BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

"Yes," Vania said. "I do. Isn't the presence of thaids evidence enough? Monsters able to wield mana? Seriously? They should be proof enough that what we are doing actually makes sense."

Erik's gaze hardened. "The Silverline Corporation created the thaids, though. Your predecessors engineered these creatures to find a solution to a problem they themselves created. Even if the reasons you are doing this might be true, the amount of atrocities you committed surpassed any good proposition you might have. Don't pretend innocence when your hands shaped the very threats you claim to protect everyone against."

Vania nodded, surprising him. "Yes, we created the first thaids. I won't deny our role in that." Her eyes met his unflinchingly.

"But they were proof of something greater, something beyond our understanding—mana. A power that doesn't belong in our world, a power that shouldn't exist by any laws of physics we understood."

She stepped forward, leaving her protective circle of guards. "And if the thaids that got created by humans could control mana, if humans themselves could, what made you think there wasn't something else in the universe that couldn't? These harbingers of destruction—how can you deny what they represent?"

"And what do they represent?" Erik asked, curious to know where her derangement had reached. He actually knew what her point was… but…

"That something or someone with better control of it might exist, something not human, not thaid, something that could come to Earth. Something that makes the thaids look like insects in comparison. Something that we think will come here one day and that will enslave us all if we don't act now that we still have time."

Blood continued to flow around her. "The blackguards weren't formed out of cruelty or ambition, Romano. We were born from necessity—a shield between humanity and powers they couldn't comprehend but that they needed to wield."

In his pursuit of vengeance, Erik painted the blackguards as one-dimensional villains, corrupt power-seekers exploiting others for gain. He wasn't completely wrong, but at this point, it was true they were not just power-hungry monsters.

Though Erik didn't want to believe that, after everything they did to him.

But Vania spoke with conviction, with the certainty of someone who believed in their cause beyond personal benefit. Even the second division commander held the same conviction, and most likely, the third one did.

It wasn't just that, but Erik saw the video the Silverline corporation kept at the lake's lab. Maybe not even the blackguards knew of the existence of that video and operated based on what their mentors said.

Regardless, he saw that video, which showed someone wielding powers way before brain crystals and thaids appeared, which, based on what humans knew up until Erik unearthed that secret, shouldn't have been able to.

It wasn't just that, but the man claimed he could see the future and hinted at a great tragedy befalling humans. It wasn't going to happen soon, but it was bound to be inevitable.

Erik assumed the Thaids would have been the most likely candidates for this destruction, at best a cataclysm… but aliens, as the first division commander was hinting?

It wasn't extremely far-fetched, though; what the woman said was still in the realm of possibilities. Humanity knew nothing of what was in space.

But even if something existed beyond Earth, some force that wielded mana with greater skill than humans—was that his problem?

They would come after Erik died anyway.

<The problem is that, based on what dad said, the biological supercomputer had been created from a human brain…>

That meant that whoever that brain belonged to, in some twisted way, had lived for centuries.

And according to the system, that same fate—of turning into a biological supercomputer himself—awaited Erik after death.

His consciousness would be transformed, used—maybe without memories. The thought chilled him more than he cared to admit.

<Maybe this is really a problem that does concern me, after all. If my consciousness will stay after my death, if my brain gets turned into a biological supercomputer, I might be forced to fight these things regardless of what I do now.>

In that sense, destroying the blackguards and their research would be plain stupid, but…

<I don't care, I would just need to find a suitable host and make him strong, besides, each time a host dies, a new biological supercomputer is born, which means that people with more power will come to regardless of what I do.>

That was, in essence, a problem for later, and Erik wasn't so generous as to spare the woman in front of him or the people following her.

Right now, standing before him was the embodiment of the organization that had hunted him for years, that killed his father, and made his life a constant battle for survival.

"Even if what you say is true," Erik said, "it doesn't justify what you did to my family. To me. To countless others who suffered under your experimentation." He stepped closer, and the Vindicators tensed.

Erik analyzed them one by one. They were strong, clearly stronger than any blackguard that ever was before them. They had multiple powers; some had four, and some had even six. Most were underdeveloped, with few neural links.

Somehow, they must have understood that making too many of them in such a short amount of time was risky, and that was exactly why they were still weaker than Erik.

They couldn't reach his mana levels even if they wanted to or if they made more neural links.

However, Erik could not fight Vania and the Vindicators simultaneously, as strong as they were right now.

They improved a lot, got multiple powers, had tons of mana by birth, were insanely skilled and trained, and were more than him.

These weren't mindless thaids.

<Maybe with essence flow?>

The clones were almost there, so maybe he could do that. They were close enough to establish a mental link, after all.

"You speak of necessity, of greater good, but those are always the excuses of those who inflict pain while sleeping in comfort themselves."

Vania's expression remained resolute. "I don't ask for your forgiveness, Romano. History will judge us, not you." Her hand moved to the vial in her pocket. "But know that when the real threat comes—and it will come—you will have left humanity defenseless."

"Humanity survived for millennia before your organization existed," Erik said. "It will survive without you."

"Not against what's coming," Vania said. Her eyes reflected a genuine fear that gave Erik pause.

"If you're trying to save yourself with stories of alien invasions—"

"I'm not trying to save myself," Vania said. "I know I'm going to die here. But someone should know what they're facing." She looked around at the destruction, at her dead comrades.

"We were humanity's first line of defense, however flawed, however cruel our methods became. With us gone, the responsibility falls on you, whether or not you want it."

Erik stared at her, searching for deception but finding only grim resignation.

The origins of mana had never been fully explained—it had appeared suddenly, or better, it had been found out suddenly. It always existed. It must have been.

The blackguards had caused tangible suffering and had killed those he cared about, not just his father, but the many people that he met during the years; even his guild members died because of them. Their justifications, however sincere, didn't erase their actions.

A subtle shift in the air caught Erik's attention. A new mana signature—multiple signatures—approaching from outside. He recognized them immediately, and a smile spread across his face.

The Chimaeric Demons with Essence Flow had arrived.

Vania noticed his expression change and tensed. She then reached for the vial in her pocket.

"Commander, more enemy troops arrived. They are not joining the fight; they are just standing there."

Vania turned to Erik.

"Then let's end this properly," she said, pulling the vial out of her pocket. She then downed its contents. The woman turned to the other blackguards.

"Get the hell out of here!"

Then mana surged through her body.