— Gunther.
— .......
— Gunther? Can you even hear me?
Gunther slowly closed and opened his eyes. The phantom pain still lingering in his body gradually began to fade. As soon as his consciousness fully returned, the first thought surfaced.
“What was that... just now?”
It had been a moment where only a horrific death awaited him. And yet someone had ended his life before the suffering became unbearable. Even without seeing it, he could imagine the Paladin and Priest flying into a rage. Pain and despair were nourishment that increased the efficiency of the offering. Someone had gone directly against their will.
“...But why?”
In a place filled only with rotten gang members and fanatics, who could have shown him such mercy? While Gunther pondered this, a loud voice burst beside him.
— GUNTHER!!!!
Only then did Gunther turn his head. Eddie, who in the previous iteration had his head severed, now stood in front of him, shouting furiously.
— What the hell are you spacing out for in the middle of a conversation!
Well... his temper really was terrible. In the previous life, he must have lost his cool the same way, rushed forward, and gotten his head chopped off. The very first in the group.
— ...Good job, man.
— W-what?
Gunther steadied his breathing slightly.
“First, I need to understand the situation.”
A new life had begun. Mysteries from the previous one could wait. Now was the time to act.
“This place...”
The first things he noticed were layers of dust and piles of junk. The storage room inside the bunker. The very place where they had interrogated and eliminated gang members. Judging by the circumstances, this was the moment when he had discovered Eddie and the other Contractors who had escaped on their own and temporarily taken command of them to hide. Gunther frowned slightly.
“About fifteen minutes until they storm in.”
Less time than he would have liked.
“I need to move fast.”
Fortunately, in the previous life he had already prepared a general outline. Gunther reconstructed every clue gathered right before his death and reviewed the plan once more.
Enemy numbers and strength. The structure of the feeding chamber. The condition of the Mother. Even the Paladin and the Priest.
He had returned having learned everything that could possibly be learned. The course of action took shape instantly.
“Let’s start with this.”
Gunther flung open the storage room door and strode forward decisively.
— Everyone, follow me.
— .......
For some reason, no one followed. Even Eddie hesitated, took only a couple of steps, then stopped.
— Uh... well.
The companions’ eyes darted as if during an earthquake. After a short silence, one of the non-combatant men spoke in a trembling voice:
— L-listen... Are you in your right mind?
The reaction was expected. Gunther was heading toward the basement stairs... the passage leading directly to the prison and the feeding chamber. The very place Eddie and the others had barely escaped from.
— I-I don’t know what you’re planning, but leave me out of it. Can’t we just exit through the entrance? Why would we go back to that horrible place?
The other man nodded vigorously. A natural response. Who would willingly return to hell they had just escaped? Convincing them would take time.
“...Unfortunately, I don’t have that time.”
So Gunther simply repeated:
— Follow me.
Hoping the naked blade in his hand would add weight to his words.
— W-wait...
— W-we’re coming, just please don’t hurt us!
[Master of the Little Forge makes a tearful face]
[Starter Culture Enthusiast begs for mercy]
They were afraid. But what could he do? This was better than losing their heads right here. Fortunately, Eddie and the female Contractor started moving on their own. Leading them into the underground, Gunther gave a small nod.
“Forward.”
There was a plan for a perfect victory. Save everyone, defeat the Mother, and slaughter the remaining gang along with the pursuers on their heels.
***
On the way to the underground bunker, Lumar, a Priest of the Cult of Abundance, recalled the sacred doctrines he had learned as a novice.
— For a deity to descend upon this land, it must have a vessel. We call that vessel the “Mother.”
Mothers are divided into two main types.
The first — a chosen direct Contractor. The second — a monster.
And in 99% of cases, the ritual of descent was performed through the latter.
“A human with reason finds it difficult to fully withstand divine essence.”
At the moment of descent, the body twists and the mind burns away. Even among direct Contractors, only a handful could endure it completely. Especially when the deity possessed great power — the limit came quickly.
Of course, if one survived that “consumption,” the god dwelling within the Mother could manifest far greater might. However, most gods and their followers chose the more stable path. Thus — monsters. Special and valuable specimens implanted with a “parasitic core” containing a fragment of the god, prepared for descent.
...Mother No.17. The one entrusted to the gang in the Lower City was special. Recalling her form, Lumar shuddered involuntarily.
First of all, the adaptation rate of the parasitic core was perfectly high. He had not even hoped for it, but those scum from the gang had faithfully supplied quality feed. In a situation where 90% of the Mothers deployed to the Border City had been brutally destroyed by those cursed heretics from “Night Raven,” this specimen had become a true treasure. No wonder the higher-ups, alarmed, ordered her retrieval ahead of schedule.
“She was expected to reach the Demi-God stage without issue.”
Four stages of descent: Descent, Demi-God, Incarnation, Manifestation. Even if the Mother only reached the Demi-God stage, she would become an excellent combat asset. And if she advanced further to Incarnation...
“Then not a single lost Mother would be regretted. And I would cease to be an ordinary priest, reborn into a being capable of serving the god more closely.”
However, Lumar’s face, filled with anticipation, froze like stone the moment they reached the bunker entrance.
— Bloodstains at the entrance... and all magical surveillance devices are disabled.
— N-no, this... this can’t be...!
Looking at the flustered gang boss, Lumar nearly lost his mind. Of all days, this had to happen on the day they decided to retrieve the Mother!
“Intrusion. An intrusion!”
