A New Beginning

Even after seeing the disturbing creature, Eabhloid, my mind was strangely calm.

Whatever the homunculi girl’s identity might be, whatever the Doctor’s intentions were, there was only one thing I realized I had to do.

Eliminate anything that was dangerous to the existence of this world. The urge was so great I felt it must have stemmed from the fact that I was an otherworlderer meant to bring order back to this world.

And this is what Goddess Athena would have also wanted. But I could not shake the feeling that there was still something more to it than being just that.

Who was doing it or why ⸺none of that mattered. I stared coldly at Eabhloid before my eyes, the status of it did not appear to me clearly except for some blurs and errors blotting its flickering status screen.

[SPECIES UNKNOWN. GENEALOGICAL TREE CORRUPTION. FOUND. D??? SYSTEM CORROSION. MELTDOWN…. COUNTERFORCE AWAKENING. ⸺TRANSFERRING WILL.]

The information Al added to my understanding of Eabhloid was as strange to me as the creature that towered over Regis and me.

“The Time of Birth has come.” The Doctor steps forward and walks close to his creation despite the fact that it had previously tried to kill him.

“There will no longer be the need to be touched by the divine anymore for miracles? When it will not be fate that decides who lives or dies? Wouldn’t you two too would want to have that kind of power? To always be with the people you love. True salvation can only be found here. Without a doubt, that I am sure of it.” The Doctor announced. His eyes widened, but they still looked hollow, despite the achievement he credited himself for.

“Salvation? Why would this be salvation?” Regis saw Eabhloid too with revulsion.

After all, it was the kind of creature that causes a sense of psychological disgust with its sight and violent instincts.

“I decided to give them eternity. I freed all my test subjects from the despair of living a worthless life. Now everyone is equal. No beauty to discriminate, no knowledge to be exceeded and no power will be superior. What’s wrong with that?” The Doctor masterfully tried to articulate his ambition without any repentance for the awful things he claimed to do.

He reaffirmed the cause he found just. “Lives that would give them eternity, that’s my final decision to protect humans from all its sufferings. It is for everyone’s happiness.”

“That is wrong. It’s all wrong.” With a difficult sense of vacillation, I interjected. I had no plan to do so except for defeating him, but otherwise, it would all remain empty. So, I had to speak even when I was hesitant. “You have it all wrong because the happiness you speak of will never be for that homunculi girl you made. The ending is not meaningless… even if humans lose so many things important to them, they will keep on searching, making something of value. And when others add value to that happiness, they keep on connecting themselves. And so I too will never accept that kind of happiness.” The lofty goals he set off infuriated me.

“Why does everyone have to reject my idea for complete salvation? Just think if everyone lives eternally, not having to work hard to survive. No hunger to satisfy. Do you still think that I am being foolish when the future is standing right in front of me? A little bit more time and I know this is going to change everything.” The Doctor grasps his hands on empty air but it could have been the very vision of humanity’s new fate that he wanted to bring into existence.

“Then tell me why did you do this? Why try saving humanity, clearly when it has not served you well.” I asked, and Regis too grew eager to know the answer.

“My reason…” The Doctor looks with a surprised look as if he had never given much thought to it himself.

While Regis was surprised by his empty expression, I remained the same.

“Why did I do this… Why? That’s right it was to free me from my guilt… But what!? Guilt. Was it to redeem myself from my mistakes? Why can’t I remember? All this time I have been looking for it. And yet I have forgotten… Why?” The Doctor holds his temple, and as his head starts hurting trying to remember things of the past which he seemed to have locked away and forgotten with time. Temporizing in his crestfallen state, he shook faintly and turned to me.

And then he spoke once more, “Does that human body of yours have no fear? I am afraid to know the end… because I can’t go back anymore. Tell me this then, what is your reason to fight against me?”

My reason. In the beginning, I had no idea that such horrid magical experimentation was being conducted in this peaceful town. Mother and Father during their adventuring times had worked hard to stop all such sinful black magic experiments.

Father had once told me ⸺’The ultimate power does not lie in spells and magic alone but the thoughts and desire to bring that change that empowers them.”

I was not here for revenge, nor for doing justice or trying to set things right. It was because I had some promises to keep and wishes to fulfill.

And in the end, I too am vulnerable and afraid of whether I will get what I desire for myself or if it is already lost before I seek it.

