The Returner

Chapter 229: Isn’t there anything that can be done? (4)

Chapter 229: Isn’t there anything that can be done? (4)

“We don’t do anything.” (Alpha)

What Alpha said sounded like him cracking a joke. No matter who saw it, they could tell that it was precisely Alpha who drove the situation to what it was right now. But, he was planning to do nothing after creating such an amazing, nay, golden opportunity?

“What do you mean?” (?)

“It is exactly as I said. Why are you getting all worked up, though?” (Alpha)

Alpha broke into a slightly-confused grin.

Alpha’s expressions or the way he spoke contained not one morsel of truth in them, so whenever he formed these kinds of expressions, the other party didn’t have any choice but to almost blow their tops.

Indeed, he was ‘mocking’.

He mocked the world, he mocked his conversation partner, and he even mocked these things called ‘demons’, too. And he also didn’t forget to mock himself in the midst of all that.

Although it hadn’t been that long since this man became Alpha’s comrade, it was still long enough to figure out what kind of a person his boss was. However, he failed to understand what made Alpha tick, even until now.

At times, Alpha came across as far-too naïve, or on other occasions, he was like the world’s worst monster.

A completely indecipherable man – that was the only solid impression he had of Alpha.

“If that’s your plan, why did you even start this process? Weren’t you planning on fracturing relationships?” (?)

“Fracturing?” (Alpha)

Alpha tilted his head.

“What do you mean, fracturing? Fracturing what relationships?” (Alpha)

“The relationships between different nations. Since it’d be difficult for us to find a gap to dig into when they enjoy such a tight-knit cooperative relationship, I thought you were causing conflicts between them to create an opening?” (?)

Alpha began studying his conversation partner with a strange look in his eyes.

“Look here, Bezel.” (Alpha)

“Yes, Alpha.” (Bezel)

Alpha tilted his head this way and that before speaking up in a laughing voice.

“I really can’t understand what you’re trying to tell me here, you know? Fracturing? Cooperation? What made you say those things?” (Alpha)

“........”

“This world is already divided, to begin with.” (Alpha)

“Excuse me?” (Bezel)

Alpha stood up from his chair.

Step, step....

He then walked over to the only window in this darkened room that allowed the outside light in, and scratched the glass with his fingernail.

Kkeeek.....

Bezel frowned deeply after hearing that unpleasant screech. The noise capable of rubbing a person’s nerves the wrong way dug into his ear canals.

“Can you see it?” (Alpha)

Alpha pointed at the glass and spoke.

What was he saying now? See what exactly?

Bezel shook his head.

“No, I can’t see anything.” (Bezel)

“But, why not? I mean, it came out this clearly, too.” (Alpha)

“I don’t understand.” (Bezel)

Looking a bit frustrated now, Alpha alternated his gaze between the window and Bezel, before looking around the room to find something. Soon, he located a magic marker on the corner of the desk and took it to the window to draw something on the glass.

“Mm?” (Bezel)

Jjeeeek....

A strange, grating noise was issued as the marker rubbed against the glass. It was indeed not a pleasant sound to listen to. Alpha soon completed drawing the line that resembled a strand of a spider’s web, grinned refreshingly, and turned around.

“And now, can you see it?” (Alpha)

“Only a blind man wouldn’t see that. Yes, I can. Well, how can I not?” (Bezel)

“You really can?” (Alpha)

The smile on Alpha’s face took on a more sinister vibe.

“What exactly can you see?” (Alpha)

“The line.” (Bezel)

“Which one?” (Alpha)

“The one you’ve drawn on the glass.” (Bezel)

“Oh, really?” (Alpha)

Alpha cackled and shook his head.

“Wrong. That’s not what you were supposed to see. No, you were supposed to see why I drew the line in the first place.” (Alpha)

“Pardon me?” (Bezel)

Seriously now, what this guy said was hard to comprehend most of the time.

“Look.” (Alpha)

Alpha gently reached towards the glass.

Smash!!

Accompanied by a sharp breaking noise, the glass shattered into pieces. And at that moment, Bezel saw it; the glass broke exactly along the line Alpha had drawn.

“........”

“Did you see that?” (Alpha)

“Yes, I did.” (Bezel)

Bezel did reply, but still couldn’t figure out why the situation in front of his eyes was unfolding like that in the first place.

