I can’t feel any scent from his body.
So I couldn’t tell what kind of beastman it was.
No, I wasn’t even sure if it was a beastman. This was the first time that I could not feel the scent of a beastman like this.
At that time, an unidentifiable light flashed from Georg’s hand.
And at the same time.
Pong—!
My bird form was released while still being held in Georg’s grasp.
“Ugh, l, let me go!”
I shook my head violently, struggling to escape his grip.
I thought about grabbing the bars with my hands and trying to escape, but I couldn’t put my hands on the bars.
Because when I touched the bars, the cage bounced me back with great force.
‘No, rather.’
It may hurt a little when it bounces, but I can escape this unpleasant touch.
That’s when I thought about it and put my hand on the cage bars.
“It’s no use trying to think about it.”
Georg’s voice suddenly changed. It was as if he had become a different person.
The old man who had been smiling happily all along disappeared everywhere, leaving only the old man glaring sharply at me.
He took my chin in his hand and looked at me as if he were looking at the most horrible and contemptible thing in the world.
“Ugh!”
“Just thinking about the trouble I went through because of you!”
The hand holding my chin suddenly gained strength. I crumpled my face in pain.
He glared at me with bloodshot eyes, and then relaxed his hands.
As soon as I was released from his grasp, I fell on the floor of the cage.
“Ugh!”
“N, no…Now that we are almost there.”
He tidied up his clothes, as if trying to calm his excitement.
And he continued speaking.
“Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Georg Euclid.”
“….”
“The king of the ■■ whom you sealed a long time ago… It is called Georg, the most powerful great wizard in the entire continent.”
“…What did you say?”
I blinked my eyes.
There were some things I asked back because I didn’t understand what the guy was saying, but more than that.
“■■”
When Georg said certain words, my ears went deaf, and I couldn’t hear his voice.
As I still didn’t understand, Georg slammed his fist on the cage bars.
“Damn it, damn it! I still can’t pronounce my clan’s name properly. But that too will end soon. It’s all over now, Knut!”
Georg cried with great excitement. I narrowed my eyes at the words that came out of Georg’s mouth.
‘If…it’s Knut.’
It was the goddess who protected this continent.
“Passage, I will use you to open the way to Knut.”
Georg cracked and laughed, bending his back towards me.
I twitched my toes and instinctively took a step back.
“Passage, you will lead me to Knut. Just like the day you destroyed me and my clan with the power of damned Knut.”
“…What?”
“Passage. On the night of the full moon, you will give back to us what was taken from us.”
“What on earth are you talking about! Explain it so I can understand!”
I finally couldn’t bear it any longer and shouted at him. Georg just laughed without answering.
“Knut’s daughter. We have waited a very long time for you to be reborn.”
As soon as Georg finished speaking, people wearing black hoods poured into the room.
I hesitated and stood in the far corner of the cage, glaring at them.
In an instant, the huge room with the huge cage was filled with people wearing black hoods.
And in front of him, Schville and Georg stood shoulder to shoulder.
When Georg beckoned, those wearing black hoods took off their hoods in unison.
However,
“….!”
“Is it ugly?”
The rest all had grotesquely twisted and deformed faces. Some people had shriveled skin, while others seemed to have completely lost it.
There was also a person whose head didn’t return from its animal-like state, so only the skull took on the appearance of a new clan member.
Some had short, messy hair growing sparsely on their distorted skin.
It was an ugly and grotesque sight.
And as soon as I found something in common between them, I jumped up from my seat.
“…Mutant!”
Those who were born as beastmen, but can’t transform into beastmen, or have the characteristics of both clans.
Mutants do not have a unique scent. So we couldn’t even recognize what clan they were unless they spoke out loud.
‘And Georg too?’
So I couldn’t find out what clan that man was.
Because that guy is a mutant.
Georg laughed at my words.
“Yeah, that’s what you call us.”
Georg’s eyes lit up.
“The term ‘mutant’ is funny. Actually, they are not beastmen.”
He stretched out his hand towards me. Black light flashed within his hands.
Black smoke quickly enveloped the room. I hid in the corner as much as I could.
And Georg spoke to me in the middle.
“Knut’s daughter.”
I looked straight at him.
“We have waited for you for a very long time.”
And as soon as Georg finished speaking, a black energy attacked me once again.
***
I felt dizzy.
It feels like I’m wandering in a dream.
‘Is it a dream?’
I blinked both of my eyes.
And then I looked around.
There was nothing around me.
It did not simply mean that there were no objects. It was truly a space where nothing existed.
Really, a space of nothingness.
I got up from my place and started walking forward.
So it was just instinct.
I had a strong feeling that I had to move forward.
So I walked, walked, and walked again.
I continued to walk forward without knowing where I was going.
Still nothing appeared, and I was alone in this huge, lonely space.
