Victoria’s hair was dyed purple, and not just her wounds, but also her scales and gills had all disappeared.
However, the problem was that water was starting to flow in.
The water was mixed with pieces of shattered stone.
Even if she could breathe underwater, surviving in there was impossible.
Whatever debris came in with the mechanical device that broke the building would turn into a blender, pulverizing any living creature caught inside.
Even if the tsunami was only 1 meter high, it would still sweep away the city on the coast.
Water is dangerous.
That’s why Daegon had this device made.
The architectural style’s jagged coral-like form had a reason. It wasn’t just to evoke a sense of the sea. When submerged, it would create a whirlpool that would suck in creatures along with debris, killing them.
Not to kill enemies, but traitors, so it was done more meticulously.
Of course, it was labeled a device to herd enemies into a trap and self-destruct.
In short.
Surviving by just being able to breathe water is tough.
“The scales are gone…”
Victoria half-undressed and repeatedly touched the area where her ribs were, spreading her fingers to examine closely.
The water was up to her knees. The incoming water swirled in one direction, creating a massive whirlpool inside the dome. It meant the blender was turned on.
It’s getting dangerous. If she gets carried away by the current and falls to the bottom, she’d come out dead.
While thinking that and observing quietly, Victoria checked her arms and legs a few times, then stretched her arm forward with a puzzled expression.
And the water in front of her turned soft like jelly. Actually, not just the water in front of her, but all the surrounding water turned jelly-like.
While water kept flowing in from outside the dome, it all turned to jelly and piled up outside.
Now that she thought about it, there wasn’t a single person with psychic abilities in the second world.
No, there were so few people made during the harvesting process.
It’s not something that can be just arbitrarily increased, but she’s thinking of being a bit more proactive about it here.
Meanwhile, water was flowing down her body as well.
She thought it would be sticky, but surprisingly, inside, it felt just like water. Slippery, but when she tried to move, there was resistance like water sprinkled with starch.
Rumble
The device that was meticulously collapsing the surroundings from the outside finally entered the last stage.
It would bring down this place where all the water was gathering.
Stones dropped from the ceiling, and the surrounding pillars began to crumble completely. However, Victoria was stronger.
No debris could penetrate the protective shield made by Victoria.
After some time, until all the surrounding structures collapsed,
“Huff, huff, huff.”
Victoria survived.
But she was breathing roughly, as if she’d just sprinted across a playground. Bent over, she ended up sitting in the muddy ground for quite a while.
She seemed extremely tired.
Well, many psychics who came from the first world often struggled after using their powers.
That psychic ability was their own power, unlike the Cheonma Martial Art that extracts power. So, it’s only natural to feel exhausted.
In fact, it’s odd to be this little tired after using a power that humans can’t produce.
“You are…”
Having regained some of her strength, Victoria looked at me.
“Survival. Congratulations.”
Kyaah!
Victoria jumped in surprise and screamed.
It makes sense.
From Victoria’s perspective, more than half my body looked like minced meat. The only thing relatively intact was the upper body that was inside the protective barrier. Excluding that, there wasn’t even a leftover fish bone.
“Are you alive?”
“Well, it’s okay if it hurts since it was never mine to begin with.”
There was pain, but suffering from just these nerve signals was nothing compared to the coldness.
“You said earlier that the body wasn’t originally yours.”
“Yes. Correct. And also, this isn’t the one I was supposed to descend into.”
Victoria looked at me with a mix of curiosity and pity. And rightly so. From her perspective, I looked like I was dying.
“Aren’t you their master? I heard you’re called Dagon.”
“No. I’m not Daegon.”
Dagon, Daegon, Daygon. Various names, but they all refer to the same thing.
After examining herself a few times, she nodded.
“Okay. If you were him, I’d have completely turned into a Sahaquin. But, are you alright? You’re bleeding a lot.”
My lower half had been completely torn off, and a large cut stretched from my back to the front rib area. But this body was sturdy.
The outflow of blood and bodily fluids had already stopped, and the internal system had switched to emergency regeneration mode to sustain life.
If I just eat well, I’ll regenerate.
