Chapter 300: The Underking
Somewhere in the Underlayer, in the company of an unweathered stone pillar, half a dozen arguments welled up from a group of despairing individuals. The column stood like a silent witness, roughly the width and length of a football stadium while they debated amongst themselves. The pillar, with its mana dense atmosphere and the sprawling landscape of unspoiled dirt was indistinguishable from a thousand others that occupied the underground layer. There was nothing special about this one in particular.
For the parties present, the conclusion of the event had come suddenly, accompanied by the earth trembling such that they braced themselves in the shadow of the stone monument. They were still acclimating to the scenario as a whole when it abruptly ended.
They hadn’t decided on a new goal after escaping their previous predicament, let alone a way to achieve it. The quakes at the end of the event reignited the debates that had been ongoing for several days while they assessed the situation.
A few among them saw the underground layer as an opportunity to try and return to homes they had been forced out of. They believed they hadn’t fought hard enough to stay within the safety of settlement territory, and now that they had experienced what the untamed world was like, they dreamed of returning.
Others believed they could utilize the tunnels to reach new places where they could integrate themselves without the challenge of negotiating with the same people who ostracized them in the first place. For them, a fresh start was far more appealing than begging for a second chance among those that had been responsible for their expulsion.
Both sides agreed that surviving without a civilization shard was not their best option and hoped to find a way to get themselves back into tamed territory. However, the largest bloc of exiles refrained from the debates, quietly following the lead of their mistress.
Ultimately, Hai Yun held the most authority to make such decisions on behalf of the group, her attendants somehow still completely loyal to her judgment, but the truth was that she had mentally checked out, completely smothered by the burdens of leadership and survival. Instead of acting as an arbiter for the troupe as she had in the past, she gazed off into the distance, only half listening to what went on around her, as taciturn as the stone column.
She wasn’t sure if anything they did even mattered anymore. To her, it seemed clear that the assimilation was an exercise in misery. Every option was futile, with adversities designed to eventually overcome the will of all humans. The civilization shards were merely prolonging the experience.
The last leg of their journey had caused them to fall behind in levels, so it felt like the possibility of them affecting change had disappeared. At this point, they really would be seen as nothing but a burden to those they would have offered to help. In spite of their combat experience, thousands of others had easily surpassed them.
She was growing more and more convinced that humans didn’t even deserve to survive. At every turn, they had only made the already apocalyptic hardships more difficult, throwing their kin to the wolves based on arbitrary differences that were hardly relevant to their survival as a whole. There was too much baggage harbored within the souls of humanity.
She shut her eyes for a moment, somehow maintaining her mask of neutrality and wondered if all of their struggles had been a waste of effort. When she opened them again, she watched the hazy flow of mana far off on the horizon. It seemed like an invitation to surrender to the currents of destiny.
“Don’t be stupid!” A voice rose above the rest. “There’s no reason for us to go back unless you intend to stain your blade with their blood.” Akari Kitawa shouted at her older sister, who stoically gazed in the direction of Shinjuku Gardens. The middle sibling was always the noisiest. Her raised voice attracted plenty of attention.