I think I experienced something like this when I was very young.
‘When the prohibition was lifted, and…’
When was the other time?
My memory was vague.
But when the prohibition was lifted, it was clear that I had been to this space once.
Definitely back then.
[It won’t hurt anymore. Baby, remember… your feather is not a curse. I love you…]
I heard a familiar voice.
However, this time no voice was heard.
I walked for a while and then sat down quietly.
I didn’t think about where this place was or why I came here.
I just kept thinking that this empty space felt somehow familiar.
And,
‘They said… phoenix.’
Those men definitely told me that.
At first, I thought maybe I had misheard, or maybe the men had made a mistake and were mistaken.
Isn’t the phoenix a creature of legend?
A legendary being who is reborn again and again. Knut is said to have been loved by God…
Ah.
Before I could even think about it, wings suddenly popped out from behind my back.
It wasn’t that I was forced to shapeshift. It was a slightly different situation, a slightly different feeling.
I fiddled with the protruding red wings.
Red wings.
The wings seemed a little longer than I remember.
At that time.
[Baby.]
A familiar voice found me once again.
I instinctively raised my head towards the highest point.
Light was pouring from above.
It was so dazzling that I couldn’t see clearly, but I suddenly opened my eyes as if I needed to see what was in the light.
And answered.
“Are you calling me?”
[Yes, I called you. Linsy.]
It was exactly the same voice I heard when the prohibition was lifted.
And now I can instinctively know.
This voice appears and warmly embraces me whenever I am in danger.
“God Knut.”
That it was the voice of the God Knut that those men were cursing so loudly.
When I was young, I was not aware of the situation itself and had no idea who this voice was, but now it was different.
When I called the name, God once again appeared before my eyes in the form of a goddess.
And I knew it subconsciously.
That this is God’s space where God and I can communicate.
To be precise, it is in another space created by the meeting of my unconscious and God’s unconscious.
I knew it without anyone teaching me.
So it was just instinct.
I put my wings back and raised my chin.
“Right now, I’m so… confused.”
I don’t even know where this is. I don’t even know why I’m here. I don’t even know what the people who kidnapped me want. What they call rituals. And…
I muttered loudly and stopped talking.
And once again, slowly and clearly, I asked God a question.
“Did I take theirs away?”
If I could meet God.
So, if I was given the opportunity to ask a question, it was the first thing I wanted to ask.
I can’t feel any scent from his body.
So I couldn’t tell what kind of beastman it was.
No, I wasn’t even sure if it was a beastman. This was the first time that I could not feel the scent of a beastman like this.
At that time, an unidentifiable light flashed from Georg’s hand.
And at the same time.
Pong—!
My bird form was released while still being held in Georg’s grasp.
“Ugh, l, let me go!”
I shook my head violently, struggling to escape his grip.
I thought about grabbing the bars with my hands and trying to escape, but I couldn’t put my hands on the bars.
Because when I touched the bars, the cage bounced me back with great force.
‘No, rather.’
It may hurt a little when it bounces, but I can escape this unpleasant touch.
That’s when I thought about it and put my hand on the cage bars.
“It’s no use trying to think about it.”
Georg’s voice suddenly changed. It was as if he had become a different person.
The old man who had been smiling happily all along disappeared everywhere, leaving only the old man glaring sharply at me.
He took my chin in his hand and looked at me as if he were looking at the most horrible and contemptible thing in the world.
“Ugh!”
“Just thinking about the trouble I went through because of you!”
The hand holding my chin suddenly gained strength. I crumpled my face in pain.
He glared at me with bloodshot eyes, and then relaxed his hands.
As soon as I was released from his grasp, I fell on the floor of the cage.
“Ugh!”
“N, no…Now that we are almost there.”
He tidied up his clothes, as if trying to calm his excitement.
And he continued speaking.
“Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Georg Euclid.”
“….”
“The king of the ■■ whom you sealed a long time ago… It is called Georg, the most powerful great wizard in the entire continent.”
“…What did you say?”
I blinked my eyes.
There were some things I asked back because I didn’t understand what the guy was saying, but more than that.
“■■”
When Georg said certain words, my ears went deaf, and I couldn’t hear his voice.
As I still didn’t understand, Georg slammed his fist on the cage bars.
“Damn it, damn it! I still can’t pronounce my clan’s name properly. But that too will end soon. It’s all over now, Knut!”
Georg cried with great excitement. I narrowed my eyes at the words that came out of Georg’s mouth.
‘If…it’s Knut.’
It was the goddess who protected this continent.
“Passage, I will use you to open the way to Knut.”
Georg cracked and laughed, bending his back towards me.
I twitched my toes and instinctively took a step back.
“Passage, you will lead me to Knut. Just like the day you destroyed me and my clan with the power of damned Knut.”
