Chapter 72

The infant was enveloped by the water created by Eterna, unable to move.

Its body was missing more than half, and from the wound, small babies continued to try to crawl out without ceasing.

For now, the water pressure was barely holding them back.

In the park where the battle took place, countless dwarves lay lifeless.

The air was thick with the smell of blood, so much so that it seemed to seep into the skin just by standing there.

Eterna wanted to end it quickly and get away from this revolting scene as soon as possible.

And her wish—finally seemed about to come true.

"Here, it's over."

The water that had entered through the mouth tore through the esophagus, pierced the flesh, and dragged out the core with a squelch.

That was the final blow.

The infant shuddered violently in the water and then stopped moving.

The small babies that had been trying to emerge from the wound also ceased their activity.

"...Phew, it was tougher than I thought."

The more damage it took, the more it hardened, and the more miniature versions it spat out.

Even though she was sure she was cornering it, for some reason, she felt cornered herself—during the battle, she had always felt that way.

Deep lacerations on her right shoulder and right thigh, and numerous small wounds on other parts of her body.

She had disinfected the wounds with the water she had generated, but her whole body ached.

"Can't hear any sounds from elsewhere, could I be the last one?"

Feeling a bit annoyed, Eterna turned toward the west.

Smoke was rising from several places, but it was like the remnants of a fire.

She had not considered the possibility of defeat.

She was confident that everyone had won, and Eterna headed first to the central district where Gadio was.

◇◇◇

After finishing the battle, Gadio stepped into the warehouse.

It was very dark inside.

The ceiling was high, and the area was vast.

It would not be an exaggeration to say it was a perfect place to hide.

Finding it would be difficult—so Gadio thought, but he moved straight to the center of the warehouse without hesitation.

He exhaled, closed his eyes, and sharpened his senses.

The sounds, the flow of air, and the so-called "aura" emitted by humans.

He felt all of these and easily detected the presence.

If Mother had the skill to suppress her aura, it wouldn't have been so easy to find her.

But she was just a researcher.

Unlike the children of the Spiral, she did not possess high combat abilities.

That's why she had been hiding here, protected by the children.

In other words, the moment Gadio detected her, her defeat was certain.

He gripped his sword and approached Mother with large strides.

Splat!

A wet sound came from the darkness of the warehouse.

"Ugh... h, ughhh...!"

At the same time, a man's rough groan.

Gadio had a bad feeling.

He ran and approached the source of the sound.

"Oooh, oh, g, g, ughhhh!"

There, Gadio saw a man in drag, stabbing a knife into his own stomach.

Mother looked at him, spitting blood from her mouth, and grinned, baring her teeth.

Her mouth, covered in blood, was red from the gums to the teeth.

"Mike Smith, what have you done?"

It was obvious—it was suicide.

But to Gadio, it didn't seem like just a suicide.

"Haha, hahaha... g, g... o, g... h, hahaha, hahaha, hahaha!"

A mad laugh echoed through the warehouse.

The sound was so powerful, it didn't seem to come from someone who had cut their stomach.

It was as if he was rejoicing from the bottom of his heart, without any regret.

"What have you done!"

Gadio thrust his greatsword into the face of Mother, who was lying on the stone floor.

It was meant to be a threat, but it didn't seem to affect her.

But Mother, still laughing, answered Gadio's question—

"Tei... ou... se... kai♪"

She colored her voice, making it so unpleasant that it made him want to vomit.

"Caesarean... section...?"

"Kai, yes... that, the, gub... And, they, are, born. Strong, children... you know. A little... faster... to... come... out... gii... strong... igh... ite... grow..."

He seemed very happy.

The pain must have been a badge of honor, the burning heat in his body converted into pleasure, and he let out groans of agony.

Every time he writhed, blood flowed out like it was being squeezed.

It formed a puddle on the ground, but there were also traces leading deeper into the warehouse.

"Child... drain... just... one... my... dear... child. The... target. I... am... the... mother. There... I... am. Death... is... a... higher... level... mi... bi..."

The strength in Mother's expression gradually faded.

His voice became thin, his complexion pale, and he died, saying what he wanted to say.

It was a grand death.

If you believed his words, he was still incomplete, but his purpose was achieved.

"Eterna's prediction was right—"

Saying this, Gadio ran to follow the something that had been born from Mother's belly.

He had thought that if he really wanted to have a child, he would have raised it in a test tube or something.

He never imagined that a man would warm it in his own belly.

Nekt had called it the "Fourth Generation."

In other words, the completed form of the giant infants that had appeared.

It should have even more powerful abilities than the Spiral children or the Third Generation.

If it was born incomplete, it needed to be destroyed while it was still incomplete.

"Where are you hiding..."

Covered in blood, it must have crawled.

The trail led to a wall but stopped there.

Or rather, it seemed to continue outside.

Gadio swung his sword and broke the wall.

Light from outside shone through.

Sure enough, the blood trail continued straight ahead.

"Can it penetrate obstacles?"

It couldn't be just that ability, but physical attacks might not work.

Considering all possible scenarios before encountering it, he continued his search.

◇◇◇

In the end, it wasn't found.

The trail of blood had dried up, and there were no more signs of it.

Gadio continued searching, but Eterna, who had joined him, stopped him.

Searching was a priority, but the best person for that job was Linus.

Persuaded to regroup first, they returned to the guild.

Eterna's true intention was to heal her blood-covered body, but Gadio wouldn't have agreed even if she had worried about him.

