Chapter 124 – Star Fall (7)

When Palcatus was born, the Queen and its siblings all had high expectations for it.

That was only natural, since the second, named Terrmakian, was created based on the sample of one of the two samples Edeorna brought from Turan, the sample from Charlotte de Agatre, the Sun of the Battlefield.

“Don’t you think it’s interesting? All that I changed was the gender, but a child with the complete opposite ability came out of the same ingredients.”

“Just the gender, you say? That’s an insult to our mother and siblings, sister. They’re completely different species. How could the tree of a seed that grew in the desert be the same as a tree that grew on fertile land?”

Their superior physique and commanding ability, or even how they show their greatest performance in mass battles, were all similar, but there was just one major difference between Terrmakian and Charlotte.

Charlotte becomes more powerful and buffs her troops the more allies she has nearby, whereas Terrmakian absorbs the power of his allies when they die off and temporarily makes their strength and vitality his own to use in battle.

“It seems like it’s just about to come out. I hope it’s a strong one. All of the guys here are thinner than straws—they’re not even a warm-up for me…”

“Don’t treat him too roughly. It is most likely not a child you are expecting.”

“He’s weak?”

“…I cannot explain. It was like a small piece of charcoal that lit up an entire torch. It burned brightly enough to shine upon the horizons of the ocean but could also disappear into nothing in an instant. Honestly, although it was a human, it was a shame that such a being collapsed so easily. Before we retreated from the battle, the last state he was in was that of a corpse. By now, he is most likely wandering through the battlefield like a zombie, with that sparkling intelligence gone. Or they died from the humans.”

“…When. I can’t say much since I didn’t see him, but I trust your eye, sister. You are the one that brought the ingredients to create me, after all.”

“I also have high expectations for—”

“…! …! ……!!”

Thump!

Ssssk!

At the Queen’s signal, the two monsters instantly leapt up from their seats and rushed to her side. The Queen was experiencing labor pain. There was nothing they could do about it, but they couldn’t ignore the expression of pain that was delivered to them through telepathy.

Schllllrk— Splat!

In the middle of the Queen’s layer, where countless servant mutes were bustling about, their third sibling finally came out into the world.

“…It’s small.”

“Are you sure it’s him? This one looks under—”

Shhhk!

“I believe you know that your value is not impacted even if I cut off that tongue of yours.”

Even before Terrmakian finished speaking, the slender, white branch that came out of Edeorna’s fingertip pierced the thin layer of skin under his chin, and Terrmakian, who easily pushed away that nail, grumbled back.

“Tch. I’m just saying. Look at him. It’s true that his body is small.”

[Ah, ugh… uahhh…]

“There must be something different, then. Look. It hasn’t even been a minute since it’s been born, but it’s already attempting to communicate through telepathy.”

[Uh, uahhhh… it hurts… cold…]

“It’s already learned human speec—hm?”

“Sister. Is that… broken?”

Palcatus, who had been struggling to stand up in front of Edeorna and Terrmakian, continued to try and stand up and slip as it crawled towards the Queen, where it could feel even a bit more warmth.

Under the supervision of Edeorna, who was at a loss for words, Palcatus succeeded in snuggling against Mother with his broken legs and working arms.

The first thing he experienced after being born was the pain of his broken legs and the chilly air that felt like his lungs were freezing.

I want to become stronger.

Every time he saw Edeorna go out to hunt powerful enemies and Terrmakian bring in the savage tribe members of foreign tribes to provide meat for their Mother, those words pierced Palcatus’s heart.

Unlike his other siblings, his body was much too weak. Even Rank 7 mutes, which were created from infected beings, were able to survive the northern cold within one or two days thanks to their distinctive strength, but if Palcatus did not stay inside the fluid body of the symbiotic mute ‘Buddy’ that his Mother had created just for him, he would die in mere minutes from the frigid cold.

The guilt and appreciation he felt for Mother and the shame as he looked at his siblings only continued to increase when, one day, he confronted his sister, who came in for the first time in a while, and asked her.

“…Why did you choose that human?”

“Tus. What brought you all the way here? Return to Mother at once. Your body is too frail—”

“Why did you need to create me with such useless ingredients?”

It wasn’t just a feeling of shame that made him say this.

He genuinely loved his family—all of the mutes working under Mother. It was because he loved them that he couldn’t forgive his own existence.

