[…What is this?]
Zion and Frey’s voices overlapped perfectly.
A grotesque creature with only a child’s hand and head poking out of a lump of black slime tilted its head in confusion, then belatedly realized it was being spoken to and said innocently, “Hi! I’m Experimental Subject K!”
“That’s not what I was asking…”
“But I am Experimental Subject K! Actually, my true nature isn’t Experimental Subject K, but there’s no other word to explain me besides that!”
Growing more confused, Zion frowned and rubbed his forehead.
Frey, caught in a similar bewilderment, barely managed to say a word.
[A monster…?]
[It’s not aggressive toward humans, it communicates and is rational. It can’t be a monster.]
[No, but…]
His golden, radiant magic eye suddenly assessed the strange creature as something close to a monster.
But it was ambiguous to label it outright as one.
Neither fully monster nor non-monster, it was an awkward existence hard to define.
[…A demon, maybe?]
“No. It can’t be a demon.”
Zion firmly denied Frey’s suggestion.
His instincts, sharpened through countless life-or-death battles, would never have misjudged the identity of an enemy.
Frey hadn’t expected Zion’s denial either when he voiced the thought.
“Wait. Your name is Experimental Subject?”
Suddenly, an unpleasant assumption flashed through Zion’s mind.
“No? I’m Experimental Subject K! Oh, are you wondering if I fit the usual definition of ‘experimental subject’? Then yes! I’m an experimental subject!”
“Experimental subject? By whom? What experiment?”
“A human mage experimented on me! But I don’t really know what kind of experiment it was.”
The expected, yet unwelcome answer made Zion dizzy.
“I want to hear the details if you don’t mind.”
“Curious? If it’s a friend’s request, I’ll tell you everything! Can we talk here?”
“Let’s move somewhere else. I know a safe spot where monsters won’t notice us.”
Without hesitation, Zion led the way out of the labyrinth, with Experimental Subject K obediently following.
Zion remained on guard for any sudden moves but, until they reached the temporary safe zone, K showed no sign of trouble.
[Is Yuria’s effort shining through in a place like this?]
Crooks’ amused comment made Zion briefly think of the comrade he hadn’t seen for days.
They hadn’t lost contact, but Yuria insisted on solo searches of the tower until she had gathered enough clues.
Zion wanted to join her badly, but he painfully understood that stealth operations didn’t suit him.
“This is strange. This place feels like somewhere non-human friends can’t come near.”
“Non-human friends… monsters?”
“Monsters? You call them monsters? Come to think of it, mages mention the word ‘monster’ a lot. You humans call any non-human creature a monster.”
“No, not all creatures are like that…”
Zion’s response faltered in confusion.
Explaining the difference between humans, monsters, and non-monster creatures was complex and difficult, and there was no guarantee this innocent, unknown being would fully grasp it.
“I’ll explain slowly later. For now, tell me about the experiment you underwent.”
“Alright! Of course I’ll tell you!”
Experimental Subject K confidently began, “I… um… was probably made by mixing a human fetus with ‘my heart.'”
Zion and the Awakened fell silent at the unimaginable first words.
“A human… fetus?”
“Yeah. Experimental Subject K was created by mixing a three-month-old human fetus—whose mother had died—with ‘my heart’ that was transplanted.”
Neither Zion nor anyone had misheard, nor was K mistaken.
Zion exhaled a long, involuntary sigh.
Otherwise, he feared the anger bubbling inside him would overflow uncontrollably.
‘Created by mixing a human fetus with his heart… What a bizarre way to put it, that kid. Or should I say, that child?’
Meanwhile, Crooks began analyzing K’s words with interest, [That’s a strange expression. It sounds like the human fetus, the heart’s original owner, and Experimental Subject K are all separate entities.]
[Oh, Frey, you always have sharp insights. That might be the most accurate analysis. But who’s the owner of the heart that was transplanted into the fetus?]
[Who knows. Probably a monster, right?]
[W-wait a minute. You guys… you can say that so coldly after hearing that?!]
Just as the Awakened prepared to seriously discuss, Yumin—the youngest among the four—glared at them and shouted resentfully.
Zion felt the same way, ‘Yumin’s right. Aren’t you uncles angry?’
The three Awakened looked at each other as if hit by a slingshot, then swallowed bitter smiles and shrugged.
[If you ask if we aren’t angry… that’s not true…]
[Haha, we’ve just gotten used to this kind of thing. Not the first time.]
[What you’re feeling is right, Zion. We’re just… well, like Crooks said, we’ve become too worn out to explode over every single incident like this.]
[I’m not! Don’t sneak me into that!]
[Alright, alright. Except for Yumin. She’s sensitive, but loud on the outside.]
Zion wanted to say more, but no words came to mind.
Though it was a situation that should have roused anger, their calm without raising voices didn’t feel cold-hearted.
If anything, it made him feel sorry—perhaps presumptuously so.
“Who am I talking to, exactly?” Suddenly, Experimental Subject K asked with innocent curiosity, staring at Zion who had fallen silent.
Zion blinked, startled.
K’s gaze was fixed on the Pendant hanging around Zion’s neck and said, “You have a fascinating thing.”
[Could that… interfere with the Pendant’s communication function?]
[If it could, it would have interrupted our conversation earlier. More likely, it’s analyzing the MP activity inside the Pendant.]
[…Either way, it’s not an ordinary creature.]
Zion unconsciously hid the Pendant with his hand.
K, however, looked up at Zion brightly, showing little interest.
Zion frowned, unable to read this mysterious being’s reaction.
He couldn’t decide whether to consider Experimental Subject K an enemy or ally.
“S-sorry, friend. Did I upset you? I was just curious.” Noticing Zion’s frown, K pouted and apologized.
