Chapter 3 - Bitter Odds

"Goodnight, Himura."

"Goodnight, Kazuki."

I lay down on the futon that Himura lent me, and try to fall asleep.

'I wonder why I can't fall asleep yet.'

Normally, I fall asleep as soon as I lay on the bed. But I'm feeling uneasy since a while ago. And it's making me anxious.

'Nah, I don't think something bad is gonna happen.'

I assured myself and concentrate on my breathing.

'Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.....'

And soon I fall asleep.

=====================================

I was walking in a cave. I have to reach to the end of it. I don't know why, but my mind is telling me to go to the end of it.

After walking for what it feels like years, I've reached the end of the cave. I can't see what is at the end. All I can see is darkness. I touched its surface. It is cold to the touch. And smooth. Something urged me to push it. I pushed it. Then the darkness surrounded me. I can feel myself submerging into it.

"[Restrain.]"

A silver light filled my vision. The light lasted for a while. After the light has subsided, I saw a massive door. And my hands are touching it, pushing it open. But it has only opened a little, just the size of a finger. I can feel it calling out to me, urging me to continue pushing it open. I obeyed it and continued pushing it open. Then something wrapped around me and drew me away from that door. I looked down and saw a silver-colored chain. But I have to open the door. I held the chain and tried to remove it.

"[Release Control.]"

I suddenly felt a massive headache and my vision is becoming unstable. I saw images of my father, and a man who was standing in front of him. The cracking of space. And a hideous, gigantic creature, with many black eyes and six wings. Its body, which looks like some kind of hybrid between a skeleton of a dragon and a spider, which is not covered with skin, but something that looks like muscles and bones. And I saw it biting and tearing apart people with horns and blue skin.

"What did I just see?"

"[I'm sorry. It seems like some of my memories leaked into you since I've just fully awakened now.]"

I heard a voice which sounds like many people speaking at once behind me and I turned around. I saw a man with long, flowing silver hair standing(?) in front of me. But I can only see his head. I can only see silver light covering him from his neck to legs. And I saw another door, this time colored with silver, unlike that black door behind me, staying behind him. I looked around and saw that my surroundings are all filled with silver lights, many broken multi-colored chains floating around and destroyed platforms. And I noticed I was standing on one of them. But more importantly.

"What did you just say?"

"[I'm sorry. It seems like some of my memories leaked into you since I've just fully awakened now.]"

"No, I mean, can you explain what you just said? And where is this place? Why is only your head visible? What are the doors behind me and you? Am I dreaming? Is this what they call a lucid dream? Yeah, it should be a dream."

"[Since I was made to help all Gatekeepers of Soul, I have a piece of their souls given to me when they pass to the reincarnation cycle. Some of the memories stored in it leaked into you. This place is your soul, or more accurately, your inner world constructed by the power of your soul. I am an amalgamation of various pieces of souls, so I do not have a complete self. This form represents it. The door behind you is the Forbidden Gate of Oblivion and the one behind me is the Great Gate of Soul. No, you are not dreaming.]"

"I don't understand a word of what you just said! Gatekeeper of Soul!? Reincarnation cycle!? What shit is the Forbidden whatever!? What the hell are those!? Explain this from the beginning!"

Damn it. I got angry since all of this is confusing the heck out of me. I don't remember my dreams being this weird. Maybe this is my inner chunnibyou speaking. No, no. Calm down. Count from one to ten.

'One,....,nine, ten.'

"Explain this from the beginning."

"[Okay. I will explain this from the beginning. Hundreds of millions of years ago, there was a race called the Uiora race who lived on a planet similar to earth which is more than ten thousand light-years away. They were very intelligent, conquering their solar system within three thousand years of their first civilization. But they were very prideful and cared about nothing but their lives.]"

"Stop. Stop. Do you mean aliens? They are real!?"

"[They are not aliens. After all, we all are created from their deoxyribonucleic acid and that of the Daoyrl race. So calling them aliens would mean we are aliens too.]"

"Stop. What is Daoyrl race?"

