Chapter 1007 – Your First Cry

000

“… So, the druid from the dark demon clan’s village… Was actually the one who rebuilt Babel, does that mean?”

When Cleon stopped talking to her, saying that she was thirsty because she talked too much in front of him, he bought her a bottle of water from a nearby store and brought it to her. Br〉

“Hmm.”

Seth nodded and took a sip of the water Cleon had brought her. Then she opened her eyes and spat out all the water she had in her mouth.

Wow! It would be natural for Cleon, who was standing in front of her, to be sprinkled with water as the sound rang out.

“W-what are you doing!?”

When Cleon raised her voice in embarrassment after being hit by a sudden splash of water, Seth looked at the bucket he had received and spoke as she cooed.

“This is just water…”

“Ha…? I brought water because I was thirsty. What’s the complaint?”

To Seth, who spoke with an expression of disbelief, Cleon responded with an expression of disbelief as well.

Then Seth shook her head and answered him.

“Look at me. Everything from the neck down is made of machinery? There’s no way regular water would help a body like that.”

Seth said that, but Cleon couldn’t help but crush her face.

So, did she tell me in advance when she said she was going to buy it?

Her words were all the way up to her throat, but considering this guy’s annoying personality, it seemed like if I said a word to her here, I wouldn’t be able to hear her story from earlier.

The reason why her hair, which was originally blond, turned white, the reason why everything below her neck became a machine, what happened to Leona after that… There were still a lot of stories to be told.

“Then what do I need to bring…? Since it’s a machine, can I at least bring oil?”

“No? There is something better than oil.”

Seth shook his head at Cleon’s words, smiled, and wiggled his fingers.

Since you don’t seem to know, I’ll tell you! Looking at her with the same attitude, Cleon still seemed to not like her.

Instead, he would have quietly waited for her response without taking his complaint out loud.

“I traveled all over the continent and visited Eastern countries several times, but there was a drink called ‘Heukseju’ that I drank every time…”

“Is it alcohol?”

In the end, I was unable to use the word ‘tolerate’ that I had written down in my heart for the fourth time and ended up raising my voice.

001

After hearing Kaidolph’s words, Seth and Leona could only stare at him and keep their mouths shut for a moment without saying anything.

First of all, because it was such a random story.

For Leona, Adam was someone she had first heard of from an elder a while ago, and she knew that he had been harassing the Dark Demon’s clan for a long time, but she still had no idea what exactly he was.

And to Seth, he’s so important that it’s almost like a nag.

He is the one who created himself, and at the same time, he is the one whom he considered to be the one to serve.

Even though he said that the connection between himself and Adam was broken by Kaidolph’s magic, he still believes that Adam is the one who can make the world perfect…

‘Is that really true?’

Suddenly, such a question appeared in Seth’s mind.

That voice was not someone else’s, but Seth’s own voice coming from within himself.

“…!”

As a question he had never felt before suddenly crossed his mind, Seth opened his eyes wide and looked at Kai Dolph.

“You… What have you done to me?”

“As I said before, I disconnected you from Adam.”

When Kaidolph answered quietly, as if he had already explained it, Seth was visibly embarrassed and just shook his head as if to deny the fact.

“It can’t be! If you hadn’t done something in my head, there’s no way I would have denied Adam…”

“… Is that really the case?”

However, Kai Dolph, who sensed the meaning behind Seth’s desperate words of denial, did the opposite and nodded.

“It seems like the connection between you and Adam was more than simply giving you commands as a terminal.”

“What do you mean?”

Seth asked again as if he couldn’t understand Kaidolph’s words.

Then, Kaidolph speaks while looking directly at her.

“I don’t know what Adam was thinking, but… You were created as a ‘human’ by him. And, ‘freedom’ and ‘will’ exist in any human being.”

“Own… Will.”

Seth muttered as if he had never thought about such a thing before.

I guess he is like that too.

For Seth, ‘freedom’ means ‘chaos.’

It was a concept that was completely opposite to the ‘order’ that Adam aimed for, and at the same time, it was a concept that was not permitted to him.

What Adam dreams of is a world complete with complete control and without any pain.

Individual freedom and will were ideas that were predicated on being at the very bottom of Adam’s world – no, being excluded altogether.

“If you have lived for a long time, there are things you have seen so far. Things about the clan of dark demons, things about those who live on the continent. And all of those things must have had a big or small impact on you.”

“…”

When I think about it, I realized that the person I am now has become a little more emotional than when I was first created by Adam.

Smiling and being happy, shedding tears and being sad.

At first, I was just mechanically imitating other people’s emotions, but now I was able to understand the meaning of those feelings.

Thanks to this, he thought that it had become easier for him to live among people a little more, but…

If you think about it, this wasn’t the first time you stayed close to the dark horse’s clan.

That’s because, even when trying to take down the Black Demon’s clan 100 years ago, it was necessary to penetrate deep into the places where they lived.

What did you see there? And how did you use it?

The laughter of joy I felt while spending time with my loved one.

The tears shed by those who sacrificed themselves to protect their precious people.

Even though I knew the meaning of those smiles and tears, I turned my eyes away from them.

They are the enemy.

The enemy of Adam and the enemy of the world.

Their existence is the seed of discord that threatens the existence of the world.

Is it really your will that you had so much faith in?

“Adam was suppressing. The will of a human being, yourself, that sprouted in you.”

When Kaidolph said that, Seth felt a ‘thud’ and the sensation of something heavy landing on his chest.

It seemed like a definitive answer had been provided to what I was currently wondering about.

“It is indeed something that Adam would do. For him, even if it is a terminal that he created… No, it is a terminal. He is not allowed to have a will that go against his own will.”

As Kai Dolf says so, he puts on the wolf mask he was holding.

