Chapter 109: There Was No One 1
The path to Plum Blossom Cave was quiet.
Marlang, three dolls, and I had slaughtered all the infected and vampires nearby, but there were still no signs of life, as the impoverished and orphans had long fallen prey to the infected.
In Caracas, the industrial complex, though as massive as a major city, was not entirely under control.
Occasionally, infected who had not yet grasped the situation would gather in groups, seeing us as prey.
They all ended up as valuable reserves of energy for me.
“Over there, over there….”
The orphan girl pointed, and between the buildings, something resembling an ant nest came into view.
In other districts, orphans or the destitute often wandered the streets or abandoned homes, begging for scraps.
But Caracas’ industrial complex was littered with smoke and toxic gases, making it impossible to roam without a gas mask, which only affluent criminals or awakened individuals could afford.
Thus, the orphans here had gathered underground, in places like Plum Blossom Cave.
Surprisingly, they managed to survive.
Not only did criminal organizations produce drugs and illegal weapons in the industrial complex, but they also made artificial food to distribute to the lower levels under the orders of Ark’s central administration.
The criminals, distracted by drugs, didn’t manage the food distribution systematically.
Surplus or dropped artificial food could be picked up and eaten by the orphans living in Plum Blossom Cave.
Of course, the blood contamination incident brought danger to even these orphans, thanks to criminals deliberately hiding the truth.
“…So small.”
Plum Blossom Cave, seen up close, was cleverly hidden in the shadows between the buildings.
There was no light from the artificial sun here, so the shadows remained fixed, making it easy to overlook the entrance unless one was paying attention.
It was clear why the vampires had trouble finding it.
Most of the vampires and infected contaminated by blood pollution were originally part of the criminal organizations or rogue awakened individuals ruling Caracas.
They had no interest in the orphan-gathered Plum Blossom Cave.
“Child, how many friends do you have?”
“I… I don’t know. I don’t know who fled, who died, or who survived… Sob….”
The girl’s large eyes welled up with tears again.
In Ark’s central region, many nobles existed.
Although nominal social hierarchies had long since disappeared, the early contributors who helped build Ark, humanity’s last refuge, and those who fought off calamities, along with their descendants, were regarded as Ark’s “entitled class,” enjoying immense wealth and power.
But no power lasts forever.
Even now, Ark is under constant threat from calamities, monsters, and Gates.
It wouldn’t be surprising if a Gate suddenly spawned thousands of calamities and led to Ark’s destruction one day.
Thus, to become or remain part of Ark’s “entitled class,” one must contribute greatly to Ark and maintain it.
In other words, not only the individual but also their family and descendants must continue to serve Ark to fully enjoy that wealth and power.
In this context, the central region, home to the wealthiest and most powerful individuals of Ark, housed numerous academies.
The fundamental founding principle of these academies was to train Overseers, Executors, and Hunters.
However, if a child failed to graduate from an academy, their family would gradually fade from prominence in the central region.
While the wealth and honor achieved by the current head of the family would persist, descendants and heirs who failed would be ruthlessly cut off from the entitled class.
Even now, newcomers like Alice were rapidly emerging in Ark as fresh entitled elites, while those complacent in their wealth and power fell from grace, leaving vacant positions in the central hierarchy.
For this reason, the academies became not only training institutions but also powerful entities where central nobles, elites, and the entitled class shared and monopolized their visions and strengths.
The [Pernovis Academy] was one of the many academies in the central region.
Though only a few graduates became first-class Overseers, many graduates rose to rank 5 or higher, resulting in several Pernovis Academy-affiliated Overseer divisions.
Simply forming connections at Pernovis Academy ensured one wouldn’t have to worry about being ousted from the central region in their generation.
However, there was a problem.
The majority of those trained at academies, including Overseers and Executors, had long forgotten their original mission to uphold Ark’s order, peace, and humanity’s defense against calamities.
This was a backlash from the academies turning into exclusive domains of the privileged.
Many mid-tier family heirs viewed Ark’s ordinary inhabitants and non-awakened individuals with disdain, adopting a superiority complex.
Academy students, who disregarded the common citizens of residential zones, could only view lower-level orphans with even greater contempt.
They likely wouldn’t even consider them human.
Orphans were the abandoned.
Not officially registered in Ark’s system, they were nonexistent in the eyes of society.
No one needed them, and their parents didn’t want them, so they became orphans.
It was no surprise that academy students valued their own lives more than those of orphans.
‘…But as humans, that’s not right.’
Overseers exist to protect.
They are entrusted with power to safeguard Ark and humanity, carrying forward the will of their predecessors to protect this land and monitor calamities.
And now, these same students had barged into Plum Blossom Cave, supposedly for field training in the blood contamination zone.
They drove out the children living there, claiming the space for themselves.
These kinds of guys shouldn’t become Overseers… Hah, no.
