"[Prison]."
Glaux was still fighting against Leopard, so I trapped the enemy Gollem with
my magic. I didn't want it picking up Gien and getting away.
Then, I immediately ran over to where Colonel had fallen and yanked the
rapier out of his guts. Even though he was unconscious, the motion still made
him wince. I wasn't too sympathetic, though... He'd just done something crazy.
Nothing I couldn't patch up with recovery magic, though.
"Come forth, Light! Calm of the Goddess: [Mega Heal]."
A gentle light wrapped around Colonel's body, and the open wounds on his
body rapidly closed up. Colonel then rose to his feet. He was still shaky, though.
My spells couldn't replenish the blood he'd lost.
"...You're crazy, man. If I wasn't here, you might've died from that."
"Gien's a sadistic freak who likes to torture his enemies before letting them
die slowly. I knew he'd avoid my vitals. Even if he's a monster, he's still the
second-strongest person I ever knew in Lowe... That was the only way I could
get him."
He was definitely strong, that was for sure. He wasn't quite on Hilde or Yae's
level, though... And frankly, I thought he was below Brunhild's Lain, Norn, and
Nikola as well...
If I wanted to be brutally honest, I had a feeling Gien might have lost to some
of Brunhild's normal knights, too. I kept that part to myself, though. I didn't
want to hurt Colonel's pride.
It was pretty wrong to compare ordinary people to the people of Brunhild,
anyway. It wasn't like everyone got to be trained regularly by the god of swords
or anything.
"Besides, I had to keep Gien's attention away from the prince..."
I looked up at the blown-up room we'd come from, and noticed that First
Lieutenant and Sergeant had the prince safely kept in a corner. But...
"Seems like there was no point to that, eh? You made it, right? That weird
protective barrier? Still, thanks to that I got to fight without worrying about his
safety, so thank you."
Seemed like he'd noticed. I'd released it at this point, but during the conflict, I
kept a [Prison] up around the guest room. Since he said he'd come to kill the
emperor of Gardio, I couldn't have discounted the possibility of Glaux launching
more feather-bombs up there.
"Your Majesty, is everything okay?!"
The royal knights finally arrived in the area. They saw us and immediately
tensed up before drawing their blades.
"Who are these people, Your Majesty?!"
"Fret not, they're friends. They just saved my life. There was an assassin, the
man on the ground over there."
The knights relaxed around us immediately and moved to take Gien into
custody.
"...Is it fine for them to take him?"
"He wanted to kill the emperor, so... He's probably gonna get executed for
that. Public guillotine, I imagine. The remnants of Lowe will finally have their
justice published."
Colonel quietly spoke as he watched Gien's unconscious body get dragged off.
Having him brought into custody was for the best. He'd be able to implicate
Isengard before they killed him.
Glaux, still sealed by my magic, was rampaging around like a wild animal as it
watched its master get taken away. Even though its master was so rotten, I
couldn't help but feel sorry for his Gollem servant.
"[Gravity]."
"Caw?!"
I used weight magic to immobilize Glaux. It struggled for a few moments, then
shuddered and stopped moving entirely. It had probably entered sleep mode,
like a computer.
I released the [Prison] and placed my hand on the Gollem's chest.
"Open." With a hissing sound, a hatch on the machine opened up.
I stuck my hand into the gel-like substance and took out the Gollem's heart,
its G-Cube.
That would prevent Glaux from ever waking up again unless we wanted it to. I
decided to pass the G-Cube over to Colonel, but found him pondering
something with a worried look on his face.
"...What's up?"
"No, it's just... Why would Isengard send Gien to assassinate the emperor? It's
not their style at all... That old man... the witch-king... he's more the kind of
man to raze an entire city... so I'm confused why he went all subtle this time..."
"Wh-What is that?!"
Just as Colonel was muttering his thoughts, a nearby knight cried out loudly
and pointed towards the sky. There were several small dots lining the horizon
far off in the distance... I had no idea what I was looking at.
"[Long Sense]."
I projected my sense of sight over to the horizon. What I saw made my blood
run cold. Dozens upon dozens of little Gollems, miniature versions of Glaux. A
massive amount of owls, heading en masse to the imperial palace.
As they flew, the owls dropped things down onto the area around the
imperial palace. Small, oval-shaped objects that detonated once they hit the
ground. Grenades.
"Isengard...! They... Don't tell me they mass-produced Glaux-variant Soldats!"
Soldats. They were simplistic Gollems that could be easily controlled in groups
by one person. It was a type of Gollem that I'd been told Isengard used in their
armies.
If you wanted to overwhelm your enemy with sheer numbers, then that was
the way to do it. It seemed that Isengard had reverse-engineered these ones
from their analysis of Glaux. That was pretty amazing.
But this was no time to be amazed at their technology, they were attacking
the city.
"Spiral forth, O Wind! Raging, Sweeping Gale: [Cyclone Storm]!"
"Come forth, O Storm! Million Blades Borne of Air: [Tempest Edge]!"
Before I could act, Yumina and Leen invoked advanced magic directed toward
the mass-produced owls.
The fierce surge of weather pelted the owls, knocking several of them offcourse and destroying a good chunk of them.
Welp. Guess I can't fall behind here.
"Come forth, Dark! I Seek the Shining Warmaiden: [Valkyrie]!"
I invoked a large summoning circle in the middle of the courtyard, and several
beautiful Valkyries emerged. Their pure-white wings spread out as they soared
into the air.
They wielded silver blades and were clad in silver armor, giving them the
appearance of angelic knights.
"Wh-What the...?"
