Chapter 527: 525
The report read as follows:
Based on the available analysis, Varanium should theoretically exist on other parallel Earths if it existed on this one.
In this world, Varanium deposits were concentrated around volcanoes.
Japan lay in a region of extensive volcanic activity, which explained its abundant reserves.
Yet surveys of other worlds had found no trace of Varanium.
Other worlds did possess an element represented by the same written character, but that was a different substance entirely. In this world, the two were distinct elements.
A deeper investigation into Varanium’s origins and its relationship with the Gastrea virus suggested that the two were closely connected.
Their relationship appeared almost symbiotic, as though one could not exist without the other.
Following that line of inquiry had indeed yielded results.
The most likely conclusion was that Varanium had formed from the remains of ancient creatures infected with the Gastrea virus.
An immense amount of time had passed. Earth had undergone multiple mass extinctions and geological upheavals, burying those remains deep underground, where they eventually became Varanium deposits.
The reason those deposits were commonly found near volcanoes was that volcanic regions were among the most geologically active places on Earth.
Magma from deep underground regularly flowed toward volcanic vents.
Varanium buried below the surface was carried along with it, gradually accumulating around volcanoes.
As for how Earth’s ancient life had become infected, the virus might not have originated on this planet at all.
An asteroid or meteorite could have brought it to Earth, spreading the infection among the creatures living here at the time.
After those creatures died, their bones were buried underground. Prolonged heating near magma, combined with certain other conditions, transformed them into Varanium over countless ages.
Nor had the Gastrea virus vanished entirely during that vast span of time.
Some of it appeared to have survived in a dormant state, almost as though frozen.
Then, in the twenty-first century, a research team investigating humanity’s origins accidentally discovered the virus in Nanahoshi Village.
The village stood near an active volcano. A past eruption or another period of volcanic activity might have released the virus into the surrounding area.
Pregnant women had been exposed.
Without the introduction of large quantities of infected bodily fluids, the women themselves did not become Gastrea. The lives developing inside them, however, were affected by the virus and became Cursed Children.
There had originally been eleven.
Before their mutations fully manifested, their unusual abilities attracted attention, and they became subjects of research.
The researchers were ecstatic.
They believed the virus might usher in a new age for humanity, perhaps even transform humans into ageless, immortal gods.
But the research team was international. Japan could not keep the discovery to itself.
The eleven children were divided among the participating countries, and research on them spread beyond Nanahoshi Village.
As the work continued, the children began to mutate.
The researchers realized that the virus might be very different from what they had imagined. It had not yet been named the Gastrea virus, but its dangers were becoming apparent.
Finally, one day, all eleven children underwent sudden mutations and became terrifying Gastrea.
They did not begin at Stage I.
They became Stage V Gastrea in a single leap.
Their rampage caused the virus to spread explosively.
The objects known as the Seven Stars’ Legacy were connected to those children. They were possessions the girls had cherished before their transformations.
Even after becoming Gastrea, they could still be influenced by those objects.
The object used to summon Scorpio, for instance, was a child’s tricycle.
It looked perfectly ordinary.
However, the child’s attachment to it had somehow imbued it with a special field after her transformation, allowing Scorpio to sense its location.
When humans discovered this by chance, they immediately sealed the objects away and removed them.
They had chosen not to destroy them because no one knew what the consequences might be.
Doing so could have driven the Stage V Gastrea into an uncontrollable frenzy and brought about humanity’s complete destruction.
That was the truth behind this world’s apocalypse.
Anyone who read it was left shaken.
As for the Seven Stars’ Legacy, there was no longer any need to fear someone using it for evil again.
The objects had been hidden somewhere no one in this world could ever find them.
Most people could guess where they had been taken, and who had hidden them.
Meanwhile, a trial was taking place in Tokyo Area.
The New Gastrea Law, which Seitenshi had long sought to enact, had always faced fierce resistance.
The greatest source of that resistance had been Tendo Kikunojo.
