Chapter 294

The universe is so vast that we can’t even perceive it with our senses, and a single planet is too enormous to explore fully within a lifetime.  

In truth, there’s no need to mention the universe or planets. I can’t even grasp the flow of a single city, let alone an entire nation.  

The Tree of Prophecy I planted through Akies Victima cast only a small shadow. I could only make fragmented inferences based on my knowledge and the events I was aware of.  

Every time I encountered something beyond my perception, I was painfully reminded of my own limitations.  

‘I cannot create something from nothing.’  

Akies Victima is not an all-powerful key. It is merely a technique of the weak, a desperate struggle not to be swept away by the current.  

‘I considered Anguis Regina to be a figure outside the grand flow.’  

I thought her involvement wouldn’t change anything significant—that at most, she would passively influence events.  

From my perspective, there were far more critical figures and incidents than Anguis Regina. So, I took my eyes off her.  

‘While I wasn’t looking, Anguis Regina changed rapidly.’  

She grew in the places I failed to see.  

‘The Anguis Regina who once stood under Jafa’s wing... at some point, she began to believe she had to protect Jafa instead.’  

In a way, it was a natural progression.  

Though Jafa and Anguis Regina were neither of the same race nor bloodline, they were still "mother and daughter."  

In a parent-child relationship, there always comes a day when the protector and the protected switch roles.  

For Jafa and Anguis Regina, that time had come.  

‘Jafa had grown weak, and the only person who could protect her now was Anguis Regina.’  

The once unstable girl had become a woman, standing on her own strength, trying to shoulder her mother’s burden. She was still clumsy, still full of mistakes, but this was her first step toward independence.  

As countless thoughts raced through my mind in an instant, I closed my eyes and opened them again.  

A frozen, chilling reality came into view.  

Clack!  

Lapis Lazuli had her gun aimed at Anguis Regina.  

Would anyone have imagined this sight just a few months ago?  

How in the world did things unfold to the point where Lapis was now pointing a gun at Anguis Regina with such venom in her gaze?  

But the world was unpredictable, and Lapis was now pouring out resentment toward Anguis Regina.  

Their movements seemed to slow, their shouted words stretching into an eternity.  

With my eyes half-open, I continued accelerating my thoughts.  

‘During my absence, Anguis Regina...’  

I need to piece together the fragments of this event.

I lured Kinuan out beyond Border City. The elite members of the Equessian Mercenaries were with me.  

In the meantime, Jafa’s business weakened and came under attack from rival corporations. Before long, Sonsu Industries joined in, and thanks to Son Seok-jae’s scheming, the conflict escalated into a full-scale corporate war.  

‘Anguis Regina must have done everything she could to protect Jafa.’  

At first, Anguis Regina would have only focused on escaping with Jafa. But Jafa was critically injured, and no matter how thoroughly prepared they were, receiving medical support while on the run was nearly impossible.  

‘Jafa must have been dying.’  

The fear and confusion that Anguis Regina must have felt at the time would have been overwhelming.  

Jafa was a capable leader. No matter the situation, she always put on a composed front and found a way forward. And then, overnight, that pillar collapsed.  

When a parent one relies on suddenly falls, the child changes—whether for better or worse.  

That change usually takes one of two directions.  

They either crumble under the weight of the world and despair…  

‘…Or they throw themselves forward, holding up the collapsing pillar with their own body, feeling the weight of the world pressing down on them.’  

It seemed that Anguis Regina had chosen the latter. She did not run away from the world.  

Time does not change people. Growth and transformation depend on the density of experience.  

In a short period, Anguis Regina had endured events capable of reshaping her entire worldview. It was the condensation of experience.  

“En…”  

Anguis Regina's red lips moved like those of a doll. She stepped forward until she stood directly before Lapis.  

“…failed to protect Jafa and was punished for it.”  

Anguis Regina spoke flatly. But I could see her turmoil clearly. No matter how much she tried to suppress it, the emotional signals coursing through her body were in disarray.  

‘Anguis Regina didn’t deliberately push En into a death trap.’  

But Lapis didn’t have the same ability as I did. She took Anguis Regina's words at face value.  

“You know En did everything he could! En…!”  

Lapis's eyes shimmered with moisture. Her blurred vision must have been stained with tears.  

‘Lapis won’t pull the trigger.’  

Everyone present knew that.  

“Lapis, calm down. Anguis Regina seems intent on playing the villain. En’s death… was probably just a mistake.”  

At the word "mistake," Anguis Regina flinched slightly before letting out a desolate smile.  

Srrk.

I slowly reached out and gently pressed down the barrel of Lapis's gun.  

Click.  

Lapis obediently lowered her gun.  

"I have no excuse for En’s death. You can hate me if you want."  

At Anguis Regina’s words, Lapis’s face crumpled even more.  

"...Speak clearly, Anguis Regina. I don’t want to hate you because of a misunderstanding."  

Anguis Regina hesitated, her lips trembling slightly before she finally spoke.  

"Ragnata just contacted me to confirm that she completed my request. Along with the evidence. If Ragnata had assassinated Son Seok-jae before En and Luka confronted each other… then En might have lived."  

I understood immediately. It was a common case of operational confusion within groups and organizations.  

Real-world missions were full of variables. More often than not, things didn’t go according to the initial plan. Even the smallest miscalculation could determine the success or failure of an operation.  