"It's a Summoning spell. You guys, I need your help!"
The warmaidens raised their blades and took the skies.
They intercepted the owls, slicing them to ribbons with their blades.
The owls obviously attempted to counterattack, but they were nowhere near
as powerful as Glaux was. That was the ultimate weakness of Soldat Gollems.
They could only carry out simple orders and weren't particularly adept in any
other instances.
They were likely given the mission to bombard the palace, and whoever sent
them hadn't considered the fact that they might have been intercepted in midair.
The last owl finally fell to my Valkyries, and a series of cheers erupted from
nearby.
I cast [Area Heal] across the areas that were hit by the grenade drops. I also
called down some rainstorms to prevent the spread of fires.
Later, I found out that the people of the city believed they had been saved by
a god who sent his angels down to fight off the attackers. Oh well.
"To think you could wipe out that many Gollems so quickly..."
Colonel was completely bewildered, but I had no time for that. I pulled out my
smartphone and projected a map into the air. The map was the area bordering
Isengard, the old territories of Lowe.
"Run search. Isengard-affiliated soldiers and Gollems."
"...Search complete. Displaying."
Thudthudthudthudthud.
Several thousand pins landed on the map. Just as I'd thought.
"Isengard's army has invaded Gardio. See here?"
"What...? They'd do such a thing without a formal declaration?!" Gardio's
emperor looked up at my map before yelling out in disbelief.
"Perhaps that irritating man was here to declare war on you before we
unceremoniously defeated him?"
Leen had a point. We'd knocked Gien out before he had a chance to really say
anything.
"But look... aren't they going in a strange direction?" Yumina pointed at the
map. The enemies weren't headed toward the imperial city.
"They're likely after the Emerald Ruin. Luckily, there aren't many townships in
that area. But we do have a forward group of soldiers stationed there, as well as
our expedition corps..."
That would explain things. They were probably going to crush whoever was
stationed there and occupy it first.
Isengard had the upper hand in terms of raw numbers. If we didn't do
anything, it'd only be a matter of time before they took over.
"Hmm... Guess I'll go stop them."
"Huh?!"
The emperor seemed surprised by my casual musing. I didn't really want
Isengard to keep doing as it pleased. Plus, they'd pelted us with grenades, and I
didn't feel as if Yumina and Leen would want us to leave without helping.
Not to mention the fact that repelling an invading army would curry favor
with Gardio.
"What exactly do you intend to stop?"
"The Isengard army, duh. I'll fly over and have a word with them. Ideally,
they'll listen, and then leave."
That all depended on who was in charge over there. If they were reasonable,
maybe we could end this without a fight. Even if the leader of Isengard was an
insane old guy, it'd be wrong of me to assume everyone under him was equally
bad.
"H-How do you plan on stopping them?! There are tens of thousands... I-I
know you're talented in matters of magic, but..."
"I've had a few experiences with massive armies at this point. If it comes to
blows, then the surrounding landscape might get scuffed up a bit. I'll fix it
afterward though, promise."
"Uh..."
The emperor was simply dumbfounded by my nonchalant talk.
"Yumina, you coming?"
"In ordinary circumstances, I'd join you. I'd rather avoid flying, though..."
"I agree on that front, darling."
The two of them didn't exactly like taking the scenic route, which I couldn't
blame them too much for.
I used [Fly] and grouped up with the Valkyries, but quickly doubled back when
I realized I'd forgot something.
"Those Gollems from before were probably controlled by undercover agents
from Isengard in your city. I'd tighten security if I were you."
"O-Of course..."
"Alright, then. Be back in a bit."
Given what I'd seen on the map, I didn't exactly have much more time to
waste. And so, I accelerated through the air above Gardio. The Valkyries
followed close behind, but I was slowly outdoing their speed.
In hindsight, I should have just unsummoned them and then summoned them
back once I'd gotten there. But in the end, it wasn't that huge of a deal.
The Emerald Ruin was located in a small forested area to the south of the
Isengard/Gardio border.
There was a large plain by the forest, and I could see several tents erected
across it. I assumed that was the base used by the survey corps and the group
of soldiers stationed there. That meant the large group of people approaching it
was the Isengard army.
The fighting hadn't begun yet, so I'd just barely made it in time.
There were a hell of a lot of people there. They had at least twenty times as
many men as Gardio's side. Only about a quarter of those forces were human,
though. The rest were Soldats.
The number they'd brought made sense if they were planning to march on
the capital after securing the ruins. Their plan had likely been to use the owl
Soldats to weaken the city in terms of infrastructure, and then take advantage
of the chaos to swoop in with their army.
The Isengard army took note of me and the Valkyries and immediately began
acting uneasy. Then again, anyone who saw a man flying down from the sky
with a group of angel-like beings would be confused.
"F-Fire!"
Several bolts of lightning suddenly rained down upon us. Or rather, they flew
up at us from below, which was the opposite of raining.
The Gollems seemed to be equipped with magic guns, spellcasters. I didn't
expect them to attack immediately. I'd hoped that we could at least talk a bit
first.
I sighed, then cast [Ice Needle] in return. Several thin hunks of ice intercepted
the incoming bolts and passed through in the direction of the Isengard army.
"E-Eep!"
The men all cowered and braced for impact, and none of them were lethally
hit. I stood my ground... or air, and used [Speaker] to address everyone.
"Attention, Isengard army. Withdraw immediately. Report to the witch-king
that your attempt to take the ruins and the capital was a complete failure. If
you continue any further, I'll humiliate you so harshly that your ancestors will
cringe."
