Chapter 223: Extra Story — Seele
After Kevin emerged from the Sea of Quanta. World Serpent Headquarters.
“What a rarity. Even you would make a face like that.”
Grey Serpent’s gaze swept across Enoxia’s face.
“World Serpent finally has a chance to do something for me—you should be counting your blessings.”
Grey Serpent gestured for Enoxia to continue.
“I’m looking for—or rather, trying to rescue—someone. If World Serpent gets involved, it’ll greatly increase the chances of success.”
“Oh, interesting. Someone even the Herrscher of Corruption and the Herrscher of the Void find difficult to locate? Do you have any idea where they might be?”
“The Sea of Quanta.”
Grey Serpent paused for a few seconds before speaking again:
“The Sea of Quanta… Are you certain the person you’re looking for still has any chance of being alive?”
“Her chances of surviving in the Sea of Quanta are infinitely close to one hundred percent.”
“Oh, even more interesting. I’m going to need more detailed information.”
A faint smile curled at the corner of Enoxia’s mouth. She knew that now that Grey Serpent was interested, it meant they were willing to lend a hand.
“Her name is Seele Vollerei. Born on October 18, 2000, in Estonia.”
“After the Second Eruption, multiple European countries were indirectly affected, triggering military turmoil. Seele lost her parents amid the political upheaval and became an orphan.”
“Fortunately, she was taken in by Cocolia of Anti-Entropy and entered her orphanage.”
“Cocolia, is it… I’ve had dealings with her. An interesting woman. She has obvious weaknesses, yet when she acts, she stops at nothing, completely disregarding the consequences.”
Grey Serpent said with a meaningful tone.
“On that point, you and I share the same view. I wonder if, while she’s running around causing trouble everywhere, she ever considers that someone might threaten her with the children in her orphanage, or even hurt them just to get under her skin if they can’t beat her. After all, humans are beings with both incredibly low and incredibly high limits in every sense of the word.”
“Hmm… I seem to have gone off track. Anyway, Seele Vollerei spent a relatively decent childhood in Cocolia’s orphanage—compared to the other orphans, that is. Until 2014, when Cocolia conducted the X-10 Experiment at her base in the Sea of Okhotsk. As a Stigma Awakened, Seele naturally became the prime candidate.”
Upon hearing “Stigma Awakened,” Grey Serpent’s interest became visibly piqued.
“In the end, the X-10 Experiment failed… or rather, it wasn’t a complete success. Seele couldn’t fully master the power of her Stigma. The moment she broke through the subatomic level, she was destroyed, and her form of existence transitioned into a quantum state.”
“But unlike others, she can freely traverse the Sea of Quanta in her physical body. Although she lost her way due to the Sea of Quanta’s uniquely harsh environment, this is an ability not even Herrschers or MANTIS soldiers possess. If Kevin had such an ability, perhaps he could have escaped fifteen hundred years ago.”
“So, after you bring such a unique existence out of the Sea of Quanta, what do you plan to do with her?”
Enoxia smiled:
“The things I’ve said so far were mainly to introduce her uniqueness and spark the listener’s interest. For me personally, none of the above matters. What matters is that through her, I can build a good relationship with Bronya Zaychik—oh right, Bronya is also a member of Cocolia’s orphanage. Misteln should have mentioned that name to you.”
Grey Serpent nodded:
“It does ring a bell. But what makes you so sure…”
“Because of the bond between those two, which goes far beyond friendship. Grey Serpent, I imagine you’re not particularly interested in the gossip between girls, are you?”
“…Since this is a transaction, what kind of compensation are you offering?”
Enoxia blinked:
“How about a ten-billion-dollar subsidy for World Serpent? After you safely bring Seele out of the Sea of Quanta, the accounts actually controlled by World Serpent will increase by a total of ten billion US dollars.”
“Oh, and don’t worry. To prevent inflation from reducing purchasing power or even triggering an economic crisis, any increase in World Serpent’s accounts will mean a corresponding decrease in the numbers in others’ accounts.”
