Origin (21)

Wooooong—

A strange resonance was spreading through the wide cavern. The space was not empty.

Bluish light seeped out from various spots, and complex-looking machinery occupied part of the silence, ceasing to operate.

A significant number of security robots were spasming intermittently, showering sparks from their drive sections. And beneath them lay piles of spent shells—countless, impossible to count.

Crash—

A suit reinforced with metal plates crushed empty shells underfoot, flattening them with its weight. This was a blue crystal ore refining facility. Once, second only to military bases, this refinery had prided itself on its strict security. Now it was overrun.

Countless corpses, shimmering blue light, low, throaty growls, sticky noises of mucus, an ominous pulse, and the sound of someone sobbing filled the cavern.

Perhaps most of the lights had been shattered in the fierce shootout. With a series of popping and sparking sounds, the remaining lights flickered, on the brink of dying out.

A silhouette appeared in the darkness. It was Cystus, bearing a scar running long across his eye.

"... Sir Cystus, the second bud has fallen completely silent."

One of the pureblood supremacists hurried over, kneeling on one knee before him.

"The bud... has gone completely silent."

Cystus repeated the report as if he could hardly believe it. He was rattled by this unexpected turn—though not outwardly so.

That the third bud in the residential area had withered was somewhat understandable. It had lost its core before its full bloom, after all.

But the case of the second bud was different. Though it had suffered severe damage in the midst of mutation and had fled, it had managed to recover in its nest and complete its blooming.

Cradling a core that resembled blue eyes, donning an exoskeleton reminiscent of heavy armor, and boasting a frame nearly three meters tall—it radiated an overwhelming, almost violent sense of pressure.

A being superior to all other lifeforms, one step closer to purity than any other. That was why the Holy Tree had bestowed upon it the name Blue Eye.

'This is impossible. It should never have happened.'

The core of a fully bloomed bud was nearly impossible to destroy with contemporary weaponry. From the moment of blooming, the core housed the power to work miracles, and the force field emitted by the core would serve as a kind of shield, deflecting outside attacks.

Depending on its size, even a small nuclear device would only damage the outer tissues—the core would remain intact. This was a fact proven by experiment.

Resisting, burning and colliding energies, it could withstand even miraculous extremes.

'... Was the core incomplete?'

That was not sufficient reason. The core had taken some damage during blooming, but Cystus had seen it restored to full strength with his own eyes.

"Did you get the footage?"

"Apologies. When the core was destroyed, the resulting surge took out all the cameras in the cargo sector, so we weren't able to secure any footage."

"Heaven wasn't so sloppily constructed. The facility's durability wasn't weak enough to be taken out by a mere surge."

"Then..."

"Someone must have intentionally deleted the data. To keep us from getting any information."

Cystus felt a surge of irritation. The plan was progressing step by step, as it was supposed to.

Enceladus had long since fallen, and the Holy Tree was awakening. In contrast, on Titan, they hadn't even located the first root. And now, the second and third buds had been silenced. It was too great a loss.

'Lobelia... was it you?'

Lobelia, who had betrayed the pureblood supremacists—to say nothing of the Holy Tree's grace—must have done something. But what could possibly destroy a being reincarnated by the Holy Tree's hand into such purity?

The biggest possibility, for now, was that there existed a being of even greater purity. If it outshone the core of a bloomed bud, its destruction would make sense—if a core yielded, it would be absorbed by another, after all.

Yet, Cystus thought this theory made no sense. At this point, it should have been impossible for anything purer than a bloomed bud to exist.

"Regardless, we managed to recover the camera. We'll try to retrieve whatever data remains, though it may take some time."

"No. Cease that operation. Among the satellites, our progress on Titan is already the slowest. Further delays will jeopardize the grand plan."

By using rare metals to instantly disable Titan's military base, they had swiftly taken over the residential area and Heaven by simultaneously awakening all the impurities therein.

He had thought the plan was progressing smoothly. Yet they had failed to find the first root, which should have been in the initial tunnel breached. If things had gone according to plan, the Holy Tree should have already been reborn by now.