"[Daoyrl race is a name given to nemesis race of the Uiora race. They are unique biological lifeforms different from all other races the Uiora race has encountered and recorded. Each individual in that race is different in their physical structures. For example, one Daoyrl can have six legs and four arms, and another can have no legs and only arms. From the corpses the Uiora race has retrieved and analyzed, they have determined that there should be at least five common types. Moreover, they have learned that they collectively grow larger with time and possess bodies that adapt to the environment very quickly. But they have very low intelligence, only following their instincts. Almost all of them are fighting-maniacs. The commonly accepted theory is that their battle-lust is born from their genes itself. They are also very sensitive to the gate energy and can grow even larger if a gate is consumed. One Daoyrl they have encountered is about as big as this planet. They also collectively possess phenomenal strength and durability. Moreover, they-]"

"Stop. Just give me the short version and the short version of that history."

Damn it. I think he's going to talk everything about that if I don't stop him. Still, just how weird is my dream going to be? I mean, we humans are created from that Uiore(?) or something race. And there even is another alien race, which is as big as the earth. With a strange name too. I mean, Daoyrl race? What kind of name is that? And what kind of name is gate energy? It all feels like nonsense or some bad prank from my mind. But I don't have that bad of a naming sense, I think?

"[Yes. In short, they are gigantic monsters with no brain and all brawn. The Uiora race....]"

...

I think I listened to him for more than an hour. And during the talk, his stories are making less sense the more I think about it. In short, that Uiora race discovered those so called 'gates', one of those gates exploded in an experiment and killed more than 25% of their population, and made all other gates lost their physical form. The explosion stunted their technological advancement, attracted the Daoyrl race, a war between these two races happened and the Uiora race lost.

So, they retreated to this solar system and remade their home on this planet nearly five million years ago. They decided to focus on biological enhancement and evolution. With the biological material acquired from Daoyrl race, they combined it with their genes, creating a new race named H-XIORYL. Apparently, that gate energy is an incurable poison for the Uiora race if they used it directly. And they used mediums to make up for that. But they lost to Daoyrls. So, with the help of the powers from Soul Gate and Life Gate, they created a combat-specialized race that can use Gates.

Well, a rebellion happened, some idiots thought it would be a good idea to call Daoyrl race using the artificial gate of Inversion or something, the enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that. Not only most H-XIORYL and Uiora died, this planet also lost nearly 25% of its mass. All Daoyrls that came here died from the power of the gate of the end, with the aid of the will of the world. The survivors have no choice but to band together. And the rest is history, or so he said. It is a really crazy story. I can't believe my own mind can make up that kind of story. Well, let's just go along with this dream for now.

"Even the short version is really long. And what about us being alien descendants or something? And what the hell is the will of the world? Is it like Gaia from Nasuverse?"

"[Well, I have to talk about nearly one thousand years of eventful history in the short version. So, yes. It will be a little long. Most of today's population are descendants from the marriages between H-XIORYL and Uiora. Yes, the will of the world is similar to that.]"

"So how do you know all of that, anyway?"

"[I am created by the first Gatekeeper of Soul to aid the next generations. The Gatekeepers of Soul are meant to be recorders, only interfering when the world itself is at risk. So, each Gatekeeper left behind a piece of their soul, which has all of their memories recorded in it. This is how I know all of that.]"

"...."

"[You are still thinking this is a dream.]"

He is right. I'm just going along with it until this dream is over. But I'm pretty sure this will be the most memorable and weird dream I will ever have. I mean, it even has a sci-fi-like backstory, like a novel, but a really bad novel.

"[Then what about that power you have? The power to perceive everything quickly within a certain range? That, when you used it, it feels like time has slowed down.]"

"This and that are different."

"[Haah, you are still in the stage of denial, you poor child.]"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm in denial. And all of this is real. They are totally not my inner chunnibyou speaking."

The man sighed again.

"[You will realize this is not a dream after you wake up. For now, just do as I said.]"

"Okay. Okay."

I said with a smile. Now, what kind of strange things will my mind create?

"[Open your palm and imagine an animal coming out of it. You can close your eyes if you want.]"

"Maybe I should make a dragon."

I wondered aloud while doing as he told me to. I closed my eyes.

'A dragon is too difficult. I should make something easier, since this is my dream, and I am lucid dreaming. So, by that definition, I am the ruler of this dream. I don't want my first fantasy element in my dream to get ruined by my lackluster focus. Okay. A snake should be easier to make since I have seen one before.'

'As for that imagination part, I guess I should think along the lines of Primeval magic from death march, since black dragon Heiron said to Liza that it is a magic that alters forms by means of strong desires after making a normal, alive goat from nothing but sands. If I remember right, I need to concentrate mana from surroundings into a place, which in this case would be my right palm. As for mana, well, silver lights from the surroundings should be fine since this is a dream.'