"D-Don't give in, men! This is simply a bizarre strategy by the enemy. They're
bluffing in an attempt to intimidate us!"
The soldiers were thrown into disarray by my message, but the commanding
officers attempted to recoup their morale. That was irritating. I did want to
intimidate them, but it wasn't a bluff.
I had brought the Valkyries along to freak them out with the idea they were
gonna get attacked by angels, but they didn't seem too afraid of that.
"I'll say it one last time. Lay down your weapons and retreat. I hope that I can
appeal to your calmer side, and—"
"Fire! Fire, fire, fire! No mercy for pigs! Isengard's guns are the strongest!
Wipe out these inferior fools!"
Apparently there was no calmer side to be found. An old man with a
mustache, riding atop a quadrupedal Gollem, barked orders to the soldiers. He
was likely the lead commander of the army, and unfortunately for all of them,
he was an unreasonable old guy. I could tell that he wasn't the type who'd stop
and have a discussion over tea. He was needlessly hot-blooded.
I used [Prison] to defend against the next volley.
They didn't seem to want to chat, which was fine by me.
"[Slip]... And just for good measure, [Paralyze]."
"Hngh... Gah... Gwaugh!"
A massive thud rang out as several thousand men fell over at the same time,
and then found themselves unable to move. I wondered if I'd done enough to
create a small earthquake. It was probably the most I'd ever knocked down in a
single go.
Several of the Soldats moved to help up the fallen men, but I knew how to
deal with them.
"[Gravity]."
"Bzzt..."
If you increased a Gollem's body weight to a certain amount, then the sudden
excess pressure made their automated safeties trigger. That sent them into
sleep mode. The sleep mode was exactly how so many of the ancient legacy
Gollems could be reactivated safely nowadays.
I'd successfully neutralized the army, but I wasn't going to let it end there.
"Ooze forth, Dark! I Seek a Grotesque Form: [Green Slime]!"
I landed and called forth several thousand slimes from a summoning circle.
One after the other, the slimy creatures emerged from thin air.
Slimes came in all shapes and sizes. There were those that were harmless and
those that were extremely deadly. Some were cowardly, and some were
unreasonably brash. There were rare ones, and there were common ones too...
There were just all kinds of Slimes.
And the Green Slimes? They were a common Slime species that could be
found almost anywhere. They were generally harmless, but they were also
hated for a particular reason... One that I'd had a first-hand viewing to a long
time ago...
Green Slimes ate and digested fibers found in clothing. Any adventurer
unfortunate enough to be attacked by one would find their clothing digested
and consumed. They only ate clothing, though. They didn't harm people or
digest armor.
And now, this massive wave was headed right for the fallen army... They had
their hungry eyes set not on the men, but their clothes.
"E-Eeh?!"
"Ooauugh?!"
The men had been paralyzed, but they were still completely conscious as the
Slime horde descended upon them. I could only assume that they were
absolutely terrified. Unable to speak or move as their bodies were coated in
living goop.
I scooped up a little Slime and walked over toward the commander. The older
man who had been sitting on the quadrupedal Gollem.
"Didn't I tell you that I'd humiliate you so badly your ancestors will keep on
cringing?"
"M-Mff... Mffh?!"
I dropped the little slime atop the panicked man's chest. The gooey creature
immediately started melting down his clothing.
"Ahahaha... Gonna continue fighting me buck-naked? I mean, you'll still have
your armors and your chest pieces, right? How about it? I'm sure Isengard's
nude invasion will go down in the history books."
"M-Mffh... Mfffh!!"
The mustached man glared at me. I could still sense defiance in his eyes, so I
leaned in closer. I knew what I was about to say would break his spirit entirely.
"Normal Green Slimes only eat clothes, but these ones are a special variant of
that species. I had them engineered based on some notes I found in a castle a
long time ago. See... these Slimes also melt certain types of fiber found on the
human body."
"Hhohh?!"
The mustached man paled as I continued talking.
"Don't worry, you won't die. But every last hair on your body is gonna get
melted down and digested. I wonder how you'll look without that mustache...
And without your eyelashes, too. Ahaha... I bet the name of Isengard's
smoothest army will go down in history, too."
"Fhhhh?! Aah... Aaaaaah?!"
After an hour, the feast finally ended. The soldiers, who were now smoother
than the smoothest smoothie in a smoothie store, all ran home in a frantic
panic.
Their outfits made it even funnier. They had light armor around their chests,
but nothing at all covering their lower bodies. They didn't even have any hair or
eyebrows. It was goddamn hilarious.
A bunch of baldies with fully-exposed privates running all the way home... I
was sure the sight would be burned into the brains of anyone they passed by.
I didn't know if the hair loss was permanent, since I never bothered looking
into whether the Slimes ate the hair follicles too.
In the end, it wasn't my business. But if they were lucky, they'd grow their
hair back...
◇ ◇ ◇
"Anyway, that's basically how it went down."
One of the Valkyries took a video with my smartphone, so I had just finished
playing back the events of the battle for the people in the room.
"They'll probably try again after this, so put some more troops down at the
Emerald Ruin."
"R-Right... Of course... Y-Yes, I'll do that..."
The emperor of Gardio nodded along slowly. We were back in the courtyard
at his castle, and I was explaining what had happened.
"...You're not one for mercy, eh?"
"A-Actually, Colonel, I think that was him being merciful..."
"They came in with the intention of killing others. If you don't break their
spirits, then they'll just continue acting as they wish."
Yumina and Leen spoke my mind. I wasn't about to sit down and break bread
with an enemy that struck me first. I had to hit them hard enough for them to
stay down.
