Nine Tailed System 163 Promestein's Dilemma

In a laboratory, there was only Promestein who was talking to herself.

Promestein: After everything, it's down to just me…

Lucia vanished…

Laplace was destroyed along with the Drain Lab…

La Croix is gone forever…

Promestein: That d.a.m.n Lucia… Sending this to me… Honest to a fault. But since you betrayed us, you're an enemy…

She was looking at a bunch of research reports sent from Lucia. All of the data she obtained while using Promestein's research laboratory. Included in that bundle, there was a letter thanking her for her a.s.sistance up until she betrayed her.

Promestein: The last records from the Drain Lab arrived, too…

Basically, she had every log of the Drain Lab until its destruction, inside them, there was the destruction order, but it was delayed of 5 minutes. An alteration of orders that should be impossible, but it was there…

Promestein: Laplace… Are these five minutes your answer? Were you able to find meaning in your existence?

Meanwhile, the communications with the Biolabs were completely cut off. The entire facility was under the control of the Monster Lord's side now.

Promestein: La Croix… You yourself said it. You're just a corpse with no heart.

La Croix was obviously distracted by the lingering feelings for her younger sister…

Promestein: I've decided, La Croix… You were not just a sh.e.l.l imbued with another's memories and emotions. You were just a researcher, frightened at losing control of your own sense of self. Since it was you, I'm sure you realized it in the end…

That's why s.h.i.+rome suffered so much, and kept bouncing between madness and reason.

Promestein: Lucia, Laplace, La Croix… I wish I could speak with you all again… To discuss the answers you each came to.

...But now she is alone… Unable to find answers to her own questions…

[Flashback]

Promestein was much younger than she was now, and was wandering in a library in the Heavens, talking to a blue haired Archangel.

Promestein: ...Master Hermes, I've finished the new edition of "The Dawn of the New Era". I've also added notes in five hundred and sixty places to "Writings from Ilias about Time".

Hermes: ...Such splendid work, Promestein. You truly are the best clerk in the Heavens. Please keep up your best for Master Ilias' sake.

Promestein: Yes, for Ilias.....

Her eyes remained focused on the candle burning on the side of the desk.

Promestein: ...Master Hermes, may I ask a question? How come that wax melts? What kind of phenomenon is occurring there?

Hermes: Again, Promestein? It's because it is influenced by the benevolent power of Ilias. It was created with a method bestowed upon us by Ilias. To attempt to unravel its mystery is a sin.

Promestein's fellow angels, overhearing their conversation, started to mutter and ridicule her.

Promestein: ….

How could they be satisfied without knowing why things happen as they do? "Because of Ilias' benevolent power" isn't an acceptable answer to everything… She wanted to know the truth… She want to know the reason for everything.

[Later]

Hermes: ...Promestein, have you fixed that pa.s.sage yet?

Promestein: Please wait a moment, Master Hermes. I'll be finished in five minutes…

Writing down stupid notes, explaining a falsehood… She want to do more than this.

Hermes: Don't rush through it, take your time.

Promestein: Yes.

As her brush quickly flowed across the page, a b.u.t.terfly suddenly landed on her desk. Promestein caught it by one of its wings and inspected it.

Promestein: …

Hermes: Please don't kill things in this sacred library, Promestein. If it's disturbing you, please release it outside.

Promestein: ...How do b.u.t.terflies fly through the air?

Hermes: It's because Ilias created them that way. All creatures were created by Ilias. (AN: Sweet mother of G.o.d, my b.a.l.l.s already turned 720° because of Ilias' will.)

Promestein: …

Another meaningless explanation… Is it just because it was made that way? Or is there something deeper to this?

Hermes: You stopped writing, Promestein…

Promestein: ...Forgive me, just some slight fatigue.

Promestein released the b.u.t.terfly and continued to write.

Angel 1: Haha… "How does a b.u.t.terfly fly?"

Angel 2: It's like she doesn't even know Ilias' power… Even if she does good work, she has no common sense.

[Later]

She was alone, and started to mumble things for herself.

Promestein: This is the realm of the G.o.ds…! The physical laws that move the world…

Her notebook was full of formulas, theories, everything… After all that work, it comes down to a simple conclusion. This equation explains how an object moves through s.p.a.ce.

Promestein: Master Hermes, I finally solved it! I can calculate not only how the celestial bodies move through the sky, but also how and why an apple falls to the ground!

