Chapter 167

-How long do you think it will take?

"Yes, Master. If I try to finish as quickly as possible... it will take about 5 months."

-That's too long. By that time, they will have completed all their preparations on the other side.

"Ah! I'm sorry. What a mistake! 3 months! I will definitely complete it within 3 months."

To meet the deadline, Maronie began to move again, standing at the operating table.

If he proceeds smoothly, what is placed on his operating table will be more than just a simple lump of flesh.

The fifth disaster and the sixth disaster created by Maronie.

Maronie called this lifeform he was creating Rosemary.

However, due to incomplete knowledge, the sixth disaster becomes known as the Incomplete Body.

'But if it becomes complete through my knowledge...'

Not an incomplete body, but a complete one.

No one will be able to stop Rosemary.

***

Rosaria came out wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

Phoebe accompanied her as her guardian and watched over her.

"Sister, look at this!"

Phoebe looked at where Rosaria was pointing.

It was a wildflower that had sprung up in a green lawn.

"Oh, it's a pretty flower. Shall we pick it?"

Rosaria stretched out her hand and shook her head in response.

"No. Many butterflies will look for this flower. If Rosaria takes it, the flowers will be sad."

"Is that so?"

Phoebe hugged Rosaria, laughing as if she was incredibly adorable.

"When the camera comes out later, let's take lots of pictures."

"Camera?"

"It's something made by the tower master. It's a device that captures the scenery and situation exactly as it is in a picture. When Phoebe first saw it, I was really surprised."

"Rosaria wants to see it later too."

"If the tower master permits, we will see it together."

Phoebe's face was full of smiles.

The scorching sun of midsummer. In the warm shadows where there was only the shade of a wide-brimmed hat, she didn't get annoyed even once.

'So pure.'

Phoebe liked pure things.

Because she didn't have time to be pure when she was young, she was more attached to it.

Rosaria, who was looking at flowers in the field, stood still with her gaze fixed somewhere.

"Oh? There's someone there."

"Who is it?"

Phoebe turned her head in the direction Rosaria was looking.

Seeing what she was looking at, Phoebe put away her smile.

"Miss Rosaria, step back."

Phoebe spoke calmly to Rosaria, who then hid behind Phoebe's white skirt.

What Rosaria found was a boy.

Rosaria didn't know him, but Phoebe knew who the boy was.

'It can't be...'

A small figure with white hair and red eyes.

The weakest youngest sibling, the one who inherited the blood of the White Dragon, Isis.

He had not aged at all and appeared exactly as he was in Phoebe's memory.

"Isis... is that you?"

The boy, who had been staring quietly at Phoebe, opened his mouth.

"It's not Isis, sis."

Phoebe doubted her ears.

That was undoubtedly Isis's voice.

However, as the tone and speech of that voice struck her ears, it pointed to someone other than Isis.

And that was someone she knew very well.

No, there's no way it could be.

But Phoebe couldn't hide her doubts and asked him.

"Could it be... Master?"

Master, Roderick Astheria.

That was a habit possessed by someone Phoebe knew very well.

Isis smiled and nodded.

"As expected, Phoebe, you can recognize me."

"Master..."

Phoebe clasped her chest with her hands, overwhelmed with emotion.

The shock was on a different level than meeting her siblings.

"I thought you were... dead, but you're alive... I was sure...,"

"I didn't actually die that day."

"Yes?"

"Isis. He and I knew. We said that if things went on like this, everyone would be in danger. So Isis and I switched bodies. And... to keep that secret, he committed suicide."

Roderick looked down at the ground with sad eyes.

In the past, it would have been a story worthy of sympathy, but for some reason, Phoebe couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling.

"Have you been doing well all this time?"

"Yes... More than enough... So much so that even seeing you like this, I feel sorry."

Isis smiled faintly.

It looked like an emotion that didn't suit the boy's face, as if it was weathered.

"Since you're happy, I'm relieved. Yes, you are a child who deserves to be happy."

"Master..."

"Phoebe, can you grant an old man's one request?"

Without hesitation, Phoebe nodded.

"Of course. I will gladly comply with anything you say, Master. Please, tell me."

"Hand over the child behind you to me."

Roderick was pointing at Rosaria.

Phoebe's face hardened.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean exactly what I said. The little child behind you, the one called Rosaria Adeleheights Roton, hand her over to me."

Phoebe sensed that Roderick was an enemy.

But she couldn't easily turn him into an enemy.

In her head, she thought there must be another intention behind Roderick's words.

"May I ask why I should hand her over?"

"To bring peace to this world."

"Peace?"

"In this imperfect world, a new ruler is needed. An absolute being must reign, control, and manage this world."

Roderick explained very kindly.

"And for that, I need that little girl."

"Do you intend to kill her?"

"No, the expression 'to kill' is not right. To return her to her original state. Just as you all said you would return the spirits of the past."

Phoebe's clothes were pulled.

Rosaria's hand was trembling with fear.

Phoebe looked down at her and reassured her by patting her head.

"It's okay."

A face that says nothing will happen.

It was impossible to completely reassure her with just that.

Phoebe stared at Roderick with a sad face.

"After killing her... How can you tell me to see the tower master's face?"

"Sacrificing something small for a greater purpose is inevitable. She is just one girl. Even if she is his daughter, the bloodline is not connected. The sorrow will disappear before long."

Roderick reached out and took a step closer.

"Please, my daughter, my Phoebe. The only way for you to be happy is that path."

"I cannot follow."

Roderick's steps stopped.

