The third Golem raised its arms and sprouted what looked like ivy vines,
attempting to bind Gerhilde with them. In a flash, Gerhilde's arms were both
tied together.
"Outta... my way!" Gerhilde forced its arms apart and yanked, pulling the
massive Golem toward it, and then began swinging the creature around in the
air. After a few swings, she let go, sending the Golem crashing into a crowd of
its peers. Holy shit!
"[Boost]!" A magical crimson flame engulfed Gerhilde, signifying its shift into
high power mode. After that, it began splintering the Golems one after the
other. Her pile bunkers drove one after the other into the Golem cores, causing
their massive bodies to wither away in quick succession.
...I made a good call with the pile bunker. I can understand why it's so admired
by manly mecha fans. It's overwhelming everything head-on with sheer power!
There's no trickery, there's no jokes! It's just raw penetration, over and over
again!
"Die, die, die! Get crushed, trash! If you're just gonna stand around, then you
deserve it! Ahahaha!"
Wow. She's uh, really getting into it.
It didn't seem like there was anything those crystal stakes couldn't break.
Gerhilde was like a crimson goddess of death, exuding raw power on the field.
The Golems rotted one after the other, becoming scraps of worthless wood.
"Smaaash!" Gerhilde stood atop the mound of decaying wood, fist raised into
the air. She'd done it. She was undefeated.
We didn't even get a chance to see what Bowman had added. Not that it
mattered, since it was clearly a failure.
Still, Gerhilde had exceeded all expectations. Without using its full power,
too...
This deadly Frame Gear would be a powerful boon indeed against the Upper
Constructs.
I looked up at the shining red robot with a smile on my face. Things were
finally looking up.
◇ ◇ ◇
"I-It's not my fault! It was just a series of unfortunate events! Th-That's all!"
We were all in the royal palace, watching Bowman sputter out his excuses.
He had strengthened the Behemoths by attaching a modified species of
parasitic plant to their backs. The parasites fed on the nutrients of the host and
unlocked their latent potential in exchange. That was what I'd seen when I first
saw the Golems on the plains.
But as it turns out, the parasites were conscious. Conscious enough to usurp
the minds of the Golems and override the control collars that had been imbued
into them. It also rendered any conditioned commands useless. The Golems all
went berserk as a result, resulting in the rampage.
"Golems aside, those parasitic plants were highly experimental! You did
something horrendously dangerous by forcibly modifying them and attaching
them to the Golems. Not only that, but you deliberately ignored your own staff
and went ahead anyway." Knight Commander Limit flicked through various
laboratory notes as she made her commentary. It seems they'd been seized
from Bowman's lab.
"Goodness gracious... Did you not consider that this might come with risk? Do
you even know how many you've victimized through your own
thoughtlessness?!"
"Now you listen here, Governor Audrey! The risk was calculated! It wasn't
highly likely to occur at all! I would've never expected them to take over the
Golem's minds! Nobody would've! This rampage was just an accident, a
misjudgment. I certainly can't be blamed for it! I didn't destroy the city!"
Bowman glared at Audrey as he spat his words out. It just felt like a bunch of
excuses to me. He was one of the first to flee from the lab after all. Commander
Limit found him cowering in the storehouse.
"Did you even need to improve the Golems? Our official talks were
converging on accepting Brunhild's aid. We were set to announce it officially
tomorrow. Why did you do something so reckless when our course of action
was already settled?!"
Oh, that's good at least. According to Audrey, four of the seven provinces that
made up the Roadmare Union agreed to cooperate with Brunhild.
Roadmare was made up of the Central Province, the Highland Province, the
Mountain Province, the Lakeside Province, the Riverside Province, the Great
Plains Province, and the Forge Province. Of those, the highlands, mountains,
lakeside, and forge were all in support of accepting Brunhild. Central and the
great plains opposed it, while the riverside remained neutral.
An official democratic vote of province representatives was to take place the
following day...
"Lady Audrey, I'm willing to bet it was because people started to doubt his
Golems after Brunhild's Frame Gear defeated one in combat. There were many
that said our budget should be diverted elsewhere after that incident. He likely
made a desperate attempt to strengthen his Golems in order to retain
laboratory funding and also save himself from being publicly shamed." As Limit
spoke, Bowman keeled over and began to shudder in irritation, sorrow, or
anger.
That's how it is, huh...? All that to prevent budget cuts?
"Those Golems of yours were total trash, by the way. I took them all out by
myself. Pathetic..." Elze sneered at Bowman, which made him look up at her.
His expression was one of combined shock and grief.
"Y-You... You defeated my enhanced Golems... a-alone...? B-But...."
"You shouldn't have attempted to employ something beyond your control.
This is a serious crime, Doctor Bowman. You modified them for no good reason,
which makes you accountable for their rampage. We're revoking your degree
and formally dismissing you from your post. We'll also have you serve time in
the Mountain Province's mines. Is that acceptable, Doge?"
"A-Ah... Y-Yes, of course... He must take responsibility, o-of course." Audrey
spoke sternly and confidently. In contrast, the Doge muttered and shook his
head quietly.
It was obvious why. The one who had given Bowman the power he wielded
was the Doge, after all. In a way, he too was partially responsible for this mess.
Bowman was taken away by a few knights. There had been victims during this
tragedy, resulting in several deaths. They probably hadn't executed him due to
his prior services to the country.
"Now then... Doge. Have the town of Recept evacuated. The situation is
urgent, and the invasion should begin soon. Send your fastest messenger."
"W-Wait just a moment... What if we have them evacuate and nothing
happens? What do you propose we do then, hm?"
"Are you really still babbling on at this point...? If nothing happens, we'll
formally apologize and compensate them for time and effort wasted. Would
you rather we left them there to be slaughtered? I don't think that'd look very
good either." The Doge flinched slightly as Audrey reprimanded him. He did as
she asked and sent his fastest horse toward the town. Quite rightly, I believed.
"Grand Duke. Please oversee the evacuation of Rimroad, Emynas, and Recept.
We'll also permit the deployment of Brunhild's Frame Gears within our
territory. Isn't that right, Doge?"
"A-Ah... Y-Yes." The Doge stood there nodding at everything Audrey told him.
It was hard to tell who the actual leader was supposed to be.
Either way, we were permitted to intercept the incoming Phrase invasion.
"Thanks for your help. We'll do our best to deal with what's coming. We're
going to start deploying our Frame Gears around the area we expect the Phrase
to emerge, then." It was likely they'd start appearing in under a day, so I had to
make haste.
