"Ah, truly, I’m terribly sorry… I’ve reflected on this deeply, I swear."
In the barrier, Gwen says with a dark face.
Her words of apology were directed at me.
She touches the barrier, lightly pushing and stroking it.
Of course, it makes no difference to the barrier.
With a look of anxiety, Gwen pleads with me.
"I won’t ever defy you, so could you please let me out?"
"I don’t trust you. There’s no way I’m setting you free."
"That’s not it at all—I was just following orders! They threatened to kill me if I didn’t obey… If you want to put it that way, I’m the victim here."
Gwen insists, her eyes glistening with tears.
Midway, she covers her face with both hands.
The sound of sobbing can be heard.
I point out coldly.
"Lies. I can tell right away."
"Tsk, so even a beauty’s tears don’t work? Well, I’m beaten."
Gwen removes her hands, giving a bitter smile, and shrugs her shoulders with a sigh.
Just as expected—not a single tear.
It was all an act.
(Seriously, what a nuisance…)
I feel like holding my head in my hands.
I tried to breathe and realized I couldn't.
My arms in my field of view had become nothing but black bone.
This was the real world.
I was in a chamber beneath the laboratory, a sealed room with no door.
Only I, who could use teleportation, or the Director, who controlled the facility, could enter this section.
The barrier holding Gwen was installed in the center of the room.
After defeating John and Balk, I fought Gwen in the mental world.
To state just the result, I was overwhelmingly superior.
Backed by the will of the world, I was able to neutralize her abilities one after another.
Since I held the advantage at all times, there was no way I could lose.
The development was so swift it made one suspect a trap.
Analyzing Gwen during the battle, I succeeded in pinpointing her location in the real world.
Locating her was difficult, but by tracing the origin of her spiritual entity, I managed to sense her.
At that moment, I withdrew from the mental world and launched a sudden assault on Gwen, who was hiding far away.
She immediately recalled her spirit, and we rematched.
The stage of the fight shifted to the real world, but the flow was roughly the same.
I continued to dominate without the balance of power flipping, and ultimately drove Gwen to the brink of half-dead, half-alive.
It was the moment I keenly felt the influence of the world's will.
There was nothing notable in the process that followed.
First, I stripped her immense power from Gwen's body and isolated it.
And so, after nearly neutralizing her completely, I had her brought here to the laboratory, leading to the current situation.
Even without the intervention of the world's will, I likely could have won, but it wouldn't have been possible to make the fight so one-sided.
That is how strong Gwen is.
The title of "beast from another world" was no empty boast.
Given that several beings like her have appeared, it's understandable why the defensive mechanisms were activated.
Indeed, it seems the world is truly on the brink of ruin.
Of course, I intended to prevent that annihilation.
I am in the process of setting up the strategies required to do so.
Since my mental contamination is also fully cured, I can now prepare with everything at my disposal.
Gwen lay sprawled within the barrier.
With a limp posture, she continued to emit listless groans.
Lying on her back, Gwen stared up at the ceiling.
"Being captured like an experimental animal, now that's been a while, hasn't it? Just so you know, this is quite the feat, okay? You can use this as your boast for the next thousand years!"
"..."
I directed a gaze tinged with exasperation at Gwen.
Even at this juncture, she refuses to change her attitude.
She must understand the situation.
And yet, there's no sign of despair; if left alone, she'd just keep cracking jokes.
Since taking her seriously would be exhausting, I've been letting her prattle go in one ear and out the other.
Incidentally, the barrier confining Gwen is one made specifically for her.
Escape was impossible, and projecting her spirit form outside was likewise unfeasible.
Her soul was similarly anchored.
Her very existence had its absolute coordinates fixed; attempting to move away would only pull her back.
Even if she somehow breached the barrier, the fixed coordinates themselves could not be altered.
Until recently, Gwen had been openly attempting to break free.
Having apparently realized it was futile, she no longer displayed such actions.
For the past while, she had been docilely indulging in lethargy.
That said, he couldn't relax his vigilance enough to look away.
Though most of her power had been confiscated, she was a creature from the outer world.
An unknown entity that had attacked without warning.
There was no such thing as being too cautious.