Reincarnated With the World Domination System-Chapter 36: Loss

The Might's Engine roared within Rael, rapidly revving and summoning a chorus of demonic howls.

One note alone alarmed Sister Sophia, yet she could not tell what she feared in a boy no older than six.

Countless magnetic streaks shot from Rael and latched onto every piece of orbiting junk under her command.

Sister Sophia finally understood the warning in her gut.

I can no longer control the junkyard's mess. He stole my dominion.

"ARGHHHHH!" Rael screamed like a creature in agony.

This child cannot endure so much power for long. My poison is in his veins. He will kill himself first.

That hope kept Sister Sophia steady.

She unleashed a barrage of black branches and tentacles that flooded toward Rael like a tsunami.

Rael's magnetic strands came alive and barred the assault.

Each strand sliced cleaner than a master-forged katana.

Severed branches and tentacles fell around him in rivers of crimson.

Rael raised a hand and bent his fingers into a claw.

His magnetic force coiled around the wounded limbs and cut deeper.

He means to exhaust me in a war of attrition. Foolish kid...

A jolt of electricity raced through her colossal body.

Then came a feeling of loss.

What is happening?

The power grafted into her rebelled.

Tentacle roots pierced her own torrent.

Branches drove into her wooden torso from every side and drained her blood.

The torrent darkened to black-red.

But Sister Sophia did not scream.

She whispered Rael's name again and again.

Rael's strands slid off her limbs and wrapped her upper body like a cutting ribbon.

He clenched his hand and pulled it back.

RUPTURE!

"YAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHH!"

Blood exploded from Sister Sophia as though a bomb had ignited inside her.

Thick drops spattered the yard.

She dipped her head, jaw trembling.

"Ra...el... RAEL!" she shrieked.

She dragged herself through the crimson rain, power pinning her to the ground as she crawled toward the boy.

"YOU ARE JUST A KID! YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THIS WORLD! BE A GOOD CHILD AND DIE!"

Rael vomited blood yet grinned.

He shifted into the stance of Commander Alexandra von Karmesinthal, That foolish vampiress is behind him? Sister Sophia thought upon seeing the pose.

Instead of Alexandra's signature fist, he formed another claw.

All junk flew to his hand and vanished into the gauntlet.

The Maker's Core turned the steel into raw energy.

A single bullet of condensed magnetism appeared before his palm.

Thunder rolled and lightning danced around it.

[You have reached the bullet's limit, Lord Rael. Any more steel will explode in your grasp. Your body is past the point of safety. I beg you to finish this now.]

Bones fracture and muscles tear so they grow stronger. I am the same. Thank you, Dominica. Thank you, Shiran. This battle is ours.

Rael pushed his palm into the bullet's base.

The loudest thunder the junkyard had ever heard cracked across the sky.

The bullet vanished faster than lightning.

It struck Sister Sophia's forehead.

A second thunder answered, and her head ripped free, rolling behind the collapsing mass of branches and tentacles.

Crimson water flooded outward but rebounded off the steel barricade Rael had raised.

The current bore her head toward the barricade.

Rael limped to the barrier and looked down.

Light still lingered in her eyes.

"This is not the end, Rael," she whispered. "Many monsters like me still breathe. We are failed products who cling to life. Without the military's medicine I could never pass as human. Do you understand?"

"I do."

"Then know this is the start of your hell unless you abandon the orphans and run to your master."

"I will not run."

"I will not call any of your kind failed," Rael added. "The weak ones who prey on others are failures. Those who still fight with a compass inside can be saved."

"Save monsters? How?"

"I will turn them into hybrid machnoids."

Machnoids were the closest beings to humans ever crafted, complete with unique organs, blood, souls, and mammalian reproduction.

They were first fashioned by God of Machima, Milford.

Rael intended to become the second being to achieve that miracle.

"I... see. There is no salvation for us," she murmured.

The light in her eyes faded.

Rael dropped to his knees, vomiting even more blood.

[LORD RAEL!]

Shiran screamed from the depths of Rael's soul.

Dominica offered no explanation, only calm assurance that Rael would survive.

What he needed was a place where he could regenerate.

[Lord Rael's bloodline has been partially awakened. He can spend ten thousand EXP to purge the poison and let his regeneration work.]

[...aye.]

Togis... is everything fine on your end?

[My Lord...]

Togis?

[I could not reach three orphans and two ordinary children in time. A few have minor injuries, but none are life-threatening. I have disappointed you, My Lord. I am ready for punishment.]

Shock waves had littered the yard with deadly debris; even harmless appliances had become fatal.

Rael had trusted Togis and never expected casualties, yet they happened.

The consequences hurt more than Sophia's attacks.

Rael bit his lip and clenched his hands.

It is not your fault. You are an experienced guardian, but your body is my creation. Your failures are my failures. All blame rests on me.

[Lord Rael! You did your best! You fought to protect your brothers and sisters from that devil! She said they are suffering somewhere far away!]

Shiran spoke faster than the older companions.

[Lord Rael says he is not a hero, but to me he is the most heroic of all. No hero is perfect!]

Thank you, Shiran... but I cannot think clearly now. I need... to rest...

[Togis. Come and carry Lord Rael from this place. His battle is not over. Now he must defeat the poison.]

[I am near. Leave it to me.]

On that day Sister Sophia died, and the Nine Cross Orphanage changed forever.

But while those events altered the orphanage, Rael's life shifted even more.

The loss of fellow orphans and innocent lives gnawed at him as his body struggled to regenerate.

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Thank you so much Khudadad for my first ever donation! I really wanted to write more, but responsibilities keep me busy. Will try tomorrow! We're also close to the volume 1's finale! freewebnøvel.com