Chapter 325 : This World Is Mine
Chapter 325: This World Is Mine
If I said I wasn't afraid of the consequences, I'd be lying.
Until now, I had fought countless enemies as Aaron Stingray.
But the opponent before me now was incomparable to any of them.
Not only was it powerful...
I would probably never fight another opponent of this caliber again.
Even so...
I refused to bow my head before it.
Why?
Was it because of the pride I had to uphold as humanity's strongest?
Or was it pity for humanity, which would be forced to live as the Dragon's puppets if I knelt here?
Or perhaps...
Was it simply reckless bravado?
No.
None of those were the real answer.
After all...
Since when had I ever possessed such a noble sense of duty?
From the very moment I first set foot in this world, my only goal had been satisfying my own desires.
That's right.
In the end...
It was greed.
Accepting the Sky Dragon's proposal and living out my days after forgetting everything...
At first glance, it actually sounded rather appealing.
Unfortunately...
My greed couldn't be satisfied with something like that.
This was my world.
Even after following Teacher's guidance and experiencing broader worlds and countless different works, I had never once been able to grow attached to the ground beneath my feet...
Until I finally found this greatest paradise.
Electricity and rusted metal.
Artificial neural networks.
Thick smoke and damp, musty back alleys.
Neon billboards filling the streets.
Flying cars.
Gangs racing through the skies while ignoring every traffic signal.
Monsters constantly seeking to destroy humanity's last city.
Evil corporations.
Corrupt politicians.
Laws and justice determined by money.
Robots with warm hearts.
Humans worse than beasts...
No.
Worse than robots.
No matter how generously one tried to describe it...
This dystopia, no better than a filthy sewer, was the only world I had ever chosen to live in.
So this was my world.
I wanted this world for myself.
I had no intention of sharing it with anyone else.
What I dreamed of wasn't a life spent with clouded eyes under the rule of some inscrutable giant magical reptile.
I wanted to live freely beneath the dazzling glow of neon advertisements bright enough to sting my eyes.
I had money.
I had power.
I had beauty.
I had everything.
With the power to seize the entire world...
Why would I ever choose the life of a slave?
Absolutely not.
I would never hand this world over.
Yes.
I'll say it again.
“I won't hand it over to you.”
This was my world.
Even if someone held a blade against my throat, I wouldn't tolerate another person pretending to be its master.
For a battle that determined humanity's fate...
The reason was certainly selfish and narrow-minded.
But to me...
It was more than enough.
For my own sake.
For the sake of those I loved.
And...
'Now I finally understand.'
At last, I realized exactly how I was supposed to use the Mechanical Device Chairman Stingray had left for me.
'This is meant for Kallia.'
I didn't know exactly how the Sky Dragon controlled humans.
But there had to be a reason it chose to meet me through Kallia's body.
Hadn't it called it a "restriction" itself?
Most likely...
That was a weakness within the system it had created.
I couldn't be certain.
But it was the only possibility that came to mind.
'I need to wait for my chance.'
I still hadn't accurately gauged its abilities.
If I acted recklessly without knowing what it could do through Kallia's body, I might waste the one opportunity I'd ever get.
I didn't know whether it was aware of this Mechanical Device.
But I needed to wait for a more certain opening.
“……How incredibly foolish.”
The Sky Dragon muttered as though I had utterly disappointed it.
“You truly believe you can defeat me?”
“Yes.”
“I already know you're a soul from another world. I can also sense within you an aura resembling that of the Creator. That is probably what makes you special. However……”
The Sky Dragon raised one hand beside its face and lightly clapped.
At the same instant—
An incomprehensible vibration shook the earth.
Rummmmmm—
“This city is my farm. When you humans wandered from place to place without homes or lands, chased by the lesser [Mystics], this was the place where you were allowed to be born because of my generosity.”
Rumbleeeee—
The trembling intensified.
“I built this city from the ground up. Even the pipelines running through those sewers far beneath your feet—I know every one of them. Every bit of this was created for me. Do you understand?”
Rumbleeeee—
The vibrations finally subsided.
And I couldn't hide my astonishment.
The place that had been nothing more than an ordinary construction site moments ago had transformed into somewhere completely unfamiliar.
Towering concrete cliffs.
Enormous tunnels carved into the walls, large enough for dozens of tanks to pass through side by side.
Within those tunnels...
Unknown beings waited with gleaming eyes, ready to emerge.
“This is my garden.
Not yours.”
“……Tsk.”
The instant I clicked my tongue—
The unknown creatures waiting inside the tunnels surged forward like a flood.
At the same time, I instinctively activated my Module.
“Module Online, [Cloud Spider].”
Threads shot toward Kallia.
Thousands of strands broke the sound barrier with ease.
Yet...
Kallia was already gone.
Her body scattered like mist before reappearing high in the air some distance away.
“Trying to target me is pointless. The one you'll be fighting is this entire city.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than...
"They" began pouring endlessly from the tunnels on both sides.
Two arms.
Two legs.
Animals walking upright.
Long claws.
Smooth crimson skin.
At first glance, they looked remarkably human.
