4
Omen, first laboratory.
Second building, northern area, underground storage.
It was hermetically sealed and under three locks. Only the top five percent of researchers were allowed access into the storage area.
All of Kelvina’s research material was there inside of it.
“This isn’t it.”
Princess Mizerhyby took one look at the stacks of documents and turned away.
She looked at the computer screens and monitors, the gigantic cisterns and test tubes. All sorts of research apparatuses were lined up in rows, and yet…
“One hour until sunrise. Hurry, everyone!”
None of them paid attention to the irritation in Mizerhyby’s voice.
All those working for her felt the same. They searched each shipping container they were assigned, and upon not finding anything, they would move on to the next.
“Now, Chief Newton, was it?”
“What is it, Princess Mizerhyby?”
Chief Newton turned to the princess, his hands in restraints.
“This is the fourth room. And this is the last of the storage facilities with Kelvina’s research. That’s what you said, isn’t it?”
“A gentleman never goes back on his word.”
“Hmm?” Mizerhyby looked into his monocle. “You’re a smart man. So maybe you’re feigning ignorance and already know what I’m after? That’s why you led us to this room last, isn’t it?”
“It’s very kind of you to offer me such praise, but I am a scientist. And a scientist only speaks according to the records and demonstrable proof that he has accumulated. I do not have the supernatural ability to read minds, I’m afraid.”
“Oh?” Mizerhyby responded plainly and looked farther into the storage room.
“So, Vichyssoise, what do you think? He says this is the last storage area.”
“He might not be lying.”
The violet flames glowed.
Deep inside the flames, Mizerhyby could see Vichyssoise looking around the storage area.
“The moment I entered this warehouse, I smelled something. I’m sure, Interim Head.”
“Then we must hurry all the more. The Imperial forces are no fools. They’ll eventually force their way in.”
“Oh?”
She heard the sound of a door opening.
It was a false wall inside one of the containers. Vichyssoise had melted it with her flames and wrenched it open to reveal a space of just a few centimeters all around behind it.
It was a tiny refrigerator.
And inside of it, nestled among the white mist, were three ampoules of different colors.
The one that Mizerhyby was most drawn to was the darkest purple liquid.
Gas bubbled out from the surface of the liquid. Had any travelers to Katalisk been present, they would have recognized the odor to have been the same as the swamp’s.
“That’s!” Chief Newton bent forward in curiosity.
Vichyssoise began to laugh as she watched him. “Ah-ha-ha! You knew she would hide it in a false wall. That’s right, we wanted the extract of the calamity’s power! It doesn’t look like it’s undiluted, but it seems concentrated and fresh enough.”
“Excellent work!”
Mizerhyby took the abandoned ampoules and shuddered.
She felt both excitement and fear.
“If I inject this into myself…then I’ll become like Elletear!”
“I’ll say this one last time.”
Vichyssoise, the one to have found the ampoules, was also the one to stop her.
Though the princess looked at the ampoules with glistening eyes, Vichyssoise looked at them as though she had been awakened from a dream.
“There are two conditions to getting revenge on Elletear. First, your body needs to be able to handle the injection. That’s how I was created. But as you know, there’s a difference in how great of a monster I became compared to Elletear.”
The concentrations they had been able to handle had been different.
Vichyssoise had only been able to withstand the power several hundred times diluted. In contrast, Elletear had survived a fifty-one percent dilution.
The more concentrated the power, the more powerful a monster one would become.
“Even if you are able to withstand what is in that ampoule, you’ll need something closer to the undiluted solution to become stronger than that monster… If this goes wrong, I think you’ll be bawling from regret.”
“I know.”
“And one other point. I think the key to affinity with the calamity is weak astral power. The weaker your power is, the greater the affinity you have with the calamity. That was what made Elletear ideal. But Interim Head, your astral power is…probably going to be the least compatible with the calamity.”
“I know that, too.”
“I see…”
Vichyssoise went silent and watched her.
Mizerhyby, the princess of the Hydra, placed her finger on the cap of the ampoule. All she needed to do was…
“Erase.”
She heard a voice echo from the other side of the wall.
In that moment, a gigantic hole appeared. Mizerhyby saw several more open before her eyes, like corks being pulled from the wall.
“Those thorns!”
The purple thorns that had appeared almost looked like those of a sea urchin.
The moment Mizerhyby saw a peek of them from one of the holes, she leaped back.
“No!”
“I found you.”
Beyond the wall filled with holes, a girl with black hair lightly landed inside the storage room. Countless thorns had been formed around her. And then next…
“Mizerhyby!”
A girl with thick golden hair and a mature look to her jumped in through the wall.
“I have a message for you in place of Her Majesty. Surrender!”
“Oh my…”
More princesses had appeared in the warehouse.
What a twist of fate it was that princesses from all three royal houses had appeared here, in the Empire.
“What an odd bunch we are. Not only Alice, but also Kissing.” Mizerhyby had a chilling and bitter smile. “Don’t tell me that you two have ties to the Imperial forces, too? Oh my. Whatever shall we do if the citizens of the Sovereignty find out?”
“…”
“What?”
Mizerhyby knitted her brows at the slight irritation she felt.
The Lou and Zoa princesses were looking at her.
And yet they were also not.
Mizerhyby could easily guess the reason why. They were wondering where Talisman, the head of house, was. They weren’t truly looking at her.
“I have no idea what Lord Talisman ordered you to do…”
Princess Aliceliese of the Lou pointed at the sloshing liquid in the ampoule.
“But I can see you’re here for the power of the calamity, just as we thought.”
“…”
“It’s over for the Hydra. We know that you have ties to the Empire’s Eight Great Apostles. We’ll be able to expose your crimes through Sisbell’s Illumination—”
“Quiet!”
A ripple ran through the room.
Mizerhyby, the beautiful princess, was erupting with astral energy that emitted from her blue hair. It all flew up, each tendril wriggling like a snake.
She looked almost exactly like the legendary monster Medusa.
This was a bad habit of Mizerhyby’s.
When she was consumed by rage, she couldn’t hold back the great astral energy she had.
“You’re all so irritating…”
She gritted her teeth and balled up her hands.
I am livid. I just had one wish.
And that was to have power to destroy that witch.
What was so wrong with that?
Why did everyone keep getting in her way?
“I don’t have time or any other options! The sun and moon cannot shine on their own. Don’t think you can replace the sun!”
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