Chapter 120: Stand Up! You Too! 2
“This is the Ark?”
“It’s much larger than I had heard.”
Baroness Sabrina couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer size of the Ark.
Though demons resembled humans, they were collective psychic wave entities centered around their nobles and the Demon King.
Just as an ant colony revolves around its queen, regardless of individual intelligence and autonomy, the demons’ world was governed and maintained through the nobles.
While humans pursued endless development and competition, demons’ world revolved solely around their Demon Territory, making stagnation almost inevitable.
In the past, global communication and free movement allowed all demons and their territories to form a collective unconsciousness, so this was sustainable.
However, after the Demon King disappeared and the world descended into chaos with calamities and Gates, demons were rapidly divided and isolated.
Yet, even the isolated demons were inherently stronger and more superior to humans, leading many to console themselves by reminiscing about their past glory and insisting they were no less than humans.
But look at this.
A world where neither the sky nor the earth is visible.
They called it humanity’s final ark, but it’s more like an unimaginably vast megapolis gathering point.
“Even just the visible human population here exceeds billions.”
“I wonder what nonsense those old folks I executed would spew if they saw this sight.”
Baroness Sabrina had long recognized that the demon era was over, believing they should live cooperatively with humans as fellow intelligent beings.
However, she had never imagined that the humans’ stronghold, the Ark, would be on such a massive scale.
“Amir, where is Alice? I heard she’s in a place called the Silion Residential Zone in the Lower Realms…”
“This is the Outer Wall Access Facility. It’s adjacent to the Guryong Residential Zone stairwell. The Lower Realms are much farther below.”
Amir’s real name was Hamar.
He had originally been Sabrina’s chief steward and a dapper gentlemanly demon.
However, when Sabrina executed traitors and dissidents, Hamar had been implicated and punished as one of the ringleaders.
Of course, Hamar hadn’t truly died.
He was one of Sabrina’s closest aides, skilled at adopting countless disguises to support her.
The destruction of one of his masks was of little consequence.
Currently, he had assumed a new persona as a young girl named Amir, supposedly a distant relative of Sabrina.
Sabrina and Amir couldn’t help but view everything around them with wonder, like country bumpkins visiting the city for the first time.
The Ark was simply too enormous.
Even in the nearby Guryong Residential Zone, one stairwell alone teemed with billions of people.
Magitech drones buzzed through the air, constructing and repairing buildings.
Suspended apartments and densely packed brick houses filled the space, obscuring the ceiling and floor.
Countless neon signs, dazzling lights, and the radiant sunlight of an artificial sun created a spectacle beyond Sabrina’s comprehension of the old days.
Back then, humans trembled in fear at the mere sight of demons.
Some even worshipped demons as gods.
Sabrina, as a baroness-class demon, would casually ravage three or four kingdoms for amusement in those days.
But now, look.
Even as Sabrina and Amir walked, no one paid them any attention.
It was clear they weren’t human, as evidenced by the horns on their heads.
However, in this place called the Ark, demons weren’t seen as particularly dangerous or awe-inspiring.
As they moved through the streets, they encountered not just humans, but elves, beastfolk, swarms, fully mechanical beings, and other inexplicable entities Sabrina had never seen before.
Here, demons weren’t unusual.
Even if they caused trouble, the Executors and Overseers, responsible for maintaining order in the Ark, wouldn’t hesitate to intervene.
In fact, it seemed they had been folded into the vast framework of the human race.
“…There was a time when humans cowered before demons like insects. But now, the hierarchy has completely flipped.”
Sabrina let out a faint laugh, tinged with a sense of time’s cruel reversals.
With the Demon King gone, demons were dwindling.
Yet humanity, despite standing on the brink of extinction, continued to develop endlessly and grow in population.
Even though calamities had driven them from the surface, witnessing their boundless progress within the Ark was truly astonishing.
-Creak!
At that moment, Sabrina felt something familiar.
Something crafted with her Binding Power had appeared nearby.
“I’ve come under Overseer Alice’s orders. Are you Sabrina?”
It was a young, delicate voice.
However, its tone was robotic and devoid of emotion, making it clear to Sabrina what it was.
A blue-haired girl, clutching an ice cream cone tightly in her small hand, looked up at Sabrina.
The glowing mixture of green and neon hues made it resemble a radioactive mint-choco flavor.
Though she appeared to be a human girl, Sabrina could feel her Binding Power and the horrifying killing machines concealed beneath her skin.
This child was one of the “dolls” Sabrina had created during her imprisonment at Earnest Rail.
Even the face was familiar.
“How unexpected. I thought Earnest Rail’s downfall for treason would’ve taken you down as well…”
At Sabrina’s words, the doll swallowed her ice cream with an expressionless face, then grabbed Sabrina’s hand and began leading her.
“Currently, my master is Alice.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Let us proceed. I have been ordered to escort you to the Silion Residential Zone in the Lower Realm.”
Sabrina nodded, as though she understood the gist of the situation.
Meeting Alice back then had been a stroke of fortune for Sabrina, but conversely, Alice had also benefited immensely, gaining remarkable achievements and successfully branding Earnest Rail’s Mega Corp as traitors.
Thanks to those merits, Alice, who had no formal standing, had been catapulted to the position of Overseer in an instant.
Thus, it wasn’t surprising that Alice had requested the dolls from Earnest Rail during the process.
“But I don’t recall adding a function that allows it to eat food.”
Sabrina found the doll in front of her to be quite "human-like."
Dolls didn’t originally have functions for eating food or mimicking humans.
Yet here it was, blinking and eating ice cream.
The dolls Earnest Rail had made using Sabrina’s Binding Power were originally emotionless killing machines that followed orders.
