Reincarnated Hero System - Chapter 1112 - 1112: Straight out of left field (Evan POV)
The War for Prime World Aramis had ended.
That was the news that greeted Artemisia, Beatrix, and me when we returned to the planet via Jamie Express.
Our reactions were more or less what anyone would expect.
“Wow, that wrapped up quicker than I thought.”
“Can I go see Alvey now?”
“Where are the most Low-Rank god corpses gathered?”
It was pretty obvious who asked which question.
None of us really believed the war would end in anything other than Gozon’s victory, which, honestly, was to be expected.
We regrouped with Arthur, who had been speaking with Jamie and a few Demon Kings about something called a ‘True Name Seal’ before coming back to Aramis, and after Artemisia’s rather disturbing question, the four of us ended up accompanying her to extract divine sparks.
“That makes it sound a lot less bad than what’s actually happening. She’s literally cutting corpses open to remove those things…”
“Did you say something, Evan?”
“Nope. Nothing.”
I chose to stay quiet and went back to my game, figuring that commenting on Artemisia’s actions wasn’t the smartest idea.
We were in one of the many battlefields being cleared after the day’s final war, where Artemisia, clad in a jumpsuit, crouched on one knee as she performed an unsanctioned autopsy on a god’s corpse with a set of floating medical tools.
Beatrix helped by using her spatial power to line up the other corpses in neat rows, ready for Artemisia to work on next.
Meanwhile, Arthur and I sat nearby, hands busy with our consoles as we co-op played Souls of the Dark II.
I couldn’t help but notice the stark contrast between our relaxed composure and the macabre scene happening less than a metre away.
Any demons who wandered into these battlefield outskirts always went through the same sequence of reactions.
First came confusion, then realisation that the two girls were goddesses, then the sight of Arthur’s and my Gozon Army uniforms, followed by noticing Arthur’s Lieutenant General insignia, then finally, they froze until Arthur inevitably told them to leave.
The repeated interruptions became bothersome, so Arthur used a recognition inhibition barrier, a trick Jamie had apparently taught him to use with his new Spatial Pseudo-Authority, to prevent further disruptions.
I wonder where the man went, anyway. He disappeared with McEnda II right after dropping us off on Aramis.
From what I’d heard, the Demon Rulers and Aramisian god Rulers were engaging in after-war negotiations, though I’d heard Jamie telling McEnda II he planned to sit it out.
Well, if the Demons’ one-sided demands could really be considered ‘negotiation’, then sure, that was what was happening.
On the way here, through the spatial channel, we saw a few of Gozon’s ships docked on Aramis’ moons, and Jamie mentioned Demon Lords were stationed there.
But it was more a symbolic display of control than an actual occupation, just a way to mark their claim over the newly conquered territory.
Returning to the matter of the recognition inhibition, the barrier kept our group hidden from sight, noticeable only to Transcendents and above, who knew Arthur and me well enough not to intrude without reason.
With the war for Aramis over, Artemisia and Beatrix no longer bothered concealing their presence on the planet.
It was then that Arthur made a suggestion that left both of them questioning his sanity.
“Let’s head to the Abyss Labyrinth once we’re done here.”
“”Arthur, are you trying to kill us?””
The two girls immediately snapped toward him, their faces filled with incredulous disbelief, while I looked between them in confusion.
“What’s the Abyss Labyrinth?”
“There are places known as ‘Danger Zones’ on the Intergalactic Stage, Evan,” Beatrix explained. “One of them is the ‘Dead Zone.’ It’s exactly what it sounds like. A portion of the Universe that’s completely ‘dead.’
Think of it like a part of the Universe having leprosy. That’s the Dead Zone.
Universal Laws don’t function properly there, and just being in its vicinity corrupts your very existence. Even Race Rulers avoid it like the plague.”
After giving me that short introduction, Beatrix raised two fingers and continued.
“The Dead Zone is the Number 1 Danger Zone in the ENTIRE Universe. The Abyss Labyrinth, the place your friend here just suggested we visit, is Number 2.”
With this new knowledge, it was my turn to look at Arthur in disbelief.
“Dude, are you trying to kill us?”
It really did sound like he was.
“Come on, guys. If I wanted to kill you, do you think I’d go through such convoluted means?”
Instead of defending himself, Arthur tossed out a question that would make any normal person reconsider staying anywhere near him.
Unfortunately, Beatrix and Artemisia were anything but normal, no matter how much they tried to deny it. I, on the other hand, was the very picture of normalcy.
“Honestly, I think you would,” Artemisia replied.
“Yeah, that’s definitely your style,” Beatrix added.
“And then you’d justify it by saying it was for fun,” I concluded.
Hearing our responses, Arthur just stared at us in disbelief before muttering under his breath.
“I can’t tell if you’re trying to diss me or prove how well you know me.”
“””Both, Arthur. Both.”””
The three of us shot him synchronised deadpan stares before going back to what we were doing.
I kept hammering away at the final boss of Souls of the Dark II, Beatrix busied herself cleaning up the remains left from Artemisia’s work, and Artemisia continued with her autopsies.
She opened up a dead god’s chest to extract its Divine Spark with an efficiency clearly honed by experience, did a few weird things with her power of Evolution and the equipment Beatrix had provided, then placed it into a containment box alongside the others she had collected so far.
I’d just cleared the first phase of the boss battle and looked up from my console, only to catch the faintest smile tugging at the corner of Artemisia’s lips, a rare sign that she was actually ‘enjoying’ herself.
For someone who usually kept her expression neutral, this was practically an SSR-level find.
Unsurprisingly, the sight left me more than a little unsettled, and Beatrix, perhaps noticing my expression, burst into laughter.