I returned to Brunhild castle and organized my troops. Knight Commander
Lain and her Vice-Commanders Norn and Nikola would be leading nineteen
troops each. That would make up three platoons of twenty, commanders
included. They'd be stationed as sentries, taking shifts to keep watch on the
area.
Brunhild would be left mostly defenseless, but the old men and the remaining
soldiers would be more than enough to take care of the place.
I was lending eighteen Chevaliers and two Knight Barons to each of the allied
nations. I had them waiting on standby in their own territories. I didn't want a
bunch of different nations sitting around in Roadmare's territory during the
waiting period, after all.
My fiancees all said they wished to sortie in battle together, but I decided not
to let Leen and Sue participate.
I was uneasy about having Sue participate in such risky combat for no reason,
and Leen had yet to master the basics of Frame Gear piloting.
Elze would be piloting her Gerhilde, and everyone else would be in Knight
Barons fitted with their respective weapons. Yae's would have a Phrasium
Katana, Hilde's would have a Phrasium Sword, Lu's would have two Phrasium
Daggers, and Yumina and Linze both would be equipped with the long-range
Fragarach weapons.
I also asked Rosetta and Monica to sortie in the rear just in case of
emergencies like minibots or Frame Gears getting trashed.
"Sir! All the Frame Gears are equipped with crystal weaponry this time, sir!
That puts us at a considerable tactical advantage!" There was a lot of crystal
debris after the battle at Yulong. I expected this battle to be a lot cleaner.
I took Brunhild's Frame Gears with me through a portal and we came out by a
forest that was a little bit away from where we expected the Phrase to emerge.
There were plains as far as the eye could see, with a few mountains in the
distance. Clouds blew by in a gentle breeze, and I could hear gentle birdsong. It
was hard to believe this place would soon become a hellish battlefield.
"Alright, this'll be our HQ." I smoothed the ground using magic, and
teleported in a few mobile homes from Babylon's Hangar.
These buildings were imbued with a similar effect to my [Storage] spell,
making them bigger on the inside. They were kept at an ambient temperature
too, so they made a good place for the knights to relax. Plus, I'd prepared
blankets and beds, so they'd have a place to rest if need be.
I numbered the buildings, as well. Building 1 was for the meeting hall, and
Building 2 was the cafeteria. I also called in a third building that women could
freely use.
So long as Roadmare was evacuated properly, then the citizens would find
themselves heading right our way. Then we'd be able to keep them safe.
We'd also be able to easily spot if the Phrase appeared thanks to the longdistance lenses on the Frame Gears. We were in a vast plain, so there were no
obstacles to worry about.
"Think they'll come?"
"I'd prefer it if they didn't, honestly. But it'll be awkward if they don't... I'd
have a lot of explaining to do." I was playing a game of shogi with Nikola on the
roof of one of the buildings. There was little else to do while we waited, after
all.
I opened up my map and saw that the evacuation was proceeding as planned.
"Is Lady Moroha participating this time?"
"Mm, well... Moroha can't operate a Frame Gear at all. It's beyond her, really.
She's only good with swords." In truth, she just wasn't all that interested in
piloting them. I bet if she managed it, she'd be a serious asset, though...
"Either way, she said she'd fight. I gave her a crystal sword, so we'll see how it
goes."
"She'll... fight?"
"Yep. Boots on the ground." Nikola stared at me blankly for a few moments
before shaking his head and muttering.
"Well, I suppose anything's possible for your family..." He spoke in a halfwhisper, seemingly amused.
She's not my blood-related sister or anything...
In truth, I wasn't all that worried about the upcoming battle. We'd had time
to prepare, and there wouldn't be as many as there were in Yulong.
I was nervous about the Upper Construct, though. If it was similar to the
Crocodile Phrase we'd fought before, we'd probably be able to manage fine,
but if it had a beam attack we'd be in serious trouble. I vividly recalled how it
blew away Yulong's capital despite being miles and miles away from it. I was
pretty sure I had a good way to counter it, but I couldn't be sure until it
happened.
I'd also collected the necessary materials for a Meteor Rain attack, since that
helped greatly the last time.
Still, it was an inaccurate attack that couldn't tell friend from foe, and it ate up
magic like crazy. It would also do serious damage to the ground.
True, it made for a good pre-emptive strike against the initially emerging
Phrase, but I wanted to avoid using it unless absolutely necessary.
And so, we waited as almost an entire day passed. The evacuation had pretty
much completed. I looked on my map and found no signs of human life in the
nearby towns. It was just a waiting game at this point... Waiting for the
invaders.
Nothing happened on the second day, either. I really didn't want them to
show up in the middle of the night. They were hard to see in the dark due to the
material their bodies were formed out of. As I pondered the best way to fight
them in the cover of darkness, the third day came.
As we were eating breakfast, we finally heard news from one of the
watchmen.
"There's a crack in space! The Phrase are starting to emerge!" The warning
rang out through the headquarters, and the sleeping soldiers got up to climb
into their Frame Gears.
There was still some time left. I used it wisely, hopping from portal to portal in
order to inform each nation's army of the emergence. Then, I brought them all
back with me.
There were a total of two-hundred Frame Gears all lined up, facing the crack.
They were prepared to intercept.
"Milord! It's getting bigger!" I used [Long Sense] to peek at the crack, and
sure enough I could see part of a crystal body poking its way out.
A loud noise rang out, kind of like shattered glass, and Phrase began to pour
out of the crack, almost like they were rolling down a slope.
After a while they all tumbled out, and space returned to normal.
"Most of them look like Lesser and Intermediate Constructs... Where's the
Upper?"
"It takes a while for the Upper Constructs to pass through. It was the same
last time, remember?"
"Oh, yeah... That's ri— Wah!" I was using [Long Sense], so I hadn't noticed
Ende standing next to me. This guy... He sure is good at popping up without
warning.
"It'll take about thirty minutes until it gets here, I think. We should mop up
these guys before then." Ende split the slide in his hand, and his monochrome
Dragoon appeared. He hastily boarded it. Man, this guy...
"Search. Total number of Phrase."
"Searching... Eight-thousand-one-hundred-and-forty-one in total." That
meant there were around sixty percent of the amount in Yulong. "How many
are Intermediate Constructs?"
"Searching... Complete. Eight-hundred-and-nine." So about ten percent of
them... Just like last time. I wonder if there's some kinda rule here...
I summoned forth Valkyries and had them carry cameras to serve as a live
feed. The rulers of each nation in the command center would know the
situation of the battle thanks to that. I had the leaders of Roadmare's provinces
there as well. I didn't want them blaming me for anything like in Yulong's case.
