Chapter 38

Nark surges.

Vast nark that could devour the entire surrounding area and more.

Yet no one noticed the changed currents of power. Not the selected students, not the Ascetics managing them, not even the goblins called Pioneers in White Form.

Al Terua gazed peacefully at the children practicing sorcery and the goblins standing watch beside them.

Do they know?

That a giant finger looms above their heads. That everything within sight would evaporate in an instant if the finger’s owner so desired.

Al Terua turned their gaze toward the finger’s owner.

Beneath a tree with lush leaves.

Twella sat cross-legged with her eyes closed.

Children in black robes approached Twella. They chattered among themselves before throwing a stone at her.

The stone struck Twella’s head and fell. The children giggled and left.

Al Terua smiled bitterly and wiped their lips. Those creatures should be grateful to her. For sparing them with boundless mercy.

Twella opened her eyes. Al Terua leaped down from the rooftop and approached her.

“Has the time come?”

Twella quietly nodded her head.

“Yes, it has.”

The fateful event she’d seen would soon begin.

In a situation where he couldn’t even trust his own existence, Al Terua had endured time by looking only at Twella.

Believing firmly that she would reveal the truth.

“I’ll be back shortly.”

“Should I come with you?”

“No. Stay here. It won’t take long.”

Twella looked into the distance.

What could be in the place those empty eyes were directed toward?

“Hey!”

A scrawny girl approached with an irritated face. The child glanced at Al Terua before standing in front of Twella.

“You—just because the Pioneer favors you…”

The child who’d been pouring out words clamped her mouth shut. She’d seen Twella’s eyes.

The child’s pupils shook mercilessly before drooping downward. Her body collapsed along with them.

Looking at the child sprawled on the ground, Twella spoke.

“Take care of her. She seems startled.”

“Alright.”

Twella’s body rose. She flew high enough to touch the sky wall, crossing through the air like a bird.

She vanished from sight in an instant.

“No, no…”

The child who’d fainted opened her eyes. She began spewing incoherent words.

Al Terua stroked the child’s head. The child closed her mouth and looked up vacantly.

“You’re not very useful.”

Whoosh!

The child’s body burst into flames. The corpse that burned completely in an instant scattered into the air with a crackling sound.

Al Terua watched the gray dust dispersing into the atmosphere and thought.

Right, I’m not normal.

Even after killing a fellow human—a young child at that—there was no guilt, not even any emotion.

Scratching their head, they blew away the ash stuck to their hand.

The closer ‘that time’ Twella spoke of approached, the more the entity called Al Terua felt like it was fading.

Moreover, the memory errors were gradually intensifying—now he couldn’t even recall what he’d done outside.

No, it wasn’t just outside.

He couldn’t remember what he’d been doing here for the past few years either.

It was a serious situation.

If it were another human, they wouldn’t have been able to sleep from anxiety.

But Al Terua was fine. Anxiety, worry, concern—he was as calm as if such concepts had been removed from his mind.

What am I, and what do I desire?

Al Terua looked in the direction where Twella had disappeared.

One loved by fate.

That child would bring the answer.

*

“Al Terua taught you? Everything?”

“Yes. The word goblin, that this place is the surface realm—that person told me everything.”

Lil clasped both hands together. The interlocked hands looked almost like prayer.

“That person knew exactly what sacrifice meant. I knew too. That’s why I was able to prepare all of this with Geron.”

“Prepare?”

“The way for Geron to become stronger. The way for his very existence to change. You know it too, right? ‘Ritual of Awakening.’ Geron will undergo the Ritual of Awakening and become an entirely different being, resolving all these problems.”

The moment he heard those words, the horrific scenes he’d witnessed countless times in the past flashed before his eyes.

The Ritual of Transformation witnessed in the Mind Refinement Hall.

Humans transforming into lumps of flesh, and the Pioneer smiling with satisfaction beside them.

Urgh—his stomach twisted and bile rose.

Lil approached asking if he was alright, extending her hand. Quilbion violently twisted his body and shoved her hand away.

“Al Terua told you everything, right? That bastard really… telling you to perform rituals by killing kids…”

“Someone had to do it. I was the right person. Because I’m special. I don’t go insane even when my memories return, and I can look at reality coldly. Sacrifice is sad, but once this is over, everything will return to its proper place.”

Had it all been lies?

The face of Al Terua smiling gently came to mind.

Twella came to mind at the same time.

That child is in danger!

“Sister Lil, sister! Snap out of it. You’re being deceived right now.”

“Deceived? Who?”

“Who else! You, I’m talking about you! You’re being deceived by that lunatic!”

Al Terua had said it. That they had memory issues, that they couldn’t even trust themselves.

He’d been anticipating betrayal.

But he’d never dreamed it would take this form.

“You know about that person too?”

“More than just knowing! I learned sorcery from that person too. How to survive here—that person told me everything!”

“Then you should be grateful.”

“I was used. I don’t know what that person wants, but both I and you, sister—we’re being used!”

“Used?”

Lil let out a soft laugh.

“That might be true.”

“What?”

“People use people. That’s natural. That person must have been anxious too. You can’t bet everything on one method, right? So they prepared multiple options. You’d be one of them too.”

This deranged woman had no intention of listening no matter what he said.

Quilbion rolled his eyes.