Oh, and for the record, I’d ditched my mask.
“Arty’s dad sealed away her tools and told her not to dissect anything for over a year. What you’re seeing now is all that pent-up desire bursting out at once,” Beatrix said, offering an explanation for Artemisia’s smile.
“Well, my problem is that she has those kinds of desires in the first place.”
Beatrix just shrugged, clearly unbothered by my reaction.
“Arty’s power of Evolution doesn’t work on its own. She needs catalysts for specific modifications, and she has to extract them somehow.”
With a glance at the god’s corpse in front of Artemisia, she added,
“Right now, she’s trying to upgrade her Divine Spark. Where else is she supposed to find a catalyst for that, if not from the corpse of a god?”
“Oh, I get that part,” I replied. “What makes me wanna run is the fact that she’s smiling like she’s having the time of her life while dissecting people.”
The moment I said that, Artemisia, after placing another extracted Divine Spark into her box, slowly shifted her gaze toward me.
In her usual calm, neutral tone, she asked,
“Would you like a hands-on demonstration of just how much I ‘enjoy’ this?”
“…”
I had no response to that, so I quietly slid my chair backwards, inching farther away from her with extreme caution.
For some reason, Beatrix and Arthur found it hilarious, bursting into loud laughter. Arthur even leaned back in his seat, clutching his stomach as he tried to catch his breath.
“Oh, come on, Evan. It’s all in good fun. Besides…”
Beatrix wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter faded, gesturing toward Artemisia, who was packing up her tools, before finishing.
“…Arty’s mostly harmless.”
“Yeah, mostly,” I retorted instantly. “Need I remind you of the fact that she considered dissecting me once?”
I was never gonna forget that. Ever.
Just as I resumed unleashing my combo on the boss’s second phase, Artemisia suddenly stood, twirling a scalpel between her fingers as she stepped over the corpse in front of her and began walking toward me.
“?!”
Danger Sense didn’t say a word, but I wasn’t about to ignore my own instincts screaming ‘DANGER’, so I immediately jumped out of my chair and summoned the Gazebind Aegis.
Arthur and Beatrix once again burst into laughter for some reason, while Artemisia blinked a few times and muttered,
“…I just wanted to ask for your portable booth…”
Her tone was calm but faintly puzzled, as if she couldn’t quite understand why I had reacted like that.
“How about you put down the scalpel first, huh?”
Only then did she glance at her hand, her expression shifting slightly as she finally realised she was still holding the scalpel.
‘How the hell did she forget she’s holding that?! Or is she just that used to having it around?!’
Wordlessly, Artemisia tossed the scalpel back into her box of tools, then turned back to me and repeated her request.
“Can I borrow your portable changing booth? I need to change.”
She gestured to her bloodstained clothes as she spoke, and with a sigh, I pulled the item from my inventory and tossed it to her.
Catching it, Artemisia set the booth up a short distance away and stepped inside with her changing bag. Not long after the door shut, Beatrix slipped in after her.
A loud smacking sound soon followed, carrying clearly to Arthur and me outside.
Neither of us bothered to look, both immediately knowing Beatrix had pulled something silly and had promptly been punished for it.
Typical Beatrix.
After Artemisia finished changing, she neatly folded the booth and tossed it back to me before turning her attention to Arthur.
“Now, can you explain why you suggested that suicidal plan earlier?”
She was, of course, referring to Arthur’s proposal of heading into the Abyss Labyrinth. At her words, Arthur stood up.
“Let’s head back to Militopolis first. I’ll explain it with Alvey and McEnda since I want to bring them along too.”
With my boss battle completed, I set my console down on a Void Step and stored my chairs back into my inventory, while Beatrix skipped over to Arthur just as he began activating his Cosmic Teleporter.
“Hmm? I can’t find Jamie,” Arthur muttered.
“Huh? Jamie’s on Aramis?” Beatrix asked, and Arthur nodded.
“Yeah. He’s with Alvey and McEnda. But since no Race Ruler is meant to be here now, he’s actively concealing himself, making it a pain to detect him.”
After answering Beatrix, Arthur cracked his knuckles with a grin.
“Challenge accepted!”
With that, he began doing something with the ambient spatial law energy, while Beatrix muttered something about finding Alvey and joined in.
Choosing to ignore them, I refocused on my console, only to soon feel Artemisia’s gaze on me.
“You’ve been on that thing non-stop for the past few days,” she remarked.
“Of course. I haven’t played games in years, thanks to future you.”
I replied while tilting the console to dodge an obstacle in Tarmac 10, pulling off a clean barrel roll before landing the race car back on the track.
“What did I do?”
Without looking up, I answered her question.
“You’ll know when it happens. Just remember to take me to Earth V when I come back from the past, okay? And don’t forget about that CD stuff, too.”
Beyond my rekindled desire in gaming once I got back to the future, I wanted to meet my dad on Earth V and smack him a little for nearly giving me a heart attack back on Gozon.
Artemisia stayed silent for a while, glancing elsewhere before turning her attention back to me.
“Evan, about that CD stuff you told me to st—BAAMM!!!!
“GlArgHK!!”
“… …. eh?”
It took my brain a moment to register what was happening. I was certain Arthur and Beatrix were just as bewildered as I was.
By the time I finally managed to turn to my side, there was suddenly someone standing right next to me—someone who hadn’t been there a fraction of a second ago.
They hadn’t been there. And then they were.
Neither Danger Sense nor Detection Field had gone off.
All I caught was a blur, and in the next instant, Artemisia was coughing up golden blood.
With one seamless motion, the figure slung the now-unconscious Artemisia over their shoulder and spoke, their voice echoing with unnerving clarity.
[Your power of Evolution would be most useful to me, goddess.]
