Chapter 83 (1/2)

‘If.’

The word ‘if’ denoted those unexpected instances that may or may not happen. In dictionaries, it was used often in suppositions and a.s.sumptions, and humans attached ‘only’ at the end in order to express their hope or regret.

There could be one in a ten thousand chance that such a future would come true. Arriving before it’s not too late…. No, at least, arriving just before something terrible happened to the captives – the members of the rescue party would’ve been dreaming of such a future.

However, there was no meaning in saying such things when the c**p had hit the fan already.

The Lost Paradise was the reality. It was neither a cartoon, a web novel, nor a movie. It was definitely not a computer game where you could save your progress at the click of a mouse as you sit on your comfy chair. Once something happened, it couldn’t be undone.

When things had come this far, stuff like ‘if only’ or ‘one in ten thousand’ were all useless suppositions. The final stop the winds called ‘Just in case’ or ‘Maybe’ would take you to was self-denial, that was all.

The ‘rescue’ as spoken by Ayase Kazuki didn’t simply mean physical rescue of the captives. No, it was much closer to ‘saving’ them. Seol Ji-Hu didn’t necessarily think of that as bad. Instead, having such a determination to unhesitatingly find the best possible answer to any given situation was befitting of a pragmatic, realistic Earthling.

Even then…

Seol Ji-Hu couldn’t throw away the wickers of hope burning in his heart; even though he felt as if his body was sinking deeper into an inescapable quagmire the lower he went down the stairs, he was still searching for that ray of light buried somewhere within the murky depth. Even if it was just one ray, one small piece – as long as he could rescue another one.

But then, they arrived at the bottom of the stairs and the flames of a candle burning faintly in his heart quaked violently from the spectacle laid out before eyes.

“Oh, my G.o.d…..” (Mary Rhine)

Mary Rhine hurriedly covered her mouth.

“………”

Even Ayase Kazuki was rendered utterly speechless.

A true h.e.l.l on earth!

Crimson light illuminated this s.p.a.ce as if it was a red light district; spectacles of truly horrendous nature ran rampant everywhere, and they could hardly keep their eyes open. Even the so-called cities of depravity, Sodom and Gomorrah, wouldn’t have been this heinous. The advent of living h.e.l.l on humanity would somewhat resemble this place.

“First time seeing such an unsightly hatchery in my d*mn life.” (Kazuki)

Kazuki murmured to himself in a hushed voice before pulling out the paper with directions written on it. However, he began forming an expression of confusion. First of all, his eyes could see well over a thousand of them already. This was already a mind-numbing number to go through.

“W-what will you do?” (Mary Rhine)

Mary Rhine began chewing on her nails. Kazuki whispered, “Hang on,” and continued to pore over the paper, before he sniffed the air. They were standing by the entrance, yet there was this overly strong sweet odour wafting in from somewhere. It only brushed past his olfactory senses, yet he felt a light case of dizziness.

“This smell….??” (Kazuki)

His sharp eyes quickly s.h.i.+fted over to his left. The second underground floor was also divided into two districts, but it wasn’t separated like how it was on the first floor.

“For the time being, let’s head over to the experimentation area.” (Kazuki)

They spotted almost no movements. Kazuki paid extra careful attention to his surroundings as he led the way. The location the Archer led them to was a structure with reddish walls. The closer they got, the stronger that sickly sweet smell became.

The interior of this small structure located next to the hatchery boasted a rather strange sight of its own, as well. There was only a single mutated Orc inside, but then, there were dozens upon dozens of pots, large enough for a person to sit inside, placed here. On top of them, there were a matching number of ropes dangling from the ceiling.

The source of the smell was, without a doubt, this building. The sweet smell had become so heavy that it almost made them gag. Kazuki stood on his toes to take a look inside the closest pot before his expression crumpled somewhat.

The pot was filled with a sticky but clear liquid. He cautiously dipped his index finger before withdrawing it. A small strand clung onto his departing fingertip before snapping loose, evidence of the weak amount of viscosity present in this liquid.

“This is….?” (Kazuki)

The Archer tilted his head and brought his head even closer to take a deeper look, only for his cold, determined face to crumple in an instant.

“Keuk!!” (Kazuki)

He yanked his upper torso away in a hurry and quickly took several steps back. Seol Ji-Hu hurriedly lent his aid. Kazuki breathed heavily to regain himself before spitting on the ground with a disgusted face.

