Chapter 133
From the audience with His Majesty Cracia, the virtual simulation began exhibiting abnormal reactions.
Chzzzt, chk.
There was severe noise in my senses. At first, I thought some data had been lost.
‘That’s not it.’
The simulation was accelerating at an abnormal speed. It was difficult to even grasp what was happening. I consciously tried to decelerate time, but it was no use.
‘This is Noel’s doing.’
Noel had secured the critical memories. Not only was the acceleration fast, but there were numerous gaps as well.
Scenes passed by quickly and indistinctly. Even the sounds faded as though murmuring from afar. No matter how hard I focused, I couldn’t hear them.
‘Noel is talking with the Emperor at that time.’
Was there already a concept like the Emperor’s Overseer, Akies Domini, back then? Even if it wasn’t named, a similar concept must have existed.
That must have been when Noel also became the Emperor’s Overseer.
Vwooom.
Suddenly, a scene I couldn’t understand flashed past my vision.
I saw stars and space. A fleet, dry as though made of bones and flesh, was advancing while emitting an eerie darkness.
The ships were crimson-black, as if turned inside out from a living creature. The outer skin, with writhing veins, squirmed as though breathing. It looked like blood would start dripping at any moment. Instead of light and fire, the thrusters at the back spewed darkness.
Even as fragments of memory, it was deeply unsettling. I felt a visceral revulsion.
‘They’re neither Coritan nor Bellato…’
They were ships of a design I had never seen anywhere. They were originally built from organic matter. As far as I knew, not even aliens—let alone humanity—used such construction.
Just looking at the fleet, seemingly woven with death, made it hard to breathe. My chest felt crushed.
Zap!
A bright flash overwhelmed my vision. I couldn’t take it anymore and pulled my consciousness and senses back into the real world.
“Haah, haah.”
My breath was ragged, as if I’d surfaced after diving underwater. I reached up and removed the simulation device I’d been wearing.
“Luka?”
“Ag—no, Giselle. Water, please.”
I nearly called Giselle by Agatha’s name. I was still disoriented. I wasn’t even sure if I was Noel or Luka. I couldn’t be certain this was the era I remembered. Perhaps my life as Luka was just a dream.
‘Detached from reality. Blurred identity.’
I was experiencing dissociation. Despite it being a shallow simulation, the side effects were intense. The boundary between reality and virtuality felt hazy.
‘It just shows how high the similarity index between me and Noel is.’
Sensing something was wrong, Giselle quietly brought me water.
“Sorry, but… also a mirror.”
Giselle had knowledge of virtual simulations. Noticing I was suffering from dissociation, she quickly fetched a hand mirror.
‘I am Luka.’
Luka, from the lower sector, born in Orphanage 72.
‘Cadet of the Imperial Guard.’
About to graduate. Recipient of a medal for military merit.
‘Now, I am Lukaus Custoria.’
This is not a dream. The Custoria name is something I claimed with my own strength. Bring consciousness back to reality. The world I live in is here. Don’t get buried in the past.
‘Kinuan, Hemillas, Giselle, Gabriel, Gilda… Grace, Martina, Diva…’
I recalled how others saw me. Their view of me was part of my identity. I gathered the internal and external Lukas, and clung to the identity trying to scatter.
Rattle, rattle.
The hand mirror in my grasp trembled. My hand was shaking.
‘I’m not Noel. I’m Luka.’
But my brain was rejecting my assertion and will. The reflection in the mirror looked like Noel. It was a severe condition. My brain was recognizing me as Noel.
A rift had formed between consciousness and cognition.
“Giselle.”
I spoke, suppressing hyperventilation.
“Say it.”
“Say you love me. So I can feel this is real.”
Giselle reached out and cupped my cheek. Then she tilted her head and pressed her lips to mine.
“...This is real, Luka.”
My erratic breath calmed. Reflected in Giselle’s pupils was Luka, not Noel.
“That works better than words.”
I said, opening my eyes. As my brain accepted reality, I stabilized dramatically.
“What did you even see?”
“I don’t know… but it must be one of the reasons Noel gave up. Barbara is… still inside the simulation.”
I had been so out of it, I hadn’t even noticed Barbara was right beside me. She was wandering the simulation as if asleep. Her eyelids and fingertips trembled intermittently.
Barbara would be far behind me in progress. The lower the similarity index, the longer it takes to interpret and accept another’s memories. She’d get less information than I did.
‘Barbara might not have seen that fleet I just saw.’
The reason I was forcibly pulled out was because I glimpsed the secured memory. That was only possible because of the high similarity index.
‘It’s true—Noel and I are quite alike.’
I felt it to my core. I hesitated to dive back into the simulation. If I were just an observer, these side effects wouldn’t happen.
‘But I have to finish the simulation before Barbara. There isn’t much time.’
Also, if I didn’t follow Noel’s perspective, the memory’s completeness would suffer. I’d miss too much.
To extract anything from Noel’s decisions and judgments, I had to view the simulation through his eyes.
Click.
I grabbed the simulation device. Giselle looked worried but didn’t stop me.
I closed my eyes and continued the virtual simulation.
* * *
I didn’t know what Noel and the Emperor had spoken of.
But I could grasp the flow and outline. It must be because it resembled the current situation of the Empire.
‘A powerful enemy from outside.’
If we lost, the nation’s existence was in jeopardy. Whether noble or pauper, everyone would die—or, if they lived, they’d be reduced to slaves.
Compared to the nation’s survival, wealth disparity and class conflict were trivial matters.
“...Please become their unifying force, Noel Mullizcane.”
