These were not words Essengard Kang would normally say, Lei Ting thought.
His expression remained calm as he diverted a portion of his cognitive processing from an ongoing information synthesis toward the matter at hand.
He knew Essengard had long been aware of the relationship between him and Evanheiler. When 'Enan Vallen' had dealt with Essengard, Lei Ting had been listening nearby. Although he had left shortly after, who would believe these two hadn't communicated in their original identities?
Lei Ting certainly didn't.
Furthermore, he didn't believe a single word Essengard said, even if the man’s emotional display seemed incredibly genuine. He knew that everyone possessed their own internal scale of values. In Essengard’s heart, while Evanheiler was important, he was nowhere near important enough to prompt such a plea.
Even if this man had once rebelled against their cold, cruel, and deceptive father for Evanheiler’s sake... people changed. Past stories did not dictate the present. In Essengard’s heart, the family business came first, followed by Lucas, and only then did Evanheiler and himself even enter the ranking.
"I know I haven't been a good brother, but I believe you would be a good lover to him. And to us, you would be a fine sovereign," Essengard said.
He seemed euphoric at the thought. He *should* have been euphoric.
"What is it you wish to do? If necessary, we will contribute our strength to your grand cause," he added.
"..."
Lei Ting watched him deeply. Behind his visor, no one could tell what he was thinking.
After a long silence, he finally gave his answer: "Oh."
Essengard: "..."
Essengard: "...?"
"That’s nice." Lei Ting spread his hands and stood up to leave. "But don't say that again next time."
Essengard stood as well, his mouth hanging open. "..."
"Stop. You need to realize a few things, Kang." Lei Ting raised a hand to cut him off. "First, Evanheiler will return. The timing depends on my decision. Second, you were already part of my strength... at least, Lucas is."
"..."
Essengard fell silent. He knew that a gift from the man before him was not something easily accepted. It came with power and status, but also with responsibility and burdens.
"Finally, Essengard Kang..."
He heard the voice coming from above. He knew the 'Sun Star' was looking at him, looking down from a height.
Like a giant construct mecha standing amidst the stars, looking down at a tiny pebble.
"...You should tell me the truth. Didn't the 'Eye' tell you?" Lei Ting gazed at the brilliant blonde hair so similar to Evanheiler’s, and at the soul hiding chaotic echoes. "For Lucas's sake, I won't force you. I look forward to the moment you come forward—before I lose my patience."
Essengard froze. *How much does this guy actually know?!*
He looked up abruptly, watching Lei Ting’s billowing cape as the man strode away without a hint of lingering. Before Lei Ting could exit, Essengard rushed to catch up.
"No... wait!" he called out. "Sun Star, you said... 'Eye'?"
"Devouring a Xeno-fiend, living in symbiosis with it, making the fiend pay the price while you gain powers you never had through a virus...
"Aside from the minor issue of a shortened lifespan, your father’s research legacy has indeed flourished in your hands, Mr. Essengard Kang."
As Lei Ting spoke, he casually patted Essengard on the shoulder.
"Few people likely know that the Federation's largest pharmaceutical company was built on the study of Xeno-fiends and forbidden viruses... but it doesn't matter. I don't mind," he said. "In fact, I'm quite pleased. Prepare your people. Before you die, I have a task for you."
"..." Essengard was stunned. He had never considered the possibility that all his chips, his trump cards, and his entire life had been seen through by someone he barely knew.
Yes, as Lei Ting said, the source of Kang Pharmaceutical's technology had always been problematic. But to Lei Ting, that problem was insignificant.
As long as the ultimate conflict—the one that would kill almost everyone if left unresolved—could be settled, the relative legality of the methods was a secondary concern. Kang Pharmaceutical's research on Xeno-fiends was exactly what he needed.
"I will bring Evanheiler back. You and your team will be directly responsible for his final treatment," Lei Ting stated. "Get ready. Everyone must do what they are meant to do, including you and me."
He turned and left, vanishing into a wash of light.
Essengard stared blankly as the radiance gradually dissipated. Though it was scorching hot, a chill slowly crept up his spine.
The outcome of this conversation was not what he wanted. He knew he couldn't bear such a responsibility because he had never been loyal to the Federation.
But the 'Sun Star' demanded it of him.
*It's over,* he thought.
Since the 'Sun Star' had spoken so plainly, Essengard didn't believe the man didn't know even more.
And...
