Deep within a dim underground chamber, a purple-haired elf sat in handcuffs, staring expressionlessly at the two elves behind the bars in front of her.
"Name?"
"..."
"Name!"
"..."
"I'm talking to you, Eta!"
After several questions with no answer, the silver-haired, blue-eyed elf finally lost her temper. She slammed her palm onto the table and snapped in a low voice.
"You already know what I'm called, don't you, Beta?"
Eta looked at her with contempt, then turned her gaze aside in disdain.
"This is an interrogation! An interrogation!"
"Yes, yes. But haven't I already told you everything I know, Beta? What else are you unclear about?"
Eta's shameless, unbothered attitude infuriated Beta so badly that she crushed the corner of the table in her grip. Afraid she might lose control and rush in to hit her, Beta quickly took several deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Eta, after everything you've done, aren't you afraid I really will put you on trial?"
"Oh..."
Perhaps she had been frightened, because Eta turned her head and looked Beta straight in the face. Her calm, still pale-purple eyes made it impossible to tell what she was thinking.
"First, until Master says otherwise, none of you have the right to put me on trial!"
Who were they trying to scare? Within Shadow Garden, the Seven Shadows were equals. Detention and surveillance could barely be justified, and Master was too lazy to interfere, but if they actually tried to lay a hand on her, then as long as Master was not being held up by some random nonsense, a world-destroying Atomic would descend in the very next second.
Eta looked at the two of them with disdain. This was exactly why she felt so out of place among the Seven Shadows. If it were her, she would never say something so stupid.
As long as she did not seriously harm any of the Seven Shadows, it would only count as a small squabble within the bounds of a small squabble, and Master would not bother dealing with them. But if things got out of hand, Master would definitely descend like a deus ex machina and resolve it.
"Second, Master and I are of one heart. Who gave you idiots the right to butt in?"
This was clearly a game between her and Master. Master had used two chess pieces to checkmate her, so they should not act as if they were the ones who had beaten her.
The one who truly defeated me was Master, not you two idiots...
"No, calling you idiots is giving you too much credit. Even after I had already surrendered, you still managed to open the bottle and let whatever was inside activate.
No matter how strong Master is, or how useless I am, even we can't carry a bunch of idiots like you."
Eta spoke at an unhurried pace, and when she recalled that astonishing scene, she could not help but laugh.
"You..."
"That's enough. For Master's sake, I'll honestly answer whatever you want to know. For Master's sake."
Stopping the enraged Beta, Gamma fixed Eta with a dim, quiet gaze and picked up a sheet of paper.
"Fine. In that case, I hope you'll tell us everything we want to know, Eta."
Eta did not answer. She simply sat there quietly, waiting for the questions.
"First, in Alexandria, what are these instruments we found in your laboratory? And what is this Star of Life?"
Gamma took out several photos of various instruments, along with a notebook labeled "Star of Life," and addressed Eta solemnly.
"I believe the explanation I wrote inside is simple enough for even Delta to understand."
"So... it's real?"
"It's real. I wouldn't falsify the cost of withdrawing, even if the withdrawal failed halfway through."
Eta said it lightly, as if she were not talking about herself, then shifted uncomfortably.
"Unreported experimental results, huh... Fine. Since it's confirmed to be harmless, I'll take this for now and promote it throughout Shadow Garden another day."
Seeing Gamma simply nod and put away the photos and notebook, Eta clicked her tongue in irritation.
In the end, aside from violating the natural law that "life only comes once," there was nothing actually wrong with this technology. What reason did Gamma have not to take it? The mockery Eta had imagined would have no effect at all on Gamma, that black-hearted capitalist.
The natural law that "life only comes once" was essentially a warning not to gamble with one's life and to stay away from danger. But for people like them, who had come back from death, lived in the shadows, and wagered their lives every day, this technology brought only benefits and no harm.
Even so, it still felt incredibly irritating to have it taken for free...
"The Star of Life is resurrection technology. Then what is this? Why do so many of its steps overlap with the Star of Life technology?"
Gamma took out a second notebook, her voice heavy.