You take the distance and the gravity…

Hermes: Promestein! Are you trying to diminish the skill of Master Ilias?!

Promestein's notebook caught fire on Hermes' hands.

Promestein: N...No… I was just…

Angel 1: Looks like she did something stupid again, that weirdo.

Angel 2: She doesn't trust in Ilias' power? Does she not have any faith…?

Promestein: …

They know nothing… Even if the truth of the world was in front of their eyes, they would see nothing. Like the fools they are, they eat up the scriptures they're writing down. But Promestein knows herself to be different… And put up a fake smile.

Promestein: ...Forgive me, I'll change my behavior from now on.

From that moment, she acted like Hermes wanted, but she kept her real thoughts a secret to everyone…

[3 years later]

Promestein was on the surface world, on some management work. She was a.s.signed to a small village in the heart of a mountainous area. Her duty was to watch over them, and ensure they were properly respecting the G.o.ddess.

Of course, contact with the humans was strictly forbidden. Her role was to simply observe and report.

Promestein: …

She continued her boring observational work. She watched not only their speech, but their behavior too.

The previous night, a lightning strike seems to have caused a forest fire. It destroyed many trees and killed as many wild animals, but the humans were unharmed.

A lone boy ventured into the burned out area in the forest and came across a burned out cow. The meat was cooked almost perfectly… The whole area is filled with an incredibly appetizing smell.

Young Boy: Can I eat this…?

The boy hasn't eaten anything in 2 days. Like others in his village, he's near starvation levels. Of course, the role of the Heavens isn't to help humans. Their role is only to guide their thoughts. Their only concern is that they wors.h.i.+p Ilias as their only G.o.ddess.

Anything other than that, even if it means death, is no concern.

The young boy pulled off some piece of meat and brought it to his mouth, but something interrupted him.

Elder: Oi, what are you doing!?

The elder slapped the meat from the boy's hand and yelled.

Elder: The lightning was Ilias' anger! The cow died because it drew her wrath! You would anger her if you ate it! You would bring ruin upon all your fellow villagers!

Young Boy: But I'm so hungry… Winter is coming soon, too… We'll all die of hunger!

Elder: Ahhh! You unbeliever! Due to your lack of faith, we're being afflicted by famine!

The young boy was dragged away by the old man… The cooked meat sat pointlessly on the ground.

Promestein: …

The humans on the surface only eat food raw. Unable to store their food, they have extensive issues with nourishment and digestion. If that young boy had eaten the cooked meat, he might have noticed its usefulness…

Promestein: The nutrition efficiency is 1.8 times higher. The shelf life is ten times higher, too. They would be able to solve their food crisis, and store more for the winter. This winter, and every winter to come…

...But they're held back due to their religious indoctrination. Their enforced ignorance to anything unknown stunts their growth. How many are going to starve and die because of that? If only they had some knowledge…

Promestein: …

But it is the worst of taboos. However…

…

At the village, everyone was praising something…

Villager: M...Master Angel!

Elder: Ooh, an Angel!

Promestein landed at the center of the village, holding a burning torch, she had her golden wings spread apart and the glowing halo floating over her head.

Promestein: Everyone, this is called "Fire". If you use this to cook your food…

…

Right now Promestein was in a cave, angered.

Promestein: Those d.a.m.n fools! Why do they regard technology with hostility! Technology is not a sin! They will never change! Are they so terrified of Ilias' authority?!

The cave was a prison for angels, deep in the ground, she was punished for the grave sin of giving humans "Fire".

Promestein: …

After being tired of shouting, Promestein slumped to the ground. Her gaze fell onto a lizard, lazily crawling across the ground.

Promestein: That's right… I'm on the surface world. There are more living creatures here than it the Heavens.

Then she studied the lizard, how it moves, how it turn its head, the way its tail moves, the way it catches prey…

Promestein: I see… What about inside?

She grabbed the lizard and pulled off its head.

Promestein: I could do this easier if I had a knife…

While mumbling to herself, Promestein pried apart the lizard with her bare hands. She studied its skeleton, organs, and the muscles combining it all together.

Promestein: Different from the creatures in the Heavens… Is this because it adapted to the surface world?

