No answer comes to the question of how many are left. But that wasn’t really the answer I wanted to hear.
I was here to ‘see’ things.
A part of the mental essence of the yet-to-be-retrieved biological entity reflected in my thoughts. Tonight, I had been running around diligently to deal with this creature, but there was still more than enough ‘spare’ essence left over that would render my hard work meaningless.
As the last breath escaped from the skin the biological entity had donned, a portion of the being that had filled its mind was recovered. I hurried my steps.
It has a head too. It knows that acting alone is disadvantageous. Once, in the cutting-edge universe warfare RTS game, didn’t a lone unit end up getting wrecked in no time?
It was a well-known truth that it was efficient for many to face one, from clumping air units together to those bright-colored buddies in the TV.
However, the biological entity couldn’t easily gather its physical body like the theory suggested. The bodies that could be considered its units were not generated instantly from a single building like in a game; instead, they were widely scattered near Algoth City, and it was gathering them into one place.
To put it in RTS game terms, it was like hastily gathering units sent to scout around. Each unit had to experience a moment of being ‘alone’ before joining.
There were still many bodies that hadn’t joined the biological entity’s main force. How long could it endure the blood loss?
*
“You crazy bastard!”
The biological entity raised its voice. It was a frantic cry at seeing Orthes, who was gripping that plank-like sword.
“You are one. I am many. Even in the moment you incapacitate this body, my legion is gathering.”
“Indeed. You still have over hundreds of spare bodies left with you.”
That calm revelation. The biological entity was not flustered. Its opponent was a monster who had been operating for at least several hundred years longer.
Only dragons of the old days could compare to the experiences it possessed. As it carefully widened the distance, while moving the nearby body to form an encircling net, the biological entity asked a question.
“Why do you hinder me this much?”
It was a question to buy time, but it was also somewhat genuine. From the outside, the blood competition regarding the bodies appeared overwhelmingly favorable for Orthes. Orthes’s physical performance profoundly overshadowed that of the biological entity.
But to the biological entity, this was a difference in preference. Its approach was akin to seeking a more stable solution through diversified investments, while Orthes was like a gambler betting all available resources on a single body.
While the biological entity had several spare bodies, Orthes likely had only the one body he was currently using.
If, by chance, he were to die from a blind strike, it would waste a considerable amount of time searching for a compatible body and taming its mind. It wasn’t a risk that could just be dismissed lightly.
Was it a truly difficult question? Until now, Orthes had been ruthlessly stabbing into necks—sometimes into hearts or cervical vertebrae—yet for a brief moment, he stopped his brutal slashing and held his tongue.
“Well then. Why do you wish to undergo ascension?”
“What a ridiculous question. Does a caterpillar need a reason to want to become a butterfly? To become a better being, a complete being—shouldn’t that be justified by instincts alone?”
The biological entity deliberately elaborated. If Orthes had been created by someone like it, he would understand that intense aspiration, that instinct etched into their kind.
‘Wait a minute.’
That question was a response to ‘Why are you so desperate to torment me?’
In other words, it basically meant ‘My nature provokes me into not being able to endure without tormenting you.’
The expression of the body manipulated by the biological entity twisted bizarrely. It was a manifestation of incredulity. The bewilderment was such that it almost momentarily forgot to control its body to reflect an appropriate expression.
The biological entity slowly retraced the situation. It already knew that many of its kind existed. It had caught glimpses of the existence of those who attempted ascension scattered throughout history.
Among those kindred souls, there existed an entity granted the instinct of ‘kin-slaying.’
Was this a mutation born out of time that even the fearful creator could not control? Or was this part of the creator’s plan?
‘If this is something specially prepared by the creator…’
The intention would be clear.
To weed out the bugs that missed their timing for ascension.
The biological entity dismissed that unpleasant thought. The creator was feared, but they would not be an omnipotent being. This was likely a mutation that surpassed the expectations of the creator.
‘I couldn’t possibly be out of touch with the times‥‥‥!’