“…Deal.”
October 11, 2015. The Sea of Quanta.
Seele drifted aimlessly through the Sea of Quanta, just as she always did. As far as the eye could see, space that defied the laws of reality stretched infinitely forward, with Quantum Shadows occasionally emerging from some forgotten corner.
“Hey… Hah!”
Seele gripped her scythe with both hands and swung it forward with unsteady steps. Though she looked like she could barely hold the weapon steady, the damage she dealt was considerable. With a single strike, she eliminated the Quantum Shadow that had charged straight at her.
[Idiot, watch your back.]
Seele had barely let out a sigh of relief after destroying the Quantum Shadow before her when she received a warning in her mind. She moved instantly, her body dissolving into countless blue butterflies just before the shadow behind her could pierce her.
A few seconds later, the blue butterflies gathered to the side of that Quantum Shadow. Seele brought her scythe down on its head, and it stopped moving entirely.
[Good, that takes care of them all. You’re still a timid little idiot, but compared to when you first came to this godforsaken place, you’ve definitely improved.]
Seele smiled from the bottom of her heart:
“Thank you, the other me. If you hadn’t stayed by my side all this time, I’d probably still be curled up in some corner, too scared to move.”
“I just wonder how much time has passed out there, and how Bronya is doing…”
[Sigh. Instead of worrying about others, you should worry about yourself. Your dear Bronya is in the real world right now—she’s probably having meals, reading books, and playing games every day with her “new best friends,” living it up. Unlike us, who don’t even know where we’ll be in the next moment, let alone when we’ll ever leave this godforsaken place.]
“Yeah, you’re right. Bronya is probably doing just fine right now. I need to keep working hard so I can hold on until I get out of here. Only by getting out safely can I stop Bronya from worrying about me.”
[Actually, my point was… never mind. Only you would interpret things in such a naive way. Looking at the direction we’re heading, who knows—maybe we’ll get sucked into some kind of vortex in the next moment…]
Her other self immediately regretted opening her big mouth, because now, right in Seele’s field of vision, a massive vortex had appeared. Countless irregular objects entered its range, were rapidly pulled to the center by the centripetal force, and torn to shreds.
“What… is that…”
Seeing this, Seele instinctively gripped her scythe tightly, a look of fear spreading across her face.
[I don’t know either, but if I had to guess, it looks like some kind of rift in the Sea of Quanta. If we’re lucky, it might transport us to some bubble world or another region. If we’re unlucky… we’ll probably be torn apart just like those things before we even get teleported. Anyway, we should avoid it if at all possible.]
But then, on the outer edge of the vortex, an immensely powerful energy erupted. A pair of pale blue hands reached out from the Sea of Quanta.
What finally appeared before Seele was a monster with only an upper body, its ribs clearly visible, and plenty of room for improvement in the looks department—Tlaloc.
It crossed its arms and slammed downward, sending shockwaves through the entire sea. The blast sent Seele flying backward.
[Idiot, dodge!]
Seele sidestepped just in time to avoid Tlaloc’s sweeping arm. But then she realized that a pulling force was slowly drawing her toward the center of the vortex.
She was now in a very awkward position: to break free from the vortex’s pull, she’d have to charge outward with all her might, but that would inevitably put her right in Tlaloc’s attack range. And against this behemoth before her, Seele didn’t think she stood a chance.
But staying put wasn’t an option either. Struggling against the vortex’s pull, her stamina was steadily draining, and the end result would only be falling into the center of the vortex.
At this critical moment, after taking who knows how many deep breaths, Seele finally made up her mind.
“The other me, I think there’s only one way out now.”
[?]
“I know I can’t fully unleash this body’s power, so… I’m handing over complete control to you.”
[Are you sure? If you do that, you’ll fall into a deep sleep. You won’t know what’s happening on the outside at all.]
“I understand.”
