I Am Not a Robot. Beep-bop

Chapter 83: Meeting Gaia Was the Worst 1

“This is bullshit.”

It was probably the first genuine curse that Alice, now an android in form, had ever uttered.

Gaia, the twisted goddess of the earth.

A new type of humanoid calamity whose detailed information had yet to be determined, even by Ark.

The goddess of the earth loved all life.

However, her love was unbearable for humans.

Gaia, who cherished life indiscriminately, wielded the warped vitality of monsters and Gates alike.

The incarnation named Gaia before me was no different.

She found the curious child, Alice, interesting.

Gaia was quite taken by the metallic-bodied girl who drew her gaze and interest, but her interest belonged to a dreadful category by human standards.

It was akin to a child innocently tearing the wings off a butterfly for fun or burying an anthill out of curiosity.

In the same way, Gaia, with her pure goodwill and curiosity, would tear Alice apart to make her her own.

“…Ah, ah…”

However, Gaia’s goodwill was something that evoked fear in others.

Sabrina, who was even more sensitive to mana than humans, began to tremble all over from the ominous mana and vitality emanating from Gaia.

“Th-that… that can’t be. Alice, we can’t fight that. Run… we have to run…”

Though Sabrina had been tortured and subjected to horrific experiments countless times by Earnest Rail, even she fell into endless despair the moment she faced Gaia.

Perhaps it was because she was a demon.

As a noble demon particularly attuned to mana, Sabrina could sense the horrifying energy radiating from Gaia.

That was not something to confront.

That was not something to face.

That was the true calamity.

Not Earnest Rail, not the Overseer who died so pathetically, not Alice who saved her—none could stand against that monster.

“[Ahah.]”

Gaia took a single step forward.

Just one step.

But in that moment, all kinds of bizarre phenomena began to unfold around her.

“Haah, haah… I can’t breathe…”

Sabrina gasped for breath, her brows furrowed tightly.

【Oxygen saturation exceeded.】

【Mana necrosis detected.】

【Human, immediate withdrawal is advised.】

While the undead girls and the dolls still seemed unaffected, if the environment continued to mutate in real-time according to Gaia’s mood, it was unclear when they might begin to suffer as well.

[Alice, I… I struggled so much.]

-Creak!

The corridor beneath Gaia’s feet buckled.

The underground facility of Earnest Rail, constructed of metal, began to oxidize and collapse.

[I was so, so tired… It took me so long to find you. I walked and walked, but I couldn’t see you. Only strange humans kept coming to find me…]

‘Damn it… She’s completely unhinged now.’

[I didn’t do anything wrong. I just… I just wanted to find you. I just wanted to meet you…! But the humans, the pests—they attacked me, they attacked me! What did I do wrong? I just wanted to find you, and yet…]

Even by human standards, Gaia had never been in her right mind, but now she seemed far more deranged than when we first encountered her in the Green Factory.

[They interfered. They interfered. Again and again, they interfered. I got angry. I got so angry, I felt my chest heaving with rage, so I tore them all apart…]

It wasn’t surprising that Gaia had lost her mind.

Gaia had crossed rivers and mountains to find Alice in a body insufficient to sustain her life force.

In the process, she had encountered humans instead of Alice, enduring countless attacks and near destruction of her corporeal form.

Today, she thought, she would meet Alice.

Today, she believed, she would find her.

Today, she swore, she would see her at last.

With that determination, Gaia had clawed through the earth, her nails breaking, and torn apart the raiders and marauding groups that attacked her.

In doing so, Gaia awakened an ability to siphon the vitality of others.

Not because her incarnation’s body was weak, nor because she intended to, but because her desperation to survive until meeting Alice had deepened.

For the first time, the earth goddess, who lacked reason, had yearned and longed for something.

That longing twisted her vitality into a unique power, manifesting as an extraordinary ability.

The depth of Gaia’s desperation likely matched the layered strata where her true form resided—profound and insurmountable.

[Alice, Alice? Come to me. Come to this mother of yours?]

“…….”

However, Alice had not the slightest intention of fulfilling Gaia’s yearning.

The twisted goddess of the earth was now teetering on the edge of madness, and getting caught by her would mean the end of any hope of survival in one piece.

‘Of all places, she had to block the exit, making escape nearly impossible.’

Alice subtly glanced at Sabrina, extending her arm protectively as if shielding her.

If necessary, Alice would serve as a decoy to prioritize the escape of Sabrina and the girls.

[….Alice?]

As Alice maintained her hostile expression and guarded Sabrina, Gaia’s face filled with hollow disbelief, as though she had been betrayed.

[Alice…?]

From Gaia’s perspective, the sense of betrayal was understandable.

As the mother of all life, she had only looked for Alice.

She had crawled here, focusing solely on Alice.

[Why don’t you come to me? Why won’t you come to me? Why do you defend those scraps of life that don’t even qualify as proper beings?]