HQ was also equipped with spare Frame Gears, and Rosetta, Monica, Flora,
and Leen were on standby too. The emergency escape magic also had HQ as the
primary target.
"Touya, they're on the move." I heard Yumina's voice through the
communicator. I'd set it so Elze's Gerhilde and the Knight Barons all had a direct
line with me. I'd found stuff in the storehouse that let me upgrade my comms,
which was nice.
I invoked [Long Sense] once more to check on the front lines. It was just as
Yumina had told me, they were marching onward.
Oh, there's flying ones... Manta Phrase, and... Oh, that's new. A dolphin...?
No... It's an Orca Phrase... Flying here, too. That's definitely an Intermediate
Class.
"Alright, let's get this started." I opened up [Storage] and took out two
greatswords. Naturally, I held one in each hand.
"All units! The battle begins now! Follow your respective commanders! Let's
send these Phrase back to hell!"
"HOO-AAAH!" The very earth rumbled as the Frame Gears charged toward
their targets.
I used [Fly] and went off to wipe out the flying ones.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Manta Phrase and Orca Phrase were approaching from the front.
However, the Manta was moving a bit faster. It swerved, attempting to cleave
at me with its body.
I wasn't going to be beaten that easily, though. I swerved to the side and cut
it in half as I flew by.
Suddenly, an orb of light appeared around the Orca Phrase's head. Crap.
After a couple of moments, it fired the orb at me. So it's another ranged
attacker... I slashed this one too, destroying its core as well.
There were more Mantas and Orcas, though. They came at me one after the
other. They were really easy to read, so I made short work of them.
I wasn't just confined to the ground, so I could attack and defend at all angles.
I looked down at the battlefield and noticed that the fight had already begun.
The northern area was being spearheaded by Elze, who was taking command
of Brunhild and Lestia, while Mismede and Refreese were in the middle.
Regulus, Lihnea, and Ramissh were in the south. I noticed Ende in the southern
area, too.
They were holding back the Phrase pretty efficiently. All their movements
seemed much better than they were during the Yulong battle. Even the Lestian
Knights were doing great, despite it being their first time.
"Smash! Crash! Bash! Just try and take me, you brittle jackasses!" Elze's
Gerhilde smashed into an Intermediate Construct, firing a pile bunker to finish it
off. Behind her, Brunhild's knights were making swift work of the Lesser
Constructs.
The knights were wielding crystal weaponry. Hammers, swords, spears, and
so on. It made fighting the Phrase a total breeze. I'd also enchanted them with
[Gravity] to give them a bit more weight.
They couldn't just wildly swing, though. If they wanted to smash the cores,
they needed to attack properly. The adept knights were outfitted with spears,
while the knights who were less confident in their skills were given broader
weapons like hammers and maces.
"Huh, is that all the flying ones?" I couldn't see any more Mantas or Orcas
anywhere. There weren't many flying ones at all. My work complete, I decided
to head to the ground.
Just as I decided that, I saw a Chevalier being attacked by two Lesser
Constructs at once. Its right arm and left leg had been completely annihilated.
It fell to the ground and changed color from light gray to a deeper gray...
Looked kind of like going from a moon gray to a standard gray. That was the
best way I could describe it.
I'd made it so Frame Gears changed colors on successful activation of the
emergency escape spell. That was all thanks to a new paint I'd created by using
[Program]. It was a special paint imbued with Ether Liquid, allowing it to
respond to the use of magic on the Frame Gear.
I wanted to make a paint that got darker to highlight the effects of my
[Gravity] spell, but it didn't end up working out.
[Gravity] was a spell that, contrary to its name, actually just controlled
weight. I couldn't use it to make things float, though. I had the [Levitation] spell
for that. Still, my weight-altering magic made things lighter or heavier.
All I ended up making was a paint that made things heavier or lighter. It didn't
have a lot of use. Or maybe it did...? I wasn't sure, actually.
Either way, I was getting off-track.
"Come in, come in. Do you hear me, HQ? Did that pilot come in safely?"
"Safe and sound, sir! Minor arm damage, but this maggot can suck it up!" The
pilot was fine, then. That was a relief... Still, it seemed like he was from Lestia. It
wasn't all that surprising. They were the least prepared, after all.
I saw three crystal blades floating around in the northern area, slicing through
several Lesser Constructs. Their cores were all destroyed in the blink of an eye.
Oh... Yumina!
The Fragarachs roared across the battlefield, shattering core after core. They
gracefully returned to Yumina's Frame Gear after completing their tour of duty.
Fragarachs were definitely hard to control. If they weren't used right, they
could harm your allies. Yumina had been training hard, though, so she was
capable of handling three at once.
Linze was a much more proficient mage than Yumina, so she masterfully let
four of them fly around at will. She had some issues taking out distant enemies,
though.
Yae and Hilde were nearby, completely destroying an Intermediate Construct.
And Lu was wildly swinging her twin blades against the Lesser Constructs.
Seemed like I didn't have a thing to worry about in the northern sector.
In the south, the monochrome Dragoon was freely darting around and
slashing Intermediate Constructs to pieces. Ende glided around like a figure
skater, spinning and slicing at his own discretion.
The Phrase continued to attack him over and over, but he didn't pay them any
mind at all.
The Dragoon was built for mobility, so it didn't have much of a focus on
defense. That meant if even a single shot got through, it could be seriously bad
news. Even so, Ende continued his reckless dance, not letting a single one of
them land a shot on him.
The southern area also seemed well-defended...
Alright, what about the middle grounds... W-Wait a sec... The Phrase hordes
in the middle were being mowed down one after the other as well. A single
woman darted between them, a greatsword in her hands. She sliced Lesser and
Intermediate Constructs like butter. Her power was insane, comparable to Ende
or Elze's efforts... And she wasn't even in a Frame Gear.
It was, of course, Moroha. She was wielding a crystal greatsword much like
mine, and used it to its full strength. Her movements were intense, like a
ferocious goddess... Or rather, she actually was a goddess. Just watching her
felt overwhelming... I wondered if there was even a chance she'd lose.
Hmph... I actually feel like I'm not really needed here...
When I heard something breaking nearby, I turned to see a Chevalier lose its
head. The Frame Gear's color changed as it fell to the ground. He was attacked
from behind because he was too focused on the enemy ahead.
"All units, be mindful of your surroundings. Fight while covering each other.
The Phrase want to kill us, remember? Try to buddy up and watch each other's
backs." I spoke over the general channel. An attack would come regardless of
direction. It was wiser to wait for the enemy to seek you out.
"How many Phrase are left?"
"Searching... Four-thousand-and-eighteen remaining." My smartphone
chimed as it spoke back to me. We'd beaten about half. Not bad, considering it
had been around twenty minutes since the fight began.