I imagined silver lights converging in my right hand and forming a snake. It should have silver scales since it is made from silver lights. As I concentrated, I was feeling elated since I always wanted to experience Primeval magic ever since I read about it, even if this is a dream.

"[You can open your eyes. You are doing very well for your first try.]"

I opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. The lights are converging in my palm and forming a bright silver sphere. The light is very bright but it doesn't hurt my eyes. Like the moonlight. I stared at the mystical scene, only one thought passing through my mind.

'Beautiful.'

After what feels like hours have passed, a slightly transparent snake, with a silver luster finished forming. Then it began to move around, wrapping itself around my waist and stayed there.

"[Congratulations on obtaining your first familiar. I didn't expect that you would be able to give it a soul at the first try.]"

"Familiar? Well, it doesn't matter. He is a beautiful creature."

I looked down at him and rubbed his head. I think I can somehow understand what he is feeling, and he is feeling happy. It doesn't matter if this is a dream, this feeling, and that beautiful scene more than makeup for all those long explanations.

"[Will you name your familiar?]"

"Hmm. I think I will call him Hebi."

"[.....Okay. Now, imagine the person who is most familiar to you, and command it to go to her.]"

Well, this is easy. Yuhino is the only one I am most familiar with.

'Hebi, go to Yuhino and pretend to bite her.'

I mentally commanded him while imagining Yuhino's face. Then, Hebi unwrapped himself and flied away to the silver lights.

'Truly a nonsensical dream. Only in here I will see snake flying without wings.'

"So, what do I have to do now?"

"[Nothing.]"

"Nothing?"

"[Yes.]"

"Okay."

....

I wonder when I will wake up. I've been sitting at one of the floating platforms for a few minutes after jumping from one platform to another for a while. But it feels like hours have passed due to a certain someone.

'Why are you staring at me without blinking the whole time!'

"Why are you staring me?"

"[I'm just fascinated by a unique phenomenon. I apologize if I'm making you uncomfortable.]"

"Okay..?"

This is uncomfortable. Imagine being stared unblinkingly for a long time by what looks like a floating head with a middle-aged face. At least, I'll be fine if it's a young girl. Make sure you get my preferences correct, my mind.

'I just sounded like Himura, didn't I?'

....

Now, I'm not even bothered by his stare anymore due to prolonged exposure. Right now, I'm floating on the air and, bored with nothing to do, trying to eat one of the silver lights while being upside down. I grabbed one and put it in my mouth. It tastes absolutely nothing, as expected.

"Hey floating head, how can I end this dream? There's absolutely nothing."

"[You can get out of here if you imagine yourself being flung out of here.]"

"That easy?"

"[Yes. Also, be careful.]"

"Okay. Okay."

I asked that question since I'm pretty sure I can't wake up no matter what I do. Who would think it would be that easy? It's as if someone trapped me here.

'Nah, it's just this strange dream influencing me to think like a chunnibyou.'

I imagined myself getting out and, suddenly, everything disappeared in a blur.

=====================================

'W-where a-am I?'

I remember I was sleeping over at Himura's place. I can't see clearly. I tried to move my hands.

'Damn it! I can't move them. I tried to move my neck. I can't. What is happening!? Does this mean that what I dreamed about actually happened? Where am I!? Why am I here!?'

No, no. Being flustered won't help me here. Plenty of anime has proved that. Let's count from one to ten.

'..., eight,..nine,....ten.'

Okay. Now that I'm somewhat calm, let's think about this from the beginning. I'm inside some kind of glass tank? And I think it is filled with something white? I think I'm inside a water-filled tank. But water should have blue shades. So it isn't water but some kind of liquid since they gave me an oxygen pipe to breath. And my whole body is feeling numb. I can't feel anything. And I can't move my body. Did they give me some drugs? And I have no idea why I am here.

'No, I think I can guess the reason. If what I dreamed actually happened.'

'Hey, can you hear me?'

'[Yes. I can hear what you are thinking. And close your eyes back. At least make them think you haven't woken up yet.]'

I closed my eyes and started to think about the recent events. So, I have someone who is an amalgamation of souls inside my head. And all humans are aliens. No, I would think about this later. Right now, what is important is how to escape from this place, since it's clear that whoever put me in here will surely do something nefarious to me.

'So I'm not imagining things. Do you know what happened to me? You told me to be careful. Did you know the government would capture me?'