"Do you think that woman recovered it?"

"The first root is a root and nothing more. It's the switch needed to awaken the Holy Tree slumbering within Titan. It's not something that could simply be retrieved."

Cystus continued.

"From now on, leave only a handful of personnel at the center of Heaven. Focus all other efforts on pinpointing the Archive's location."

The Archive—Titan's vessel of information, its black box. The pureblood supremacists had resolved to find it, both to discover what tricks Lobelia had played and to learn the secret route into Heaven's deepest underground.

After all, 'Lobelia' was just an alias. It was imperative to first discover her current appearance and likely age setting. She was a master of clone technology, after all.

No matter how much Lobelia had manipulated Titan as her own backyard, even she would not have evaded the black box's gaze. They had to get to the Archive before she did.

Another, nagging concern was the possible existence of the Myosotis faction lurking somewhere. Though they had been destroyed for hindering the grand plan, Celestia Myosotis had ultimately revived. Even if young, the impurities should not be underestimated.

'I gave you a chance to return, but... What a fool.'

The comms had been cut off, but Cystus doubted that woman was dead. She would be lurking somewhere, waiting for an opening, as she had when she exposed their vulnerability.

Sensing Cystus's thoughts, another pureblood supremacist spoke.

"We can easily locate the survivor base relevant to the second bud's silence. Myosotis will be there as well."

"We won't go ourselves. Who knows what tricks Lobelia might have employed? We'll bait them in instead—send them an invitation they can't ignore."

There's nothing as easy as killing prey trapped in your snare.

The first bud's blooming was taking longer than expected and had yet to complete. Not knowing what had withered the bud, it would be wiser to lure it out than to approach recklessly.

It was a simple tactic, but, for that very reason, it would work.

Cystus looked down at the man writhing at his feet.

"Mmph—mmph...!"

A man was tied up with wire, so tightly that the circulation had been cut off and his hands had turned bluish-black.

He was one of the refinery's engineers and the sole survivor. Consumed by fear, he knew what happened to those who failed to obey the pureblood supremacists' commands.

A bizarre phenomenon had occurred when, during the refining process, they tried to do something with trace amounts of residue. He'd witnessed a former colleague transform into a horrific monster right before his eyes.

【O-Error detected. Cir-circuit da-damage. Attempt at core interference det—detected. Restoring, restoring, restoration failed.】

Mechanical noises spilled out from a security robot. Mere gunpowder weapons couldn't have breached the security robots defending this place. Even if monsters invaded, he'd believed the robots would keep them safe. Those who'd been trapped in the refinery, waiting to be rescued, must have felt the same.

That was before they saw the pureblood supremacist called Cystus manipulating something like smoke or a swarm to corrode and destroy the security robots' frames.

The robots' cores couldn't withstand the damage and exploded throughout the area. That same phenomenon also butchered humans mercilessly.

He vividly recalled the sight—skin slowly being ground away, the pain overwhelming. The engineer didn't want to die. At least, not like that. If there was a way to survive, he wanted to live—even if just for a fleeting moment.

At Cystus' gesture, the pureblood supremacist standing by grabbed the battered engineer by the hair and yanked his head up. With such force, some hair was torn out. Naturally, this drew a groan of pain.

Cystus dragged the engineer over and threw him in front of a system console on the verge of breaking.

"You know what you have to do."

"I—I... don't do this to me, please... Spare me...."

"That's not the answer I want."

At his low voice, black smoke rose up around the engineer. At the buzz of insect wings, he convulsed as if seizing. Paralyzed by terror, his mind refused to work.

"AAAAHHH! AAAAHH!"

"Shhh..."

Cystus raised a finger, as if to hush him.

"Ggh...!"

Only the thought that he absolutely had to obey filled his mind. Revenge for his fallen comrades? That was only possible if he were whole. He had no options left to resist.

At Cystus's signal, the pureblood supremacist slammed the man's head into the console. Bright red blood ran down the display.

"Now, you impurity. Open your mouth. Plead for your life. Let them know it's dangerous not to come here."

