The Foreigner on the Periphery

"It is a joyous day. Let us celebrate without holding back today of all days!"

The Tentacle King looked at the committee members in the magic projection.

The various races, who had shared a strange tension right up until the war, were now mingling and expressing their joy as if their past animosities had never existed.

The King of Endelion had not physically attended the banquet, but she shared in the excitement through the projection.

Her thoughts suddenly drifted to the past.

'It was not an easy fight.'

Endelion's greatest crisis had been concentrated at the beginning of the war.

Asiph-1's terrorist attack—charging in with Dragon Heart Bombs strapped all over his body—was horrifying to recall.

Just the memory was enough to make her epidermis run cold and her protrusions shrivel.

In the end, their planet had been forced into an orbit close to the mining base.

Therefore, when the ghost legion invaded that artificial planet, they had no choice but to move their home planet to put out the urgent fire. They needed the New Execution Tower that was being tested there.

'To think Asif-666 would aim to seize control of the gravity manipulation magic.'

Her mind still reeled at the thought of it.

It was a crisis that could have sent the artificial planet, which should have been fixed in place, hurtling out of control.

'If that gravitational rampage had continued, the two planets would have eventually collided.'

It would have been a disaster that no barrier, no matter how powerful, could have prevented.

'It was extremely fortunate that we caught on in advance.'

All their fellow mages and engineers had rushed in to lend their tentacles, and they had barely managed to snatch back control before the artificial planet deviated from the Zero Point.

As a result, a planetary collision was averted.

Rapidly dispatched golems drove Asif-666 away, and the over two hundred battleships under the Tax Collection Command overwhelmed the enemy fleet before it could form a cohesive formation.

'It would have been ideal if we had wiped them out in that engagement.'

But such a dream did not come true.

Pushed back, Asif-666's fleet scattered to every corner of the universe and began waging a guerrilla war.

However, this too was one of the scenarios the king had anticipated.

The war lasted for over a year in standard star system time.

'Regardless, we won, so it is fine.'

Victory after such long hardship was sweet.

Asif-666 was locked in a 'hellish' place where no one could reach him. The prisoner had returned to his rightful place.

Asiph-1 was obtained in a complete state, thanks to his creator gathering the pieces for them.

One half of that bizarre father-son pair would become the key to unraveling the secret to eternal life, while the other would serve as the driving force for the tentacles to make this world a better place.

The perfect future they had long dreamed of was just a step away.

'Thinking about it, how wise our ancestors were!'

After the initial terrorist attack, there were zero casualties on Endelion's side.

But the situation was different for Todd and the Kavite.

Unlike Endelion, who firmly hid their planet away again following the mining base incident, the location of the Headquarters Planet was exposed.

Asif-666 attempted several air strikes with Photon Cannons, and many were oxidized into dust.

'The idea of selecting and civilizing a species to face the primordial race first in our stead was truly genius.'

The king and her fellow descendants had expanded on their ancestors' plan.

The Kavite still thought their discovery of Asif-666 was a coincidence.

They could never imagine that someone else had actually discovered him first, later manipulating events so it appeared the Kavite had found him.

'Thanks to that, we obtained everything we wanted with minimal sacrifice.'

In both the Dragon Race war and the war against Asif-666, the tentacles had been able to remain safely in the rear.

"Then, everyone rest up today, and let us discuss the remaining matters at the next meeting."

The king disconnected from the virtual reality. Her avatar, which had been projected into a banquet hall on a distant planet, also disappeared.

Afterward, she decided to allow her exhausted self a small luxury.

There was no need to go anywhere. The artificial intelligence reassembled the physical space that had been a remote conference room just moments ago. The interior shifted, deploying new equipment.

Hsssss!

The vapor of a special chemical bloomed in the room.

It was a compound that would instantly kill any other race upon contact. The temperature was also formidable.

But the Endelion felt a comfortable pleasure, as if soaking in warm water. She slowly stretched her entire body and wriggled, gently massaging her numb seventeenth tentacle with her eighth.

'This is living.'

She was enjoying a rare moment of leisure.

A telepathic wave arrived from outside.

=Your Majesty, I apologize for interrupting your meeting. I need your permission on one matter...=

The retainer had made a mistake, not knowing the king had finished her duties for the day.