There was never a guarantee I'd win, even if I was overpowered. The future
was an uncertain thing, so I didn't want to just hope things worked out for the
best. That was why I tried to make it so my enemies never challenged me a
second time. After all, this wouldn't have happened if they didn't shoot first.
Still, even if I handled these guys, their leader was still fine. I wondered what
to do about that...
Ideally, I wanted to break and humiliate the witch-king of Isengard. My
grandpa always told me that when you were outnumbered, you needed to aim
for the head.
Back in middle school, I had a lot of issues with delinquent gangs, but they
always fell along with their boss.
So basically, cut the head off and the body should die. I needed to make the
enemy realize that picking a fight with me would never, ever yield them good
results. After all, they were people, and no person ever liked being hurt. If I did
that, then it was likely they'd avoid me for fear of that pain.
To begin with, I didn't even know why Isengard was so hellbent on those
ruins. If I had to guess, they probably couldn't find what they wanted in the
Azure Ruin and must have assumed it was in the Emerald Ruin instead.
If they were looking for something in the ancient ruins... then maybe it was a
Gollem. But I couldn't think what kind of Gollem would be worth going to such
insane lengths for...
"I think I need to ask their leader face-to-face."
"No way..." Sergeant stared at me, wide-eyed. That was amusing for such a
narrow-eyed man.
"I'll infiltrate Isengard and speak with their witch-king. If I figure out what it is
they're after, it'll make things a hell of a lot easier for all of us."
"You would willingly charge into enemy lines?!" Gardio's emperor yelled out
in disbelief. I personally thought it was the smartest thing to do. If I didn't act,
they'd just send another army anyway.
If I wasn't in Gardio, and Isengard sent more of those owls, then the place
would definitely be screwed. That was why I wanted to get things over and
done with as soon as I could.
In truth, I felt that Isengard would crush Gardio if it came to all-out war.
Gardio would definitely give them a mean fight, but Isengard would win.
Isengard's leadership almost seemed obsessive, and that obsession resulted
in all manner of technological advancements for their military. They seemed
hellbent on developing new things no matter the cost. I couldn't tell if that was
a national creed unique to Isengard, or if it was simply the way the country had
been twisted under the witch-king's control.
Ultimately, Isengard was an unstable nation. Nobody could know for sure
what kind of weird stuff they were hiding up their sleeves. It was highly possible
that the thing they wanted so badly from the ruins was some kind of ancient
superweapon. That was why I just wanted to cut out the nonsense and go visit
them.
"Mm... Touya certainly is a man of bad habits... Always charging headlong into
the business of others..."
"Well, that's just how Touya is." Leen shook her head, and Yumina answered
with a shrug and a wry smile.
...Am I really that bad?
"Well, whatever. We're off."
"...This may seem a little late for me to ask, but... who are you? Why are you
even helping us?"
Gardio's emperor looked at me with an incredulous expression. I guess from
his perspective, I was just this mysterious guy who appeared and started doing
a bunch of weird stuff in his life.
"You won't believe me, but I'm royalty just like you. I'm a grand duke from
another world. I've been traveling through this world in search of friendly
nations I can co-operate with."
"A... Another world?"
My words only seemed to confuse the man further. I couldn't blame him for
that, but the day in which the truth would be revealed was fast approaching.
And then, he'd be forced to accept my words as truth.
Just as I was wondering whether to open a [Gate] or use [Teleport], Yumina
spoke up.
"I think we should make a brief detour home. Yae and Hilde would be useful
here."
"She's right. You should learn to be a little more reliant on our power,
darling."
Mm... I guess. I'll head back to Brunhild and pick them up.
"Well, see ya."
I left behind the utterly shell-shocked and confused group of people and
headed back to my own world.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Wh-Who are you?! How did you come down from the sky like that?!"
Isengard's castle was pretty much a steel stronghold. It had an incredibly
unique style to it, looking like a large fort cobbled together from junk parts.
Pipes and valves ran amuck all over the place, giving the hallways and walls a
very steampunk feel. There were strange levers and measurement meters
sticking out of things all over the place. It kind of made me feel like I was on the
inside of a submarine, not that I'd ever had any experience in that regard.
We'd descended from the sky and came down right in the middle of the
place, where we immediately met several spear-wielding guards. In a matter of
moments, we were surrounded by both person and Gollem alike.
"What should we do, Touya-dono?"
"Yae and I should be able to deal with this many on our own..."
Yae and Hilde brandished their blades as they asked me what to do next.
Yumina and Leen had ostensibly brought them as extra muscle, but I knew they
were here to stop me from doing anything too extreme.
The two of them looked like they were ready to leap into action, but I wanted
to take it a bit slower.
I cast [Eternal Coffin] and sealed all the Gollems in the area within
inescapable pillars of ice.
"E-Eep! They're frozen solid!"
The human guards slowly started to back off. My tactic had been to strike fear
into their hearts.
That particular spell was a little bit dangerous when dealing with human foes.
If a person was encased in the ice, and then the ice was shattered, well... I
didn't really want people to associate me with cruel and unusual murder.
"Please point me to the witch-king. I want to speak to him."
"Wh-What do you want with His Industriousness?!"
"Just a casual chat. It'll seriously save us both a lot of hassle if you just tell me
where he is."
I punctuated my point by drawing Brunhild and shooting at an empty pillar of
ice.
The bullet, which was enchanted with [Explosion], detonated at the base of
the pillar. The entire thing then collapsed into teeny tiny fragments. One of the
terrified guards suddenly pointed toward a nearby building.
