Chapter 26
Frankenstein Family’s laboratory.
There, a certain being stood, gazing at an empty glass chamber.
Until just a moment ago, his bride had been sleeping inside that very chamber.
She was his only kindred spirit— the mother of a new mankind that was about to be born.
But while he was away for only a short while, she had vanished.
There was still warmth left behind.
He caressed the empty glass chamber and murmured,
“Has my bride finally awakened…….”
Despite her disappearance, a deep joy lingered on his face.
At last, he could cast away his long, long solitude.
He had lived his entire life being denied.
The father who had created him ran away in terror at his grotesque appearance, and the people of the world also rejected and despised him, unable to bear his hideous face and twisted nature.
Fear, hatred, misunderstanding— those were the only emotions the people around him ever showed.
And finally, when his father came to kill him, leading soldiers in hand—
He realized that his god, his creator, had completely abandoned him.
Only after he had beaten to death the soldiers and the creator who preached righteousness and justice did he come to understand.
The being he had thought of as a god was merely a human who had violated a taboo.
And thus, if he too were to defy that taboo, he could create another like himself.
He had never asked for much in the first place.
He simply hated being alone. He simply despised his endless solitude.
He withdrew his hand from the glass chamber and began to dress.
“I must go greet my bride.”
To welcome her, he had to appear in the most beautiful, most perfect form possible.
Clad in luxurious garments, he placed his hand upon his chest.
A rough pulse throbbed from within his heart.
Excitement and anticipation enveloped him.
There seemed to be bugs crawling within the mansion, but such trivial matters were of no concern to him.
His failed creations would surely take care of those pests.
“Wait for me just a little longer. I shall come to you soon.”
He opened the door of the room and began to move—
to give his bride her final heart.
The monster before me looked at me with pitiful eyes.
“Daddy……?”
“I’m not your daddy.”
“No?”
“Yeah, I’m not your daddy.”
At my words, the monster made a face as though it were about to cry.
The way it acted—like a child.
But wait, hadn’t its speech just become… fluent?
With teary eyes, she asked in a muffled voice,
“Then who am I?”
She rubbed her head against me, and I simply stared back.
That’s what I wanted to know more than anyone.
I couldn’t make sense of what this creature before me was.
At first glance, I’d thought she was just a random encounter NPC, but she looked distinctly different from the ones appearing in Become a Hero.
In the game, NPC monsters were usually those who had awakened memories from their human days.
Because they remembered their past as humans, they harbored a deep hostility toward the Nameless Ones.
But this monster before me showed no such signs at all.
She felt more like a newborn child— ignorant of the world.
Was she really the same NPC I remembered?
From the start, there had been far too little information about her.
Even during my playthrough of Become a Hero, I’d only ever encountered a handful of random encounter NPCs.
I couldn’t tell what kind of variable this existence might turn out to be.
And taking her along didn’t seem all that appealing either—she didn’t look like she had any combat ability.
As I sank deeper into thought, she grabbed my wrist and, as if reading my mind, pleaded in a sorrowful voice,
“Don’t throw me away……”
I was momentarily speechless.
Her cognitive ability and intelligence were abnormally high.
Barely ten minutes ago she could hardly string a sentence together, yet now the awkwardness in her speech was completely gone—and in that brief span of time, she had grasped her own situation.
Children normally develop self-awareness around the age of four or five, so in just a few minutes, she’d undergone years’ worth of mental growth.
Calling her a genius wouldn’t even begin to describe it— she was something alien.
When I didn’t answer, the monster asked again, anxiety creeping into her voice.
“You won’t abandon me…… will you?”
I rubbed the side of my face, forgetting it was covered by my helmet.
I felt the hard texture of the visor against my fingers.
Something about those eyes made me feel strangely unsettled.
I tousled her hair.
“I won’t throw you away.”
“Thank goodness.”
Only then did she let go of my hand, relief washing over her expression.
Her palm’s imprint remained faintly on my gauntlet.
Even her physical strength was abnormal.
Fine, let’s look on the bright side.
She might be a variable, but one I could still control.
Judging by how she’d imprinted on me at the start, calling me “Daddy,” she might even help in progressing the story later.
Besides, I couldn’t just leave something like her alone in this place.
“First, let’s do something about those rags.”
She was still wearing those filthy scraps of cloth, and I honestly didn’t know where to look.
Dark energy flowed from my armor, covering her body before taking shape—
transforming into a black dress that suited her.
Seeing it, she blinked in wonder, fingering the hem of the fabric.
“Amazing. Daddy, you can even do things like this?”
“I told you, I’m not your daddy.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“Call me whatever you want—just not that.”
After a brief moment of thought, she spoke.
“Then… husband.”
I couldn’t help but frown.
“Why ‘husband’? Do you even know what that means?”
“I don’t.”
She shook her head confidently.
I was about to say something—but decided against it.
“Daddy,” “husband,”—just thinking about what she might call me next was giving me a headache.
“Just call me whatever you want.”
“Okay, husband!”
“Come to think of it, it’s awkward for me to keep calling you like this too. Do you have a name?”
“Name?”
“Yeah. Something people use to call you—a name.”
At my words, she shook her head.
