Unlimited Power 03: The Sinful Ruler

"We already had this conversation before, but given what we just learned, I have to ask again… when did you learn about the truth?" Luke asked.

"A few weeks ago, I met a group of people that also had known about the past due to a technique they had," Jake replied. "Anyway, I already answered too many questions… who ambushed you guys here, and how can you be so stupid to bring so many people to a single place?"

"I find that hard to believe…" Luke said.

"I don't care, answer my question," Jake said. "I am not in the greatest of the moods after all the recent events, so don't try to make my mood even more sour."

"It is true… we also obtained that technique," Louise and the others suddenly approached. "We were able to look into the past thanks to Myrna and her people's power. It has been a while, Jake…"

"Wassup," Jake said while frowning and looking at Arilene. "It seems that you guys got an unexpected addition to the team. You are lucky, kiddo. Surrounded by ladies like that, I am worried about your future."

"Well, that is…" Julian said while smiling and scratching the back of his head. "I guess I am quite lucky."

"Wow, Jake is already corrupting a naive boy with his creepiness," Lana said. "He hasn't been here even for five minutes… as expected of him."

"Oh, you were there as well, Lana?" Jake asked. "You are so useless that I didn't even see you until now."

"I already developed resistance to your bullshit, so you will have to try harder," Lana said while smirking.

"Well, it doesn't matter, I have better things to do than to deal with you," Jake shrugged.

"... Is that person the one who saved me?" Arilene asked while frowning. "I thought he would be more… at least he looks reliable."

"Reality is often disappointing, sweet child of summer…" Lana said.

"... If you all don't mind, your nonsense can wait," Luke declared. "What do you mean by that, Louise? What did you all see?"

"We saw a few years of struggle agaisnt monsters when dungeons began to appear in our world," Louise replied. "We struggled for a few years, but around the time the guilds began to become really powerful, we were killed during some dungeon breaks. That was all."

Luke knew that Louise wouldn't lie in a situation like that. She had no reason to. Besides, despite her abilities, he had no previous memories of her about those dreams, so it seemed that it was accurate…

"What do you know, Jake?" Luke asked.

"You still have the nerve to ask more after not answering my questions?" Jake asked.

Luke sighed… in the end, Jake's annoyance made him cool down his head. He began to explain what happened… in the end, Luke also needed to say those things out loud since he didn't quite believe that more than half of his allies had betrayed them for some unknown reason.

"Based on the data offered, I can assume that your life force mana was going to be used for some suspicious purpose," Virgilius finally joined the conversation. "The barrier that was used here had more than the simple purpose of preventing people from leaving… it also absorbed the souls and energy of those killed here."

"Who told you that you could join the conversation? You are only going to make the conversation more complicated," Jake said.

"... Where did that voice come from?" Lana asked.

"From the spaceship, don't ask more than that," Jake said.

"Come to think of it, did you get that from clearing some kind of quest?" Lana asked.

"What part of don't ask more than that you didn't understand?" Jake asked while frowning. "Anyway, I didn't get it as a reward for a quest… wait, did I?"

"Based on the data that we have, it seemed that the mission that you received to defeat us was given considering that you would want the spaceship and that you would need that to destroy this barrier…" Virgilius said. "Things are getting more interesting by the minute."

The group got quiet after that… it seemed that many humans died that night for some shady purpose, just like Arilene was almost killed for. Jake's mood was getting more sour by the moment, thanks to all that and because he felt that he was dancing on the palm of someone else's hands. He planned to leave that place, but then Frederick, Milena, and Helena approached.

"What are you glaring at?" Jake asked.

"You don't feel anything while looking at the people you killed?" Frederick asked.

"You don't feel anything while looking at the person you betrayed more than once and ambushed with numbers?" Jake asked.

"I thought you disliked people that answer questions with other questions," Luke said.

"Recently, I have learned that pissing off people is a surprisingly fun thing to do. Who could have thought?" Jake asked.

"You talk as if you don't practice that, as if it isn't some sort of sport…" Lana said.

"Still, to be saved by you of all people…" Frederick said. "Everything can happen in life… I also assume that we made many mistakes, and we have learned that pursuing the same things of the past won't do us any good… we all died with many regrets. What about you, Jake? You were one of the last to die… did you have regrets as well?"

"A few," Jake replied. "After knowing that my death was imminent, I realized that I had made the mistake of trying to save the human race. It makes me disgusted that I wanted to save people like you, and I feel even more disgusted to know that your friends also want to save the human race. Humans don't deserve salvation. They don't deserve to help or be helped. They can only fight for themselves."

After hearing that, everyone went silent. After that ambush, no one could disagree with those statements.

"If that is true, then why did you come?" Virgilius asked.