I looked over and saw a crude-looking tower made out of metal. Nothing
about it stood out or looked remotely regal.
It looked like a command tower, the kind you might see on a battleship. It
definitely didn't seem like the kind of place you'd find a king.
There were a few turret areas jutting out as if it was built with heavy
fortification in mind. Part of me wondered if they'd actually built a battleship
and just jammed it into the ground to make this castle.
We turned and started walking towards it.
"Touya-dono... You have certainly gotten more talented at threatening
people, you have."
"...D-Don't say it like that, it sounds bad... It's not threatening, it's advanced
negotiation."
"...I'm not so sure that was a negotiation at all."
The girls were right to think that, but they wouldn't have let us through if I'd
just approached them normally.
We suddenly heard several gunshots ring out from behind us.
In a flash, Yae and Hilde turned with katana and sword drawn. I could see
their motions, but any ordinary human would have found it imperceptible. They
moved like lightning, slicing apart the bullets that were headed our way. Their
phrasium weapons sliced through the bullets like butter and the split debris
flew off in various directions.
The group of soldiers who'd fired upon us stared at the sight with a dawning
look of horror on their faces.
"Th-That's not possible!"
"The only ones who should shoot are those who are prepared to be shot."
I raised Brunhild and aimed it at the men. Then, I shot a single [Cyclone
Storm] bullet into the ground at their feet, and the men were carried off into
the distance.
"These people are troublesome in groups, they are."
"Mm... They're a pain to deal with. If a hundred of them had shot at us, I'm
not sure we'd have been able to handle it."
Hilde said a couple dozen would be their limit, but I wasn't so sure. I thought
they could probably do better than that.
They were students of the god of swords and received perks from my and
Moroha's divinity. In terms of the Reverse World and the regular world, they
were definitely among the best of the best.
Yae fought with her Kokonoe Style, and Hilde used the special arts passed
down in Lestia for years. But through Moroha's training, they'd basically created
their own unique styles with those as the mere foundations.
Moroha didn't have a defined style to the way she wielded the blade. One of
the teachings of Chiba Shusaku Narimasa, the greatest samurai in history, was
"May you be swift of mind, still of heart, low of body, clear of sight, and fierce
of action." Moroha's philosophy was more "Don't think, feel."
It was more about letting instinct take over, rather than any particular
method of teaching. Logical techniques didn't work against Moroha at all, so it
made sense enough to me.
Yumina and Leen were far inferior to Yae and Hilde in terms of physical
strength, but they were absolute powerhouses in terms of magic. The soldiers
here simply didn't have a chance. Either way, we couldn't afford to be off our
guard. There was always a chance the enemy had some kind of trump card they
wanted to pull.
"So, assuming that's the command tower... that little part off to the side must
be the bridge."
"Are we going to scale it from the inside, are we?"
"Nah. That's a pain in the ass. Let's go up from the outside. I think I have a
helpful little tool, anyway."
I opened up [Storage] and took out the metal disc I'd taken from Gien when
he attacked the emperor of Gardio. It was a fairly standard artifact, that I'd
already scanned thoroughly with [Analyze], and rewritten with [Cracking].
"Hop on."
The disc wasn't huge, but it had enough room for the five of us. I could've
used [Levitation] and [Fly] for the same effect, but the girls hated being floated
around. Seemed they didn't like not having their feet on anything solid.
The disc didn't wobble or anything, either. It was a pretty level and sturdy
surface, which made it feel a lot safer.
We all stepped onto the disc and huddled up, and I made it slowly rise into
the air. It was basically like an elevator without walls. Frankly, it was a little
scary to me. I wouldn't have gotten on it if I wasn't able to fly in an emergency
scenario.
I could've just made the girls get on the disc while I flew alongside it, but it
was a bit late for that.
We flew up to the approximate area where the bridge would be, and Yae
sliced a hole in the steel wall. The sliced-off bit fell inward, and we hopped
through the newly-created entrance. I gathered up the floating disc, as well.
We found ourselves in a large hallway, and there were a few guard Gollems
around.
"[Shield]."
I created a shield that filled the space of the entire hallway, and then after
that...
"[Power Rise]!"
I enhanced my physical strength and punched the [Shield] down the hallway
toward the incoming Gollems. The massive force knocked them all down and
held them in place.
"Touya-dono! I have found stairs, I have!"
Yae found a little stairway to the right, and we all followed after her.
I didn't know if the stairs would take us to the witch-king, but typically, the
leader was usually in the highest room.
The stairway led to a pair of thick iron doors, but Yae easily sliced through
them again with her blade. Kind of felt like cheating, really.
The metal thudded to the ground and we walked, quite literally, through the
door. We came out into a wide hallway padded with red carpet. At the end of
the hall was another pair of doors... and a man stood in front of them alongside
a Gollem.
The man wore heavy armor and a helmet with horns jutting out of each side.
His face was grizzled and older-looking, and he had a thick beard.
The Gollem was bronze. It was huge, but its actual body wasn't all that big.
Instead, it just had particularly thick arms and legs. It seemed pretty different
from most of the Gollems I'd seen so far.
"You dare infiltrate the Isenberg, His Industriousness's inner sanctum?! You
reckless fools... I'll decorate the town plaza with your desecrated corpses!"
The man was likely the gatekeeper to the throne room, which meant the
witch-king was behind him.
"Look... would you mind letting us through?"
"Impudent whelp! If you wish to pass, then you must pass me!"