In order to kill all of them, each Frame Gear needed to kill about forty Phrase
apiece. We'd already defeated half, so that was twenty enemies each in twenty
minutes. This pace was pretty good...
Given that it took us over three hours to take out the thirteen-thousand or so
back in Yulong, we were making great time. The crystal weapons were clearly
an excellent addition. Gerhilde, Ende, and Moroha were definitely major players
in terms of numbers, though.
Still, there was an Upper Construct due after thirty minutes, and twenty had
gone by. I had wanted to kill all the Lesser Constructs before it emerged, but it
seemed impossible.
"Ah, Touya. You there?"
"Ende? Something up?"
"Upper Construct's coming now. North-east. You should be able to see the
warp in space." I looked over to where Ende was talking about.
Let's see... It's... there, right?
I invoked [Long Sense] to check, and sure enough there was a ripple in the air.
It almost looked like a mirage, like the very air itself was swaying in heat.
That meant that cracks would appear in space not long after, and the Upper
Construct would emerge. I decided it'd be a good idea to have the northern
troops fall back a bit.
"This is an order to all Brunhild and Lestian troops in the northern area. Move
west from your current station. And here's a message for everyone else. An
Upper Construct will soon appear to the north-west in ten minutes. Be
mindful." In response to my command, the Frame Gears in the north began
moving west. The deployment before kind of resembled an arc, but now it was
more like a straight line.
To an outsider it'd seem like they were being pushed back, but this was all
part of the plan. The Upper Construct was a more valuable target, after all.
After a while, I heard a cracking and splitting sound.
Just as Ende had predicted, the crack began to form in space around the
distortion. The Upper Construct was slowly forcing itself through, making the
hole bigger.
"The Upper Construct is beginning to emerge. Take care in your movements,
troops. More than before, even. Keep in close contact with one another, and
obey your commanders closely." Ende and Elze moved closer upon hearing the
time was nearing.
The cracks in space were spreading even further.
After a time, four thick crystal arms emerged from the hole in space. The
Upper Construct began crawling out, attempting to break the "wall" before it.
It was huge. Four times as large as a Frame Gear. It had four massive arms,
two on either side of its body. It had short legs, causing it to constantly lean
forwards in a hunch. It didn't really have a neck, either. Its head was closely
connected with its torso. There was also a single massive orange core in its
chest. In short, it was...
"A gorilla?" It resembled a mountain gorilla, except for a few details. Gorillas
didn't typically have four arms. Gorillas also lacked protrusions on their spines
and elongated tails.
I hadn't seen any kind of Phrase that looked like this in the book from the
Library, either. But I guess that was fair, since it'd be too easy if every Phrase
type had been recorded there.
As I stared at it, the Gorilla Phrase started beating its own chest with all four
arms. It's drumming its own body? It really is a gorilla!
"Gh—?!" An impact rushed through my body and I was knocked over. It felt
like I'd been smacked by something invisible, like a shockwave.
I see. It's kinda like the dorsal fin from the Crocodile Phrase in the last battle.
So it beats on its chest to knock back enemies... Interesting. Wait, that means...
"All units, spread out! Keep away from the Upper Construct's front!" Both
sets of the Gorilla Phrase's arms spread outwards, and its chest slowly opened
up almost like a door. It wasn't long before light began to gather in its chest.
Shit, I knew it! It's gonna fire a laser beam like the Crocodile Phrase did back
then! The Frame Gears had all dispersed, but the highland territory was in its
direct line of fire.
Damn it, I'm gonna have to use that...
"[Reflection]!" I made use of a reflective spell I'd recently learned, deploying
it right in front of the Gorilla Phrase. It took the form of a massive blue-white
barrier angled around forty-five degrees in front of the beam.
The blast of light hit the barrier, stopped, and shot off into the sky. The barrier
shattered to pieces as well.
Damn... It was strong enough to break a barrier that thick? The spell could've
caused damage to the Gorilla Phrase if I'd angled it to mirror the attack right
back, but that would've come with the risk of damaging Roadmare's territory.
Not to mention I had no proof that a Phrase could actually be harmed by its
own attack. Knowing them, it'd just end up absorbing the beam and
redistributing it somehow.
Either way, it was a serious problem. It was definitely weaker than the
crocodile, but that didn't really do much to make me feel better.
The Gorilla Phrase's chest closed up once more, and it started beating its
hands against itself. Then, it began charging toward the troops in the northwest.
Goddammit, this guy's a pain! The Gorilla Phrase raged forward with its
mighty arms. Every time it brought its fists down, the earth was ruptured and
split. Its power was immense, to say the least.
"You're mine! [Boost]!" Elze piloted Gerhilde and ran right up to the Gorilla
Phrase, driving a magically-reinforced pile bunker into its side.
The sound of cracking glass filled the area, and one of the beast's right arms
was shattered. That pile bunker is really something...
"Haha! Did it!" Elze cheered, but the gorilla was quick to rise and beat its
chest again. The resulting shockwave knocked her far away.
"Gwaaah?!" Gerhilde successfully readjusted itself in mid-air and landed
safely.
The Gorilla Phrase paid no heed to its broken arm. Instead, it remained still as
the core in its chest pulsed a bright orange.
The annihilated arm was fast to recover, snapping and cracking back into
place as it regenerated. In only a matter of seconds, the arm was back to its
original form. That's gonna be a problem...
The gorilla flexed its new arm and attempted to bring it down on Gerhilde.
Fortunately, Elze had invoked [Boost] just in time, and she strafed left and right
to avoid its blows.
"[Slip]!" I used my magic to make the giant gorilla lose its balance, giving
Gerhilde just enough time to escape.
Moroha suddenly appeared out of nowhere, thrusting her sword toward the
chest of the fallen gorilla. That didn't stop the enemy from being what it was,
though. Even Moroha was limited in what she could do with a mere blade. It
was nowhere near big enough to penetrate all the way through to the core.
Just as I was thinking that, Moroha pulled out a second sword and stabbed
the first sword with it, sending it deeper into the creature's chest. It still wasn't
enough, however.
"Hmph... Sheesh, even two aren't enough? This guy's thicker than I
thought..." Moroha jumped back before the gorilla could swat her like a fly.
I jumped down next to her.
"Touya, this thing's way tougher than me right now. I could smash it if I used
my powers, but obviously that's a no-no."
Wait, that means if you used your divine powers you could sort it out right
away! Do that! Do that, damn it!
"Mmm... I mean, I could go all-out, but everyone here would probably die
alongside this guy, and the continent would probably get cut in half as well.
