Chapter 264
Until lunchtime in the Third World, much had happened in the Fourth World as well.
After Cyclami’s death, Jeber began to fill his creations with malice.
Until that incident erupted, the artificial humans created by Jeber were just simple mechanical beings.
But afterward, much changed.
First and foremost, the survivors of those who killed Cyclami were horrifying.
Jeber transformed them into forms similar to his own.
The difference was that, after removing the machinery, unlike me, who still looked human, they completely lost their human appearance.
Their heads swelled grotesquely, with hundreds of metal spikes embedded in them, inflicting meticulous pain compared to mine.
Their limbs were processed like mine, but their reproductive organs ballooned into bizarre shapes, almost resembling tools.
The females transformed like queen ants, while the males took on the appearance of gas station rods.
Thus, by swapping pairs between males and females, they produced various kinds of offspring.
And from among them, the best-combined artificial humans were primarily turned into soldiers.
Up to that point, they mostly resembled the original captured wizards, only with even more spikes in their heads.
But there was a significant difference.
The initially captured wizards intended to store parts of their body, planning to discard their main bodies if they broke down.
However, those responsible for the deaths of the assistants were treated in such a way that they could not die.
To call that immortality would be too bizarre.
They created multiple clone bodies, continuously swapping out damaged parts.
Already, there were assistants who had replaced their bodies due to aging.
Why so fast, you ask?
If we speculate based on recent phenomena, it seems the rapid-growth drugs age the body just as quickly.
They grow to adulthood within days of conception in the womb. Of course, they come out as mostly chunks of flesh due to their rapid growth.
And they are sent before me on a conveyor belt. With a click, a proper humanoid artificial human emerges.
I digress, but the drugs administered in mass to increase production reduce human lifespans.
So, the wizard bodies used for mixing at the start of the war have mostly aged and been discarded.
There is a considerable amount of information learned from directly observing Jeber’s memory in the lab.
The specialized terminology was quite overwhelming, but it seems they aren’t merely toying with pure cells.
They store the cells separately and create various things based on them.
The very first harvesting machine in this world, Bardrol, although only parts of its upper and lower body, floats inside a transparent tube.
That is the original file, and after copying and pasting it with materials added, magic automatically constructs the body.
Thus, they have been creating Bardrol-style artificial humans. However, there is a technical issue—they cannot create artificial humans using real humans. Even now, that’s the case.
No, to be precise, they can create artificial humans using ordinary people. However, those artificial humans possess intelligence inferior to that of monkeys.
But, using a harvesting machine yields above-average intelligence. As the body changes into a harvesting machine, it becomes robust enough to withstand Jeber’s methods and replicate.
Additionally, there is knowledge obtained as a result of torturing demons and gods.
Yes.
Jeber is a wizard who can touch souls. Of course, his skill is somewhat rudimentary, but there is a vast difference between being unable to do anything at all and being able to do even a little.
Using that, he can make the creator obedient and prevent them from easily escaping their bodies upon death.
With all that knowledge at his disposal, Jeber is exacting revenge on those who killed his assistants.
To ensure they cannot flee death, he makes their souls suffer endlessly.
What about my gaze watching all this?
It’s dissatisfaction.
The light of the captured wizards has shriveled, and the warmth is barely more than that of a bug.
I could probably generate more warmth by burning a heap of bugs.
Compared to the warmth they originally had, not even 1% remains.
Yet I don’t intend to complain about having that little warmth.
Why, you ask?
Because when the beings created from that are made to kill, I can absorb the warmth they generate.
Hehe.
To be precise, warmth is already coming in.
As Jeber ordered the artificial humans to attack the royal family immediately after a certain number had been produced, in retaliation for the death of his beloved assistants.
I wonder if he didn’t anticipate the lack of preparation time, but Jeber, filled with thoughts of revenge, didn’t hesitate.
The artificial humans sent by Jeber arrived in the capital in an instant.
And he did not immediately launch an attack on the royal family without a word.
Perhaps due to a desire for self-promotion, or because he believed his target should realize their sins, Jeber projected a three-dimensional image of his face in the sky above the capital and declared his intention for revenge.
Unexpectedly, this brought about a good result.
Why, you ask?
Because it seemed more like a legitimate revenge than a terror attack.
The pretext of avenging a precious life lost highlighted Jeber’s humanity.
When a wizard who cannot be understood claims to avenge a loved one who was murdered, humanity can instantly empathize.
The fury he expressed during the declaration was so vivid that it almost seemed like justice belonged to Jeber.
