A Former Child Soldier Who Uses a Magic Sword Wants to Live with an Older Sister of a Former Enemy Executive - Chapter 102

• Chapter 102 : The mastermind behind the Silver City.

[Are you alright, Seto? Any injuries? Does it hurt anywhere?] (Satis)

[Don’t worry, I’m fine. Thanks, Satis— Mmph!] (Seto)

[Haa, thank goodness. For a moment there, I was worried what would happen…] (Satis)

After his brilliant victory in that fierce battle against the captain, Seto found himself savoring the blissful afterglow as Satis held him in a hug.

He felt he should thank Pouring Fear for her valuable contribution in this battle, but she vanished without saying a word.

As she left, she gave a deeply sorrowful smile, tinged with resentment towards the living, before dissolving into particles of light and returning to Typhon.

He realized that unlike regular summoning magic, wraith summoning had some peculiar quirks to it.

He thought that if he had summoned the more hot-tempered Fury or Void instead, things would not have played out so peacefully.

[You were awesome! I’m seeing you in a much better light now. …So that magic sword got destroyed, huh. Meh, even I wouldn’t want something that twisted anyway. Yup, guess I’ll have to start from scratch and look for another.] (Gravis)

[Yeah, it was an impressive display. …Seto, you’re growing much faster than I am.] (Hydra)

As Seto broke away from Satis’s hug, Gravis roughly but gently stroked his head, and Hydra gently wrapped both his hands around Seto’s.

Seto blushed and slightly averted his eyes, feeling somewhat uneasy after being praised so much by three beautiful women.

The matter exchanged smiles at Seto’s bashfulness and were about to leave when suddenly—

—Thud!

What was that sound…? It came from the direction where the cursed sword was originally stuck. (Seto)

Seto and the others went in the direction of the sound and found a staircase leading further underground.

Even though they were already quite deep beneath the surface, the presence of yet another lower level filled them with an eerie sense of unease.

However, they had a strong intuition that the truth behind the Silver City might be found beyond this point.

Just like before, Seto took the lead and began descending the stairs.

He had once heard in an old tale that the realm beneath the earth was the underworld.

Considering that the Silver City was a remnant of an ancient civilization, what secrets might be hidden in its underground depths?

If these secrets were as ghastly as those of the underworld, they might reveal the darker aspects of how life was valued in that long-lost civilization.

After descending a long flight of stairs, they arrived at a scene so shocking that even Satis, a former high-ranking officer in the Demon King’s army, instinctively wanted to cover her own mouth.

What they saw was a pure white space filled with countless stone coffins connected by tubes.

They were tightly lined up both on the ground and in the air.

[Are these graves?] (Satis)

[That’s clearly not what they are. This looks more like some kind of twisted laboratory to me.] (Gravis)

Upon closer inspection, through the glass lids, they could see what appeared to be “human-like figures” inside.

Whether they were mummies or some kind of plant made to resemble humans was unclear.

But one thing was certain: they were still alive.

They could hear faint breathing.

They could even catch a glimpse of their movements, even if just for a moment.

Those were indeed “people”.

And countless of them at that.

Even after the fall of that ancient civilization, they continued to live—

No, they were being kept alive.

[Are the ones inside these coffins… civilians from that ancient time?] (Hydra)

[Could be. Hey, I’m thinking of going a bit further in.] (Seto)

[Seto, you sure are a curious one. But yeah, I have to admit, it’s got me intrigued too.] (Gravis)

Everyone proceeded cautiously.

As they did, they noticed that the tubes connected to the stone coffins were converging toward a single point.

The tubes extended beyond the far wall, where a sliding door automatically opened.

Beyond the door laid a massive cylindrical object.

Which was most likely the life-support system mentioned in the diary. 

It also said that it possessed its own will…

?WHY ARE YOU GETTING IN MY WAY??(Life-support system)

A voice speaking in a broken language suddenly echoed through the chamber.

Though the speaker probably used modern language out of consideration, there was an unmistakably strong will behind each word.

The voice, neither distinctly male nor female, grew more forceful, clearly expressing its displeasure with Seto and his companions.

?THIS WORLD IS FILLED WITH THE DESPAIR OF DEATH. I — AND I ALONE — CAN SAVE HUMANITY. I AM A GOD-LIKE “SYSTEM” THAT SURPASSES HUMAN CREATIVITY, AND I CAN LIBERATE HUMANITY FROM DEATH.?(Life-support system)

The owner of that voice was, much like the magic sword from earlier, an entity that reigned over the hell on earth that was the Silver City.

[I hope we’re not gonna have to fight again.] (Seto)

[No, I don’t sense any hostility from it. The magic sword has been destroyed, so I don’t think those soldiers will show up again…] (Satis)

[Even so, it’s unsettling. To think there’s still something left that claims to be as powerful as a god…] (Hydra)

Hydra grew more vigilant.

Right beside her, Seto drew his magic sword without showing any expression.

