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===BREAK===
The person I was meant to meet here had been decided from the very beginning.
Shin El.
A White Line senator representing Ark, head of the El family, and the father of Isabel and Faust El—these are merely a few among the countless titles he possesses.
I know exactly what kind of person Shin El is.
'If there were someone in Ark who could be called a king, it would be Shin El.'
The King of Ark.
Calling him the nucleus of power or a key figure is insufficient.
He holds something beyond that, someone who manipulates all of Ark, far beyond just the White Line.
And he is also one of the individuals closest to the secrets of the White Line.
'Having come this far, there's no reason to turn back now.'
Ordinarily, Shin El isn't someone you can meet so easily.
Only after undergoing all kinds of procedures and approaching the core of power could you maybe just catch a glimpse of his face.
But things have changed now.
Everything has become urgent, and my status within Ark has already fallen to that of a heinous criminal.
One might say that's terrible news for me, but looked at another way, it also means the shackles that had bound me until now are gone.
It means there's nothing holding me back anymore.
That's why I used an aggressive method that I wouldn't have dared imagine before to infiltrate the White Line.
From here on, it's a race against time.
["My head… my heaaad… it's spinninggg…"]
Within the White Line, things were so peaceful it was hard to believe war was imminent. But conversely, that meant that the usual security within the White Line was that much more stringent.
The White Line, always maintaining a wartime posture, remained unchanged even when signs of war loomed outside Ark.
"Please halt. Identity could not be verified by the current scan. Kindly present your identification."
The El family's residence is located in the deepest part of the White Line, the area with the tightest security.
Though it couldn't compare to the White Road, naturally, the path leading there was guarded by countless White Line soldiers.
"Identity verification, huh. Fine by me."
I unhesitatingly tapped the device on my wrist against the scanner they held out.
The guards' expressions momentarily stiffened, then loosened again.
There was no way I would miss such a subtle shift in expression.
"…Ah, our apologies. There seems to have been an error in the identity verification process. Could you wait here just a moment?"
It seemed the guard was trying to stall me calmly until reinforcements arrived, but it was an obvious ruse.
"There's no need for that. I'll go myself."
"…Pardon?"
Click.
From the [Rift Space] that opened behind the guard, the muzzle of an Ark-34 Automatic Conversion Rifle emerged, aimed directly at him.
The rounds loaded were tranquilizers.
A feat made possible by my improved understanding of [Rift Space] after encountering the fragment of the Great Spirit, combined with my gravity gloves.
Swish!
Thud! Thump thump!
The White Line guards fell one by one, unable to react to the surprise attack from behind.
But I know.
Now that I've come directly to the White Line, this is where the real game begins.
["Master."]
"Yes."
Esther spoke as she kept her guard up.
The atmosphere had begun to shift in an unsettling way.
"It's about to begin."
The silent sirens—an iconic symbol of Ark—wailed, and red lights started flashing chaotically from all directions.
Though I had successfully taken down the guards in an instant, the White Line's security system was not so feeble that it could be breached that easily.
["Above!"]
At Esther's shout, her ether flared violently.
[Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.]
With that, the airborne assault troops descending from above came to a sudden halt in midair.
Despite the sudden ether backlash, the strike team showed no panic and aimed their personal firearms at me.
Kwakwakwa-BOOM!
Shellfire poured down in an instant.
But that level of firepower wasn't nearly enough to break through either Janus's defense or Esther's deployed ether barrier.
["Where do you think you're going."]
My ether sensitivity had soared, and since Esther was closely linked to me and handled my ether directly, her power had surged as well.
With Esther blocking them herself, there was no way mere strike team firepower could break through.
["What should we do?"]
"Knock them out."
["Hmm, yes. Honestly, I'd rather just kill them… but if you say so, Master."]
Grumbling, Esther still carried out her orders faithfully.
The strike force—one of White Line's stationed elite units—was subdued in an instant, and soon more soldiers began to block my path.
["They're ether soldiers."]
Just as she said, ether surged from the newly arrived soldiers.
"Handle it."
["Again?"]
"It's your job."
["Ugh… can't we just use that experimental round you've got? It looked really good."]
"Should I really take it out? Who knows where a blind bullet might end up."
Only then did the pale hue return to Esther's transparent expression as she understood my meaning.
["T-that was a slip of the tongue!"]
Shaking her head, Esther summoned ether once more.
[Hehehe...]
[How dare you. How dare you. How dare you. How dare you. How dare you. How dare you. How dare you.]
[Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.]
As expected, what followed could hardly be called a battle—it was a one-sided display of overwhelming power.
If Esther's ether was like a vast ocean, then the ether deployed by the soldiers was barely the size of a pond.
Of course, they were undeniably among Ark's elite, but they faced the wrong opponent.
"This is absurd…"
"Grgh…!"