“Just because you can’t see it in the open, that doesn’t mean the division isn’t there, that it doesn’t exist. You see, this world’s fracture is on the cusp of blowing apart. Soon, everything will come to a head.” (Alpha)

“H-mm....” (Bezel)

“This war? It’s not to create divisions. Nope, it’s a war to create ‘contradiction’.” (Alpha)

“Contradiction, sir?” (Bezel)

“That’s right. Contradiction.” (Alpha)

Alpha returned to his chair and settled down comfortably on it.

“I mean, let’s face it – folks that are human but not really, living in harmony with normal humans is the very definition of contradiction, don’t you agree?” (Alpha)

“Of course. However, don’t they think of themselves as humans? Whether that is a contradiction as you say or not wouldn’t be important to them. After all, they wish to remain as humans, do they not?” (Bezel)

“That’s right. And that’s why this war is necessary.” (Alpha)

“.........”

Alpha spoke up in a bright voice as if he was singing a tune.

“They’ll soon learn the truth that they are not really human beings. And that they can’t remain as humans even if they wanted to. There is only one way for them to remain as humans, and that is to drag those claiming to be humans down from their positions.” (Alpha)

“Which is your end goal all along.” (Bezel)

“That is one hell of a cringey way of saying it. Please stop it. You’re making me feel like some kind of Hitler wannabe or something. I’m not a racist, you know?” (Alpha)

Which was true, in a way. In Alpha’s head, humans were merely creatures that needed to be exterminated completely out of existence regardless of their race, gender or age.

He summoned demon kings, joined hands with demons, and even ‘encouraged’ wars to break out all over the globe. His actions were completely befitting that of the final villain in a superhero movie, but well, what he wanted was fundamentally different from those made-up bad guys.

What he wanted was neither the world domination nor its destruction. No, he only wanted to see a brand new ‘birth’; the birth of a new world order.

“Okay, so. What is that guy doing now?” (Alpha)

“When you say ‘that guy’, are you talking about....?” (Bezel)

“Well, there is only one guy that I keep an eye out on, anyway. That guy, who isn’t even a human but works like a dog while standing on the side of humans.” (Alpha)

“Yi Ji-Hyuk, is it?” (Bezel)

“Bingo~.” (Alpha)

Bezel began extracting all the info he had on Yi Ji-Hyuk from his head.

“He’s still secluding himself from the rest of the world.” (Bezel)

“H-mm....” (Alpha)

Alpha tilted his head again.

“My provocation isn’t working? I thought that he’d be really jumping up and down in anxiety by now.” (Alpha)

“His daily pattern doesn’t seem to have changed at all.” (Bezel)

“In that case, he must be burning up inside, instead. Maybe, he might even think about coming to visit me personally.” (Alpha)

“You mean, he will come for you?” (Bezel)

Bezel thought that Alpha was worrying about nothing here. Because, the latter wasn’t directly involved in anything. The ones carrying out the ‘missions’ were other people, and there was no one alive that could serve as proof that Alpha was behind all of this, either.

But then, Yi Ji-Hyuk figured out that Alpha was responsible for everything and comes for him in this faraway foreign land? What a nonsensical notion that was.

“Maybe you’re being too paranoid?” (Bezel)

“I’m sure that I look that way to you.” (Alpha)

Alpha relaxedly whistled a tune.

“And you finding me paranoid is perfectly fine. However, I can’t help but get that feeling, you know? And my hunches are pretty spot-on most of the time, too.” (Alpha)

Alpha leaned against the chair and spoke nonchalantly.

“I admit that he is incredibly powerful. Even through the eyes of an ability user, he has far surpassed any measurable yardstick. He’s an irregular, kind of like an MMA fighter joining in the playground fight between a couple of unruly children. However, him being strong and him possessing keen insight are two separate issues, isn’t it?” (Bezel)

“It is.” (Alpha)

“He doesn’t seem that intelligent to me? And even if he’s a genius with intellect on the level of Einstein, no, Sherlock Holmes, he still shouldn’t be able to deduce that you’re the reason behind the current situation.” (Bezel)

“You have no idea.” (Alpha)

“.....I don’t?” (Bezel)

Alpha nodded his head in a contemplative manner.

“Indeed, you don’t. This ain’t an issue with intelligence. No, it’s simply about knowing. To him, and to me.” (Alpha)

“.........I can’t understand you.” (Bezel)

“Yup, I’m sure you can’t. Even I can’t explain this to you properly, anyway. How should I put this – well, him and I, we’re really similar, you see?” (Alpha)

“Pardon?” (Bezel)

“That’s the feeling I get. It’s just that, he wants this world as it is, while I don’t want this world but something else, a different one. If our positions are reversed, then he’d probably destroy this world far more viciously than me.” (Alpha)

Bezel shut his mouth up.