The man yelled and then leaped into the air. The Gollem next to him suddenly
split itself into pieces and flew toward him. Bit by bit, the Gollem began
wrapping itself around the man like a huge mechanical suit of armor. It was
what I'd been warned about earlier. The equipment-based Gollem, known as
the Panzer type. I remembered that Nia from the Red Cats had told me about
them.
The man was now fitted with powerful Gollem parts all over his body, and he
landed on the ground with a mighty crash. It was definitely an impressive sight.
It wasn't exactly full body armor, since his head, torso, and thighs weren't
properly covered. However, he already had his regular armor covering those
parts anyway.
"TAKE THIIIIIIS!"
The very room shook as the man charged towards us like an amped-up
American footballer.
Yae and Hilde braced for impact and put their hands at their hilts. Yumina and
Leen stood in the back, ready to chant the right incantations...
"[Gate]."
The girls all called out in confusion at my sudden word.
A gate of light appeared in front of the charging bull of a man, and he ran
straight into it.
"AAAAAARGH?! WHAT?! I'M FALLIIIIIING!"
We then heard a faint cry from the outside, followed by a heavy impact. And
maybe a hint of a crunch.
"...Where did you connect that gate to, Touya-dono?"
"The hole you made when we first entered the place. I didn't wanna waste
time with that moron."
"...I think we would've been okay."
The Panzer looked tough, so the guy survived the fall... Probably...
"I feel a little sorry for him..."
"Me too... But I suppose he was the enemy..."
Leen and Yumina sighed softly. I decided to hurry onwards. It'd be awkward if
he survived and came back because we were waiting around.
The heavy doors at the far end of the hallway creaked open.
We walked through into an open room that looked like it was at one point a
royal chamber. It didn't really give off that vibe, though. There were pipes
sticking out all over the place, rusted cogwheels spinning here and there, and
construction materials all over the floor.
I saw various screws and tools scattered about, springs and cogs strewn atop
benches. The place felt more like a workshop than a place where a king would
greet guests.
There were several large windows lining the walls, showing the smog-filled
skyline of Isengard's capital. At the far end of the room was a rusty, steel
throne. It didn't look very regal at all.
Atop the throne sat an old man. He looked over at us with a smile on his face.
It was clear at a glance that both of his arms had been completely replaced by
mechanical ones. Though, I'd initially thought he'd only replaced one.
There was no mistaking it. This was the man himself. The witch-king of
Isengard, Gibram Thine Isengard.
◇ ◇ ◇
The old man, who I assumed to be the witch-king, sat on his throne. He
grinned down at us. His brass mechanical arms whirred faintly, like electrical
motors. The sound was so very faint that the average human would be unlikely
to hear it.
He looked like he had to be at least seventy years old. He wore a monocle
over one of his eyes, and his withered hair was brushed back. I could see his
teeth, or at least what remained of them, they were all gold.
He definitely gave off the vibe of a stereotypical creepy old man... But I also
knew I couldn't underestimate him. He was old, which meant he had a lot of
experience, and probably a lot of wisdom.
"The witch-king, I presume?"
"Correct. At least, that's what they call me. For what is witchcraft if not a
craft? It's true that I care little for true magic, but the technological applications
have always come naturally to me... And what should a master of that craft be
called? The witch-king was originally a name granted to he who had proven
himself a master of magitechnology, but none have come close to my
capabilities, so I've held the title since I was but a prince."
Huh... So it's not what the king is normally called? Didn't expect it to be an
ability-based title. I don't really like the way he's looking at me from behind that
monocle, though... He's staring me down like I'm some kind of rare item.
"So, Mochizuki Touya... what brings you to my fine land?"
"Wait, how do you know my name?" His words caught me by surprise.
There were few people in this world who knew me by name, and as far as I
knew, none of those people had ties to Isengard.
The old man grinned wide and let out a dry laugh when he saw my confusion.
"Isengard has a nice little information network itself. Not quite as
sophisticated as the Black Cats, but still rather good. I know that you placed a
curse upon the former leader of Papillon and that you halted a conflict between
Triharan and Primula. And of course, I'm also aware that you used several
gigantic Gollems to defeat those strange, metallic creatures that appeared
within my borders... I suppose I should thank you for that."
He let out another laugh after he finished talking. I could feel the
condescension seeping from his words... It wasn't like I'd killed the mutants for
his sake or anything, they just happened to appear in his territory.
"A most proficient mage, and an owner of many giant Gollems... Tell me,
boy... Which ancient ruin granted you access to this bountiful strength, hm?"
He narrowed his eyes, staring at me up and down. He was a little off the mark
in some places, but that made sense. I didn't expect him to know I was from
another world.
"I'd always seen such witchery and magic as beneath me... Something that
was simply a catalyst for technology, but... Perhaps I had underestimated it. I'd
even decided to erect a magical barrier around my workshop, but it seems you
saw through that as well."
"Actually, that kinda worked. It ended up blocking my spell that I use to track
things, so I had to directly storm the castle and find you the old-fashioned way."
To be honest, it hadn't really stalled us all that much though. It was a little
annoying that this world had magic, even if it was inferior to the magic of the
regular world... If the Reverse World didn't have magic at all, things would've
been a lot easier for me. Then again, it was possible that if the Reverse World
had no capability for magic then I wouldn't be able to use it either.
It was highly possible that the regular world and the Reverse World both had
similar beginnings to their civilizations.
"So, then. Why are you here?"
"I'll be blunt. I want you to leave the Gardio Empire alone."
"Have Gardio hand the Emerald Ruin to us, and we will cease hostilities.
