Haruto's voice remained calm from beginning to end.

He did not become emotional because of what the Cursed Children had suffered. Nor did he change tone when sentencing the destruction of civilization.

But it was exactly this cold indifference—

That struck the deepest fear.

Silence is the greatest contempt.

If someone screams that they're going to destroy the world—

They're probably just a madman.

But if someone calmly says: "I will destroy the world. Here are my reasons. Here is my method."

Then it's probably best you start panicking.

"Wait! Hold on! Let's do the vote again! The machines must've malfunctioned!"

Suddenly, an official shouted from the side. That statement immediately caused those around him to react.

"Yeah, exactly! The voting machines must've broken—how else could the approval rate be so low?!"

"The last law passed by Her Eminence the Saint had at least a ten percent approval rate—this one must be wrong!"

"You've got to at least give us a chance to explain! These numbers are obviously faulty—they shouldn't count!"

How laughable.

That pathetic approval rate—

Was now the very thing they clung to for justification.

But Haruto didn't spare them a single glance.

His silence drove the Tokyo Area's higher-ups into madness.

"My lord! It was him! During the voting period, he told everyone to vote against it! He threatened people with their housing rights!"

Someone screamed while pointing at a colleague.

Sure enough—It was one of the officials who had once stood atop Tokyo Tower. One of them was in charge of Tokyo's housing authority. He had power over entire residential districts. Just a few words from him, and someone could be evicted.

While he couldn't legally take away housing without compensation—

All he had to do was lower the compensation—And force people to move multiple times.

Eventually, they'd collapse.

He didn't even need to issue direct threats.

Just express his opinion—

And give residents a certain look.

They'd automatically comply.

Besides, those residents didn't want the Cursed Children to live well anyway.

Even those who considered voting in favor—

Only did so because the third version of the law had clauses with personal benefits.

Under threat, it was easy to give up on something not yet gained.

With the first betrayal, more followed.

Second. Third.

The entire crowd here consisted of Tokyo Area's upper echelon. They knew every dirty secret within the administration. Now they were losing their minds, accusing each other.

The things they shouted—

Were enough to shatter anyone's perception of reality. In truth, these officials weren't usually this unstable.

In the past, you'd never get them to publicly expose these things.

But Haruto had terrified them far too much.

So much they had lost reason.

And as he listened to their dirty schemes unravel—Haruto simply continued calmly with what he was doing.

From the Kamui Space, Haruto pulled out a Gastrea.

It was a massive spider.

Its eight legs stretched out, each over two meters long.

A standard Stage One Gastrea.

The surrounding officials who had just been screaming at each other—Now staggered back in terror, some even screaming.

Even though it was only a Stage One, the kind that ordinary Cursed Children could easily kill. The kind that got hunted daily by Initiators.

At that moment, Rentaro Satomi finally burst forth from the crowd.

He stared intently at Haruto.

In fact, he had followed long ago.

He had simply remained silent until now.

Because deep down, he too believed that what Haruto had said—

Was true.

That the people of this world really were parasites.

Everything Haruto said—every image he showed—

Was indisputable fact.

There was no room for rebuttal.

Even so—

The moment he saw a Gastrea, Rentaro instinctively leapt forward.

On guard for Haruto's next move.

But Haruto—Simply held the Stage One spider Gastrea in one hand.

Despite being known for slaughter and fear, the Gastrea in Haruto's hand behaved like a docile doll. With his other hand, Haruto reached again into Kamui Space—

And pulled out a transparent syringe.

Inside was a spiral of crimson liquid.

It was none other than the Blacklight Virus that Haruto had stored.

Only—

This version was the fully uncut strain.

The moment Rentaro saw the syringe—

His mind exploded with a blaring alarm.

A sixth sense stronger than ever before—Told him something catastrophic was coming.

He didn't hesitate.

Rentaro charged forward, aiming to snatch the syringe from Haruto's hand.

He didn't know what it was.

But his instincts screamed:

This must be the thing that will destroy the world.

Even with his cybernetic limbs at full power—

Firing multiple propulsion rounds from his legs and arms—

His speed still couldn't match Haruto.

Haruto easily stabbed the syringe into the Stage One Gastrea's body.

Then calmly watched as Rentaro passed right through him and flew off again.

This kid just never learns, huh…

Haruto wanted to say that.

But he held it back.

He simply continued speaking:

[Now then, here is how the world will be destroyed—by this thing right here.]

As he spoke, Haruto gave the Gastrea beside him a light knock.

At that moment—

The Gastrea's body began to visibly twist and distort.

It was as if something inside it was churning violently.

Trying to burst through its flesh.

Everyone watching felt a deep, overwhelming dread.

Even though they didn't know what was happening—

Anything related to Gastrea was, to this world, a catastrophe.

[This is a different virus. Its name is Blacklight. It's stronger than the Gastrea virus.]

[Blacklight doesn't eliminate the Gastrea virus. Instead, it devours and evolves alongside it.]

[In practice—it looks like this.]

As Haruto spoke—

He sidestepped another charging Rentaro.

While doing so, he kicked him in the gut and took the pistol from his belt.

The kick landed squarely—

Rentaro was sent flying, crashing into the distant Crystal Palace wall.

He vomited blood—

His organs nearly ruptured, his body twisted unnaturally.

Haruto, meanwhile, raised Rentaro's pistol—

And aimed it at the twisting Gastrea.

He pulled the trigger.

The next moment, the sound of metal colliding echoed.

In the projection, everyone clearly saw the bullet bounce off harmlessly.

Anyone who knew anything about Gastrea—Would be filled with terror upon seeing this. A Stage One Gastrea shouldn't be able to withstand ordinary bullets.

Normal ammo could hurt them, even if it couldn't stop their regeneration.

But now—

Even this high-caliber pistol couldn't penetrate it.

It was as if the creature had leveled up completely.

But what truly crushed all hope—

Was what came next.

Haruto removed the gun's magazine.

Inside were black bullets.

The entire world seemed to choke in unison.

Those were Varanium rounds.

And even Varanium couldn't penetrate?

They watched in stunned horror as Haruto took out one bullet—

Walked up to the Gastrea—

And pressed the Varanium round into its flesh.

A wound appeared—

But the moment Haruto let go—

The bullet was spat out from the wound.

And the injury instantly healed.

Seeing that—

Everyone in the world fell into despair at once.

Varanium could no longer suppress the regeneration.

Which meant—

This Gastrea was now, in theory—

Unkillable.

Varanium had no effect.

This overturned everything.

Shattered the very foundations of their worldview.

Maybe the Initiators could help?

That was the last hope anyone could think of.

But too bad—

Every Cursed Child and Initiator on the planet—

Had already been taken in by the SCP Foundation.

There were no more Cursed Children in the world.

Within the projection—

The Gastrea infected by the Blacklight Virus—

Continued to twist, swell, grow new limbs, and evolve wildly.

With every evolution—

Despair spread like a storm—

Blanketing the entire world.