In the dark interior, the stage is illuminated by lights.
There was a sense of anticipation on the faces of adults and children alike, wondering what kind of play would be presented.
On the other hand, the faces of the children behind the stage showed shadows of worry and anxiety.
There was a tension among the audience, wondering if they would be satisfied and fearing mistakes.
This was especially true for Lily, who had been cast as the princess.
Before the performance began, she learned from Rene that Lily had a stomachache and would not be able to participate in the play for a while.
“It would be nice if Lily could join us.”
“Lily has prepared a lot, too.”
“This is all because of that strange food we ate.”
“Right, right.”
As the gloomy children vented their frustration, Rene intervened.
“Don’t worry. Once she feels better, she’ll definitely come. So everyone should put a smile on their faces. Mr. Red is really looking forward to your play, and if you go on stage with such expressions, he’ll only worry.”
Lily’s kidnapping. Red moving to rescue her.
Rene didn’t tell the children about this fact.
So the children still believed that Red was sitting in the audience, watching the performance.
“Lily will definitely come, right?”
“Of course. You know she’s not a weak child. She’ll feel better soon.”
The children nodded at each other.
The shadows casting over their faces lifted, and determination filled their eyes.
Before stepping onto the stage, the children gathered and held each other’s hands.
“Fighting!”
The heavy atmosphere in the waiting room dispersed with their spirited cheer.
The children moved to their respective positions, ready to start the play.
The narration began.
After roughly describing the stage setting, the curtain slowly opened.
As intricate props were revealed on stage, the audience gasped in admiration.
A grand castle and a colorful village.
Androids resembling stuffed animals wandered about, as if they were playthings for the children.
The stuffed animals made soft whimpering noises as they gazed at the castle.
Sad music began to play on stage, and the audience became immediately engrossed in the play. It was fantastical, so much so that it was hard to believe it was a children’s play.
“Oh, poor princess.”
“Wah! Why did such a terrible curse befall the princess?”
“Is there no hero to break the curse?”
Amidst the sorrow on stage, Lena appeared dressed as a maid from the castle.
Lena began to sing.
Her song was bittersweet and lonely, as if lamenting the princess’s dire situation.
Tears welled up in the children’s eyes, and even the adults became somber from the sad song.
This play was about a princess who worked hard for peace, cursed to lose her face and voice.
It was a story of trying to save the princess from the curse and restore peace to the world.
The stage was just beginning.
No one noticed the darkness lurking within the room.
*
Anything that stands in the way was destroyed by the golden gauntlet, which was now shattered.
Midas forced a bitter smile.
His right arm was tingling. He felt the sensation of bones and muscles breaking and regenerating.
He thought the opponent should be no better off after they had clashed with their full power.
But Red’s arm was unharmed.
Midas let out a hollow laugh.
He was surprised anew by her strength and began to admire her. Instead of feeling fear, he started to enjoy it.
Midas fell into a rhythm of attack.
“Humanity accumulated technology to avoid suffering and to become more abundant. They hoped technology would save the world and people, but in reality, the technology hatched to save people led to even more deaths.”
Hundreds of various weapons appeared to encircle Midas.
Miniguns, sniper rifles, missiles, ray guns—these were all weapons that humanity had created over time.
All of them aimed towards her.
“Do you know why? Because human greed is insatiable. People, unaware of satisfaction, began to kill each other with the technology they piled up. All to satisfy their own desires! Like this!”
All the weapons fired in unison.
Disgusting explosions filled the air, and colorful bursts erupted on the ground like fireworks.
Humanity’s technology was fiercely focused on her, but Red dodged effortlessly with dazzling movements.
Reaching into his pocket, Red grabbed a coin he had used during the festival game.
He flicked the coin toward the weapons.
Shooting through the hail of bullets, he accurately struck the weapons and destroyed them.
As Midas’s arsenal dwindled, the firepower weakened along with it.
Seizing the moment of opportunity, Red kicked off the ground, breaking through the falling bullets and charged in.
His speed caught Midas off guard, and she hastily donned the hastily made golden armor on her upper body.
Boom!
The armor shattered against his fist, sending her flying.
With a single punch, Midas spewed blood, the insides and bones crashing as if she were vomiting it out.
Yet, even with a fatal injury, her wounds quickly healed, and she stood again.
“Human greed injures everyone except oneself. It’s obvious! Happiness obtained at the expense of someone else’s misfortune. That’s how it is!”
Midas tightened her legs and stepped forward.
The impact caused the ground to tremble violently like waves.
The violently shaking floor made Red stagger slightly beneath his feet.
He could not take his eyes off Midas, yet he felt a chill run down his spine.
As she looked down, large and small faces erupted from the ground beneath her.
Despair-filled faces opened their mouths to scream.
Red kicked off the ground and jumped high.
The faces surged up from the ground, chasing closely behind.
Using the faces as footholds, Red skillfully dodged in mid-air.
“I want to get money. I want to gain status. I want honor. I want to sit in the seat. To obtain what I desire, I will trample mercilessly.”
A shadow loomed over the sky.
Dozens of enormous golden feet filled a position far above Red.
Unlike the cursed golden hand, these feet were trample only for destruction.
Just as a human ignores a crawling insect, the giant feet descended all at once.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each golden foot crashing down, the entire arena roared.