“G.o.d d*mn it! It’s aphrodisiac!” (Kazuki)

‘….Aphrodisiac??’ (Seol Ji-Hu)

Even though things were in a bit of mess right now, Seol Ji-Hu still got to form a rather dumbfounded expression. He realised that all these dozens of huge pots were filled with the same liquid.

His gaze then drifted towards that lone mutated Orc standing still, unmoving. His experiences told him that the creature wasn’t standing there for no reason. Now that he could see, the rope going into the pot in front of the thing was stretched taut.

He remembered how the mutated Orc lowered Hugo from the ceiling, so he was able to quickly locate a pulley-like device nearby.

Even though he was unsure, he quickly ran over there and turned the handle. Creak, creak….  the rope was pulled upwards as it wound around the pulley. Splash, splash…. The sounds of liquid falling could be heard next.

Eventually, a person whose entire body was tightly wrapped around with rope suddenly emerged from the pot. The drops of liquid fell from the oily, seemingly naked body. Seeing the soaked but still-abundant red hair, it must have been a woman. It was at this point in time that Mary Rhine began freaking out.

“Big sister!!” (Mary Rhine)

Kazuki moved swiftly. He leapt up in the air, sliced the rope off, and caught the woman before landing back on the ground. Seol Ji-Hu furrowed his brows immediately – all of her limbs were intact, but once she was laid down on the ground, he realised that her legs and arms were all bent in terrible angles.

“D*mn it, did she drown??” (Kazuki)

“N-no, that can’t be it.” (Mary Rhine)

Mary Rhine spoke with a pale complexion.

“Big sister Erica learned the ability to breathe underwater. There’s no way she’d drown.” (Mary Rhine)

Kazuki quickly pressed his hand near the unconscious woman’s nose. He sensed her breathing. Even her chest began rising and falling, albeit faintly.

Suddenly, the woman’s eyes shot wide open. Her blurry irises stared up at the ceiling above, and then…

“Ahh-ahck!!”

Flop, flap…

She began flailing her body this way and that. Forget about the usual pained moans, she was busy emitting cries of horror right now.

‘This person is…’ (Seol Ji-Hu)

She was none other than the Level 6 Imperial Knight, Erica Lawrence. A powerful being on par with Agnes.

“Ah-ah-ehuk…. Aaaaaahrgh!!” (Erica Lawrence)

While Erica Lawrence was breathing and panting in pain, the Archer quickly checked for signs of infection and the Priest cast her divine healing spell.

A short while later, Kazuki stood up and addressed Mary Rhine.

“Take her back.” (Kazuki)

That meant that Erica Lawrence was not infected.

“Got it. Be careful, you two.” (Mary Rhine)

Mary Rhine didn’t say anything unnecessary and supported Erica Lawrence. Their exit was fast enough to mildly surprise the others.

The second person was rescued beside Hugo. Now, only two remained.

They checked other pots to make sure, and they were all empty. Kazuki squatted down and glared at the ground. Seol Ji-Hu didn’t urge him. Everything he saw of the j.a.panese man said that this guy was a dependable Earthling. If he wasn’t moving, then there must be a good reason for that.

“Seol.” (Kazuki)

Kazuki opened his mouth.

“It’ll be extremely difficult to search through this place with our remaining time.” (Kazuki)

That was true. Even Seol Ji-Hu had been masking his frustration. It wasn’t just one or two buildings in the experimentation area, and not to forget, the hatchery itself was huge, and there were just too many victims in here.

“So, we gotta….” (Kazuki)

Was he trying to say that they needed to retreat now?

“….Gotta think about this.” (Kazuki)

What he said next was somewhat out of Seol Ji-Hu’s expectation.

“Both Dylan and Ali were infected, their limbs cut off. What the b*stards were trying to do to them was clear – sap away their stamina, infect them, and create more mutated Orcs. Use some parts of the bodies as sustenance, use the rest to create more soldiers, and also use them as breeding stocks, too.” (Kazuki)

‘….Use as sustenance?’ (Seol Ji-Hu)

For a moment then, Seol Ji-Hu recalled the door Cho Hong stopped him from entering earlier.