We've asked for the ruin several times in the past, you know... But they always
skirted around the issue. That's why I really had no option but to take it by
force."
The ancient ruins of the Reverse World were basically full of loot waiting to be
found, they weren't things countries could just pass off to others with no
consideration. But personally, I felt that the emperor of Gardio probably didn't
want to hand over any more of the land that was once the birthright of his son,
Lucrecion.
"What's in the Emerald Ruin, anyway? Some really strong Gollem?"
"...A strong Gollem? Mm... You aren't quite wrong, I suppose. Tell me, what
do you know of the Great Gollem War?"
The witch-king leaned back, as his grin twisted into a broader smirk.
"...Do you mean that ancient conflict that almost destroyed the whole world?
The Gollems that were used in the war are still asleep today, right? You guys call
them legacy Gollems."
"Hoho... Seems you aren't a dullard. But you aren't correct entirely, actually.
It's the Gollems that specifically weren't used in the war that we dig up
nowadays. Most of the ancient ruins across the world are remnants of factories,
hospitals, research facilities, and so on. That's why the Gollems we find there
are usually in such good condition."
The witch-king reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar. He reached out
his index finger, which transformed into a blade, and cut the tip off. He then lit
the cigar with a small flame that came from his thumb. That arm of his seemed
pretty useful to me, it certainly wasn't short on gimmicky uses.
The witch-king continued to talk as he puffed away on his cigar.
"So, as the Great War continued, a bunch of countries started working on
superweapons that could put an end to the conflict. One country created a
series of giant artillery cannons. One country created a floating fortress that
remains lost in the sky. Another country developed a bomb that could
obliterate an entire city in a single blast. But all these weapons were only
spoken of in texts, and I took them to be mere folk stories... After all, nothing of
the sort had ever been found in any of the ruins we'd uncovered... Until..."
"What...?"
The witch-king grinned madly.
"Until I found one. A weapon of mass destruction, one created as a last-ditch
effort by an ancient nation. The ultimate culmination of ancient
magitechnological prowess! I call it the Hecatoncheir, the hundred-handed
one!"
The... What? Wait, but if he already has one of those things then why did he
even want the Emerald Ruin?
"Ahaha... You know, it's rare that I have guests. Where are my manners? Let
me properly treat you to an audience."
The old man let out a dry laugh as he pushed a button on his throne. I
suddenly heard creaking and whirring, and the very room began moving
downward like a massive elevator.
"Th-The room is sinking, it is!"
"T-Touya? What is this?"
The elevator-like room continued to sink until a loud thud rang out and we
finally stopped. I couldn't say for sure, but it felt like we were underground.
"Just what is this?!"
We were in the middle of a vast area so wide that I couldn't even make out
anything in the distance. It was barely even lit up... The place looked like some
kind of secret underground factory. I saw a few worker Gollems milling around
in the area. But in front of us stood the most peculiar thing of all. It had a few
spotlights centered on it. A massive, black metal structure accentuated with
brass highlights.
"...Is that a Gollem?"
It certainly looked like a Gollem's head... But it was far too big for me to
accurately tell. If it was a Gollem's head, then it'd have to be a pretty goddamn
big Gollem. It seemed like everything from the neck-down was buried in the
ground, which meant the body hadn't been properly excavated.
Regardless, it was the biggest Gollem I had ever seen. The lighting was still
poor, so I couldn't properly make it out. If I'd activated my divinity and focused
it around my eyes then I'd have been able to get a better look, but the sheer
scale of the thing made me forget I could do that.
The head looked almost demonic, with two curved horns jutting from the
sides. There were also several spherical attachments on either side. Given the
horizontal lines in the middle of each sphere, I could only assume it was a row
of closed eyes. There was also a single large sphere right in the middle of the
forehead, in the stereotypical position of a psychic's third eye.
"...That's Hecatoncheir?"
"Correct. Isengard has long protected this weapon, but over time the people
forgot it was even buried down here. The nation developed as it slept below,
abandoned by its protectors. If I hadn't uncovered it, it likely would have slept
forever."
It was a grisly remnant of the Great War, something that could've destroyed
the world... I had no idea such a thing was buried beneath Isengard. It was kind
of like an Upper Construct Phrase, but it was far rougher due to its artificial
nature. It was a weapon designed to blindly murder all in its path.
"All Gollems have the G-Cube at their core and the Q-Crystal to compose their
brain. But the Q-Crystal slot for Hecatoncheir was left incomplete. It needed a
replacement. For over thirty years I tried to awaken it with various Gollem QCrystals, but only recently did I find my answer."
The witch-king walked over toward Hecatoncheir's head and slid two of his
machine fingers into a console nearby. Several beeping sounds rang out as the
spheres lining the enormous Gollem head began to slowly open.
"What the..."
Each of the eye-like openings were actually hemisphere windows, and inside
each were brain-like structures connected to tubes. All except the main eye in
the middle was open. They were all floating within an emerald-green liquid, like
preserved brains you might find in a medical laboratory.
They weren't exactly biological brains, just crystal structures carved into an
angular brain-like shape. There were even circuits carved into them, resembling
the wrinkles one might find in an animal's brain. These were the Q-Crystals, the
data centers of a Gollem.
Even though I knew they were man-made, I was still grossed out looking at
them through the glass.
"Fifty Q-Crystals. That's how many we have lining its head right now. They
aren't normal, either. They're all exceptionally high-grade Q-Crystals taken from
legacy Gollems. But even after that, we still need to be sure it's under our
control, which brings us to the last piece..."
Even though the room was dimly lit, I could still make out the witch-king's
sinister smile.