'[How did you get that idea?]"

'You know, to experiment me and question me, since I'm apparently an important alien from your stories.'

'[No, it is not the government. And we are not aliens. We are H-XIORYL, or, at least have somewhat more H-XIORYL blood than Uiora due to you possessing not only one, but two true Gates. And the ones who captured you have at least two Gatekeepers, one of Life and one of Distortion.]'

'By the way, you never told me what those gates are.'

'[Think of the Gates as channels that can release a combination of elemental powers and conceptual powers. We have no time left. The Gatekeeper of Life is coming here. I'm positive she noticed you woke up due to your life pulse.]'

'So, what's the plan to escape?'

'[With your current abilities, zero chance to escape from here.]'

'WHAT!!? Are you serious!? There's no way!?'

'[Your soul is about two times stronger than a normal Gatekeeper-level. But your body is that of a normal person.]'

'Isn't there some kind of soul ability I can use!? I can create familiars right!? So-!'

'[She's here.]'

I opened my eyes. The white liquid that I can see become brighter. And someone walked in front of me. I can't see her clearly. She walked away outside of my field of vision.

'I can't move, I can't talk. I can't do anything. Damn it. DAMN IT! ISN'T THERE A WAY TO ESCAPE!!"

PAIN.

Pure, unadulterated pain overwhelmed me. And I tried to shout, but only coughed out blood, filling the oxygen mask with blood. I punch and kick the glass. Nothing works. And I saw blood coming out from my body.

"AH! It hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS! STOP IT. STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING!!!"

But it doesn't. And I lost consciousness due to the amount of pain I'm feeling.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The white-haired woman tapped a holographic screen in front of her. Then, the black blood inside Kazuki's body began to activate. She saw Kazuki coughing out red blood, punching and kicking the glass. Red blood began to leak off his body and mixed with white liquid. He then lost consciousness and stopped struggling, red blood still leaking from his body.

The woman tapped a button and his oxygen mask was removed and a new one was put on automatically. The white liquid, due to mixing with red blood, gained a pinkish color and was drained down and another white liquid was filled in the glass tank. She then walked in front of the glass tube. She scrutinized his body, trying to see if there are some changes. She then noticed a very small, barely visible black bone shard growing out of Kazuki's right index finger. It then broke and disappeared. After seeing this, she laughed loudly with joy.

"HAHAHAHA!"

Suddenly, she fell to the white floor and began screaming. Two horns, like that of a goat, began growing out of her forehead. She creased her scream, and concentrated on making them disappear. The two horns then sank back into her forehead. She laid on there, the aftereffects of what happened lingering in her mind. She then got up and fixed her clothes. She then took out a glass bottle and put some of the pink liquid inside and walked out of the room unsteadily.

'I lost control back there. Normally, this pain is bearable ever since I got used to it. But when those damn horns came out, the pain multiplied. This hasn't happened ever since I heard about the death of Kiyoshi-kun. I need to have a better control of my body.'

She then began to smile while thinking about the results of her first experiment with Kazuki.

'As expected of Kiyoshi-kun's son, his body is highly adaptable due to not training in any kind of strengthening technique. With the blood extracted from an infant Daoyrl who was frozen inside an ice block deep in the sea in Antarctica, I should be able to simulate and awaken his Daoyrl genes first.'

The white-haired woman stopped smiling and walked into another room made specially for constructing artificial gates. In there, ten people were discussing about their latest experiment, too deep in their discussion to pay any attention to her.

She folded her arms and coughed. The scientists immediately stopped their discussion and lined up in front of her.

"So, what will be the results?"

An elderly man, who was a Soul Gate user and as a representative, began to speak.

"About this, Lord Alacritas, I think we should stop doing this. Besides, High Lord Llurgunia only ordered to make a vessel that can hold the power of the end without deteriorating. We have many experience in doing that. But this is simply wasting time and resources."

The woman walked to him and placed her right palm at his chest, channeling his life to outside of his body into the air.

"Tell me about the expected results, John Welter. The Gatekeeper of Time made this barrier. Only one day will pass on the outside while twenty days have passed here. We have many people managing and collecting resources. This is not your part to worry. I am hundreds of years older than you, and I know what I am doing. Managing life is my specialty."

The woman said in a cold voice, while looking down at the fallen scientist.

