NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 189
“How does this look underneath?”
Stuck in this containment device, I asked the kids about the situation outside.
It wasn’t just because I disliked the eerie silence; I was genuinely curious. It seemed that, inside here, there was no way to see outside, no matter how much I wanted to.
“It’s a complete mess. I heard the briefing, but it’s really chaotic. There’s no building left standing, all bombed to bits. Even the ones that look okay seem shaky. And…”
Minho was describing the outside scene for everyone, when suddenly a loud boom made him shut up. Wasn’t that an airplane?
Just as I was about to ask if something was wrong, Minho quickly quelled my curiosity.
“Just now, a giant mountain erupted from the ground. This is literally the sound of the earth shaking… I thought I’d never hear something like this in my life.”
Ah, it must be Lapiz’s grandma and mom working on the land. I thought an airplane engine had blown up or something.
Well, if that had been the case, the craft would be trembling, so I guess I was being overly sensitive.
Muttering that I shouldn’t have panicked, I warned everyone to brace themselves; once we started descending, it would be chaotic and relentless.
They were probably already prepared, but someone had to say it.
Even though I was trapped and didn’t look so hot, it was better than not saying anything at all.
“Blanca, are you ready? We might have to take down some of your former colleagues, even if it’s just a few.”
“My only colleagues were that guy and Justitia. Those traitorous punks can die for all I care. Why should I be bothered?”
As I said this mockingly from inside the device, Minho awkwardly apologized for digging into painful memories.
“Still… we do have to face Justitia, right? Are you going to be okay?”
Ageha asked me with concern, but I reassured her that it would be fine.
“Fine or not, I should be worrying about whether I live or die. It’s not about how to beat Justitia, but how to keep her tied up.”
This was a stark reality. Justitia was strong. And since she was under domination right now, I couldn’t expect her to hold back.
Arman, who seemed to only care about his own safety while pretending to look after his subordinates, would make her fight until she became incapacitated.
Honestly, even if she went easy on us, I didn’t know if we could win, and if she didn’t, it was as predictable as breathing.
In fact, even if we fought really hard, the best I could see was a draw or self-destruction as the limit.
“I see… Should I say I’m relieved? At least I won’t have to stain my hands with the blood of someone who was once a colleague.”
“That colleague might see my blood, actually.”
As we chuckled, the tension in the air seemed to lessen a bit, and the kids started chatting quietly.
Most of it was just small talk to alleviate the tension, but there were some constructive ideas too.
“After we take down the Evil Society… well, is there anything you guys want to do?”
At Minho’s words, they fell into a reflective silence, with no one really reacting.
Or maybe they were pretending to think while just killing time. The fight was right on our doorstep; why think about the future now?
“Nothing? Then I’ll go first. I want to reform society.”
Saying this while the Heros Company staff were listening made it even more shocking.
Why on earth did he suddenly become a revolutionary?
The kids’ reactions were similar; despite the polite words, their voices trembled, as if asking what the heck he was talking about.
“Isn’t all of this just a result of festering pain? The Liberators stirred things up, and Blanca got caught up with them.”
Wasn’t it all a boil on society that finally burst?
Minho strangely echoed that one guy who seemed to overlap in his mind.
Of course, that guy believed the current society was irredeemable and radical ideas like ‘let’s smash it all and start fresh,’ while Minho was more about fixing what’s already in place.
His views were pretty moderate too.
“Why do boils come up? Because society is sick, right? One day, a second or third Blanca or Liberator might show up. So… we need to fix it. To prevent anymore Blancas or Liberators from appearing.”
Still, likening people to boils rubbed me the wrong way.
The kids seemed to agree but reacted a bit cautiously, suggesting maybe this wasn’t the best topic.
“They’re the key personnel; you wouldn’t drop them, would you? Ageha, what about you? What do you want to do?”
“I want to go to where Justitia was.”
“You mean you want to be a ranked hero?”
Minho corrected Ageha’s statement, which could be misunderstood, and Ageha seemed a bit embarrassed, realizing it sounded odd.
“Umm, it’s a bit different, but… right? I’ve dreamed of it for a long time, and lately, I’ve felt lacking. To be precise, I guess my dream is to get strong enough to join the ranks…”
“I… don’t know. Right now, I just want to graduate from the Academy without any incidents. I want to get along well with you guys. Just, to be normal…”
In contrast to Ageha’s aspirations, Yeonhwa’s dream was quite modest: to peacefully and normally get along with everyone.
If this were a normal world, it wouldn’t be that hard, but in a world overflowing with the abnormal, it was an uphill battle.
“I think I need to really think about what justice is.”
What a silly statement. How can you judge the world as right or wrong? Just looking at one person, there are good and evil sides.
Maybe I was being a bit harsh, but honestly, it just sounded genuinely foolish.
“I hope I can find it.”
Minho seemed to think that was a bit of a tricky question to answer, so he offered some encouragement and moved on to someone else.
Changwon. Future plans are all laid out. Alice, no thoughts at all. Just maintaining the A-class might be tough. Seolhwa.
“I like someone and I want to confess to them.”
Oh… right. I couldn’t see the gazes of the kids, but somehow I felt like Seolhwa was staring at Minho intently.
Just as the questions were about to turn to Lapiz, I decided to interrupt the flow.
“Future is nice, but how about focusing on the present?”
“…That’s still… I can dream, can’t I?”
“Dreams are great. But only the winners get to dream. This advice is coming from a loser who might get their heart ripped apart while painting rosy futures. Take it to heart.”
I felt like I was breaking the mood, but it had to be said.
It would serve as motivation.
Minho seemed to catch my drift, and he attempted something resembling a rally talk to get everyone fired up.
Not having a knack for that kind of speech, the kids mostly just responded half-heartedly…
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The lackeys had no idea what was happening.
A mountain suddenly rising up to block the pathway, the planes passing overhead, and their superior hurriedly abandoning them.
If someone was nearby, they could have asked, but since there was no one, all he could do was wrack his brain while clutching his artifact tightly.
All he could think was, “So, the Heros Company is finally launching a large-scale attack.”
Thus, he even entertained the ridiculously naive thought that maybe if he just fought a bit and lay flat on the ground in surrender, he might survive.
That was until he saw the black butterflies flitting through the chaos.
What kind of situation is this, where a swarm of butterflies suddenly appears in the middle of this uproar? He had no idea what was going on.
As he wondered if he was dreaming out of extreme exhaustion from his guard duty, the softly fluttering black butterflies hovered around him.
Though he wasn’t particularly afraid of flying bugs, he didn’t like having them land on him, so he waved his hands to shoo them away, and then his memory cut off there.
Almost instantly, the butterflies became sharp stingers, drilling into his body and devouring his consciousness.
This was happening simultaneously all over the city.
Those fleeing, sensing something off, were stricken with panic at the sight of countless butterflies and wielding their abilities, while those witnessing their attacked comrades stood bewildered.
Fairly evenly, the mimics released by Blanca assaulted the city, stealing consciousness.
The sole reason Blanca went through the trouble of controlling the lackeys was simple.
Malice.
She wanted them to suffer as much as she had.
To have their comrades kill each other, to be tangled up in bothersome things and die along with them.
Blanca willingly poured her magic into spreading the mimics everywhere.
Once she had infected a satisfying number of people, she ground the mimics into fine powder and sent the toxins flowing through the city.
This wasn’t an act aimed at infection through breathing.
Just relying on the wind wouldn’t catch all the hidden ones in buildings or underground facilities, so her intention was to lead the toxins through the subtle flow of the mimics.
Blanca’s malice to kill every last one without leaving a single person behind struck the Evil Society like a bolt from the blue.