Nikke, something’s seriously wrong with this evacuation point! Chapter 109 109: Three Choices

"Heey, handso, just what kind of image did you have of in your head?"

Red Hood spoke in a teasing tone, openly sizing Charon up with an aggressive gaze. To her, the concept of feminine restraint simply didn't exist.

"Was I so unbelievably gorgeous beauty? Hahahahaha!"

"Well, everyone knows Red Hood is supposed to be a soft, sweet little blonde girl," Charon sighed and shook his head.

"And you… are very far from that image."

"Compared to Red Hood, you feel more like the hunter from the story."

"Eh? Eeeeh? There's an interpretation like that too?"

This was apparently the first ti anyone had talked to her about the fairy tale her codena ca from.

"Then what about my teammates? What are they supposed to be like under 'normal circumstances'?"

[Red Hood, what are you doing?]

Snow White's voice echoed faintly through the communicator.

[Why are you chatting with him now?]

"Uh… ahaha, sorry, sorry. I'm just genuinely curious! Honestly, I barely even rember the details of the fairy tale Red Hood anymore. Ahahaha."

After laughing it off, she stopped pressing the topic and stared at Charon again.

"So then, handso, you're the one leading those girls now?"

"I'm not their commander."

Charon answered calmly, though even he felt like his lines sounded suspiciously villain-like.

"I simply gave people who were headed toward destruction a chance to survive. That's all."

"So this so-called 'chance to survive' ans rging with Raptures?"

"They had no other road left."

Charon smiled faintly.

"Let's end this topic here. You people are still just the Central Governnt's mouthpieces. If you can't offer terms worth discussing, then go back."

"The girls here stopped letting others drag them around a long ti ago."

"Sorry, can't do that."

Red Hood expression shifted slightly, as though she'd just heard sothing she personally found difficult to repeat.

Even so, she forced herself to continue.

"There's no evidence proving you won't betray humanity. According to the scans… so of you have already reached nearly fifty percent conversion."

"At that point… calling yourselves Nikke doesn't really…"

By the end of the sentence, even she looked uncomfortable.

Lowering her head slightly, she muttered rapidly under her breath:

"Oi, Dorothy, what kind of crap are you making say here? What if they get pissed off?"

[Say it exactly as written, Red Hood.]

Dorothy's calm voice ca through the communicator.

[So truths need to be laid out openly before they'll seriously think about whether this path is truly worth it.]

"All of this talk is aningless."

Charon sighed.

"Once you're dead, everything ends. So why obsess over titles and appearances?"

"You need to understand sothing first. These girls are not the Goddess Squad."

"Strictly speaking, most of them barely even exist in the public eye. Even if they vanished tomorrow, trust –you wouldn't see a single announcent about it anywhere."

"Just like countless mass-produced Nikkes, they'd simply disappear into the corners of history, forgotten by everyone."

He no longer sounded interested in arguing.

"Goddess Squad. I know you ca here with orders."

"So let's hear it."

"What exactly are your terms?"

Red Hood fell silent.

For so reason, even though she was supposed to hold the advantage, the montum of the conversation had been completely seized by this seemingly powerless human man.

Dorothy kept speaking nonstop through the earpiece, but Red Hood couldn't get a proper response out.

[Red Hood Stop spacing out!]

"Ah–right, right, I got it."

She grumbled a little before looking back at Charon.

"Uh… wait, what were the conditions again?"

[…I'll say them. You repeat them.]

"Roger that."

Red Hood straightened up and began awkwardly repeating Dorothy's terms word for word.

Because she stuffed the explanation full of pauses and filler noises like "uhhh" and "mmm," the actual aning boiled down to this:

Option One:

The lee Squad removes all Rapture parts and prosthetics.

All mbers will be transferred to the Wings of Victory as support personnel.

They will receive unlimited Goddesium supplies and thereafter operate under the Goddess Squad's command.

Option Two:

Complete the squad's original mission.

Fight until only one survivor remains.

That final survivor will be accepted into the Goddess Squad as the radiant Fairy Tale Model No. 6.

Option Three:

Continue resisting.

Doing so will be treated as an act of betrayal against humanity.

The Goddess Squad will personally apprehend all deserters and hand them over to governnt facilities for "processing."

"What a beautifully packaged offer."

Charon laughed softly.

"The one behind this is Dorothy, right?"

"How the hell did you know it was her?!"

Red Hood looked genuinely shocked.

[Because the kind of people we are is already known throughout the world.]

Dorothy replied coldly.

[There's no reason to act so shocked over sothing so obvious. It isn't elegant.]

"Then let ask you sothing, Dorothy."

Charon's smile remained unchanged, but in his mind he was still recalling the sight of Liliweiss shutting down before his eyes.

"You call yourselves humanity's hope. Humanity's victorious goddesses."

"That's only because humanity still finds you useful."

"But what happens one day… when the Goddess Squad itself becos an obstacle to humanity?"

[That would never happen!]

Dorothy's voice instantly rose in volu, making Red Hood wince from the noise in her comms.

[The Goddess Squad is humanity's hope! Humanity's Goddess of Victory! We will protect humanity until our final breath!]

"You misunderstood my point."

Charon smiled faintly.

"But that's fine. I'm too lazy to explain it twice."

He lifted his eyes toward the Wings of Victory hanging in the sky.

"Then let give you my answer as well."

"But before that…"

He turned around and looked toward Scarlet, who stood behind him with one hand resting on her sword, prepared to strike at any mont.

"Everyone."

"Do you trust my decision?"

[Lieutenant, after everything we've gone through to get here, there's no need to ask that anymore.]

Rose's voice sounded through the comms.

[No matter what choice you make, we'll follow behind you.]

Scarlet said nothing.

But her gaze was even firr than Red Hood's.

Her hand rested against the sword at her waist, maintaining a stance ready to attack at any second.

That alone already made her answer obvious.

"Thank you, everyone."

Charon turned back toward Red Hood.

"O goddesses."

"Our answer is–"

"None of the above."

[What–?!]

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, that's cheating!"

Even Red Hood thought this was absurd.

She personally disliked the second and third options too, but the first offer had been extrely generous by comparison.

She had honestly assud he would pick it.

"Option Four."

Charon smiled.

"You take that useless bastard with you."

"I'll continue living out here with the girls."

"And from this point onward, we will have nothing more to do with human society."

"What do you think about that?"