Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

Rudy made a quick guess of the height of the statue, and it seemed to be taller than a thousand meters.

"How did I not see this before?" he wondered.

Rudy approached Lu Bela from behind and shot a weak lightning bolt at her.

Lu Bela slightly jolted and turned around with a furious look on her face, but her facial expression changed when she saw Rudy.

"Was that you?"

"Yes."

"Why would you do that?"

"I was checking the resistance of your new body."

Rudy landed in front of Lu Bela and asked, "How did we miss the statue the last time we were here?"

"We didn't miss it. It had been broken into multiple parts, and most of the parts had driven away. It took my crew thirteen hours to find all of them."

"What's it made of? I can't recognize the color of this metal."

"Oh, it's not metal. It's an ancient marble. It doesn't rust in water, fade in sunlight, or depreciate with time. It even glows at night and provides pleasant and warm light to the kingdom.

We just finished fixing it." Lu Bela held Rudy's hand and said, "Let's watch it from the air."

Rudy hugged Lu Bela with one arm and jumped in the air.

"Whose statue is this, though? I presume the ruler of this kingdom or, perhaps, the entire continent?"

"No. This is the statue of the founder of this land. I know nothing about him, though. He had already passed away by the time I was created. And then we left this continent to be secluded from the humans.

When I returned to this continent, the statue was making-in progress. Apparently, it was in work for three thousand years. The kings and lords, generation by generation, made a part of the statue.

It's incredible how they managed to make it this tall. And since they put so much effort into it, he must be a benefactor of both humankind and the other races."

Rudy finally laid his eyes on the statue's face and stared at it with a curious look on his face. His gaze slowly turned wistful and then fury.

He raised his hand in the air and swiped it in the air across the statue's face.

"....!"

Lu Bela was confused as to what Rudy just did. Until she saw the head of the statue sliding from the rest of its body and rolling down. Had the statue hit the ground, it would surely have created a power wave that would have destroyed half of the kingdom.

Thus, Rudy moved his hand to the falling head and closed his fist tightly, squeezing the giant's head into the size of the tennis ball— although the weight remained the same.

He opened a void hole and threw it into the endless space.

"..."

Lu Bela was utterly bewildered by Rudy's action and couldn't comprehend what her eyes witnessed.

"Why… why would you do that?!" She exclaimed aloud, coming back to her senses.

Rudy didn't move his gaze from the headless statue, in fact, his glare sharpened.

"Well… this is your island and your land, but… if you didn't want the statue… you would have just told me. I would have shifted it somewhere else. He was a historical figure still admired by many to this day.

He is in every history book although his name has been altered during translation; a different spelling that led to a different pronunciation."

"The speaking accents and dialects are partly to be blamed as well," she added.

Not only did Rudy cleave the statue's head, but he destroyed the head beyond repair by compressing it to the size of a tennis ball.

"Do you know anything about that man?" Rudy asked in an emotionless voice.

"Personally, I don't. But I have heard things about him. If you want to learn more about it, I can list a few books that have mentions of him."

"For some reason… as soon as I saw his face… something snapped inside me. I felt so angry…. a flame… a fury awakened inside me. My blood boiled. I don't know why, but I hate that man. I don't even know his name, but I despise him to my core."

"...."

"You probably think I have lost it… but I can't explain."

Lu Bela shook her head and calmly said, "You don't need to explain yourself, Rudy. There must be a reason. I will try to find out more by talking with other artificial humans who were created before me.

I haven't contacted them in a long time, nor do I know where they are. They might be dead. They all had given up on life, just like me… they all wished to die. Some killed themselves, while others waited… to seek a reason to live…"

Lu Bela's eyes were filled with sorrow and an untold tale, a sad memory of her past, which didn't bother her but still made her old wounds ache.

"Thank you, Lu Bela."

"Leaving that aside, how do you like my work?" she asked while pointing her hand to the castle.

"It's great…"

"I had to destroy the outer areas of the island to make it symmetrical from all sides. I have completely rebuilt this kingdom, just like it was in its glory. But I used modern techniques and materials."

"What's the difference?" Rudy's eyes moved to Lu Bela.

"It's not as robust as it used to be."

"And what about the castle?"

"I didn't compromise there. In fact, I used the parts from the city to renovate the castle. Almost everything is completely renovated. We added modern and advanced devices and everyday household needs."

Lu Bela cheerfully responded.

"So, is it ready?"

Lu Bela nodded and said, "It will be ready by night. Give me twelve more hours."

"Sure."

"I will ask for my payment after that." She added with a wry smile.