Promestein looked for more small animals that were on her small prison…

[1 year later]

She was still imprisoned…

Promestein: I'm tired of dissections…

She tossed away the knife she created with alchemy. The bones of numerous small animals filled the corners of her small prison. After dissecting hundreds of animals, she's become very familiar with their structure. She won't learn anything more from continuing.

Promestein: ...I just can't think these creatures were created by a G.o.d. There's just too much waste in their bodily structures. They are clearly something that developed over a long period of time. So Ilias didn't make them after all… I wish I could see more from here… Could I create some sort of observational device…?

Combining alchemy skills with magic… Perhaps she could make some sort of simple instrument.

[? years later]

Since then, hundreds of years have pa.s.sed… I thought I could explain it with the inverse square rule… But once you reach the speed of light or the quantum level, it doesn't seem to properly apply.

I thought I had arrived at the truth of the laws that govern this universe before. But I was getting way ahead of myself.

The walls of her prison are completely covered in mathematical formulas.

Promestein: But why do things change when you get to the speed of light or the quantum level? Are the laws of the universe different depending on the macro or micro levels? ...No, that can't be. There has to be something that unifies the law between them.

After arriving at an answer, all she gets is another question. Her endless goal just keeps getting pushed further back as soon as she thinks she has reached it. Even in physics, is she unable to arrive at the truth of how it all works?

Promestein: Even in genetics, I still haven't found the point where everything converges. I want to a.n.a.lyze all of the amino acids… But as I thought, I've reached a limit in the equipment I can make here.

She was surrounded by equipment she managed to create through a mixture of alchemy and magic. This prison of the G.o.ds has already became a laboratory for her…

…

Promestein: ...Who is it?

Suddenly, she sensed a strange pulsing of magic near her. This prison should have been sealed off by Ilias, but…

Black Alice appeared…

Black Alice: Hehe, do you want to leave?

Promestein: You're… Ah, the current Monster Lord. Where did you learn of me?

Black Alice: Even I have my contacts in the Heavens… So I put in a good word about you to Ilias.

Promestein: And in return… You want my research?

Black Alice: Just as I want to control the world… You want to identify the world, no? I don't discriminate against technology. Now, let's leave here…

[Back]

Promestein sighed in her laboratory and murmured.

Promestein: It's been a few hundred years more since I left that prison. But I'm still far from identify everything in this world… I wonder if there even is an end to the search for the truth of everything… What do you think, Black Alice?

Black Alice: Hehe, I wouldn't know. But you haven't lost your will to search, have you? The same as my desire to subjugate the world…

Promestein: That's right… Whenever I think I've reached the end, I only realize I'm still far off. It's been the same ever since I first started…

Cupid was listening from a corner, in the shadows, and murmured.

Cupid: Eh? Eheh? Why are those two talking on such good terms?

Promestein: Anyway, that's enough of that. What about the "White Rabbit"? Did you combine it with your body?

Black Alice: As an Alice, White Rabbit will lead me forward. The power is sleeping within this body… Hehe.

Promestein: Then I'll perform a biopsy later. I can use the data to purify the reagents and further increase the rate of conformity. It may be our trump card, but it needs more time to be completed. It's quite difficult to put it together behind the angel's backs…

Black Alice: By tomorrow?

Promestein: If I work all night… Maybe. As long as they don't interfere.

Black Alice: Hehe… Everything comes together tomorrow. I must finish my own preparations…

Cupid: This sounds really bad… I need to report to Eden!

As Cupid tried to sneak away, Promestein said.

Promestein: ...By the way, can I ask you to dispose of the nuisance, Black Alice? We don't need her anymore, after all.

Black Alice: Hehe, of course!

In the next moment, Black Alice vanished, appearing in front of Cupid who was trying to escape.

Cupid: Eh…? Hya! W...What are you doing? I'm an angel, you can't hurt me!

Black Alice: Hehe… You look tasty…

Cupid: Kyaaaaaaaa!!

And everything goes black…

[SPECIAL QUESTS]

1st. Kill Illias

2nd. Return to Lucifina's grave

3rd. Visit every places in Illias Continent, Sentora and h.e.l.lgondo

4th. Make Alice happy

[EVENT QUEST]

1st. Kill Illias

2nd. Save as many people as possible: [27832/???]

3rd. Defeat or Kill Promestein

4th. Defeat or Kill Black Alice

5th. [Optional] Kill as many angels as possible: [105/???]