The engineer already knew the words hidden behind those orders. If he wanted to live just a little longer; if he didn't want to die horribly like his colleague who had failed to accept the grace—

Panting, he pressed his hand—sticky with still-fresh blood—onto the console. The wires binding him had already been eaten away by the black smoke.

Soon, the comm line came alive.

"T-This is the refinery. I am Chen, an engineer from the facility management team. I need help. There's a—a problem with the refining facility; the solar furnace is—uhh, possibly malfunctioning... Please, help me... before everyone dies..."

The pipeline connected to Heaven's center was twisted, causing energy to backflow. For now, the energy produced by the solar furnace exceeded what was backing up, so they weren't overwhelmed—but they wouldn't last long.

That message from the engineer reached every part of the base. Even the Town beyond.

***

"Why all of a sudden do you want to go into the mine? Heaven't we already scavenged almost everything? The store's still operational too."

I asked, checking if my flashlight worked. It wasn't reluctance, just simple curiosity. It's just a trip down a mineshaft—what could be so difficult?

"It's not my request. It's 'Myosotis'."

"Myosotis? Celestia?"

"Yeah, and here she comes now."

Where Licorice gestured, Celestia appeared, geared up in her suit. Every time I saw her blue eyes, like the sky itself, I couldn't help but be inwardly awestruck.

"It's been a while, huh."

Celestia flashed an awkward smile at my remark. I hadn't meant anything by it, but she must have felt I was subtly pressing for explanation.

"Uh, I-I've just been busy with stuff..."

"I know."

Celestia's room rarely went dark. She hardly came outside, so she must have been working on something inside.

I figured she was intensifying her search for her brother—looking for clues or fragments of information. If she found something, that would be good.

"By the way, why go down the shaft? There's nothing you're looking for underground, is there?"

"The pureblood supremacists are picking through the tunnels. I just thought it'd be good to check once. Whatever they're after, if it's down there, then there's a chance it could be useful to us too."

"... Really?"

Due to a past uprising, the colony known as Town had literally been erased from records. The mine tunnels in Town were likely not all fully excavated. It was reasonable to think so.

Anyone digging while all that chaos was happening would have been committed to a psychiatric ward.

"We're just checking. You never know. And, well... for a change of pace?"

Who goes to a cramped shaft for fresh air? It was weird, but I didn't pry more. By now, Celestia and I were in the same boat. I trusted we weren't doing anything particularly dangerous.

It was to be a simple sweep rather than a full-scale investigation. I considered bringing Nadia and Carry, but decided against it.

Anyway, the plasma cutter was stored next to the mine, and all we had to do was check the end of the tunnel. It probably wouldn't take long. They deserved more rest.

Just as I, now wearing my respirator, moved to open the sealed-off mine entrance, I looked in surprise at the person next to me. Licorice was also wearing a respirator.

"Red, you're coming too?"

"Why, shouldn't I?"

Didn't Licorice have to locate the Archive using the comm device? If I said that outright, I could easily imagine her reaction, so I tiptoed around the issue.

"You seemed tired. Besides, it's pretty dark down there; I wouldn't want you hurt."

"Don't worry. I'll be with a tunnel expert like you."

For a moment, Licorice looked annoyed, but my next words smoothed her expression.

'Tunnel expert...!'

The word 'expert' gave me a thrill. It wasn't something I'd ever expected to hear about myself, but suddenly I felt good. I couldn't help but grin.

Seeing this, Celestia couldn't help but burst out laughing. Suddenly embarrassed, I cleared my throat and straightened my face.

"Just follow me. The project was halted, so the tunnels shouldn't be too deep, but the old passages could collapse."

"I'll trust you, Hyun-woo."

"All right, let's go."

When I operated the button, the sealed gate began to open. With a clanking sound, outside air was sucked inward.

What emerged from the darkness was an old lift and a dim, cavernous space.

"This might still work."

Though decades had passed, the confined space had kept things from deteriorating too much. It would need repairs for continued use, but it looked usable for a few trips.

"I'll go first."

