Beta realized it first—she could never reach Lisa.
The barrier surrounding Lisa’s chamber was absolute.
No chimera could break through it.
Only something—or someone—from the outside would ever be able to reach her.
So Beta waited.
At least, that was the reasoning she shared with the others.
But beneath that plan... she hid another resolve entirely.
And that was where the disagreements began.
Some chimeras refused to accept it.
They didn’t want to die. They didn’t want to entrust their fate to a stranger.
They fought the idea of sleep, clinging to the instinct to survive at any cost.
But the ones who shared Beta’s determination—the ones who believed Lisa needed to be saved, no matter the price—chose to enter the deep sleep.
Their decision was made a hundred years ago.
When the facility fell into silence.
When everything came to a halt.
It wasn’t coincidence.
It wasn’t desperation.
Everything happening now... was part of a plan they had created long before I arrived.
A plan to save the sleeping Lisa.
And after saving her...
To end everything with their own hands.
"Why...! Why, Beta?!" Eve’s voice trembled, raw with grief.
Beta lowered her head. "Lady Eve... we are beings who would never be welcomed anywhere."
"No! If you’re with me—if we stay together—you can all live happily! I’ll make sure of it!"
Beta gently shook her head, but her voice remained firm.
"No. If we return to the world as we are... chaos might unfold again."
Her words carried a painful truth.
If these chimeras ever revealed themselves to the outside world...
The world would rediscover the forbidden research of the past.
Living, breathing proof of successful chimera experiments.
Living specimens.
Their mere existence would ignite a wildfire—scholars, kingdoms, nobles, black markets—everyone would want them.
To study.
To dissect.
To recreate what had once been abandoned.
It would change the world completely.
Maybe for the better.
Maybe for the worst.
But in the process... countless innocent lives would be sacrificed.
Just like a hundred years ago.
And that was the future Beta refused to allow.
"We’ve been thinking for a long time... trying to figure out how to end this cursed story that went so terribly wrong. And eventually, we realized something."
Beta’s voice trembled slightly, but her words were calm.
"As long as we exist... sacrifices like us will continue to appear."
They spoke like humans.
They thought like humans.
Considering that the foundation of chimera research was "human evolution," it wasn’t hard to guess what they were based on.
No matter how twisted their forms had become, their humanity lingered—clear, heavy, and painful.
Maybe all of them... were once ordinary people.
"That can’t be allowed to happen. Beings like us must never be created again."
Beta lowered her head, her expression filled with a strange mix of resignation and peace.
"So we decided we should simply... cease to exist."
That was the conclusion they had reached.
Erase everything related to chimeras from this world—
including the facility that created them.
Including the lives they had barely managed to hold onto.
"I was so happy to meet you again, Lady Eve," Beta continued softly. "Now you’ll finally be free to live your own life. And so... we’re choosing to be freed in our own way."
Freed from this hellish existence.
Behind her faint voice, the mechanical countdown echoed coldly through the hall.
Beep— Beep— Beep—
"Beta!!! Iota!!"
The countdown was dropping faster than I expected—already down to three seconds.
Lisa slammed her fists against the door, desperate, panicked, her voice breaking as she shouted for it to open.
But the heavy metal didn’t budge. Not even a rattle.
[1]
A low mechanical hum filled the room.
The teleportation device activated, its runes lighting up as raw magical energy surged around us.
The air trembled, vibrating against my skin as the power built to its peak.
"Ah... I never got to properly thank Lord Louis. Thank you for saving our Lady Eve."
My vision was starting to fade at the edges, colors blurring into one another, but Beta’s face—bright and smiling—remained clear, as if etched into the world.
It wasn’t a smile of fear or resignation.
It was relief. Pure, unshakable relief.
She bowed deeply, expressing gratitude with a sincerity that didn’t need words.
Then, just before the light swallowed us completely, she leaned closer and whispered so softly only I could hear,
"...Please take care of her."
[0]
BOOOOOOM!!!
The world behind us erupted in a deafening explosion.
Fire and shockwaves tore through the research facility, consuming everything.
But by then, we were already gone—
caught in the teleportation spell
and thrown into the unknown.
.
.
.
.
The Imperial capital was quiet that night—too quiet, the kind that felt like the whole world was holding its breath.
Then a massive explosion tore through the silence.
BOOM!!!
The blast echoed across the city, shaking windows and rattling rooftops.
Frightened citizens stumbled out of their homes in their nightclothes, looking around in panic for the source.
On the castle wall overlooking it all, a pillar of fire rose in the distance like a burning spear tearing open the dark sky.
"...Are you okay?"
I asked quietly.
Lisa stood beside me, staring blankly at the flames far away.
Her expression was empty—not frightened, not angry, just... hollow.
"What should I do now...?" she whispered.
She was free.
Finally, after a century of agony, she was free.
But the people she had once wanted to be with—the ones she believed would care for her—were gone.
Lost to time, or to tragedy, or simply to the world moving on without her.
No wonder her eyes looked so distant.
I didn’t know what she was thinking.
I wasn’t sure she knew either.
"...How about trying the things you always wanted to do?" I suggested softly.
"Things I wanted to do...?" She repeated the words slowly, then nodded. "That’s right."
She turned to me with a bright smile—so bright it almost looked real.
"That sounds good," she said.
But as I watched her, I couldn’t shake the feeling that a thin layer of sadness lingered beneath that smile—something fragile and quiet, like a crack hidden under fresh paint.
And maybe she didn’t want me to notice it.