But now, it seemed to exude a distinctly human atmosphere.
“Alice added that feature.”
“Really? Why? Does it improve energy efficiency?”
“No, she says a child must enjoy delicious food to live.”
In a world where surviving itself was a challenge, hearing that a child should enjoy delicious food sounded almost laughably human.
While some might applaud this sentiment as humane, it was an unusual luxury to add such features in a world where even the Overseers struggled to survive.
“...Interesting. So, are you satisfied?”
“Regardless of my satisfaction, all dolls welcome Alice’s orders without exception. The increased autonomy also enhances decision-making and combat efficiency.”
The journey to the Lower Realm was not short.
They had to take multiple massive vertical escalators and transfer several times onto hovercrafts.
For the average person, traversing the tiers of the Ark required significant expense and numerous permits.
However, for Overseer Alice and her subordinate dolls, a simple display of an official mission document granted them virtually unrestricted access.
“Baroness, based on the scale of humanity, it doesn’t seem like there would be issues accommodating our Demon Territory.”
“What about species other than humans?”
“Among the confirmed groups are the Swarm, Great Forest Elves, Aracnea, Dragonia, Epsilon Slimes, and many others I couldn’t identify.”
“…The center of the world truly has shifted.”
“It wouldn’t be surprising if there are demon villages or cities unknown to us somewhere out there.”
“The era of demons is over. Looking at these massive constructs makes it clear that where we lived wasn’t even a puddle, let alone a well.”
Sabrina had several reasons for coming to the Ark.
Primarily, it was to secure a new settlement for her soon-to-arrive Demon Territory residents and kin.
She had dealt with most dissidents within the barony and prepared its material assets for relocation.
The main issue was finding land.
The Ark, with its staggering population density and urban sprawl, required Sabrina to identify specific zones where demons could settle safely.
Proximity to dangerous calamities or abyssal regions would turn a new settlement into a death trap rather than a refuge.
Alice extended a helping hand in this matter.
“There’s enough land for your Demon Territory to inhabit here. Come and live.”
Thus, Sabrina willingly accepted Alice’s invitation.
Alice had saved her life and, more importantly, exuded an unconscious resemblance to the Demon King.
There was no reason not to follow and trust her.
Sabrina had also heard some preliminary information about the Lower Realm.
“A hell where no one can live. A cesspool of torment so vile even demons would recoil. If the Guryong Residential Zone is the hell of this world, then the Lower Realm is the inferno of hell.”
Sabrina, being more sensitive to mana and spirits in the atmosphere than other demons, could gauge a location just by sensing the mana in the air.
Surprisingly, the deeper they descended, the less the atmosphere resembled the hellscape Sabrina had envisioned.
Even with her magic-enhanced vision, she felt no overwhelming presence of death or suffering—only a surprising sense of livability.
“Even the scenery doesn’t change much… In fact, it seems brighter here than above. I thought the Lower Realm lacked an artificial sun and relied on individual district generators, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
After six hours of descending, Sabrina finally stepped onto solid ground, disembarking from the hovercraft.
“Welcome to the Silion Residential Zone.”
With the doll’s formal greeting, Sabrina took in the so-called "human hell" of the Lower Realm.
But… it wasn’t hell.
No, it wasn’t even overflowing with poverty, and compared to the Guryong Residential Zone where she had first arrived, it wasn’t particularly different.
[D-149 Zone’s new building construction has commenced.]
[All citizens are prohibited from entering the zone.]
[Estimated construction time: 285 minutes.]
“Yarikiriri!”
“Yarikiriri!”
“Safety. Good, good!”
“Safety, good-good…”
In the sky, various construction drones swarmed, building structures in real-time, while people busily went about their tasks below.
Of course, if the Guryong Residential Zone housed middle-class or above, the people here appeared to be slightly poorer by comparison.
The buildings were somewhat flimsy in places, and the architectural style differed greatly from the upper tiers.
However, being slightly poor and being impoverished are as different as heaven and earth.
Sabrina had thought the people here were impoverished and steeped in drugs and crime.
Yet, the scene before her seemed like an active and lively residential area, which left her somewhat baffled.
"An artificial sun exists here too... Is this where we’re going to live?"
"Lady Sabrina, I’ll start investigating the area first."
-Rumble!
At that moment, a massive mechanical tendril extended from a pile of construction debris.
Sabrina immediately recognized what it was.
"Alice...?"
How could she forget?
Those were Alice’s tendrils, reminiscent of the Demon King.
The magnetic metallic tendrils combined building materials and assembled new structures in midair at incredible speed.
In minutes, a new residential area suspended in the sky was completed.
Once a single building was finished, other structures rearranged themselves to incorporate the newly constructed building into their alignment.
It was as if a game was unfolding, where buildings were completed instantly, reorganized, and brought into order.
With this method, the buildings and landscape of the Lower Realm were continuously modified and expanded.
The so-called hell of humanity in the Lower Realm was being transformed into something new at a rapid pace.
"Oh, you’ve arrived?"
"...Ah, nice to meet you. I’m Sabrina, here in response to your invitation..."
"Enough. Enough. Let’s skip the tedious formalities."
At that moment, Alice, who had been gesturing to construct buildings in the sky, floated down as if gliding through the air and stood before Sabrina.
She handed Sabrina something.
A sickle and a hammer?
"What’s this?"
"What do you think it is? You’re working too."
"Excuse me?"
Alice pointed to a group of lower-tier citizens in the distance, chanting, "Safety, good! Good!"
"Alright, go over there, do some safety stretches, and get to work."
"...?"
Amir had already disappeared at some point.
Clever little brat.