Chapter 1191: Risk Assessment

Inside Beltira’s secret laboratory, the atmosphere grew tense and heavy. Bard remained silent for a long while, lost in thought. He kept recalling the elven twins from his memories, piecing together fragments from internal documents of the Theocracy Council and the old data from the End of All Things organization. He was trying to reconstruct the possible movements of these two elves—who might have been “tainted” in the divine realm a thousand years ago—over the past millennium.

As an ordinary technician, Bard’s clearance level in the Solin region’s research ranks wasn’t high. But having freed himself from the mental steel seal in the old era, and as one of the rare “successful test subjects” of the End of All Things—an “Unbeliever”—he held a unique position within the Theocracy Council.

After a long pause, he finally looked up and spoke slowly, “Do you think… their purpose in returning to this world and creating a physical body through some unknown technology wasn’t really to ‘resurrect’ their ‘sisters’? Maybe they wanted to bring something from the divine realm into our world—and that ‘something’ needed a host…”

He stopped there, then after a moment’s thought added, “But there’s one thing I can’t figure out. If the one who returned from the divine realm was already mentally corrupted, turned into some kind of paranoid madwoman, and that corruption lasted a full thousand years—how did she manage to keep her rational thinking all that time?”

Beltira met Bard’s gaze, and after he finished speaking, her voice dropped low: “That’s why I have an even bolder—and far more chilling—hypothesis than yours.

“The rebels back then believed the one who returned from the divine realm was either Filna or Relna, one of the twin sisters. Your guess is that this individual was corrupted by the divine realm and tried to bring some dangerous entity here. But what if… neither of the Filna sisters actually came back? Maybe in that terrible accident, both of them died on the other side of the boundary…”

Bard hadn’t considered this possibility before. Hearing Beltira’s words, his eyes widened instantly. After a moment, he gasped, “Then what was it that returned to this world?!”

Instinctively, he no longer used humanizing terms to describe the elven twins who came back a thousand years ago.

“Yes. What exactly returned to our world… that’s what worries me most,” Beltira said solemnly. “But all my speculation is based on a tiny, almost insignificant clue—my failed attempt to bring Belna Lightwind back to this world. It’s not strong enough evidence, which is why I hoped you could provide some support, at least enough to make my theory more credible.”

Bard shook his head apologetically. “I’m afraid I can’t help much here. My knowledge of the Filna sisters is far less than yours, and the information I have overlaps with what you already know. But I agree with all your guesses so far. Regardless of how solid the evidence is, this needs to be reported immediately—even if the Empire hasn’t launched its counterattack on the wasteland yet, His Majesty should raise the danger rating on the Filna sisters to prevent future losses.”

Beltira nodded slowly. “Indeed. That’s all we can do for now.”

The lab fell silent. Bard and Beltira each seemed lost in their own thoughts. The only sounds were the faint flow of nutrients through pipes and the subtle hiss of gases passing through the chambers. Nearby, inside a cultivation pod, Belna—still sluggish and confused—watched the activity outside with curious eyes. She raised a hand and gently tapped the direction where Beltira stood, a hint of worry in her expression.

“I’ll head back now,” Bard said. “If I come across any new information about the Filna sisters, I’ll let you know immediately.”

“Good. Thanks in advance,” Beltira nodded, manipulating the lab’s fiber partitions and the “Leaf Gate” to open a path to the upper level. “This avatar of mine has some matters to handle here, so I won’t escort you. Another avatar will meet you upstairs and take you to the transit shaft.”

Soon, Bard left the lab. The vast bio-cultivation hall was left with only Beltira and the rows of growing pods. The distant lights dimmed gradually, and the pods clustered around the pillars one by one faded into darkness, leaving only the pillar above Beltira still illuminated.

After a while, bubbles suddenly rose inside Belna’s pod. The elven girl floating in the biotic solution slowly turned her head toward the exit. A muffled voice came from a speaker above the pod, low and dreamlike: “He’s gone…”

“Yes, he’s gone,” Beltira said slowly, enunciating each word. “His name is Bard. You met him many years ago.”

Belna tried to recall, her voice coming again from above the pod: “Yes, I remember. So… it’s been many years already?”

“Yes, many years. A lot has changed…” Beltira whispered, placing her hand on the pod’s transparent shell. “How are you feeling now?”

Belna hesitated, then placed her hand on the inner wall of the shell, as if trying to feel the warmth of Beltira’s palm through the layer of biotic crystal. But Beltira’s hand was cold—this was a low-cost avatar with a wooden structure. The elven girl inside thought slowly for two or three seconds before managing a single word: “Tired…”

“Want to sleep?” Beltira smiled faintly. “Getting more rest will help you.”

“No,” Belna shook her head slowly, then looked at Beltira with a worried gaze. “You… anxious, uneasy… I can feel it.”

Beltira was momentarily stunned, then showed a helpless expression. “Even you can sense it? Well, I suppose it makes sense… after all, parts of our souls are still connected deep down. That link can’t be severed… but I thought I’d done a good job shielding my emotions.”

“Elves are sensitive creatures,” Belna said slowly, almost proudly. “We can feel it.”

Beltira was at a loss for words. After a moment, Belna spoke again: “When… can I go out?”