The Emperor, whose face remained unseen, spoke his final words. I heard them clearly. It was a scene Noel had deliberately preserved.
‘Agatha must’ve seen this. Barbara will, too.’
This was an important memory. The first rebellion had been orchestrated by the Imperial family.
‘Even this single piece of information drastically increases Barbara’s survival odds. It’s a critical weakness of the Empire.’
The Emperor must have told Noel that Acretia couldn’t survive without internal stability. And he must have presented evidence so compelling that even clever Noel couldn’t deny it.
“What if I refuse? Will you kill me right here?”
“Do as you wish. If we don’t find a way, we’ll be destroyed anyway. Planet Arc will be our grave. Whether you die here or not makes no difference to the grand scheme. Go on and enjoy your happiness with your eyes closed and ears shut. That’s what a commoner’s life is.”
The Emperor extended his hand, and the door to the audience chamber opened on its own. But Noel didn’t leave.
“...I wanted to be proof that a better life was possible.”
“Not everyone can live a rich life. We lack everything. Worse still, we’re humans who can’t let go of desire. People might throw away what they have, but they’ll never share it.”
I was slowly drawn into Noel’s perspective.
“I know that. But down below, there’s no hope, and people are crushed by despair. Even if not everyone can live better lives, with hope and belief, we can gain the strength to endure suffering. Even if I can’t be the light that brightens the lower realm, I believed I could still become a guiding beacon.”
The Emperor rested his elbow on the armrest and supported his chin.
“You might be that faint light that saves their hearts. But in the end, everyone will scream and die. As I said, self-satisfaction is fine. I won’t stop you. But don’t interfere with me either. I have to save their lives, not their hearts. That is a ruler’s duty.”
From the backlight on the Emperor’s face, a blue, flame-like glow emanated from his eyes.
Even without closing my eyes, the world looked dark. It was Akies Victima’s intuition. The world would grow darker still. Pitch black, until nothing could be seen.
But even if we lose the light and fumble in the dark, we must go on living.
Noel’s distant despair ejected me. I saw him from behind, like a ghost.
“I will accept, Your Majesty.”
At last, Noel too was consumed by darkness.
* * *
Noel’s memories of his childhood and youth were long. Likely because they were happy and sweet times he didn’t want to forget.
But his adult memories were fragmented. They flickered by like dots on a line. The scenery and backgrounds always reflected his mental state—gloomy and dark.
The similarity between Noel and me had plummeted to the point of separation. We had become distinct individuals. I couldn’t fully understand the emotions and anguish Noel experienced during this time.
“Noeeeel—!!”
Katrin wailed. The Mullizcane family was walking the path of ruin. It was all because their son-in-law had become a heinous criminal.
Worse, Noel had even siphoned off soldiers loyal to him from the Mullizcane Jaeger. Many of the early rebels had come from the Mullizcane Jaeger.
Stained by disgrace, the Mullizcane family was ostracized from noble society and fell to the bottom. The only path left for them was to kill Noel.
Burning with rage, Katrin led her troops in a surprise attack on Noel and the rebels. It was a battle into which the entire Mullizcane fortune had been poured.
‘Katrin.’
I could feel Noel’s remorse.
The Mullizcane family had also been targeted for purging by the Emperor. They weren’t the only ones. The private armies of noble families integrated into the regular army would all be eliminated one by one through their engagements with Noel’s rebels.
‘A strategy to diminish the influence of noble families.’
To push through a grand plan, the power to silence opposition was needed. The Emperor was cleansing the interior to seize that power.
The battle between Katrin’s forces and Noel’s rebels passed quickly.
Noel’s Akies Victima had reached completion. The rebel officers trained under him overwhelmed the regular army.
“Ha, haha. I gave you everything. I just wanted to see what you called your dream. And this is the light you sought? Oh, it’s burning bright all right. Because you set everything you built aflame by betraying everyone! Ah, you’re shining now, Noel!”
Katrin, now captured, screamed in despair.
“Katrin, I…”
Noel began to speak, then faltered. What words could he offer her? He narrowed his eyes and continued.
“...This is what I wanted. To change the world from the bottom up. I realized it was impossible from the top.”
Noel turned his back coldly. Katrin took her own life in prison.
‘There is no light.’
Noel couldn’t become a light. Rather, he had become a black hole that absorbed even the faintest glimmers. He would die after swallowing all the light of the Empire.
The Emperor and Noel’s plan seemed to be proceeding smoothly. The Empire was being tightly bound by pressure from both the royal family and the rebels.
But the world never goes according to plan.
There was a fierce genius who shredded their meticulous plans.
An anomalous entity appeared on the battlefield. It looked like a human clad in armor. That alone wasn’t unusual. Powered armor was occasionally used in real combat.
But what made this being truly anomalous… was the sheer, overwhelming violence it embodied. It was beyond comparison to any known combat prosthetic or soldier. Even other powered armors couldn’t compare.
Love is frail. Hatred is hollow. But bittersweet obsession is both tenacious and strong.
Honed through that obsession, the willpower and fighting spirit didn’t collapse beneath emotionless machinery. It drew out every ounce of potential without losing selfhood.
The anomalous powered armor dashed through the rebels like a bolt. Its presence was the physical incarnation of destruction. Even battle-hardened veterans crumbled like toys.
—On behalf of His Majesty the Emperor and the citizens of the Empire, I will pass judgment upon you, Noel Mullizcane.
The name inscribed on the powered armor was Scylla. Though it spoke with mechanical tones, Noel knew who it was.
“…Agatha.”