# Chapter 38
—
He looked at the girl trapped inside the capsule.
Blonde hair, blue eyes.
It wasn’t an appearance particularly rare or striking, yet Arthur could be sure—this child was Julie Prosky.
His abnormal memory overlapped the face of the Julie Prosky from his recollections exactly with the girl before him.
After thinking that far, Arthur murmured to himself.
‘Of course. Just as Ares Arekis had become younger, it makes sense that Julie Prosky would be younger too.’
Even so, the reason he had failed to recognize Julie at once was the sense of dissonance.
The Julie Prosky of the future was a deranged murderer.
But the Julie before his eyes now bore none of that madman’s distinctive madness.
Right now, she was merely a girl barely over five years old.
Scratching his head, Arthur asked,
“Are you Julie Prosky?”
“Yes, that’s right. But… how do you know my name?”
“I’ve met you before.”
“With me?”
“Yes. In a very… distant future, let’s say? Anyway, I met you then.”
Julie blinked.
“A distant future… does that mean, Mister, you came from the future?”
“Well… that’s a secret, so I don’t think I can tell you.”
“But you’ve already said it? That you came from the future?”
“I was joking. How could a person come from the future?”
Julie burst into laughter.
“Mister, you’re really strange. Your face is strange too.”
“I am a bit unusual.”
“But how did you get in here? The researchers must be guarding this place.”
“They’re outside, having a conversation with my companion.”
“A conversation? What kind of conversation?”
“Hmm, that I don’t know either.”
As he answered, Arthur’s hand touched the capsule holding Julie.
He could have broken it instantly if he wanted, but the thought that Julie inside might be hurt held him back.
Then Julie pointed to a button.
“If you press that, I can come out.”
“Oh, thank you, Julie.”
Arthur pressed the button she indicated.
The capsule opened, and Julie stumbled, nearly collapsing.
At just the right moment, Arthur caught her in his arms.
“Thank you, Mister.”
“Think nothing of it. Oh, and my name is Donn.”
“Donn? That’s a unique name.”
“It comes with its circumstances.”
“Hmm… but Mister Donn, why do you speak formally to me?”
“Does it sound strange?”
“Not strange, but… you’re the first adult to use honorifics with me.”
At Julie’s words, Arthur frowned slightly.
‘It is strange… but I can’t seem to drop them. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen the Julie Prosky of the future?’
Then Julie asked,
“Mister, did you come to rescue me?”
“…Rescue you?”
“Yes. This is the first time someone’s come in here. Unless you’re a researcher?”
Arthur blinked.
‘Did I come here to rescue Julie Prosky?’
He shook his head.
No. He came here to kill Ares Arekis.
Along the way, if he could obtain Julie’s blood, all the better—that was all.
It was quite different from coming to save her.
After some hesitation, Arthur answered honestly.
“I didn’t come here to rescue you.”
“Then why?”
“I came for your blood. And to kill that man Ares as well.”
Julie caught her breath.
Her wide eyes showed just how shocked she was.
“…You’re going to kill Doctor Ares?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well… personal grudges, goals… It’s complicated to explain. But that’s the gist of it.”
Julie fell silent.
Then she raised her head again—and lifted her shirt.
Arthur was startled, but his gaze was seized by the grotesque scars across her body.
“Uh… what is this?”
“Marks from the experiments.”
“From experiments?”
“Yes. May I… explain?”
At her cautious question, Arthur nodded.
Julie lowered her shirt and began speaking.
“Since being kidnapped here a year ago, I’ve been experimented on every single day.”
“……”
“If I didn’t obey, they killed the friends who were kidnapped with me, right before my eyes. I really didn’t want to, but… I couldn’t bear to watch them die. So I obeyed the Doctor. But all he did was lie.”
Julie’s expression darkened.
“Just a few days ago… my friends died because of me. They injected them with syringes filled with my blood, and their bodies just swelled up and burst.”
“……”
“It was no different from me killing them. I was so angry… but there was nothing I could do.”
“And so?”
Julie’s expression twisted.
“No matter what else… Ares. That man. I want to kill him with my own hands.”
“……”
“Mister Donn, could you give me that chance?”
Arthur let out a small exclamation.
‘This… I never expected.’
That Julie Prosky would ask him to let her kill Ares?
He hesitated, murmuring to himself.
‘But I also have to kill him… hmm.’
For the first time in a long while, Arthur fell into deep conflict.
Then, as his gaze met Julie’s eyes, a memory of his own past surfaced.
Himself, abused by Sebastian.
Julie, experimented on by Ares.
The two overlapped strangely in his mind.
At that moment, Arthur understood.
‘So that’s it. The reason Julie of the future went mad and killed people… it was because of these experiments.’
A fact he had never known made him click his tongue.
The future him had killed Julie without knowing this truth.
‘It hasn’t happened yet, so it’s not really a debt… but it leaves a bad taste. I killed someone who was just a poor victim exploited by Ares.’
And now, that Julie was asking him for the chance to kill Ares herself.
Normally he would have refused immediately—but because it was Julie, he couldn’t.
After some thought, Arthur raised his head.
Julie was staring right at him.
Meeting that gaze head-on, Arthur made up his mind and answered,
“All right, Julie. I’ll grant your request.”
“…Really?”
“Of course. I know too, from seeking my own revenge—your enemy, you must kill with your own hands.”
Julie’s eyes widened.
At the same time, Arthur snapped his fingers.
“But in return, could I get a little of your blood?”
“…My blood?”
“Yes. To be honest, part of why I came here was for your blood too. With it, killing that man Ares will be much easier.”
