Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 411

411.

I remember an impressive scene from a science fiction movie I watched as a child. It was set in a future where artificial intelligence and androids were commonplace, leading to widespread human animosity towards robots. In the movie, humans would gather abandoned or captured robots and stage public executions for entertainment. The robots, just before their execution, would secretly detach the organs that controlled their nervous systems, effectively shutting down their ability to feel pain. I thought it was a clever idea, but it also gave me a strange chill. It helped me understand the movie’s central theme, highlighting the fundamental difference between robots and humans.

Pain is often described as the body’s warning system, a signal indicating danger. While it might seem useless when death is unavoidable, what does it mean to feel pain even when you know you’re essentially immortal?

“Is it proof that I’m still alive, or is it a form of punishment?”

Perhaps it’s to foster empathy. You can only truly understand another’s suffering if you’ve experienced pain yourself. At least, that’s the closest explanation for why spirits feel pain. But the inability to shut it off when it’s unnecessary makes it feel more like a cruel sentence. A body that can experience unending pain if something goes wrong is simply too vulnerable, no matter how you look at it.

“What do you think it is?”

I stared down at the writhing figure before me. It wasn’t a question I expected an answer to. He couldn’t even hear me in his current state. But even if he could, he might not be able to answer. Initially, he reacted strongly, but after his heart had necrotized [tissue death] over fifty times, he could barely scream. He just gasped for air, slumped over, and then gasped again, like a broken record skipping on the same phrase. When his heart stopped completely, he’d faint momentarily, only to regain some strength after being revived, but his reaction was always the same.

“Kuh… I’ll kill… you. I’ll definitely kill you…”

Again, he rose unsteadily, flailing his arms aimlessly. I’ve told him countless times that he can’t touch me in my natural state, but he refuses to give up. I have to admire his persistence. It must be how he prepared to become an evil god for so long, though he does seem remarkably dense.

“Cough!”

When I pierced his heart with an ice spear, his body convulsed violently and he collapsed.

“Fifty-five.”

I muttered, confirming his heart had stopped. I’ve used this method so many times that I need to start considering alternatives, but I’m at a loss. I’ve frozen him enough; should I ask Ifrit to burn him next time? If he knew Ellyuen was hurt, he’d be eager for revenge.

Speaking of which, what happened to Ellyuen? He was severely injured, so did Luseph, Perdes, or someone else take him to the divine realm? If the God of Healing is attending to him, he might recover. What if he’s still being neglected? Could he have disappeared entirely? If so, what would I do? Could I ever forgive myself?

Just thinking about his last moments makes my chest ache. The thought of carrying this burden is almost unbearable. After all, pain that can’t be eliminated is a true punishment.

Meanwhile, Karyuan, who had been silent, began to writhe again. Just looking at him filled me with disgust, and I was about to unleash my powers again when-

“Hee, hey. Wait a minute, wait a minute.”

A desperate voice came from the revived figure. He had been repeating “I’ll kill you” like a broken machine, but now he was attempting a different approach. Intrigued, I paused, and his eyes lit up as if he had found new strength.

“I have a proposal. Take my hand.”

…What kind of cliché novel nonsense is this?

I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. He must have changed his strategy, trying to appease me since threats had failed. He must have finally admitted he was at a severe disadvantage. I was honestly a little disappointed that he was faltering after only fifty attempts. Considering his past atrocities, I expected him to hold out for at least a month, but he’s surprisingly sensitive to pain. Then again, how often would a powerful demon, born into luxury as a king, have experienced this kind of agony? Still, this is too fast. At this rate, he might beg me to kill him before the day is over.

“I noticed earlier that you called the God of Punishment your father.”

I was about to freeze his heart again, but I stopped when I heard his words.

“Did he say he would be your father?”

He asked with a low chuckle. Even now, his eyes were constantly searching for my invisible form. Knowing it was a blatant trick, I froze his blood vessels instead of revealing myself. He groaned in pain but continued to mutter without giving up.

“You’re just being used by him. Do you think he really cares about you? No, gods don’t care about anyone anyway.”

His bloodshot eyes gleamed with hatred. It was an expression of burning revenge, but it wasn’t directed at me, which was odd. What was he resenting?

