This Isn’t the First Time, Is It? 2

This wasn’t the first time.

Theresa’s words were a rather blatant expression of intent.

“I don’t quite understand the motive behind suddenly bringing that up.”

【I know that Ark Central Administration possesses Alice’s original body.】

“Alice also received code authority. I didn’t expect that one thing would make you realize Alice’s body is in the central Ark.”

【It seems you’ve known all along.】

“…I founded the Ark, after all.”

It’s an easy fact to forget, but Rilstia and Oriana are the same being.

Thanks to being separated into different personalities and bodies for a long time, their character and behavior have changed a lot from the original, but both were derived from the hero who stabbed Demon King Alice’s heart long ago. Since they are aware of each other’s actions and existence, they could be considered one.

In other words, the Ark was built by Oriana’s hand.

Though she now hides the identity of the founder and only holds the title of First-Class Overseer.

【All sorts of technologies and magical engineering that I haven’t even grasped have developed in the Ark. Even with just a strand of Alice’s hair, you could have replicated her body or something.】

Of course, that alone doesn’t reveal that Oriana has already tried to create Alice, or something similar, many times.

【Currently, you’ve approached Alice, saying you’re glad to see her, even hoping to die by her hand. Just like when you first met Alice in the outer scrap heap. No, you merely packaged it as looking forward to the future.】

“….”

【Thinking about your actions, I understand. You’ve already made countless attempts to revive, replicate, or something equivalent to Alice. And because most of the results were failures, you only consider the current Alice, who has fully reached the realm of the old Demon King, as the real Alice, right?】

A direct hit.

Oriana smiled bitterly and sat in front of Theresa.

【Answer me. Hero. How many times have you repeated this to create the current Alice?】

“….”

【I’m very confused right now. Not only did you dare to kill Alice, but you also engraved countless desecrations, including revival and replication, on Alice’s body. All I can say is, are you crazy?】

Listening to Theresa’s words, Oriana closed her eyes for a moment before opening them.

Instead of answering Theresa, Oriana gazed at the dim sky of the layer with a blurry gaze, as if still drowsy from sleep.

Seeing the thick clouds formed by the mixture of slight smog and mana residue clinging to the water vapor, one’s heart becomes heavy.

Since when have we been unable to look at the blue and clear sky and had to be satisfied with life in this giant underground pit?

But Oriana knew all the reasons and origins.

Because she, more than anyone else, had directly witnessed humanity’s great self-inflicted wounds and self-destruction.

“Humanity built the Tower of Babel all over the world. Stained glass of cathedrals was carved on all glass, and statues praising the achievements of kings and heroes rose in magnificent forms in every town.”

【How shameless.】

“Do you know why humanity, which conquered this star, was chased into this wretched pit and declined while eating sawdust?”

【I don’t know. And I don’t want to know. It’s probably the aftermath of betraying Alice.】

“That’s right. It’s all self-inflicted.”

Oriana closed her eyes and recalled the scenery that still vividly came to mind.

The lords who confidently declared that the era of humanity had begun now that the Demon King’s oppression was over.

Those who were ignorant and simply intoxicated by the excited atmosphere, cheering.

The masses held festivals, unaware of the identity of the one who had saved them and this world, this star, simply saying that the evil and wicked Demon King was dead.

Watching that, Oriana was overwhelmed with terrible guilt and self-loathing.

Is this right?

Is this really right?

The record that the Demon King had saved humanity and this star was erased, and humanity was busy tearing apart and taking Alice’s legacy.

“Humanity has always waited for a savior and god in human form. But what descended was not a human, but a ruler of demons, a Demon King. It was ridiculous to talk about human rules to such Alice.”

The demons who followed the Demon King’s orders also gradually disappeared into the shadows of history due to human oppression, and in less than 10 years, the Demon King’s name disappeared from human history.

“I was very naive back then. It’s dangerous for the fate of all humanity to be changed by one individual. I thought so.”

The stories Oriana heard.

No, all the political maneuvering, including persuasion and threats, was enough to shake the mind of the young hero even now.

“The Demon King descended from the sky like a god. It was humanity that served the god so faithfully, but the god came down to this land in the body of a Demon King and saved all things. Humans die searching for god, and the survivors looked up to the Demon King, who was like a god from the sky.”

Having lived as Oriana and Rilstia by forging new bodies with artificial spirits when her body aged, she knew everything.

“I liked that Demon King. I thought she was amazing. I considered her an idol. I was glad to be with her, and I was happy that even my insignificant abilities were helpful to her. That’s why I became a hero, I thought.”