Fortunately for him, the king was currently intoxicated by relaxed pleasure. She decided to generously forgive him and reply.

'What is it?'

=It is regarding the reallocation of the Mana Crystals recovered from the Fanatic Cult.=

Because Yongreung had been robbed, their entire star system had been enduring a shortage of Mana Crystals.

The first step of post-war processing was distributing what they had reclaimed from the enemy to where it was needed.

=Most of it has been sorted out now, but Your Majesty's secret vaults remain...=

Ah, I see.

She understood.

Only the king knew the locations of several of these secret vaults. A significant number of them were not even located on their home planet.

Because they did not emit radio waves or connect through Spirit Realm Communication, no one would be able to reach them without the information in her head. Not even her closest retainers.

'I see. I will give you the coordinates.'

As the king transmitted several locations via mental wave...

'...!'

She suddenly felt a sense of incongruity.

'Wait a moment.'

Everything had felt natural just a moment ago.

But thinking about it now, something seemed off.

She had slammed the brakes on her mind just before mentioning the location that stored something related to Asif-666.

'Is there a need to specifically ask for those coordinates?'

The king usually handled the Mana Crystal recharging for such vaults personally, either by sending golems or through other covert methods.

Furthermore.

'I set most of them to last for over a hundred years without needing a recharge, didn't I?'

She searched her memories.

Had that much time passed already?

While she pondered, the unseen retainer rushed her.

=My King, is there not one still remaining?=

The Tentacle King got a strange feeling from that tone.

Hsssss!

'Wait. This is a bit hot.'

The chemical vapor seeped into her mucous membranes.

Its temperature was skyrocketing. To the point where even an Endelion felt pain.

She ordered the artificial intelligence to take action. However, there was no response, as if it had suffered a calculation error.

The king shouted at the retainer she had been exchanging mental waves with.

'Y-you there! Contact the facility manager. Something is wrong. Make corrections immediately...!'

=I will take action immediately. However, Your Majesty, the coordinates for the remaining vault...=

The king screamed.

'The coordinates are not the problem right now!'

The temperature had risen to an unbearable level. Her entire body burned red. Her original bronze skin was nowhere to be seen.

It was a phenomenon she understood theoretically, but she had never even imagined actually seeing it.

Let alone that her own body would end up like this.

'What in the world are they doing outside?!'

As the king roared...

'...!'

She suddenly felt a shock, as if her soul were being hammered.

'Right!'

She had seen this scene before.

'This isn't the first time. I've experienced this before!'

The moment she realized that, Riiiiip!

The world tore open.

Her surroundings split into pieces, revealing gaps.

A hellish landscape swelled through the cracks. At the same time, the melody of the mental wave flowing into her mind changed.

=H-hot! It's too hot!=

=My King, please save us!=

=You crazy king! Stupid and incompetent king! What are you doing right now? We are dying! Hurry up and find a way!=

The king realized that this place was not reality either.

This hot, enclosed space was a landscape from her memories.

But unlike what she had just seen, it wasn't a complete fabrication. It was an event that had actually happened in reality.

Hsssss!

Wherever her eyes landed, retainers were cooking. Their pale pink flesh was turning mushy.

'This is the underground bunker!'

The safest shelter on the planet, prepared by the royal family.

The cooling system had already lost its meaning. The rock vapor on the planet's surface was boiling at tens of thousands of degrees, burning everything. That heat eventually pierced through the metal layer and infiltrated underground.

As a result, the bunker's walls, ceiling, and even its instruments were melting.

The only thing keeping them alive right now was the magic the retainers were chanting. But how many more days could they hold out like this?

The bunker near the initial impact zone already seemed to be collapsing. In other underground shelters, dying citizens were vomiting out mental waves.

=Ahhh! It hurts! It's too hot! Save me!=

=O King... why did you start a war you couldn't even win...!=

=Save us! Keep us alive!=

=I curse you! I will curse you... and everyone who made us like this!=

They radiated telepathy in random directions. A part of it had reached her.

"Ah... ah!"

Just as deep despair was welling up within her, someone else's resonance mixed in. It carried words that did not match the thoughts of the screaming citizens.