“However, the same thing didn’t happen to Erica Lawrence. Her limbs might have been broken, but she wasn’t infected. No, she was just left inside the pot of aphrodisiac…. It probably means that they were trying to break her down mentally. They probably knew that no one would be able to survive for long the horrors of the hatchery outside.”

Kazuki’s mutterings sounded more like him trying to organise his thoughts rather than talking to someone else.

“Meaning, captives have been separated by their s.e.x.” (Kazuki)

“Does that mean the chances of the remaining two not being infected are….” (Seol Ji-Hu)

“No, hang on. That’s not it.” (Kazuki)

Kazuki shook his head.

“It’s not that they are uninfected, it’s simply that there’s no need. Being violated by the mutated Orcs will infect them naturally, anyway.” (Kazuki)

Kazuki continued on.

“Erica Lawrence has been fighting back. Just like Hugo.” (Kazuki)

If that a.s.sertion was flipped around, then the two captives not being here meant that they couldn’t endure. It was then, Kazuki’s eyes burned brightly.

“Found it.” (Kazuki)

“?”

“It’s the trace of someone being dragged away. Looks like it’s comparatively recent, too.” (Kazuki)

“Are there two people?” (Seol Ji-Hu)

“No, just one.” (Kazuki)

Kazuki seemed confused as well.

“If my theory is right, then there should be two, but… Ayase Yui, Teresa Hussey…. I don’t know who it could be between the two, but I can only see one.” (Kazuki)

“Let’s go and take a look regardless.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

The two men quickly left the building. But Kazuki’s steps gradually slowed down.

“D*mn it…. Why are there so many traces now?” (Kazuki)

That was inevitable, though. It wasn’t as if this place had little to no foot traffic; anyone could tell without looking too hard that the old traces would be covered up by fresh new ones being laid on top every single day, as this whole area was chock-full with all sorts of races and beings. Even if he was a great Pathfinder, he’d be rendered helpless here.

“Tell me any distinguis.h.i.+ng features of your sister.” (Seol Ji-Hu)

“There’s a mole near her left eye. Her hair colour is pitch-black, and her physique is pet.i.te. And she’s cute.” (Kazuki)

Seol Ji-Hu diligently searched his surroundings. No matter how many times he looked, this whole place simply was a series of unbearable sights one after another. Countless females were either tied and bound to various pillars and walls with chains and ropes. And a similar number of mutated Orcs were standing around in several spots within the hatchery or sticking uncomfortably close to those tied-up females.

The problem here had to do with the fact that the females weren’t just from the human race. He paid closer attention to a certain figure because she seemed to be a human at a casual glance, but as it turned out, her ears were too pointy; animal-like four-legged beings resembling a wolf; even plant-based beings, and monsters that he had never seen before, had been captured in droves. Meaning, the Parasites didn’t care what they captured as long as the victims possessed the ability to give birth.

Seeing this wretched sight, he could acutely feel how the Parasites, supposed to be an alien race, thought of humans as well as other races living on this planet. With that realisation, powerful rage boiled deep within his heart.

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‘Sons of b*tches.’ (Seol Ji-Hu)

To Parasites, males were only good for food or as disposable meat s.h.i.+elds. As for females, they were no different than livestock. Seol Ji-Hu chewed on his lower lip almost to the point of drawing blood and grasped his spear tightly. He relied on the single strand of icy cold energy from the weapon to suppress his heart ready to explode in anger. It happened then.

“Yui?” (Kazuki)

Kazuki abruptly pounced forward like a bolt of lightning. Seol Ji-Hu hurriedly chased after him, but his steps came to a stop soon after. He found the Archer standing still like a stone statue, his expression one of pure stupefaction.

There was a female squatting on the ground, both of her wrists tied to the pillar behind her. There was this vacant smile on her face, too. Just as Kazuki had said earlier, she was a cute young girl. And her entire body bore the evidence of all the violence done to her.

“Heh….” (Ayase Yui)

Even though her brother was standing before her very eyes, she maintained that aimless, creepy smile. He wordlessly stared at his sibling. Sniff. He sniffled noisily and with a clenched fist, wiped his eyes. He then knelt down on one knee and pressed his forehead to hers.

“….I’m sorry.” (Kazuki)

The goodbye was kept short. Kazuki stood back up and grasped his longsword. Seol Ji-Hu gasped out in surprise.

“Kazuki?!” (Seol Ji-Hu)

“It’s too late.” (Kazuki)