Chương 168: Chapter 49: “Activation of All-Natura Annihilation Order”

"Having ruin thrust at our throats, you say!?"

"What about Prelions? Sure, their numbers are great, but they shouldn't be unbeatable opponents!"

"That is not the problem..." Plato said as if admonishing Lilna who was snapping at him. His quiet voice, however, contained a strong severity.

"I'm telling you. Do not provoke the System any further. It will lead to something irreversible."

"Irreversible, you say——!?" At that moment, the sound of something exploding was heard from far below. The floor shook violently, making it hard to even stand.

"What!?"

"What happened...?"

"Impossible...! Why!?" Plato, whose emotional movements had been modest and somewhat hard to understand until now, raised a voice of agitation obvious to anyone's eyes for the first time. Before the shaking subsided, the ceiling collapsed overhead. I jumped away from the spot quickly. Lilna and Plato also dodged firmly on the spur of the moment. Looking forward. A thick chunk of metal was about to hit the Thing inside the glass case directly. By the time I shouted "Ah," it was already too late.

The liquid inside leaked out, and most of its body was crushed, throwing out unfinished limbs limply. Looking at me, for just a moment. It showed a face like a gentle smile——and then, stopped moving.

"It's collapsing!" Lilna shouts. I moved immediately too.

"We'll escape with Teleportation Magic! Hold hands quickly!" Lilna took my hand quickly. Since Plato showed a gesture of hesitation, I shouted at him.

"What are you dawdling for! Grab on quickly!" Plato, somewhat indecisive and still stunned. Forcibly grabbing his left hand, I transform into a woman. Our eyes met with Lilna. Her pupils were dilated as if showing surprise, but her expression seemed rather relieved. There's no time to think about the destination. Let's just fly to the previous place for now! 《Teleportation Magic》! In the nick of time, we managed to escape danger. Diesnatura, 3rd District, Block 6 again.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. As soon as we finished teleporting to the deserted back alley, Plato shook off my hand immediately. He questions me with a face of disbelief.

"Why did you save me... You should have no obligation to save me, an enemy."

"No reason in particular. I'd just have a bad awakening if I let you die." I reply quite nonchalantly. To him who lost his words as if taken aback, Lilna placed her hand on my head and signaled with her eyes. Fufu, she laughed lightly.

"Give up, Plato. Yu is this kind of guy." Plato didn't say anything back. Instead, he let out a small sigh. And then. I felt a strange discomfort.

"Strange. There is no sign of Natura nearby."

"What——It's true. What is going on?" Since they are Natura, of course they don't have Qi, but it wasn't a problem on that level. This is the middle of a big city. If so, no matter what back alley it is, some kind of sound should be leaking constantly. There should be signs of life. That had disappeared to an abnormal extent. Silence. Silence filled the place endlessly. It was as if all the presence and sounds of Natura had been stolen entirely from this city.

We decided to go out to the main street immediately with the three of us. Although Plato was walking slightly away from Lilna and me, he seemed to have completely lost the will to be hostile. As soon as we went out, we noticed a terrifying abnormality. The Naturas who were passing by had stopped moving as if frozen on the spot. Not twitching even a bit.

"Eh..."

"What...?" Looking around, everyone, without exception, had stopped moving from their spots in the same way. Even the cars flying in the sky were stationary without sound.

"Over there too."

"Here too." Lilna and I raised goofy voices together.

"What is happening?" Lilna turns a confused face to Plato. Only he didn't say a word, seeming to be deep in thought with a difficult face. Diesnatura was silent. It was endlessly quiet. As if time had stopped only here. Eventually, a large number of Prelions came in formation. Unfortunately, it seems only they are moving normally. We hid ourselves instantly and watched the situation. Approaching the motionless Naturas, they lifted them easily. They are trying to carry them away somewhere just like that.

"What are those guys doing?" There, the frowning Plato opened his mouth for the first time.

"They intend to dispose of them. Probably carrying them to the Central Processing Plant."""What!?"" Lilna and I raised voices of surprise at the same time.

"We have to stop them."

"Yeah." Just as we tried to jump out, we were stopped strongly by a hand.

"Don't be hasty. Look at those numbers. What will change with just you guys?"

"I see... You're right." Being admonished, I decided to endure it just for now. Lilna followed suit reluctantly. Even so, Plato seems awfully honest now. He, who seemed to have completely lost his venom, muttered helplessly.

"To think it would come to this. I don't know who... but they did it. This planet is finished..."

"What do you mean by ruin and end since earlier?" He seemed willing to answer that question. But instead, he started talking about something else first.

"There were four computers managing the system in total."

"Really?"

"Yeah... The Hundred Machine Council was destroyed by Lilna. The underground one was done just now. There is one on the Tia Continent too, but probably that one was destroyed at the same time."

"Where is the other one?"

"Not on this planet."

"What did you say?" Lilna raises a voice of surprise. Since earlier, she has been exclusively in the role of being surprised. If I hadn't predicted the truth of this planet, I would surely have been the same.

"That doesn't matter right now." He stared at me and asked.

"Yu. When the System suffers a heavy blow enough to endanger its survival, what do you think is prioritized?"

"Pouring all efforts into the defense of the system. Or, thorough elimination of the cause..." Saying it myself, I gasped. He nods.

"That's right. Natura and Humite, and the civilization of this planet, can be rebuilt again if they feel like it... At least for those guys who kicked the bucket long ago, that must have been the calculation."

"Then are you saying they intend to massacre even Natura?" Plato affirmed in a dark tone.

"The System finally regarded all of Natura and Humite as risk factors. What is happening right now is the beginning of that."

"I can't forgive such a thing!" While Lilna burned with anger. I was... The implication of something like resignation felt from every part of his words had been bothering me since earlier no matter what.

"Beginning... are you saying there's still something else?" He distorted the corner of his mouth with plenty of irony. And sharply, as if blaming us. But casting a somewhat sorrowful gaze, he said.

"You guys shouldn't have defied it no matter what. Maintaining the status quo was the best we could hope for... We had to avoid triggering that at all costs."

"What is that? What are you so..." What is it that Plato, who has seen the true history with his own eyes, fears so much? What is it that we can do nothing about? He announced the name in a desperate tone.

"Scorched-Earth Strategic Destruction Weapon. Geal-Fendas-Baragion."