=So... the coordinates?=

Fwoosh!

The surrounding scenery changed again.

This time, it was not the royal bunker.

And a pain far greater than before assailed her.

Fwoosh!

Water cannot exceed a hundred degrees Celsius, even when boiling.

But metal is different.

Sizzle!

Rumble!

The king realized she was submerged in boiling Magic Metal, slowly being 'boiled' alive.

=...!=

She vomited out a horrific mental wave that could not be translated into words. She thrashed and struggled. It was a pain that felt as if her entire nervous system would burn away.

She couldn't understand why she wasn't fainting. It was an agony that infuriated her; if a living creature could feel such pain, it had to be a design flaw.

Unable to endure it, she wanted to tear herself apart, but she couldn't even swing her tentacles. Her body was firmly fixed to the floor, as if nailed down.

A mental wave dug into her head.

="Tell me the coordinates. Where did you hide... the Shelter?"=

Only then did she realize.

The one who kept asking the same question was not her retainer.

Asiph-1 was trying to dig information out of her head.

'Then... what I was seeing until just now...!'

Illusion and reality vainly intersected, redefining each other.

The war was over.

However, the victor was Asif-666.

'Ah, ah... Aaaaaaaagh!'

She wailed.

She couldn't understand why she wasn't going mad.

Every time her tentacles heaved, the pain of her flesh splitting was added to the agony of her bodily fluids boiling. Even so, she couldn't stop.

"...Damn."

Bubble bubble!

Ssssss!

In the air filled with metal vapor, Asiph-1 clicked his tongue.

"I apologize. I failed again."

Beside him, Asif-666 was looking down with a cold expression.

A pool of molten metal. The Tentacle King suffering within it.

Minjun furrowed his brows.

"What tremendous tenacity. To think she wants to hide it that badly."

He snapped his fingers. A signal for Yumtus to touch the control panel.

Even as he gave the instruction, Minjun deliberately didn't look in that direction. Dell was beside the priest.

He thought to himself that he didn't want to see his ex-wife's face, at least not at this moment.

Sssshhhh!

A space like a sunken pot. The liquefied metal was sucked in through holes scattered across the floor.

'...!'

The Tentacle King's eyeballs, which should have burned away, remained thanks to the torturer's consideration.

She laboriously rolled her pupils. Minjun and the Endelion's gazes met.

He asked in a dry voice. The same question his son had been throwing out thus far.

"Where did you hide it?"

He realized that the king had prepared for a very long time, and to an extreme degree, to protect her own mind.

Even so, it was only a matter of time. Put in enough effort over a long period, and it was bound to be breached.

But Minjun wanted to shorten that duration. Especially at this point, where the moment he had anxiously waited for was literally shimmering right at his fingertips.

Looking at Minjun, the king muttered with a fading mind.

'The Shelter...!'

That was the name of the Magic Tool that had been hiding the primordial race's body when he was discovered in a near-death state.

The Kavite lacked the ability to study it, and eventually handed it over to Endelion.

It was only natural that the Tentacle King felt intrigued. The primordial race seemed to have survived within it for a time that was hard to even estimate. Without their soul and flesh merging like the rest of their kin... maintaining a form that was at least close to a normal living creature.

The king had thought that perhaps the secret to eternal life was hidden within that so-called Shelter as well.

She barely managed to open her mouth.

"To go as far as torture to ask for its location..."

In the midst of the maddening torture, a strand of venomous malice bloomed.

"It means that it is something extremely precious to you, you monster!"

The king thought. At this point, the war had ended in defeat and there was zero possibility of turning the tables.

What method was there to exact even a little revenge on her opponent?

In truth, it was closer to venting, and it was uncertain if it would cause any actual harm to that monster. It might just end with Asif-666 getting slightly annoyed.

But the Endelion thought it was worth a try.

"...Right to the end."

And Minjun guessed the king's inner intentions.

He did not get angry or annoyed.

Instead, he stared with a face that looked as if he were viewing filth sprawled on the street.

"You don't know how to repent, right to the end."

At that, the king shouted as if throwing a fit. It was to the point where Asiph-1 was startled, wondering if she still had such strength left.