He had that kind of fragility.

Though they hadn't known each other long, she had seen through his self-destructive tendencies.

◇◇◇

The four gathered at the guild again.

Flam and the others heard from Gadio about his confrontation with Nekt and the events related to Mother.

Nekt's body had not been recovered, but Luke's body was stored in the guild, and Flam decided to bury them in the same place after the battle.

He had only hatred for him, but the fate that had been forced upon him deserved sympathy.

"Even if it's incomplete, it's been released into the wild, hasn't it?"

Flam said with a dark face.

"That countdown, it wasn't very useful. If it was done by Chimera, they might not have had an accurate grasp of the Children's research progress?"

"Maybe, but we haven't even confirmed its appearance. It could still be a bluff by Mother."

As he spoke, Ira was bandaging Gadio's right hand.

There was no healer here.

The treatment was minimal with what was available.

"Maybe it's just lying around somewhere, dead."

"Still, we can't be at ease without confirming the body. I'll search from the warehouse district to the west."

Flam stood up and left the guild.

She was tired, but she wasn't about to complain.

"Even if it's a body, I doubt it's something that leaves a corpse... or even if it's a living thing at all."

"We need to confirm that too."

"Of course, I'll go too."

Linus also went out, following Flam.

Eterna and Gadio, once their injuries were treated, immediately set out to search for the "Children."

Ira and Slow watched them go, impressed.

"Truly heroes, aren't they?"

Slow muttered.

"Slow, that kind of talk, especially Flam, probably hates it."

"But Ira, they're fighting such monsters out of a sense of duty. To everyone else, they're nothing but heroes."

"Well, that's true, but... using the word 'hero' makes them sound like superhumans."

"Is that not the case?"

"No, it's not. I only know Flam, but she's not that great a person, that kid."

She gets depressed like anyone else and has her petty side.

They had argued over payment, and she could be quite vulgar when angry.

Knowing her as a real person, the current trend of making her a hero was unpleasant to Ira.

But what could a guild receptionist do about it?

◇◇◇

Flam and the others scoured the capital, searching for what Mother had given birth to.

But without any footprints, scent, or eyewitness accounts, they couldn't even understand what it was, and time passed mercilessly.

Linus looked over the town from a high place but found nothing.

He was confident in his search skills.

That's why he confidently declared:

It's abnormal.

It might already be out of the capital, or as Gadio suggested, it could be a bluff by Mother.

He solidified this belief.

As the day turned to night, the four met at the guild again to exchange information.

But there was no substantial information.

The town showed no changes.

The soldiers had no casualties since Luke and Nekt died.

There were no signs of people affected by Origin's influence.

The clock's hands kept moving.

Perhaps it could have been stopped if understood, but only Echidna knew that.

Cruelly, the last day ended.

"Happy Birthday to You"

—The sky laughed.

◇◇◇

The four gathered at the guild for the third time.

The date had changed.

In other words, it was the birthday.

Flam, Linus, Eterna, Gadio.

They were four.

In other words, they were a mixed personality, an incomplete child of mine.

But I love them.

Because I am the mother and I am the child.

The ideal form.

He spread his right hand in the shape of a bird and repeatedly slammed it on the floor, saying:

"Look, look, mommy, I made a bird! Brrrr, brrrr!"

It crashed many times, breaking its neck, but it couldn't die.

It was painful.

But you don't understand that.

Eterna said:

"What... the... Children... when... where...!"

Noise.

"If you don't say the right thing, you'll get hit on the head. That's what Mom was like."

Correct answer.

Good boy, who are you?

"It's me."

That's right, it's me.

Five, sorry.

So Eterna, clutching her throat in pain, said:

"G... a... h..."

She hit her head against the corner of the table,

"Agh, u, ub...!"

And bled.

"H... ha... so... everything...?"

You have a little while to go before the "Happy Birthday" moment, so go to sleep in the cocoon.

The cocoon, in other words, the bed.

I love to wrap myself in a blanket like a cocoon and sleep, and my mother often strangled me from above.

It will take a little while to prepare.

"Be a good boy and wait, from Mom."

It was a letter.

Why did Mom, who never behaved well, act like that?

Arrogant.

Retribution.

Seeing her charred body, I thought.

But at the same time, I felt a sense of loss, realizing that humans become more dependent on those who treat them cruelly.

I couldn't go anywhere.

I was a maggot with its wings plucked.

So when I hugged the charred remains and cried, it was probably the same feeling as a bug swarming a corpse.

Delicious, delicious.

I still remember the taste of my mother on my tongue.

It was very bitter, so it was delicious.

I think it was around that time that I became a cannibal.

Ambivalence with my mother? No, it was probably the right thing.

I am not contradictory.

I am not contradictory.

"U... u... Slow... kun..."

Ira, who had lost consciousness after being hit on the head, woke up.

A child.

Very childlike.

Since it's childlike, let's be a child.

"Zuuu! A, ah, aaaa... Gyaahaaaaa!"

I've heard that a child who cries a lot is a good child.

A good child.

Shaking, wetting the floor, and drooling, it was very much my child.

It looks a lot like me.

No, no, hahaha, I'm happy.

Modesty completed.

"...A... a... a"

Small sounds leaked out.

I thought it was a very rhythmic, good child.

I thought about making it a musician in the future, but since it has only one talent, I, the uterus that is both a child and a mother, will become a musician.

It's very difficult, even with multiple brains, but I'll