“Yes. This body doesn’t die from such things.”
Hearing that, Victoria nodded and suddenly stopped. After standing still for quite a while, she exhaled deeply.
“I signed a contract with you earlier. So, what happens now? If you’re some kind of god, you must want something from me.”
Ah.
Looks like she’s finally found some time to think about the contract?
But there’s no need to worry about that.
“I’m not a god. And people should live freely. I just need warmth when your end is over.”
And in the meantime, I take the warmth from every creature she kills. But I won’t mention this. What if, after saying warmth from others, she doesn’t kill someone?
“Freedom, huh?”
She looked at me with a face that seemed to doubt the outrageous lie. But I nodded my fish-like big head.
It’s a weird feeling since I have no pupils, but it’s fine for now.
“Yes.”
I had no intention of imposing on anyone. After all, if left alone, they would naturally send me warmth, so there’s no reason to force it, right?
Victoria pondered my words. And perhaps having reached her own conclusion, she looked at me and asked.
“What are you going to do from now on?”
She’s asking what I’ll do going forward.
I check Victoria’s memories in front of me.
She has a complicated past, but summarizing the important points leads to this.
Victoria was genuinely a student.
Of course, it’s not a school where royalty and nobility flaunt their differences in eye level as per her faded memories. Such places exist in this world, but she’s not attending those.
She is a modernized alchemist by this world’s standards. A student studying to become a clockwork engineer.
This world is at the forefront of a civilization where brass gears and magical devices are intertwined. If you think of it as steampunk with magic as the power source, it’s easier to understand.
So, that’s why she was skilled with metal rods.
Now it makes sense why she was good at using powerful weapons.
Anyway.
She was kidnapped while returning home during the break after taking a boat at the port where she stopped to catch a ride.
And she woke up in an underground prison deep in the Sahaquin’s lair.
She regained consciousness among people who had transformed halfway into Fishmen and killed a Sahaquin who tried to inject her with a metal rod in one blow.
After that, while moving here and there to escape the Sahaquin lair, her priorities changed when she captured a high-ranking Sahaquin trying to catch her because that Sahaquin left a dying message about their god descending. After that, she received a weapon capable of killing any Sahaquin in one blow and a key to collapse the place.
And she was already aware that she had been injected.
So, she killed all the Sahaquin blocking her way and arrived at the summoning location.
Then, I was summoned, and now we are here.
Her faded memories sparkled as if she were the protagonist of a horror game. I agreed with that and thought about what to do going forward.
Hiding underwater with this enormous body.
That sounds a bit dangerous. Because various bio-weapons made using biotechnology have been pushed out into the wild and killed.
Even if I go out with this body, it’s unlikely to help. It would merely delay the time before being shredded.
Of course, since they attacked me, I could turn them into monsters, but I don’t plan to take warmth and turn anyone into a monster again unless it’s for creating tools.
Once was enough for such mockery.
“What should we do?”
“Don’t ask me again.”
Silence fell.
With her arms crossed, Victoria stood in the middle of the ruins and suddenly looked at me as if she thought of something and asked.
“The magic school kids had creatures that can transform like summoners. Can’t you do that?”
Transforming, huh.
I couldn’t use magic.
Then, if it’s transformation instead of that, could I?? I’ve never tried regenerating into human shape before, but I have done body regeneration.
“I’ll give it a try.”
This was my first time changing the shape of a container. Since it’s a created creature and not a living one, there’s no resistance.
If I forcefully press reality, the world changes in the direction I want.
Crack.
The world cracks slightly.
“Huh? Was she a little girl?”
I turned into a small girl.
I was at a loss for words.
The appearance of the girl resembled someone I knew. It wasn’t exactly the same, but…
In front of Victoria, stood a little girl with a still clear face.
I swear, I had no intention of taking on this little girl’s appearance.
With purple hair and small hands and feet, resembling the little girl I saw the last time.
Soo-oh.
From within my memories, a technique that I could never grasp sparkled fleetingly.
Soo-oh’s Divine Art Choseol.
Yes.
That memory sparkles faintly.
It shone as if Soo-oh was teasing me and succeeded in making me smile.