“Then what would you like me to call you?”
“Bride.”
“Anything but that.”
“Then…”
After a brief moment of thought, she spoke.
“Lia.”
“Lia?”
She lowered her head shyly.
Considering the game’s setting, this being must have been someone kidnapped by a monster, so it was likely the name belonged to the body’s original owner.
“Alright then, Lia.”
“Mm!”
Together, Lia and I left the underground prison.
There was no point in staying in such a place any longer.
Once outside, I looked around.
“Grrk?”
“Grrrk.”
Even the hideous faces of the monsters were starting to feel familiar.
Then, the monsters’ gazes all turned toward one direction.
Not me—
Lia.
Sensing their stares, she instinctively shrank back and hid behind me, as if feeling a strong aversion.
“I don’t like them.”
At that, the monsters suddenly began to let out an eerie, collective howl.
“Kkiiiiiii!”
Their simultaneous howling was like a chorus of screaming deer—ear-splitting and grating.
I summoned the 【Flames of Gehenna】 into my hand, then subdued them with the Asura Divine Art, aiming at the creatures.
The noise was painful enough, but that wasn’t the real problem.
Their sudden howling—it felt like they were calling for something.
And if these monsters were calling for someone, there was only one possible being it could be.
Asura Divine Art
Punishment to Warn a Hundred
My fist swung.
The face of the monster in front of me was crushed to pulp.
The 【Flames of Gehenna】 erupted, burning away the regenerating flesh of the fallen monsters.
At the same time, crimson flames flared up on the bodies of many surrounding creatures as if they were all being struck by the same attack dealt to the first.
Punishment to Warn a Hundred.
There was no better technique for wide-range annihilation.
Lia’s eyes sparkled in awe as she watched.
“Wow! Husband, you’re amazing!”
“Don’t ever touch those flames. Got it?”
“Why?”
I was about to explain, but more monsters came swarming in.
No matter how many I’d beaten down, they just kept coming again.
How many innocent lives had been consumed to make so many of these things?
Then, in the next instant—Lia vanished from my side.
I froze at her impossible speed.
In a blink, she appeared before the horde of monsters, her fist swinging down.
Bwoooosh!
A thunderous blast of air— and several monsters exploded before my eyes.
That stance… was that the first form of Punishment to Warn a Hundred?
Did she copy it after seeing it only once?
I thought her cognition was remarkable only in understanding and awareness, but this—this was an absurd level of learning ability.
And in that movement, I hadn’t sensed any flow of mana.
Meaning—her power came purely from physical movement.
And yet she caused that much destruction.
Her rapid strikes continued.
I had only shown her a single punch, one strike.
So her follow-up combos were unrefined, but the sheer power was undeniable.
Just by throwing punches, monsters were scattering like leaves in the wind.
Lia laughed brightly, clearly having fun.
“Husband! Like this?”
When she took the lead, the monsters hesitated, frozen.
It was as if they were forbidden to attack her, and they simply stood there, waiting to be crushed by her blows.
When she had finished off the last of them, she came back to me.
“Husband, did I do well?”
“Please, stop calling me that already… Ah, forget it. Yeah. You did well.”
She smiled, stepping closer and leaning her head toward me.
Was she asking for praise?
Even when I first met her, she had that odd habit— always leaning her head forward, as if asking to be patted.
Could she really have some canine blood in her or something?
But right now, she was covered head to toe in blood.
Ignoring her request, I looked around.
It was about time for him to appear.
The forest devoured by the 【Flames of Gehenna】 had grown into an uncontrollable inferno, creeping toward the mansion.
Even the barrier protecting the mansion had begun to collapse, flames bursting from within.
Just as I was about to move away from the blaze, a massive magic circle appeared in the sky.
Then, the enormous formation descended, pushing back the flames of Gehenna that had been eating away at the barrier.
“Pretty.”
Lia pointed toward the glowing magic circle in awe.
There was only one being in this dungeon capable of casting magic of that magnitude.
Soon, a figure began descending slowly from the air.
A handsome man in a luxurious suit and a striking red coat.
His skin was unnaturally pale, bluish veins visible beneath it, and three gemstones embedded in his chest glimmered ominously.
He landed lightly on the ground, ignoring me completely as he walked straight toward Lia.
“At last, I’ve found you. My bride. I have waited so long for you to awaken.”
He knelt before Lia as he spoke.
Wait—bride?
So Lia was his bride—the Nameless One’s bride?
But she had never appeared in the game before.
Not once had the Nameless One’s Bride shown up in Become a Hero.
And yet… everything suddenly made sense if that were true.
Her impossible intelligence, her rapid learning, her childlike behavior, the monsters’ inability to attack her— everything fit.
Damn it. Since I’d never experienced this event in the game, I couldn’t even deduce the simplest answer.
I was getting too used to thinking in “game logic.”
This world might share the same foundation as the game, but it was very much real.
The man kneeling before Lia couldn’t take his eyes off her, as though he were bewitched by a divine work of art.
Meanwhile, Lia pressed close to me, uneasy, hiding behind my back.
“Husband… who is that man? He’s scary……”
At those words, the Nameless One’s face contorted into something monstrous and twisted with wrath.