Chapter 143
“Hey, Margaret. Anata's magic circle should have activated, what did you see? Tell me that, and I'll help you.”
He had created Alea Island and conducted experiments with her, only to be betrayed by his own sister, Anata, later on. Right before her betrayal, she had inscribed a mysterious magic circle in the basement of this Bunker.
It was a magic circle he couldn't touch. He was curious how Margaret had managed to activate her magic circle.
Her Soul, Yuanna's book, and the magic circle. Was it a combination of these three?
'Bringing another Soul through the Dimensional Rift might have been Anata's plan. I don't know what the plan is, but it's very interesting.'
He made such speculations and repeatedly urged Margaret to answer, but, of course, she was too severely addicted to come to her senses.
Zenas had no choice but to bend down to pick her up.
But then, the silver snake, which had been hiding and watching, seemed to have mustered its courage and jumped out from Margaret's bedside.
Fwoosh-
Then, it spat fire at him.
The silver snake showed a sharp vigilance, as if to prevent him from even touching its master. Trembling, yet trying to protect its master, its courage seemed admirable.
Zenas stared at the snake calmly. Because it was Imprinted, he couldn't dominate its mind and borrow its body like other Monsters, but it could pose a threat.
As expected, the creature was startled by his red eyes, convulsed, and hid its face back at Margaret's bedside.
'Cheeky.'
Zenas chuckled and picked up Margaret. Margaret's body was then easily embraced into his arms.
She was excessively light. Pathetically so.
'Well. She probably hasn't eaten properly. It's only natural.'
Zenas hummed as he carried Margaret and climbed the stairs again. The silver snake cautiously followed him, peeking around.
Margaret, who was being held by him, reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He stopped dead in his tracks without realizing it.
"Haa."
She then buried her cheek on his shoulder. Hot breaths penetrated the hood and brushed against his skin.
Zenas was startled, then sighed.
Margaret, with her arms around his shoulder, hugged him tighter as if she didn't want to let go.
"Don't want to……."
She mumbled, whimpering, and repeatedly exhaled feverish breaths. Then, she rubbed her cheek against his neck.
Zenas's eyebrows shot up. He tilted his head slightly and looked askance at Margaret's flushed face.
"Margaret, this is a bit troublesome."
Zenas murmured in a low voice.
However, Margaret silently shook her head violently and hugged his neck even tighter. She burst into painful sobs, buried her face in his shoulder, and shook her head repeatedly.
Her slender body was trembling as if having a mild seizure.
"Don't go, please……."
Margaret desperately groped for his skin, as if trying to find it, then burst into tears, and groaned in pain, tormented.
"Do you even know who I am?"
Margaret shook her head at his question. She didn't seem to have the mental capacity to grasp that. Was she even properly hearing his question?
Zenas looked at her with curious eyes.
Through the eyes of a Monster, he had seen how Margaret and her group had gone mad after being addicted to the Tentationem Flower in the past. But this was the first time he was seeing that pain up close.
"It's serious."
As Zenas muttered that, he saw Margaret convulsing as if she was about to suffocate, and inadvertently hugged her.
It seemed she calmed down a little when their body temperatures touched and their skin made contact. She leaned her face against his chest and panted.
Zenas held her in his arms and stroked her back to calm her down, as if soothing a child.
"What am I even doing right now."
He muttered those words, finding it absurd even to himself, but nevertheless, his hand stroking Margaret didn't stop.
And again, he was starting to find it fun to observe Margaret's reactions, so Zenas seriously considered whether he should introduce more Tentationem.
"No. It would be troublesome if Margaret ruined the experiment like the Saintess because of this."
It was almost a success, but the Regression Gate opened, and the experiment had to be started from scratch.
He had gathered the Mana of hundreds of people and succeeded in the experiment, and he had almost gathered enough Mana to open the Dimensional Gate.
With just one last push, this tiresome experiment would be over.
"So please cooperate, Margaret."
Zenas smiled crookedly as he looked at Margaret, who was painfully distorted.
After the experiment was over, he would take over the body of his descendant and retrieve his Pendant. Then, he would gain enough power to even dominate dimensions.
He should have that much ability to compensate for the years he had spent.
"Well. Whatever your Soul is, it doesn't matter anymore. Thanks to you, it seems like it will be a more interesting experiment."
Saying that, Zenas flicked Margaret's nose with his finger.
And then,
"Who are you."
A voice he had heard somewhere before was heard. Zenas glanced up.
At the entrance of the Bunker, at the end of the stairs, a silver-haired man and a black-haired man were standing and looking at him. It was Enoch and Kaiden.