That cool with you?"
"Nope!"
What the hell, can't you adjust how much power you use?! That's insane!
Then again, it was probably like being asked to move an extra millimeter or two
during a walk. It'd be way too easy for my sisters to overstep that because they
weren't used to walking along at a snail's pace.
"Also, if I use my divinity in this realm, then I probably won't be able to
maintain myself down here. I'd like to avoid that if possible."
"Bah, fine! You can go." True strength comes from deploying the right person
at the right time. Since both of my sisters don't have flesh bodies like I do, they'll
be unable to keep themselves manifested if they blow through all their divine
power... They're made out of divine energy right now, so I shouldn't be wasteful
in making use of them.
Plus, they're not even allowed to use most of their powers down here anyway.
Karen's obviously fine with her love consultation and stuff like that, but if
Moroha started going nuts with her overkill swordplay, then we'd have a big
issue. There are a lot of rules in place, but I assume it's for a good reason.
A shrill screeching sound filled the air all of a sudden. The Gorilla Phrase was
emitting the noise. All the protrusions along its back were vibrating intensely.
What the hell?! In a flash, the ground around the gorilla began to distort. It
was like bumps in a carpet. I picked up Moroha and flew back up into the air.
It was almost like waves in the earth. Nearby Frame Gears were being jostled
and bounced around.
Some people had managed to minimize damage by jumping up in time, but a
large amount of Frame Gears were immobilized, their colors changed.
I didn't know it could do this too! That's cheating! Some of the Frame Gears
that had managed to avoid the initial attack were crawling to safety, Elze's
Gerhilde was also fine.
But the Gorilla Phrase wasn't done. It followed up with a mighty tail whip. It
had some kind of heavy weight on the end of its tail, and it used it to smash a
lot of the Frame Gears in the area.
It furiously lashed at the ground, hitting Frame Gears one after the other. The
pilots seemed to have escaped since their mechs had changed color, but I
couldn't determine their safety. Even if they were dead, we still had to
manage...
The Gorilla Phrase moved to open its chest again. As it did so, the light began
to gather around its core.
Crap! Again?! Should I reflect the attack back at it...? No, I can't! If there's any
collateral damage it'd be intense.
I had no option but to reflect the attack skywards once more.
"[Reflection]!" I created a reflective barrier in front of the gorilla again. Just as
before, I angled it to forty-five degrees.
But all of a sudden, the Gorilla Phrase crossed its arms over its chest.
"What the—?!" The beam fired, blasting against the creature's crystal arms.
In a flash, the thick central beam split and refracted into several thinner blasts.
Did it seriously scatter the light using its own body?! The smaller beams were
less powerful, but the attack was still devastating. Various Frame Gears lost
their colors around me, even though their cockpits were spared direct hits. It
was insanity.
Damn it... Guess we've got no choice.
"All troops fall back! Clear some distance between you and the giant Phrase!"
I used [Storage] to open up several pockets of space above the Gorilla Phrase,
then released the contents.
"[Meteor Rain]!" From the portals in the sky came a rain of softball-shaped
Phrasium orbs. I'd used [Gravity] to amplify the weight of each, causing every
one to weigh about a ton.
The Upper Construct could only gaze upward in confusion as they crashed
down upon it.
Shoulders, back, waist. The Phrasium orbs pelted the creature and wound up
lodged inside its body, cracking and penetrating it deeper with every second. I
increased the weight by a further two tons for good measure.
Eventually, the crystal rain subsided. The Gorilla Phrase had been brought to
its knees, crawling weakly on all fours. Suddenly, however, it rolled over on to
its back.
What the...? Wait, no! The heavy Phrasium orbs lodged inside the creature's
body all rolled back out. The gorilla had used gravity to its advantage. I was
amazed it could come up with such a tactic.
Damn it! The cracks are regenerating, too! At that moment, a monochrome
Dragoon came through at high speeds, jumping up from behind me and landing
on the gorilla's upturned chest. It stabbed the blade it was wielding directly into
the crystal beast.
But, just like when Moroha had tried, the blade couldn't cut deep enough to
reach the core.
"[Char]!" Ende yelled something, and the gorilla's chest shattered open in
response. The Dragoon's right arm also split apart at the same time. The Gorilla
Phrase stood up and made an attempt to brush Ende away, but he deftly
avoided it.
Immediately following Ende's retreat, a lightning-fast Frame Gear came up
from behind him and charged toward the exposed core with its fist.
"Single Smasher!!!" It was Elze in Gerhilde, launching a lethal pile bunker into
the exposed core.
The orange thing cracked and then shattered into numerous shards. In
tandem, the entire gorilla body cracked, and then crumpled into an
unrecognizable pile.
"Woohoo!"
"Ahaha... Good work...." Gerhilde raised its arm into the air, proudly standing
over the gorilla's remains.
Geez... I didn't even get to do that much.
"The Upper Construct has fallen. Let's begin mopping up the leftovers now.
Take them out, one at a time." I relayed the message to the other Frame Gears.
There were only a few Lesser and Intermediate Constructs left, so work was
almost over.
"I'll go help too, yeah? Lemme borrow some swords, Touya." Moroha had
used up all her weapons on the Gorilla Phrase, so I gave her two greatswords.
She moved with grace and speed in equal measures as she darted off to the
fight.
As I saw her off, the Dragoon came up to me. The hatched popped open, and
out jumped Ende.
"My bad, Touya. The arm broke."
"No, you were a real lifesaver back there. I'll fix the Dragoon for you, so come
back and pick it up later... By the way, just what did you even do back there?"
"I used a magical 'sound,' or at least a vibration. I was trying to focus it on one
point, but the arm blew off as well. I misjudged how much power to use."
Huh, I see. Kinda like when I tried using the Knight Baron at full power. The
Dragoon's base was, after all, the same as the Knight Baron and Chevalier's, it
was probably a little weak for the full brunt of Ende's strength.
I should probably make him a new one from the ground up. It'd be a pain if it
broke every time he did something like that, since he'll have to come back to us
and get it fixed. Might raise questions, since he doesn't serve Brunhild.
As I was thinking to myself, I looked over at the Dragoon and suddenly felt a
strange sensation wash over me.
What the... hell?
"...I'm sorry, Touya. Things just got a little bit worse." Ende moved up close
to me, staring up at something in the sky all the while.
What is that?
"Hey... Don't tell me another Upper Construct is gonna show up!"
"It's... not an Upper Construct. It's so much worse. I'm sorry." The sky itself
seemed to shatter as a harrowing screech rang out through the land.