"Haah... Resurrection Star Technology. It isn't very different from the Star of Life. It's just that, unlike the Star of Life, which is limited to our use, this is the mass-market version. It makes up for the flaw of needing Master's Magical Power to transfer souls."
Eta yawned and spoke casually.
"If there are no limitations, then that means this is an upgraded version of the Star of Life technology."
"Depends how you look at it. Having Master's Magical Power is always safer. Without it... I don't know. I haven't tested this one myself."
Eta leaned back in the chair. Honestly, with herself being watched so closely, with her own soul as her only experimental material, and with the need to avoid going too far on her own soul or risk drawing suspicion, the fact that she had managed to deduce and develop these two technologies on her own was pure love-driven labor.
She had been very busy during those few days on Itogami Island. Finding time to verify the Star of Life was already impressive enough, so expecting her to also test a low-spec version of the Star of Life technology was asking too much.
Yes, a low-spec version of the Star of Life. Call Eta a Shadow fanatic if you wanted, or say she lacked a scientist's spirit of exploration, but she simply believed that without the protection of Master's Magical Power, using the Star of Life technology would cause problems with the soul.
Evil Dragons were immortal. Even if they were killed, they would eventually win the resurrection match and revive somewhere in the world.
It might not sound like much, but since they were Evil Dragons, there was no point expecting them to be sane. They were a bunch of lunatics, each crazier than the last.
As for what exactly existed in the world after death, sorry, but Eta did not know either. Her time outside in freedom had ended far too quickly. She had not had the chance to kill herself and investigate the place where the resurrection match took place.
The world had its own unique program. After death, souls would be pulled toward some unknown place. Eta did not know the price of going against that program, but she believed it could not possibly be light.
That was where Shadow's true value had to be mentioned. As expected of Master, who was a treasure from head to toe. With only unconscious Magical Power, he could make the world ignore their dead souls.
"I get the feeling this thing has some serious side effects. Looks like we can't sell it."
"...Sell what?"
Seeing the rare confusion on Eta's face, Gamma thought for a moment, then explained.
"How should I put it? If this thing didn't have any major side effects, I was actually planning to use it as a flagship product to seize the market and obtain resources and favors. After all, this is immortality.
But if there are side effects, forget it. It would ruin the brand."
Hearing Gamma's rueful tone, Eta had to admit that, at least when it came to making money, Gamma really was better than her.
"Gamma, you're getting off topic. Forget it. I'll handle the interrogation from here!"
Beta shoved Gamma aside, stood in front of Eta, took out a gun, and slapped it onto the table.
"What is this?!"
"Demon Possession-kun. It was developed using data from the Blood Queen and the Cult of Diablos. You've already experienced its function..."
"Enough! Eta, do you understand exactly what this represents?"
Beta slammed a hand onto the table, cutting off Eta's weapon introduction. Seeing that Eta still looked as though it was no big deal, Beta was truly furious this time.
"Huh? What?"
"...Our identities!"
Beta squeezed a handprint into the bars and spoke almost word by word, reminding Eta that every single person present was a Demon Possession.
"Oh, just because of that? I don't even care, so why do you?"
"You actually said 'just'? Eta, did you forget that you're a Demon Possession too?!"
"Yes. That's why I don't care, so what are you getting upset about?"
"Huh?"
Eta sat up straight and shook her head, casting off the lazy attitude she had maintained from the beginning. Then she looked at the two of them with a serious expression.
"Don't get the wrong idea, you two idiots. Human experimentation has never been taboo simply because it's human experimentation. The sin is trampling on human life.
Refusing to touch your own wounds just because of what happened to you in the past, how is that any different from covering your ears and pretending the bell isn't ringing?
You have no idea what I found in those cells. Demon Possession isn't actually natural. It's artificial. The Cult of Diablos just happened to..."
The System Tree from another world had not grown naturally. It had been carefully cultivated by someone. The Cult of Diablos had merely been lucky enough to pluck one fruit from it.
Thinking back to what she had discovered in those primordial Diablo cells, Eta could not help growing excited. Once she got them back from Master, she would definitely hurry and...