Zion suddenly felt his worries were futile.
How often in dealing with others did clear lines of good and evil or friend and foe exist?
‘Although this kid isn’t exactly human…’
They spoke and shared feelings.
Even if their appearance was strange and distant from humans, blindly rejecting or fearing them as enemies wasn’t right.
“I’m Zion. Zion Alkoth.”
Looking directly at Experimental Subject K, Zion said, “Calling you ‘friend’ feels awkward, so from now on just call me Zion. And I’ll call you… um… since Experimental Subject K is too weird, I’ll call you K. How’s that?”
“Can I really call you Zion…?”
“You said we’re friends, right? Friends call each other by name.”
“…Okay, then… Zion.”
Carefully pronouncing the name, K’s face lit up with a bright smile.
Before he knew it, Zion smiled too.
‘We’ve been living right in the enemy’s stronghold. They must have been under a lot of stress without realizing it.’ Watching this, Frey quietly exhaled in relief.
Since staying at the Jewel Tower, everyone Zion had met—except Yuria and Soares—had either harbored hostile intentions or ulterior motives.
Zion was sensitive to others’ true intentions, especially ill will.
He couldn’t have failed to notice.
He had only pretended to be calm so as not to worry those around him.
And since Soares left for the Lawkingdom and Yuria went off on her own, he hadn’t had a moment’s peace.
‘It’s funny that the oasis for his weary heart turned out to be some strange monster or whatever, but I guess that doesn’t matter much to Zion.’ Frey didn’t consider K an enemy either.
But since K was an experimental subject made using a monster’s body, he couldn’t fully drop his guard.
It was a sort of occupational hazard from decades of fighting monsters as an Awakened.
‘If he goes back upstairs, he’ll only get more stress. Better for him to rest now.’ Frey silently wished as he warmly watched the two new friends.
…As an aside, it would take less than half an hour before this heartwarming scene shattered.
***
Professor Dellos Rohan, an expert-level mage, was furious to the bone.
His border surveillance mission, originally supposed to have ended three days ago, had been extended by seven more days for unreasonable reasons.
‘Is it my fault those bastards keep crawling up to the border every single day and causing trouble?!’
Grinding his teeth, Dellos Rohan tore up the mission extension orders in his hand.
The intricately woven restoration magic on the orders ripped into dozens of pieces, but like a time reversal, the fragments floated back together perfectly.
Recently, whenever Dellos reached his limit of stress, he tore orders apart until he calmed down.
“Professor, you need to come out for a moment.”
“Hey! Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?! Don’t find me until I say it’s okay!”
“Professor Rohan, the border situation is… no, it’s very serious.”
The serious tone cut like cold water.
Trouble at the border?
During his extended duty?
He could easily become the scapegoat and get demoted to waste disposal.
“W-wait, I’m coming out right now!”
Fixing his clothes, Dellos Rohan rushed out without even grabbing his wand.
His subordinate waiting at the door looked like he was panicking, unable to handle the situation.
It was clear things were dire.
“What’s going on? Explain properly!”
“The usual creatures have come to the border. But… there are too many of them. And…”
“And? What else?!”
“It seems the Order of Holy Knights has gone rotten.”
It felt like being struck by lightning.
The Order of Holy Knights, composed entirely of powerful Divine Art users, was the Lawkingdom’s greatest military force.
Deploying them meant the Lawkingdom was seriously threatening with force.
“Damn… Have we received any news from the tower? Have resources been restored? Is the labyrinth incident resolved?”
“Normally, you should be the first to know, professor.”
“Damn, that’s true.”
Climbing to what was more of a watchtower than a building, Dellos Rohan used a telescopic spell to observe the border.
What his subordinate reported was accurate: at least 300 soldiers and 50 Order of Holy Knights members.
That wasn’t a show of force—it was enough troops to start a localized war at any moment.
‘A localized war? Damn, wait… no way!’
“Evil mages, hear this!”
A sinister thought crossed his mind as a loud voice amplified by a magical artifact rang out from the Lawkingdom side of the border.
At the same time, soldiers began drawing their bows.
The arrowheads glowed with brilliant white light.
‘Arrows with Divine Art!’
“Everyone, cast the barrier immediately! The enemy is preparing Divine Art shots!”
Following Dellos Rohan’s command, five of his mages hurriedly erected a barrier.
The overwhelming numbers were daunting.
Normally, this wasn’t a problem—mages were a powerful asymmetric force that ordinary soldiers with spears and swords couldn’t touch.
But if the enemy combined Divine Art with the Order of Holy Knights and launched an attack?
“The Sun Faith has embraced you with tolerance until now, but you wicked demon servants have not repented. Instead, you dared to raid the Lawkingdom’s villages, killing and kidnapping innocent people with atrocious cruelty!”
“Crazy bastards! They’ve been sucking up labyrinth resources too, yet they complain?! Do they really want to pick a fight with us?!”
“The Sun Faith has decided… not to forgive you anymore!”
A shower of countless arrows traced tails of dazzling white light.
Magic and Divine Art repelled each other.
When these two forces clashed head-on, simply put, the stronger power won.
The hundred arrows infused with Divine Art collided with the barrier crafted by five mages putting all their effort into it.
The standoff didn’t last long.
The barrier shattered into pieces, and the remnants of magic transformed into scattered light.
“Damn it…!”
As he cursed, Dellos Rohan suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right eye.
Then his limbs lost strength, and his body pitched forward involuntarily.
‘Ah? My strength… hurts? Can I… stand?’ His thoughts fragmented.
Only then did he realize an arrow had pierced through his right eye and into his brain.
“The Sun Faith’s flame of judgment will purify your wicked deeds!”
That was the last thing he heard before losing his breath.