While it is true that he lost a precious person, the reality is that Jeber committed wicked deeds, thus being punished.
If we clarify the causal relationship properly, no one would say Jeber is a bad guy.
Yet, it was too late to reveal such facts.
The royal family needed time to correct the misinformation, but Jeber had already dispatched the artificial humans to infiltrate and start killing those working in the royal hall.
Of course, the royal family is a powerful wizard clan.
They are strong enough to suppress surrounding wizard families and declare themselves kings.
They managed to stave off Jeber’s assault.
However, they were merely focused on defense.
It seems the royal family didn’t anticipate how quickly Jeber would launch his attack; they suffered heavy damage on the first day.
Moreover, they miscalculated their first counterattack.
In a hurry, they tried to use the citizens in the capital to halt Jeber’s artificial humans.
In a modern nation, that’s not particularly weird.
In a modern nation.
But this is a world still developing with neither concept of modernity nor even mythology.
To them, it seemed like drawing unrelated people into their affairs.
Furthermore, Jeber’s strategy of sending his powerful artificial humans to important locations while the mass-produced ones were directed to auxiliary buildings turned out to be fortuitously effective.
Instead of charging forward against the citizens blocking the way, they merely backed off.
When combined with the earlier declaration of revenge, how would it appear?
The attack on the capital became someone else’s affair.
People may die in large numbers, but their target is only the royal family.
Public sentiment falters.
No matter how great a wizard family may be, it wilts without support.
Additionally, Jeber is sending remarkably powerful wizards as artificial humans, making it seem strange to the royal family.
Even utilizing the magic of subordinates they had previously sent, if only they had a slight opening, they might have explained that Jeber is the bad guy through the media laid out for the nation’s betterment.
However, Jeber’s artificial humans relentlessly pressed on.
Of course, if that were all, Jeber wouldn’t have gained such an easy advantage.
To win through mere violence is beyond the massive history built by the royal family.
Yet, something offset that.
Jeber’s artificial humans made a path. Among them, there was an exceptionally intelligent individual.
They were created through the same mass production process but, by chance, came out with exceptionally high intelligence.
Artificial humans, being biological beings, show individual differences.
Moreover, they inherited the creator’s malice. Just because they grew their bodies rapidly doesn’t mean they are born with knowledge.
Hence, a separate process to instill knowledge was necessary, based on Jeber’s memories.
They can empathize with Jeber.
And they regard Jeber as their parental figure.
Thus, they moved for their parent.
They neutralized the production capacity aimed at the royal family.
This artificial human said:
“This is a matter between wizards, so don’t interfere. Just temporarily evacuate and wait to return.”
And it seemed that staying out of the royal affairs would keep the citizens safe.
So, they did just that.
Analyzing their voices collected during this harvesting period, they thought:
“It’s a matter among wizards anyway, and once it’s over, we can return to our everyday lives.”
They believed that once the battle between gods was over, their ruling god would merely change. They think nothing would really change.
Although I can’t guarantee how the royal family used the citizens, if they at least regarded them as people…
The citizens of the capital made the wrong choice.
Not just a different choice, but a fundamentally wrong one.
Unbeknownst to them, citizens will vanish as resources, and the taxes will become more severe to maintain Jeber’s research.
Jeber is clearly an evil wizard, and the royal family is the group that tried to rectify that.
However, those who should inform them are currently trapped in the royal castle, defending themselves.
Those who were nearby the royal castle have begun to abandon the capital one by one.
Those connecting the royal family and the citizens attempted to rally them together as best they could but ended up receiving backlash from the citizens instead.
Was it to say that ordinary people like us are meant to get caught up in the wizards’ fight and die?
In this world, understanding a wizard’s position is akin to comprehending that of a god.
Of course, those educated would cry out that they must stand against this for the sake of saving the country.
However, the clarity of Jeber’s actions over the past few days made following those educated individuals quite difficult.
Wizard affairs.
Revenge against the wizard family that killed a precious person.
Honestly, I think this was luck. If Jeber had been present in the local area, he would have sent his artificial humans to attack the citizens the moment they gathered.
However, Jeber was preoccupied with tormenting those who killed his assistants in his domain, relentlessly producing powerful artificial humans.
Due to such small fortune and the initial miscalculation, the royal family found themselves on the defensive.
Jeber’s artificial humans are gradually assaulting the capital.
And currently, the situation quite clearly sways towards Jeber’s victory.
But the royal family is still the royal family.
They’re not going to be taken down so easily. Days after Jeber’s assault on the capital.
At the same time, while I was enjoying Labou in the Third World, they began their counterattack.