“It may sound ridiculous but I died once. But there was someone who held out their hand to me. Someone who stayed by my side even when I was scared too. I still remember it like yesterday. Someone weak like me could grow this strong just for the sake of one person. And then I knew there is always a way for humans to get by even in their weakest form. So, I will fight so that I can live.” I never knew my desire for living was so much great or it got intensified all of a sudden.

At first, the Doctor hold hands in despair but his face lit up with a huge smile. The Doctor had never shown such expressions before in a long time. But he had started to feel the wickedness inside him again.

“So, you are different. Your strong desire to live…. I see… the reason for your strength. Look at my face am I still scared… after achieving my goal? It’s not my fault the world is too slow to understand my aim. I carry living in this way familiar to me and no other. I am alone… just as much as this illogical world. The state in which it currently exists is at its limit before the complete fallout and extinction. I am going to infest the world with my chimeras, and those who survive will climb to the next step of evolution. I am going to make sure that there is an after in the next fallout.”

The doctor kept on talking about the destruction of the world as if it was really bound to happen. As if he already knew and was certain of it and it was not madness that drove him to say that.

But even if that were true I wouldn’t care at all.

“Show me that humans truly contain that much value in them. Who you are? Why you have come here none of that will matter when you will exist no longer and the old humanity will soon follow behind you.” The doctor chuckles and breaks into a burst of unstoppable laughter.

What I will do? What I will come to hate or love in this world? Will I be good or evil… those are choices I will make on my own. I had already decided a long time ago that I was never going to let others from now on make that decision for me.

Even if it is my end. That’s what I have known and learned in the abyss of the labyrinth and no one can take this right away from me.

“If you say your creation is the end of this world. ⸺We will destroy you.”

“Alicia…” For a moment even Regis gasped thinking whether that was really me alone speaking.

“Kraaaaaaaaaaa!” The creature shrieked loudly and all present felt something change imperceptibly.

“WauYu…GataKa.. Chre. DioNa.” An ethereal voice suddenly leaked from Eabhloid even when it had no mouth to speak. Suddenly it seemed capable of language.

“Ah! So that’s what you want… Magnificent.” The Doctor responded as if he completely understood the sentiments of the creature if it really possessed one.

The Doctor quickly starts operating on a magical circuit device he had on him and within a blink of an eye, several magic circles appear around the place and break into flickers of golden light.

“⸺I am the beginning of eternity.” The doctor’s voice was detached. He announced this, without a single change in expression. “Like an ever-bright flower that spirals through time, that blooms and remains eternal forever and ever. Code : Eabhloid. Imperial Ordinance System. Authority Exceed : ENDLESS NECROSIS.”

Suddenly the hanging golden lights start condensing and continuously being absorbed into Eabhloid it grew even larger in size, its injuries healed already because of its unimaginable skill to cheat death.

“Kia… KoalaTa.. SarnDi. MarAd.” Eabhloid raised its grotesque voice and it went under continuous morphological changes.

“What did you do?” Regis raised her own voice hysterically wanting to know what was really happening.

“I released Eabhloid’s limiters from my bounds that had kept it silent until now. Now you will finally realize its true power.”

As soon as the Doctor said that, Eabhloid lashed with its huge body toward Regis and me.

Seeing his unstoppable charge, Regis and I jumped in separate directions and Eabhloid decided to chase after me.

I used my spell [BLACK FLARE] and despite the continuous devouring black flames at work, Eabhloid repetitively regained its original body while completely nullifying the effects of my spell as if the magic conjured never existed.

The Doctor had already explained before that by having the power to reverse the principle of causality it could reverse all possibilities that were not in its favor. His future becomes unobservable even by the divine beings and the System.

My black flames will no longer work on him as they did on other chimeras. I was evading all its smashes from his giant muscular hands. A single hit was capable of destroying the magitite glass. So it was dangerous to stay near him.

Unable to hit my body which was too small in comparison, Eabhloid slams its fists into the ground and the face spiral of its flesh flexes into an unbelievable wicked smile.

Crrk…. crakkk.

The sound of something breaking comes from the ground below me, and without any warning, I saw the ground at my feet twisting on itself.

