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Last Embryo Volume 4 Chapter 8 Part 1

Chapter 8

Even though it was a night without that many clouds and a beautiful full moon hanging high in the sky, the forest and its surroundings have been shrouded in darkness so deep and thick that it was difficult to see what was directly in front of you. However, at one point the gentle nightly breeze has turned into an increasingly violent roaring wind that accelerated the journey of the clouds on the fastness on high, making them conceal the light of the moon and the stars.

(A storm is approaching. . . )

Izayoi did not know if that was necessarily the case, but the wind that was now shaking all of the trees around him was definitely giving off such an impression. In the distance, between the rustling leaves and swaying bushes, the cries of various animals and beasts that disturbed the silence of the night could be clearly heard, and the only thing that Izayoi could roughly use as a guiding sign were the silhouettes of the birds that took up to the skies following the faint remaining light of the rapidly disappearing stars.

After finally arriving at the base of the mountain which was situated far enough from the city, Izayoi hid himself in what looked like a hut used as a shelter by the hunters who came to this region of the forest in hopes of hunting down some good game. After lighting up a small fire to keep them warm, and placed the Albino girl on the only bed that was tucked away in the corner of the hut. On the other hand, Homura was sleeping on the ground next the fire itself while holding onto his knees with his hands and with a pained expression on his face. Well, to be honest, that kind of reaction was all but expected. After all the events that transpired today probably put him under an unimaginable amount of mental burden and a crippling amount of stress. If his fatigue did not get to him first, he would have probably refused to sleep at all, claiming that now was not the time for such trivialities, so maybe that was for the better. At the very least he got a bit of a rest that he so desperately needed. Since Izayoi did not need to rest as badly as Homura, he was keeping watch beside him, and after quite a while has passed without any incident happening, he gently placed his hand on Homura’s shoulder and shook him up while quietly asking:

「Is it not about time to rise and shine, lil’ brother?」

「. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I am already awake, brother.」

Brother. Not 「Big Bro Iza」like he always called him, but 「Brother」. Hearing him call him in such a way, Izayoi sighed and shook his head. He did not mean to hide it from him, but if at all possible, he wanted to tell him about it at a more suitable time, not when the circumstances were so overly dramatic. (TL Note: When Homura calls Izayoi 「Brother」, he is not using his typical 「イザ兄」(Iza-nii), but 「実兄」(Jikkei) which can literally be translated as 「Biological Older Brother」)

「I thought that you were acting a little bit strangely towards me, but now I see what that was about. . . . . I see, so you knew after all. Who did you hear that from?」

「From the person in charge of the Star Particle Bodies research. Apparently the sample of your blood was the cornerstone. . . the basis of all our research.」

「Huh? The hell????」

A large amount of question marks popped up above Izayoi’s head.

「My blood sample? What is that all about? Does that make me a Star Particle Bodies research subject as well? Is that it?」

「I guess you can say that. We were born through the normal process of human fertilization, but essentially we are the same test subjects as these two Albino girls. My hypothesis is that we were probably injected with the 『Origins』 Star Particle Bodies when we were still nothing but embryos, and we simply grew up while cultivating them inside our bodies.」

「I see . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wait a minute. Run that by me again「We」 were?!」

「Yeah, we. You and I.」

Immediately after he was informed about his father’s research and its nature by Edward Grimnir, the head of Everything Company’s Department of Development, he performed a thorough and detailed examination of his entire body. He found no traces of Star Particle Bodies in his bloodstream, but what he did discover that his heart has been embedded with something that could only be described as a replica of 『Origins』 that was as close to the original as possible, to the point of actually being indistinguishable. And once the Star Particle Bodies have been injected into the test subject’s bloodstream, they would always awaken the Particles laying dormant in it at an intercellular level.

「To be completely honest with you, when I found out what exactly my father had done, I was furious like never before, thinking things like 「That is it! Now you have truly done it, you shitty old man!」I mean seriously, no matter how strongly he was dedicated to his research of Star Particle Bodies and the Third Perpetual Motion, a scientist should never go too far when it comes to his experiments. Hell, there was even a certain point in time when I truly did not know if my father treasured human life above all else, or was he really the kind of scum who sees others only as stepping stones and the means to an end.」

「. . . . . . Makes sense to me. So that is why you were asking me about it when we talked over the phone.」

「Yup. Since you. . . no offense of course, but since you did not grew up relatively normally like I did, I thought that you might already know about the test subjects, therefore I wanted to as you: di you have a grudge against your father or mother?」

(Now, that is actually a good question.)

Izayoi thought to himself while adding some more firewood into the fire. Looking at it from an objective point of view, Sakamaki Izayoi could be said to be a test subject who has been remodeled by Saigo Homura’s mad scientist of a father. Ever since he was little he knew that he had a special power deep within himself and that it made him different from all the other kids his age, so by all means and purposes, he should have every reason in the world to resent Homura’s father for adding yet another weirdness factor to him. However, even if Izayoi was an extremely hedonistic person who acted mostly on his whims and emotions, he was pretty proud of the fact that he managed to live a life that was relatively free from all kinds of grudges. Moreover, he was actually glad to know that now. He did not really give it that much thought up until now because he was not a specialist in that subject, but now that he added those new factors to what he has managed to achieve throughout the years, he could definitely see the missing pieces of the puzzle falling into spaces that have been left blank so far, the most important one being his role in the battle against one of the 「Final Trials of Mankind」: 『Absolute Evil』 Demon Lord Azi-Dahaka.

「A test subject for the Star Particle Bodies, huh? Well, now that I finally know who exactly I am and all the fact have become clearly visible, it would be quite a dickish move to resent your father. . . or should I say 「our」father for it now, do not you think? Although I would have to agree that in terms of balance between me and the rest of mankind, he seemed to have tipped the wrong scales, and by way too much at that. But since we are his sons, then should we not try to consider the amount of pressure that he must have felt? Because with such a big research topic being carried practically on his shoulders alone, I imagine it must have been truly crushing.

「 . . . . . . . . . . . Think about it? Consider the pressure on him? He turned us into experimental subjects for the Star Particle Bodies when we were not even fully shaped human beings! Should that not make him an outrageous parent?!」