episode_0257

Inside the sparsely lit convention center, the girl listlessly moved her fork, then cleared her paper plate.

A middle-aged woman, seeing her, asked in a worried voice.

“Does it not taste good? It’s alright if you don’t have an appetite, you don’t have to eat it. We’ll be leaving soon, so let’s eat dinner outside.”

“That’s right. It’s preserved food, after all. If it doesn’t taste good, there’s no need to force yourself to eat it.”

At her mom and dad’s words, the girl nodded and put down her meal.

The MREs distributed by the Federal Army soldiers and rescue workers were fascinating, but for some reason, she had no appetite.

“Are you okay? You had a nosebleed earlier too…”

“I’m fine.”

Her parents looked at Ariel with worried eyes, but Ariel forced a smile. While her parents discussed the limitations and hygiene of instant food, Ariel leaned against the wall, looking listless.

‘I feel dizzy…’

Her parents’ thoughts were mistaken. The reason Ariel had no appetite was simply because she felt dizzy. Her nosebleed, which only stopped after she had spilled about a bowlful of blood, caused her head to throb continuously. Her mom had touched her forehead and said she didn’t have a fever, but it still felt like a fever lingered.

But that wasn’t the only problem. Something else was tormenting Ariel.

「&%$%&!$%」

A strange noise had been swirling around her ears for a while now. The noise gradually grew louder, endlessly echoing as if someone had put a microphone inside her head and was shouting through it.

「■■■■■」

「■■■■■■■■■■■」

The whispers were utterly unintelligible and incomprehensible. However, Ariel instinctively knew. That this was a kind of instruction. It felt like her mother nagging her to clean her room, amplified tens of thousands of times over.

‘Please stop…’

Ariel covered her ears in agony, but the noise continued to reverberate and shake, as if searching for an exit inside her head.

**

“Captain-nim, why did command issue such an order? Is it right to follow this?”

Outside the command vehicle, a deputy captain stood beside Major Klein, who was overseeing the construction of the defensive line, and asked with a puzzled expression. They were in the midst of setting up the defensive line while preparing to open the exit outside the barrier. The deputy captain was a trustworthy officer and junior who had served alongside Klein in many battles since Klein first took up his post after graduating from the academy. Klein was flustered by his sudden question.

“It’s an order, for now…”

Klein’s attempt to silence his subordinate failed. The junior officer observed his superior’s expression and continued to speak.

“But isn’t this strange? Captain-nim must feel it too. Coordinating with the rescue teams is a reasonable order. It’s our mission. But the priority criteria are incomprehensible.”

“Prioritizing the rescue of academy students is standard procedure when entering dungeons and corrupted zones.”

Klein turned his head to look at him, as if inviting him to say more. The deputy captain sighed briefly and opened his mouth, sounding displeased.

“There’s an even higher principle than that. According to protocol, the top priority for rescue is usually unawakened civilians. Awakened individuals, because of their physical conditions, can endure extreme environments for longer. But this…”

Klein recalled the explanation he had given to the girl from Ariel’s group earlier.

“I don’t understand how unawakened individuals can be placed last in evacuation priority. Is this right? You’ve seen the criteria and the temporary roster. The prestigious, successful academy students are first priority, then students from small to medium-sized academies, and among ordinary citizens, awakened individuals are prioritized. To put unawakened at the very bottom, is this right? And that one-star idiot who just got appointed after the former Special Operations Commander-nim was dismissed. He’s an imbecile, isn’t he? Rumor has it that the Restraid bastards pulled strings to get him parachuted in. That idiot, he’s out of his mind!”

“Stop it, someone might hear you.”

Major Klein restrained his agitated subordinate with a firm voice. He, too, found many parts incomprehensible, but nonetheless, he had to follow orders. That was a soldier’s duty.

“Haa…”

A sigh escaped him unknowingly. What on earth was command thinking? First, they suddenly deploy tactical nukes. Now, they’re ordering evacuations based on such ridiculous criteria. If Ariel’s group hadn’t informed them, they wouldn’t have even grasped the unique circumstances within this city.

“Deputy Captain, don’t get too agitated and let’s focus on the immediate situation. We need to set up the defensive line, and there’s a lot of cooperation required with the rescue teams and the people inside. For now, let’s follow the orders, but use our discretion depending on the situation. If a problem arises, I’ll take responsibility.”

“…Understood.”