"Repent... Are you saying I committed some kind of sin?! How dare you speak as if you are some righteous judge and punisher!"

Minjun crossed his arms and stared intently.

As if telling her to keep barking.

"Just what exactly is a sin? Creating a new order in the universe? Prolonging the lives of those who would greatly contribute to society by sacrificing the immature and less useful? Protecting ourselves from uncontrollable dangers?!"

The oppression of the Committee, the establishment of the body renewal system, the betrayal toward the primordial race.

The king shrieked as she listed all of those deeds herself.

"I am saying that all of this is what your primordial race intended to do after waking up anyway!"

At that, Minjun made a face that truly found it hard to understand.

"What?"

The king's gaze blazed.

"Don't think about feigning ignorance. Kavite and Todd, those idiots might not have realized it yet, but I knew. That place beyond the Zero Point."

The king mentioned Elahu-Praga.

A single blood vessel piercing through the universe.

"That is not yet complete. That blood vessel, connecting every dimension like threading a needle, is merely a root before sprouting. One day, countless veins and capillaries will branch out from the stem it sprouts, connecting every corner of the universe. Why did you make it in such a form of all things?!"

The king roughly poured out her words.

Not even the horrific pain could stop her anger-laced outburst.

"And these many dimensions that exist in the universe! In the distant past, space was a single dimension with no walls. But from the moment our ancestors lost their connection to 'God,' it began to shatter and fragment. I know now. That Dimensional Wall is also your work!"

Why did the primordial race, who had acted like gods, build a fence around the universe?

What was the reason for preventing intelligent lifeforms from freely coming and going and interacting?

Why did they change the order so that only species with 'power' could cross that fence?

The king had guessed the reason.

"In the end, you were preparing to rule this universe after waking from your slumber, weren't you?!"

When Minjun did not reply, the king shouted even more triumphantly.

"Restricting movement splinters the ruled. It stops them from allying and uniting. A barricade to prevent resistance against the rulers. That is the Dimensional Wall! However, the rulers alone must secure a means to freely cross the fence. The blood vessel that stretches its branches across all dimensional systems is exactly that passage! In the end, you merely executed what the Committee is doing now first!"

The Committee had erected and added another wall to the existing Dimensional Wall.

And they controlled the means of travel by monopolizing the Terminal and Jump Ships.

After that, they stole the dimensional leap spells from the dragons, and fractured resisting species and peoples to isolate them in every corner of the dimensional system.

A question asking if the primordial race hadn't also prepared this kind of ruling system in advance.

"It was your intention to rule all species after waking up, wasn't it?! You, too, are nothing but a disgusting hypocrite in the end!"

Asking what difference there was between them and her kind in the end.

Toward the Tentacle King, who glared as she asked such a thing...

'...!?'

Minjun let out a cold sneer.

The emotion hanging on the corners of his mouth bewildered the king, if only for a moment.

"We prepared to reign over the masses? We created cell walls and built arterial trunks for that?"

In that voice, though it was hard for the king to believe, there was even a tinge of pity.

The Endelion's pupils trembled with confusion.

Minjun asked.

"Just what benefit and value would we gain from you?"

For a moment, the Tentacle King couldn't think of anything to say in response.

"The species currently existing in this dimension, with the exception of exactly two, don't even have value to us as livestock. So why would we go out of our way to..."

Minjun pondered for a moment before adding.

"Yes, we would need control after we briefly wake up and go back to sleep. What I am doing now is also preparation for that."

Domination through religion and brainwashing.

The act of establishing strict taboos so that no one could harm his kin who had fallen back asleep.

"But even after that process ends and we wake up perfectly... do you think we would need to rule you even at that stage?"

The king couldn't understand.

She muttered in a slightly drained voice.

"You wouldn't... reign over us?"

Minjun let out a faint sigh and said.

"What meaning would there be in taking things like bacteria as slaves and livestock in the first place? Aside from the intention to satisfy a desire for domination and sadism."

He then muttered.

"Much less if we are at a stage equipped with a perfect immune system that those bacteria couldn't dare to overcome."

Asiph-1 carefully etched his creator's analogy into his mind.

Minjun gestured as if he didn't want to converse any further.

"Start again."

The hell of boiling metal and heat was resummoned underground.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!