Chapter 383

Chapter 383

Letancie didn’t seem to know me at all.
It was a no-brainer.
Because in this world, I was an asshole who didn’t even know Nebula Clazier existed.
I would have stayed a punishment soldier, seen the giants, and died.
I crouched down in front of her, still immobile.
“Too bad. I know you.”
“I, you know me?”
“Oh, yes. You’re the Archbishop of Nebula Clazier, and you look like a drowned mouse, so Abel’s plans must have gone awry.”
“——!”
Letancier’s eyes widened to the point of bulging.
I get it.
This was the reaction anyone would have to a kid who came out of nowhere and rambled on about his history and the end goal of the organization.
“What the hell are you—?”
“My name is Ronan. That’s all the information you’re going to get, so from now on, answer only when I ask. What were you doing here?”
“All of a sudden you’re like, “Ooh, can’t you untie this first?”
Letancier held up the handcuffs.
Glistening mana flowed up the chains that connected to the floor.
“Gu, the restraints are taking away my strength, and I’m having a hard time, so I’m going to answer truthfully, so please—huh?”
Letancier shook his head and pleaded.
He would lick my shoes if I asked him to.
She was so arrogant, what the hell happened to her.
“Okay. Is that a promise?”
“Yes! Yes, of course! I’ll teach you anything!”
I swung my sword lightly.
The restraints binding Letancier’s limbs shattered.
The marks of her bindings were clearly visible on her pale wrists and ankles.
“—I’m free, really, really free!”
Le Tansier was stunned.
He couldn’t believe what was happening.
A trickle of chicken shit-like droplets began to trickle down his large eyes.
“Is that it?”
“Yeah. I know, I thought it was all over, but I never thought this day would come—.”
Letancier huffed.
She stretched her index finger toward me and whispered something.
Kwaah!
A heavy shockwave slammed into his abdomen.
“Erai.”
It felt like I’d been hit with a construction ball.
The body flew straight up and slammed into the opposite wall.
In the distance, I could hear Letancier muttering.
“I don’t know who it was, but I’ll never forget you, Lohan–you’re my savior.”
Rising to his feet, Letancier leaned toward me.
She’s just a polite bitch, she’s just a crazy bitch.
Is this what Nebula Klages-style auditing is all about?
“I need a bath and a change of clothes—no, I need to look like this to buy sympathy from the Resistance buggers.”
“This is Ronan.”
“Eh?”
I dusted off my shoulders and stood up.
I was told I deserved it, and my back tingled.
If I hadn’t been hit by the shockwave and defended with my scabbard at the same time, I would have been really pissed.
“It’s Ronan, not Lohan, you stinging, waspish bitch.”
“What the hell, why are you alive–hick!”
Letancier was about to say something.
Her right ear fell to the floor.
“—Huh?”
I lowered my gaze and saw a familiar pair of ears.
Reflexively bringing a hand to his face, Letancier gulped.
There was nothing above the smooth cut surface.
Poof!
Hot blood gushed through the crevices of her fingers.
“Go, go, go!”
Letancier screamed and fell back.
He didn’t even know when he was cut.
She cried out and extended her index finger at me.
It looked like it was about to work its magic again, but the attempt was thwarted.
The top of the second word was already gone.
“Hmmmm?!”
“We cut it together earlier, I guess you didn’t realize.”
Once again, screams erupted.
The severed finger lay at her feet.
Like the ear, I cut it off at the same time as the defense, which I realized a little too late.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
Letancie was sobbing uncontrollably.
Even I would be confused about where to focus my attention if my finger and ear were cut off at the same time.
I walked up to her with my hands in my coat pockets.
“Miss. I’m good at slicing and dicing, but I’m not so good at fixing.”
“Oh, don’t come!”
“I didn’t set you free because you’re pretty, I set you free to see if you’re gluttonous assholes in this world, and you are.”
Letancie was as stiff as a statue.
But hey, he’s an archbishop, so he should know what he’s talking about.
I said, pointing my sword at her throat.
“They were assholes.”
“Hee hee—!”
The smell of fishy odor wafted up from nowhere.
It was so frightened that it looked like it had peed itself.
The blade is back in place after disappearing for a moment.
Poof.
Letancier’s hair, which had fallen to his waist, fell with a heavy thud.
“Next up is the head.”
Still, Letancie hadn’t even noticed the convenience of the sword.
I don’t know if I’ve gotten stronger or if she’s gotten weaker.
Maybe both.
I leaned in close to her and said.
“So don’t be a dick and tell me, what were you doing here?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you, I was taking care of the roots!”
Letancier exclaimed.
His eyes were wide with fear.
There was no longer any room for deception.
It takes a beating to wake you up, after all.
She cleared her throat.
“Really—although it’s actually more of an offering than a management.”
“What’s a root?”
“Eh? This structure we’re in right now—I can’t believe the Survivor doesn’t know about this, he must be from another star—Hee hee! Sin, I’m sorry, you told me never to question you again! Forgive me!”
Letancier thumped his forehead on the floor and begged.
He hadn’t said anything yet, but he was clearly intimidated by me.
“Stop weaving and explain. Like you’re teaching a child.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll do that, so the root is–it’s like a giant miner.”
“The one they use in the mine?”
“That’s right, the Great Ones–oh, no, those filthy invaders plant roots all over the stars they capture, to absorb the life force more efficiently. Once the roots have absorbed the star’s life force, they split it into pure energy and dross and release it.”
