Chapter 203: Ikaros's Self-Denial
Locking eyes with Franklin's smiling face at such close range, Ikaros's cheeks instantly flushed. The hand that had been covering her chest now lightly touched her lips,
On Ikaros's usually expressionless face, a trace of a smile slowly appeared at that moment. It was very faint, but Franklin still saw it,
"It feels warm. I really like this feeling."
That faint smile combined with her flawless posture and movements made Franklin freeze for a moment. His body unconsciously stepped back,
Once he realized it, Franklin immediately stepped forward and tightly grasped Ikaros's hands,
"This is too perfect. Ikaros, did you just learn how to smile?"
Under Franklin's expectant gaze, that trace of a smile on Ikaros's face quickly disappeared, replaced once again by her usual calm expression,
"I'm sorry, Master. I don't really understand what you mean. Is the smile you mentioned this kind of expression?"
Looking at Ikaros struggling to try to form a smiling expression yet failing no matter how hard she tried, Franklin could only gently rub her head to stop her,
"It's okay. If you could do it once, you can definitely do it a second time. We'll try again next time. For now, just try to feel other people's emotions. Maybe you'll find a different kind of feeling."
Gently taking Ikaros's small hand, the group strolled through Konoha, where sorrow permeated the air,
At this moment, Franklin didn't plan to try again. What mattered most now was letting Ikaros find the existence of emotions,
Collapsed houses were being lifted by ninjas using ninjutsu, and the horrific corpses inside came into view before them,
Seeing this scene, Astraea showed no reaction at all. Nymph lightly frowned, then, after gently tugging at Franklin's sleeve, her expression quickly relaxed,
Only Ikaros—despite being led by Franklin—remained somewhat dazed, as if recalling unpleasant memories,
Franklin, well aware of this, did not avoid it at all. What Ikaros needed now was to not deny herself from the depths of her heart, but to acknowledge her past,
Only by acknowledging the past and recognizing her true inner self could the issue of emotions surface more easily from within.
Continuing forward, a massive chasm blocked their path. It spread in a trumpet shape from the village center all the way to the Hokage Rock,
Within the trench carved by the tailed beast bomb, houses no longer existed, and neither did the villagers who had once been there. Looking at this scene of utter annihilation,
Ikaros's expression became even more strained. The damage the ultimate weapon Apollo had once inflicted upon surface civilizations resurfaced in her mind,
Her body trembled uncontrollably, and for a moment Ikaros lost all awareness of the outside world. But in the next instant, she felt warmth envelop her,
That familiar scent, that warm embrace, made Ikaros momentarily intoxicated by it,
From the moment she was summoned, from the contract and limited information transmitted through the Dimensional Tome, although she carried incomplete memories, she already understood that she now had a new Master,
Though clumsy at times, she was never disliked. Instead, she was treated gently by Master as if she were part of his family—accompanying him to buy clothes, trying on prettier outfits,
Until that night, amid words she didn't quite understand, Nymph was also summoned. Her lost sense of self and memories were recovered once more,
Everything slowly began to change. Was someone like her—who had slaughtered countless lives—really worthy of being treated so gently by such a wonderful Master?
That question lingered for a long time, until the day Master's soul began to dissipate, and she felt panic for the first time,
If such a wonderful Master were gone, where would she go in the future? What would become of her? Thankfully, Master eventually regained consciousness,
The three-month journey on Blue Star allowed her to see all kinds of scenery. She even witnessed Master create brand-new intelligent life using abilities she couldn't understand,
From that moment on, she somehow began to feel that it would be fine if life just continued like this.
"Just follow the actions I sent you. Master will definitely be very happy. Maybe you'll get to see a side of Master you've never seen before."
Following Nymph's guidance, feeling Master's nervousness and his accelerating blood flow, a sense of anticipation unexpectedly arose within her,
Until Master's kiss arrived, and confusion once again occupied her heart. Did she really deserve such a life?
The doubt arose from the depths of her heart, and an unknown emotion surged as well. Algorithm error, unknown error, entanglement and self-denial—her system fell into an infinite loop,
Until Master's familiar kiss appeared once more, causing the looping system error to finally disappear. Only after receiving Nymph's information again did the panic in her heart subside,
"If you don't understand your own heart, then let Master help you find it. This is something that will make Master happy,
You just need to do this. After that, just follow Master's instructions, and you'll definitely find a new goal. You won't keep thinking about all those meaningless things anymore."
Following the video's instructions, she sent her tongue into Master's mouth. Although she didn't know what she was doing, it felt truly wonderful,
It felt as if, if things continued like this, all the bad memories could be cast aside, and in the future her heart would only be filled with happiness shared with Master,
But things didn't develop the way Nymph had said. Master refused. He even seemed angry at Nymph,
She was clearly happy—so why stop? It felt like if she sank into it, she could forget all those bad memories. In the future, she would only need to think about Master,
Listening to Master's obscure, hard-to-understand words, they felt meaningless. She didn't understand what they meant,
But seeing how close Master and Nymph were made her feel inexplicably empty inside,
That thought had barely formed when Master noticed it, and she was kissed once again. It felt truly wonderful. If only it could continue forever,
But Master seemed disappointed. He didn't want her to be happy just because of his kiss. He seemed to know what she was trying to avoid,
Gradually coming back to her senses, feeling endless warmth and boundless care, Ikaros smiled. Master truly loved her. Perhaps the troubles in her heart could finally be shared,
"Master, I once did things just like the Nine-Tails. I killed many people, and even destroyed a city where humans lived,
Although that was the Sky Lord's order, and I didn't even understand why I was doing it, I still did it because of that command,
But after doing it, I felt very sad—extremely sad. Lives were destroyed because of me. What was the purpose of creating me?
I'm just a killing machine, a heartless killing machine. Why give me intelligence? Why give me even a small amount of emotion? I don't understand. I really don't understand."