Chapter 13 - Disillusionment

As someone who was about to finish his degree in Physics if not for his untimely death, Grey was gradually becoming intrigued with the self-existent monsters inhabiting the Dark Lands—those who came into existence without their exact origin; out of nothing, which caused even the Alien Archive to be unable to absorb their history.

Even though Grey never became an official Physicist due to the sudden alien invasion, if there was one thing that he found fascinating... It was that for a Physicist, there was no such thing as "nothing."

With that said, Grey was becoming increasingly curious about the inhabitants of the Dark Lands and the true nature of the Oriforce that seemed to govern this world.

'It may not be a grand purpose, but that will keep me moving forward, at the very least.' He thought to himself.

According to his earliest and latest actions, Grey had yet to take this second life too seriously for himself through a strange twisted fate. However, upon hearing the words that came out of the mouth of the trembling Goblin Chief chiseled from bones and rotten skin, his expression darkened.

His atmosphere seemed to become palpable.

Without sparing Princess Quintella a glance, he said, "Princess, go back to your room. I will handle this."

But then, Princess Quintella remained silent for a moment, refusing to heed his words. Noticing her silence, Grey witnessed a grim expression painted on her countenance, as though she wanted to tear this monster apart.

After a few seconds, she opened her mouth to speak, "Mister... It may not be as grave compared to what I heard just now, but at my age, I am already aware of the filthy side of the noble world."

"But still–"

Princess Quintella glared at him with resolute eyes. She then interjected, "Mister... If you could at least check my memories through the Alien Archive, you would see everything I witnessed as a wedlock of the Great Emperor.

"Please, I need to hear more and do this now."

Grey momentarily closed his eyes before letting out an expressive sigh.

To at least verify Princess Quintella's claim, he then directly asked Krishnaya,

"Krishnaya, let me check Princess Quintella's life history, but filter it to the worst ones that directly involve the nobility or royalty."

Hearing this, Princess Quintella involuntarily gulped and waited, while the genuflecting Goblin Chief who did not dare to look up remained ignorant.

In less than two seconds, Grey received a summary of what he had asked for.

Ding!

[Alien Archive: Devourer Dimension releases a filtered memory of the First Special Subject named Princess Quintella of the Holy Empire of Lumenasia.]

[First Special Subject—Memory Case N-0214-849]

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Memory Case N-0214-849 Contents:

[] Princess Quintella, six years old, hid behind an enormous Nara tree as she discreetly witnessed the meeting of and listened to the discussion of the Great Emperor's younger brother, Count Gildeus Lumenasia, and a seemingly anxious cloaked man.

"Count Gildeus, I have received the news regarding the arrival of the products."

"That is such indeed good news. The others seem to cannot wait, especially with the noble circle banquet tonight. Your report just came at the right time.

"By the way, how are the products' respective backgrounds? Is there any possibility for them to be traced?"

"No, Count Gildeus. The broker has assured that everyone was brought from an orphanage."

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Grey did not finish reading everything upon reaching the part pertaining to an "orphanage".

He subconsciously clenched his fist before returning to his human form, where his purple eyes looked for Princess Quintella.

He was not certain if there was any more undesirable memory of the little Princess that was collected by the Alien Archive. However, getting the gist about the contents of the Memory Case, Grey asked the Princess,

"Your uncle, Count Gildeus, do you remember seeing him with a cloaked man talking about products... or something?"

Hearing this, the now nine-year-old Princess Quintella swallowed her saliva; she was frozen in place.

"T–That, yes... Mister. It was about slave trading." The crimson-eyed girl gritted her teeth, her gaze subconsciously looked at the spacecraft's floor, albeit momentarily.

"What more do you remember?" For some reason, Grey's voice felt cold. But then, his expectation was off the mark as he was presented with a harsher reality.

"Uh, Mister. I–I didn't know at that time, but I vividly remember hearing the word [breeding] after the noble circle's banquet."

"Wh–what?" He was at a loss for words.

At first, as he read the Memory Case, Grey thought that these slaves from the orphanage were to be used as sex slaves of the nobles acquainted with Count Gildeus.

Clearly, there was an important distinction between sex slaves and someone to be used for breeding. Even then, both were inhumane and seemed to shake Grey's thread of morality.

After some time, as he regained his composure, Grey spoke, "Your uncle should not have died an easy death."

Princess Quintella fell silent, briefly recalling the treatment she received from her guilty blood. However, her resolve remained unshaken; her crimson eyes silently asking—'I will be responsible for my own actions.'

