Which Was Which?

Ascendancy began taking everything of value from the base. The enchanted bags Klaus had created proved especially useful—they were dimensional bags with vast internal space. They could simply toss everything inside, and because time was frozen within them, the contents remained in perfect condition.

Meanwhile, Klaus explained everything to Driver and Noah, who usually handled administrative affairs and gave orders. Afterward, he took a seat to rest.

The children were taken care of by the healers of Ascendancy. Miseria returned from her mission as well and was now checking on their minds. The kids were traumatized and lacked any common knowledge of the outside world. What was happening here—the horror and filth—was the only normal thing for them, since it was all they had ever known or seen in their lives.

Miseria could help them with their psychological wounds and give them a chance to live as normal people.

While Klaus rested, Cassie found him and took a seat beside him. They remained silent for a moment, but Cassie's expression was strained. She had seen so many things on this mission—things she hadn't even known existed. The horrors she witnessed unsettled her deeply. Compared to this, the forgotten shore seemed like paradise.

She wondered how these children would live from now on. How could they adapt to a normal life, even learn to enjoy it?

Hesitating, she gripped her dress tightly. She opened her mouth several times, then closed it again, unsure of what to say. When she finally gathered the courage to speak, Klaus cut her off.

"I've told you already... The world is far more disgusting than you think. Do you see that little girl on the table?"

He asked, his eyes focusing on the dead girl lying on the cold metal slab. Klaus's gaze zoomed in, allowing Cassie to borrow his sight and see her clearly.

Cassie remained motionless for a moment, but this... this was too much. Even after all she'd seen, this crossed a line.

She couldn't hold it in any longer—

"B-bleh... Ahghh... cough... cough."

Her sightless eyes widened as a wave of disgust and nausea rose within her. She fought it down, but her body trembled.

Klaus sighed, gently patting her back. Without a word, he used his sleeve to wipe her mouth.

Cassie quickly switched to Anna's vision—Anna was still watching Klaus, ever the dutiful guard—and latched onto the borrowed sight. Her own eyes burned as she blinked away tears.

She trembled, feeling small… out of place.

"H-how... How can you be so calm?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "This… this isn't even worth a change of expression for you? Like it's nothing? This is—this is horrifying."

Her voice rose slightly, shaking with disbelief.

"N-Nik… this isn't normal. This shouldn't be normal!"

Klaus shrugged, leaning against the cold wall. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in slowly. When he opened them again, his gaze settled once more on the lifeless girl.

She wasn't dead from visible wounds. No, it was shock that had taken her. Her body had simply… given up.

His violet eyes flickered, weary and flat, as they noticed the greenish fluid smeared on her thighs. A subtle but damning detail.

He didn't need to guess. [Wisdom of Uriel] had already pieced it together from the visual cues and internal deductions.

Green fluid... In most cases, that meant infection—bacterial, viral, or simply the result of time and age. But more often than not, it meant something older… something done repeatedly, improperly, in violation.

His jaw tightened imperceptibly, but the rest of his face remained still, tired and hollow.

His gaze slid over to the restrained scientists, landing on an older man wrapped tightly in Lich's rune-enchanted chains. The man trembled under Klaus's stare, as if sensing something he couldn't name—only fear.

Klaus sighed again, this time more quietly, as he turned to Cassie. He gently ran his fingers through her golden hair, brushing a few loose strands away. His thumb wiped the tear trailing down her cheek—though it wasn't sadness that had made her cry.

It was nausea.

Cassie was far too seasoned to break down just from witnessing horror. She had seen enough darkness to hold herself together. But that didn't mean she felt nothing. Her silence, her trembling, the slight tightness in her shoulders—they all betrayed the storm beneath her composure.

Klaus smiled faintly. The expression was soft, almost apologetic, as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Then, resting his chin on her head, he whispered against her hair:

"Why would I be disturbed?"

His voice was calm.

"Haven't I told you about the [Law of Original Sin]? That attribute shows me this kind of thing every day... all the sins, all the filth this world hides..."

Cassie nodded quietly, her eyes closing as she let the weight of everything she'd seen settle in her mind.

Klaus stayed still for a few more moments, as if simply wanting to share the silence with her, to hold onto it just a little longer. Then, with a slow, deliberate movement, he pushed himself up from the wall and stood.

"Let's get this over with," he said quietly, his voice steady but carrying the weight of all they'd witnessed.

Anna noticed her lord approaching and gave a small, awkward smile, already bracing herself for what was to come. She gripped the chains binding the scientists firmly. With a sharp tug, she yanked the chains upward and slammed them onto the floor, the heavy links shattering with a deafening crash.

Though they were Awakened and could endure such violence, the screams that erupted were raw and painful—bones breaking, the floor cracking beneath them. Some of the scientists collapsed immediately, unable to stand, broken and writhing in agony.

But a few staggered to their feet, eyes wide with horror and desperation, darting around the room. The atmosphere shifted instantly; everyone ceased their tasks, turning to watch. Cold, expectant gazes bore into the survivors, waiting for what would come next.

Klaus grinned, the smile on his face wild and predatory as he looked down at the broken scientists.

Let's begin, inferior mongrels… he thought, the savage gleam in his violet eyes reflecting no pity.

He stopped in front of the old man, the supposed head researcher. There was a pause—a silence heavy with anticipation. The kind that felt like the air just before a thunderclap. Klaus just stood there, hands behind his back, calm and unreadable.

Legally, these people were already dead. Both the Ascendancy and the government had condemned such acts. But Klaus didn't care about laws. He wasn't here to uphold them.

He simply wanted them dead. That was enough.

He sighed, almost disappointed in himself for even trying to justify it.

"Don't think this is some cliché revenge plot, alright?" he said lazily.

The old man blinked in confusion, and then—hope. Genuine, trembling hope lit up his face like a match in the dark.

"Then… you'll spare us. Yes? You realize how valuable we are—how much we can contribute! If you let us live, we'll be useful, and—"

Crack.

The slap came so fast, the man didn't even see it. His head jerked violently to the side, a dull metallic clatter following as his prosthetic teeth bounced on the floor.

Klaus chuckled, eyes narrowed playfully, head tilted.

"Let's not get it twisted," he said, voice low and almost amused. "I'm not killing you for justice. Or vengeance. Or any righteous cause."

He leaned in, grin widening.

"I'm doing it for the love of the game... Now kneel."

The old man trembled but abandoned his quest to collect his teeth as he bent his knee. Klaus slapped him again—this time twice.

"Lower, maggot..." he muttered coldly.

Now the old man's cheeks were red, and blood dripped from his lips. He fell down on both knees, but Klaus kicked him in the face this time. His jaw hung loosely as a scream escaped his lungs. Without a word, he collapsed completely.

Klaus nodded in satisfaction, glancing over at the other scientists. Then he raised his hand.

Something began flying toward him from the darkness. Ascendancy operatives instinctively lowered their heads and stepped aside as a large object crashed into the ground beside Klaus.

It was an enormous, two-meter-tall savage pig—identical to the ones he had slain earlier.

The pig was frozen in space, but it was obvious it was struggling to break free. Klaus simply used [Is & Is Not] and cast an illusion. He and everyone else vanished from the pig's sight, leaving only the scientists in the now eerily empty hall.

Klaus stood behind the beast, seemingly invisible, hands tucked into his coat pockets. He observed silently as the first of the fourteen screams echoed through the chamber.

But to Klaus, those fourteen voices all sounded the same—indistinguishable.

Right now, the scientists looked like pigs.

From pig to man, and from man to pig.

It was impossible to tell which was which.

"Not that there's any difference..." he muttered in disdain.