The Fourth Choir

A tense silence fell over the conference room as everyone except Skayla struggled to process Atena’s report, which stated that Manavores did not possess Mana Stones.

“Umm... can someone explain why the Kraken being stoneless is such a big deal?” Skayla asked hesitantly.

“Right... you aren’t familiar with Chimeras either,” Sera said as she sat across from Skayla.

“Great... another secret I don’t know about,” Skayla said with a pout.

“Obviously,” Lina replied. “Information about Chimeras is classified and only available to those serving the Kingdom.”

“BOOO~!” Skayla complained.

“Chimeras are illegally created monsters made by combining selected parts from several different monsters into a single life-form,” Sera explained. “They are the closest modern equivalent to the Manavores created during the Age of Chaos.”

“Oh... I see,” Skayla said. “So why is being stoneless so shocking?”

“Every living thing has mana veins,” Sera continued. “Even when combining different monster parts, the veins must be properly aligned. Without a stable flow of mana, the individual parts will stop functioning and rot. A Mana Stone therefore serves as the foundation that connects the veins and stabilizes the Chimera.”

“By that logic, are we saying the Kraken wasn’t created during our era?” Skayla asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sera answered. “As far as I know, its lack of a Mana Stone leaves us with two possibilities. Either someone discovered records about the Manavores and recreated one during our era, or the Kraken truly came from the Age of Chaos.”

“Wait... if Manavores didn’t use Mana Stones as a foundation, what did they use?” Lina asked.

Everyone turned toward Seidon, who had been unusually quiet as he stared down at the table.

“Manavores weren’t created using monster parts,” Seidon said, his expression twisting with disgust. “They were created using only one thing—humans.”

Everyone began talking at once as they struggled to process the horrifying truth.

“Why would they use humans?” Lina asked. “As far as I recall, humanity was already on the brink of extinction, so why sacrifice even more people?”

“They wanted to use the Mana Organs found inside human bodies to absorb and store the mana extracted from the Automatons’ Mana Cores,” Seidon explained. “The bastards responsible sacrificed thousands of people they considered damaged in those taboo experiments.”

“Damaged?” Sera asked, disturbed by the word.

“Anyone they no longer considered valuable enough to waste their limited resources on,” Seidon answered, struggling to contain his disgust. “The elderly, the severely injured, and parentless children who had no one to protect them when they were rounded up.”

The voices from Lina’s nightmare suddenly echoed through her mind.

It hurts...

Someone save us...

I want to go home...

Lina’s face grew pale as Seidon placed a copy of an illustration recovered by Atena onto the table.

The illustration showed several thin, bald humans with pale white eyes floating inside a large glass container filled with clear liquid.

Lina began sweating profusely upon recognizing the container from her nightmare.

“People were placed inside these glass chambers and subjected to an unknown process that fused their bodies into seemingly emotionless humanoid monsters,” Seidon continued, pointing toward the illustration. “By merging multiple humans together, their Mana Organs expanded into a single artificial organ capable of draining and storing enormous amounts of mana without destroying itself.”

“Why didn’t they use a Mana Stone instead?” Lesha asked.

“Because that would’ve benefited the Automatons,” Seidon answered. “Every bit of mana absorbed by the Manavore would’ve fed the Mana Stone inside it, causing the stone to grow larger and more powerful. If the Automatons destroyed the Manavore, they could simply harvest the Mana Stone and reclaim the mana it had stolen.”

Seidon’s hands curled into fists.

“By using human Mana Organs, they ensured that no Mana Stone would remain after a Manavore was defeated in battle. This denied the Automatons any spoils from battle, but it came at the cost of thousands of human lives.”

“D-D-Did Master Atena mention how many humans were used to create a single Manavore?” Lina asked hesitantly.

Seidon averted his gaze, unwilling to answer.

“Please tell us,” Lina pleaded. “It’s something we need to know.”

“Atena’s report identified three recognized Choirs: Vessels, Principalities, and Dominions,” Seidon explained. “Vessels were created using between twenty and thirty humans, mainly elderly people and children whose Mana Organs were either deteriorating or naturally smaller. Principalities required fifty to seventy humans, while Dominions required between one hundred and one hundred fifty.”

Everyone stared at him in disbelief.

“Did the Kraken belong to the Dominion Choir?” Lesha asked.

Seidon remained silent for several seconds before slowly closing his eyes.

“The Kraken belonged to a classified fourth Choir known as the Heralds,” he answered hesitantly. “It was part of the Seven Saviors Project.”

Lina tightened her grip around the edge of the table, recalling that familiar name.

“How many humans did they use?” she asked.

“Each Herald required exactly... six hundred and sixty-six humans whose Mana Organs were still in peak condition,” Seidon revealed.

“S-S-SIX HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX?!” Sera and Lesha shouted, shooting out of their chairs.

Seidon glanced toward Lina and Skayla, who had both fallen silent and were trembling.

“Does that mean we killed just over six hundred human beings?” Skayla asked, struggling to hold back her tears.

Sera quickly pulled Skayla against her chest as tears rolled down Skayla’s cheeks.

“What you two destroyed was a Manavore,” Seidon said. “Regardless of whether the creature came from thousands of years ago or was created during our era, there was no possibility of those people retaining their individual identities after being fused together.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Lina said, shaking her head. “The people used to create the Herald still retained their sense of self. I heard them crying and begging for someone to save them.”

“How do you know that?” Sera asked. “What are you keeping from us?”

Lina remained silent as she stared at the concerned faces around her. Skayla, meanwhile, wore a blissful grin as she enjoyed being pressed against Sera’s chest.

Lina then told everyone about the nightmare she had experienced the previous night. She described the doctors, the glass container, the Automatons, and the countless voices trapped inside the creature.

The room grew increasingly quiet as Lina explained how the original humanoid Manavore had returned to the facility it called home. She then described the destruction of the glass container, the attack on The Southern Flame, and the red stone that caused its body to transform into the colossal Kraken they had fought.

Everything Lina described seemed too vivid to be a dream and sounded far more like a memory.

After several painful seconds of silence, Skayla suddenly pulled herself away from Sera’s chest and shot to her feet, pointing directly at Lina.

“LINA!” she shouted. “YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU WERE A SUCCUBUS?!”

“Huh?” everyone muttered, confused by Skayla’s comment.

“I mean, you somehow read the Kraken’s memories, so doesn’t that make you a Succubus?” Skayla asked.

Everyone burst into laughter except Lina, whose face turned bright red with embarrassment.

“THAT’S NOT WHAT A SUCCUBUS IS, YOU MORON!” Lina shouted, smacking Skayla on the head.

“OW!” Skayla cried, holding the back of her head.

“Skayla, a Succubus is a monster that drains men of their physical vitality, not their memories,” Sera explained, struggling to contain her laughter. “I think you’re thinking of a Mare or a Phobetor.”

“OHHH!” Skayla exclaimed before sitting back down. “Oops.”

The tense mood finally lifted as everyone began laughing.