I was getting too heated in my thoughts.
I don’t even know the policies of the Ark’s central authority, nor have I ever lived in the central area.
It hasn’t even been a year since I fell into this world called Ark… since I opened my eyes again in this unfinished world.
I can’t impose my way on them.
So, I followed the orphaned girl’s lead and ventured deeper into the Plum Cavern.
The entrance was narrow and cleverly concealed, but the interior was deeper and wider than I expected.
Since this place was where the entire Caracas stairway’s underground water system was buried, it had more than enough space for orphans to gather and live.
“Wh-Who are you?!”
At that moment, along with a wave of mana, something flew toward me.
It was a magical bullet darting at me like a drill.
Since it was made of mana, it wouldn’t harm me but would instead be absorbed. However, before I could do anything, the doll following behind me activated an anti-mana barrier with a glint in its eye, causing the bullet to evaporate midair.
“Ah, an anti-mana barrier…?!”
“C-Could it be a rescue team?”
Then, voices started to emerge from beyond the darkness.
Hearing those voices, the orphan girl clinging to Marlang looked like she was about to burst into tears.
I gestured to the doll, signaling that it was fine and to deactivate the anti-mana barrier, and then
I walked in the direction of the voices.
Soon, I saw people wearing academy uniforms in a rather spacious area.
Pelnobis Academy.
These were the students who had come for field training in the lower levels and had lost contact.
They looked shabby, clearly having been through a lot.
“Uh, um, excuse me, but who are you…?”
“……”
A male student wearing glasses, who appeared to be the class leader, cautiously questioned me.
It wasn’t just the male student; other academy students were also looking at me with desperate gazes.
Even though I appeared young, the mechanical tendrils protruding from my back were enough to convey a menacing aura.
“Third-class Overseer. Alice.”
“Y-Yes…!”
“Waaah!”
“We’re saved!”
“Finally…!”
As soon as they realized I was an Overseer, the students erupted with uncontrollable cheers of relief.
“Apologies for the earlier rudeness. I am Riome, leader of Pelnobis Academy’s Class 3-B…”
“That’s enough. Who you are doesn’t matter.”
“R-Right! Of course, Overseer, your judgment is swift. Right now, the blood contamination and those filthy infected are more critical!”
Though I had already taken care of most of the infected, the students hiding in the Plum Cavern seemed completely unaware of that.
“Before anything else, I have one question.”
“Yes, yes! Whatever you say…”
“This girl. Does anyone recognize her?”
Saying that, I pointed at the orphan girl next to Marlang.
The academy students glanced between her and me for a moment.
“Who is she?”
“No idea…”
“Is she your little sister?”
“Hey, as much as I dislike siblings, there’s no way I’d have one as rustic as that…”
No one seemed to remember her.
Well, of course, they wouldn’t.
“You guys kicked the orphans out of here, didn’t you?”
“Ah! It was an unavoidable tactical decision.”
“…A tactical decision?”
What kind of nonsense is this?
“That’s right. This place was far too safe for those orphan brats to occupy.”
“We don’t know the geography of the Caracas stairway very well. But those kids had been living here, so they could figure out how to survive, right?”
“…This place is spacious. Did you really need to drive them out?”
“Oh, Overseer, come on. How could we possibly breathe the same air as those filthy kids?”
“You should be thankful our class president was kind enough not to kill them and just chased them out.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
…Hah.
I figured they’d say something like this.
“…Well, at least it makes things simpler.”
At least that’s a relief.
There was no need to overthink.
These were the type of people I despised the most.
Even if I explained what they had done wrong, they wouldn’t listen or make an effort to understand.
Unconsciously, a murderous aura began to leak from me.
Now that I was united with Gaia, that aura took on a tangible, thorn-like presence, threatening the academy students.
“Uh, uh… Senior?”
-Click!
“Kyah!?”
“Form up, everyone!”
“W-What is this…!”
“Weren’t they supposed to rescue us!?”
When the Mantis Blades sprang from my arms, the students instinctively felt threatened and began to back away from me.
They were academy students, supposedly accomplished awakened individuals.
As if to resist, they quickly formed a formation and kept their guard up against me.
Still, their strength was pitifully weak.
Especially against me, united with Gaia, their clumsy magical defense array could be shattered in less than a second.
“Senior! Why are you suddenly showing hostility toward us!?”
“I’m not your senior. I’m a Returnee.”
“Th-That can’t be…!”
As I advanced without retracting my killing intent, a bespectacled male student shouted, unable to hide his dismay.
And what of it?
Was there even a point in answering?
They wouldn’t understand anyway.
“Are you angry because we drove the orphans out of here? That was a necessary sacrifice!”
“A necessary sacrifice?”
“Y-Yes!”
A necessary sacrifice?
Alright, let’s hear what nonsense they have to say.