I endured all kinds of persecution, was attacked by countless humans, and suffered injuries so severe that I almost died.

But even so, I came, focused solely on you.

And yet, all you offer me is hostility.

Am I not more important than these half-wits who are neither human nor beast?

[“Al-ice… Aaaah, aah, aah.”]

Oh, how unjust this is.

Truly, truly unjust■■■■■■■■■■■.

[“Ah, ah… ah, eugh…?”]

-Crack!

A sickening sound of bones and flesh being crushed echoed.

Gaia’s incarnation, her body stretched, twisted, and contorted unnaturally.

Even as her form grotesquely bent in reverse, Gaia’s eyes remained locked directly on Alice.

-BOOM!!!!

“….!”

At that moment, without warning, Gaia’s eyes rolled back.

Reason abandoned her as she began unleashing her overwhelming power, descending into a frenzied rampage.

Alice immediately issued real-time commands to the dolls.

There was no need to give verbal instructions.

Messages containing detailed orders imbued with Theresa’s guidance were transmitted in real-time to the dolls.

Earnest Rail’s masterpieces promptly entered combat mode, deploying all their armaments.

“Danger level detected: Class 1!”

“Anti-barrier deployed!”

“By order of the Executive Director, hostile entity is to be eradicated!”

“Combat mode initiated.”

“Commencing battle!”

-Ratatatatat!!!

The dolls instantly deployed their anti-mana barriers, suppressing Gaia’s rampage while firing piercing rounds designed to penetrate awakened abilities.

Gaia’s power was twisted vitality.

Ultimately, it could be classified as a form of energy or mana, and the anti-mana barriers of the 50 dolls temporarily controlled the waves of energy released by Gaia.

-Thwack!

-Crunch!

[“Ack! Ugh!?”]

Gaia’s incarnation was torn apart in an instant by the torrent of piercing rounds fired simultaneously by the 50 dolls.

Her eyes were obliterated, and her slender limbs were shattered by the rounds, causing her to scream in agony.

[“Hah… hehe… hiii…”]

However, such wounds were meaningless to the mother of twisted life.

Because she had taken on a human form, the pain was unbearable, and the suffering so great it was as though she shed tears of blood.

However, the countless lives Gaia absorbed on her way here were more than enough to reconstruct her body.

-Squelch!

Gaia walked forward as if being hit by bullets no longer caused her pain.

It didn’t matter anymore.

Alice had already realized that the dolls couldn’t stop Gaia.

【Multipurpose Auxiliary System, energy charge complete.】

【Mantis Blade – Holy Energy Sword activated.】

-Vrmmm!

Light gleamed on the mantis blade that emerged from Alice’s arm.

Energy, drawn through code release, was concentrated into the mantis blade, creating an aura of force around the blade that resembled the spinning teeth of a chainsaw.

“Sabrina.”

“Alice?”

“When I go, escape immediately with the girls.”

“What?! And you… what about you?”

“I’ll manage somehow.”

Alice shrugged as if it were nothing.

But in truth, it was everything.

Given the vitality Gaia had absorbed on her way here in her frenzied state, the battle might not even be feasible.

She hadn’t just consumed a few lives—she’d absorbed Second-Class Overseers, Third-Class Overseers, and even the vitality of an entire forest and its flora until it rotted and decayed.

Her existence itself was undoubtedly a calamity, and even in her current state, there was no guarantee of victory.

Still, this was the only option.

‘I was the Demon King once, so I should at least save the life of a struggling young baroness.’

[“Aliceeeee!!!!!!”]

[Wave of Thorned Trees]

Now was the time.

-BOOM!

With an enormous roar caused by the clash of powerful forces, cracks appeared in the air, centered on Alice and Gaia.

The cracks in the air were a phenomenon caused by the overwhelming mana and vitality, and immediately after, a shockwave erupted like an explosion.

The shockwave instantly collapsed the structures and mechanisms that had supported Earnest Rail’s underground facility.

The dolls, following Alice’s orders, ceased holding their positions and began retreating out of the danger zone, carrying Sabrina and the undead girls with them.

“Cough, wh-what about her!?”

“The Executive Director ordered your protection as the top priority.”

“If we don’t leave now, there is no chance of escaping with you alive.”

“Miss, Miss!! Let’s go together!”

However, the fifty dolls systematically deployed their barriers and began fleeing to the surface, holding Sabrina and the undead girls securely at their sides.

Sabrina clenched her teeth at the sight of Alice disappearing with the shockwave.

If only her physical condition had been better, she could have helped…!

Alice’s survival was essential for smoothly facilitating the inspection for humanity integration for herself and her kind, but Sabrina was not cold-hearted enough to abandon her benefactor and run away.

“Let me go, let me go!”

“You are of no use to the Executive Director in this situation. Stand down.”

However, the doll only tightened its grip on Sabrina, binding her more firmly.