“…What?”
“Passage. On the night of the full moon, you will give back to us what was taken from us.”
“What on earth are you talking about! Explain it so I can understand!”
I finally couldn’t bear it any longer and shouted at him. Georg just laughed without answering.
“Knut’s daughter. We have waited a very long time for you to be reborn.”
As soon as Georg finished speaking, people wearing black hoods poured into the room.
I hesitated and stood in the far corner of the cage, glaring at them.
In an instant, the huge room with the huge cage was filled with people wearing black hoods.
And in front of him, Schville and Georg stood shoulder to shoulder.
When Georg beckoned, those wearing black hoods took off their hoods in unison.
However,
“….!”
“Is it ugly?”
The rest all had grotesquely twisted and deformed faces. Some people had shriveled skin, while others seemed to have completely lost it.
There was also a person whose head didn’t return from its animal-like state, so only the skull took on the appearance of a new clan member.
Some had short, messy hair growing sparsely on their distorted skin.
It was an ugly and grotesque sight.
And as soon as I found something in common between them, I jumped up from my seat.
“…Mutant!”
Those who were born as beastmen, but can’t transform into beastmen, or have the characteristics of both clans.
Mutants do not have a unique scent. So we couldn’t even recognize what clan they were unless they spoke out loud.
‘And Georg too?’
So I couldn’t find out what clan that man was.
Because that guy is a mutant.
Georg laughed at my words.
“Yeah, that’s what you call us.”
Georg’s eyes lit up.
“The term ‘mutant’ is funny. Actually, they are not beastmen.”
He stretched out his hand towards me. Black light flashed within his hands.
Black smoke quickly enveloped the room. I hid in the corner as much as I could.
And Georg spoke to me in the middle.
“Knut’s daughter.”
I looked straight at him.
“We have waited for you for a very long time.”
And as soon as Georg finished speaking, a black energy attacked me once again.
***
I felt dizzy.
It feels like I’m wandering in a dream.
‘Is it a dream?’
I blinked both of my eyes.
And then I looked around.
There was nothing around me.
It did not simply mean that there were no objects. It was truly a space where nothing existed.
Really, a space of nothingness.
I got up from my place and started walking forward.
So it was just instinct.
I had a strong feeling that I had to move forward.
So I walked, walked, and walked again.
I continued to walk forward without knowing where I was going.
Still nothing appeared, and I was alone in this huge, lonely space.
I think I experienced something like this when I was very young.
‘When the prohibition was lifted, and…’
When was the other time?
My memory was vague.
But when the prohibition was lifted, it was clear that I had been to this space once.
Definitely back then.
[It won’t hurt anymore. Baby, remember… your feather is not a curse. I love you…]
I heard a familiar voice.
However, this time no voice was heard.
I walked for a while and then sat down quietly.
I didn’t think about where this place was or why I came here.
I just kept thinking that this empty space felt somehow familiar.
And,
‘They said… phoenix.’
Those men definitely told me that.
At first, I thought maybe I had misheard, or maybe the men had made a mistake and were mistaken.
Isn’t the phoenix a creature of legend?
A legendary being who is reborn again and again. Knut is said to have been loved by God…
Ah.
Before I could even think about it, wings suddenly popped out from behind my back.
It wasn’t that I was forced to shapeshift. It was a slightly different situation, a slightly different feeling.
I fiddled with the protruding red wings.
Red wings.
The wings seemed a little longer than I remember.
At that time.
[Baby.]
A familiar voice found me once again.
I instinctively raised my head towards the highest point.
Light was pouring from above.
It was so dazzling that I couldn’t see clearly, but I suddenly opened my eyes as if I needed to see what was in the light.
And answered.
“Are you calling me?”
[Yes, I called you. Linsy.]
It was exactly the same voice I heard when the prohibition was lifted.
And now I can instinctively know.
This voice appears and warmly embraces me whenever I am in danger.
“God Knut.”
That it was the voice of the God Knut that those men were cursing so loudly.
When I was young, I was not aware of the situation itself and had no idea who this voice was, but now it was different.
When I called the name, God once again appeared before my eyes in the form of a goddess.
And I knew it subconsciously.
That this is God’s space where God and I can communicate.
To be precise, it is in another space created by the meeting of my unconscious and God’s unconscious.
I knew it without anyone teaching me.
So it was just instinct.
I put my wings back and raised my chin.
“Right now, I’m so… confused.”
I don’t even know where this is. I don’t even know why I’m here. I don’t even know what the people who kidnapped me want. What they call rituals. And…
I muttered loudly and stopped talking.
And once again, slowly and clearly, I asked God a question.
“Did I take theirs away?”
If I could meet God.
So, if I was given the opportunity to ask a question, it was the first thing I wanted to ask.
