That creature, or that man, or whatever it was, was still looking at the massive egg. Like someone looking at their child.
Not with madness, not with monstrosity. But with something deeper... with love.
Then he quietly stepped forward and placed his hand on the egg’s surface. The living shell trembled under his fingers.
And he smiled.
"Twenty years..." He paused, as if tasting the words.
"Twenty years I waited for this moment. Twenty years I lived in this damn world for this moment."
Lian understood something from the very first sentence. Not about the egg, not about the monsters. But about this man himself.
His eyes narrowed slightly. He was not from this world. Or at least, he was not a normal native of this world. Lian quickly put the information together.
Ruined realms, cracks, the entry of unknown creatures, and now this man.
A clear conclusion formed.
"The ninth Ruined Realm..." He said this sentence quietly in his mind.
His eyes grew colder. So this man had come from there. And coincidentally, it made sense.
The first appearance of this man in this world dates back to twenty years ago, in that same city in East Asia that Gareth had told him about.
Lian unconsciously thought about the cracks. About how if native creatures from there could enter this world... then the world was not safe at all. Not even for a moment.
The thought sat in his mind like a blade. If a madman like this could enter... how many others might there be? And what had they brought with them?
The fact that monsters come through cracks is a known issue. A known threat. And mechanisms had been created to deal with it.
But monsters were not the problem. Unless they are Unholy or higher. Otherwise, they do not have significant intelligence to cause trouble for humans.
But the creature in front of him was not a monster. It was a mad human. A native of the Ruined Realm.
How was he sure? Because the system had not identified him as a monster. And that alone was enough to confirm that this man was human.
Of course, he is definitely not a complete human. He has clearly combined parts of monsters with himself. But he is still classified as human.
Does the government know about this? Does the Federation know that, aside from monsters, native humans from the Ruined Realms can also come to this world?
He doubted it. Native humans in the Ruined Realms are very, very rare. They are practically negligible.
In several of them, not even one had been seen.
That is probably why the government never considered them a threat. But now, a mad human from the ninth realm was standing in front of him, responsible for the deaths of many humans.
And as far as he knew, in the tenth realm, there are many humans. More than the previous nine realms. At least according to the Dreadmaw Sovereign, there are at least seven isolated and protected areas where native humans live.
For the first time, he felt that the real threat was not the monsters. It could be the native humans of the Ruined Realms.
They could be an unknown and very large threat.
"You... you could be the final material." The white-eyed man said quietly without taking his gaze off the egg.
Lian did not answer. But he finally understood why this man was after him. And he did not know if he should consider that a compliment or not.
A few seconds of silence passed, and then the man continued.
"You are different from the rest. Your body... has grown unnaturally. Your evolution speed is ridiculous." His white eyes flickered slightly.
"And your mana... is more than it should be."
Lian frowned. So he had been under surveillance from the beginning. And now he understood that probably from the very first day he entered this city, he had been watched.
Everything had been seen. And he was not exactly happy about this. Because it meant others could spy on him without him knowing.
He needed to find a way to stop this.
"What were those Red-Eyed Stalkers? How did you make them?" He then asked directly.
"They are the result of my experiments." The man smiled and then gestured toward the Broodmother.
"That... was the mother. I made her twenty years ago. Making her was hard. But it was possible." His eyes grew brighter.
"She used the resources this world had. Humans and monsters that came from my world. And everything that was needed."
Lian was not that surprised. It had occurred to him that the process might be like this, and his guesses were correct.
But one question came to his mind. If the Red-Eyed Stalkers are both this man’s children and the Broodmother’s children, and the Broodmother is also this man’s daughter... then that would mean...?
He preferred not to think about it.
"The process is simple. The creature collects mana and uses it as fuel. Then it has to combine the bodies."
"It swallows humans, swallows monsters too, and inside it... something new takes shape. That’s how my children and my daughter are born."
"But they are not complete. Not yet. They are not the final version."
"Then why do you erase human minds?" Lian suddenly asked. He had his own guess, of course.
"Simple. If it remains, it affects the born children." The man answered without hesitation.
As if he was talking about a natural law. Not crime, not horror. Just a formula.
Lian was silent for a moment. His guess was correct. But he was still curious to know how this man could create and make all of this.
Did he have a special skill? Or was it just a combination of science and magic?
"Then why are the monsters hungry?" He then asked.
The man laughed.
"Those wastes?" And then he explained.
"To make my children, mana is needed. They are forced to transfer their mana to the mother... That means... they don’t have the right to eat humans. They just transfer mana."
A heavy silence fell. Then he said in an almost contemptuous tone.
"Even with that... none of them were perfect." Then he looked at Lian again, and his smile returned.
"But you... you might be what I was missing."
"Do you think you can force me?" Lian said quietly and sarcastically.
The man laughed again, madly.
"Force? No, no need." He leaned forward slightly.
"You are strong. More than anything I’ve seen here." His eyes flickered.
"You killed a lot of those wastes. And one of my imperfect children too. That means you have the capacity."
"For more. For perfection." His voice had now become seductive.
"I can make you stronger. Much stronger. Even the strongest!"
"No. Thank you." Lian said without a moment’s hesitation. Did this fool really think his offer was tempting?
If he accepted, he would practically lose all his rationality, memories, and identity.
For what? To become more perfect? He was already fine as he was. He did not need to become better.
The white-eyed man sighed, as if truly disappointed.
"What a pity." And then he said more quietly.
"Then I’ll have to try another way."
He took a step toward the egg and placed his hand on it again. Energy left the man’s body. Not toward the ground, not toward the surroundings. But directly into the egg.
Like feeding. Like charging something massive.
The egg began to tremble.
Slowly... then more intensely. And suddenly, a sound came from inside it.
A strike.
A strike.
A strike.
As if something was forcing its way out. Even the Broodmother on the ceiling moved.
And Lian sensed that the creature was afraid.
The white-eyed man paused for a moment.
And Lian saw it. For the first time, he felt a very small, almost invisible hesitation from him. As if he himself was not sure exactly what would be released in this moment.
This was a masterpiece. But an unfinished masterpiece. And to complete it, he needed something.
Or rather... someone.
His gaze fixed directly on Lian. He wanted to awaken this creature so it could forcefully swallow Lian and complete itself.
He himself did not have the power to defeat this boy. So he had to try another way. And this was the only possible way.
The egg trembled again. This time more intensely. And its shell cracked. The sound of breaking echoed quietly in the space.
The entire hall fell silent.
Even breaths seemed to stop.
The white-eyed man smiled. But this time, there was a slight tremor in that smile.
And he whispered quietly.
"Finally..."
"The time of its birth has come."