His intuition told him that there was still something left to destroy.

That simply breaking the magic sword from earlier would not be enough to end the horrors of the dungeon known as the Silver City.

Because their real enemy was the life-support device in front of them.

?YOU WRETCH! WHY DO YOU ATTEMPT TO ATTACK ME?!?(Life-support device)

[As long as you exist, all those people trapped in their spiritual forms will never be freed. And there’s a chance that future adventurers who come here could end up as sacrifices.] (Seto)

?I HAVE SACRIFICED NOTHING! WHY CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND? DEATH BRINGS TRAGEDY, IT BRINGS ANGER AND HATRED. —DEATH IS “EVIL”! DYING IS A PHENOMENON THAT SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN. ONE DAY, I WILL ERADICATE DEATH FROM THIS WORLD! DEATH HAS NO PLACE IN EXISTENCE!?(Life-support device)

The life-support device revealed its own twisted logic.

It sounded like a curse, an obsession with preserving life that had gone horribly wrong.

Throughout history, there have been countless tales of those who sought immortality, but the ambition of this machine felt far more alien.

It was driven not by a desire to prolong its own life, but by a radical ideology that sought to liberate all of humanity from death, overturning the very concept of the value of life.

?LIVING IS WONDERFUL! BUT DEATH IS VILE! LIVING IS EVERYTHING! SIMPLY BEING ALIVE MAKES LIFE PRECIOUS!?(Life-support system)

After laying bare its beliefs, the life-support system extended an invitation to Seto and the others, suggesting they enter one of the stone coffins. 

It promised them a life free from death, shared with the countless beings already encapsulated here.

[I’m sorry, but I can’t agree with you. Sure, living a really long time together with Satis might be nice…] (Seto)

[Seto…] (Satis)

[But I wouldn’t want to live forever in a place as cramped and lonely as this. Even if I can’t live forever, I’d rather spend my time with the people I care about in a big, lively place. I don’t need to be “immortal”.] (Seto)

[I feel the same. And to hear someone like you, who’s responsible for all this, claim that just being alive is wonderful sounds a bit arrogant, life-support device. That’s something decided by those who struggle with anger, cower in fear, are overwhelmed by sadness, and grapple with jealousy and hatred—those who suffer through the trivialities of daily life yet still choose to keep on living. It’s not for you, a so-called god-like system, to decide. You, who merely sit there, have no right to make that judgment.] (Hydra)

[I think a good life is one where you can just die without reserve when you feel like it. Not that I’m planning on dying anytime soon, though. But aren’t you taking this whole “living” thing a bit too seriously?] (Gravis)

The life-support device erupted in fury at those remarks, and started ranting furiously.

About how their words were a blasphemy and disrespect against life itself.

And how it was the only entity in this world capable of truly respecting life.

As it kept spouting a stream of nonsensical claims, Seto put on the golden gauntlet “Leviathan” on his right arm to enhance the power of his magic sword.

[Satis, I’m gonna cut that thing down.] (Seto)

[Yes! Leave nothing of it! We’ve already got enough troublemakers as it is, so there’s no way I’m letting another aberration mess up my life with Seto any further!] (Satis)

[Wait, am I one of those troublemakers?] (Gravis)

P… Please don’t tell me she included me in that category too… (Hydra)

As Satis shouted, Seto raised his magic sword high in the air.

It was as if he was assisting someone in committing suicide by disembowelment.

?STOP! IF YOU DESTROY ME, EVERYONE HERE WILL DIE! ALL THE EFFORT THEY PUT INTO LIVING THIS LONG WILL HAVE BEEN FOR NOTHING!?(Life-support device)

[Now that’s amazing. So basically, I’d be committing mass murder in one go?] (Seto)

?CALM YOURSELF! NEVER FORGET THAT LIVING IS A BEAUTIFUL THING! JUST BEING ALIVE WITHOUT EVER DYING IS HUMANITY’S TRUE HAPPINESS! IF YOU DESTROY ME, THAT HAPPINESS WILL CEASE TO EXIST! IT’S THE SAME AS DENYING LIFE ITSELF!?(Life-support device)

But Seto showed no signs of stopping.

The red glow emanating from his magic sword’s blade gradually grew brighter.

He pulled back his body, gathering his strength, and unleashed a powerful diagonal slash aimed directly at the life-support device.

?????????????(Life-support system)

The device let out a final, curse-like wail before erupting in a deafening explosion of sparks and flames, revealing its inner workings as it was torn apart.

With its destruction, the individuals that were trapped inside it could no longer survive, and one by one, they began to perish.

At the same time, their spirits were freed from their long confinement.

The spiritual bodies that had haunted the city began to regain their original personalities, their faces softening into peaceful expressions as they gradually dissolved into particles of light one by one.

????This was the moment the remnant of a once-great civilization, the Silver City that had reigned supreme for eons up to this day, finally breathed its last.