"What the hell, that looks like that damn brat?"
His descendant, with whom he had waited for so long and who had good compatibility with him, was very arrogant. Zenas chuckled and arrogantly raised his chin.
"Sorry to disappoint you. This is who I really am."
"What, Zenas? How did you get a body?"
Kaiden frowned and asked. Meanwhile, Enoch glared fiercely at Zenas and quietly drew his sword.
"There's no need to bother talking to a suspicious person. It would be better to subdue him with force."
Even after seeing the sharp blade glinting, Zenas shrugged with a relaxed face.
"I told you that Margaret deceived you. But you still believe Margaret? This child is not the Margaret you know."
Zenas said, gesturing with his head towards Margaret, whom he was holding in his arms.
Following his gesture, Enoch's face, which had lowered his gaze back to Margaret, finally contorted fiercely.
Enoch was holding a sword, but he couldn't recklessly attack because Zenas was holding Margaret.
Perhaps because of the shadow cast by his broad shoulders, Enoch looked particularly larger and fiercer. The steadily undulating Golden Eyes were more threatening than burning flames.
"Why are you judging that? We'll do the judging."
Enoch retorted as if he were chewing on words.
Zenas was briefly impressed by the man who exuded such great pressure that even he, who had lived for so long, momentarily hesitated.
His goal was to plant seeds of doubt, but it didn't seem to be very effective on these men.
'Other test subjects would quickly cause conflict if I did this.'
Zenas clicked his tongue in disappointment.
That man was crazy about Margaret. He was in a state where normal conversation was impossible. He could tell just by looking at his eyes.
'Interesting.'
As far as Zenas remembered, the two men in front of him had not been interested in Margaret before time was turned back, and had acted as if they had built a wall between themselves and women.
But now they're crazy about her?
'No, is it not 'Margaret' but some other unknown woman?'
Zenas once again looked down with interest at Margaret's red face in his arms.
She hugged his neck like a cat and kept rubbing her face against his shoulder. She put strength into her arms, hugging him as if she would never let him go.
Seeing that, Zenas shrugged at Enoch and Kaiden.
"It seems Margaret likes me more than you."
Kaiden gave Zenas a look as if he would tear him to pieces at any moment and smiled eerily. His red eyes, a little sharper than Zenas's, flashed dangerously.
"I'm only going to listen to what Margaret says, you son of a bitch. Fuck off. Put Margaret down."
Zenas held Margaret and stroked her back as if to show them. Then, he burst into laughter.
"What to do. I'm also very interested in Margaret."
"That son of a bitch……!"
Kaiden couldn't stand it and rushed towards Zenas. Zenas easily dodged Kaiden's attack as he descended the stairs.
Thanks to that, he returned to the place where the magic circle was drawn.
Zenas turned around once and clicked his tongue. Then, he looked up at Kaiden and Enoch, who were on guard on the stairs.
"Our descendant has a very rough mouth. Don't they teach etiquette in later generations? I didn't raise the Rohade Family like that."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Enoch's sharp blade grazed his forearm.
Zenas narrowed his brows, feeling the stinging pain in his arm. It was a pain he hadn't felt in a long time.
"I don't want to give you any more."
Zenas sighed and muttered with a troubled face.
But enduring any longer here was also a limit for him. He had no choice but to lightly flick his fingers.
Then, flames soared up in front of Kaiden and Enoch. The silver snake also couldn't cross over to this side and jumped around.
However, the flames were caused by Mana, so they would soon go out. So he had to leave before the flames went out.
Zenas slowly placed Margaret back on Anata's magic circle.
She struggled and tried not to fall away from him.
His feelings were somewhat strange as he watched that.
It was the first time he had directly contacted a test subject like this.
When he first created this island and voluntarily confined himself to this island with other Wizards, Anata had said something to him.
'Don't meet the Experimenters directly. Because you will psychologically sympathize or assimilate with them. The moment that happens, it's over. You won't be able to kill them.'
Anata, who had said such things, sympathized with Yuanna and eventually betrayed him, who had been cooperating with her on the island for a thousand years.
He was different from Anata. Unlike Anata, the thousand years had not been easy for him.
"Margaret. I really have to let go now."
As he forcibly removed Margaret's hand, she burst into tears and began to convulse again. She couldn't breathe properly, her face was flushed red as if she had difficulty breathing.
But he could no longer help Margaret. Zenas, who had completely exhausted his Mana, soon returned to the body of a child.
The feeling of being a grown-up for the first time in a long time had cooled down. A regretful sigh escaped.
"Sorry, Margaret."
Zenas left the suffering Margaret on the magic circle and stood up from his seat.