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Last Embryo Volume 4 Chapter 8 Part 7

That one roar which seemed to be piercing not only the skies, but also reality itself was enough to make all of the other Demon Lords stop dead in their tracks as they turned their heads towards the source of the sound.

The one who refused to acknowledge the destruction all the others were causing was the Demon Lord who looked like a dragon with three heads. This Demonic Three-Headed Dragon with his blood-red ruby eyes was looking directly at Saigo Homura, and at Saigo Homura only, as if nothing else mattered to him.

「. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .」

Even though he knew this was all a dream, it was still a strangely unnerving sensation.

In this endlessly burning hellscape that showed no signs of stopping, the Three-Headed Dragon gazed at Saigo Homura with unrestrained resentment and vehement hatred. His ruby eyes were not looking at the city of the collapsed civilization, oh no. With all of his heads and eyes focused sorely on him, the Three-Headed Dragon did not ask him about the sin he was now unknowingly committing, like he did all those times before when Homura was trapped in this inescapable nightmare. Instead, he directed towards him the words that sounded both like a prophecy and a powerful curse.

「Oh child of the blazing flame!!! (TL Note: Saigo Homura’s given name, Homura, is written with a single kanji 焔 that literally means 「Blazing Flame」) You have finally brought my chosen hero to the entrance of fate!!!」

. . . . . . . . . . . .Fate. Is the fate that this three-headed dragon spoke of the truth about the 「Hell’s Kiln?」No, it is not that, he thought to himself while shaking his head, instinctively knowing that it was not what this was about. He then recalled what the three headed dragon always used to say all those times before.

「Oh 『Child of Zoroastrianism』! Make haste and solve the mystery of the 『Enemy of the world』! If you will not be able to solve it, then instead of a Hero, you will become the very reason why the World Tree would turn to smoldering ashes for all eternity! Now go and fulfill your purpose!」

That is right. The three-headed dragon wanted him to solve the mystery of the 『Enemy of the world』.

「At last, my chosen hero shall face off against the 『Enemy of the world』, but not the beasts that are slumbering in the depths of 「Hell’s Kiln」. Challenging those Beasts of Armageddon is the karmic duty that has been given to you and those whom you call your comrades.」

『Enemy of the World』. In other words, the main cause behind the destruction of humanity. And since all of the foreign enemies of humanity have already been destroyed, then it would stand to reason that the last thing that human beings would have to confront is going to be the malignancy and the evil nature of humanity itself.

「The giant tower that you want to build. . . it is a proof that human beings have taken lordship and mastered everything that the planet that you inhabit had to offer. And with that, the time has now come for humanity to sing their praises in exalted celebration as the last Demon Lord raises his flag!!!」

And the name of that last Demon Lord. . . . . is {Last Embryo}. A placenta that grows by feeding itself on malignancy and evils of humanity in order to give birth to the Last Demon Lord.

「Correct. And the girl whom you have protected. . . . . . she is one of the buds needed for The Last Demon Lord to grow and be nurtured. That is because the only ones who have the sacred right to exact revenge on all of humanity are those who have been unjustly despised by it throughout their entire lives. It is their sacred duty to bring down the iron hammer of divine punishment upon those who trampled upon their existences and turned them into hell on earth, ignoring their silent cries for home and salvation that would bever come!!!」

「Are you out of your mind?!」 He tried to shout back at the dragon, but no matter how hard he tried the voice simply refused to leave his throat.

If those whose lives were hated by humanity have the right to obliterate it in revenge, then it is perfectly reasonable that an individual with the right to take revenge upon humans on their behalf would have been born at some point. And for the record, he does not mind it, because he can definitely understand the reasoning behind that person’s actions as well as their motivations for going through with it.

And yet. . . . . . . . . through his recent actions, Saigo Homura has made every possible effort to prevent that from happening and stopping this avatar of human retribution from being born.

And then he remembered the first words he spoke three years ago when he first decided to get himself involved with the Star Particle Bodies Research. The words of the vow he made when he became part of the research that would surely change the shape of the world one day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .He still remembers them as vividly as if he spoke them yesterday.

Ever since the day when they have made their appearance in the world, human history can be said to essentially revolve around them competing with one another. Whether it be competing for food, competing for the territories blessed by mother nature with vast amounts of natural resources or competing simply for the sake of bettering their living conditions and expanding the territories they lived on, they were ready to go to wars and kill one another if it meant securing energy and materials or gaining an edge over their surrounding neighbors. Hell, in modern times, if it means getting their hands on another energy source, humans are even ready and willing to fight over the smallest bodies of water and suck them dry of their resources afterwards. But once their research makes the establishment of the Third Perpetual Motion possible, this long-lasting scramble will finally come to a close. And once the further development of space travel and the colonization of other planets becomes possible, it will definitely ease the conflicts over territories.

Humanity’s dreams. Humanity’s future. The final child that is going to be delivered for humanity from the planet’s placenta. The role of extracting it from the planet’s placenta changed along with the currents of time, and by pure coincidence, the role of doing it and the pathos that comes along with it have now been placed in Saigo Homura’s hands. He has been entrusted with the carrying out of the ceremony that has been continuing on without interruption for as long as humanity continued to exist, all for the sake of safeguarding its future.

「That is why. . . I will not forgive anyone who wants to complete the development of the Perpetual Motion Machine by sacrificing innocent lives to do so!」

He gazed right back into the six ruby-like eyes of the dragon and used all of his willpower to go against the laws of this red nightmare and audibly raised his voice for the first time.

The tears that were flowing down his face were filled with furious frustration at his inability to prevent all those deaths and sacrifices, pity for the victims who lost their lives despite not doing anything wrong, and most importantly, at how pitiful he himself was.

Supposedly there will come the day when they would have to fight this Demon Lord who mouthfully titled himself {Absolute Evil}. But if he has his bud right before his eyes, then why should he not defeat it right now? However, his eyes only looked at him in amusement and his enormous throats were all shaken with ridiculing laughter.

「What utter foolishness. Even though you are standing face to face with 「The Original Sin」, you still want to bark at destiny and carry the mankind’s survival, the very lives of each and every human being and their will on your shoulders?」

「You bet your ass I want to! We humans are known for being stubborn, you know? That stubbornness and pride of ours is what allowed us to live all the way to the present day! And it is exactly because of that that neither I nor Big Bro Iza will ever yield to you or your words, {Absolute Evil}!!!」

Will the incurable dieseases remain incurable forever?

Will the unexplored lands remain unexplored forever?

The answer in both those cases is simple: 「No」.

Human history has always been butting heads with fate while repeatedly laughing in the face of that it called 「impossibility」. It is just that the humans of today’s era who almost lost their passion in life forgot how to do it properly. If they were to bend their knees and give up every time they were told that they have reached their limit, they would have gone extinct long ago. If fate is created by the whims of the world itself. . . . then all they have to do is to drive their fists into the world itself and made it change its ways with the fire and passion of their souls!

The flag of the 『Enemy of the World』 continued to sway, moved by the winds of hell.

{Absolute Evil} grabbed Homura who was still standing in front of that ominous crimson flag, and pulled him towards himself while digging his long, sword-like claws deep into his body. The Three-Headed Dragon tore off Homura’s limbs one by one, gnawed at his flesh and swallowed all that was left of him.

As he was swallowed down into the Demon Lord’s stomach, the words he left behind continued to echo in Homura’s ears.

「. . . . . . . . . . Fate has been decided here. Now go, my Avatar! The time has come for you to carry my new flag!!!!」