Chapter 306 : The Emperor's Final Move
Chapter 306: The Emperor's Final Move
“How did it go?”
“‘Kitsune’ has been defeated.”
“I see.”
Kitsune.
The title used to refer to the leader of the Stingray Ninja Unit, meaning “Fox.”
In other words...
The Stingray Ninja Unit had fallen at Aaron Stingray's hands.
Even after hearing that the strongest Adapted unit he had painstakingly nurtured had been annihilated, Chairman Stingray didn't so much as blink.
Rather...
His faded sulfur-colored eyes even appeared satisfied.
“So, what is he doing now?”
“We have confirmed that he rescued the Dragon imprisoned in the facility. The Scavenger Unit is currently tracking their trail, and there is a high probability that he also took ‘Kitsune's’ Module.”
“Excellent... Truly excellent.”
The corners of Chairman Stingray's lips curved upward.
Who could have imagined that such an expression belonged to the Mad King preparing to burn an entire city to the ground?
“My, my. Back then, he was such a reckless brat who relied solely on his own strength that he gave me endless headaches. But now he's become a cunning little cat, which is troublesome in an entirely different way. Just where did such a fellow come from to seize that body...? Managing him has become quite difficult.”
“……”
“If it were up to me, I'd have locked him away somewhere and remodeled him. But that would've probably produced the opposite result. Handling a disobedient son is truly difficult, wouldn't you agree?”
“You are absolutely correct.”
“Hahaha.”
Chief Secretary Im Sangho nodded deeply in agreement.
The Chairman seemed to be in an unusually good mood today.
He smiled constantly and talked far more than usual.
At one point, while leaning back in his wheelchair, he even hummed to himself for quite a while before finally speaking again with a sigh.
“It has already been two hundred years.”
A vast wasteland shimmered before his eyes.
“With this old body that has long since reached the brink of collapse, I've somehow made it this far. At some point, people began calling me the ‘Emperor.’ There were many hardships... and many joys as well. Though now, they're all nothing more than distant memories...”
“Chairman...”
“I have already given them everything I could. I've prepared the stage. Whether my children seize what has been laid before them... or fail to... is now up to them.”
“……”
“You've worked hard all these years as well, Sangho.”
Calling his secretary by name, the Chairman smiled.
Chief Secretary Im Sangho suppressed the emotions welling up inside him before respectfully bowing ninety degrees.
“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve by your side for all these years, Chairman.”
“What nonsense. It's because you've done such an excellent job. Your father would be proud of you.”
“Thank you.”
Chief Secretary Im Sangho straightened his back.
When he raised his head again...
His eyes had filled with tears.
Barely managing to steady his trembling voice, he spoke.
“Then... please excuse me.”
“Yes. Go ahead and wait for me. I'll be joining you soon enough.”
“Yes, sir. I sincerely pray from the bottom of my heart that one day I may serve you again!”
At that moment—
Chief Secretary Im Sangho drew a pistol from inside his jacket.
Then...
He removed every Combat Module from the socket at the back of his neck before placing the muzzle beneath his chin.
And—
“Long live Stingray!!”
Bang!
Blood sprayed through the air alongside the gunshot.
The large man, standing over 180 centimeters tall, collapsed heavily onto the floor.
As time passed...
A warm pool of crimson liquid slowly spread beneath Chief Secretary Im Sangho's body.
Even at such a sight...
Chairman Stingray's expression remained completely unchanged.
He merely turned his wheelchair around.
When he opened the door and entered the corridor...
The bodies of people wearing suits bearing the Stingray emblem lay scattered across the floor.
Every one of them had died the same way as Chief Secretary Im Sangho.
Chairman Stingray leisurely rolled through the corridor soaked with blood and bodily fluids as though taking a casual stroll.
Eventually...
He arrived before a reinforced wall at the very end of the hallway.
Beside it lay two armed soldiers holding assault rifles, slumped against the wall while bleeding to death.
He quietly muttered to himself.
“It should be about time...”
At that exact moment—
Boom!!
Boom!!
Violent explosions echoed from beyond the reinforced wall.
Repeated impacts sounded as though someone was attempting to smash through the door.
Chairman Stingray remained completely relaxed as he disengaged the reinforced wall's lock.
Whoosh.
The reinforced wall slid open smoothly.
And the being attempting to force its way through from the opposite side was revealed.
It was none other than Kalia.
“So you've come. You must've been in quite a hurry to come here personally.”
“[ΤΔΗΤζυυΘ!!]”
“I have no idea what you're saying.”
“[Drake Stingray!! Rather than speaking in the language of lizards, would you kindly use the language of humans?]”
One of Kalia's arms had been twisted backward in rage.
Yet she strode forward without the slightest sign of pain before grabbing Chairman Stingray by the collar.
“[How dare you...!]”
“So you've finally begun speaking in a human language. Well then... how does it feel to have learned a new language?”
“[To force such an inferior language into my mouth... You will not die peacefully, mortal...!]”
“Heh. I suppose things didn't unfold quite the way you envisioned?”
If Kalia threw the Chairman to the ground now...
His frail body would undoubtedly shatter from the impact.
Yet Chairman Stingray showed not the slightest trace of fear as he continued provoking her.