His subordinate reluctantly agreed and fell silent. As they continued their work, a new message came in from the exhibition hall.

“Patients? Alright. I’ll report it separately to command, but for now, show them to the military doctors and tell them to coordinate with other medical staff on site. Urgent patients will be handled separately—”

The number of patients complaining of headaches and dizziness was increasing. Could it be a temporary phenomenon due to non-adaptation within the corrupted zone? First, I should relay this to other mobile units and contact command outside the barrier to request additional support from the emergency medical support team.

Klein returned to the command vehicle. He picked up the receiver of the large communicator that filled the vehicle and connected to command, and a sharp, ear-splitting noise rang out.

“What is this? Why—”

“Isn’t it broken?”

At that moment, the command vehicle’s interior lights flickered, then came back on.

“…”

An ominous premonition ran down Major Klein’s spine.

**

The Violets were defeated.

Inside the circular barrier, the Violets were each tightly bound by pitch-black chains that had sprung from the ground.

「Ugh…Ugh…」

Just as Violet was about to recall her body and depart, the Apostle’s hand caressed her head as if stroking it. At that, Violet’s magic temporarily ceased.

“Aargh! Ugh!”

Pitch-black brands were being etched onto her body. Violet now realized that her consciousness could not escape this place. It was impossible to reverse-create and destroy her body.

「Wha, what! No! I can’t leave!」

「Aargh!」

Of course, even if she had wanted to leave, she wouldn’t have been able to. Because Levi was tightly bound in front of the chained Violets.

Violet’s eyes widened.

“Hey, what are you doing! Not her! Stop it!”

Violet screamed, but it was futile. The Apostle’s malicious touch now enveloped Levi. Levi, who had been slumped, suddenly opened her eyes wide and screamed loud enough to shake all of Asteria.

“Aaaaargh! No! I don’t want to! I was wrong…”

Levi’s eyes, which had been painfully wailing, rolled back and soon turned black.

“Ah, no! Vi, Violet. Don’t, don’t abandon me. No, I, I was wrong! I’ll, I’ll listen well…”

Levi’s state was now like a broken doll, creaking. Unable to bear her friend’s grotesque wails growing stranger by the moment, Violet shouted.

“Hey! Give me back my friend! She’s messed up! Fix my friend!”

The Apostle turned its gaze to Violet instead of answering. Once again, waves of overwhelming pain and sensory input surged, making the Violets clench their jaws so hard their teeth nearly broke.

Violet, barely regaining her composure, gasped and mumbled.

“Damn it, why, why are you doing this…! You bastard!”

The woman, with a rare sneer on her face, murmured.

“Is there a reason to harvest crops? What flowery words should be added to slaughtering livestock?”

She was usually unaccustomed to expressing emotions through her human shell, but when it came to mocking enemies like this, it felt as natural as her original body. The man standing beside her interjected with an expressionless face.

“Enough.”

The man spoke with a hint of urgency.

“Research can wait. For now, take action. While the fact that they’re humans who have established a rudimentary hive mind is excellent, it’s time to move. The gate opening, using our false worshippers, just concluded.”

At the welcome news, the woman stopped the torment and turned her head.

“Our true forces have arrived.”

“Yes, I’ll go now for my task. Don’t forget to quickly turn them into servants and get back to your main work.”

The man vanished again. Violet screamed, watching her friend and the woman in real-time.

“You! I won’t let you get away with this! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you! I don’t know what otherworldly dimension you came from, but—”

However, her enraged shout soon ceased in fear. The woman gripped one of the Violets’ heads with overwhelming force and made her meet her gaze.

The surrounding scenery distorted. The city’s appearance blurred and plunged into darkness.

A sneer formed on the Apostle’s lips. These audacious insects. Human potential was surprising, but for detailed research, they needed to be turned into servants. To do that, their spirits would need to be broken. The Apostle took new measures.

Now, this being called Violet would confront the cold truth. The utterly merciless truth beyond the abyss.

A new scene unfolded before Violet’s eyes.

“This is…”

The scenery of an unfamiliar planet flashed before Violet’s eyes. Human-sized beings were seen screaming and running across the vibrating ground. As the sky began to groan and split apart, various races dressed in colorful attire were gripped by terror. Large and small ominous gates opened like beastly maws, covering the sky. Through them, countless gigantic, unfamiliar-shaped warships and myriad winged beasts traversed the burning sky. Vast lands burned black, turning into ashes. Rivers, lakes, and seas turned into crimson poison and boiled. The flesh and bones of the fleeing races boiled amidst their screams.

