2
The Nebulis royal palace.
Sun Spire terrace, bathed in bright morning light.
“Really now…the Lou and Zoa… We do not want to sink along with them.”
He was Talisman, the head of the Hydra and known as “the Surge.”
He wore a pure-white formal suit. His deep, chiseled features and dull golden hair made him a perfect male specimen at the age of forty.
However…
The man’s commanding visage at that moment was grimly contorted in a way no person had witnessed before.
“We lost contact with the Eight Great Apostles. And the moment the Zoa family’s unit reached the Imperial border, they were annihilated by some unknown force as well as the Imperial soldiers that were stationed there. Well then, Mizy.”
“Yes, dearest Uncle,” the princess sitting across from him answered.
Mizerhyby Hydra Nebulis IX.
The girl had a chiseled, deep-set face, and her hair was a stunning lapis lazuli. Though her hair had originally been as golden as Talisman’s, the manifestation of her formidable astral power had transformed it blue. As the next in line to lead the Hydra, she was also their candidate for queen.
“I’ll keep this brief. Would you be capable of doing this?” Talisman asked.
“No.”
“Would Alice?”
“No.”
She answered without hesitation, and she shook her head both times. “The Eight Great Apostles were the supreme authority pulling the strings behind the scenes in the Empire. She was able to wipe them out in a mere few hours and annihilate both the Zoa’s and the Imperial forces without any survivors… What kind of person could do something so heartless and requiring so much power? This goes beyond human capabilities.”
“Yes, you’re right. I think you’ve made the correct determination.”
Talisman touched his coffee cup; however, he did not pick it up. That was how deeply immersed he was in his thoughts.
“Human beings shouldn’t possess the calamitous power at the planet’s core, but among the several hundred subjects, only Elletear was able to adapt to it.”
“That was what Kelvina summarized in her report.”
However, what they meant by adapt was that the subject’s body did not fall apart. They had expected Elletear’s psyche to break under the strain of the great power and that they would be able to control her as part of their schemes. That was why the Eight Great Apostles had agreed to the experiment.
They had expected to gain a powerful doll.
But they had been wrong.
Instead, they’d created a true witch.
“We expected the power to swallow her… I can’t believe she would be the one in control.” He sighed.
Talisman wondered how long it had been since he had truly sighed after taking over as head of house.
“It’s also been a while since I felt this irritated. Nothing has been going to plan. What do you make of it, Vichyssoise?”
“Right… Kinda sounds to me like this is a pretty bad situation to be in.”
That was the third person on the terrace involved in their discussion. The red-haired girl leaned against the terrace’s handrail. She wore a stud on her right ear and a hoop earring on her left. Though her combative eyes said she was a ruffian, this girl was no human—she was Subject Vi.
In the past, she had been taken to the same facility as Elletear.
“You truly believe it has come that far, even as someone in the same position as Elletear?”
“Oh, please don’t, sir. I was a failure. If you compare Elletear and me, you’ll end up making the same mistake as the Apostles.”
“I would appreciate any advice you have to avoid their fate.”
“I’m afraid I’ve got nothing. To put it simply, she’s turned into an unstoppable monster. If we’re careless, we might be wiped out, too.” She was telling them to give up—the girl shrugged as if to drive that point home. “This may sound contradictory, but if we want to do anything, we need to act now.”
“And what do you mean by that?”
“Elletear will continue to evolve.”
“…”
“She’ll likely head to the planet’s core to get more of the calamity’s power. And once that happens, it’s game over. The Empire and Sovereignty would fall overnight.”
“I see. So you mean that because she will only grow stronger, she is at her weakest now.” The head of house crossed his arms. As Mizerhyby and Vichyssoise watched him, he silently continued to brood. “It seems the Eight Great Apostles have given birth to an unthinkable monstrosity.”
He sighed again, then stood up. “Vichyssoise, do you know where Elletear is?”
“Hmm…it’s just like I said. She’ll aim to make contact with the calamity at the planet’s core. And there’s only one way to get there from the surface.”
“A vortex, then?” Mizerhyby asked.
Following Talisman’s lead, she stood up from her seat on the terrace bathed in sunlight.
“She’ll look for an untouched vortex and trace it back to the core. A human could never do that, but Elletear might. Isn’t that right, Uncle?”
“We should look into how we’ll pursue her as quickly as possible.”
Talisman turned around.
With the princess and his subordinate following him, the head of the house of sun left the dazzling terrace behind him.
However…none of them noticed it—that, as they had been mulling over their thoughts, the sun above them had been covered by clouds.
The very same dark clouds that had swallowed the stars and moon the night before were presently blotting out the sun, but not a single person from the Hydra family had noticed.
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