Whether Lil died dancing on Al Terua’s palm or not—that wasn’t his concern.

The problem was Twella.

That bastard had only shown interest in Twella. Even now, he’d be stuck beside Twella.

The one who told Lil about the Ritual of Awakening that uses humans as materials.

Might the real monster wearing human skin be Al Terua, not a goblin?

“Al Terua is a goblin, right? Right? That’s why this insane thing…”

“No. That person is human.”

“That can’t be. It doesn’t make sense! Everything from beginning to end doesn’t make sense. That person’s memories are completely messed up. Nothing adds up. He can’t even remember his own past—is that really human?”

“He’s human.”

The answer came from the doorway.

It was Geron. A goblin taking human form. Even their tail was concealed.

“I verified it myself. That wasn’t the same species as us. He was just concealing nark in a form similar to ours to deceive.”

Damn it.

Geron had returned. He’d tried to create an opportunity while Lil was alone.

Whether Al Terua was human or goblin wasn’t important.

He had to escape from here and get to Twella—only that thought filled his mind.

“He’s really human?”

“Yes. A human possessing considerable sorcery power.”

“That’s strange. Why would a human cooperate with a goblin?”

“I told you, he kept multiple possibilities open. I can understand that.”

Lil answered.

“Sister, think carefully. Is it really like that? Sending us two here, having you capture kids and prepare for the Ritual of Awakening—it all came from that bastard’s head, right? Is it really for you, sister? Can you really escape from here if you perform the Ritual of Awakening?”

He spoke while glancing sideways at Geron.

Lil and Geron—he had to create a rift between them.

“It’s possible. The Ritual of Awakening is magnificent.”

“How can you be sure?”

“You’re looking at the result.”

Lil approached Geron. She wrapped both arms around his waist like embracing a lover.

“The intelligence Geron gained, their power. The ritual has been performed since that day four years ago. Look! At this beautiful nark.”

Lil stroked Geron with an ecstatic expression.

“When the Ritual of Awakening is fully complete, Geron will be reborn. Metamorphosis—yes, Geron will shed their skin and become a butterfly. A butterfly that will lead us to freedom.”

“It might not be! Everything you’ve prepared might transfer to Al Terua. Or…”

Lil cut him off with a smile.

“That wouldn’t be bad either.”

“What?”

“Sacrifice is unavoidable. I’ve kept saying that. Looking at your eyes, I could tell. You probably thought, ‘You’re not included in that sacrifice.'”

Lil knelt down. She became eye-level with Quilbion.

“That’s not true. I’ll give everything too. Like those kids. If necessary, my own…”

Squelch!

Something warm splattered on his face. Some got in his eyes, forcing Quilbion to squeeze them shut.

When he opened his eyes again, what entered his vision was a tail that had pierced through Lil’s chest.

A tail densely packed with spines.

“Huh?”

With that word, Lil let out a murky, choking breath before dropping her head.

The tail that had pierced her chest swayed. The spines beaded with blood began trembling.

Quilbion raised his head. Slowly following Lil’s rising body.

“You fucking bastard.”

Quilbion stared directly at Geron.

Rage—no, hatred—filled every part of his body.

“I know. What emotions you’re feeling.”

Geron spoke.

“But those are unnecessary emotions.”

Spines extending from the tail stretched long before piercing various parts of Lil’s body.

The corpse withered in an instant.

The roughened skin stuck to bone, creating a gruesome form.

Thud.

The dried corpse fell to the floor.

It was unthinkable that she’d been someone he was conversing with just seconds ago.

“Ah, yes. I’ve finally found my form and understood my karma. I’ve finally grasped the direction.”

Geron’s tail approached and wrapped around Quilbion’s neck. He tried to resist, but it was useless.

His body was lifted.

As his neck twisted and breath choked out, Geron’s other tail supported his body.

“Your nark is interesting. Worth observing.”

“Go to hell.”

“Your fear is visible to my eyes. Ah, so these are the eyes I gain. An entirely different world. And… what a crude world this is.”

Geron spoke while surveying the surroundings.

Quilbion squinted his eyes.

It had changed.

Light swirled in Geron’s eyes that had looked like a dead pig’s. They seemed clear.

Clear?

The fact that he’d thought such a thing even momentarily sent chills through him.

“What did you do? Huh?”

“I gained power. But I’m still lacking. To properly understand karma, I must become a being of even higher dimension. Only then will my form become complete and I’ll perfectly comprehend karma.”

“What bullshit, urk!”

The tail wrapped around his neck tightly.

Geron narrowed their eyes and spoke.

“I hate you.”

“Y-Yeah? I feel the same way, you son of a bitch.”

“Why do I hate you? This must also be related to karma. What I vaguely sense is that I hate your very existence.”

“Same here.”

Quilbion shook his body and kicked at Geron’s face with his rope-bound feet. Geron stared at Quilbion with an indifferent expression before swinging the tail widely.

Crash!

Quilbion’s body slammed into the floor.

“Ghhh.”

Sharp pain brought his fading consciousness back. His whole body tingled. It felt like two or three ribs had broken.

“Watch your words…”

Geron closed their mouth. Quilbion looked up at Geron while gasping.

Geron was staring at the ceiling with their head tilted.

Soon.

“Ah!”

With a short exclamation.

Swoosh!

A flash fell toward Geron’s head.