Excited and passionate voices.
Even without me asking the dusty question, Isaac began to ramble about his cause.
He looked overjoyed as if revealing his suppressed inner thoughts to someone made him extremely happy.
A story about the dedication and sacrifice of a person who worked for the world.
On the surface, it seemed like a touching story often found in fairy tales, but underneath lurked ugly contradictions and darkness.
The person in question was oblivious to it.
Trembling.
I was curious about what great purpose he believed he had.
Every time I heard his story, I had to suppress my laughter.
It was absurdly funny. I never thought he would have such a sense of humor.
What a waste.
He should have pursued a career as a comedian or clown instead of a solver.
Like a balloon that bursts after being inflated to its limit, the laughter I had been holding back finally erupted.
Of course, I couldn’t make any noise. So I expressed it through my body.
I hopped on the floor, flapping about, pretending to laugh loudly as I laughed at his story.
Isaac frowned at my attitude, displeased.
The story was interrupted.
With eyes filled with irritation, he looked down at me.
“What’s so funny? Was there something in my story worth laughing at?”
There was, indeed.
It was truly an absurd tale.
I nodded, trembling my lips at his question.
Isaac’s face grew increasingly angry.
I never imagined that the famous Winter General would be such a person.
It’s disappointing; now he looks pitiful.
He was much better before I knew his true face.
“Enough. How could a kid living in a world like this understand my noble cause? I’m the foolish one for getting worked up.”
Isaac took a deep breath, regaining his composure.
Greed and desire flickered terribly in Isaac’s gaze.
What a pitiful human.
A hero? Justice?
To save the world?
Wrong.
Such a person is the furthest removed from justice and heroism.
Based on the attitude he has shown so far, I was convinced of what kind of person Isaac was.
A selfish person commonly found in the city.
And a terribly egotistical person, utterly intoxicated by vanity and superiority.
The lowest of humans.
He wraps his selfishness in the guise of justice and legitimizes his actions with a seemingly noble cause of caring for someone.
He commits any vile act without hesitation.
Such people are filled with pride in their goodness and altruism, completely lacking any brakes.
To achieve their goals, they don’t care at all about how it affects those around them.
This is because they firmly believe that all their actions are justified.
They are under the delusion that whatever they do can be forgiven.
Look at his current state.
Even after committing horrific experiments here, he feels not a shred of guilt or sin.
Without considering the hearts of those involved, he arbitrarily defines his actions as noble sacrifices.
Look at the forest, not just the trees?
What a laugh.
While forcing others to sacrifice, he doesn’t even think of sacrificing himself.
Rather, when things turn against him, he’s the first to be repulsed.
My memories of my immature days come flooding back as vividly as if they were yesterday.
With a friendly smile on the surface, he shouts about justice, yet when the situation arises that truly requires justice, he’s busy making excuses to escape.
I take a slow breath to calm my agitation.
It’s all in the past.
There’s no need to get worked up.
Instead, I raised my head.
I glared at him, filled with disdain and disgust.
The calmness that had returned to his face twisted in an instant.
He looked extremely angry, like someone who had been unjustly accused.
He grabbed my collar and yanked me up.
“What the hell? Why are you looking at me like that?”
The laughter had vanished from Isaac’s face.
His eyes were wide with anger and contempt.
As my calm smile appeared on my lips, I moved my mouth.
[You’re not a hero.]
Isaac’s eyebrows twitched.
Even if I convey my thoughts to such a person, he will never understand.
Just a simple word was enough to shatter his illusion.
[A murderer.]
His hand gripping my collar twitched.
His face turned red with fury, and he threw my body forcefully.
Bang!
My body sprang up from the shock and hit the floor.
As if that wasn’t enough, Isaac approached me and began to kick me viciously.
Perhaps the word “murderer” had scratched him deeply; his kicks were forceful.
Thud, thud, thud; the sound echoed. The only reason he wasn’t kicking my face was probably because he thought I was pretty?
I furrowed my brow in pain.
Since I didn’t enhance my body with magic, the impact came directly.
It’s okay… I can endure this…
…I’m used to such pain.
“Am I a murderer? No… No! I’m not a murderer! Don’t lump me together with those kinds of guys!”
He was furious for a user of ice magic, and his rage continued to spill forth.
He absolutely wouldn’t show mercy to a child.
Perhaps due to losing his reason in anger, his violence grew more brutal.
“It’s all for the world! I stained my hands with blood to save the world! But a murderer? What do you know, you little brat!”
