478 A World Sinking into Chaos

A young woman walked slowly through a dark passage with an expressionless look.

Her footsteps were completely silent, and her countenance was serious. Strangely, though, one could feel a slight trace of nervousness coming out of her.

"… I hate this place." She muttered to herself after reaching a door.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and kneeled on a knee without daring to raise her face.

"Twenty-one greets the leader." She said.

Nobody replied to her for a while, but the young woman did not show any sign of impatience. She remained kneeling, trying her best to kill her presence as much as possible.

Even though she was a powerful demigod, she knew that to 0the person in this room, she was nothing more than an ant. He could crush her in just an instant.

Finally, a voice came from the other side of the room.

"Rise." The voice told her. "What do you have to tell me, Twenty-one?"

Twenty-one, whose name was Solia Whitehaven, stood up with a grateful expression. Still, she continued with her head lowered.

"Number Eight failed, leader. Academy City remains standing, and he lost specimen 011."

"Oh?" A voice tinged with surprise replied to her. "How unexpected. I was sure that he would succeed. Tell me, what happened?"

Solia nodded and recounted everything that happened in Academy City.

When she finished speaking, the voice heaved a sigh.

"I see. Eight insisted on taking this mission, so I trusted him with it. However, it looks like he was more of a disappointment than I thought… What about specimen 011, though? Even if he failed to destroy Academy City, he should have gotten enough sacrifices to nurture it."

Solia did her best to suppress her nervousness and replied.

"… 012 killed him."

"Mm?" The voice was surprised. "I thought she died."

"It looks like she managed to fool us and escaped, leader. She killed Number Eight and took the energy of specimen 011 for herself."

"So she escaped, huh."

For an instant, Solia felt a powerful gaze on her. The gaze was so overwhelming that she felt as though everything about her was discovered. She had the feeling that the owner of the gaze knew exactly what happened.

But when she thought that she was done for, the gaze disappeared.

Solia sighed in relief inwardly while her back was filled with cold sweat.

"Specimen 012 is a variable that we didn't expect, but if she absorbed the energy of specimen 011, it means that she has a high degree of fusion with the Blight while keeping her consciousness intact. Just that is good news to us." The voice stated.

"… About that, I'm not sure if she was really the original 012."

"Do you mean that the Blight could have replaced her consciousness?"

"I'm not sure. That is just my personal opinion."

"Mm… Interesting… I guess I have to investigate this case closely. Thank you for the information, Twenty-one. You are dismissed."

"Understood."

Sighing in relief in her mind, Solia did not hesitate to leave the room.

What she did not know was that after she left, the owner of the voice chuckled softly.

"Does she really think I can't see through her little tricks?"

[Everybody has their own goals, Zero. Betrayal is normal for people like us.] A lively and shrill voice replied to him.

"Three. You are here."

[Hi, my friend. It's a pleasure to talk to you again.]

"What do you want?" Zero asked indifferently.

[I just wanted to ask you what you are going to do next. Your men failed to destroy Academy City. It will delay our plans greatly.]

Zero was still indifferent. "It was an unexpected failure, but nothing serious. Even if Academy City doesn't fall now, it will fall eventually."

[Hehe, however, as long as it continues standing, the continent won't sink in chaos.] The shrill voice chuckled.

"You overestimate that city, Three. In the end, Academy City is just a symbol. Even if it remains standing, it can't do nothing to stop the chaos once it starts."

[Oh? And how are you planning to start it?]

"The world just needs a fuse for chaos to ensue, three. And you have it."

[So you know about it, huh.] The owner of the shrill voice seemed to smile. [However, that fuse is very valuable to me. If I use it, I will need compensation.]

"Don't worry, you will be satisfied."

[Great. Then, I will leave. I need to start my preparations.]

With a soft laugh, the voice disappeared, leaving Zero alone in the room.

He narrowed his eyes deep in thought before fixing his gaze in the giant transparent tube in front of him.

There, a black heart was floating creepily, occasionally beating as though it was alive.

"Soon." He muttered. "Soon."

And the heart seemed to beat in answer.

The gears of fate were moving slowly.

And nobody could stop it.

...

We end another arc with this chapter...

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