“Not yet,” Beltira shook her head. “Your body still can’t survive in the outside world. I haven’t solved the problem of your nervous system’s self-collapse, and your soul needs time to adjust to having a body again… I’m trying a new approach—using external runes or magical effects to stabilize your condition. Give me some more time. I’ll fix it.”

Belna was silent. For over ten seconds, even Beltira couldn’t tell if the elf inside was thinking or had already forgotten the conversation. Then Belna’s voice came again: “Want… to go home.”

Beltira was stunned. She looked at the elf inside the pod and finally broke the silence softly: “You will go home. You definitely will… this time, I promise.”

…

Morning came. Veronica entered Gawain’s study. As the holy light diffused through the room, it brightened considerably. Gawain looked up from the pile of documents he was handling. Seeing the “Saint Princess” surrounded by the radiant glow, he felt a surge of invigorating energy flowing through the scattered beams of light. A faint smile appeared on his face. “Thank you. It’s very effective.”

“This helps relax the mind and repair the subtle damage the body suffers from continuous work,” Veronica said with a gentle smile. “You haven’t rested properly in a long time, Your Majesty.”

“I’ll schedule some rest for myself, but lately that’s been difficult. I’ll just try to balance work and rest as best I can,” Gawain shook his head, then shifted the topic to business. “Have you read the internal report from Solin Castle?”

“The one submitted by Beltira?” Veronica nodded lightly. “Yes, I read it before coming here.”

“The speculation about the Filna-Relna sisters—a chilling new perspective…” Gawain put down his pen and looked at the rebel leader standing before his desk. The rising sun streamed through the window, blending with the holy light surrounding her. “I want to hear your thoughts.”

“It’s shocking—yet supported by some evidence and credibility. I’m equally shocked that after all these years, we failed to notice the suspicious details and potential clues,” Veronica said without hesitation. “As the leader of the rebels, perhaps I should reflect on whether our internal security protocols and personnel checks have failed. But since the old rebel organization has disbanded, that task can be put on hold for now.”

Gawain blinked. “Is that your sense of humor?”

“Surprised? I do joke sometimes—especially when the mood needs lightening.”

“Alright, a decent dry joke,” Gawain waved his hand. “But what we really need now is to understand what happened to those elven twins… Beltira’s theory is terrifying, but undeniably alarming. The earliest intelligence on the twins came from you. Do you think what Beltira said could be true?”

Veronica considered carefully before replying slowly, “First, I want to clarify something—back then, the Filna-Relna sisters were not ignored by the rebel leadership. On the contrary, we paid close attention to them for a long time.

“Someone was pulled into the ‘other side’ of the boundary during the accident, possibly contacting the edge of a god’s divine realm, and was likely corrupted. One individual even returned to our reality. The risks behind this were obvious. The rebels may have acted recklessly and had many bold, even mad plans, but when it came to divine ‘security issues,’ our caution far outweighed our fanaticism.

“After the accident, the Filna sisters underwent extremely strict observation and testing, including tests related to their ‘divinity.’ We used eternal tablets, every known religious symbol, and various methods to detect any signs of divine contamination. Their mental states were examined thoroughly—even after they returned to the rebel project and resumed lab duties, we continued monitoring them for another six months.”

Gawain hadn’t heard these details before and was somewhat surprised. He had to admit these were already very rigorous precautions and a cautious approach. Yet this made him frown. “So, after such thorough checks, you found nothing… You confirmed the Filna sisters were not contaminated by divinity? No mental issues either?”

“Mental issues? Of course they had some—didn’t it seem obvious they were already suffering from schizophrenia?” Veronica said firmly. “I’ve said before, many of the Renegades back then had some psychological problems, but divine contamination? Absolutely not. Even the slightest hint of that would have disqualified them from returning to duty. The Renegades had very strict management protocols in place for that.”

Gawain remained silent for a moment, habitually tapping his fingers against the armrest. After a long pause, he finally broke the silence. “Honestly, you should have double-checked the process the Filna sisters used to ‘create’ an elven body in the lab. Maybe that’s where the problem lies…”

“That was definitely an oversight on our part,” Veronica admitted, shaking her head. “But to be frank, even if we had investigated it back then, I doubt we would have found anything. The Renegade program was primarily focused on humans, especially the bioengineering branch—including the ‘Divine Scion’ project—all based on human templates. So our validations were mostly human-centric. At the time, we hadn’t fully grasped the fundamental differences between elves and humans on a spiritual level. As for the neurological differences, those had been discovered, but no one had ever conducted live experiments on that front… It went against the traditions of the Silver Elves and didn’t align with the goals of the Renegade program.”

“Based on the technology available then, replicating a human body and controlling it with an external soul was feasible. So we overlooked the issues behind the Filna sisters.”

Veronica paused, locking eyes with Gawain. “After all, that was a world a thousand years ago. Maybe the technology of the Gondor Empire was more advanced than most countries today, but we were still limited by the era we lived in. Some discoveries and developments only came later.”

“…You’re right. It’s pointless to blame the past,” Gawain sighed softly, nodding resignedly—even though, to ordinary people, he himself was considered an ‘old soul.’ “I believe the tests you ran on the Filna sisters back then were genuine. There really was no divine contamination in them… but their danger was very real. I don’t know what else, besides the gods, might be trying to cross over from the divine realm into our reality. But whatever it is, it’s best if it never crosses that boundary…”

(End of chapter)