Transcendent Gene
Chapter 131: Unresolved Grudge [3]

Chapter 131: Unresolved Grudge [3]

When Gio turned around to face the incoming team members, the coldness in his eyes was gone. He removed his mask but kept the robe on in case that girl was still watching him from the distance.

"Gio! Why are you over here?!"

Raymond’s voice resounded through the air with a tone of clear concern. He lowered his hoverpack close to the ground, roughly at a height similar to where he previously stood.

Jax and Jason were next to him. The rest were probably still in the camp. Gio doubted that the battles there had ended so quickly.

Nevertheless, it was good enough that they’d calmed down enough for three members of the team to leave for his sake.

"I saw someone running," Gio responded, glancing back.

"I went to chase her, and it ended in an altercation."

"I did see that," Raymond said with a nod.

"She looked around your age. Why’d you chase her?"

Gio shook his head.

Was he the only person who wasn’t able to see both sides at the same time? He really needed to increase his perceptive abilities.

"I didn’t chase her for anything in particular. She looked suspicious and everyone else was busy..."

He looked back at Raymond.

"...but it turned out to be more than I expected."

Raymond gave a signal for them to start walking back towards the camp. Gio used that time to explain.

He told Raymond some details of the interaction. Well, he left out most of the conversation and focused mostly on the fighting, but the journey back was only a few minutes long.

Gio was really just stalling, providing a cushion for the words he really wanted to say.

"...I noticed it through her sword. She’s a ’Draconian.’"

They were right in front of the collapsed wall when Raymond froze.

"A Draconian? As in..."

"Not a chimera, not a beast, not a monster."

"Then there’s only one left."

Raymond swept his eyes over Jason and Jax, who immediately left without a word and rejoined the battles at the camp.

Most of the guards were dead and the last thirty of them were in the process of being overwhelmed. With two more hands helping in the effort, it would end much faster.

Natalia was also reaching the end of her fight with Mother Baba. The djinn’s medusa form was a thing of the past. Her vitality had drained to the point of leaving her as a shell of a person. It was a miracle that she could still fight.

However, Raymond didn’t look towards either battle and kept his eyes on Gio.

"You’re sure she’s a Draconian? No, in the first place, if it’s what I’m thinking, there’s no way you should know that term. Technically, only Natalia and I have the clearance to know it, but the rest know it through us. For you..."

Gio nodded, confirming his suspicions.

"It’s the same. There’s no need to doubt it anymore. VNGRD is involved."

Raymond’s face crumpled.

It was a name he never wanted to hear.

"And you’re certain because...?"

Even if Gio felt confident, Raymond couldn’t believe him without proof.

Not for anything related to VNGRD.

VNGRD, pronounced Vanguard, was humanity’s greatest human enemy. "Draconians" were assumed to be something like a "branch" of VNGRD.

As for how Gio could explain his knowledge about them...

"I was forced to watch as Draconians slaughtered my clansmen. I would never mistake that swordsmanship with anything else."

All he had to do was tell the truth.

It hadn’t happened yet, but it happened in a future that no longer existed.

And the memories of that day were still extremely vivid in his head. He didn’t have to fake a single thing to convey his emotions.

Raymond looked at him for a second before sighing and shaking his head.

"...let’s stop here for now. We’ll finish this conversation on the zephyr. Go ahead and help with the cleanup. They should be wrapping everything up soon enough."

Gio nodded silently. He was thankful Raymond didn’t pry. If he had to think about it more, he really felt like he would drop everything and move on the path of a slaughterer.

However, he didn’t come back for only that much. He had to convince himself to be satisfied with what he got.

He chased her to establish a connection. He couldn’t miss the opportunity to see her face. Now that she was aware of him, there were several potential futures where he could exploit that connection for his own benefit.

The rage burning inside him was cold as ice. It had been mentioned multiple times already, but Gio felt the need to tell himself again.

It could not erupt without his permission.

That was a head he would have on his wall one day.

"Huu..."

Could it still be called deja vu if the original experience happened only minutes prior? Gio was annoyed by his own mind’s choice to regurgitate the same emotions as if they were new things.

He shook his head, slowly taking the time to erase the thoughts plaguing his mind. Raymond told him to help out with the cleanup, but what was there for him to do?

He idly watched as Natalia drove a blade of shadows through Mother Baba’s skull. There were cultists around who had collapsed at some point. With nothing better to do, Gio decided to restrain them so they could be taken in for questioning.

’Putting aside personal worries, I really didn’t want to confirm VNGRD’s involvement here.’

It was alarming how little was known about VNGRD whether it was today or decades into the future.

’They’re one of the only topics where I don’t know much more than the people of this era.’

What he knew wasn’t necessarily useful at all.

’People used to say that even when humanity was wiped out, VNGRD would still be standing.’

And they were right.

VNGRD’s main headquarters had never been found. It was more likely than not that there were at least a few humans who managed to survive there.

’I’ve gotten involved with much more than I planned to get involved with at this point. It isn’t a bad thing. It only means that I’ve approached these matters earlier. All of them needed to be addressed regardless.’

But if it was like this, his current growth plan wasn’t enough.

’I can’t just aim for Starlight. Before the Calamities come, I have to go Beyond.’

In other words, the routine he’d maintained thus far could no longer remain in place.

Gio looked up as he finished tying up another cult member, looking around for any others who were left alone. However, he spotted something else out of the corner of his eyes.

’What is that?’

He looked around, but didn’t catch sight of the hint of color he’d noticed.

He consulted the [Memory Book]. The memory of the past second filled his mind and played like a movie. He zoomed in on that spot, tracking the object’s estimated location. He was also able to see where it came from.

Gio moved in that direction until he found what he was looking for. Without hesitation, he took the robe off his back and scooped up a mound of sand as if he were trying to kidnap a rodent.

Though he couldn’t see it, he could feel it wriggling around and trying to escape his grasp.

Within his robe was a grey mud-colored leech.

A leech that came out of Mother Baba’s broken skull.

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