Despair-filled faces were swept away and shattered into pieces.
Dust filled the arena like a fog.
Amidst the dust, red eyes gleamed.
“Tch! Is it still not enough?”
Just as Midas was about to make her next attack, Red lunged out from the dust and instantly closed the distance.
“Ugh!”
Close combat was disadvantageous.
Aware of this, she tried to create distance, but Red closed in fast.
With speed and power that exceeded her own, Red kept pressing forward.
Midas attempted to retaliate, but her abilities were powerless against him.
He mercilessly battered her. Midas’s body was broken and healed again and again from Red’s onslaught.
If it weren’t for her almost infinite magic power and the healing provided by nanobots, the fight would have ended long ago.
The pain was immense, yet for some reason, her heart raced.
Her body was ragged, but her fighting spirit burned even brighter.
Midas laughed fiercely and swung her forehead against his.
Surprised by the sudden momentum, Red let out a slight grunt.
Glaring, Midas spoke.
“Why? Why do you refuse to accept human nature? With such power, why limit yourself? With your abilities, you could dominate half of this city, no, even the entire city!”
“Let me turn the question around. Why do you, with such power, only use it to take from others?”
“Because that’s how the world is! In any world, taking and being taken from is natural. I’m just living according to the will of the world. Unlike you!”
Just as she wobbled slightly, Midas increased the distance between them.
Jewels appeared in the sky, each becoming a sharp weapon that flew towards her.
Red, without a hint of fear, dodged lightly and swatted the weapons away.
“The idea of altruism is just an illusion. It’s all just self-satisfaction, nothing more and nothing less.”
“Self-satisfaction…”
“Right, it’s even in the fairy tales that children read. The story of a prince embarking on an adventure to save a princess. Did the prince really set off to save the princess? No!”
Hundreds of machine guns materialized above Midas.
Bullets rained down like a torrential downpour.
Red began to run, faster than the bullets themselves.
“I want to claim the princess. I want to be her companion. I want to sit on the throne. I want to be a hero. It’s all about overcoming challenges and adversities for oneself. It’s nothing more than a journey to satisfy one’s own greed!”
Red kicked debris from the battle.
At a tremendous speed, debris flew and struck his head, causing part of it to be blown off.
Though he must have felt pain, Midas wore a broad grin, as if she was immensely pleased.
Time seemed to rewind as her head and smile regenerated, creating an eerie sensation.
“In any case, people live only for themselves. So rather than limiting themselves and making it difficult to satisfy their desires, they should move freely according to their own wants.”
A golden spear appeared in Midas’s right hand.
A spear that could pierce through all and bring death.
She adjusted her stance.
“You are just a selfish human fighting under the pretext of helping someone! You’re no different from me!”
Midas swung her arm with all her strength, launching the spear.
It dealt a psychological blow to someone who acts for justice, stating they are truly selfish. It only takes a fleeting moment.
She had intended to hit when Red would be shaken by her words.
But unexpectedly.
Red simply snatched the spear that flew towards him at a tremendous speed and slammed it into the ground.
Then he leaped into Midas’s embrace, driving the spear through her chest.
“Gah!”
“Did you hope to rattle me with your words? Too bad, that’s not going to work.”
“Ugh.”
“People often mistakenly think I’m taking down criminals. Unfortunately, unlike the heroes in children’s tales, I don’t move with grand ideals or a sense of duty. As you said, I’m here fighting solely for my own selfish reasons.”
Red was about to continue expressing his thoughts, but then he stopped.
There was no need to kindly inform an evil person. Even if he did, she wouldn’t understand.
The reason he came here was not to have a cozy conversation with her, but to rescue Lily.
“Ugh!”
At that moment, Midas gathered her magic power and released it.
Feeling the danger of being caught up in it, Red withdrew the spear and distanced himself.
Her regeneration ability was now much slower than before.
“Not yet! I can still fight!”
Red felt a sense of unease.
At first, it was unnoticeable, but the more they fought, the more strange it felt.
Midas’s gaze was filled with madness.
Her actions and tone had changed from before; they were somehow different now.
“By the way, weren’t you a different character?”
“What…?”
“What should I say? Unlike when we fought before, you’ve become more talkative. You’re not the type to have such conversations.”
At Red’s observation, Midas’s face briefly contorted.
A sudden headache overwhelmed her, and she grasped her forehead.
Her mind was in turmoil.
It felt as though someone else’s will was rummaging through her head.
The form of a serpent with red eyes commanded Midas to break Red’s spirit.
She didn’t want that. She only desired to possess Red. She had no intention of doing anything to his mind.
The conflicting thoughts collided, intensifying her headache.
“Get out! Leave my head!”
Midas struck her own head hard.
Red was momentarily startled by the sudden action.
Gasping for breath, Midas lifted her head again.
She wore a strangely liberated expression.
“Right, you were right. I’m not that kind of character. Is this all a price for being deceived by the serpent…?”
“Serpent?”
“My garnet. Let’s settle this quickly. Before I go completely insane again!”
Midas spoke incomprehensible words, then suddenly released all her magic power.
Above Midas, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, and purple jewels appeared.
The jewels gathered into one, forming a massive energy.
Red, sensing instinctively that this was the final act, took his stance.
Tension filled the air as they prepared to launch their last strike.