"I was an unexpected factor in Anguis Regina’s plan. En’s death obviously wasn’t part of it."  

Thinking it over carefully, it was clear. Anguis Regina never intended for En to die.  

…Time for a detective to step in. Let’s try to brighten up this dreary mood. Not that I know if it’ll work.  

"It was an issue of dual missions and chain of command. En and the Equessian Mercenaries ended up under Son Seok-jae’s command because of you, didn’t they? The Equessian Mercenaries must have sensed that you had some kind of plan. Indirectly or not, they would have willingly taken the contract with Son Seok-jae to help Jafa."  

I stared at Anguis Regina to see if I was right.  

Anguis Regina shrugged as if she had no choice.  

"…But I couldn’t explain everything to the Equessian Mercenaries. Especially that I had hired Ragnata to assassinate Son Seok-jae. Because of their duty of good faith, the Equessian Mercenaries wouldn’t have ignored the threat if they knew about it in advance. If they had known, they would have done everything to protect their employer, Son Seok-jae. That’s just the kind of people they are."  

I frowned.  

"Since their employer was Son Seok-jae, the chain of command would have placed his orders as the top priority. There was no way the Equessian Mercenaries had a direct line of communication with you."  

En wouldn’t have known that Son Seok-jae was about to be assassinated. He had to make decisions based on limited information, and his options were severely restricted by his position as a mercenary.  

"En must have had a lot on his mind when he faced me. But no matter how much he thought about it, there was no way he could just let me go."

Hemillas came to mind. If he had been in the same situation as En, he would have made a better decision.  

‘This is just greed. I can’t expect En to have Hemillas’ level of judgment and insight.’  

Anguis Regina was looking at her terminal. Messages were rapidly flowing across her screen. It must have been because of Son Seok-jae’s death.  

Srrk.  

Anguis Regina lifted her head.  

"Intentions don’t matter. En’s death is my responsibility. If someone wants to hold me accountable, I have no intention of making excuses."  

Upon hearing those words, Lapis sank to the ground.  

"This is... horrible. If things had gone just a little better, En could have survived! He wasn’t someone who should have died like this."  

...That’s not true.  

I held back the cold response that nearly escaped my lips. If it had been anyone other than Lapis, I would have spoken harshly, pretending to be wise about the ways of the world.  

‘Mercenaries die meaningless deaths. Not just mercenaries—soldiers and warriors, too.’  

The battlefield was full of futile deaths. Those people were not just nameless extras in the world. Each of them was the protagonist of their own life, with their own history and story.  

Yet, countless lives were erased by a single cheap bullet. Even at this very moment, it was happening everywhere.  

Not everyone’s life ends in a way that makes sense. For warriors, that was even truer. They could die a pointless death at any time. En had simply lived that kind of life.  

That was why the battlefield made people cynical.  

‘Son Seok-jae was no different.’  

I knew his ambitions. He spouted twisted logic as he dreamed of becoming a great evil. At times, he called himself a necessary evil. He claimed to be a representative of humanity, which was discriminated against by other species. Yet, despite being a supremacist, he accepted that limitation and allowed his family to associate with extraterrestrials.  

‘Even Son Seok-jae, who seemed capable of achieving something with his relentless determination, died at Ragnata’s hands.’  

Everyone had dreams, whether good or evil. But only a rare few could turn those dreams into reality.  

The chaos of Border City was swallowing people whole. En and Son Seok-jae had merely been swept away and cast aside by that raging current.  

There was no right or wrong here. This was simply how things were.  

"What will you do now?"  

I asked in a voice that lacked energy.  

"Son Seok-jae had a wife and children… but his kids are young, and his wife is naive about the world. She won’t be difficult to deal with."  

"And?"  

"There’s no reason to report every detail to Luka. It’s not like you’re my boyfriend."

Hmm, there was a strange aftertaste to her words.  

“Well, that’s true.”  

“And I’m going to let go of Kinuan. The more I cling to him, the more miserable Jafa and I become. Our obsession with Kinuan has kept us from moving forward.”  

“…That’s wise. You’re better than me.”  

I spoke with self-mockery. Unlike Anguis Regina, I hadn’t been able to rid myself of my obsession with Kinuan.  

“Luka, you’ll keep clinging to Kinuan. But Jafa and I will break free from the vicious cycle of madness and self-destruction born from hatred.”  

I recalled the choices of the past.  

‘If I had accepted Anguis Regina…’  

A different reality would have unfolded. But I had firmly rejected her.  

As a result, Anguis Regina had freed herself from Kinuan. Perhaps this was a better life for her. Maybe I was just rationalizing things… but who cared whether it was rationalization or not?  

“Then… let me ask you just one thing, Anguis Regina.”  

“As long as it’s something I can answer.”  

“What are the other Equessian mercenaries doing right now, aside from En?”  

The Equessian mercenaries had been moving under Son Seok-jae’s orders. Even though he was dead, they were likely still carrying out their mission.  

Anguis Regina’s pupils trembled. She knew where the remaining mercenaries were.  

“…They’re probably attacking Deputy Minister Ismael La. Son Seok-jae wanted to use the chaos in Border City as an opportunity to eliminate him.”  

That had been Son Seok-jae’s true goal. He didn’t hate Jafa, nor did he particularly despise extraterrestrials. He simply despised anyone who stood in his way.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.