Guild Wars

Chapter 442 - Fleeting Existence

Only, Eva had no idea about the intensity of the events and how far they had strayed from her projections. As Luxia arrived in the airspace above the capital of the Storm Empire, she got to see the outcome of her actions.

Hikari covered her mouth as her eyes bulged from sheer shock. Zaine grimaced heavily, Roma’s lips twitched while Eva was left speechless. What the hell had happened here?!

Just a week ago, this had been a bustling city with over 400 million residents. Now, barely 1/10th of that population remained, and they all stood in the city square, packed together like sardines in a tin.

When they saw Luxia, there was a ripple of movement as the ’populace’ acted as one and dragged many people to the center of the square. These prisoners were all tied up and some looked in extremely bad condition, but their captors clearly didn’t care.

Eva made Luxia descend, and the Light Phoenix did so slowly. She got off its back and faced the throng before her who looked back at her with mostly lifeless eyes, only a strange emotion lying within.

One of the members of the crowd came out and bowed before Eva. It spoke in a slow and slightly dragging tone, like it was not used to using vocal cords.

"Mooootherrr... Acccoommplisshhed taasskkk..."

Zaine, Hikari, and Roma were left flabbergasted as Eva’s eyes flashed. She used her bloodline’s Mind Control as well as Telepathy to connect with the being before her, and she felt her mind’s eye shift from the world around her to a black zone.

It felt like she was staring into an abyss, but there was actually something located in the middle of it all that caught her eye. It was a strange ball of amorphous flesh that continually shifted and pulsed.

Objectively speaking, it was an ugly abomination that should not exist in this world, yet upon feeling Eva’s presence, it became smaller and softer. Unlike outside where it could barely speak, here it had no problems communicating with her by transmitting direct thoughts to Eva.

"H-Hello... M-Mother..."

It greeted Eva shyly with the voice of a young boy, scared that its mother would revile its existence since it fed on dark motions and the ugliness of its host to gain power, making it possess this form.

Yet, Eva simply glided down towards the smaller blob of eldritch horror and tilted her head. "You consider me your mother?"

The blob twitched shamefully, but answered. "Y-Yes, as long as that is... fine with you..."

Eva smiled gently and patted the blob playfully. "If that is so, then I also consider you my child."

The blob froze for a split-second before it twitched in happiness, shivering with joy all over. Its size greatly grew as it enveloped Eva entirely in what appeared to be its attempt at a hug.

"Mother!!" It cried out in excitement.

Eva chuckled gently and patted the blob once again. "Now, now dear, give your mom some breathing space. Please, tell me exactly what has happened here."

The blob retracted and wiggled a little. "Yes, right away!"

And so, the blob exchanged information with Eva, allowing her to see its growth and actions over the past 7 days from the moment Eva planted it to when it first gained sentience, as well as how.

She also watched the horrors that had occurred in the Storm Empire over the past week from the first-person point of view. Eva’s expression did not change despite the wanton slaughter, but the utility of the hivemind astounded her greatly.

Eva’s mind exploded as she came up with new ways to use the budding psychic abilities that she had never even considered, especially for Mind Control and Telepathy. She also realized how right Amaterasu and Lucifer had been about the bloodlines really being uncontrollable ultimate weapons.

Just the tiny bit she had left in the mind of everyone had led to such a devastating result. What would happen if she made another one, only stronger, and with it a different purpose? Instead of ’why should I have to suffer for someone else’s mistakes?’ what if she would change it to ’Everyone around me is trying to kill me... I should kill them first!’ as a suggestion?

She could literally wipe out any organization or lead a group to tear itself apart from the inside, without the need for any single outside force to ever come into the picture. However, it would be impossible to do anything on a large scale without the Goddess Form’s Astral Projection.

Additionally, there had to be a catalyst to give the suggestion/compulsion a hold over the mind of those infected. In this case, the fear of an unfair death had been more than sufficient. The actions and words from Eva had been specifically paired with the compulsion, so they had synergized and worked beautifully.

This would not work on the mapped zones because no one knew anything about Amaterasu or cared about her in the same way as the residents of the Shinoka Continent did, treating her words and actions like the law of the universe.

Hm, no. It should work on the mapped zones, but only on certain groups and kingdoms. Mostly those with very few high-ranked fighters among them. As Eva was Rank 2 right now, she could at best, place a compulsion on up to Rank 4 people.

Even then, it had a 0.0001% of working on such a person, with a 0.1% chance of working on a Rank 3 individual, Eva estimated based on her knowledge of the Ranks.

Still, a weapon was a weapon. She could use this in a variety of ways, and the more she got in tune with the sheer power of her bloodline, the more her psychic abilities would become overpowered.

Eva nodded after gaining a full understanding of what went on here. She petted her ’son’ gently once more. "You have done well, my darling. I’m proud of you."

