Chapter 68 - The Existence Proof of a Creation Soul (2)

Fortunately, I caught up with Arien without being late. I was able to catch up thanks to Arien not being the type to rush either.

‘Still, that’s a relief.’

Creeak-.

Arien carefully pushed open the factory door and went inside. Up to this point, it was exactly as in .

About two minutes after Arien entered, just as I was about to move towards the door to enter the factory as well…

Thud.

I heard footsteps. And, presences that I hadn't felt until just a moment ago began to be felt.

“…As expected, they won't let any intruders in.”

Muttering so and looking around, I found myself surrounded by a considerable number of enemies.

“……”

The enemies surrounding me were looking at me with chillingly blank expressions.

As if they had no emotions whatsoever.

In fact, it was only natural. This was a fantasy, a trace.

A trace left behind by Arien in the past, a fantasy created by Arien's past.

That was what it was. There was no will or emotion in them.

I could feel the surge of magic from them. Well, I had expected it. In 『A Star in the Shadows』, enemies who used magic appeared.

‘Isn't this unfair?’

To think they would restrict the magic of the player character, Arien, while letting the enemies use magic freely.

Well, even that had an in-game reason.

What was it again? The boss of this story used a different category of magic, so the waste buried in the factory wouldn't react.

It was similar to the case of Origin Magic. So she could use magic freely. It was something like that.

Shing-.

Anyway, I drew 『Spellbinder』 once again. It was going to be very active today.

『Spellbinder』

Grade: Epic (Unique)

Durability: 467/500

Attack Power: 75

Unique Ability, [ Spellbinding ]: Consumes 3 durability to deflect an enemy's magic.

: A sword that allowed the old knight to stand against mages, who are called the natural enemies of knights. It is very well-maintained.

“I won’t feel any guilt.”

Looking at the enemies with empty eyes, I muttered one sentence.

And the battle began.

This was the prelude to 『A Star in the Shadows』.

***

The vicinity of the abandoned factory was desolate, without a single person.

This was partly because it was the dead of night at 11 o'clock, but ultimately, it was due to the desolation of this abandoned factory district itself.

Creeak-.

The Star Seeker, Arien, pushed open the factory door with her gloved hand.

‘Multiple magic reactions confirmed in the vicinity.’

And, she could sense the traces of magic surrounding her.

“…It’s not… a human reaction.”

At first glance, they were reactions that could be mistaken for human ones, but Arien caught a subtle dissonance in the flow of magic.

An existence that was endlessly similar to a human, but could ultimately never be a human. Arien knew such an existence all too well.

Click. Click.

But, despite such suspicious reactions, Arien did not retreat.

She just walked calmly, without any agitation, towards the center of the factory.

It was due to her absolute confidence in her own skills… no, a perfect self-awareness.

A self-awareness that stemmed from the fact that she could not be defeated.

Walking like that, Arien once again recalled the letter that had been delivered to her.

The letter that had been gently placed in front of her room on the night of an ordinary day.

[Arien, are you doing well? I'm still doing well. Just like back then when we were in the ‘cage.’ Just like back then when we were together.

I'm glad to hear that you seem happy recently. I thought you must have had a hard time after we disappeared.

You may seem cold and calm on the outside, but you were especially soft-hearted and got lonely easily.

Writing about the old days makes me miss those days even more. Ah, look at me. I forgot my purpose. I'm sorry.

It's nothing much. Just… I want to see your face after a long time.

You'll come, of course, right? We were closer than anyone, we were sisters.

I'll write down the meeting place and time below. Ah, Arien is especially wary, so… I'll have to write something that will make you come.

Arien. If you don't come to the meeting place, I will expose the secret of your birth to the academy. It breaks my heart.

But please understand that this is not to hurt you, Arien. I just know that if you hear this, you'll have no choice but to come see me.

Then I'll be looking forward to it. My lovely Arien.

-With eternal love, your sister.]

The contents of this letter made Arien have several questions.

Why did the sender of the letter call herself Arien's sister?

How did the sender of the letter know Arien's secret?

Why did the sender of the letter write as if she perfectly understood Arien?

There were speculative answers to these questions.

However, speculation was only speculation, and it had no meaning in the current situation.

Because of this, there was only one thing Arien had to do.

Find the sender and figure out her intentions.

If those intentions did not align with Arien's interests… eliminate her.

Having reached that conclusion, Arien was moving forward, step by step.

The factory had a square structure, and its center was wide open, presumably for transporting various goods.

The letter writer had told her to come to the center of the factory, and she probably meant that place.

After walking for about five minutes, Arien arrived at what seemed to be the center of the factory without any interruption or resistance.

