Chapter 149: The Battle’s Aftermath, What Is Genesis?

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There was a deep and heavy silence after the defeat of Genesis-05. Riven and the rest of his group stared at the gigantic monster’s corpse without saying a word. Although the battle had been won, the victory was hard-earned. Above all else, it had come with a great deal of tragedy and many strange, unexpected revelations that Riven never imagined he would learn in a place like this.

Professor Willheim, the most notorious and celebrated member of Claymore Labs, had been conducting every kind of illegal genetic experiment here using kidnapped people. He had used the Mana Reactor to fuel his advanced technology. In the process he had created an aberrant monster formed from the fused bodies of over a hundred people — poor souls who could no longer be saved.

Label also felt deeply confused, frustrated, and sad. She was consumed by the grief of knowing she had been unable to save those people still trapped inside the tubes. She had tried so hard to reverse the process and return them to their original forms. Although the remaining laborers who had been forced into work had been successfully rescued and were now being protected inside Riven’s Gate, the knowledge of those who could not be saved still left a bitter aftertaste in her heart.

Kagehisa, noticing the dense and oppressive atmosphere along with his three retainers, cleared his throat and tried to break the silence.

"Ahem! Um, so... that was surprising," he said carefully. "Just what is this thing? Do you two know anything about it? And what exactly happened in there?"

"..." Riven remained silent for several long moments as he stared down at his own hands. For the first time he began to doubt certain aspects of his own origins. "Well, long story short, we found a Mana Reactor and a massive underground laboratory. We freed the captives that were still alive, and then I came face to face with Professor Willheim. Do any of you know him?"

"Huh? Isn’t that the famous scientist working for Claymore Labs? The one who earned several Nobel Prizes?" Kagehisa wondered aloud. "What was it again? He discovered cures for a number of serious illnesses, right?"

"Yeah," Riven confirmed. "That man is an insane madman who has been experimenting on innocent, kidnapped people this entire time. This is how they’ve been mass-producing the Yokai Serum. Do you know what ’Genesis’ is, Kagehisa?"

"Genesis?" Kagehisa looked completely confused. He glanced back at his three retainers, who seemed just as clueless as he was. "No, we don’t know anything about that. We’ve lived most of our lives inside the hidden villages, after all."

Riven nodded and began to explain. Label listened attentively as well, since she also knew very little about the subject.

"’Genesis’ is... for lack of a better term, an alien lifeform that was discovered inside an ancient crater in South Africa about two decades ago."

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Aliens?

Really?

"A-Aliens?" Kagehisa tilted his head in disbelief. "What?"

"Aliens are real?" Goki asked, eyes wide.

"Um, well, now that I think about it... isn’t every being that comes out of the Gates technically an alien?" Hinata pointed out.

"They feel magical, and they seem closely connected to humanity’s own myths and legends," Ren explained calmly. "Perhaps that is why we never think of them as true aliens, but simply as magical creatures... But yes, if they originate from other planets or dimensions, they are technically aliens. People just don’t treat them that way."

"Well, Genesis is an alien in the purest sense of the word," Riven continued. "A complete alien lifeform that did not come from any Gate. From what I have investigated, it fell from the stars themselves. It is said to have belonged to an immense meteor that once tilted the entire planet’s position in the solar system and helped herald the ice age."

"What?! I had no idea something like that existed!" Kagehisa exclaimed. "So there are real aliens now? When did... okay, I guess that makes sense? Is this some kind of government secret?"

"Yeah," Riven nodded. "The various governments have kept Genesis’s existence completely secret for two decades. I believe that at some point after the Apocalypse began, this monster — this alien — absorbed enough ambient Mana to awaken from its deep slumber. Until then it had been sleeping as a dehydrated mummy deep underground. There was some kind of joint operation led by the American Government in cooperation with South Africa and several other countries. They managed to extract most of what remained of the creature. At the time the alien still seemed too weak and unable to move, so transporting it was relatively easy. They cut her into pieces and began analyzing her biological components. It turned out she possessed an incredible biology capable of adapting to and combining with almost any other form of DNA. She also has self-replicating cells that can live for eternity, along with natural abilities that allow her to manipulate the mind and use powerful psionic powers."

"?!"

"Above all else, her cells — known as Genesis Cells — are used to create experimental drugs capable of permanently altering a person’s DNA," Riven explained further. "The most dangerous part about them is that they can make almost anyone significantly stronger. You don’t need to level up. You don’t need to learn skills. You don’t even need to know how to fight. A single injection of these cells can turn an ordinary person into a living killing machine."

Kagehisa swallowed hard. "Riven... how... do you even know all of this in such detail?"

"Claymore’s secrets," Riven answered with a small smirk.

In truth he had conducted a thorough investigation in the future timeline he originally came from. There he had learned many hidden truths and fully uncovered the reality surrounding Genesis.

However, by that point it had already been far too late. Genesis had been patiently waiting. Once she had gathered enough power, she suddenly revived herself and revealed her true form.

From what he could still recall, her "children" along with Professor Willheim himself were eventually devoured by her main body. She transformed into a gigantic monstrosity that began extracting the planet’s Mana on a massive scale, altering the entire climate and even the biosphere itself.

That event only occurred a few months before the final pruning, so by then it no longer truly mattered. When the Cosmic Monarch known as the Abyssal Gaze arrived and destroyed the entire planet, Genesis became the least of anyone’s problems.

Nonetheless, now that Riven was determined to change this world’s fate, he could no longer use the Cosmic Monarch as an excuse to ignore this threat.

Eventually, he would have to destroy Genesis completely.

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