“Gods ignore their own creations dying, even when they desperately cry out for help. They only created them to receive praise, and they abandon them as soon as they’re no longer useful. They readily hand them over to others to be slaughtered and discard them mercilessly. Do you understand, Water King? That’s what gods are!”

I casually picked at my ear. It seems he has a story to tell, given this long and unnecessary explanation, but I can’t tell if it’s a genuine sentiment or just an attempt to lower my guard. I don’t know the truth, and I don’t really care to know. All that’s certain is that he knows nothing about us. Talking about gods in front of the Spirit King is laughable. He probably doesn’t even know that the Spirit King will become a god later. Well, it’s something we only recently discovered, so it’s understandable that he’s unaware. Even that was because I was born wrong and came back, so in a way, I found out thanks to him. He has no idea what he contributed.

“You think of a god as your father? There’s nothing more foolish than that! Choose me! You’re being deceived! You’ll end up being abandoned! You’ll be used mercilessly and become trash when you’re no longer needed! I can give you even more power than you have now! I’ll let you tear apart the gods who mocked you! I’ll make the God of Punishment who deceived you kneel before you!”

I should have silenced him from the start; I’ve just wasted time. He dared to speak ill of the God of Punishment again after Ellyuen was touched by his venomous words and ended up like this. I knew he was stupid, but does he have no capacity to learn? I froze his lower body and then crushed it with force. I was about to gag his screaming mouth and freeze his tongue when-

“Now, now. El, calm down.”

Someone gently hugged me from behind, stopping me. There aren’t many beings who can touch me in my natural state. I knew who it was just by the voice, but I turned to confirm. Beneath the jet-black hair, golden eyes with a soft light met my gaze.

“Why are you stopping me, Trowell?”

“Haven’t you tormented him enough?”

“Not yet.”

“Oh dear, but it’s better to stop now. I don’t dislike this side of El, but I still prefer when El is happy.”

“I’m happy now too.”

“No, you’re angry right now, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t argue with that, so I closed my mouth. But I still couldn’t agree that I should stop. Trowell seemed to sense my reluctance and made a slightly troubled expression.

“I understand how you feel. Honestly, I’m sad to end it here too. But this isn’t a fundamental solution. He’s on the verge of awakening. Leaving him like this is too risky. We can keep him tied up like this, but for how long? Do we have to continue the generational shift and monitor him like an obligation?”

“That’s…”

“Besides, the energy of the evil god is close to being extremely poisonous. His breath and blood are deadly pollutants. The contaminated area will gradually expand over time. You’re not thinking of turning this area into a wasteland, are you? This is also the country where your contractor lives.”

At those words, I immediately looked down at the floor. Come to think of it, the soil was rotting wherever Karyuan’s blood had seeped in. The area I tried to purify had become like this too. I’ll have to close this area off so no one can approach it for a while, but the range is already quite wide. Trowell’s eyes softened as I clicked my tongue slightly.

“You already know, don’t you, El? The top priority now is to destroy him.”

“But what else can I do? The annihilation circle failed.”

“We can just make it again.”

At the clear voice, I immediately reached out. I completely froze Karyuan’s body, which had just finished regenerating, and shattered it. The surprise attack didn’t even allow him to groan, and he scattered as he was. I had Cycuelder hold onto each separated chunk, so it would take him some time to regenerate, no matter who he was. Only then did I turn to where the voice had come from. A man with jet-black hair was standing there.

“Canos.”

“Hello, Ellyuen’s son? You’ve become quite powerful in the meantime?”

I didn’t even know when he had arrived; I was completely unaware of his presence. I must have really been distracted. Of course, it wasn’t a welcome encounter at all. I stared at him silently, and Canos’s smiling face twitched slightly.

“I see you deliberately put Trowell forward. Did you think I wouldn’t be able to get angry at him?”

“Nyahaha, you noticed?”

I immediately created an ice spear and swung it at Canos. But the confident strike was blocked halfway. He blocked it with a scythe he had taken out at some point. I expected it to some extent since he was a being who could see me in my natural state, but my face hardened when it was blocked more easily than I thought. Canos smiled, narrowing his eyes without being the least bit flustered.