[That means if I wanted to, I could permanently take over this body and never let you wake up again.]
“You wouldn’t do that. I trust you.”
[But even with me piloting this body, I might not be able to escape from that ugly thing.]
“It’s okay. As long as we try our best. You’re stronger than me—your chances of success are definitely higher than mine.”
[…]
“So… I’m counting on you, the other me!”
[Fine, fine. I really can’t do anything with you.]
Seele’s originally azure pupils instantly turned crimson. She leaped forward, breaking free of the vortex’s pull, and predictably caught Tlaloc’s attention. It opened its mouth, aiming directly at her, and a purple beam came blasting out.
Seele accelerated immediately, moving not away but straight toward Tlaloc’s body, the purple beam hot on her heels.
Once she was close enough, Seele leaped onto Tlaloc’s arm. This put her in the monster’s blind spot.
Seeing Tlaloc halt its attack, Seele immediately counterattacked. She ran up along its arm, dragging her scythe behind her and leaving a deep red gash in its flesh.
“I can deal damage, but it’s not having much effect… Looks like I’m not as strong as she thinks I am. I let her down.”
Seele noticed that Tlaloc didn’t react at all to the wound on its arm, realizing it was probably just a minor injury to the creature.
“At the very least, I have to make sure she gets out of here.”
Seele walked to Tlaloc’s shoulder and jumped backward. Since she couldn’t win, it was time to run.
“If it uses that move from earlier, I might be able to use its force to push myself away…”
As if sensing Seele’s departure, Tlaloc immediately turned its body around, but unfortunately, it didn’t release a shockwave in all directions as she’d hoped. Instead, it spread its arms wide, and five black energy spheres appeared around it, swiftly surrounding her.
“Tch. This is bad.”
Seeing the five spheres connecting with each other, clearly preparing to trap her, Seele began to gather her strength, focusing on one point to break through with all her might.
“I don’t know what’ll happen if I cut this thing open, but I can’t think of any other way right now…”
Just then, a pitch-black [hole] suddenly appeared behind Tlaloc. Dozens of long, narrow [spines] shot out, shattering its ribs.
As its massive body collapsed, the energy spheres around Seele vanished. A purple-haired, yellow-eyed girl stepped out from the [hole], wearing a slightly irritated expression.
“What… just happened?”
Though Seele was free to move again, her gaze remained locked on Tlaloc, knowing the battle wasn’t over yet.
And as she’d expected, Tlaloc was still capable of fighting. It raised its head and fired a beam identical to the previous one at the purple-haired girl in the air.
But the girl showed not a trace of panic. She raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. A [hole] appeared both in front of her and behind Tlaloc. The beam entered the [hole] in front and came out from the one behind, successfully blowing Tlaloc itself to pieces.
“So that thing is like a portal… What the—!”
After Tlaloc fell, a transparent rope extended from the original portal, latching precisely around Seele’s waist. Before she could react, it yanked her inside.
Five minutes later. World Serpent Headquarters.
Sirin looked at Seele’s steady breathing and finally felt a weight lift from her heart. Because the spatial distribution in the Sea of Quanta differed from the real world, when Sirin opened a portal using her usual methods, there was a huge chance of error, potentially sending someone to who knows where. So Enoxia, after World Serpent located Seele, had Misteln come to assist.
Misteln’s main task was to stabilize the passage between the real world and the Sea of Quanta, while also helping Sirin correct any errors. With her help, Sirin was able to complete the mission successfully.
“How strange. She doesn’t seem to have any serious injuries, so why is she unconscious?”
After examining Seele, Jackal stared at the readings on the instruments, utterly baffled.
“Alright, since she’s fine, I won’t short you a single cent of the promised payment. And don’t think I don’t know—you wanted to use such a unique person for human experiments from the very start.”
Jackal immediately and obediently withdrew from the room.
Enoxia gazed at Seele, a playful smile gradually spreading across her face.
“Sirin, take Seele home. This way… Alexandra can meet her.”
