a calamity has spoken directly?”

“Yes.”

“The target?”

“…Ah. I apologize. They’re already here.”

The shaman’s tattoos bloomed erratically, and something took hold.

“Nihilus Karmashia has arrived…”

A terrible stench of blood.

A moment that made you feel as if this place was the center of a blood hell.

Shaman Aiya, who represented the calamity, met the administrators’ eyes, her eyes shining with a blood-red hue.

[“Bring me that child.”]

“That child?”

“Are they asking for a new human sacrifice?”

Naturally, the administrators scoffed.

Ugh, should we just pick some vagrant and send them?

True Ancestors had intelligence and ego similar to or greater than humans, making them easy to negotiate with, but the problem was the unpredictable direction of their desires, which was very troublesome.

Even now, those mosquito bastards are having a party with human blood and flesh somewhere in the Abyss, and if they’re asking for something else here, it means we have something to give.

“True Ancestor, we have given you the Abyss. Wanting more than that is excessive.”

[“In return, we will kill the Red Locust Swarm.”]

“What.”

“You will?”

The Red Locusts were a swarm of otherworldly insects that consumed the Ark’s waste and metal, formed a collective intelligence beyond humans, and devastated layers.

Even a single one of these insects could not be scratched by ordinary weapons or firearms, and high-ranking personnel like Overseers had to project firepower to kill them. Since 10 trillion of these insects swarmed together, everything in their path was literally devastated.

From the administrator’s point of view, it would be natural to want to eliminate the Red Locust Swarm, which indiscriminately devoured everything.

[“So bring me that child.”]

“…I’m asking now, but who are you talking about?”

[“Who else could it be.”]

The True Ancestor’s eyes, which were always filled with ennui and boredom, shone with clear desire today.

[“Alice.”]

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“Marlang…”

“Bu-muk…”

“Eeeing…”

I can hear the cries of countless Marlangs, but I have to steel my heart.

Currently, in the Ark, these children are combat homunculus with no human rights or proper status.

So, naturally, I, as their guarantor, have to take responsibility for them, but the problem is that these many Marlangs are combat homunculus.

Taking this many combat homunculus to another layer?

Are we going to war or something?

Whether I intended it or not, I couldn’t take all these Marlangs with me.

“Don’t worry. ​Like Alice, I now serve directly under administrator Rilstia, I will safely send the children to the lower layer!”

So Alice entrusted the leadership of the Marlang Legion to Fira.

With her power and authority, Fira would be able to easily control the Marlang Legion, and even if there was an unexpected accident or the Marlangs acted out, it wouldn’t be difficult to control them.

The Marlangs, for their part, didn’t want to go to Fira instead of me, so they stuck to my body like gum… Hey, hey. Seriously, take it easy. If I were a normal person, my arms and legs would be bent backwards and my skin would be torn.

“Bu-merrr!”

“Bu-muk!”

“Marlang!”

The Marlangs, subdued by Fira, disappeared with the layer elevator, making a sorrowful bu-muk sound.

Okay, now the only person here is me…

“Marlang!”

…No, I’m not.

When did you get off?

“Marlang, Marlang~!”

Not a combat homunculus Marlang, but the original Marlang.

Marlang still wore the maid outfit she had worn in the Ruincrest layer, as if she liked it.

“Well, I was going to take you with me anyway.”

“Marlang!”

Marlang fluttered her skirt and twirled around, as if happy to be allowed to accompany me.

The place that Marlang and I had newly arrived at was a seemingly normal and peaceful layer.

[Enchantment of the Fallen]

The name of the layer was a bit strange, but since the Ark itself was a collection of all kinds of cultures, countries, and races, I had to respect diversity.

It wasn’t too far from the Ruincrest layer, so life here was pretty good.

Places close to the layer of nobles were relatively exposed to noble capital, directly and indirectly, so the average cultural life and level of civilization were high.

However, there was one characteristic…

“The day of judgment is approaching! Under the gaze of the Almighty, the only way for us sinful people to be saved is to throw ourselves at them and face our sins!”

“Calamities are Satan! Those who call on the name of the Great One will be saved!”

“Loa is watching us! Loa is watching us! Loa is watching over us!”

“Today is the day we will arrive, the very day when our wealth and glory are promised! Therefore, the believers must adorn themselves with the blood of heretics and the flesh of the only begotten son, break down false beliefs, and prepare for the promised day when heaven and earth will quake!”

It’s a truly devout and faithful religious layer.

…No, it would be more accurate to say that it’s a gathering place for those who are so deeply devoted that they are floundering somewhere in the swamp of fanaticism.

“Ma…Marlang…”

Marlang also looked frightened when she saw the eerie atmosphere of the layer and the mad believers shouting for their respective gods.

Of course, Marlang would be overwhelmingly powerful if she tried to do something with force, but the problem with humans possessed by fanaticism was not their strength, but the unique madness that made them believe that their fanaticism was justice and right.

Originally, the Ark didn’t have any particular restrictions on religion, but it strictly regulated groups that excessively disrupted the order and ethics of the group, especially those that practiced human sacrifice or blood rituals, by defining them as ‘fanatics.’

However, the [Enchantment of the Fallen] layer is the only layer that is free from all these restrictions.

Trying to prove that one’s beliefs and convictions are right, even with death, is fanaticism, and this means of proof is written in human blood.

The [Enchantment of the Fallen] layer is a place where such fanatics gather and gather.

It’s better to worship a god normally.

Those who worship monsters or specific monsters must have gathered here as well.

‘Supervising the rituals of the shaman who gives birth to insects and death? Ugh, judging by the looks of it, it’s going to be a mess.’

I can’t help but sigh.

I know that the work of an Overseer is hard, but I have to mix in with this kind of thing and supervise it.

“Ahhh! Sister, it’s a good day! Why don’t we talk at that cafe for a while?! Meeting such a beautiful person like you today is proof that Nikun is watching over us!”

“…Ahahaha, I’ll pass.”

“Don’t say that! It will be a really good opportunity for you!”

By the way, that Nikun is a parasitic monster found in the Nine Dragons residential zone.

It parasitizes the human brain, induces hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, and obtains growth nutrients only from human flesh, so it encourages the host to continuously consume human flesh, and later, when it grows, the head turns into some kind of tentacle party head.

I thought it had been completely eradicated, but it seems that it was surviving in the Enchantment of the Fallen layer, slowly increasing its hosts.

“Meals, sleep, study, and academies are opportunities that may come someday, but this meeting may be a dazzling miracle that happens only once in a lifetime! This miracle is Nikun’s revelation to you! To guide you, beautiful you, to Nikun’s revelation and the path of destiny…!”

“Ma, Marlang…Uweeaaack…!”

Hmm, Marlang must have seen through the reality of that Nikun infected person, and couldn’t help but vomit.

“My child is sick, so it’s not going to work right now.”

“Bu-merrr, bu-merrr… Bu-merrr…!”

Wow, Marlang, who doesn’t care about killing people, is shouting bu-muk not just once, but repeatedly, so it seems like she’s really disgusted.

“No! I can’t let you go, sister!”

I can hear footsteps from somewhere.

Empty yet longing eyes.

Nikun’s fanatics – hosts – blocked our front and back.

Before I knew it, only that Nikun infected person and us were left on the road.

Wow, I knew it was a layer of fanaticism, but it’s much more serious than I imagined.