The ground had reshaped itself into sharp bladelike protrusions and had started twisting and spiraling, just like the face of Eabhloid itself. Before my legs could have been dragged into the hideous space I leaped far away with my webs.

I still could not use my teleportation magic because of the dimensional barrier in this place which must have been placed to keep people away. Since it was a powerful external source I needed to get rid of the source first and have this creature’s attention as well.

New protrusions had emerged from its body from the back and had sunk deep into the ground. They were now acting like a massive meat grinder.

Realizing what it had tried to do, I immediately looked in Regis’s direction.

I saw Regis jump high into the ground with her wind magic before the same spiral could get a hold of her. While falling, she launches her magical arrows imbued with her destructive magic.

The impact of those arrows left the spiral on the ground vulnerable and it regressed back inside the ground.

But now nothing seemed to work anymore. Eabhloid was different from all the chimeras I had fought before. With super strength and agility, it has high magic resistance and I can already feel it quickly adapting to my movements.

I’d been so worried about finding a way to fulfill the wish of the homunculi girl that a slightly larger problem slipped my mind completely.

Turning, back I could see the homunculi suddenly cutting towards Regis, heading straight for her now. Regis was already prepared to shoot Eabhloid down before he could get near and escape in the subsequent explosions. But then I saw the spiral of meat on its face letting out a disgusting squelching sound as it lumbered forward.

It clenches its massive fists again, lowering itself into a ready stance. Realizing it’s about to use that same attack as before, I turn my attention to the ground around.

But unpredictably the creature doesn’t strike the ground, however. It thrusts its arms straight out in front of it.

“Regis r-run…”

This time it wasn’t the ground at their feet but the spiral forcibly produced a revolution in the very atmosphere. Had it got that idea from watching Regis’s destructive wind magic and reproduced it for itself to use?

The air starts to twist, starting as weak as a breeze but quickly accelerating to hurricane force.

FWOOOSH!!!

The twister forms a pillar of raw force, tearing everything around it to shreds.

I ran close to Regis and cast [WIND CUTTER] that should have successfully countered Eabhloid’s attack.

But my magic disappeared, or more accurately its existence was erased from reality once it came in contact with Eabhloid’s magic. It had been only a few minutes since the limiters were removed but its growth was exponential.

Only at the last minute, I had deployed a blue barrier around us and we were saved by a breadth of the hair.

I did feel the impact of the attack and completely nullifying it with its special magic in effect was more difficult than imagined.

“Regis are you alright!” I could not rest without confirming her condition.

I can’t afford to get careless and think that I’ll have enough time to dodge. I needed to be ready for a potentially lethal blow at any moment. It was all the more dangerous if we try to close in, but we were already at a disadvantage even from a range. None of my magic would have a complete effect on it with the ability of causality being able to alter reality each time.

Eabhloid set his body to zero while keeping its improved states. In a way, it could be said that he had infinite durability and magic power.

“I will be fine now. But how do you plan on taking this monster… because I have got no idea.” Regis too seemed to be angered and disgusted by all of this. But she was willing to risk her life here to fight and defeat this monster together with me.

I had never encountered a monster before that could not be killed. There was always a vulnerability I could exploit and a magic spell ready to destroy it.

I could keep on fighting and Regis seemed to understand the situation, too. She’d seen through to the heart of the matter without asking any unnecessary questions.

“A monster that cannot be killed. Ehhh!” My lips quickly lifted with a grin.

Realizing, this was my first time fighting such a monster I could not help but feel intoxicated to fight at my full power again. I had also been wanting to try a new magic spell that I could not use inside the labyrinth. The actual reason was that I was forbidden to try it by my mother and father because of its wide scale and consequences. But now... the situation demanded me to employ the use of my new spell so no one should be offended by what would happen next.

“We will settle this with just one blow. There’s something I’d like you to do, Regis. If you would agree.”

There was a glint of uneasiness in Regis's eyes as she gulped but then she agreed to it by nodding.

I used telepathy to tell her what she needed to do and Regis lets out a surprised yell and felt chills running across her skin.

“So how should I find it?”

“Just keep doing what you are good at. Destroy everything around and I am sure you will get to it… eventually.” I sounded confident despite how the plan lacked in structure but I was sure there had to be one around here.

Regis stared at me with unmoving and unblinking eyes.

“Your trust in trying the most craziest idea at the worst possible time always amuses me.”

***