Then, with the dagger he was holding in his hand, he slashed his palm and pierced it.

“Ka, Kaidolph!?”

Leona is startled by his actions and raises her voice, but Kaidolph doesn’t care that his blood is flowing out.

Rather, the blood was poured into the magic circle spread out at the ritual site and used to fill the magic power.

Then, as the magic circle began to glow and create a red haze, a vision appeared in front of Leona and Seth.

“Look!”

When Kaidolph shouts like that, the illusions change one after another.

There were people living peacefully in a village somewhere.

These were people from a small village who believed in the Land God, which was designated as a ‘heresy’ by humans influenced by Adam.

Even though they were called ‘pagans’ by people on the continent, they lived without harming anyone and helping each other.

Those who consider sincerity a virtue, shun evil deeds, and believe in the goodness of human beings.

However, the next moment, the village was covered in fire and disappeared.

There were some scholars.

They were young people who studied technology and academics and exchanged opinions to lead the world in a better direction.

The medical technology they developed saved people’s lives, and the theories they established improved the quality of life.

However, their outstanding intellect became aware of a being who was manipulating the world’s history behind the scenes and trying to subordinate the will of the people to its own will.

As a result, they were all killed by ‘the being’ who tried to prevent themselves from being revealed.

Somewhere, someone else.

From the distant past, to the present, and perhaps even tomorrow.

To rule on a throne built from a mountain of corpses.

“…!”

There, everyone had the will of ‘Adam’.

Leona was furious when she saw that, clenching her fists.

“Just for that reason… So many people…?”

“!”

After hearing Leona’s words, Seth couldn’t help but feel his heart pounding again.

Yes, this is the natural reaction.

Unlike myself, who is blinded by plausible ideas such as ‘order’ or ‘great cause’.

This would be an extremely common reaction that an ordinary human would have as a human being.

What it meant was simple.

‘Adam is not for humans.’

All of those actions are for the purpose of dominating this continent and humans.

There was no cause for the ‘safe world’ he was talking about, and he acted as if the ‘order’ he valued was invalid to himself.

This is the truth that Seth has been ignoring – no, the truth that Seth has not been allowed to have.

I could understand it now that I had completely separated from Adam and become an independent individual.

If you truly say you are acting for the people of the continent, it is clear which side should be defeated.

“Kaidolf! I will help. If you want to fight that ‘Adam’ guy.”

At that time, Leona, who was standing in the middle of the illusion, said that.

Beyond the black glowing eyes, I could feel her will burn.

And the two swords hanging on his waist were trembling as if Leona had been waiting for the story.

“I thought you would say that.”

Kai Dolph nodded to Leona.

Leona thought that this was the first time Kaidolph had told her such a long story.

When he told me the truth he had been carrying all this time, I felt like I was able to open his heart a little to the person who usually grumbled and resisted.

“To be honest, I was feeling a little impatient with you, who was stuck in the countryside and wasting your time without accomplishing anything…”

“What!? Those are the elders…!”

Although he did destroy the atmosphere of obedient cooperation with useless words.

“Ha… Anyway. What about you? Seth.”

“Eh…?”

Leona asked a question while looking at Seth.

“Not ‘eh?’ What Kaidolph just said was that he wanted you to join him too, right? That’s the same for me too.”

But Seth was a little embarrassed and stuttered.

“Well, in the flow just now, if I refuse… They will hold me responsible for what I have done so far and kill me… Wasn’t that the flow?”

Seth asked that question, and Leona would react as if she had heard something strange, saying, ‘What?’

“What strange sound is that?”

However, Seth walked closer to Leona and grabbed both of her arms.

And, he spoke as if pouring out.

“It’s not strange…! The tragedies in the vision I just saw… I’ve done such things over and over again…! To none other than you, the clan of the Dark Demon!”

“… Seth…”

“I’ve deceived, betrayed, and killed so many people…! Even though I knew everything, how can I be with you…!?”

“Seth.”

“Please kill me…! Please finish me…! Leona, I can’t look at you with a clear mind…!”

“Seth!”

Seth’s guilt that had accumulated over a hundred years exploded.

However, Leona called Seth’s name and raised her voice as if to come to her senses.

At Leona’s call, Seth shut her mouth.

But soon, Leona spoke to her in her calm voice.

“… All things that are born have will. Didn’t Kaidolph say that a little while ago?”

And Leona looks around at the illusions that appear around her.

It was an undeniable fact that the tragedies seen therein were all sad and intolerable.

Perhaps, something similar to this happened to their own dark demon clan, and they had no choice but to hide in the mountains in a remote part of the continent.

But.

“But, Seth’s will was being controlled by Adam. He just did what he told him to do, repeating the given task like a machine, right?”

It may be just as she said.

However, she remained unchanged in what she had done.

“Then… The Seth until now has not yet been born. The Seth until now was, so to speak, like a sword wielded by Adam. It is people who should be hated, not the tools.”

“Leona…”

At Leona’s words, Seth slowly got down on his knees.

“But Seth is now trying to break away from being a tool and become a human being. And he’s probably seeing ‘what he needs to do’ following ‘what he knows’. The Seth I know is definitely that kind of guy.”

Leona held out her hand to Seth.

A warm palm, as if asking me to hold your hand.

“… Let’s go, Seth. Let’s go fix what’s wrong, just the two of us.”

Seth slowly lifted his trembling hand and looked at the palm.

In my shaky vision, those hands covered in red dye looked as if they were covered in blood.

“Ugh…!”

Seth was afraid of holding someone else’s hand with that hand.

He almost thought he didn’t deserve it.

But-

Thump!

The moment Leona held that hand first.

“…!”

Seth burst into tears and cried.

The crying sound that filled the place with his consciousness-

It was the ‘cry of birth’ that she could not even make when she was born.