“Wow, you’re attacking right away without warning?”

“I get angry when I see your face. I’m pissed off, so take one hit.”

“Hmm, I feel like I’d faint even if I just took one hit?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“Haha, you’re definitely Ellyuen’s son. Our El is exactly like his father in this regard. Resolving conflicts with violence is a very bad way.”

“That’s true in cases where the law can resolve it instead of violence. Of course, that law has to be a more severe punishment than violence. Neither applies in the current situation. Unfortunately, I’ll just resolve it with violence.”

“You don’t sound sorry at all? It won’t work even if I argue that joint responsibility is too harsh here, right?”

“You’re stating the obvious.”

“Then what about saving Ellyuen? Doesn’t that count as extenuating circumstances?”

“…What do you mean?”

“Ellyuen was unconscious. He regained consciousness thanks to the emergency measures I took. He would have passed out if it weren’t for me. This is really true.”

I turned to Trowell, and he shrugged. He didn’t look happy, but it seemed like what he said was true. Only then did I slowly look around. The black sky had already cleared up again. I could see Perdes standing there unharmed, and I could also see Cybellius hugging something a little further away. Asga was guarding in front of him. But Ellyuen was nowhere to be seen. Canos, whom I looked back at, was smiling playfully. I sighed, put away the ice spear, and evaporated it.

“Ellyuen, where is Father now?”

“Ah, have you finally decided to call him Father now?”

“I don’t think that’s important right now.”

“Wow, El, you really seem like a different person the more I see you… Okay, okay. Ellyuen was naturally sent back to the divine realm. The God of Healing is probably looking after him now.”

I glared at him for constantly trying to divert the topic, and Canos quickly smiled and gave a proper answer. Luseph wasn’t visible either, so he must have taken him. I lowered my head and looked at my hands. The part that had been stained red with Ellyuen’s blood was clean again after I left my body. My healing power didn’t work on his wounds. Would there have been a different result if this was the Spirit Realm?

In Arkadon, abilities are generally limited. The body and water can be used in more diverse ways—for example, controlling the water inside Karyuan’s body like now—, and healing power works on most injuries, so I’ve never felt uncomfortable until now, but when I couldn’t heal him, I clearly realized the difference. But I don’t think I would have been able to completely heal him even if it was the main world.

“The high-ranking God of Healing probably has more healing power than me. Can he heal Father?”

“Hmm, Sanasid, the God of Purification and Healing, is from Ifrit, so he has naturally good luck. There are also things in the divine realm that can help with healing, such as Seon-gwa [divine fruit] or Celestial Water. So he’ll be okay.”

After hearing that, I gradually began to feel a sense of reality. The afterimage that had been flickering before my eyes gradually disappeared, and a sense of relief filled me.

Ellyuen is alive.

He can be saved.

I slowly took a breath and clenched and unclenched my fist once. The results still need to be monitored since he’s still being treated, but I feel relieved just thinking that I’ve avoided the worst.

“Are you a little calmer now?”

“…Enough that I can bear not to beat you right now.”

“Oh, you’ve calmed down quite a bit.”

Canos chuckled. He wasn’t being sarcastic; he was saying it sincerely. Seeing that, I felt a strange discomfort inside my chest. It’s a feeling of facing something that can’t be defined in an instant. I feel this every time I meet him, but he’s truly someone whose thoughts I can’t understand.

“Ca…nos…”

At that time, I felt a faint movement from the floor. Karyuan, who had finished regenerating his head, was glaring at Canos with white eyes. Canos looked down at him and smiled.

“Hello, Karyuan. You’ve become quite a mess in the meantime?”

“You… why…”

“Ah, I’m just saying this in case, but don’t misunderstand that I saved you. You probably didn’t hear it, but the reason I stopped El was to completely destroy you.”

“Keuheuhe… Is that really, possible?”

The eyes of the guy who grinned and showed his teeth were filled with clear blood vessels. His gaze, which was staring at Canos as if to penetrate him, was filled with intense emotion. Looking at those eyes, I became even more convinced of what I had thought a little while ago. Karyuan hated Canos. It was definitely an emotion that had been building for quite some time. Canos didn’t avoid that gaze.