"Y-yes, Lord Alacritas. According to calculations, after sixty days, inserting five artificial gates into subject Himura Yoshikage will be complete. But he will only be able to function for an hour before his soul and body detonated."

"This won't be a problem. We simply need a stepping stone to have a perfect vessel. When will you begin?"

"We will begin at 18:00 after finishing all preparations."

"Okay. I expect good results."

She then briskly walked out of the room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

{At the same time, in another base at the same island}

"High Lord Llurgunia, I believe Lord Alacritas has another agenda of her own."

A woman said to a young man. The man was wearing a black dress shirt with dark blue pants. He looked like he was only in his twenties, with short black hair and black eyes, but he was more than a hundred years old.

"I have guessed it since she joined our organization. But that old hag never acts out of the line. She only slip up when it comes to matters relating to the previous Gatekeeper of Oblivion. It doesn't matter if she fights us, our strength should be enough to defeat her."

"So you aren't going to stop her, sir?"

"No, we have all Forbidden Gatekeepers in our organization except for Space and Death. Killing her is only possible with the power of death. Better to have a persistent old hag on our side than the other side. And besides, I don't want to lose our capable people."

"I understand."

"How are the preparations coming along?"

"Yes, everything is done. Here is the trigger to the Gate of Inversion."

The woman handed him a metal square with four spikes at the tips. He took off his shirt and placed it above his right chest. The spikes dug into his flesh and the metal stayed there, its transparent screen showing his heart rate. He grabbed his shirt and put it on.

"Are you sure you want to do this, sir?"

"Yes, I'm sorry to you, but if I can't obtain the world, then no one can. "

"It is of no problem, sir. I will follow any of your decisions."

"Where is Gatekeeper of Light right now?"

The woman checked her watch screen.

"She still haven't left Kaname town yet."

"When do you think she will arrive here?"

"Sir, what do you mean?"

"Oh, didn't you notice a soul path?"

"No, I haven't noticed it, sir. But if there is a soul path, she will be here in seven days. What are you planning to do with her, if we aren't planning to relocate to another place?"

"I will personally give her a warm welcome, of course. As for you, go back to Japan and try to incite the opposite clans of Kanzaki clan to attack them. If we are lucky, we might be able to conquer Japan easily due to their infighting."

"Yes, I will carry out your command."

The woman bowed, and then turned around and left the place. Llurgunia then began contacting with many of organization branches around the world to incite chaos.

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'W-what just h-happened?'

I thought to myself after waking up again. I remember that I was talking with that shiny guy, and th-then.

PAIN.

'She did something to my body, didn't she? I saw my body leaking off blood.'

I briefly felt a phantom pain, the pain of blood leaking from all over my body. I looked down at my body. It is fully healed now. With no injury that I can see. Moreover, I can move now. But I can feel that there is something different with my body. And I can see clearly in this liquid. I looked around the room, noting various scientific equipment and computer screens. No, I will think about it later. I tried punching and kicking the glass. As expected, nothing happened to the glass. I have to call that shiny guy again.

'Hey, why did you stop talking then?'

'[I was thinking of how to get out of here and what she is planning. So I want to observe her carefully.]'

'Can you see what I can see? And you sound like you know her.'

'[Yes. Your senses are shared with me, even subconscious ones. I know who she is since a lot of Gatekeepers of Soul interacted with her. And I can guess what she plans to do with you.]'

'What is she planning?'

'[She plans to awaken both your Daoyrl and Uiora genes.]'

I thought back to what he had said before, about H-XIORYL race.

'Do you mean H-XIORYL race is a hybrid race?'

'[No, I will explain it in simple words. The body of a Daoyrl is compatible with gate energy and grows stronger with it. But they don't have soul structures we can recognize. But Uiora race is the opposite. Thus, by removing the DNA strains that are incompatible with gate energy and merging the leftover with mostly purified Daoyrl DNA, our race is born.]'

'I think I can understand, something like an evolved species.'

'[....It is not that simple, or correct. But you can think of it that way if it is easier to understand.]'

'So what about how to get out of here?'

'[Currently impossible. But if you manage to awaken without going insane with battle lust , then we should be able to escape.]'

'So I have to withstand that pain again!? And what do you mean going insane!?'

'[There's no choice. There were some people who managed to awaken their Daoyrl or Uiora genes. Those who awaken Daoyrl got a massive power boost in almost everything, but they went insane and fought every living thing they could find, dying after a while due to stamina. As for those who awaken Uiora genes, their body can't handle gate energy anymore and they will be in a terrible pain until they die. But there's no one who has both types of genes awakened.]'