He calls himself a savior, but there is no sense of noble mission in him.
He chitchats about justice and salvation, but it’s all for his own greed.
To live a lavish life in the paradise built on the corpses of others.
“Anyway, the lives I didn’t touch would have died miserably! If it weren’t for me, they would have died long ago! I gave meaning to their insignificant lives!!”
This is what the so-called hero ultimately is.
Who would see such a wicked face and think of him as a hero?
He’s just a person soaked in greed and desire, lost in self-delusion thinking he’s justice.
He’s a coward who doesn’t acknowledge his own selfishness and sins.
He does not bend to violence.
I glared at him, keeping my eyes raised firmly.
Isaac’s face twisted immensely as he looked into my eyes.
“This is…!”
Beep—
Beep—
Beep—
In that moment, an alarm rang from the machine.
Isaac’s violence ceased.
But perhaps his rage hadn’t dimmed, he breathed heavily and violently.
“Huff, huff… It’s time.”
Isaac grabbed my collar and violently threw me into a capsule-like machine.
The test tube slowly closed.
“If I could, I’d love to watch you die, but an important guest is coming.”
Isaac vigorously activated the device.
Sounds erupted from the capsule machine.
Smoke slowly entered, filling the interior.
“You’ll first feel lightheaded. Then your vision, hearing, and all your senses will gradually dull, and finally, your flesh and bones will melt. I’ll operate it at maximum; it will truly hurt. No matter how much you scream, no one will come to save you. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention.”
A cruel smile appeared on Isaac’s face.
He leaned in close to the test tube.
“Then just die painfully there. Your face isn’t bad, so I was going to try to make it painless, but you’ve crossed the line. This is a punishment for the insolent brat who tarnished my mission.”
With those words, he pulled his face away.
Tsk, he clicked his tongue.
Seemingly losing interest in me, Isaac nonchalantly walked away.
The sound of his footsteps gradually faded away.
Perhaps due to being exposed to the smoke for too long, I felt a slight pain and my strength slowly dwindled.
Huh. So this is how it feels.
‘Well then, shall I start to move?’
I slightly increased my magic and tore apart the noose that bound me.
I tapped the lid lightly with my fist.
It was made of reinforced glass. Quite sturdy.
Smash!
With a single gesture, I shattered the lid and stepped outside.
Having regained my freedom, I moved my sore body around. I felt a bit of pain every time I stretched out.
“Ugh, my body aches. They hit me mercilessly.”
If I had my way, I would want to take action myself.
But there was an important guest arriving.
It wouldn’t make sense for a child to kill the Winter General.
If I were to kill him, it might definitely raise the guest’s suspicion.
That’s a predicament I should avoid.
‘You should be more than enough to win.’
I’m not worried.
I know Red’s strength.
I’m sure she will win.
She would never forgive a villain.
She’s a criminal killer, after all. Perhaps her revenge might be even more satisfying than if I took matters into my own hands.
I have no intention of sitting still until things are settled over there.
I’m going to do what I can during this time.
I approached the area that concerned me the most since coming here.
A massive glass tube.
I looked down below.
It was dark. I couldn’t see anything. But I could feel it distinctly.
There was something far superior to Isaac down there.
Isaac called it a masterpiece.
In other words, it was an experiment born from the experiments conducted in this place.
‘All I can do is…’
I solidified my magic into the shape of a sword.
The moment the bluish sword was in my hand, I saw something writhing in the darkness.
‘It’s coming.’
The monster that woke from its slumber.
The massive figure rose up in an instant.
Simply rising caused such immense pressure that cracks formed across the entire glass tube.
Screech—
Screech—
Screech—
The emergency alarm blared loudly throughout the laboratory.
A mechanical voice warned about the current situation, and the entrance closed. A transparent barrier covered the exterior of the lab.
It seemed to be a device prepared for emergencies.
The situation was turning decidedly in my favor.
“GRAAAAAAAAAH!”
The massive figure roared.
The cracked glass tube shattered into pieces, scattering everywhere.
At bullet-like power.
Countless fragments smashed up the machines and devices in the lab.
The shards didn’t touch my body.
The transparent flames that wrapped around me melted them instantly.
The moment I concentrated my magic into the sword again, the monster’s mouth opened wide.
As a beam of light shot from its mouth, I swung the sword.
With cold that could freeze souls and flames that defy death clashing.
A flash of mixed colors exploded, and the entire laboratory trembled as if it were about to collapse.