By dirty invaders, they meant bald giants.
He was going to say great people, but then he changed his mind, and I think he saw through me.
If only it had come out like this, I wouldn’t have had to cut off my fingers and ears.
“Is that stale water?”
“Yeah. Where we are right now is the absorption and separation zone. It sucks the power in at regular intervals and then spews it out with the seawater. My job is to–to help the separation happen quickly.”
“You didn’t seem like the kind of person who would do such precise work.”
I shifted my gaze to the broken restraints.
I was a prisoner of my own goodness.
Or he was a pervert having a good time with a partner with sadistic tastes.
Letancier’s brow narrows.
“Yes. It’s only nominally so, but in reality, I’m just holding still until the absorption and expulsion is complete. The mana in my body facilitates the separation.”
Letancier chewed on his lip.
She said she suffers from drowning three times a day.
The reward for lifelong loyalty to the Order was not something as noble as glorification or eternal life.
“We’ve all ended up like that, me and the rest of the cadre, because we let that bastard Abel share the power of the Invaders. If I had known things would turn out like this—.”
“Asshole, that’s the first thing you’ve said that I like.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
The privilege of giant power became a shackle, binding the fanatics.
Letancier’s tone of voice alone told me how much she hated Abel.
“Come to think of it, what happened to Abel’s plan? If he’d had his way, at least we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“The plan?”
“Yeah. You said you were going to absorb the source of the bald men and make yourself king. That wasn’t the only thing.”
“—I don’t know what you’re talking about. Abel’s pledge was to make us transcendent from the beginning, by sacrificing the souls of the unchosen.”
Letancier shook his head in disbelief.
Something was off.
This was in contrast to his original world, where he absorbed the source of the giant race and became a transcendent being.
“I’m surprised, that was the point.
As I thought about it, I realized that unseating a giant was a well-kept secret in the other world.
So why is the future so different?
The conclusion came quickly.
“Oh, that failed.”
I didn’t have to think hard about it.
In hindsight, Abel’s covert operation was likely to fail without me.
He was the one who stole the source, like Yamcha, while I was fighting the Bald King.
“Asshole—what happened to Abel now?”
“He’s probably dead, because all the believers who didn’t surrender were killed. The giants tried to kill us all, as promised, and Abel fiercely resisted, and no one has seen him since that day.”
“It’s a skit.”
I couldn’t help but smile bitterly.
The words were shabby, coming from a man who had betrayed everything.
I thought this would be enough information about Abel.
“I missed you, but I can’t help it. Let’s get back to the roots. I’ve heard about the dregs, but where do you channel the power you’ve separated, like the altar on your finger?”
“That’s right, you’ve got it exactly right.”
“As expected, I should have fired the rest of them.”
“Is that ——?”
Suddenly, Letancier’s face contorted.
Gulp.
Swallowing hard, she asked.
“Now, wait a minute–you broke it? The transmission tower?”
“You call it a cell tower, when it’s more accurately a finger.”
“Uh, how—no, why—did you do that, I’m sure you would have noticed!”
Letancier clutched his head.
The reaction was as intense as if I’d had my finger cut off.
“Wow, I’m totally screwed, and if I stay here, there’s no hope—.”
I was talking to myself fast.
I looked at his pale face and realized he was in complete panic.
Suddenly, her body was in the air.
“Hey. Where are you going?”
“Zee, this is not the time for this, I’m going to move you too, so get the hell out of here!”
With that, Letancier stretched out the index finger of his intact left hand.
An invisible force lifted my body.
I’m glad they figured out they couldn’t get away from me, but they didn’t explain it well enough.
“You should know what’s what. Why?”
“They’re coming, and I don’t know about anything else, but we can’t have a problem with the life force transfer, it’s happened before—no, we don’t have time for this!”
It was a flash.
With a sudden yelp, Letancier threw his arms up in the air.
Our bodies quickly rose like firecrackers.
Soon, a ceiling of gates appeared.
“Oh, no, I can’t—!”
Despair washed over Letancier’s face.
A muttered incantation escaped her lips.
Bam!
Bam!
Bam!
A dozen large, round shockwaves slammed into the gate.
When the smoke cleared, a lifeless gate was revealed.
Letancier was about to scream again.
“Utscha.”
I followed along in silence.
Two pure white lines were drawn over the gate.
Slowly, the cutting edges opened up, and the crisscrossed door collapsed.
Quack!
There was a loud roar behind me.
“Kaaaah!”
Letancier narrowly avoided the shrapnel.
I drew my sword again and swung it a few times.
The iron that had been falling overhead broke into quarters again and scattered.
As I lowered my gaze, I saw debris moving away into the darkness.
Letancier’s eyes widened to the point of bulging.
“Da, da, da, da, you?!”
“I don’t know what it is, but if you’re going to leave, get out.”
It seemed like we couldn’t have a conversation without leaving this place.
Letancier nodded.
She began to pull herself up with me at the best speed she could muster.
“We’re almost there!”
It was almost like falling into the sky.
The hole, which was smaller than a grain of rice, was rapidly expanding.
The cool daylight drenched his face.
We had about ten meters to go.
“Who did this?”
All too familiar.
Heavy and low, like the deep sea.
The voice of a bald-headed race, heart-pounding, echoed overhead.