I climbed onto the lift. Rocking it slightly, I confirmed that it was still securely attached to the wall. Thankfully, the stabilizers held; it wasn't rocking much.

When I signaled that it was safe, Celestia followed, then Licorice. The lift wasn't that big, so it felt somewhat cramped with three aboard.

Beep—

With the push of a button, the lift began its descent. Our respirator masks kicked in, letting us breathe clean oxygen.

The mineshaft was vertical, likely drilled straight down to check for blue crystal deposits.

The shaft was wider than expected—four or five lifts could fit side by side in the space. I figured the remaining area was for hoisting mining debris upward.

'Nothing out of the ordinary.'

As expected, telltale marks showed the mine had been abandoned mid-project. Missing supports, rusting apparatuses, flakes of black dust—left to rot so long it was practically a cave-in.

Celestia, shining her flashlight toward the depths, abruptly spoke up.

"Hyun-woo, didn't you say you ran into a dangerous mutant in the cargo sector?"

"Yes. It was really dangerous. Some people got badly hurt. Uh... is Eric okay?"

"He'll be fine after a few more days' rest. But what did you do with the data left there?"

"Data? What data?"

I tilted my head, not immediately understanding what she meant. The answer came from Licorice beside me.

"No need to worry. I recovered and deleted all the footage from the cameras just in case. We can't let the pureblood supremacists have it."

Though, it's probably already stored in the Archive, too. Licorice added that she'd taken care of things as a matter of course, looking rather pleased with herself. Celestia smiled softly in approval.

'So they meant the camera footage.'

Since Blue Eye was likely tied to the pureblood supremacists, Licorice's precaution was correct. I didn't want them to have anything from us, especially if it was battle data.

As the lift slowly set down on the tunnel floor, Licorice—who'd been brimming with pride—suddenly gasped.

"... Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"N-nothing, it's... nothing."

But her expression was pretty stiff for it to be nothing.

"...?"

I wondered if she had twisted her ankle on the jolting lift, but that wasn't it. She kept moving normally, sweeping her flashlight around as if searching for something.

Descending the vertical shaft, we began walking down a straight corridor. Each time the lights passed over the walls, multi-colored patterns gleamed—typical of rocks laced with minerals.

Ooooo...

The cave echoed, amplifying the sound of our footsteps. There was no wind; it was sealed, not venting to the outside.

Even after reaching the tunnel's end, there was nothing of note—just a solid wall blocking any further progress.

"Do we need to go farther? That would require extra equipment."

"Hmm... Hyun-woo, can you do anything with your strength? And we also brought the plasma cutter."

From three years as a miner, I was pretty sure it wouldn't work. Still, I tried tapping the wall—to check if my improved strength was just a feeling or real.

I rapped on it. It wasn't just earth, but rock packed with minerals. I felt a rebounding force with each knock; a sign that blue crystal ore was embedded inside.

With blue crystal ore, you'd need proper equipment to dig through a wall like that. In other words, we couldn't mine it now.

'I can't do anything more.'

I decided it was impossible to breach the wall barehanded. My hands weren't invincible. Forcing it could fracture bone.

With this kind of resistance, you'd first need to create fissures. The plasma cutter we'd brought was underpowered for the task.

"Even with a plasma cutter, this isn't doable. To open a new passageway, we'd need a polar impactor."

When I gave my assessment, Celestia nodded regretfully, suggesting we go back for today.

Celestia was the one who'd suggested the expedition, so her disappointment made sense, but Licorice seemed disappointed too—or more like something was nagging at her.

I was going to ask what might be here, but Licorice turned away first. Then Celestia, so I hurried after them.

We took the lift back up to Town.

"Emergency! Emerrgency—!"

"... What the."

We had barely been down for a moment. The whole town was in chaos.

With Nadia gone, I could say it plainly—it was a total shitshow.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=Hyun-woo = first root?Nadia = Lobelia?Carrot = Lobelia?I'm leaning with Nadia being Lobelia...She's hiding something and she probably know Hyun-woo's past.It is mentioned that a being with higher purity could absorb cores with lower purity, my theory is getting more and more possible.【「(°ヘ°)?】

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