【So you stabbed Alice’s heart with a knife?】

“A certain king told me that he saw the end in Demon King Alice. The end of all potential and hope that humans have. Humanity must give up the title of the master of all things from the moment it is saved by the Demon King, and if there is something that cannot be overcome, it will rely on the Demon King again, he said.”

Humanity ruled by one powerful being.

However, that being is not human, nor is it a human species, but a Demon King.

The lords who saw the future of humanity subordinate to the Demon King did not care whether they were saved by Alice or indebted to her.

“I naturally protested. I said that the Demon King Alice saved and led us, saved the world from destruction, and would continue to do so. But what if… even today, she looks down on us and judges that humans no longer have hope and there is no need to show mercy? Or what if she whimsically judges that it would be more beneficial to this star for humanity to perish?”

What we believe in is only Alice’s… the Demon King’s words, right?

Of course, Alice doesn’t actually think that deeply.

She just doesn’t want the person next to her to be in trouble, and she just lives without thinking, then says, ‘Ah, the world is going to be screwed? I should use some power,’ and inadvertently saves many things… she was just an impulsive and extremely human being. She has no thoughts about difficult things like the rule of a divine superhuman or proof of trust.

She just believes that words may tell lies, but actions tell the truth.

Of course, no one knew this true intention.

Not even the naive Oriana from her hero days.

Not even Theresa.

“The foolish and idiotic hero Oriana was deceived by those sweet words.”

Continuous gaslighting, threats, and political maneuvering were involved, but in the end, Oriana was young and immature.

The immature hero stabbed the heart of the Demon King, who believed in her so much.

“But you know what’s funny? Alice didn’t resent me even in the moment of her death? Honestly, I even thought about dying together then? I felt so sorry that I even thought about dying. This trashy me felt so sorry to Alice that I was going to die with her, but do you know what Alice said?”

Don’t say it.

Don’t be sad.

Don’t cry.

There must be a reason.

There must have been a reason for you, a young child, to stab my heart.

I don’t resent you.

So don’t resent yourself either.

But the things I left behind…

Take good care of them.

“The ability to create life without limit according to its purpose, the artificial spirit ability? This was originally Alice’s power. It’s not an authority that someone like me should have. Alice gave me this at the moment of her death. When I asked why, she said she was worried about me? Ha, ha… Only then did I realize. I stabbed someone I shouldn’t have stabbed.”

Oriana laughed hollowly and looked up at the ceiling.

“I wish she had resented me. I wish she had hated me. Not even doing that. What has this foolish brat done?”

Theresa was still sending Oriana a look filled with contempt and hatred.

However, as the story progressed, a bit of pity was added to that look.

Theresa also knew that Oriana was only 10 years old when she became a hero.

Humans entrusted such a heavy burden to such a young child, and Alice took in and supported such Oriana.

Of course, it was true that Oriana had done something ungrateful and irreversible, but she was just a child.

Used and shaken by adults who don’t take responsibility, and then reaching an irreversible point.

“I still remember it. The ridiculous words of a certain king. The words of those who were fixated on a hypothetical event that hadn’t even happened and turned the savior into a demon. And the regret of the foolish one who was persuaded by such nonsense and stabbed the heart of the one she revered.”

Oriana regretted it belatedly.

No, she regretted it so much that she wanted to tear herself apart and kill herself.

She had to just watch as those who had blasphemed Alice and cared about humanity or The Greater Cause suddenly changed and tore apart and devoured her legacy.

But regret and realization came too late.

“Alice solved the burden of this star by sharing the burden by piercing through all parallel dimensions and rifts. The rulers must have been happy that the Demon King disappeared. Because they could monopolize the management of the emptied rifts.”

In fact, immediately after the Demon King disappeared, humanity was able to gain all sorts of benefits through the rifts.

Unexplored worlds.

New world colonies.

Rare resources never seen before.

Low-intelligence races that can be used as slaves.

Monsters with nothing to throw away, including meat, bones, and skin.

In addition, thanks to the multi-dimensional rifts, the burden of the star disappearing was gone, and the civilization of magic and magical engineering continued to advance without stopping.

Thus, human civilization seemed to be reaching a golden age.

“But calamities began to appear from the rifts.”

Calamities.

Incomprehensible beings.

Things that are considered impossible for humanity to repel even at the present time.

Viral life forms.

Zombie viruses.

Mercury typhoons.

Dividing, immobile, highly poisonous life forms.

But what to do?