In under a second, the "thing" emerged from the gaping hole, and gracefully
landed on the ground.
A crystal... person. A body covered all over in Phrasium, with the exception of
its stomach.
It had piercing red eyes. Its long "hair" crackled and made snapping noises. It
looked like it was based on a female human, judging from its chest and body
shape. The chest was completely covered in crystal as well, coating all the way
along its shoulders and arms. It was around the same size as a regular woman.
"What... What the hell is this?"
"This is a Phrase beyond even the Upper Constructs... A Dominant Construct."
"A what?!" She looked around and, apparently picking up on my shock,
looked right over at me and Ende.
「#om@e€h@...＊e€nd#e!」
"Damn it... For her of all Phrase to come through the barrier..." Ende smiled
wryly as she began approaching him. All of a sudden she jumped into the air
and brought her fist crashing toward him.
Ende caught her fist with his right hand. The shockwave from the impact
nearly bowled me over.
Holy cow, she's strong... Luckily Ende isn't exactly normal, either.
"Wh-What the hell?! Is this a friend of yours?!"
"We know each other, but I wouldn't exactly call us friends. I doubt she'll let
me escape, either." She didn't exactly look like she was happy to see him. The
human features made it easier to read her feelings, and she looked seriously
pissed off.
「#k∋#is@m@$! ouwo＊d◎o kΩo≒hey+@tΣt@?!」
"I don't know, I'm sorry." I couldn't understand a word she was saying, but
Ende seemed to know enough to respond.
The Phrase Woman struck Ende's arm and jumped back, putting a good deal
of distance between them. After a few seconds, she opened her mouth up
wide.
Particles of light began gathering around her open maw, combining together
in a glittering orb.
Oh crap, that's not good!
Moments later, she unleashed a devastating beam of energy toward Ende. I
could tell even at a glance that it was far more powerful than the beams
employed by the Upper Constructs.
"Gh, [Reflection]!" I produced a reflective barrier in a frenzied panic. Due to
the short notice, I didn't have much finesse, and the beam ended up being
reflected at an awkward angle. I watched as the beam vanished into the sky,
after destroying a distant mountaintop. Naturally, the reflective barrier was
annihilated as well.
What... What the hell kinda strength is that?!
Ever-adaptive, the Phrase Woman transformed her right arm into a blade and
came charging forward. Ende deftly dodged her slashes and grabbed her by the
wrists.
"Sorry Touya, I've gotta bail. I'll come back for my Dragoon later on, so I'd
appreciate it if you patched her up. Thanks!"
"Huh? What?!" Ende's body began to evaporate into a fog as he kept a tight
grip on the Phrase woman. After a short while, the two of them completely
dispersed into mist, leaving me alone.
I stood there on the abandoned battlefield, left completely in shock. I had no
way of understanding just what it was I'd seen.
◇ ◇ ◇
In some ways, I am not a fortunate man. For it to have been her... one of the
Sovereign's most trusted aides. For it to have been her... a being that so truly
despises me...
Still, I am fortunate in this instance... Only in that I have managed to lead her
out of the dimensional boundary. My dimensional warp has successfully brought
the two of us to a gap between worlds. It's not a power I can use excessively,
though. It'll take some time before I can return to the world I just abandoned.
There's really nothing at all within the space between dimensions. Nothing but
her, as she glares. A grid-like pattern stretches out in the distance behind us,
above us, below us, and in front of us.
"I wondered why... I wondered why there were so many miserable little
humans on the other side, you wretched cur! Was this your doing, Endymion?!"
"Hey, don't misunderstand me here. It'd be a pain if you guys ended up
breaking through, so I've been killing the ones you sent. Still, the fact that a
Dominant Construct like you made it through only means it's already too late."
It was certainly no small feat for beings like the Phrase to cross worlds. I was
worried they had found the right seam to tear in order to rip their way into the
next world, and it seems that my fears were not unfounded.
"Well, that matters not now. I have questions for you, scum. The Sovereign.
Where is the Sovereign?!"
"Like I told you last time, I don't know. The Sovereign is surely somewhere in
that world, though. But have you never stopped to consider that the one you
seek might not want to see you?"
"Hold your tongue, Endymion! If it weren't for your interloping, our Sovereign
would have never lost their sanity! You dare act self-righteous when you
destabilized our world?!" Interloping... Of course. Her opinion of me was never
high to begin with. But that's simply a matter of opinion in the end. My role as
observer doesn't extend far beyond the act itself. Though I can't deny the effects
of what I did.
"I'll ask, just to be sure, but... I don't suppose you plan on leaving this world
alone?"
"Don't be a fool! We'll never withdraw, not until we've rescued our
Sovereign!"
"Rescued, huh? Seems more like captured to me." The girl, Ney... began to
gnash her teeth in response to my words.
"Don't dare confuse my ambitions with those mongrel dogs! I don't wish to
seize the Sovereign's power! I merely want the Sovereign back!" The Phrase all
hunted the Sovereign. There were some among them that desired to become
the new Sovereign, of course. Ney was different, however. She only wanted to
reinstate the Sovereign to their original position. But she was still my enemy.
"I would like to ask you to withdraw. I have a personal investment in this
world. I even managed to meet an interesting person there." Mochizuki Touya...
A strange fellow indeed. I'm never able to get a proper read on him. He's
abnormal. He resembles a human, but he doesn't smell like one at all. He lives in
that world, but I can tell that he's not from that world. I've never met an
individual like him before. It's possible he's from some kind of mutated or
divergent lineage.
The people referred to as his 'sisters' were also abnormal, though slightly
different. I was fairly sure they were the same species as him, though. Rarities
across the cosmos.
I sensed no hostility from him when we first met. He treated me kindly, and
often meddled in affairs so he could save people. He was a man who often got a
raw deal, but still worked for the sake of others.
I want to introduce him to the Sovereign. If that's possible, at least.
"We will rescue the Sovereign even if we have to vivisect every last human in
that world. Your feelings are irrelevant."
"I see... Are you sure? You may find yourself at odds with one more powerful
than I." That made her angry again, of course. Her anger was justified. I was the
one that snatched their precious Sovereign away.
It's not as if we intended this to happen. We simply thought that the other
Phrase would elect a new Sovereign and carry on with their lives.
But they wanted power. They clung to the old strength, their traditions. They
didn't adapt or overcome. They desired to regain their old power, even if that
meant following it across worlds and wiping out countless lives.
As a result, they spread out across reality and became a great plague. They
had no intention of stopping. The irony isn't lost on me, of course. They're doing
what I do, just on a larger and more destructive scale. The only thing I can do in
my selfishness is mitigate the damage they cause.
