Saiyan stowaways on the Ark

"The equipment for the interior defenders has improved a lot compared to the past; at least they can maintain consciousness even after suffering an injury of this severity."

A former colleague, also wearing internal security equipment, was struck by an ice pop and lost consciousness.

Froststar looked at the three guards who could be described as having been captured alive, and then looked towards her father.

He was the one who defeated the man, so the decision-making power naturally rests with him.

"So how did they handle it?"

Froststar asked, and at that moment Patriot, along with the returning Shield Guards, stood with her before the Inner Guards, who were neither bound nor able to resist.

"He was seriously injured and taken away. He will not live much longer. If he returns to the country, he will have no face to face the new emperor."

“General, you’re right. There are too many unexpected things – the defeat at Lungmen, the sudden collapse of the Reunion Movement, Chernobog turning into ruins overnight, and you still appearing here, as well as the ‘Daughter of Chesick’ who should have been in control of all of this.”

The guard's voice had a sound like some kind of liquid churning in his throat.

Blood filled their lungs, and despite the unbearable pain, they still spoke clearly to the Patriots and the Shieldbearers who had once belonged to the Ursus army, revealing matters that should have been kept secret.

"I was informed about the Ursus military equipment in the armory long ago, and I was also aware of Talulah's collusion with Ursus."

Hearing this, Froststar, unusually, revealed disappointment and anger in her tone. She suddenly clenched her fists, went to Patriot's side, and asked:

"I originally thought she was just gradually deviating from her original intentions in terms of goals and methods, but it turns out she directly cooperated with the most blatant perpetrators of the persecution of infected people?"

The Shield Guards were in an uproar over Patriot's words, while the Inner Guards remained silent to show that what he said was true.

"But instead of directly exposing the Duke of Chesicko's daughter's betrayal, you continue to defend Reunion, unless she truly betrays the 'Infected Organization' you trust without any concealment."

The guard who kept speaking seemed to be the leader of the other guards. He continued to speak, and the other two did not stop him.

“Countless infected people, relying on the Reunion Movement, destroyed all of this, telling them that the leader they trusted was the biggest traitor and would make things worse.”

The patriot slowly recounted his reasons.

He still maintains his stance that "Talulah's Reunion Movement may cease to exist, but the Reunion Movement of the Infected must be upheld."

"So you originally intended to remain in Reunion as the 'only person who could stop her' if necessary, to prevent them from becoming pawns who strayed from their purpose and turned into a disorganized mob that would bring about their own destruction."

The guard shook his head, seemingly denying the patriot's stubbornness.

"The infected should have their proper place, but that is definitely not Ursus—or 'Ursus today'."

They should not be in the endless mines, in the quarantine zones where people sit and wait to die, on the gallows where they can be executed, nor in the battlefields where Ursus or other conspirators can achieve their goals.

But Frostnova directly refuted what the guards had said.

"...You're right, that might not be the most suitable place for the infected, but it is the 'most suitable' place for the infected in Ursus. In Ursus, the infected should not be considered as humans—"

The inner guard barely raised his trembling arm, pointing at Frostnova, Patriot, and the Shieldbearers, and continued.

"...The most important thing is to create value for Ursus in those places."

Not all infected individuals can acquire the fearsome power or Originium Arts that Frostnova or Patriot possess.

Most of them were simply tormented by the pain of their bodies gradually crystallizing, becoming increasingly emaciated and listless.

Ultimately, they watch their life force gradually drain away, turning into a dangerous time bomb, ready to die or infect more people at any moment.

In the inner sanctum—or rather, Ursus, and even across the entire Terran continent, most of the discussions about the infected are not about "how the infected have been treated inhumanely," "how to change their situation," or "how to eliminate this intractable disease," but rather "how to make the dangerous and inhuman infected as valuable as possible."

At the very least, we must eliminate their danger.

"Even infected individuals can be made to realize their value as infected individuals by Ursus."

"Instead of letting them die without any value."

"We Ursus are truly amazing."

The guards spoke without any burden.

It was as if they had become infected, and they would not resist anything that happened to them.

"Don't impose the value of Ursus on those who 'don't want to be infected'!" Frostnova was about to step forward and make this guard pay for his cold words when a shield guard blocked her way, because Patriot had already taken the first step and approached the guard.

“You knew the whole picture from the very beginning, more than we did, and even more than the new emperor.”

The Patriot looked at the guard, his pale skull revealing a dim red light in his eye sockets, and slowly uttered something that seemed to have nothing to do with what had just happened.

"Perhaps it's because that black snake had already told you 'self-proclaimed patriots' about his conspiracy. You had heard those things while he was still alive."

"Kosich...Talulah said she killed her adoptive father, the one who tried to mold her into another schemer, but he's been dead for over a decade. How could his scheme have continued until now?"

Before Froststar could answer Patriot's question, the Inner Guards confirmed it all in a different way:

"Perhaps we overestimated Kosiché's strategy, or perhaps we underestimated the vicissitudes of life. The plan has failed, so it should be made to disappear from the world completely."

Patriot knew perfectly well that these Imperial Guards were not sent here on the orders of the current Ursus Emperor; otherwise, they would have been more than just Imperial Guards.

The nobles, who sought to weaken the new emperor's power, wanted to collude with the Unity Movement to provoke a war by having them clash with Chernobog, so that they could take advantage of the chaos.

However, the Imperial Guard, the group known as "the Emperor's blade," knew all this from the beginning and allowed the nobles to betray Chern.

