Read Novel Full Vol 1. Chapter 7: Side Story – Aaron – Purity for One (5)
Vol 1. Chapter 7: Side Story – Aaron – Purity for One (5)
Crowds had gathered in the central plaza in front of Möbius HQ.
Hegrian’s speech was underway.
<It is with great regret—for you and for us—that I announce the failure of the Pick Me Up Project.>
Murmur, murmur.
Despite the buzz of the crowd, Hegrian’s deep, resonant voice pierced through.
<From the start, Pick Me Up was a fantasy. A delusion. A faded dream. We gave it our all, but could find no viable future in it.>
<However, this is not the end.>
<Even if Möbius falls, we, who carry its will, shall remain.>
Hegrian’s gaze turned toward the massive lot in front of the headquarters.
Too vast to call a parking lot.
The vehicles that had once occupied it were all cleared out. Even the crowd had not been allowed into that open space.
Boom! Boom!
The ground began to shake.
As citizens began to panic, not understanding what was happening, Hegrian’s voice cut in again.
<As of today, we commence the Ark Project.>
The entire lot began to shift and rise.
And from the opposite side, something emerged.
It was an airship—so massive it defied imagination.
To call it a ship was almost an insult. It more closely resembled a floating island.
<We have stored within this vessel all the history, culture, and legacy of Möbius. Because!>
Hegrian’s cloak billowed.
<As long as we bear its purpose in our hearts, Möbius will not end!>
Unlike Pick Me Up, which was public and glorified, this was the reveal of a secret, massive parallel plan.
Hegrian officially announced the Ark Project.
This sleek, titanic airship—known as the Ark—carried with it the history, culture, and heritage of Möbius’s dimensions.
It even housed genetic material from rare species, research data, and magic systems, all painstakingly preserved.
<Comrades!>
Hegrian cried, radiating the aura of a seasoned leader.
<Möbius does not end here. It begins anew, somewhere else!>
Shhhhhh!
Steam erupted from various ports across the Ark.
“Wooooooaaahhh!!”
A deafening cheer burst from the crowd.
“It really is Lord Hegrian!”
“There was a backup plan all along! All along!”
“We don’t need to cling to that weird game anymore!”
A flawless performance—declaring the failure of Pick Me Up while immediately unveiling the Ark Project as a grand alternative.
He had transformed despair into euphoria with masterful rhetoric.
With this, most of Eden’s populace would surely join the plan.
Hegrian smiled with deep satisfaction.
<Boarding procedures will begin immediately. There are no restrictions. The Ark’s gates are open to all—so long as you are citizens of Eden!>
Pick Me Up.
What, bring the game to Earth, generate interference power, and use it to revive a dead universe?
A senile old man’s joke. A foolish goddess’s fantasy.
That ridiculous plan ends today.
This is the right answer.
Find a new universe. Begin again.
No one knew how long the journey would take, but it was far better than being buried here.
Within the colossal Ark was the full essence of Hegrian’s faction and Möbius’s legacy. With it, a new mythos could rise in a hollow cosmos.
I am God.
God.
One who transcends law and order.
Not even the death of the universe could stop him.
<Open, Ark!>
Finally, the massive rear doors of the Ark began to part.
Its multi-tiered interior had room to accommodate nearly half of Eden’s citizens comfortably.
In fact, this works out perfectly.
He would be beyond the reach of that old man and those twin goddesses.
He could reign supreme—undisturbed—as the highest god.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Behold.
Möbius may die, but I, the god, shall live on.
Hegrian erupted into triumphant laughter.
Flashes burst from the countless cameras around him.
This day would go down in history, recorded in books to come.
And the main character of that history—was him.
“You fools, Tell and Icar! This is what happens when you cling to the dead! Pitiful! Pitiful! If only you had let go of your pride, you could have achieved immortality—!”
Thunk.
Before he could finish speaking, Hegrian felt something strange.
His throat... it itched.
Flash! Flash-flash!
The flurry of camera flashes intensified.
“...?”
Hegrian’s head flew into the air.
Thud.
His body, now headless, collapsed onto the platform.
From the cleanly severed neck, a fountain of blood erupted.
Drip, drip...
Blood flowed like a river, drowning the stage.
“Ah-hah, ah-hah, ahahaha...”
Tell stood with her head lowered, laughing.
In her hand—an enormous scythe.
“No, no, this isn’t enough. He can’t die from just that, right? Not a god.”
Drip. Drip-drip.
With one hand, Tell hoisted up the headless corpse.
Then—
Her other hand pierced straight into his chest.
“Ihihihi, it’s coming in.”
Veins bulged along Tell’s thin arm.
She was absorbing him.
Something—some thing—was flowing from Hegrian’s body into hers.
“...!”
It wasn’t blood.
It was something more fundamental.
The essence of godhood and spirit.
Tell was absorbing Hegrian’s very existence.
“Ufufu... ufufufufu...”
Swelling.
Parts of her body began to bulge grotesquely.
Bloated like a balloon about to burst—then barely settling again.
This was an act that should never be permitted.
To absorb another’s existence was the gravest taboo.
Not for the victim’s sake—
But because—
“Hahahaha!”
Tell’s skin tore under the pressure.
The blood that oozed out was thick, like tar.