Julie blinked, tilting her head, unable to understand.
“How does my blood make it easier to kill Doctor Ares?”
“Well… simply put, it’s this.”
Arthur’s lips curled into a grin.
“The experiments being conducted here—their completed result… you could say, is me.”
—
—
Jeannie let out a crazed laugh, firing her guns wildly.
“Hahaha-!”
Flames spat from the barrel of her weapon, overloaded with every kind of auxiliary device.
It looked like indiscriminate shooting, but her accuracy was incredible.
Whoosh—!
The wind spirit Sylph, a being called nature’s gift, twisted the trajectory of the bullets.
Because of that, the mages with barriers up broke into a cold sweat, shouting:
“Where did this crazy woman come from?!”
“Why’s she suddenly firing like this?!”
“Just grab her and lock her up! Interrogation will spill the rest!”
The mages began chanting spells again.
And in that instant, the miracle they conjured spewed fire.
Boom—!
Jeannie barely rolled aside to dodge the incoming fireball, just as she was about to pull the trigger again.
A shadowy hand emerged, seizing her body.
\[That won’t do!]
\[No good!]
Undine and Gnome, left behind by Arthur, shook off the grip.
Gripping her guns again, Jeannie shouted:
“Spirits are this kind and gentle! So why is that madman like that?!”
With that, flames erupted from her muzzle.
The magic bullets flew, leaving no room to evade, forcing the mages to hastily reinforce their barriers.
Boom!
As the battle dragged on far less smoothly than expected, Ares, watching with arms crossed, muttered:
‘Something’s off. Doesn’t add up.’
An unexpected intruder, that much he could understand.
But the question was—why attack so openly?
Judging from the gun, she was likely a sniper. But snipers didn’t prefer open confrontations like this.
‘Snipers usually prefer ambushes.’
From that tiny suspicion, his reasoning quickly reached a conclusion.
Highly likely, that crazy woman has an accomplice.
And that accomplice must already be in the research facility, now left unguarded.
‘The problem is, how did they slip past my senses to get inside?’
His eyes gleamed as he decided.
There was nothing good about letting this battle drag on.
Unfolding his arms, Ares activated a spell he had prepared in advance.
\[Earthquake.]
The ground trembled under the surge of magic.
Sensing the anomaly, the mages quickly pulled back, and Jeannie, hiding behind cover, gaped.
“…That wasn’t an actual earthquake, but magic?”
With that exclamation, the ground beneath her collapsed.
She jumped quickly, avoiding being swallowed by the pit, but the danger was far from over.
Fragments of the shattered ground turned into spears and shot toward her.
Without hesitation, Jeannie pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
Strengthened by Sylph’s magic, the bullet reduced the incoming fragments to dust.
‘That one’s the leader. Dangerous.’
With that thought, Jeannie immediately turned her gun on Ares.
But at the very moment she aimed, sparks burst from the remaining debris.
Eyes widening, she tried to dodge, but it was already too late.
\[Ready Boom.]
BOOM—!
The explosion singed her hair pitch black, smoke spilling from her mouth.
The startled spirits hurried to shield her.
\[Jeannie!]
But having taken the blast at point-blank, Jeannie couldn’t move.
The mages behind Ares, watching, clicked their tongues.
‘Multi-casting… incredible.’
‘Even using just two spells… to combine them like this?’
‘They say he’s one of the Tower’s greatest geniuses—the rumors weren’t exaggerated.’
Indeed, the harmony Ares Arekis had just displayed was nothing short of miraculous.
Then, having subdued Jeannie in one stroke, Ares shouted:
“Why are you all just standing there? Seize her!”
“Y-yes!”
The mages rushed in, grabbing Jeannie’s arms.
“Does this girl also have a bloodline ability? Her ears are pointed, almost like in the old legends…”
But before he could finish, his words trailed off, his eyes blinking.
At the same time, blood spurted—and one mage’s head rolled across the floor.
“……!”
The mages recoiled in shock.
In that moment, Arthur appeared beside Jeannie through a spatial leap, muttering in surprise.
“Good grief… Miss Jeannie, are you alive?”
“……”
“Really dead? Then what about my payment…?”
Suddenly, the unconscious Jeannie grabbed his collar.
“Money…”
Just one word, but its meaning was blunt.
Arthur smiled brightly and ordered Undine,
“She looks fine. Undine, take care of Miss Jeannie.”
\[Yes, yes! Arthur!]
With that, Arthur turned his gaze toward the four mages before him.
“Hello, mages.”
“…Hello?”
“Yes. First meetings should begin with greetings, after all.”
The mages let out hollow laughter.
“You just killed someone, and then greet us like that? Are you insane?”
“Am I? Well… in that case, let’s get to the point.”
With those words, Arthur drew the meteor iron sword.
From where he had been watching, Ares shouted,
“Judging by the look of you, you’ve been in the lab. What did you steal?”
“Steal?”
“Was it research data? Or money? Or did someone hire you?”
At the barrage of questions, Arthur blinked.
After a moment’s thought, he let out a laugh.
“Oh, I suppose I did steal one thing.”
At that, lightning crashed down.
BOOM!
The mages flinched, startled by the bolt from the clear sky.
“…What? Why lightning, all of a sudden?”
At his side, Ares stiffened, muttering,
“What? Don’t tell me…”
At that moment, Arthur raised his sword.
And as lightning fell again, a miracle unfolded.
Crackle—!
The sword of the madman was wreathed in lightning.
It was as if at last, the successful culmination of their research had been born.
—