"Enough. I don't want to hear any more of your sophistry, Eta."
Beta's shout cut off Eta's thoughts. Seeing that Beta had clearly reached the limit of her patience, Eta sighed.
"This isn't sophistry. My argument may not be moral, but it is reality. If anything, Beta, your moral standards are simply too high."
This world had never been pure white. In order to bait them, when Eta was seeking investment and preparing her plan, she had sent several experimental proposals, ones even she considered extreme, to every major faction. Yet the number of factions that rejected her proposals was zero. Every single one of them offered her an olive branch.
If possible, Eta would actually have liked to draw every faction in and empty out all their treasures. She had only chosen the Fallen Angels because bringing in too many factions carried too great a risk of exposure and escape later. The reason was simple. The Fallen Angels were weak, rich, and easy to fool.
"Well... I didn't expect any of you to understand anyway. So, how do you plan to punish me? Scold me, beat me, or just kill me?
I don't recommend water-drop torture. I tried it before, and it doesn't affect my ability to derive data in my head at all."
"No, we don't plan to do that. With your personality, you wouldn't care about any of that anyway."
"Huh?"
Beta did not answer. She clapped her hands, and the basement door opened. From outside, Nu pushed in a glass tube and a handcart.
"What do you think these are...?"
Looking at the item in Beta's hand, Eta's body stiffened for the first time. Her lips trembled as she spoke.
"W-why? Didn't Master take that? Why do you have it?!"
"Shadow-sama said there were some things he had no use for, so he gave them to us. Now then, Eta, what do you think...?"
As the notebook she had not even had time to read, the one containing all of the Fallen Angels' human experimentation data, fell into the glass tube, Eta instinctively tried to rush forward. But the handcuffs held her firmly in place, and she could only watch helplessly as the notebook was destroyed.
To be honest, before seeing this, Eta had not taken Beta and the others seriously at all. She had planned to find a chance to escape, then ask Master for those things back and hide away to conduct experiments for decades. With the Star of Life technology, she could always use herself as the experimental subject. That method might even be more accurate. But now...
"This... I can't understand it, so we might as well destroy it."
"Stop! That was already almost..."
Watching the synthesis reaction that was still in progress explode after being tossed into the glass tube, Eta's voice caught in her throat.
"This... I can't read it."
The book recording the Fallen Angels' artificial life synthesis formula was burned, and Eta's eyes widened.
"An unknown plant. Throw it away."
The psychic plant obtained from the Hero Faction was pulled out by the roots and steamed into a dried husk. A thin trace of blood appeared on Eta's handcuffs.
"What disgusting flesh. Destroy it."
As what might have been the only primordial Diablo cell in the world was destroyed, Eta's mind went blank.
"What is this thing? Break it."
The rotting product from the World Battlefield, something the Fallen Angels had gone through endless trouble to bring out, exploded. The faint vitality within it vanished, and Eta's body began to sway.
"Eta's instrument? Blow it up."
The machine that was just about to produce its derived conclusion, with only a few months left before the experiment would be complete, was smashed apart by Beta. The reagent inside instantly evaporated.
One priceless treasure after another, each capable of bringing her unknown knowledge, was destroyed. Experimental data that might never have any replacement was wiped out. The horrific sight shook Eta to her core, until finally, Eta... closed her eyes and fainted.
"..."
Seeing that Eta had fainted, Beta stopped destroying things. She set down the book she had been holding and pointed at the destruction glass tube made from special materials.
"Nu, please take care of this scrap. Remember to be careful."
"As you command."
Nu nodded. Beside her, Gamma gave Nu a gentle smile.
"Nu, please watch over Eta. After she wakes up, continue destroying these things in front of her. If she faints, stop. When you've destroyed half of them, come notify us."
"...As you command."
Ignoring Nu's pause, Beta tugged Gamma by the arm and walked out.
"Leave Eta alone. That traitor is about to arrive. Let's discuss how we're going to deal with her."
In the corridor, Beta slowly spoke with a dark expression.
***
...
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (50 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***