There is no one to manage the rifts?

Humanity killed the Demon King with its own hands?

“Calamity. Ah, yes. This is the deserved punishment for our humanity.”

Humanity continued to decline from that point on.

Once opened, the rifts expanded endlessly because there was no one to manage them, eroding humanity’s foundations. As such, the calamities expanded their territory even further, bringing humanity to the brink of extinction.

Ah, this is the retribution that must be paid.

It was the current result of the just and deserved price for the wicked and ungrateful humanity that tried to stab the benefactor who tried to save the world in the back.

Until now, she thought that not only herself but all of humanity deserved to be killed by Alice.

“The reason I built the Ark? It’s not to save humanity or to act as an Ark.”

Oriana tapped the table.

“One is revival. I stabbed the Demon King’s heart, but her body did not decay and is still performing perpetual activity.”

【Code Liberation… that’s what it’s called.】

“That’s right. Alice’s body is backing up mana control and formula calculations, enhancing the power of the Overseers. The Overseers are becoming a shield to protect humanity… but the real purpose was to analyze Alice’s biological mana patterns and interpret her genes.”

Code Liberation is outwardly known to allow Overseers to unlock new powers by receiving massive backups from the central neural network.

But the reality was different.

It is true that Overseers are unlocking new powers, but conversely, the interpretation of Alice’s body in the center is secretly parasitizing the brain cells and formula calculation abilities of numerous Overseers connected to the code, becoming the cornerstone of numerous attempts to revive Alice.

“Artificial embryos, monster fusion, immortality control… Ah, I guess you know since you met Sohi. In fact, the Immortality Factory where the immortal girls were born is also the result of a complete failure during an attempt to revive Alice’s biological organs.”

【Ha, even the Immortality Factory? You must be crazy.】

“Just like you are infinitely dedicated to Alice. I could literally do anything to revive Alice. Of course, the results haven’t been satisfactory so far…”

But now Alice has been revived.

In a scrap heap that I didn’t even expect.

An android body that woke up in a scrap heap located on the outskirts woke up with Alice’s will, ego, and consciousness.

“The fact that I met Alice in the outer scrap heap… honestly, I didn’t even expect it. If I couldn’t revive Alice with flesh and biological tissue, I wanted to somehow create Alice with steel and metal cells.”

【So what was the result?】

“Failure. I failed countless times. No matter how glitzy I made the body look, it had no ego, no intelligence, and couldn’t even perform the entered program. I still don’t know. How Alice’s ego and reason settled into that body.”

Oriana looked outside.

“Ah, shall I tell you one more interesting fact?”

【What is it?】

“I said earlier that I created the Ark to revive the Demon King.”

【You did.】

“And the second purpose is to use it as food for the Demon King. To make it a big party table.”

【If Alice’s revival is confirmed, you intended to make all of humanity in the Ark food for Alice?】

“That’s right. Our Demon King can’t collapse from hunger.”

Oriana.

No, Rilstia had a trigger.

The layer collapse trigger.

No administrator would know that the layer itself has a formula or trigger that collapses in an instant.

This is because only Oriana, Rilstia, the founder and builder of the Ark, knows this.

“But the Demon King is… still the same. Even if I tell her to eat, even if I say I’ll give all of humanity to Alice right now…”

【She will refuse.】

“…That’s right. She would.”

Oriana still felt that she and humanity should dedicate their bodies and lives to the Demon King.

But if it were Alice, she would say, ‘Even if there is a fault, the current people are just descendants, so what crime have they committed?’ Even if there were the very humans who betrayed Alice at the time, Alice would naturally refuse with some excuse.

Because that’s the kind of person she was.

“The number of times I tried to revive Alice… I don’t know because I stopped counting after it exceeded four digits.”

【Ha.】

Theresa glared at Oriana with a look of disbelief.

【If you feel guilty, you should have bitten your tongue. If you feel so guilty, you should have buried your face in sewage and died. You were going to let only Alice judge your sins, so you were going to try to revive Alice anew?】

“…I can’t say you’re wrong.”

Oriana shrugged as if she had nothing to say.

【But at the same time, I also think I might have to pity you.】

Wanting to die by Alice.

Wanting to be scolded by Alice.

Having betrayed Alice, what would it have been like to live with the feeling of wanting to return everything of herself and humanity to Alice?

Theresa still hates Oriana.

She hates and hates the foolish hero.

But she also understood.

She was just a child used by adults, and Theresa could empathize with the feeling of her insides rotting away while trying to revive Alice countless times.