Chapter 112: The Giant of Light Stands Upon the Insect Nest

From the moment Rebecca heard Yukiyuki utter the name "Toregia," a sense of foreboding gripped her. By the time Yukiyuki finished speaking, she already… she already understood everything.

“So that’s it. He came to harm me.”

There was no bitterness in her voice. After all, Toregia had only offered her a few seemingly unrelated secrets about the Illusionless Demons.

He was like a butterfly, elegantly flapping its wings, yet stirring a hurricane in her life that wrecked everything she held dear.

“This is not entirely his fault,” Yukiyuki said with clear, steady eyes as he looked at Rebecca. “This is the ‘cause’ you planted in the past, which has now ripened into the ‘effect’ falling upon you. It’s fifty-fifty.”

“...?”

Rebecca, the governor, felt an inexplicable surge of anger well up inside her. Yukiyuki’s air of knowing everything was truly infuriating.

But Yukiyuki paid no mind to Rebecca’s fury; instead, he marveled at how small the world truly was. His lead came from a contract posted on the black market—an assassination request against Governor Rebecca.

From that contract’s details, Yukiyuki obtained information about Rebecca, and the name of the client… it was hauntingly familiar.

“Here’s a hint... ‘Sagittari.’ Do you remember this name?”

Rebecca frowned slightly; the name was unfamiliar. She could find no trace of it in the depths of her memory and could only shake her head in confusion.

This was exactly as Yukiyuki had expected. That incident must have happened long, long ago, so it was natural she no longer remembered. She would never know that the monstrous beast which had once ravaged the planet Cannon was once the captain of a special forces unit within the Galactic Alliance.

That unit had been ambushed during a mission and called for reinforcements from headquarters, only to be abandoned. They were victims of internal discord within the Galactic Alliance. Someone in the upper echelons had leaked their operational plans, resulting in the ambush. After the investigation, to bury the scandal, the Galactic Alliance even sent assassins to silence all surviving members of the unit. Captain Sagittari was ultimately driven to the peak of the warrior’s cliff on planet O-50.

Yukiyuki himself had been unaware of the connections until he saw the expired contract on the black market—it was likely released by Sagittari before undergoing cybernetic augmentation, anticipating her imminent demise. If she lost herself after augmentation and could no longer avenge her fallen comrades by eliminating those responsible in the Galactic Alliance’s upper ranks, she entrusted the revenge mission to others, posting the contract with all her personal assets.

Over the years, she had worked under Phalaris while investigating the truth behind the special forces’ ambush caused by leaked plans. At last, she had exposed the masterminds one by one—the traitors who sold them out, and those who proposed covering up the truth. She intended to spare none.

Rebecca was the last target in Sagittari’s revenge plan.

The contract’s expiration did not mean it could no longer be accepted or fulfilled; rather, the black market system had flagged it because the premise—assassinating Governor Rebecca—had changed. This warning was meant to alert any studio or individual taking the contract to confirm details with the client before proceeding.

Yukiyuki did not dwell further on the subject. He reached forward and grabbed the demon shard, glowing red, that had been suspended by an antigravity device. The shard slipped easily into his hand.

It felt light, its surface warm—warmer than body temperature, but not scalding. Clearly, the shard radiated energy and emitted heat.

Touching such an object barehanded was risky. Yukiyuki recalled that Kiyoki had worn gloves when handling it. Now, however, he wore only fingerless tactical gloves. He considered finding a thicker, fully covering pair, but if this demon shard was as dangerous as a nuclear fuel rod, gloves would offer little protection beyond psychological comfort. So he let it be.

“Wait!” Rebecca instinctively called out, but Yukiyuki looked at her with a puzzled expression, as if to say, What are you thinking? How do you intend to stop me?

Rebecca was momentarily speechless at that look.

“If you want to know more details, we can talk properly once we’re back on Earth,” Yukiyuki said as he activated his skill, “Gate of Doors,” selected a destination route, then waved at Rebecca with a smile. “See you soon.”

If Rebecca intended to die with honor, Yukiyuki would respect her choice.

Rebecca was only briefly distracted before the man vanished into thin air. Her eyes caught only the last flicker of the closing magic circle.

This, too, mirrored the image of the black mist—Toregia’s departure.

Having been so thoroughly outmaneuvered, could she still trust him?

Rebecca gazed down at the corpses of the guards sprawled beneath her, hesitating. If she defected, then the deaths of these men, the destruction of the hive, the failure of Earth’s plan, the uprising on planet Cannon—none of these blame would be spared from falling squarely on her shoulders…

No, even if she stayed, she would still bear these burdens…

Could she count on the conscience of the Galactic Alliance’s upper echelon?

Having once been one of them, Rebecca was certain—absolutely not! They possessed no such thing!

Before she could wrestle further with her thoughts, two towering beams of light shot skyward, illuminating the entire city. The power contained within those beams made breathing difficult even from over ten kilometers away. It was as if a colossal spaceship had flown past just a meter away, sucking out all the air. The shock resonated deep within her soul.

What was this now?

Amidst the successive upheavals and blows, Governor Rebecca’s heart had become as calm as still water. Yet, when the beams faded and the ghostly images of two giants appeared within the city, her heart unexpectedly ignited once more.

The giants had manifested just moments after the human with the demon shard vanished. If they were indeed this human’s so-called “companions,” then perhaps…

Perhaps she could reconsider his proposal.