Absorbing a being’s essence—
It meant mixing one’s data with another’s.
And that brought contamination.
A fatal side effect.
But Tell didn’t care.
She devoured Hegrian, to the last drop.
“It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m okay. I’m pure. Truly pure! No matter how much I mix—I’ll remain myself. Ihihihihi.”
Her pupils spun wildly in both directions.
Hegrian had been a god on par with Tell Icar.
The wave of interference power raging through her form shredded her being from the inside.
It’s okay.
I can do this.
Because I’m pure.
Truly—clean.
“Wh-what the hell?!”
“Restrain her! Now—restrain her!”
Nearby subordinates scrambled in panic.
Tell adjusted her grip on the massive scythe.
Slice!
With one sweeping slash, multiple heads floated into the air.
Their bodies dropped in unison.
“Ah, so easy. I should’ve just done this from the start.”
Fwoosh!
A pair of wings unfurled behind her.
From the chests of the fallen, bubbles began to rise.
Each one—a source of existence.
They tried to drift away, to flee.
“Uhehehehe...”
You can’t escape.
You can’t run.
She clenched her fist—and the essence-bubbles were sucked into her chest like a vacuum.
Not physical death—spiritual annihilation.
“Uwaaaaagh!”
“What is this?! What’s happening?!”
“Lady Tell? Lady Tell!”
Chaos erupted among the crowd.
“Stop her! Someone stop her! Call for—”
Pop!
A man, just about to call for backup via radio, had a hole punched clean through his skull.
A silenced sniper shot.
“Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate.”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
One by one, the soldiers guarding the platform dropped like puppets with their strings cut.
They had no idea where the shots were coming from—only that they were dying.
“Assimilate, assimilate, assimilate.”
She devoured the bubbles.
Tell could feel her existence swelling.
Larger. Ever larger.
“Still not enough.”
Far too little to save Möbius.
She had to devour more.
She needed more prey.
Her crazed, spiraling eyes locked onto the crowd.
They were all trying to flee down the opposite street.
“...!”
But they couldn’t.
A crimson energy barrier had appeared at some point, blocking the street.
<You’re all here, aren’t you?>
Tell spoke.
The voice of a god, carried on waves of raw power, rang clearly across the square.
<You backstabbing bastards—every last one of you’s here, huh?>
Step.
With a single step forward, a surge of energy rippled out from Tell, covering the entire city.
<The Ark Project? Puhahahaha!>
The airship at the center of the landing field began to ascend.
An emergency takeoff.
Tell raised a hand.
Crunch!
With a grasping motion, the massive rear thrusters crumpled like tin cans.
Boom!
The Ark, halfway into the air, dropped like a stone.
<Die.>
Tell crouched.
The blade of her scythe stretched out—longer, longer—
And then, a clean slice.
A ridiculous end.
The colossal airship Ark, constructed with untold capital, technology, and time—split cleanly in two.
Yet it didn’t explode.
Though fires broke out all over its body, it still held its shape.
Behind Tell, her waiting forces stormed forward.
“Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate.”
Tell muttered.
Her troops, armed with specialized assault rifles and body armor, opened fire without hesitation on the survivors inside.
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Gunfire and screams echoed in all directions.
Dissipated essence hung in the air like mist.
“Mmm, tasty.”
Every time her wings fluttered, essence was sucked into Tell.
<Why are you doing this?!>
A voice rang out—laced with interference power.
One of the gods aligned with Hegrian.
<We haven’t opposed you! We’ve cooperated all this time! What is the meaning of this?!>
<You. Who are you?>
<I... I’m Valdi...>
Whip—
A long, whip-like appendage extended from Tell’s hand.
It wrapped around the man’s neck.
Crack!
His limbs shattered.
“Please! Lady Tell! Lady Tell!”
“We were wrong! We were wrong!”
“We weren’t trying to betray you! We were just curious what you’d say!”
“S-Stop! Please!”
“The Pick Me Up Project isn’t over yet!”
“We—we—!”
“Mercy!”
“Please—!”
“Stop—!”
So noisy.
So, so noisy.
“Exterminate, exterminate, exterminate.”
Click!
The automated cannons stationed on the rooftops came online.
Originally designed as the city’s final defense against disasters—
Now, their barrels turned on the citizens.
“Fire.”
TATATATATATATA!
The rotary cannons, spitting hundreds of rounds per second, unleashed hell.
Flesh was no different from scraps of meat before that kind of firepower.
No screams could even be heard.
Cannons installed across the city linked ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) together, forming a perfect kill zone. Broken asphalt flew into the air, along with chunks of bone and torn flesh that had once been people.
“The ones in hiding—kill them all.”
The units behind Tell began their sweep.
They were creations made to obey her commands without question.
No conscience. No guilt.
“AAAGHH!”
“Please! Please spare us!”
“Lady Tell! Lady Teeeell!”
Screams and wails rose from all corners of the city.
There was nowhere to run.
Every exit had already been sealed by formless barriers.
Some survivors remained hidden, but it was only a matter of time before they were found.
“How many are left?”
Tell tried to count.
She stopped at ten thousand.
“Ah, whatever.”
It didn’t matter.
Tat-tat-tat!
Tuutatatatata!
The roars of heavy guns and assault rifles filled the city like music.