Another scene unfolded. Humanoid creatures with green skin and long ears cowered in terror. The earth split, and reddish and purplish aether surged like a spring from deep, dark fissures stretching to the horizon. The atmosphere was stained dark like the abyss, and the entire planet was instantly swallowed by the forces pouring onto its surface.

In terror, Violet looked around. Now she saw an alien city made of crystal. Among the colossal and magnificent cities, temples, and towers, she saw creatures bound by chains and wailing. The gaze of these reptiles, covered in yellow scales, momentarily turned black, then distorted into grotesque forms impossible to describe in words. They were demonic beasts.

The nightmare continued to unfold before her eyes. Fleets of massive warships covering the sky. Storms pouring down like hail. Flashes comparable to supernovas melting mountains and hills indiscriminately. The colossal and magnificent civilizations of countless races collapsed in flames. Myriad races and ecosystems were submerged in aether, twisted into a state of slavery. A scene unfolded where all life on the planet melted into green slime and rotted away.

And then, a vast hand reached out from within a colossal gate, grasping a continent.

‘….!’

The planet’s surface was crushed, twisted, and cratered by immense force. Jagged and tangled rock peaks rose into the sky, revealing sharp fangs. Continents, like distorted puzzles, were torn apart down to their mantles and surged skyward. Three-legged creatures with blue skin were seen. They struggled to flee from the encroaching aetheric corruption and the legions of demonic beasts. Silver-glowing spaceships desperately stretched their arms as if seeking a lifeline beyond the abyss, but too late, they realized the sky was blocked by a barrier. Having lost their escape route, they plummeted and were swallowed by the darkness within the maw of the earth.

Amidst the endlessly unfolding scenes, Violet’s thoughts froze.

“Who are you?” the girl asked.

The Apostle replied.

“We are Eidos. We are the unique ones, the universal ones. We are the inheritors of the right to monopolize.”

The ruins of civilizations, mountains of corpses, burning lands, and the screams of countless terrified races swallowed the girl’s mind.

“Countless civilizations knelt before us. Innumerable intelligent beings resisted us but withered away.”

The Apostle’s voice resonated. As Violet, terrified, stumbled backward and looked up, a colossal eye from beyond the cosmos gazed at her. The eye, glowing red and green as if drifting in the abyss, contained dozens, hundreds of pupils, moving frantically.

“Your kind, who have only just awakened to magic, have no chance. Resistance is meaningless.”

The overwhelming shock brought by the torrent of information. Violet realized that there were things in the world that could not be expressed in words.

“Therefore, become one. Kneel. This is a categorical imperative from the majestic throne of the Monad.”

Touching the shocked Violet’s head, the Apostle of Eidos whispered.

“Did you see? Your race is weak. Submission and simply accepting death is the natural order.”

Violet’s body trembled involuntarily at the ruthless truth witnessed from the abyss of endless space.

“Do you know why I personally showed you these things?”

The Apostle revealed. If there was only one truth in the cold, vast expanse of space beyond the abyss, it was only destruction.

“Your talent is rather insignificant compared to our race, but among the humans I’ve seen on this planet, it’s quite good. I advise you. If our majestic Great Monarch is pleased, when you join our forces, you will be given some autonomy and your self will be preserved.”

The Apostle extended a hand, as if it were the only option.

“Do you wish to see your friend suffer more? Surrender quickly and join our forces.”

Even in her terror, Violet desperately denied it.

“No! I won’t surrender! I’ll fight!”

The Apostle sneered, like an adult watching a child’s tantrum.

“Meaningless words. Stop your tantrums. Annihilation is inevitable.”

The Apostle of Eidos declared ferociously.

“You are the most pathetic and lowly beings in this universe.”

A black hand gripped her head. Soon, Violet’s eyes snapped open.

「You are vermin.」

「You are vermin!」

Violet found herself again, standing alone in a network. Within a white mental space, a form of indescribable color approached her. As it extended its hand, viscous, pitch-black nightmares, like tar, began to stain her.

「Ugh, aaaargh!」

Leaving the struggling Violet behind, the woman once again relayed to her comrade.

「It’s done. Let’s begin. Lure the Restraid.」

As soon as the man received the telepathic message, he reflexively extended his right arm straight out. The demonic beasts that had been slumbering in the darkness raised their heads and began to advance.