At that moment he deeply regretted his earlier decision not to leave regular troops and instead entrust security to the gang to avoid attracting “Night Raven’s” attention. Lumar growled, pouring all his fury into the words:
— If anything has happened to the Mother... I will personally throw you into the sacrificial pit.
After saying that, Lumar glanced at Paladin Patrick. He was the chief responsible for the retrieval operation and Lumar’s superior — a cautious and capable man. In Lumar’s eyes flickered hope that Patrick would find a solution.
— Lumar.
— Yes, Sir Patrick.
— The signal from the parasitic core?
— Ah, that... fortunately, it’s still active.
Amid the chaos, there was one piece of good news: the signal from the “parasitic core” had not been interrupted. At the very least, it meant the Mother was alive.
Tap—
Patrick rested his hand on the hilt of his two-handed sword and narrowed his eyes.
— Quite timely. Must be the rats from “Night Raven”?
Lumar hurriedly adopted a grim expression and nodded.
— Yes, I believe so as well. Who else but those godless heretics would dare interfere with our ritual? Immediately—
Patrick silenced him with a calm gesture. He turned his gaze into the dark depths of the bunker, as if trying to see the hidden intruders.
— Don’t be hasty. Look at it more broadly.
— ...Pardon?
— Isn’t this an excellent opportunity?
Lumar needed a moment of silence to grasp the meaning of those words. And soon—
— Ah...
His eyes slowly widened. His heavy breathing steadied. Patrick gave a restrained smile and nodded.
— Exactly.
A mercenary from “Night Raven” slipped in here to destroy the Mother. But if you look at it differently — that infiltrator must now be terrified by our sudden arrival.
“He’s trapped in this enclosed underground space.”
And what if they not only protected the Mother, but... captured him? No, took him alive?
Recently, “Night Raven” had become a massive headache for the higher-ups. There was an enormous bounty for capturing one of them. Promotion in rank was a given, but one could even expect exceptional favors — such as contract renewal upgrades. An unhealthy greed flared in Lumar’s eyes.
“They may be few and elite... but we can handle this.”
Assessing the situation soberly, he realized it was far from disadvantageous. Judging by the traces, there was one infiltrator, at most two. On their side, there was plenty of “cannon fodder” to exhaust them.
“No matter how skilled they are, their stamina isn’t infinite.”
Force them into a battle of attrition, and a gap will appear. Then strike. Moreover, he had with him a “third-hierarchy Paladin,” and beyond that—
“The Mother, stronger than any high-level monster, is also on our side.”
In the worst case, they could simply release the Mother and attack together. Thanks to the implanted core, the Mother instinctively perceived those with a similar aura as allies.
“That means Sir Patrick and I are safe.”
Of course, she would chew up the gang members... but who cared? They would have to be eliminated eventually anyway, to keep them from talking. Lumar smiled coldly.
“If you think about it, the one trembling most right now is that upstart from ‘Night Raven.’”
He sneaked in thinking all he had to do was kill the Mother, and suddenly forces like these arrived... He must be panicking. Especially since the Mother was nearly complete. The fact that he had not shown himself yet and was hiding somewhere was proof of his cowardice.
— Good, Lumar. We act for the glory of the Lord and His brother, Jean Daet.
Scrape—
With those words, Patrick drew his two-handed sword and stared directly at the gang boss.
— We proceed to the Mother. You — immediately find and capture the infiltrator.
— Y-yes! At once!
The pale gang boss frantically waved at his underlings.
— Hey, idiots, move! Catch those rats and drag them here before the honored VIPs!
Tap-tap—
Under the leaders’ shouts, the bunker corridors filled with noise. Off-duty gang members rushed out from everywhere, weapons in hand. Torchlight, shouting, metal clashing. ...The entire gang began hunting a single Gunther.
***
At the same time. Gunther successfully reached the underground prison and shoved his companions back into the cells.
— W-what are you going to do with us?
Because ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) he had explained almost nothing, the two men looked at Gunther as if he were the devil himself.
But there was no time. He could not waste precious seconds winning their sympathy.
“Either way, I’ll save them...!”
Feeling a slight pang of guilt, Gunther spoke:
— Once this is resolved, I’ll come back for you. Stay quiet.
In truth, they had nothing to complain about. At the moment, the prison was the safest place in the bunker. Enemies obsessed with searching for an infiltrator were unlikely to enter the cells just to harm quietly sitting Contractors.
“I didn’t bring them here for nothing.”
Gunther looked away from the sniffling men and turned to the female Contractor.
— Hm-m...
She was surprisingly calm. Leaning against the corner of the cell, she spun a dagger in her hand — one she had picked up from a dead gang member.
— If something unexpected happens, watch over them.
A cool reply followed:
— Mm-hm.
— .......
— Leave it to me.
Remarkable composure. For a moment, the thought even flickered — could she be a spy? But remembering she had died at the hands of Luthien in the previous life, that seemed unlikely. It was simply unclear where such boldness came from. Still, better this than hysteria.
[Alphonse of Red Street watches her with interest]
— Gunther.
Gunther turned. Eddie looked at him with dissatisfaction.
— ...Why aren’t you locking me up?
— There’s something we have to do together.
— Together?
Instead of answering, Gunther shifted his gaze toward the feeding chamber. Eddie’s face twisted.
— ...Seriously? Again? Are you insane?
— It’s the only way to end this.
Gunther gave a faint smile and exhaled. The climax of his plan was approaching.