The Sovereign slowly saps the energy of its host bit-by-bit. When the host dies,
the Sovereign transports itself into another host. In most cases the host never
realizes what's inside them, and lives out their life without any worries. The
Sovereign doesn't harm the one they're infesting, after all.
After repeating that process several times, the Sovereign gains enough energy
to cross dimensions and head toward the next world. The world 'higher up' than
the previous one.
When the host dies, the Sovereign's 'voice' becomes audible for but a scant
moment. Every time the sound resounds, the Sovereign climbs closer and closer
up those stairs. As it changes host in this world, it slowly builds more power.
"Do you think the miserable humans of that world have strength enough to
oppose us?"
"You saw them take out an Upper Construct, did you not?"
"Hmph. I'm sure you had something to do with that. Once this accursed
barrier falls, we'll be sure to annihilate the entire species!" A clanging sound
echoed out into the black as Ney struck the physical boundary of their world.
We were both within the gap between worlds, but she was outside of the
membrane, and I was inside. This girl and her allies... They aren't capable of my
ability, the power that allows one to shift between worlds with ease. They're left
with no choice but to look for loose seams and force their way through.
It would buy us time, at least, but it was still an inevitability. Surely the other
Dominant Constructs were searching for weak points as well.
"I've offered you this chance before, Ney... But how about you just join m—"
"Silence! I shall not be charmed by honeyed words! I'm not like Lycee!"
"What a shame. She'd like to see you again, I'm sure."
"...Is Lycee safe?"
"She is." Lycee's likely waiting for me to come back even as I'm having this
conversation. Though I feel as though I'll be late today. Still, she's tough. I'm
sure it'll be fine.
"...When next we meet, you won't find me so merciful. Hold on to your
pathetic life until then, scum." With those words, Ney faded into the blackness.
Goodness gracious me... She always was a hassle.
It'll take a considerable amount of time before my power returns. I won't be
able to get back to that world for a while... It's why I wasn't keen on using this
ability. Either way, given the hostile nature of Ney's encounter with me, it was
the only thing I could do.
Although... I have a feeling Touya may have done something to surprise me,
like he usually does. It's been so very long since I've smelled a person like him,
after all.
About five-thousand years, I think... He's similar to that interesting woman
who also managed to muster the impossible.
Regina Babylon, I think her name was.
◇ ◇ ◇
That Dominant Construct or whatever vanished, but the fact that something
like that existed was scary. I didn't know we'd be facing something more
powerful than an Upper Construct. Plus, it was the size of a human being, which
meant fighting it in the Frame Gear wasn't wise.
Naturally, the incident was broadcast to the world leaders who were watching
the battlefield, and they had dozens of questions for me. I didn't have any
answers, though. All I could say was that the creature was beyond the Gorilla
Phrase in strength, and it appeared to have emotions.
She spoke in an unusual tongue, but it felt like she was actively
communicating with Ende. I wasn't sure what to make of that.
Either way, the battle was over and we'd already finished cleaning the place
up. The damage to Roadmare was far less than the damage done to Yulong.
Though, one of the mountaintops had been blown clear away. The battlefield
itself was also a total wasteland thanks to the raw destructive power of that
gorilla.
Thankfully, we hadn't taken any fatalities, but there were definitely a lot of
injured. Most of the injuries had come from the earthquake triggered by the
Upper Construct. The wounded soldiers had been sent straight to the HQ,
where Sue and Leen patched them up with recovery magic. Flora also chipped
in with medication.
Even after all our preparation, it ended up like this. Still, we were very lucky to
even know what was happening in the first place.
Roadmare was saved. Though their capital city had incurred serious structural
damage thanks to the Golem rampage. That didn't really have anything to do
with us, though.
Bowman was forced to toil in the mines as punishment for his negligence. His
sentence was a full ten years of hard labor.
The Doge was also struck by several accusations of reckless endangerment
and negligence for funding Bowman's plan in the first place.
Eventually he was stripped of his title, and a new member of the nobility
stepped up to control the central province in his place.
The one to succeed him as Doge of the Roadmare Union was none other than
the diligent Governor Audrey.
She was definitely cunning, and used us to her advantage. That didn't make
her a bad person, though. Just a shrewd one.
Working with Audrey would be much better than that stupid old jerk.
As her first act, she ceased all production and research on the Golems. That
was only natural. They didn't want another out-of-control Golem going wild.
Also, after a discussion amongst their representatives, they all agreed to join
the alliance. It seemed like the main reason for that decision was so they could
borrow our Frame Gears in case of emergency, though. I decided to give them
some Frame Units for practice.
Cleaning up the mess in Roadmare was much easier thanks to the Frame
Gears, but none of their knights were able to pilot them, so I decided to
dispatch various knights to act as instructors. Nikola was among them.
The city was gradually returning to its former glory thanks to the clean-up
operation.
Doge Audrey also started work on repairing the relations between Roadmare
and Regulus, drafting up several agreeable deals in very little time.
Naturally they wouldn't be best friends right away, but it was a sure step in
the right direction.
Roadmare was between the nations of Ramissh, Regulus, Felsen, and Yulong.
It traded with most of those locations via land routes. Well, used to. Yulong's
dissolution cut off that lifeline.
That was why the agreement with Regulus was an unexpected godsend.
Certainly good for the Union on a whole.
"Master, sir! Requesting some of your time, sir!"
"Huh?" Rosetta was in the middle of repairing Ende's Dragoon in the Hangar,
but she stopped me. More specifically, she was attaching a new arm to replace
the one Ende had broken. We'd fit the new and improved Dragoon with a
sturdier endoskeleton. The Dragoon was built for speed over of power, so it was
no real surprise that it had broken so easily. I wouldn't be surprised if it ended
up happening again.
Rosetta hopped down from the crane.
"Something odd happened during the recent battle, sir!"
"Huh? Like what?" During the day of the battle, I asked Rosetta and Monica to
keep watch over the Frame Gears.
They also had the jobs of observing and investigating the movements of the
Phrase. They were basically our eyes in the sky. I definitely didn't want to leave
that to Parshe... Her clumsiness was lethal.
"Well, sir! The numbered of injured soldiers amounted to thirty-six, yessir!
However, there was a major discrepancy! You recovered thirty-five Frame Gears
from the battlefield. That leaves one unit unaccounted for, sir!"
"...For real?" That didn't make any sense. I used [Storage] to pick up all the
Frame Gear debris in the vicinity. The only way it could've gone missing was if it
was already taken before I cleaned things up.
"To be more specific, sir! We're missing a head, a chest, a left forearm, and an
entire right leg! All parts are from a Chevalier, sir!"