The blob pulsed and danced about a little in happiness from the praise. "Hehe, it’s nothing much anyway. A strong man like me can do this easily!"

Eva smiled knowingly, a smile every mother possessed by default when their son began boasting when he wasn’t even pubescent yet. "Yes, yes, my strong little man can do anything."

This happy moment continued for a short while longer before Eva sighed. "I would love to keep you, but..."

The blob shook itself gently and hugged Eva sweetly. "I understand, mother. I knew from the minute I was born that I had a fixed life. I’m just happy I got to spend time with you, no matter how short."

Eva sighed sadly. The simple fact was, this existence she had accepted as her child, and could even be actually called that in a truthful sense, had a shelf life of sorts. It had been created to fulfill a certain purpose, with a specific code imprinted into its being that fueled its growth up until now.

To capture all the officials, their family, and their close friends, as well as the combatants who partook in the war against the Sun Empire.

This had been the ultimatum Eva had offered the Storm Empire’s citizens and was what had provided the hivemind fuel to grow. As such, it was forced to live by these rules, and would die by them as well.

It had captured all the necessary targets... and wasn’t Eva here, present and ready to dole out the necessary punishment? This meant that the hivemind’s task was complete, and it no longer had the reason nor fuel to exist.

Eva watched the amorphous blob of monstrosity that would cause anyone to puke begin to turn gray, like the color of ash. It still held onto Eva gently, and Eva also embraced it caringly in its last moments.

"Thank you for giving me life, mother. It was short, but I really enjoyed existing! I don’t know if it’s possible, but I wish to come to life once again and spend all my life with you!" The childlike voice of the hivemind spoke with adoration.

"One day, when I master my abilities, I will bring you to life again and show you the world." Eva promised quietly.

The blob seemed satisfied with this, and its deconstruction completed as it turned into stone, then crumbled into ash. Eva watched this solemnly for a few more seconds, before she was ejected from this strange space.

Her eyes blinked rapidly as she returned to her body and looked around. The various citizens who had been holding down the captives had all fallen to the ground, almost lifeless.

Most were twitching strongly like they had been shocked with electricity while the rest lay still, but all of them had blank eyes lost in an eternal daze while they drooled foolishly.

The captives looked around them with shock and horror, as the almost mindless citizens who had been ferocious fighters just seconds before were now no better than corpses.

Hikari stepped forward and asked Eva in a worried voice. "Big Sis... what’s going on?"

Eva breathed out lightly and transmitted their conversation to Hikari, Roma, and Zaine at the same time. Once the three ladies came out of the stupor induced by the mental transfer of information, they all shared saddened expressions.

They all had experienced Eva’s feelings as she lost the child born from her bloodline and abilities, a sentient being that while technically soulless, had still been in possession of a spirit.

Hikari brightened up and spoke excitedly. "Wait, there might be a solution!!"

Everyone turned to the White Dragoness who was all but jumping.

"Since Big Sis Eva can create sentient minds through a specific set of processes, it should possible to have them exist permanently, even if they are soulless!"

Eva and Zaine’s face changed as their mental abilities revealed to them the crazy idea Hikari was thinking of, while Roma’s Pinnacle Insight told her of a similar thing as her face too was filled with wonderment.

Hikari clapped her hands and channeled Worldly Energy in between her two palms like she was trying to squeeze a football. The energy changed into the shape of a small kitten as it mewed mindlessly.

Hikari picked it up and placed it in her palms then gazed at Eva and co with a triumphant look. Zaine was nodding her head while whispering under her breath, while Eva rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Roma’s expression changed many times, until a metaphorical lightbulb lit up over her head. "Hey, I can actually summon dead souls back with the current tier of my Mystic Arts. Would that help?"

Eva pondered for a bit before shaking her head. "The soul is a complex topic. It entails the memories and fundamental essence of an existence. The spirit entails the will, fate, and source of sentience of an existence while the body is just the meatbag allowing these two things to manifest physically."

Eva raised her fingers one by one as she counted. "Hikari can create the body, but it lacks a soul and has a mediocre spirit. I can create what should be the spirit, but it would be meaningless without a soul. Even if we do find a dead soul, it would have its own memories and unique essence belonging to the one who had existed before."

Eva folded her hands behind her back. "That is why when bringing someone back from the dead or being sent forwards or backward in time sends the soul, not the body or the spirit."

"The body and spirit can be artificially created to differing degrees, but a soul is purely natural and can only be made following the laws of the universe."

Eva smacked her lips. "At least that was the case from the universe Draco and I originated from."

Roma nodded. "I’ve been taught the same three aspects of existence by my Esteemed Mother when I was young... but."

Roma scratched her head. "The souls I summon with my Mystic Arts are blank slates yet to be written upon."

Eva: "!!!"

Zaine: "!!!"

Hikari: "...?"