'I have many questions, but I want to know first if I would be able to survive what you are talking about.'

'[At least ninety percent chance of dying.]'

Damn it. Damn it.

'[Your sister will be coming here soon since she has your familiar and I make sure there is a soul path that leads here. And she will bring reinforcements with her. With that, we might be able to escape. But all of the escape plans rely on waiting.]'

'Yuhino is involved in this!? And you mean you made her come here!?'

'[Yes she is. No, I'm sure she will try to find you if you disappeared. You do not remember it, but you have a clan.]'

'A clan, you mean something like from Nurarihyon no mago? And I'm in one of them?'

'[Yes, it is similar to that. And Yuhino should be the chosen successor for your clan, since she is Gatekeeper of Light.]'

'I see.'

'[You aren't reacting as I thought you would be.]'

'You will understand if you are forced to watch countless harem anime.'

I shuddered, remembering embarrassing memories of being seen watching fan-service scenes of ecchi anime by Himura's mother when I stayed over at Himura's place to watch anime together.

'[I can certainly see the resemblances.]'

'Yeah, now that I've relaxed somewhat, I can think more clearly now.'

'[What do you want to ask?]'

'Just how many Gatekeepers are there? And how did I forget about my clan? No, tell me everything you know about that Gatekeeper of Life. My missing memories can come later.'

'[She is at least two thousand years old. Her name is Alacritas, no known surname. She is currently the oldest H-XIORYL. She has white hair and white irises. She is also someone who managed to awaken her Uiora genes. Thus, there should be two horns on her forehead. But she normally hide them. So, she should be no problem in combat. But she has monstrous life force, even stronger than that of at least ten Gatekeepers combined. And she has a very high understanding of the two races. And judging from the black blood being injected into your body from the needles at your back, she somehow acquired a Daoyrl. Moreover-]'

'Wait a second!'

I turned my neck around and saw the needles inserted into my body. I tried to grab one.

'Got it!'

'[Stop!]'

I didn't listen to him. I grabbed it and tried to remove it.

"AAAHHH!!"

I feel myself being electrocuted. It only stopped after I let go of the black tube. But I can see burns on my body. The burns touched with the white liquid. Then they started healing. After a few minutes, there was no burn, no injury left.

'[You should stop being reckless. Do you really think there will be no precautions?]'

'I'm sorry, alright! I just want to get out of here!'

'[I understand. Can you guess what the white liquid is?]'

'Are you trying to distract me?'

'[Yes, being distraught won't help us.]'

'I don't know, some kind of healing liquid?'

'[Quite close. It is the Gatekeeper of Life's blood.]'

'What the hell! What kind of blood is white!?'

'[I told you, she has monstrous amount of life force. I won't be surprised if she can live for at least a hundred thousand years. She won't be unable to die during that time due to her regenerative powers. That kind of vitality changed her blood color to the color of Life. When she awakened her Uiora genes, she became unable to use most of her powers of life. And she should be in constant unbearable pain. I think ....she plans to use her blood and the black blood as catalysts to awaken both of your genes.]'

I think I will just ignore that I am essentially completely submerged in her blood. The less I think about it, the better.

'I think I can guess what her plan is.'

'[What is it?]'

'It is classic. An immortal wanting to die, but unable to die, due to varying circumstances. Like in Code Geass.'

'[I see. People recently has become a lot more creative.]'

'Don't you have my memories?'

'[No, I've just fully awakened recently, due to your....circumstances. As you think about various things, I can view, record and process them quickly.]'

'Okay. Anyway, in that case, trying to convince her of the beauties of life should work.'

'[She is in constant pain for the rest of her life. And that pain is....unpleasant to say the least. One of the Gatekeepers of Soul awakened her Uiora genes, and killed herself after a few days, even after I tried to stop her. I won't be surprised if she has gone completely insane, after feeling that kind of pain of hundreds of years.]'

'Then I don't know what to do anymore! The only one left is to kill her, which to be able to do so, I need to awaken those two genes that I have only ten percent chance to survive in the process!'

Then I felt pain. Pain that is strong enough that I want to just bite my tongue and die. I coughed out blood into the oxygen mask. My body is in pain. Like being bitten by fire ants all over it. I fainted. But before I fainted, I think I saw black something growing out of my chest.