He had secretly encouraged and supported those opposing the bill. Even Scorpio’s appearance could ultimately be traced back to him.
The construction of Monolith No. 32 had also been the responsibility of a member of the Tendo family.
Embezzlement had compromised its quality so severely that, a week earlier, Aldebaran had been able to breach the defenses and inject it with corrosive fluid.
One dark secret after another had been dragged into the light.
Now, at the public trial, the crowd’s furious shouts were thick with murderous intent.
Their voices crashed over the condemned like a tidal wave.
Only one old man remained calm.
The others were terrified.
Several tried to flee. They were not restrained, yet something was wrong with their bodies. They could barely move, let alone escape.
“Based on the evidence presented, I hereby sentence Tendo Kikunojo and the other defendants to death.”
Seitenshi delivered the verdict.
The words seemed to drain every last ounce of strength from her body.
Watching from nearby, Shiba Miori sighed softly.
Seitenshi had been in power for only a year.
Before that, she had never been properly trained to govern. She had never expected to inherit the position.
But her predecessor had died so suddenly that she had been thrust into office without time to prepare.
Miori looked toward the condemned.
There were far more than just a handful of Tendo family members awaiting execution.
Then a figure approached the Tendos, and the crowd stopped throwing things at them.
This was the person who had exposed all their crimes.
Another member of the same family: Tendo Kisara.
The crowd had not stopped out of concern for accidentally striking their heroine.
They were afraid of her.
Someone had released footage of what she had done to the Tendo family, and the sight had left people terrified of the girl.
The authorities had moved quickly to remove the recordings, but they could no longer stop them from circulating.
“Lord Tendo, what do you think? Aren’t their faces revolting?”
Kisara glanced with undisguised contempt at the indignant crowd.
Now they were passionately supporting the New Gastrea Law, acting as though they cared so deeply about the Cursed Children.
All because the world had changed.
“There is nothing to say. But the Tendo family will not disappear here. No matter how much you deny it, Kisara, you are still one of us.”
Kikunojo’s reply was calm.
The old Tendo family had been destroyed.
A new one would rise in its place, led by Kisara.
That was why, even while imprisoned, he had used certain contacts to spread information.
He had ensured that Kisara would not be implicated in the family’s crimes.
People would not hate her simply for sharing their blood. They would understand that she had not survived because the family had arranged to protect her.
She was a true avenger.
And she was one of the saviors of Tokyo Area.
The leaked footage had served its purpose as well.
This was Kikunojo’s final maneuver before his death.
With a granddaughter who had surpassed him standing beside Seitenshi, no one would be able to threaten her.
“Hmph.”
Kisara snorted coldly.
Even here, on the verge of his execution, the old fox had managed to use her one last time.
She drew her sword.
Before the watching crowd, a brilliant smile spread across her face.
Cold steel flashed.
Heads fell, bringing those sin-stained lives to an end.
The crowd recoiled.
They had already seen the footage of her brutal killings.
There was little point in pretending to be some gentle, delicate girl now.
Before long, night fell again.
And night was the perfect time for a little private mischief.
There was a hot spring at the Holy Residence.
After having another batch of blood drawn to produce the imitation panacea, Kain was enjoying a soak.
It was an imitation because its effects still fell short of a true cure-all.
Nor could it be manufactured in minutes simply by supplying enough blood.
It was rather like uranium-235 for a nuclear weapon. The useful component had to be extracted and concentrated, and that process took time.
His blood could not simply be refrigerated and stored, either.
After a while, it would evaporate on its own.
He would probably have to make regular blood donations here, just as he did in Busujima Saeko’s world.
The sliding door opened, and two figures entered.
Kisara led the way, with Seitenshi following rather shyly behind her.
Both wore swimsuits, an unexpected choice for the hot spring.
“How about a special spa treatment?”
Kisara’s teasing suggestion caught him off guard, while Seitenshi looked decidedly embarrassed.
After the violence and turmoil of the day, the evening finally gave way to a quiet moment away from everyone else.
(End of Chapter)
“Zaelum”]