“We… we had to measure the infection levels of the blood-contaminated….”
“Just by looking, it’s obvious they’re terminal-stage infected surrounded by vampires. If you’re going to spew nonsense about observing contamination levels by kicking out the orphans, it’s better to just keep your mouth shut.”
“…….”
You could tell without observing them.
Anyone could see that these infected, with their bodies completely corroded by blood, were beyond salvation.
And yet, they were talking about measuring infection levels?
Such absurdity….
In reality, they had essentially thrown the orphans, who were hiding safely, to the infected as bait, inadvertently strengthening the enemy.
“We have never gone against Ark’s will!”
“…What?”
What kind of nonsense is this?
One of the students protested.
Their tone was full of confidence, as if they truly believed they were doing what was right and necessary.
I found myself momentarily stopping.
However, my hesitation seemed to embolden the student, who now wore a smug expression, as if they had struck a nerve.
“We are students of Pernovis Academy! Future heirs of influential families, destined to lead and enlighten Ark!”
“Okay, so?”
“So, are you saying that those orphans, who don’t even have proper registration in the lower districts, are more important than us? Aren’t you the one betraying Ark?”
“…….”
“Y-Yeah, exactly!”
“We’re thinking about the future! Once we become Overseers or Executors, we’ll be able to save even more people, won’t we!?”
Once one person spoke up, more voices followed.
They were beginning to regain their confidence.
“We made it through the fierce competition of the academy and reached the field training stage.
How many monsters will we have to deal with in the future if we become Executors or Overseers, and how many calamities will we face?
The lives of the orphans are unfortunate, but by ensuring our survival, the lives saved in the future will be countless.
Objectively, numerically, and even rationally speaking…”
“Stop. I’ve heard enough.”
“F-Finally, you understand?”
I extended my hand to the male student who seemed relieved.
The male student, who had been paralyzed with fear from my murderous intent, hesitantly took my hand while trembling.
He must have been convinced that their intentions had prevailed.
“But you know, the type I despise the most is people like you.”
“Y-Yes, uh…?”
-Thud!
Without hesitation, I thrust my hand into the male student’s heart.
It sank in without any resistance.
After all, with Gaia’s life force constantly circulating through my hand, tearing through bare human flesh was no challenge.
“Right now, I’m not killing you for any cause or justification. I just want you dead.”
“W-Why…ugh…!”
“Why, you ask?”
I yanked out the male student’s heart and clenched it in my hand.
With a pop, it burst—there must have been a mana core in it, suggesting he had a promising future as a student.
But so what?
You’re just a beast pretending to be human.
“You insane…!!!”
“Why are you doing this to us?!”
“What did we even do wrong…?”
That’s how it felt.
Perhaps even before becoming this being…even during my time as the Demon King, I must have been this way.
Though I didn’t have intact memories, the hatred etched into my soul as a habit or instinct remained unchanged.
I truly despise humans like you.
No, not humans—subhuman beasts who pretend to be worthy.
“You crazy…!”
“You’re just another lucky Returnee! You’re not even from the central authority, yet you became a high-ranking Overseer! What gives you the right to judge us?!”
“Seems like you can’t understand what I’m saying.”
Hah, whether I’m an Overseer or you’re academy students from the central area…
That’s not why I’m killing you.
I shook off the sticky clump of blood from my hand as I spoke.
“I’m not picking on you because you’re academy students or anything like that.”
“Then why…!”
“If you’re human, you shouldn’t act like this.”
As I approached, the nameless male students crawled away along the ground.
“Those who normalize noble sacrifices and devalue their worth.”
“Those who weigh their own and others’ lives as if on a scale. Incidentally, most of these types talk nonsense about how it’s better for the future if they survive.”
“And those who, even after all my words, refuse to understand or even attempt to comprehend.”
“Put it all together, and you get the kind of person I detest and loathe the most.”
Of course, the academy students tried to resist me.
They had power, after all.
With that power, they could’ve protected the orphans…
No, at the very least, they shouldn’t have driven them into a place crawling with vampires.
Or at the bare minimum…
If they had shown even a hint of regret, or expressed that they had no choice, I might not have gone this far.
“Activate the anti-magic barrier.”
“W-What’s happening?!”
“My mana…!”
“Ugh…!”
When the doll activated the anti-magic barrier, all the mana in the area dispersed and scattered.
Of course, I was excluded.
The academy students seemed deeply affected—some were even coughing up blood.
The ones who had been trying to resist me fell into panic as their mana refused to gather.
“I’ll give you time to run. Let’s see how far you can go without mana.”
With that, I switched every part of my mechanical tendrils to kill mode.
They transformed from pincers and spikes to chainsaws and blades.
“The report I’ll submit to the administrator today will read: ‘Unfortunately, while entering the contaminated zone to rescue the academy students, all of them perished.’”
The title of the report will be “There Was No One There.”