Chapter 300: I Have Been Playing Human, Time To Be God

I looked at the gathered survivors in front of me dispassionately, all of them now looking up at me with fear on their faces.

I shifted my gaze to look down at the leader of the group.

What was her name again? Hav? Hrav? Have? Doesn’t matter. There’s no reason to remember the name of someone like her after all.

"I came to you, not flaunting my power and just to talk, to offer you salvation. You not only spat on my offer, but you took advantage of it to sneak inside and murder my people. You tell me that those mutants are supposed to be the evil ones, but they at least have not stabbed me in the back nor have they hurt the people close to me. In my eyes, you are the monsters."

The guy who had shot me with the gun in Ach’s group scoffed, "Says the fucker who had just murdered an entire group of innocents easily. You’re the fucking monster, mutant."

I turned to him, "I suppose I should thank you a little... For allowing me to understand this."

"Ha?! What the fuck are you talking about, you fucker?!"

"I’ve gotten these powers... And I’ve kept clinging to the mortal side of me... I was worried that I would be less human if I allowed my powers to get to my head so I suppressed it as much as I could... But I see that doing so led to this."

"Fuck you! You think you’re so important just because you have a little power, you arrogant prick?! You’re nothing without them! You didn’t earn it! They were just given to you!"

I stared at him, "So what?"

The guy blinked at my answer, "What... What do you mean ’so what’?! Are you mocking us?! You think you’re better than us just because you got granted some power you didn’t even earn?!"

"Sure. I might not have done anything specific to be granted these powers specifically. Even though I stood my ground and fought a horde of Anomalies until my dying breath, even though I didn’t give up as I was bleeding out and broken. Those might not be reasons enough for me to be granted these powers either. But so what? I still ended up getting them and what’s more important? To lament over what we were given in our lives or to make the best out of what we were given no matter what it is?"

"Easy for you to say when you’re given powers like that!! Powers that can let you level an entire town! You never knew what it’s like to be powerless!!"

I stared at him, "Power is not a privilege. It is a responsibility. You see it as something that gives you the privilege to do things. I see it now... This is where we differ with the people of your World. In our World, we have responsibilities that come with the power, where you have to use it to protect others instead of using it for selfish gain. I had believed your World’s people to be the same as well but I had been completely mistaken. Your way of life would have never been compatible with ours... I should not have given you all a chance."

"Ha... Hahaha!! After all that talk... You’re still speaking like you have the right to judge us! You’re no better than the mutants! All of that just shows you’re a true hypocrite!"

I reached out my hand, shifting one of the floating arms to move above him and clenching it into a fist like it was a guillotine waiting to slam down on him.

"You seem to have a misconception here... My responsibility is to the people I care about. And you hurt them... And that happened because of a lapse in my decision making... I am here to fix that. I owe nothing to you and your people."

The woman, who I finally recalled her name as Hrav, quickly stepped forward, "Wait!! You made your point!! You’ve already killed so many people! You’ve gotten your revenge!! Just let us go!!"

I blinked at her, as though I needed a moment to even register her words.

"Revenge? You think this is about revenge?" I asked.

She faltered slightly, "If... If it’s not revenge... Then what is this?"

"Hmm... Question. If you know there is an Anomaly... A monster just standing outside your wall, what would you do?"

She hesitated, clearly not expecting me to ask her a question like that out of the blue.

"We kill it of course."

"Because it’s a threat, right?"

"Yes?"

"Because that Anomaly... That monster... Is a threat to your community... That if you were to leave it alive, it could attack your walls, break through them... And then hurt your people. So in order to protect them, you have to get rid of that monster."

She was clearly smart enough to read between the lines as she understood what I was trying to do.

"No... Wait... You... You can’t say that... We’re... We’re different... We’re not the same as those monsters out there..."

"The monsters you speak of did not come into my camp to set up bombs to kill my people. In a way, you are a bigger threat than the Anomalies. That’s why... This is not revenge, this is simply me making sure the monster outside my walls does not come and threaten my people. That’s all."

The guy tried to curse me again, "You bastard! You monster!! You--"

I let my floating fist drop, smashing it into his legs and crushing them with a loud splat.

He screamed out in pain and someone tried to shoot me with the laser again, though my shield just blocked it without much problems.

In response, I shot out one of my other floating arms to grab my shooter to lift him up into the air and slam him down on the ground, shattering his bones and leaving him groaning on the ground.

I then lifted up my real hand and let loose a bolt of lightning at the crowd that was huddling behind Hrav, electrocuting them, though I kept the voltage low so no one died. Yet.

That doesn’t mean they weren’t suffering though, as the lightning electrocuted them without mercy.

Hrav gasped, "Sto... Stop!! What... What are you doing?!! If... If you want to kill us, then kill us!! Why are you torturing us!?"

I tilted my head casually, "Torture? Hmm... I’m just experimenting. You see... I’m not fully awakened yet... So I’m not that familiar with my powers yet... I’m just... Figuring things out right now... And you just so happen to be a group of test subjects perfect for me to test on."

"You bastaaaaaarrd!!!" Another guy screamed, throwing the laser gun at me that bounced off the shield before he attempted to charge towards me to physically tackle me.

I reached out my hand and grabbed him by the throat, the guy letting out a choked gasp when my fingers curled around his neck.

I focused on one of the powers that I did not really utilise due to the nature of the power.

My fingers melted into his skin, fusing with his neck until my hand completely disappeared into his body.

If he had powers, I would be able to use his powers but... This guy was unpowered so I was wondering what would happen if I used this on someone like him.

I could feel it... His thoughts, his emotions and even... Some of his memories?

Through the connection, I could see this guy was one of the people who moved the bombs into position in the camp, having placed crates that were closed over the bombs where they would explode the moment someone tried to open them.

All the while, the guy had frozen up with his mouth opened in a wordless scream, his consciousness still there and aware but unable to do anything.

Hmm?

Wait...

This feeling... It kind of feels like when I summon my clone... Where I have extra limbs I could control...

No way, right?"

I focused on that feeling and the guy lifted up his right arm, which was exactly what I wanted him to do.

Huh... Not that I could do much with this since he had to stay connected with me...

Wait... Does it actually have to be a physical part of me that had to be joined with him?

What if...

I used Sergei’s powers to conjure up a shadow tendril from my arm to press itself against his neck.

It needed almost all my concentration to maintain that tendril so that it didn’t disappear but... The moment I willed it, it sunk inside his flesh while I retracted mine.

And that was when I realised I still maintained my control over the guy and the tendril even felt anchored and no longer trying to disperse. Alright then...

I turned the guy around, looking at the people in front of him through his eyes.

I clenched his fists and walked up towards them with his fist raised...