16. IDWTBASIH ch16
·
13 Feb
Even the smallest happiness requires a corresponding price—this was the truth that the girl named Sirin learned at the Babylon Laboratory when she was 14 years old.
......
"How could this be? This is too much."
When she saw Byakuya's bruised and battered body, Sirin was completely distraught and her heart was torn.
Incisions, injection wounds, burns, frostbite, lacerations, penetration wounds, bruises, skillfully done but far too many sutured marks, and so on.
His body, which had no intact skin, made her heart ache so much that she couldn't breathe just by looking at it.
Byakuya was like a tattered doll, mended after each damage, and then damaged again after each mending, repeating this cycle countless times.
And he put on his clothes, covering his scarred body so that they wouldn't see it.
Sirin's tears fell in large drops.
The strongest among the four girls was now a crying mess. She hugged Byakuya tightly, not daring to let him out of her sight again.
"This is too much, how could this be!"
"Why, why are they doing this to you!"
"These demons, I'll fight them!"
Gialina, Avrora, and Agata looked at these shocking injuries, and they felt as if their hearts were gripped by a large hand, in agony.
In the past, Byakuya always appeared completely at ease when he returned, his heartwarming smile healing them and deceiving them.
Until this gruesome body was exposed.
Each of those injuries silently spoke of the inhumane torture Byakuya endured in places they couldn't see.
And everything they had received until now was exchanged for this: food, clothes, even a storybook in their hands, all were bloody rewards obtained from the boy's self-sacrifice.
In this hellish Babylon Tower, Byakuya, as a sacrifice, had created an Elysian Realm for them.
When they learned this,
How could they endure all of this?!
"Byakuya, please don't do any more experiments, we don't want anything."
"Let's return the clothes, storybooks, bed, and quilt. Please, ask them not to treat you like this anymore."
"I, I can also do experiments for them. This time, let us take your place, okay?"
"Idiot, Byakuya, you big idiot, I don't want those things, I just want you to be well! Hey! Can you hear me, people outside? I'll be your test subject, come at me with anything! You're not allowed to hurt him anymore, you're not allowed!"
"..."
Looking at the girls before him, who were sad, crying, and even voluntarily offering themselves for human experimentation because of him,
Even Byakuya, who hadn't shed a single tear from knife cuts, burns, frostbite, electric shocks, or Honkai Energy injections, now felt a sourness in his nose, and something blurred his vision.
Unable to control the surging emotions, Byakuya opened his arms and embraced all these little angels.
"Thank you, thank you, Sirin, Avrora, Agata, Gialina, I'm so happy."
In fact, Byakuya had a barrier in his heart towards the girls in the past.
After all, he wasn't their true childhood friend; that was just a lie concocted by the system to make his existence in this timeline reasonable.
But now that barrier had disappeared.
Even if the past memory was a false lie, their feelings for him were undoubtedly real!
And that was enough.
If Byakuya's decision to save Sirin and the others earlier was out of pity for their experiences, now he genuinely wanted to protect these girls who were no different from his own family.
Therefore, he couldn't stop now.
"Just give me a little more time, soon, soon we can leave this place."
"Byakuya…"
"Then let's live together again, find a better place, a place far warmer, sunnier, and more beautiful with blooming flowers than this, and live a happy life."
"Mm."
Sirin bit her lower lip and quietly agreed, but her heart became increasingly painful and sad, because she understood Byakuya's meaning: he intended to continue doing those experiments.
The five of them huddled together and spent the night.
However, nothing changed.
When the iron door opened again the next day, the adults once again took the boy out, and they could only watch helplessly.
Sirin: "…I can't do anything."
......
The intensity of the experiments was increasing, and even Byakuya was struggling to endure them; or rather, his ability to last this long had already startled the researchers.
However, sympathy was impossible.
These demons were like children who had found an unbreakable toy, and thus they became increasingly delighted in subjecting him to more cruel experiments.
Some of them were even betting on how many more days Byakuya could last and when he would break down.
(Break down? I will never lose until I kill all of you and take Sirin and the others to our promised place to start a new life!)
Byakuya listened to their words, allowing his scarred body to continue accumulating Honkai Energy.
That power was becoming clearer and clearer; soon he would reach that realm and gain the strength to escape this hell with Sirin and the others.
However, no matter how firm his will, Byakuya's body was indeed on the verge of collapse.
When the experiment ended that day, Byakuya found that he couldn't control his hands and feet, and every step he took left him gasping for air.
Such high-intensity experiments continued for several days until he was almost completely immobile and could no longer get off the experimental table by himself.
He could only be dragged back to the cell by these guys.
Sirin and the others had never seen him in such a pathetic state, and they were all terrified, and the suppressed emotions finally erupted.
"No, you're not allowed to touch Byakuya!"
"Get out, get out! Don't come near!"
"Don't come back, I'll go with you instead of him!"
"Put him down, give Byakuya back to us!"
Every day after that, they desperately tried to prevent Byakuya from being taken away. The girls, who didn't even have a single stone, could only clench their small fists and hit the adults who were trying to continue harming Byakuya.
But the result was obvious. Young and weak, they couldn't stop the adults' evil deeds. No matter how hard they tried, Byakuya was still taken away in the end.
All they could do was cry for him, and when Byakuya returned bruised and battered at night, they would hug his body, doing their best to make him feel warm.
......
Such days continued until today.
Inside the Babylon laboratory.
The boy, whose eyes were dull, lay on the experimental table as usual. In Byakuya's current state, these people didn't even bother to tie him with restraints.
Byakuya himself scanned his surroundings with emotion, his blood splattered in every corner of this place.
However, the days of being an experimental subject for these beasts end today!
"500HW concentration Honkai Energy injection ready."
"Honkai Energy Erosion 90%."
"It seems today is the last time."
"Tsk tsk, I wonder when I'll encounter such an excellent experimental subject again."
When the last drop of Honkai Energy was injected into the boy's body, the expected transformation into a Honkai Beast did not happen. Instead, Byakuya's body was healing.
This tattered body was being reborn, and at the same time, terrifying Honkai Energy surged out from within it.
The entire space was trembling and distorting.
"WARNING! WARNING! Experimental subject's Honkai Energy concentration is rapidly rising, exceeding safe values, exceeding safe values!"
"Wh-what's going on! What happened!"
"This Honkai Energy concentration, 2000HW, how is that possible! He, he is becoming a Herrscher!"
"Activate emergency destruction device! Quick, kill experimental subject X1!!!"
The researchers in the laboratory trembled all over.
The power of Honkai descended upon Byakuya.
The moment his eyes opened again, it was as if a god had opened his eyes!
In an instant! Infinite majesty filled the entire space!
Byakuya looked at all of them indifferently, his voice colder than the biting winds of Siberia.
"Are you ready to face judgment, ants?"
At this moment, he is Honkai!