After the defeat at Turan, the dark mages requested more of Mother’s blood and flesh for their research. When he saw them request to open up Mother’s head and operate on it in exchange for 500 live ingredients, and his strong older sister barely managed to decline their offer with tightened fists from anger that broke her bones from the pure force, how much despair did he feel?

If only he had been strong like Edeorna and Terrmakian, then he could have gone out and hunted humans as well. Then Mother wouldn’t have needed to fill her stomach with rogue dogs and lizards!

Glurp, pshhp—

“Wait, you…!”

“Kill me! This instant! I cannot bear the waste of meat that goes into my stomach! I would rather wish myself to be diced into pieces and served back to Mother! That would be the most useful thing I could be for our family, isn’t it?!”

So he wished to die. If he served his weak body, which dies if it leaves the symbiotic creature that Mother made as meat she could eat, then that would be his greatest joy and honor. That’s what he thought.

Rustle. Rustle.

He could hear Edeorna’s light footsteps approaching him. If it’s in the hands of his older sister, who was stronger than any other in the world, then he would be able to die painlessly. Just as he struggled to lean out his freezing head in hopes of leaving the world before he caused any more inconvenience.

“…You must have been incredibly troubled. Poor thing.”

Instead of her sharp nails, his sister gave him a warm embrace.

Coming from his sister’s body, which was changing by the day, was a scent that was like their Mother’s. The despairingly warm body of his sister. His body, which had been freezing up, thawed back down in the arms of that strong body.

“Tus. Raise your head.”

“…”

“Hurry.”

From the slimes that bounce across the plains to his siblings that were born from Mother’s stomach, the forehead of the most useless mute, myself, and my powerful, strong sister’s forehead, touched together.

“On the day you were born, you sent us telepathy even before you spoke. You own a small, weak body, but you have the ability to listen and speak to the deepest part of us brothers and sisters. Just like Mother.”

“That’s…”

“You do not need to say anything. I have something I wish to show you, so read it yourself.”

Palcatus did as he was told. Through their touching foreheads, his consciousness digs into his older sister’s memories. The memories of Turan, when his sister’s body was still thin and slender.

‘There, do you see that man?’

Palcatus, who had been looking around the battlefield like a lost child, turned his head towards Edeorna’s voice.

It was a large man. With a rugged face and flimsy equipment, the human did not look that special.

‘It is him.’

’…Pardon?’

‘You… were created based on the blood of that man.’

Palcatus couldn’t understand what she just said. Just from looking at him, it was clear that the man had a strong physique. If he was created from that man, then how could he have such a weak body? Maybe he was, like his older brother said, a faulty creation?

‘Shh. Continue watching.’

The memory continued to play.

Unlike his appearance, the man’s body wasn’t strong at all. Because when the man managed to escape the pinch he was in against the mute army, his arm, which only needed to withstand the power of sliding down the creation he made with the shield, was bent in the wrong direction. Even with a scratch from a tiny pebble and the smallest of collisions, the man’s body reacted drastically as it was torn and broken. Just like his own body.

But the man still stood out on the battlefield.

He survived the attack, joined what seemed like a worthless group of people, and led them.

But just by positioning them in the correct place, the human side gained a chance to fight back.

At some point, he was commanding the entire right side of the army.

And moving his broken, tattered body that was no better than a corpse, he raised the human knights and made his sister fall into that knight’s hands.

“…”

“Did you see that?”

“…Yes.”

“Then speak again. Is he truly that weak?”

“I… am not.”

“Then, you must also not be weak.”

After patting his back once, his older sister called Buddy and ordered him to swallow him back again, then said to him.

“Don’t worry about what Terrmakian said. No matter what you look like, you are Mother’s child… and my family. There is always a place where you will shine.”

Glurp.

Inside of Buddy’s green fluid. While Buddy, who was created to prioritize Palcatus’s survival, moved him to the warm abode of his Mother, Palcatus was no longer looking at his weak and frail body. His consciousness was looking at something else, not his body. His kin spread across the world. Himself, who was able to communicate with them. And his original, the one who achieved victory against the swarm of enemies even with his fragile body, his father.

“Ahh, ahhhh…”

Standing before that massive awakening, tears flowed down Palcatus’s eyes. His head was smarter than any other child of his Mother’s. And his special ability to communicate with other mutes.

“I’m… not weak…”

He wasn’t born weak. It was because he had everything he needed that a strong body was useless.

Clackclackclackclack.

Inside Buddy’s body, who was carefully walking to make sure he wasn’t harmed, Palcatus bawled like a newborn child.