But it took only an instant to realize they weren't.
Their teeth and claws were far too developed.
Where pupils should have been...
There was only white.
Their physical abilities were equally abnormal.
They were incomparably faster than ordinary humans.
No...
They were even faster than most Adaptees.
Judging purely by speed, they were comparable to Mid-Rank Adaptees with a Total Module Level above Lv.50.
And their numbers...
Far exceeded anything I had imagined.
No exaggeration...
There were probably enough of them to surpass the entire population of a Sector.
“KYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”
They charged at me with terrifying speed.
If I had been an ordinary human...
The pressure alone would probably have made me wet myself.
But naturally...
I wasn't ordinary.
Slash.
With nothing more than a light flick of my finger...
I severed their waists.
They continued charging without even realizing they'd been cut apart.
Only afterward did their upper and lower bodies separate.
Following the law of inertia, heads and legs flew past me.
Casually avoiding them...
I continued walking forward.
Surrounded by what amounted to a battlefield where flesh projectiles flew through the air, I spoke.
“For puppets you prepared so confidently... they're disappointingly weak. Is this all?”
“Of course not.”
A mocking smile appeared on her lips.
The creatures I'd cut apart began writhing.
Their forms started changing.
One had its legs become its head, transforming into something resembling a deer.
Another melted completely into a slime-like creature.
“I told you before.
I was the first to recognize humanity's 'potential.'
Every [Mystic] originates from human imagination and emotion.
In other words...
Humans are the archetype of every monster.”
The piles of flesh had already transformed into entirely different creatures.
All shared the same crimson bodies.
Yet every species was different.
Elves.
Dwarves.
Orcs.
Goblins.
Chimeras.
Sirens.
Cyclopes.
Ogres.
Eight-Foot Ghosts.
Oni.
Bulgasari.
Trolls...
An entire army of different [Mystics] stared at me simultaneously.
I couldn't help muttering,
“I thought the Monster Wave had already ended.”
“The corporations of this city conduct some very interesting experiments. Such as combining human genes with [Mystics]……”
“It doesn't matter how many there are.”
Those low-grade [Mystics] couldn't stop me.
Another swing of my threads would be more than eno—
“Or experiments that turn inanimate matter into living organisms.”
At that instant...
The terrain changed again.
The moment I attempted to deploy [Cloud Spider], everything around me began writhing.
Most ominous of all...
The ground beneath my feet.
Sensing danger, I immediately leaped into the air.
CRAAAACK!!
A gigantic sinkhole swallowed everything where I'd been standing only an instant earlier.
But it wasn't an ordinary sinkhole.
Steel reinforcement bars and massive pipes intertwined within it...
Gnashing together like the fangs of a monstrous insect.
'The ground... is alive?'
“We've also made remarkable progress in electronic warfare.”
Before I could even process the living earth...
Violent sparks suddenly erupted at the back of my neck.
An incomprehensible burst of static assaulted my ears.
Noise filled my vision.
My body moved entirely against my own will.
'Wizard...!?
It broke through Miyu's security?'
Nor was that all.
“And needless to say...
Weapons research.”
The instant she finished speaking—
The sky flashed.
An immeasurable number of missiles descended toward me.
Though the hacking left my body barely responsive, I somehow regained control and activated my Modules at maximum output.
BOOOOOOM!!
Flames engulfed my vision.
Scorching heat threatened to melt my skin.
Fortunately...
My Dermal Armor Module performed flawlessly.
I emerged without a single injury.
Spinning threads once more...
I created footholds in midair and stood upon them.
Looking at me, Kallia sneered.
“Ah, as durable as ever. Humanity's strongest indeed. Government Special Mission Fixers would probably have died ten or fifteen times from that attack alone. The claim that you could destroy an entire city by yourself truly isn't exaggerated. However……”
“What do you mean?”
“That only applies when you're fighting a city belonging to humans.”
“Explain.”
“Human wars are inefficient. Everyone has different goals, personalities, intentions, and resources. No faction can ever fully utilize one hundred percent of its technology and strength. No matter how capable a commander may be, the soldiers beneath them may still be incompetent. Different organizations also refuse to share their technologies with one another.”
“……”
“In other words, Stingray, Militech, and every other corporation would never completely share all of their classified technology and fight together as one. But I'm different.”
She smiled.
“I am this city itself. Even without using my power as a Dragon, I can defeat you using humanity's technology alone. Stingray's Nanotechnology, Militech's Module Technology, Biotech's Biotechnology, Afterlife Industries' Materials Engineering, and— Ggh!?”
Before she could finish—
A groan escaped her lips.
A single drop of blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.
She hurriedly looked down toward the source of the pain.
Standing upright, embedded within her body...
Was the Cardiac Injector that should have still been inside my coat.
“H-how... did...?”
“You let your guard down.”
Now...
It was my turn to smile.
What?
Every corporation joining forces to defeat me?
Sharing all their technologies so they could somehow overwhelm me?
What an amusing misunderstanding.
The things I feared...
Were never those puppets she controlled.
“Come, I pointed at her, show yourself Dragon.”
Let's fight with your real body.