Seeing this, Grey monotonously said,

"Since you will be walking a thorny path, which I will follow from behind, then I have no choice but to acknowledge you.

"Let us go hunting, Princess."

Princess Quintella did not smile but instead nodded in all seriousness.

Amidst her silence, whose thoughts were only known to herself, Grey activated the virtual map through a large holographic screen of the Host's Headquarters instead of through the Extraterrestrial System.

He then coldly muttered,

"Search for those who deserve to die."

[Searching the outskirts of the Eastern Umbrafell using the Oriken Eye.]

After less than a minute–

[Goblin Villages have been located.]

[Orc Villages have been located.]

[Troll Villages have been located.]

"Found you all, motherfuckers. Activate Space Jump!"

[Coordinates have been accurately set.]

[Simultaneous Space Jump has been subsequently pre-casted.]

[Would you like to activate the Pillar Beam?]

"Yes, for every Space Jump, instantly abduct those monsters."

[Activating the pre-casted Space Jump.]

At that moment, the hovering Anon Oriken spacecraft that was invisible to the naked eye, something with a circumference of around two kilometers (2 km)—a ginormous alien ship on its own right—disappeared in a flash as a pillar of purple beam swallowed it.

It did not make a single sound.

It did not disrupt the surrounding forest.

It was as though the alien ship... was never there.

***

"Women! I need more women!"

"No, Chief! Adventurers will attack us again! Need to lie low!"

"I said more women!"

An Orc Village housing at least five hundred Orcs was serenely blazing with a bonfire for the night, providing the muscular green-skinned intelligent monsters sufficient illumination. However, amidst it all, within several crude tents, the cries of numerous women were weakly echoing.

What's more, those who tried to save them, a few men who became bait for some adventurers to run, were all tied up into a wooden pole in the center of the village, helpless and waiting to be burned at a stake.

"D–don't do this! You green-skinned bastards!" A man with brown hair and eyes shouted, trying to gain the attention of some Orcs attempting to sexually harass the captured women.

"Women delicious!" A random Orc muttered before its words became a chorus of desire.

"Women delicious!"

"Kyaaaa!"

"H–help!"

However, at the last second before everything was settled, faster than the blink of an eye, every excited Orcs including the Orc Chief vanished out of nowhere.

It was as though everything that had happened so far was just a cruel joke.

Woom.

What's more, the entire village disappeared along with the slaves—both men and women.

Again, no sound was ever heard.

Again, nothing was disrupted in the surroundings.

The Orc Village... was never there.

***

Woom.

The disc-shaped spacecraft jumped from one place to another without minding the distance between the monster villages.

Witnessing everything that was transpiring through holographic screens, Princess Quintella's heart and mind tensed. It was a first for her to witness something that was out of this world in action.

Even for Grey, though he was barely showing it in his countenance, what his purple eyes were seeing was truly a sight to behold.

Upon arriving at the designated coordinates, the Anon Oriken as per Grey's command would do its job, abducting the entire monster villages faster than someone's mind could process.

After some time–

Woom.

...the Anon Oriken finished its job as it began drifting slowly above the Dark Lands' soil, where he first declared the foundation of his Alien Village. The enormous spacecraft remained steady and silent.

Moving on, Grey and Princess Quintella watched through numerous blue screens the confused and maddened monsters separately trapped within a spacious empty metallic space.

On the other hand, the victims of this mess due to some circumstances were temporarily stored in every laboratory tank found in the vast Genetics Laboratory.

"Krishnaya, heal the victims through the tank. Let them sleep for now."

Ding!

[Thirty-six rescued victims have been tranquilized through the Body Healing Solution.]

"That's good. Keep monitoring them just in case something happens."

[Yes, Master.]

These words from her were not solely heard by him, but instead were broadcasted within the Host's Headquarters for Princess Quintella to know what was happening.

"Now then..."

Grey muttered before nodding at the Princess, whose gaze was scrutinizing everything.

***

"H–human! Human!"

"Grrr–!"

"Kill him!"

"A–ah, women!"

"Women are delicious!"

Hearing the mumblings of instincts from the helpless Goblins, Orcs, and several Trolls, which were all locked up within Anoboid-made cages, Grey and Princess Quintella observed the crowd of savage monsters as they both arrived in the [Unnamed] Factory.

Without wasting any time, Grey opened one of the cages filled with five normal dark green-skinned Goblins near the entrance of the factory.

Without hesitation, Princess Quintella retrieved an Anoboid-made sword from her Spatial Storage.

"Hup!"

Slash!

Slash!

The massacre then began.