"..."
But Zeroy truly turned to leave.
Seeing this, Patchouli had no choice except to call out to her. "You haven't finished speaking, have you? Why did you suddenly ask about the Philosopher's Stone?"
"Uh… well…" Zeroy paused, scratching her head awkwardly. "It's nothing much… I just thought, since the pests are dead anyway, why not make use of the waste and refine them all into Philosopher's Stones? Anyway, that was before I knew you disliked it. Now that I know, forget it."
"..." Patchouli fell silent. She'd never considered such a thing—she'd never done it before. The Stones she'd made for Zeroy only required at most a few hundred people's blood.
However, Zeroy now meant using hundreds of thousands, even millions, in a modern city. It was beyond what she could imagine, a challenge to her sense of reason.
Suddenly, then she recalled just now, under Zeroy's urging, she had half-reluctantly helped destroy a city… Forget it.
"Then… should I go?" Zeroy asked softly when Patchouli didn't respond for a while.
Patchouli looked up from her thoughts. "Wait. I can refine those Stones."
"Eh?" Zeroy blinked, surprised, then waved it off with a wry smile. "No need, Patchi. I didn't tell you this to make you agree. You asked, and I didn't want to keep hiding it, lest it cause misunderstanding."
"I'm serious." Patchouli's brow furrowed, her voice calm. "I know you're worried about my feelings, but I already said—I'm not that sensitive."
"Uh…"
"But do you really need them?"
Zeroy shook her head. "Not really. Just waste utilization, a little extra insurance."
Patchouli lowered her gaze, slender fingers tapping her grimoire. "Hmm… I don't agree with you, however, I understand. Having backups is useful." Then she raised her eyes. "Albeit, what about your Hellfire? You want to torment the pests with it, don't you? Even though, Hellfire leaves nothing behind."
Zeroy's lips curved. "That's not a problem. I can control its output—burn only their souls, leave the bodies intact."
"Then it's fine. Prepare the materials."
Though willing, Patchouli couldn't keep up. Most cities still burned to nothing. Her refinement speed was far too slow compared to Zeroy's mass slaughter. A city of five million would take her three days and nights at full power. Storing corpses wasn't an option either—there were too many. Neither she nor Zeroy could keep them.
So, though Patchouli didn't consider herself slow, she quickly adjusted her art to match Zeroy's pace. She modified the ritual to reduce her personal involvement—slower per batch, but fully automated. She only needed to lay down the circle and let it run itself. This way, whenever Zeroy emptied a city, she could drop a circle to refine.
Soon, the world was filled with grotesque sights. Cities became ghost towns overnight—out of ten, only one or two survived. Beside each city, a mountain of corpses rose, hundreds of thousands piled together. Faces twisted in terror and agony, yet their bodies bore no wounds, save where weight crushed them. Blood still flowed, grotesque to see—and Patchouli loathed it.
That night, Zeroy paused to rest—mostly because Patchouli needed sleep.
"Today I killed…" Zeroy frowned, then her brows lifted, as if savoring candy. "About ninety million pests. Efficiency skyrocketed. At this rate, five days… no, less than three nights and days, and it's done."
It was only because this world's people were ordinary, defenseless. Otherwise, it would have taken far longer—two or three times more if they'd all been battle-hardened Cursed Children.
"..." Patchouli glanced at her, then donned her nightcap. They'd taken a hotel room in a city now emptied.
"As I thought, I can't rest yet!" Zeroy suddenly reignited with energy, startling Patchouli mid-preparation for bed.
"Patchi!"
"I want to sleep." Patchouli cut her off.
"I know, relax. I won't force a friend to indulge me. I just mean—I'll go on clearing pests while you rest. Find me once you're ready, alright?"
"..." Patchouli sighed helplessly. "Where does your drive come from?"
She'd meant it casually, but Zeroy took it seriously. "Hmm… how do I explain…" Her hand transformed, clad in blue Shizuku-Kū armor. Electronic-warfare gear. She hacked the air itself, no terminals needed. Within seconds, a holographic screen appeared before them.
Two drawings showed:
In the first, a pink, dog-like child held out an orange, face radiant with innocence and joy. In the second, a rotting skeleton lay on the grass, surrounded by decayed oranges and leaves. From the shape, it was clearly the same child. A broken knife lay in the corner, dried blood still on it—the murder weapon.
"This is my drive~" Zeroy declared.
Patchouli was silent for a long time. "...I understand your drive now. I think I have some of it too…"
...
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