Even the new emperor wasn't fully aware of these matters.

However, the Imperial Guards were not betraying the Emperor; rather, they believed that this war could bolster the strength of Ursus, which had gradually declined since the Emperor's death and ceased its external warfare.

They could behead those traitors who betrayed the country at any time, but the Inner Guard believed that Ursus needed this war.

Talulah received equipment and an army from the nobles.

The nobles also believed that no one would know about their betrayal.

"Kosich's daughter"—the Derek woman whom the man had promised the Inner Guards before his death, who would inherit his will—did indeed, as he said, make contact with the Inner Guards with "Kosich's former thoughts."

She was willing to use all the infected members of the Reunion Movement as pawns to feed Ursus in starting a war, and to lead them to crash into the Dragon Gate.

The defenders believed that Kosic was a true patriot.

The guards also assumed things would proceed as expected.

The guard's hand reached towards the sky, as if trying to grab something.

Finally, it slowly drooped down.

"The life support device has been cut off." Frostnova, though utterly bewildered as to why Talulah had become Kosich's mind, still looked at the lifeless bodyguard and coldly cursed, without a shred of approval or regard for her as a fighter who had sacrificed herself for the country. "Madwoman."

"...No, my daughter, this is not madness, madness, there is no reason."

Patriot placed his hand on Frostnova's shoulder, but his gaze did not fall on the body of the guard, just as she did.

"It's just an illness, and there's a cause, but it's even more difficult to cure than Oripathy."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

*As mentioned in Chapter 8, "there are nobles in Ursus who are colluding with Talulah." The Imperial Guards knew more about this than the Emperor, but they turned a blind eye because they thought the war was beneficial to Ursus (the new Emperor's foreign policy was not so aggressive). They also gave Koschei, who treated the infected as less than human, the title of Patriot.

Of course, when things got out of control and someone tried to barge in to pick up the heads and silence the witnesses, Hei Su stopped them.

[Main Text] Chernobog, Above the Ruins: Chapter Sixteen - Call Me or Hit You, Choose One

"You have no idea..."

"Shut up. I don't know, and I don't want to know. I'll break a bone for every word you utter."

"...You!!"

"These count as two, but I'm a bit annoyed, so I'll count them as three."

"Wait a minute! You bastard!!"

"Okay, ten sticks."

"Can't you do math?!"

By this time, Tomat and his group had already left the original underground platform. The passage had been breached, thanks to the help of Violence. Otherwise, she, who had only been responsible for cooking along the way, would probably have been embarrassed to write in the report after the mission what she had done.

The civilians were quickly transferred to the dedicated transport vehicle before they could cause a commotion. The bear-like Ursus officer was responsible for calming the mentally disturbed survivors inside the vehicle, while Tomat and the others returned to the original small transport vehicle.

This time, however, they had a new passenger on board.

The above dispute occurred between the new passenger and Tomat.

But it's clear that Tomat doesn't have the same patience or interest as Frostnova or Patriot in understanding the situation as someone involved in the event.

This is the third "masked saber man" to appear on the platform of the block where Tomat and his friends are located.

"Masked Saber Man," "Emperor's Blade," "Ursus Sprite"—whatever it may be.

Because Tomat had no leniency toward the third guy who showed up there and was planning to attack again.

If it weren't for the violence that stopped him, this man would probably have been reduced to ashes as well.

“Listen, get this straight. You’re only alive because you’re lucky, and if you die, it’ll be within the bounds of the law.” Tomat pointed to the shattered mask, the fact that all the equipment had been removed and the bodyguards were bound up dozens of times, and then said to the Brutality, “Captain, talk to him.”

Tomat was obviously unaware of Terra's laws, but he felt he was in the right and should be able to recite a few of the laws concerning the atrocities.

"First of all, this city has lost its function as a city in a strict sense and should be regarded as a wilderness area. In this area without legal control, we have the right to retaliate against your aggressive behavior. If there is supporting evidence, it will not be regarded as excessive self-defense."

When the word "evidence" was mentioned, Tomat shook his communicator.

Although communication is still unavailable, the video recording function is still available.

However, no one questioned how Tomat had the time to film while stopping the guards who were about to attack them.

"Besides, since you're unwilling to reveal your affiliation and don't have any items to prove your identity, killing you wouldn't cause any problems." As an underground mercenary, the Scavenger could tell from her past experiences that the equipment was from Ursus and thus judged his identity. However, she still went along with the guard's stubborn attitude and continued, "There are as many nameless corpses as Originium bugs on this land. No one will stop you from becoming one of them."

The guard was confident he could kill Carter, who was explaining the legal content, and Zalark, who was threatening him.

Moreover, one can break free from this barely effective rope at any time.

But whenever he had the idea and began to act on it, Tomat's gaze would meet his.

When an inside guard tries to imply that he is associated with Ursus or to overwhelm the opponent by revealing his purpose.

Tomat always used blatant threats of violence to shut him up.

The other party belongs to a pharmaceutical company called Rhodes Island. The only things we need to be wary of are the legendary evil spirits of the Tower of Babel and Lady Kal'tsit.

But what about this extraordinary individual combat power? According to intelligence, isn't he just an ordinary person with information about dangerous natural disasters?

"On Ursus territory, do you think it's your place, you vulture-like unregistered groups, to talk about the law?"

The inner guard wasn't afraid that Tomat would actually break his bones; even if he were killed, he wouldn't complain, and he wouldn't hesitate to commit suicide if necessary.

He just felt it wasn't time to commit suicide yet.