"Why?"
Zeroy raised an eyebrow. How could this guy even ask something like that?
"The people you persecuted must have asked you the same thing, right? How did you answer them?"
"..."
Syura opened his mouth.
"Well, I'm not really interested anyway. The answer would only be one of a few, after all."
Zeroy wasn't eager to listen. Ugly things could sour her mood.
"Do you want to try again? Your other severed arm is still long, isn't it? A few more cuts, maybe I'll feel better and let you go?"
"..."
In silence and despair, Syura turned back and once again trembled as he stretched his severed limb toward the stump.
Then the stump grew shorter again.
"Aaaahhhhhhh!!!"
It was a scream of pain, of despair, a scream that abandoned endurance and control, venting every fear, despair, pain, and rage in his heart.
"So noisy."
Zeroy frowned and flicked Yatsufusa straight out, driving it into Syura's head.
Syura's voice cut off instantly, though this wasn't the end.
Those killed by Yatsufusa had their souls seized by the blade, drawn into its body.
His nightmare wasn't over. Many things still awaited him.
The two who had followed Syura also had their souls reaped by Yatsufusa.
"Done. Let's go to the next place."
Zeroy turned back, a beautiful gentle smile returning to her face.
She reached her hand toward Patchouli and little Esdeath, signaling them to take her hands.
Patchouli placed her small hand in Zeroy's, while Esdeath stared thoughtfully at the corpses of Syura and the others, not hearing Zeroy's words.
"Little Roy?"
"Lady Zeroy...!"
Esdeath quickly snapped back.
"What were you thinking about?"
Zeroy temporarily released Patchouli and crouched in front of little Esdeath.
"I was thinking... how I could make the pests feel even deeper pain, just like you do."
"Such a studious child."
Zeroy smiled and rubbed little Esdeath's head.
"Anyway, remember, these methods are only for pests, and you must never grow to like such things."
"Never like it?"
"That's right. Even I don't do this because I enjoy it. It's because, when dealing with pests, there's no other way."
"Without this, you can't intimidate others. Without this, the suffering of the victims goes uncompensated. Without this, these pests will only become worse, and the retribution they deserve won't be paid."
"If goodness receives no reward, if evil cannot be punished strongly, then goodness becomes meaningless, and people will easily forget what is the right way to act."
"This is the simplest and truest principle—good is rewarded, evil is punished."
"When people show the utmost goodness, we should treat them with the utmost gentleness. When pests show the utmost ugliness, we should respond with the utmost cruelty."
So Zeroy never thought herself cruel.
She merely made the pests feel the pain they had inflicted on others.
What, they're allowed to hurt others, but others aren't allowed to hurt them? What kind of reasoning is that?
"You can think about how to make pests feel the deepest pain and torment, but don't become someone who enjoys tormenting others. You should love flowers and candy, Little Roy."
...
Sweeping across the land, she cleared out all humans, erecting forty-eight Monoliths of Flesh in fifteen days.
She even used this to achieve the unification of the planet—it wasn't difficult. As people's thoughts grew more aligned and their shared recognition increased, the difficulty of unification decreased.
Besides, with Zeroy's purge, every government had been destroyed.
The greatest obstacle to unification—the upper echelons who held power and interest—were mostly dead.
Those who remained all shared faith in her.
It wasn't as if the world immediately became one of perfect harmony. After all, many wars had raged before her arrival.
And war often creates two sides who hate each other without either being truly right or wrong.
Even so, the situation was countless times better than before Zeroy came.
People were indeed redeemed, though there was still some distance from a heaven on earth.
After everything was cleansed, Zeroy devoted herself fully to helping Patchouli.
Collecting Imperial Arms and hunting Super Danger Beasts.
This was mainly to help Patchouli, but Zeroy also hoped to find the materials she desired—materials related to the collection of souls.
Her current goals numbered four.
First, to increase her strength. Second, to obtain a power like the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner or Hell. Third, to gain the means to establish order. And the final goal—to create a heaven on earth.
Increasing her strength was the essential foundation. Only with strength could she accomplish all she wished.
The second goal was Zeroy's most urgent need.
The third was a prerequisite for the fourth.
The first and second might yield gains through these Super Danger Beasts.
As a body as massive as a small mountain collapsed, Zeroy and Patchouli completed another hunt.
Then Zeroy lit a fire nearby, planning to roast the meat of this Super Danger Beast to see how it tasted.
Eating it was secondary. These creatures were far from ordinary animals. Many Super Danger Beasts' flesh was completely inedible.
Corrosive blood, meat filled with toxins—far too common.
They were truly supernatural beings, not just magnified, enhanced electric eels that could discharge electricity while not being supernatural in essence.
Zeroy grilled the meat mainly out of boredom.
After each hunt, she always collected materials from the Super Danger Beasts as Patchouli requested.
Once the materials were gathered, Patchouli would begin working magic and alchemy on them.
Zeroy couldn't understand it. She had tried, yet still couldn't.
So she just found something to occupy herself.
As the meat on the stick gradually released a strange, foul stench under the flames, Zeroy knew this Super Danger Beast's meat was again inedible.
She simply left the fire and went to Patchouli's side.
Various materials were piled around Patchouli, multicolored magical lights dancing ceaselessly under her control.
"Patchi, speaking of which, what's your purpose in the Main God Space? For example, I didn't have any purpose at first, but gradually I developed the idea of creating an ideal land. What about you, Patchi?"
"...No particular purpose, just to gain more knowledge."
"That simple?"
"For me, the pursuit of knowledge is about the same as your pursuit of good and evil, and that ideal land."
"Oh..."
Zeroy mused.
"..."
At that moment, Patchouli suddenly frowned.
'No... still missing one special material…'
'Leave Request—'
'Today, taking a break!'
'My schedule's a mess, I just woke up... can't make the update, will continue tomorrow.'
...
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