Chapter 202

The Spirit King of Wood had already turned into countless fallen leaves and scattered, and those leaves turned into dust, which then nourished the roots that grew and transformed back into the form of the Spirit King of Wood. At a glance, it seemed fine, but upon closer inspection, there was blood at the corner of its mouth. It must have taken some damage.

But right now, that didn’t matter at all.

“Media, older sister…”

“Ah, it’s been a while.”

“What the hell do you mean ‘it’s been a while’?! This isn’t the time to brush it off like that! Why the hell are you with that trash over there?!”

“Haha, oh, is that so?”

Rather, she was taking this situation as if it were nothing, as if she were casually sipping tea.

“I’m the betrayer. Or rather, I approached you with a purpose, so I guess it’s more accurate to say I’m finally revealing the truth now? Anyway, I’ve explained this much, so I don’t think I need to explain further, right?”

At those words, we were all stunned and speechless. To Werner, Media was like the sun. He would do anything for her affection without hesitation. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he got hurt and even died because of her. So what the hell is this situation? It’s nothing but a lifetime of thoroughly deceiving and betraying someone.

“Then shall I introduce myself? Guinevere of the Black Round Table. I’ll let you know my noble name before you die or get captured.”

She even lifted her skirt, mocking us. She was different from the Media I knew, the Media Werner knew, and the Media everyone else here remembered. She wasn’t a saint who smiled warmly at people, but a harlot who sneered at them.

“Uh… Mom…?”

“Ah, right, you’re here too.”

“What the hell is going on…? How is Mom…”

“I just explained everything. You couldn’t even understand that… You really are a failure.”

For a moment, I doubted my ears. Was that something a mother would say? I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s right, or what’s even happening right now.

“Huh…?”

“Even though you’re just a puppet of the goddess now, I thought you’d at least be somewhat useful as the daughter of a hero, but to think such trash came out… How disappointing. I was going to dispose of you quietly, but Werner got in the way, and it became such a headache.”

She clicked her tongue, genuinely annoyed.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I’ve found a way to use even defective products. Though I did have to use a few useless lives in the process.”

Suddenly, the scenes of those research facilities I had seen came to mind.

“Was that…”

“Ah, yes, the research you saw in those facilities. That wasn’t the only lab. We gathered test subjects from many places.”

“Damn it, explain why you did this so I can understand.”

There was no justification for such actions. But even so, I wanted to hear the reason. The soul of Werner within me needed even a hollow excuse to accept this situation.

“Our god is too incompetent.”

“What…?”

“To be more precise, I want to destroy that incompetent god and create a proper world. In the grand scheme of things, those small sacrifices… don’t really matter, do they?”

Today, my ears didn’t feel like my own. I couldn’t tell if what I was hearing was real or a hallucination. My brain couldn’t keep up with understanding what was happening.

“Our god is excessively incompetent. Occasionally, they might perform a small miracle, but they never interfere. They always leave everything under the pretext of granting freedom. It’s the height of negligence. That’s not giving us freedom. They’re just neglecting their duties because they’re lazy. I can’t tolerate that.”

Again, she dragged my mother into this.

“Do you know what our god’s power is? It’s the ability to recreate and control something they experienced in the past. In the end, they can’t do anything themselves and rely only on what they’ve experienced in the past. Isn’t that negligence? In the end, they’re nothing and just depend on others, leaving the general management of the world to the apostles while they seclude themselves. They’re so incompetent they can’t even fight. Can you call that a god?”

Now I roughly understood. If I kept listening to this nonsense, my brain would just go, “Yeah, screw this,” and shut down.

“I can’t accept such an incompetent god. I can’t forgive such a negligent god. So I’m going to change it. I have enough forces to deal with the ghosts of the past that such a god summons.”

She reached out her hand to me.

“So join us. We need your help to punish that god. You know your constitution.”

“Ah, I get it, older sister. No, I understand perfectly.”

“…Really? Then take my hand. I don’t want to harm you…”

“Are you fucking insane? You crazy bitch! If you’re insane, you should just wander around with flowers in your hair and get hit by a rock and die. Stop causing trouble for people, you lunatic.”

That was my honest impression. Honestly, I stopped listening halfway through her story. In the end, it was just her throwing a tantrum because she didn’t like the world. If you don’t like the world, just die quietly. Don’t drag others into your nonsense.

Have there ever been any decent people who said small sacrifices are fine to change the world? Hitler, who threw a fit after failing art school and got assassinated by Adolf, Stalin, the idiot with the mustache who’s the number one star of communist jokes, and Hirohito, the human female who got raped by a fat man and a little boy. Were those three trash ever normal? They should’ve been chopped into pieces and sold at a butcher shop.

“In the end, you guys just want to die together, huh?”

“You guys…?”

Come to think of it, just a moment ago…

“Yeah, I told you. I stabbed that young black sorcerer with the sky-blue hair and a mask with a holy spear. For a black sorcerer, that’s more dangerous than any poison… He’s probably screaming and falling into hell right about now.”

“You fucking bitch!!!”

============================================

Spirit King Peresa of Wood was coughing up blood, facing Lancelot. Lancelot indifferently raised his sword, pointing it at Peresa.

“If you surrender your neck willingly, I’ll make it painless out of old friendship.”

Peresa wiped the blood from her mouth.

“…Your dignity has really hit rock bottom. But then again, you never had any dignity to begin with. It’s only because Gloria corrected you. Without her, you were always no different from a beast…”

“Keep talking, and you’ll die the most painful death in the world.”

“Ha! If I’m going to die anyway, what does it matter how painful it is? I’d rather say what I want to say. It’s better than farting in front of a beast like you who’s gone astray.”

“You’re hastening your death.”

Without showing it, Lancelot, angrier than anyone, unleashed a flurry of red slashes. Peresa blocked all of them, but it was clearly a struggle. She remembered Lancelot’s strength wasn’t this overwhelming, so she couldn’t help but question it.

“When did you get this strong?”

“It’s the power I gained after abandoning my position and original strength.”

“You threw all that away for this? Gloria would cry if she saw you.”

“Say her name again, and I’ll chop you into pieces.”

“Try it, you impotent bastard.”

============================================

“You know, I never liked you from the start. Everyone felt the same.”

“Anyone listening would think you were loved by everyone. Both you and I were hated loners, but you thought you were loved? I’m moved to tears by your delusion.”

The massive tree roots clashed with Lancelot’s sword. And the roots that collided with the sword were sucked into it as if being swallowed.

“That sword is still annoying.”

“You’d better get used to it. You’ll be cut by it too.”

“So did you kill Gloria with that sword? If I get stabbed, I should at least say hello.”

“…It was my mistake to speak to such a vulgar woman.”

“A guy who barges into someone’s house and starts swinging a sword talks about dignity? It’s like a virgin lecturing on bedroom techniques.”

The trees controlled by Peresa and Lancelot’s sword continued to clash. With each clash, the roots were swallowed, making it clear that Peresa was at a disadvantage.

Lancelot slashed and absorbed the attacks as he spoke.

“I never liked your mouth from the start.”

“Didn’t I just say it? Do you think others liked you?”

Peresa looked directly into the eyes of her former friend.

“Spirit King of Darkness… no, former Spirit King of Darkness, Raven.”

“……”