It wasn’t as if he was following Alpha because he understood everything about his enigmatic boss. No, it was just that, Bezel’s thoughts and ideals matched up with him, that was all.

Indeed, Bezel was here simply because he believed that the brand new world would present itself eventually if he continued to follow Alpha. In that case, understanding everything about the man was not a necessity.

“So, then. You’re not going to do anything?” (Bezel)

“What I need is more time.” (Alpha)

“More time, you say?” (Bezel)

“The time needed for the young, lost sheep wilfully ignoring reality to realise that they are sacrificial lamb tied to the altar, that’s what. We can just sit back and leisurely wait for that time to come. They will soon find out the truth and fall into the pit of confusion. All we have to do is to wait for that moment.” (Alpha)

“Of course.” (Bezel)

It sounded as if they were chasing after floating clouds, but Alpha should have something up his sleeve. That’s what Bezel believed.

“That’s why, I was thinking that....” (Alpha)

“Yes?” (Bezel)

“It’s like, it might be fun if I spin the table one more time. Sure, the table might break if I’m not careful, but still, even that would prove to be fun, don’t you think?” (Alpha)

“Hah-ah....” (Bezel)

Bezel shook his head in helplessness.

This guy, he always changed his mind on a whim like this. Just how long ago was it that he said he wouldn’t do anything, that he shouldn’t do anything with his own mouth?

“What are you planning to do?” (Bezel)

“The demon sucking on his fingers doing nothing should start earning his keep, right? I mean, I know he’s all depressed and stuff after two demon kings got killed off, but still. In a way, he’s so adorable, isn’t he?” (Alpha)

Just how many people out there could call a demon ‘adorable’? Indeed, only him and no one else would have the balls to say that.

“You wish to task that creature with a mission of some kind?” (Bezel)

“Mm, don’t you think I should?” (Alpha)

“Alpha.” (Bezel)

“Yeah?” (Alpha)

Bezel spoke earnestly.

“Please, don’t take my words the wrong way and listen to me. I believe that maintaining this sort of relationship with the demons is a very bad deal for us.” (Bezel)

“Oh, really?” (Alpha)

“They are, without a doubt, demons. They may prove to be useful right now, but we don’t know when they will stab us in the back. In all honesty, we don’t know anything about these creatures, sir.” (Bezel)

“Well, that’s true.” (Alpha)

“Even then, do you still wish to maintain a relationship with them?” (Bezel)

“Hey, Bezel.” (Alpha)

“Yes?” (Bezel)

With an expression just a bit stiffer than before, Alpha looked at Bezel straight in the eye. The latter man unconsciously swallowed back his saliva because of the weightiness contained within that stare.

“You still have no clue. No clue at all.” (Alpha)

“Pardon me?” (Bezel)

“The meaning of them stabbing me in the back, doesn’t that signify I’m no longer useful to them?” (Alpha)

“That’s correct. That’s why it’s a problem.” (Bezel)

“Nope, that’s why there is no problem.” (Alpha)

What was he talking about now? Was he trying to imply that such an occasion would never happen, so they wouldn’t betray him?

“However, they are still demons. We can’t be sure of that not happening.” (Bezel)

“Again, you have no idea. Fella, no idea at all.” (Alpha)

Alpha spat out a low sigh.

“Look here, Bezel.” (Alpha)

“Yes, Alpha.” (Bezel)

“If they stab me in the back, doesn’t that mean they are now capable of destroying this world without my help, right?” (Alpha)

“Possibly, sir.” (Bezel)

“Isn’t that fine, then?” (Alpha)

“..........”

Bezel’s eyes grew wider.

“If this world collapses, then that’s our end goal achieved, isn’t it? It’s not like I wanted to change the world so that I can enjoy this and that, anyway. Right?” (Alpha)

Don’t want to rule the world.

That was not what Alpha wanted to do – ruling over the world. He wasn’t even trying to destroy the world, either.

No, he only wished to change it. Even if only destruction awaited at the end of that change, he’d still not stop, though.

“That’s why, let’s create the playing field for that purpose. I’m really curious about how that guy will react, you know?” (Alpha)

While listening to Alpha’s hushed chuckles, Bezel fell into a pit of indescribable sadness.

The biggest mistake humanity has ever made was leaving this person alone like this. And now, they were about to bear the cost of that mistake.

With their flesh and soul.

< 229. Isn’t there anything that can be done? -4 > Fin.