Chapter 416: Help! Me!

"Calm down, alright? I’m trying to help you."

The Reptilian girl stared at nothing in particular with the widest eyes. Her back remained pressed against the opposite end of the cage.

"AND WHAT IS IT GOING TO COST? MY SOUL? MY ARMS? BECOMING A DEMON?"

"Take a deep breath. I’m not a Demon or anything like that," Cero sighed. "Those things don’t exist, not really."

"SAYS THE INVISIBLE SPIRIT! OR DOES YOUR VOICE RESONATE DIRECTLY IN MY HEAD?"

Despite her constant shouting, Cero could tell that she had calmed down quite a bit.

"What’s your name?"

"OH, YEAH! SO YOU CAN WRITE IT IN YOUR BOOK OF DEATH, HUH? I’M NOT TELLING YA!"

Cero had no idea what the Book of Death was. He assumed it was Reptilian folklore.

Correctly.

"Fine, don’t tell me your name." The invisible Cero scratched his head. "You’re being offered to the Kurnish, right?"

"W-WHAT ABOUT IT?"

Cero had no doubt that some people on Borg didn’t believe in Demons, evil spirits, and things of the sort.

He had no doubt that there were many who probably disliked these sorts of archaic ritualistic sacrifices.

’Is she one of them?’ he asked himself. ’She seems to believe in evil spirits and stuff. Or is it just fear from an invisible person making her believe in them?’

Cero stretched his arms up.

The cage was still slowly being lowered.

"Listen, I’m not an evil spirit or a Demon. I can, however, turn invisible. I’m trying to help you here."

The Reptilian girl stared with pursed lips and doubtful eyes.

"I’m not even from this planet," he explained. "I’m from Wor. Well, sort of."

"What do you mean sort of?"

The fact that she hadn’t shouted the question was good news.

"That’s where I came from. I was on Wor before coming to Borg. Well, I guess I stopped on VTX on the way. Anyway! Point is, I’m not from Borg, so I can’t be a Demon or evil spirit of this planet now, can I?"

"C-Can you..." she stuttered before leaping to the other end of the cage, to the iron bars closest to Cero. "Can you prove that?"

"Would showing you my face prove it? Since I don’t look like a Borgian," Cero said. ’With the broadcast, I can find an angle in which my face will be visible to her but not the camera. With partial Invisibility, I can make it so only my face appears... Though that might be scarier for her.’

"No!" She shook her head and pulled away. "I don’t know what the faces of Demons or spirits could look like!"

"Ugh... If my face doesn’t prove it, then how...?" Cero started patting his body. "Hm?" He raised an eyebrow, feeling something in his pocket. "Oh, yeah, this’ll do."

"..." She stared with doubtful eyes and, out of nowhere, a pamphlet appeared. "WHAT THE...?"

"This should do," Cero sighed. ’Why do I have to put in so much work when I’m trying to HELP?’

The Reptilian girl reached forward with a shaking hand.

She grabbed the pamphlet and tried to pull it closer. She could not.

"Are you..." The girl asked with a gulp. "Are you holding it?"

"I am."

She stared at the folds on the other end of the pamphlet. She could not see his fingers, but she could see their impact on the pamphlet, their contours pressing against it.

"Come closer and give it a read," Cero said. "At this angle, it isn’t visible on the broadcast," he added, eyes on the screen in his other hand.

"..." She scooted closer. "Beauty contest... VTX...?"

’Thankfully it ended up staying in my pocket.’

The girl hesitated.

Her eyes repeatedly moved between the floating pamphlet and the empty space where she correctly guessed Cero was standing.

"VTX..." she repeated.

"Yes."

She remained silent for a moment. "I’ve never heard of the place."

"Oh, come on!" Cero pulled the pamphlet away and folded it back into his pocket. "This is enough proof. In the first place, I shouldn’t bother with this."

"Huh?!"

"This offering to the Kurnish..." Cero took a deep breath. "How do you feel about it?"

"How do I feel about it?" she whispered.

"Yes, do you believe in... All this stuff?"

"Stuff?" ℴ

"Mmh." Cero rubbed his forehead. "What I’m trying to say is... Are you happy to be the offering?"

She fell silent.

"If it’s your culture... Or your religion... Or whatever... If you have the conviction that this is how you want things to go for you, then I will leave you to it, to your fate," Cero explained. "If it was imposed on you, if you don’t believe in all of this shit, then I will help you."

"I..."

Cero turned away. Through Hyper Vision, he could tell they were getting closer.

She was now eye-level with him, and it would only take a minute or two for the cage to reach the ground.

’They’re coming.’ Cero noticed. ’About a dozen.’

"How does this go?" he asked. "How does it go exactly? Once the cage reaches the ground?"

"I’ve..." she gulped. "I’ve only seen it once. The Kurnish surrounded the cage and... As soon as the cage reached the ground, it opened..."

"And then?"

"And then the Kurnish took her, the poor girl..." She bit her lip. "But... But she was..."

"Does the broadcast continue? Does the helicopter follow once the offering is taken by the Kurnish?"

"No." She shook her head. "Of course not. The helicopter doesn’t move, it-"

"How do you feel about that fate? About that girl you saw being offered?" Cero urged.

He needed an answer now.

"She..." A complicated expression appeared on her face. "She was... Happy."

Cero’s eyes narrowed.

"Well, it is your religion, your beliefs," he whispered as he turned away. "Your culture."

"She was happy, so happy..." the Reptilian whispered. "But she... She..." Tears welled up in her eyes as her hands grasped the iron bars holding her prisoner until her arms shook. "But she is not me!"

Cero’s eyes widened, and he turned.

"Fuck my culture!" she shouted. "I don’t believe in that crap!"

Holding the bars, she pressed her face as much as she could through them and shouted.

"Help me! Please! Help! Me!"

Cero’s lips curled upwards, and he continued walking away.

"Please, I... I need help! I need you! Where..."

She collapsed to her knees.

"Where are you?"

A minute later, a dozen Kurnish surrounded the cage as it hovered right over the ground.

They hissed, snickered, and growled, while slamming their fists against the ground and clicking their tongues.

"AAHH... AAAHHH...!" she screamed loudly, and the people watching cheered even louder.

It was only at the last moment, as her cage hit the ground, that the girl realized that one among the 13 Kurnish was behaving completely differently.

[You have used "Doppelganger’s Camouflage Lv.2".]

[You have selected the Camouflage: "Borgian, Kurnish".]

[Genetic Material from the selected Camouflage has been consumed.]

[Quest Progress: 20%--->10%.]