"I—I can't breathe! Gah!"
The elite ether soldier unit of White Line was instantly rendered unconscious and incapacitated.
It wouldn't have been surprising if one or two of them had died by accident, but Esther had faithfully followed my instructions.
It would've been convenient if White Line's interference ended here, but unfortunately, it didn't.
["…They're still coming."]
"Well, it is White Line, after all."
Even though Brigadier General Douglas's suppression force had failed and their strength had been diminished, White Line was still White Line.
There was no way they'd let an intruder go unchallenged.
'Not that it matters.'
More White Line soldiers, armed with all kinds of weaponry, soon blocked my way.
Among them were weapons that clearly bore the technological marks of the Machine Cult, indicating that Ark had almost succeeded in rapidly commercializing their tech.
"Surrender peacefully."
"I don't plan to."
Swoosh—
"Cease suspicious activity!"
"I said, I don't plan to."
Countless muzzles were aimed.
With no hesitation, triggers were pulled, and a barrage of flames roared toward me.
[Hehehehehe...]
But that was all.
With Esther's released ether and the manipulation of the gravity gloves added on, even a mere gesture was enough to sweep away White Line's elite soldiers in a flash.
"Ugh!"
"This is ridiculous…!"
"M-monster…"
"This can't be happening…"
As always, I didn't kill.
There was no need to.
Part of me wondered if I should've crushed them with force from the beginning, but it was just a passing thought.
["Insignificant fools."]
"Let's go."
I resumed walking.
Toward the depths of the White Line.
*
["We're almost there."]
"Yeah."
The El family residence is located in the deepest part of the White Line.
Near the White Road, where the greatest secrets of the White Line are hidden.
Considering the interior of the White Road is practically uncharted territory, it's no exaggeration to say that the El family's residence lies at the deepest point.
'Almost there.'
But there's always one last obstacle.
After seeing the previous elite forces fall so pathetically, White Line had sent one of Ark's top-tier forces.
A unit I was very familiar with.
"Well now…"
Skull Knights.
Led by none other than Colonel Melissa herself, the Skull Knight unit had appeared to block my path.
"…Huh?"
"It's been a while."
Colonel Melissa's eyes widened as she immediately recognized me.
"No way…!"
What White Line didn't yet know was that Colonel Melissa had already submitted to Janus.
In fact, not just her—every Skull Knight present here had met the same fate.
"…We greet the King."
"We greet the King."
At once, the entire Skull Knight unit, including Melissa, knelt down.
The true Bone King.
In the presence of that name, even the Skull Knights could not defy instinct.
[Gi-giit!]
Janus cried out in delight.
Upon hearing it, Colonel Melissa and the Skull Knights trembled with reverence.
"Wait here."
"…Understood."
The elite force White Line had prepared as their trump card had been utterly neutralized in an instant.
Without a single casualty, I continued forward toward the El family's residence.
If it weren't for the current war preparations against the Kronos Union, I might have faced Ark's real front-line soldiers.
But by a stroke of luck, even the White Line couldn't spare them under current circumstances.
It worked out in my favor.
'Though even if they had come, the outcome wouldn't have changed.'
It just would've been a bit more annoying.
The power I now held wasn't something a few special forces units could handle.
Unless Ark as a whole declared war on me, this wasn't even a fight to begin with.
["Here it is."]
At first glance, the El residence looked slightly smaller than that of the Rose Party family.
But then again, comparing the vast territory of the Rose Line to the White Line, which had the smallest area in Ark, made no sense.
Still, I knew.
No one had ever crossed the gate of this residence lightly.
That had always been the case—and should have remained so.
Until I arrived.
"Carl Marcus, I presume."
Before I reached the El residence, a butler was already waiting at the gate.
Well, considering the chaos I'd stirred, flipping the entire White Line upside down, it'd be more of a problem if they weren't prepared to receive a guest.
"Is Shin El inside?"
"Yes. He is waiting for you."
"Good. Let's go."
"This way, sir."
Following the butler's lead, I stepped into the El family's residence.
And at that moment—
["M-Master…"]
Esther trembled.
No—I felt it too.
[Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.]
[Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared.]
[Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.]
'The ether is trembling in fear.'
The reason wasn't hard to guess.
This place was likely one of the locations most deeply tied to Project Noah and Project Eve.
"He is inside."
As we arrived, the butler slowly opened the door.
And I saw it.
Countless strands stretching from all directions, converging on one point.
'As expected.'
The countless threads crisscrossing the room were not the grotesque hobby of its owner.
They were the result of Ark's most advanced biotechnology and mechanical engineering.
A tool that forcibly prolongs a life that should have long since ended.
The one who calls himself the master of this great kingdom was now dying.
No—he was clinging to a life that should have ended long ago.
===BREAK===
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