"So it got stolen in the middle of battle or something?"
"No, sir! I think it's the opposite! I think after some destruction was done,
someone gathered broken-off pieces!" Rosetta turned on a monitor in the
garage. It was the aerial recording that showed the battle a few days ago. In
terms of timeframe, it was just before the Upper Construct had appeared. I
wondered what she was having me look at.
"Look here, sir!" She paused the recording with the push of a button. There
was a broken Frame Gear in the corner of the screen.
She suddenly started the recording again, and the Frame Gear somehow
moved itself off-screen.
"...Huh? What's with that?"
"Let's switch to magic-filtering vision, sir!"
"Eh?" Rosetta pushed a button, and the overlay of the video changed. It
showed the figures of various men carrying pieces of the Frame Gear away.
They had a blue light around them. I couldn't make the details out, but they
looked like humans. It was possible they were demi-humans, but they didn't
have the telltale ears and tails that beastmen had.
"Seems like they're using some kind of disappearance spell or artifact, sir!
They were caught by our magic-detecting overlays, though! See? You can see
them right against the Frame Gear paint, sir!" Our Frame Gears were painted
with magical paint, so the contrast made it easier to detect them through the
special overlay. Still, I had no idea who these guys were supposed to be.
They were hardly likely to be people from the alliance. I was already giving
Frame Gears to them, after all. There'd be no point.
It could've been a foreign country, though. The battle was known about for a
few days. That meant someone could've snuck in to take advantage.
"Geez... It's like petty crooks stealing stuff from the scene of an apartment
fire or something. Fine... Run search, broken Frame Gear parts."
"...Search Complete. Displaying." My map was projected, but no pins fell
down on to it. The broken pieces in Babylon obviously weren't displayed due to
the protective magical barrier around the floating islands, and since I'd specified
broken parts there were no pins in Roadmare either, but still... I was expecting a
few results.
"Sir! It's entirely possible they have a barrier that prevents magical detection!
Possibly like the type we have installed here." Well, that would make sense. But
still, that meant tracking them wouldn't be possible.
"Would it be possible for them to make a Frame Gear out of the parts?"
"No way, sir! The best they could do is crudely re-assemble a broken
Chevalier, but they couldn't mass produce it." That seemed fine, then. They
didn't have the Ether Liquid, either. They lacked the technology to actually
threaten me.
"But it could become a problem if they apply the technology elsewhere, sir!
There's a chance they could produce an inferior version of the Frame Gear."
"Ugh... That sounds like a pain..." Monica, who was also fixing Ende's
Dragoon, sat atop its shoulder and spoke up.
"Would it not be wise to inform each member of your alliance that it has been
stolen? It'd like, totally be a big deal if a fake Chevalier went on a rampage and
stuff! You'd totally get the blame!" She had a point. An imitation Chevalier
wouldn't be easy to operate without Ether Liquid, but I didn't want to take any
chances.
Still... Frame Gear imitations. Some kind of inferior version of the tech... I had
one of my patented strange feelings that something bad would come of this.
"Still, sir! They'd never be able to make something better than our Frame
Gears, so don't worry about it at all!"
"I know that, but I still feel a little funny just leaving it be..." It was too late to
think about countermeasures, though. I should've installed a self-destruct or
something. I remember this awesome mecha anime where the protagonist
blew up the machine along with himself. I wondered if it was for the sake of
style... Could've been for the sake of protecting his secrets, though. But who in
their right mind would get on a mech that'd blow you up just like that...
"Yae and Hilde's Frame Gears are more important right now. Should I base it
on the Frame Gear we made for Elze, sir?!"
"Hm... Yeah, we don't need to tweak much. Just make a general fighting type
for Yae. It doesn't need to be specialized too much otherwise. Hilde's will be
much the same."
"Sir yes sir! And who will we be making Frame Gears for after that?"
"You'll make one for meee!" I looked toward the Hangar's entrance, finding
Sue standing there. She was accompanied by Cesca, who had presumably
brought her up. What a surprise.
Sue then bolted toward me and did one of her famous hug-tackles.
"Isn't it time for me to have a Frame Gear?! Isn't it! I'm tired of just playing in
the Frame Unit, you know?!" She kept headbutting me in the stomach. Guh... A
Frame Gear for Sue...
I was a little concerned, to be honest. It wasn't about her skills or anything.
She'd actually been performing really well in the Frame Unit simulations. She
had prodigal levels of skill when it came to handling it, so I had no doubts in my
mind that she'd become a great pilot.
But it was clear to me she viewed it all as a game. On the battlefield, you had
to be prepared to take lives. I didn't think she was ready for that.
"C'mon Sue... you really wanna do dangerous stuff like that?"
"Don't be stupid! I am your fiancee, Touya! I'll fight when I need to fight, I
say! I'm no trophy wife to sit still and look pretty! I wanna protect the people I
care about!" She glared at me with a serious gaze. Her determination was
palpable. Probably because she'd grown up in a noble house... She really was
incredible for her age.
Maybe I'd been treating her too much like a child.
"...Fine, then. We'll work on your Frame Gear afterward. What kind did you
have in mind?"
"A strong one!" That was a little ambiguous. I decided to ask for a little more
information.
"I want a huge one! I want one that can totally trash the enemy like Gerhilde!
And, oh! Like that one you showed me... The one that can combine and turn
into a bigger one!" Oh... From that anime.
"Then we can deploy rotating arms and rip out the Phrase cores, yeah! Oh,
oh! Make a giant golden hammer for it as well!"
Ah, geez... I guess that's kinda familiar. Hmm... I'll make it built for power,
then. It'll be good for offense and defense alike. But that'll mean I have to
sacrifice mobility. After that... It's just a matter of using Fragarach tech for the
weapons. What about combining and transforming, though... I don't think I can
do it without an AI or something. Maybe if other people pilot the other parts?
Nah, that's too much...
"I think it'll be fine, sir! I think there's something that will suit her needs in the
storehouse."
Really, now... Well, I guess if there was something that could bring a picture
frame to life, an AI might not be entirely out of the question. If there's
something like that, I can use it to support Sue's Frame Gear.
"Hmm... Alright, I have a few ideas. I'll get on it."
"Woohoo! Thanks, Touya! You're the best husband ever!" Sue hugged me
tight and puckered her lips, catching me with a kiss before I could tell what was
happening. Then, she nuzzled her cheek up against mine. She'd definitely grown
a little bit...
Just as I quietly thought about her sudden maturity, Cesca turned to Sue and
gave her a thumbs-up. Did you make her do that?! Don't teach her weird things!