Roderick looked up at her as if he hadn't expected this situation at all.

"Even if it's the Master's command, I cannot follow it."

"Phoebe, my daughter..."

"The Master in my heart has already passed away. With that in mind, I have faced everything and that's why I can stand here like this."

Phoebe smiled bitterly.

"If the Master reappears and tries to shake me like this... I will follow what I have believed in."

"Are you saying you will abandon this father?"

"I am not smart."

Upon hearing that, Isis's face hardened.

It was the moment when doubt turned into certainty.

"Do you mean to repay me like this... not being able to repay your benefactor?"

"I won't forget the grace I received from the Master. I will definitely take revenge for it. But..."

"But?"

"Now, I want to serve the tower master, Reed Adeleheights Roton."

Isis stared at her quietly.

Phoebe's eyes did not waver.

Roderick was an object of envy.

Whenever their eyes met, her pupils should have shaken.

Roderick knew that she had completely turned to Reed.

"Do you love that man?"

She knew who that man referred to.

Phoebe answered.

"Yes. Sometimes... I love him so much that I wonder if it's too much and it's causing him trouble."

"To me, it just sounds like you're abandoning your kin for love."

Roderick's voice grew rougher.

Phoebe spoke politely once more.

"I will pretend I didn't hear this. Please, just step back as you are. This is the last favor I can grant you."

Phoebe bowed to Roderick and pleaded.

"Ha."

But what came back was a burst of laughter, full of disbelief.

Roderick took off his mask.

"As expected... you're nothing more than a beast that doesn't know gratitude."

At that moment, a strong energy began to flow from Roderick's body.

A gloomy and brutal energy.

It was disgustingly ruthless.

"Your siblings failed to bring you back, but I have no intention of failing my plan."

Phoebe thought Roderick would fight her.

But her expectation was off.

"If it's easy to kill the dead siblings again, what about the ones still alive?"

"Even if it's the Master's command, I cannot follow it."

Two people who had been hiding in the bushes appeared in front of Roderick.

Phoebe was startled.

"Gorgon... Saul..."

Gorgon and Saul, the half-dragons who should be in the empire, stood before him.

Gorgon stood quietly with calm eyes, and Saul's eyebrows twitched as if something was unstable.

Saul's face twitched and he moved.

"Sister... run... away."

He warned her as if he was choking.

As Roderick waved his finger, the energy surrounding him dug into his head once more.

"Ugh..."

Saul, who had been in pain, calmed down like Gorgon.

He felt completely captured by something he had been resisting.

They were not acting on their own will.

"Let's test your great belief."

Gorgon, the man known as the empire's swift sword, drew his long sword.

Before he even drew his sword, Phoebe moved.

Clang!

A flash of light aimed at Rosaria, but it was blocked by Phoebe's hand.

As Phoebe tried to catch Gorgon, he stepped back again.

The battle was inevitable.

Having judged that, Phoebe decided to stand against them.

Phoebe dragged her foot and crushed the ground.

By pressing the end of the broken ground, a wall rose to her chest level.

Phoebe fixed her clenched foot on the ground as an axis and made a big turn.

Her left foot, with more rotational force, stretched forward and struck the wall.

Bang!

The wall collapsed under her blow.

Dirt and hundreds of stone fragments flew like buckshot, covering Saul and Gorgon.

Saul swung both hands widely in response to Phoebe's attack.

The dirt stopped in front of the trajectory of his hands as if there was a transparent barrier.

Most of it lost momentum and fell to the ground, while some of it bounced up at an angle.

A large object flew out of the scattered pile of dirt.

Phoebe stood in front of Saul with her nails exposed.

Saul's nails turned purple.

His body carried a poison that would cause flesh to rot unless neutralized by the power of the Azure Dragon.

"Sauuul!"

Phoebe's low kick hit Saul squarely.

As it hit the middle of the bone, the bone broke, and Saul collapsed like a doll.

At the same time, her fist struck Saul's face.

Thump!

With a sound like a skull breaking, Saul fell unconscious.

Phoebe used Saul's horn to threaten Gorgon.

She skillfully swung the larger human around like a club or spear.

As Saul was taken hostage and used as a weapon, Gorgon, the empire's swift sword, couldn't move easily.

Not only was he a comrade, but the poison circulating in Saul's body could endanger him if he wasn't careful.

Having no choice, Gorgon raised his sword and struck his ally, Saul.

Snap! Snap!

Saul's whole body broke and turned mushy like a squid.

Phoebe, having lost the value of Saul as a weapon, tried to face Gorgon head-on.

"You fool. Do you think you can beat Phoebe head-on? Turn into a dragon."

At Roderick's words, scales sprouted from Gorgon's body.

His already fast sword became even faster, almost impossible to track with the naked eye.

Phoebe's skill was on par with Gorgon's without turning into a dragon.

However, Phoebe had more to protect than just her body.

Gorgon targeted Phoebe and Rosaria at the same time.

Phoebe would have to compromise her body's center to protect the child, and this would create vulnerabilities or prevent her from defending properly.

'I must protect her.'

But how?

To do that, she had to take down Gorgon.

How could she subdue Gorgon, who had grown dramatically while being in the empire?

'Dragon transformation.'

She briefly considered it, but immediately dismissed the idea.

If she transformed into a dragon, she could be engulfed in pleasure and undoubtedly aim her attacks at Rosaria.

'And I don't want to kill Gorgon.'

At the moment of decision, someone would undoubtedly die.

She had to choose between giving up her old family or her new family.

A cruel choice was placed in her hands.