Second Genesis

Chapter 567: Extra Soldier

Sister Teresa was visibly shocked by Grey’s words.

For several seconds, the seal between her hands remained half-formed, her fingers trembling as she looked past Grey toward Elowen. The Princess hadn’t moved toward the Pope, hadn’t even looked like she wanted to, and instead remained firmly behind Grey with Mauve, as though her choice had already been made.

That seemed to shake Sister Teresa more than Grey’s threat had.

Grey hadn’t explained much, but he didn’t need to. The implication was heavy enough on its own, especially when Elowen herself seemed frightened of going to see her mother.

Sister Teresa’s brows furrowed. Then, slowly, the shaking in her hands stopped.

Her seal became steady.

When she looked toward Grey again, there was pity in her eyes, but also something heavier, something closer to remorse.

"If what you are implying is true," she said softly, "then we should all go to the Imperial Palace together. Whatever truth waits for us there, I will see it with my own eyes, and if you are right..."

She looked toward Elowen.

"I will stand beside you."

Grey chuckled.

That was the problem. Go to the Palace?

He had already seen enough.

In one loop, The Relentless had killed him after Grey murdered one of Elowen’s sisters, the same bitch who had been fucking Apollo, if he remembered correctly. Somehow, in this loop, that same woman had apparently ended up dead at the hands of her own mother instead, which was funny in a cosmic sort of way, but not nearly as important as what Grey remembered happening afterward.

The Goddess hadn’t come. Her daughter had died, and all Empress Melix had done was project her image above the city.

Then there had been the Lightning Elemental.

Grey’s expression cooled slightly.

Elowen had died horribly in that loop, half the city had been torn apart, people were slaughtered everywhere, and still...

The Goddess hadn’t come.

’So why the hell are you so afraid to leave your palace?’

Grey had thought about that before, but after everything inside the Instance, the answer suddenly looked far uglier.

The Imperial Palace stood at the very core of the enormous formation running beneath the Melix Territory. Now, thanks to Grey stealing every other Region’s share, dozens of territories worth of Holy Energy had been poured into Melix as well.

All of it concentrated here.

Then there was Elowen. All of that Imperial Blood, all of those dead siblings, compressed into one Imperial Princess.

And now the Goddess who refused to leave the center of her formation was "requesting" that Elowen walk straight back into the slaughterhouse? Was that just so she could pretend to be mother of the year? Fat chance.

Grey grinned. ’Yeah... no.’

He had plenty of death wishes, but he preferred choosing those himself with open arms.

He wasn’t about to walk into some boss arena where his enemy had a hundred buffs stacked on top of her just because the story wanted him to watch this cutscene.

Grey had played too many video games for that shit. The difference was that this time, nobody could lock his controls and stop him from avoiding some shit he had seen coming from a million miles away.

He could flip the table whenever he wanted, and maybe flash his meat again while he was at it. So he’d do just that.

Grey’s gaze shifted. "Hey, Immovable lady."

The old woman’s eyes narrowed.

"Did you know your disciple is a gnome?"

Xerchen’s expression immediately darkened.

The Immovable frowned.

Grey’s smile deepened. "You see, I’m not racist. I love my fellow gnomes. They’re tiny, they’re cute, they’ve got that whole adorable little murder-gremlin thing going for them." His gaze moved toward Xerchen. "If you ask me, this guy’s lost most of the charm. Why the fuck is he so tall?"

The Immovable opened her mouth but Grey didn’t let her speak.

Something inside him shifted and the Mechanical Jaw Spirit answered. A strange pull spread through the room, subtle enough that most people wouldn’t have understood what happened until Xerchen’s body suddenly stiffened.

His bloodline rolled. Something ancient and gnomish awakened beneath everything layered over it, responding to the call like iron filings snapping toward a magnet.

The Immovable’s eyes widened, a reaction that might as well have been a meteor falling from the skies for her.

The Pope frowned deeply. "What is the meaning of this?"

Grey pointed at himself. "Me?" His expression became perfectly innocent. "I’m just trying to help the masses understand the people around them. Why are you looking at me like I’m the villain?"

Several people stepped away from Xerchen. It wasn’t everyone, but it was certainly enough to paint the picture more than well enough. And more than enough for Xerchen to notice as well and clench his fists.

Grey grimaced and gave him the fakest sympathetic smile imaginable. "You see how these people think? That’s really all it takes for them to decide you can fuck off."

Xerchen’s eyes shifted toward him and the room became uncomfortable. If that could truly even be possible.

Xerchen’s frown deepened. "What do you mean by doing this?"

"Oh, this?" Grey shrugged. "I wanted another soldier for all the bullshit I’m about to pull. I think it’s in your best interest to come with me. An Empress who kills her own children and backstabs her own allies isn’t going to give a fuck about you."

"ENOUGH!"

The Pope’s roar shook the chamber. His Holy Energy surged.

"You will watch your mouth when you speak of Her Majesty!"

Grey looked at him. He had had about enough at this point, honestly. For him, he had practically displayed the patience of a saint until now. He was finished being annoyed.

Petri came rushing through the doorway at that exact moment.

"GREY, WAIT—!"

Grey exhaled. Honestly, he barely heard the words.

White-gold tendrils descended.

BOOM.

Everyone heard the sound, the echo of destruction, but hardly anyone had actually seen Grey move.

Grey stood behind the Pope. The latter’s body remained upright for another second, swaying slightly as though it hadn’t quite realized what had happened.

Then blood erupted from the stump of the latter’s neck, what was of his head nowhere to be scene as though it had been broken into a fine mist under a single blow.

The body collapsed forward and silence swallowed the Church.

Grey took another breath, cracking his neck from one side to the next. He had really, really wanted a nap. But it seemed that he wasn’t getting one.

It was a good thing then... that this level of Dominion Class didn’t strike any fear in him at all.

It was time to clear this arc.