He wasn’t weak. Just different.

“After that day, I changed. As each day passed, I learned that I was much smarter than I expected and just how much of the world was filled with foolish beings. For the first time, I thanked Mother for creating me this way, and thanked my older sister for raising me when I was down, and above all, respected my father, you, who helped me realize that I was indeed useful. You were human, but you felt like family to me!”

It was easy dealing with the dark mages. Mother’s blood and flesh, which they had been regularly sending. Just by sending a little more to one side, they searched and suspected an enemy amongst themselves that did not exist and ripped each other apart. Only the smallest of nudges were needed to make those parasites eating away at Mother and divide their unity. Humans who cannot unite are weak.

He learned through the dark mages how easily humans were deceived. He attacked a small village, then sent his older brother to go save them.

Seeing his older brother, who walked on his two feet and looked similar to them, unlike the infected mutes, they expressed their gratitude and kneeled down to him. From his brother’s memory, he learned about the beings they called ‘gods’. When he created a religion and only kept the ones that had the symbol of the Savior’s Order alive, they then continued to grow in number without him needing to do anything, and like how livestock provided meat and milk, the Savior’s Order provided valuable information and decreased the number of humans of their own. It was so easy that he almost didn’t believe it at first.

And Tobrune. The Level 6 mage he contacted through the Savior’s Order. When he saw the last moment of life that the Insomnia Crab experienced when it crawled out of its host, Palcatus lept out of Buddy and danced around.

His original, his Father was alive! Well and alive! The fact that he found the spy that nobody else found and that he stopped his plans made Palcatus feel ecstatic. It was just what he expected of his father. The one that made me, the one that gave me awakening! The man who overcame his natural-born weakness through his incredible intellect!

From that day on, he forgot what leisure was. Only earnest hard work. For that day when the two of them played the battle of wits on each side of the battlefield with the pawns called humans and mutes! Out of respect for the man, he conquered cities by racking his brain so that they could fight with everything on the line! He discussed it with his siblings and made future plans! Eventually, he succeeded in returning Mother to the rightful throne she deserved to be on. Everything was working out perfectly. Absolutely perfect!

“But why? What are you doing here?!”

His Father, whom he so dearly wanted to meet, was in front of him. Unlike his siblings, who completely trusted him, his Father needed to move and fight with useless humans who were too busy being suspicious of each other, and thus he was fighting himself on the battlefield with that weak body of his.

Although this was not the encounter he had wanted, but understanding his situation, he planned to quietly take him back to Mother’s side. Since their study of the human brain was pretty developed, he had been thinking there must be a way to maintain that shining intellect of his whilst infecting him!

Crashhh!

“Ahahahahah!”

Powwww!

“Die, you motherf—ers! Die! Die! Dieeeee!!”

Crunch! Cracckk! Crcggkh!

What was he looking at?

In the middle of his kin that were getting flung around like ragdolls, the man was swinging his crimson right arm with not a single piece of armor on and laughing like a manic beast!

Why was his Father, who he thought was the only being in the world that could fully understand him aside from Mother, who overcame his weak physical strength with his almighty intellect, his role model?

“Heard your mom’s a god! How convenient! I’ll kill you all and send you back to your mom!”

Why was he fighting in such a savage and unrefined manner?

Inside his protective jello, Palcatus stomped his feet, swung his fists, and screamed out loud, hurting his vocal cords that he rarely used. He couldn’t bear this anger.

“I… have been waiting for you. Every time I got sick of this terrible body, I imagined our reuniting on the biggest battlefield in history, battling out to the end using every strategy and means possible! But why… Why are you…? Why are you swinging your fists around like a savage? What about the intellect? Our battle of strategy and wits? You traitor! Why? WHYYYYY?!!”

Watching Professor’s battle through the bug he planted called the transmitter, Palcatus cried out in despair. The great battle of the wits? The Father that he could currently see was merely a barbarian, just like all of the other humans. Every time he saw the spray of blood exploding out of the man’s elbow when he swung that right hand, it felt like that swing was shattering his dreams into smaller shards of dust.

Powwww!

Pwhak!

“Praise the endless possibility of magic! I have finally! Conquered Glass Bodyyyyy!!!”

Of course, having no way of knowing that, Professor continued to laugh at the surprisingly magnificent power of Blood Armor, which combined ‘repulsion’ and ‘acceptance’, and continued to fling away the mutes.