【Ah—!】 In Essengard’s mind, a lazy voice surfaced from the depths of his psyche. 【Is he gone?】
【Shut up.】 Essengard quickly silenced it.
【He can't hear this anyway. You know that if his mental power interfered with you deeply enough to actually touch me, you'd be dead first,】 the voice said lightheartedly. 【The sun only needs a sliver of radiance to evaporate everything a person is. But we both know he won't do that.】
*Won't he? True.*
Lei Ting would not casually destroy anyone's mind, even if he had become the person he was now.
"There must always be a rational reason for everything." This was his moral baseline, the foundation of his humanity.
【But he knows of your existence, and he knows I'm an esper,】 Essengard whispered in his mind. 【He shouldn't know...】
【I know what you're thinking—either his mental power is so vast it's beyond our comprehension, or he saw through us a long time ago, terrifyingly early,】 the voice said. 【But he knows all this and hasn't twisted our heads off yet, so what are you worried about?】
"..."
Essengard was speechless.
Since he was very young, Essengard had known he had an invisible brother, a true friend.
That friend’s existence was ethereal. It appeared when he was three, but it wasn't until he was eight—the day he received a birthday gift from his father—that they could truly converse.
In his life, it existed like a phantom...
It wasn't until later that Essengard learned his father had performed human experiments on his own family. The first victim was actually his eldest son.
And 'it'—a consciousness he called 'Yis'—was the result of that experiment.
In reality, it was a Xeno-fiend, originating from an eyeball hidden within that gift.
It was originally a fragment of a being known among Xeno-fiends as an 'Eye Fiend,' but it had now completely merged with Essengard, becoming a part of him and gaining a 'name' and 'self' through his subconscious.
Its existence slightly mutated Essengard’s spirit, and it paid the price for his super-abilities in his stead.
Then, a dose of the 'Boiling' virus gave the originally powerless Essengard the ability to 'Phase.'
But the virus was not inactivated; its lethality remained. It was only because the withered 'Eye'—left behind after Yis was extracted—bound it, and because Yis was paying the price for him, that nothing had gone wrong for all these years.
【Perhaps he doesn't know that much,】 Essengard said. 【If he did, he wouldn't just let us live in peace, would he?】
【How do you know he plans to let us live in peace?】 Yis countered.
Essengard fell silent.
A moment later, he made up his mind.
An unknown task—he had to complete it well.
His relationship with Evan would not influence that man’s decisions. From the moment events began to develop beyond imagination, their lives were suspended upon Lei Ting’s whims.
And as for that whim...
【No, Essengard, you're wrong,】 Yis cautioned him. 【As a human, you can certainly think that way. But as a creature you call a 'Xeno-fiend,' I must tell you: at all times, you, I, and every life you can see—everything hangs by a thread. The process of life is inherently a crisis...】
【...And the biggest difference between us and you is whether you can clearly perceive the existence of that crisis. You've said that hundreds of times, Yis.】 Essengard sighed. 【The 'Sun Star'... what exactly does he want to do? He seems to not even care about his own—】
【Who knows? Anyway, he controls the Federation's territory now,】 Yis grumbled. 【Stop guessing. It's pointless. When a person has power like that, they don't care about the opinions of others, regardless of what kind of person they actually are.】
*Fine...*
Essengard sighed in his heart. He felt a strong sense of danger from Lei Ting, from those steady and decisive actions.
If such drastic changes to the Federation had come from a more radical, high-strung individual, Essengard wouldn't have had a problem; he would have immediately started contacting his prepared escape routes.
But when he sadly confirmed that Lei Ting could not be associated with the words 'radical' or 'high-strung'...
...he realized the situation was dire.
If Lei Ting wasn't a madman with a calm exterior, then what could possibly drive him to act this way?
*【Everyone says a 'Double-S' will eventually go mad. Before, I hoped he would be the exception; now, I hope he isn't.】*
In the year 4007 AD, Essengard Kang wrote this sentence on his offline digital journal after his son's wedding.
Though it sounded strange, he truly meant it.
【I've wanted to ask for a long time, Essengard—why do you record such disadvantageous truths in a notebook?】 Yis asked curiously. The thought patterns of Xeno-fiends and humans were different, after all; even by sensing his spirit, Yis couldn't quite understand this.
【To make it more persuasive,】 Essengard replied. He flipped through his massive archive of records, reviewing his decades of life. 【And besides, who knows? Maybe one day in the future, I can use it to write a novel or draw a comic.】
***