Orthes was peering into the thoughts of the biological entity that was contemplating deeply.
‘And here comes the creator talk again.’
This was one of the reasons Orthes defied Carisia’s orders and chased the biological entity.
Orthes himself would never admit it, but the main reason he took on the pursuit was worry. However, even if he accepted that it was worry, he would claim it was concern about his own future, not others.
And in Orthes’s view, the ‘creator’ that this biological entity kept babbling about was overflowing with the potential to become a future complication.
‘That creature showed quite a foolish side when caught in my bluff, but it’s a monster that has lived for an exceedingly long time.’
Even trying to sift through the fine details to gather information was impossible with all that accumulated memory. It was only by guiding its psyche like this that vaguely relevant words would occasionally emerge.
While indulging in the biological entity’s time-wasting antics, Orthes too needed to extract information.
Therefore, Orthes chose expressions that could ‘scratch’ the biological entity as much as possible.
“Did you say a caterpillar doesn’t need a reason to become a butterfly? Very well. If denying the ugly and pursuing beauty is said to be nature itself, then it’s only natural to clean up the filth that will remain ugly forever, isn’t it?”
“What did you say?”
“From the mythological era to now. You, who still hasn’t undergone ascension.”
Orthes carefully chose his words. He needed to select terms that anyone would flare up and lose their composure over.
“A loser from past eras.”
“…!”
It was a mocking tone, as if he could see inside its head. The biological entity suddenly felt a surge of anger along with a fear that the ‘unpleasant imagination’ might not just be a delusion.
A contingency plan to deal with the loser.
However,
‘Even if that’s truly the executioner of the losers that the creator has set up.’
If I defeat it right here, that’s all that matters. The one who survives until the end is the victor.
“You also yap a lot for someone who hasn’t achieved ascension. Have you become so paralyzed in reason due to investing everything into a single body?”
“Do you not realize? You losers are merely bait that I will lure and jump on, akin to a rat rushing toward bait in a trap. Once I’ve cleaned up all the grime stuck to this world, I shall ascend to the promised glory.”
‘How stupid. Just where do you see me as an artificial lifeform?’
Orthes hesitated for a moment. Upon reconsideration, it was highly probable that the body he was inhabiting now had been touched by the cult of the mythological era.
The biological entity’s claim of being ‘kin’ was a serious logical fallacy, but the potential that it might view him as a kindred spirit for a particular reason could serve as a clue to uncovering the secrets of this body.
‘What now.’
It was a fact that at least right now, he couldn’t kill all of that creature’s bodies. Orthes had no means to annihilate all the biological entities that were nestled between minds.
‘How about using mind control magic?’
If it were a truly excellent Mental Mage, specifically a powerful mage who’d have to calculate in units of time and years, perhaps they could overpower the mind of the biological entity to eliminate it all at once.
However, among the mages friendly to Orthes, the only one with such exceptional ability was Carisia, but she preferred to physically obliterate her opponents rather than mentally torment them.
Rather than delicate suggestion-based magical brainwashing, she was an expert in the straightforward method of red-hot brainwashing tactics involving physical means.
‘In the end, no matter how long this fight lasts, it’s just symptomatic treatment.’
While Orthes was secretly mulling over how to deal with the biological entity, the entity itself was lost in its own thoughts again.
‘Was I bait?’
Well, yes indeed. Such a perfect sacrifice couldn’t have popped up naturally. That body, more suitable for ascension than anything else in this era, must have been crafted with intent by someone.
That someone, of course…
Slowly, the biological entity opened its mouth.
“When were you born?”
‘Are we really discussing age here?’
Citing a hierarchy? That was far out of Orthes’s expectations. It was extremely rare for someone to make such a statement while still conscious.
However, Orthes’s long experience in deception made it hard to drop signs of being taken aback.
“I’ll just say you are young enough to refer to your time as the ‘past era.’”
A provocation so natural it flowed like water.