As if to prove that it was untouched by human hands, the center of the factory was overgrown with weeds, and the bright moonlight was shining down on the space.

‘A scene that is generally evaluated as beautiful.’

Arien thought so. Yes, it was certainly a beautiful scene… but to Arien, it held no meaning.

And, a single nameless white flower blooming in the middle of that factory.

There was a girl looking down at that flower.

Dark navy bobbed hair, a white dress that didn't suit this desolate place, and an innocent smile on her lips.

Those were the characteristics of the girl standing in the center of the factory.

Soon, as Arien was watching her…

Thump.

“…?”

For some reason, she could feel her heart pounding.

“Ah, you’re here, Arien!”

The bob-haired girl, as if sensing Arien's presence, approached Arien with small steps.

Arien did not stop her. It was because she did not feel any hostility from her actions.

…It was certainly a flimsy basis for not reacting to an unknown enemy. A normal Arien would have immediately launched an attack.

But Arien was unaware of that fact, and of her own abnormality.

Why was that? Perhaps, Arien was feeling a sense of comfort from the girl in front of her.

Poof-.

Soon, with light steps, the girl embraced Arien.

Arien could feel warmth from that embrace.

“It’s been a while, Arien!”

A greeting delivered with a bright smile. However, Arien did not return the greeting.

Arien looked down at the girl with her sky-blue eyes, which shone even brighter in the moonlight, and said.

“That reaction is strange.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“You were clearly aware that I was coming.”

“……”

Arien knew. While walking to the center of the factory, she knew that someone was watching her.

And that there were eyes of surveillance all over the factory.

“Even until the moment I arrived, those watchful gazes did not cease. You probably never lost sight of where I was, not even for a single moment.”

And who was the owner of those watchful gazes was an obvious question.

“Nevertheless, to react as if you only just noticed I was here, is clearly unnatural.”

The girl who was hugging Arien looked up at her, maintaining the same expression.

It was a smile that some might think was clearly contrived.

“You’ve become as cold as when I first saw you, Arien. How pitiful.”

“That statement is strange. It’s as if you’ve met me before. But this should be our first time meeting.”

“No.”

The girl said curtly, shaking her head. With that smile still fixed on her face.

“Arien, you know too, right? That there’s a hole in your own past. So why are you denying it so firmly? Do you have any basis?”

“……”

“I thought that since you’ve returned to the beginning, you would just cut to the chase and say, ‘What do you know about my past?’”

It wasn’t wrong. No, it was close to being perfectly right.

Arien had to admit it. The fact that her opponent had an almost perfect insight into her.

“In that case, I will ask you formally. Who are you?”

At Arien’s question, the girl removed her smile and took a step back.

And, placing her hand on her chest… she answered the question.

“I am Stella.”

Stella. Hearing that name, Arien felt a stirring in her chest.

Was it the feeling of a fragment of the huge hole in her chest returning?

“Your sister, and a homunculus like you.”

An artificial life form, a homunculus.

That was the secret Arien had tried to hide, had to hide…

And at the same time, it was her undeniable origin.

***

“…Hoo.”

After dealing with all the enemies trying to stop me, I swung my sword to flick off the blood on it.

The blood that flew off the sword dissipated into the air before it could touch the ground.

I looked back. I had defeated so many enemies, but there were no corpses there.

It was natural. The things I fought were not real people.

They were homunculi. Artificial life forms in the shape of humans.

And they weren't even directly made homunculi, but fantasy embodiments created by the homunculus boss, Stella.

Creeak-.

I opened the door and stepped inside. With the eerie atmosphere, I could feel presences approaching me.

What I learned from the previous battle was that although the number of enemies was large, the combat power of each individual was not very strong.

‘The problem is my crappy stamina.’

《 Stats 》

[ Strength: D ]

[ Agility: C+ ]

[ Stamina: D ]

[ Intellect: B ]

[ Magic Power: D ]

[ Dexterity: B+ ]

No matter how big the skill gap with my opponent was, with only D-grade stamina, I couldn't endure a series of battles.

And that meant there was only one conclusion.

‘Break through quickly.’

A quick battle was the only answer. Even if it wasn't for my stamina problem, I had to stop Arien before she made the wrong choice.

The motive for that was not just to protect the world I had to live in… but well, I felt like it wasn't just that.

I don't know. I just vaguely thought that I hoped my friend's soul wouldn't get hurt.

After all, the heart is something that even its owner can't perfectly understand.

About that fact… the boss of this story and the First Astro of 『Ad Astra』, ‘Stella,’ probably didn't know.

Once again, enemies were flocking around me. Enemies that took the form of ordinary people, but were by no means people.

I raised my sword and ran forward.

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