“To become so desperate that the best you could manage was possessing my daughter's body... You've become quite pitiful, haven't you, you overgrown lizard?”
“[…Do you truly believe your plan will succeed?]”
“One never knows until the contest is over.”
Chairman Stingray laughed heartily.
“It has been two hundred years. To your kind, that may be little more than a long nap. But not for humans. It was more than enough time to prepare one decisive strike.”
“[I knew you had lost your mind... but I never imagined it had reached this extent. You are nothing more than a mere mortal—!]”
“And that overconfidence is precisely why you've ended up like this.”
Chairman Stingray's words twisted Kalia's face with fury.
Mocking her, he continued.
“If I die, I win.”
“If I don't die, I still win.”
“If this city falls, I win.”
“And even if this city survives... I still win.”
“[No.]”
Kalia slowly shook her head.
“[A collapsed foundation can always be rebuilt. Things will not proceed according to your intentions. Do you truly believe a mere mortal could so much as leave a scratch upon me?]”
“Will that truly be the case?”
Chairman Stingray sneered.
“‘That one’ will be different. He is the sharpest spear humanity has forged over two hundred years. The moment you lower your guard... he'll pierce straight through your throat.”
“[Enough!]”
The instant Kalia shouted—
Chairman Stingray's body vanished.
Only a pure white flame-like wisp remained flickering upon the wheelchair where he had been sitting.
Kalia grabbed it...
And swallowed it whole.
Her expression immediately twisted.
“[ΥγνΥζωΒεΩο!!]”
The moment she muttered those incomprehensible words...
The flesh on the countless corpses lying throughout the hallway melted away.
Soon...
Skeleton soldiers composed of nothing but gleaming white bones slowly rose to their feet.
Some even possessed metallic skeletons, evidence of Cyberware implantation.
“[ΨΔεΨΜ!]”
At her command...
The skeleton soldiers staggered toward the exit as one.
Their objective was singular.
Find Aaron Stingray.
And eliminate him.
“……I'm sorry. I have no excuse.”
After finishing the battle against the Ninja Unit...
I regrouped with Maria while bringing the Dragon along.
She explained that although she had successfully rescued Kalia...
She had suddenly disappeared midway through.
“Disappeared? What exactly do you mean?”
“I-I'm sorry. I truly don't know how to explain it any better. She simply vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.”
“Did someone take her?”
“No... not exactly, but...”
Maria trailed off.
“Before Miss Kalia disappeared... she felt completely different from usual.”
“Explain precisely.”
“I believe there may be something wrong with my Modules. I detected an enormous amount of mana coming from Miss Kalia. Her speech and demeanor were completely different as well. Even her eyes were glowing blue.”
“The Sky Dragon.”
The Dragon, who had been quietly listening beside me, finally spoke.
He was currently in human form.
I turned toward him.
“Do you know something, Dragon?”
“You foolish creature. I'm not simply a Dragon. Address me properly as Lord Dwindrog. In any case, if an ordinary human suddenly exhibited that level of mana, the only reasonable explanation is that the Sky Dragon has done something.”
“Are you certain?”
“Of course not. But wasn't it you who said that everyone suddenly began acting as though possessed during the meeting?”
“I suppose you're right.”
I nodded.
We had already confirmed that the Sky Dragon could manipulate people like puppets.
If Kalia had suddenly begun behaving like an entirely different person...
The most reasonable explanation was that the Sky Dragon had taken control of her.
As I nodded in understanding...
Maria frowned and glared at Dwindrog.
“‘You’...? Excuse me, but how dare you speak to Young Master Aaron so disrespectfully? Show some proper man—”
“Enough.”
I interrupted her.
“He isn't human, so don't expect that from him.”
“But, Young Master.”
“This is an emergency. We don't have time to waste on something like this. And let me remind you once again.”
“No matter how he looks... he's still a Dragon. There's no benefit in provoking him.”
Maria's eyes widened in horror.
“A-A Dragon? Then... my mana detection sensor wasn't malfunctioning after all...”
“When it warned you about Kalia... and now... both readings were correct.”
“……!”
Maria flinched fearfully and instinctively took a step backward.
She was a high-level Adapted with an exceptionally high Replacement Rate.
But before a Dragon constantly radiating enormous amounts of mana...
She was no different from a puppy.
Especially since her Modules were specialized for fighting humans...
Being directly exposed to Dwindrog's overwhelming mana could only affect her negatively.
Her reaction was perfectly understandable.
“Anyway, back to the main issue.”
I organized my thoughts.
“So, to summarize... Kalia is currently missing. And there's a high probability she's under the Sky Dragon's control.”
“That's about right.”
“What does it intend to accomplish by taking over Kalia's body?”
“I don't know either. But if I had to guess... after using Chairman Stingray to cause this disaster, it intends to put someone new in power... and recreate the same system it used before to rule over humanity.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
Dwindrog looked at me as though I were an idiot.
But I had no choice but to ask.
“I mean, why does it want to rule humanity in the first place? A being capable of burning an entire continent to ashes whenever it wishes should see humans as nothing more than ants. So why is it so obsessed with them?”
“……You truly know nothing.”
Dwindrog sighed.
Then he calmly continued.
“Listen carefully, I'll explain everything properly from the beginning.”