"Gollems are powered through light and magic. Those two factors combine
within a Gollem's internal reactor, granting it the ability to move and think. But
to move a Gollem of this size, we'd need unfathomable amounts of magical
power. It was around ten years ago that I learned an artifact with that amount
of magical power was within the Lowe territory."
"Ten years ago... Then you orchestrated the invasion of Lowe to get your
hands on that artifact?!"
"Correct. It was all to find that last piece. Well, we also managed to
cannibalize the Q-Crystals from the beast emperor Gollems we defeated.
They're inside Hecatoncheir's head right now! But I digress... The artifact I
sought was not located within the Azure Ruin."
That made sense. Since he only knew it was in Lowe's territory, there was no
guarantee it'd be in those particular ruins. And as it happened, the Emerald
Ruin was discovered around the same time... Which probably meant the artifact
he needed was in there, and he'd do anything to get it.
"So what do you want to do with it once you trigger it? Take over the world?"
"Pfft. Don't be stupid, boy. I am doing this for myself. To prove that I have
taken magitechnology to its utter apex. I wish to show the world that I have
gone beyond even the ancient civilizations! I cannot allow the fools of this
world to waste such beautiful technology anymore! All of the ancient secrets
are mine to wield, do you understand? Mine to know, and pull apart! Who
cares about conflict and war? All I want is to push science to the absolute limit!
All who get in my way can die for all I care!"
Though the light was low, I could see glints of madness in his eyes. I knew that
he'd stop at nothing to pursue his goals.
"Nia was right... You're crazy."
"Khahaha! All humans are crazy in some way, it's just how we're wired! Most
aren't even aware of their own neuroses, and think they're sane! You say that
I'm crazy, me?! But from my perspective, you're the insane ones! You, who seek
to impede magitechnological progress!"
The old man started cackling like an idiot. I could feel another wave of
condescension coming from him. My grandpa always told me to respect my
elders, but I didn't really think this guy was the kind of person I could afford to
respect on any level.
"...Guess you're beyond negotiating, huh? Sorry, old man... But I'll be turning
that tacky old thing into scrap metal. It's way too dangerous to leave
unchecked."
"Khaha! You think I'd let you do that?! Why do you think I brought you into
my secret lab?! Why do you think I've been monologuing this entire time?!"
"What?"
All of a sudden, a glass cylinder shot up from the ground and fell down from
the ceiling until I was completely sealed in a clear tube. All the strength began
draining from my body. I felt like I was going to vomit. The sensation was so
intense that I fell to my knees and started gasping for air.
Gh... M-My magic...?! He's draining my magic?!
"Touya!"
"Darling?! Yae, Hilde! Get him out of there!"
"Yes, Leen-dono!"
"We're on it!"
Yae and Hilde charged sent their blades dancing through the air, slicing the
cylinder around me to ribbons.
Even though I'd only been affected for a few seconds, I'd lost roughly forty
percent of my entire mana pool. If I was an ordinary person, I'd have been
drained instantly and probably died. Given that it was enough to make me feel
woozy, it must've been some seriously scary tech.
"Guhuhu... Khahahaha! Thanks for your generous donation, friend! This is
more than enough to fire up the reactor! Khaaahahaha!"
"You..."
Even though my head was still reeling, I understood what the old man had
done. He'd expected me to come see him. He was aiming for my magic power
from the start... And had used me to activate the Gollem.
After all, he didn't need the artifact if he had a living conduit of magic like me.
I was basically a human sparkplug!
"You wretch!"
Yae leaped forward to the witch-king and, in the blink of an eye, sliced off his
right arm at the elbow. Just as Hilde prepared to follow up with her own attack,
something grotesque happened.
The witch-king's face split open horizontally, and his jaw extended by at least
twenty centimeters. The muzzle of a gun then poked out past his golden teeth
and fired several rounds in our direction.
"What the...? [Shield]!"
The rain of bullets was soaked up by the sudden appearance of an invisible
barrier. I watched in horror as the old man stood up. His entire back split apart,
revealing several extendable arms that were tipped with sharp blades.
"T-Touya-dono?! D-Did he replace his entire body with mechanical parts, did
he?!"
"No! That's not it at all! He's a Gollem! He was a humanoid Gollem this entire
time!"
How could I have not noticed? He was never a human to begin with, he was a
humanoid-type Gollem like Ruby, Saph, and Emerl... Elluka had mentioned that
humanoid Gollems that looked identical to human beings were rare, but
definitely existed... And now I knew that this guy was one of them. Yae and
Hilde began frantically slashing apart the arms as they came jabbing toward us.
Fortunately, humanoid Gollems didn't have much in the way of combat
strength, because their design was more oriented around deceiving people
through disguise. Even though it had weapons, that was never the primary
focus of its design.
"Guh!"
"Hyah!"
Yae's katana gleamed as it sliced off the witch-king's head, and Hilde followed
that attack up by cleaving its body in half entirely. Various mechanical parts
spilled out of its inside, and the thing that once was the witch-king fell to the
ground.
"...What could this mean?"
Yumina stared down at the witch-king's remains in disbelief. ...Was he a
Gollem his entire life? Did he get assassinated and replaced at some point? But
then, who was controlling him? This raises way too many questions.
As I mulled over the situation, a rumbling began to permeate the ground and
walls. Everything in the underground factory began to shake. At first, I thought
it was an earthquake, but then I realized the truth.
"Khakhahaha! Amazing... Wonderful...! I can feel the power coursing through
my entire body! Ohh... With this... I've truly become transhuman, ohh... This is
incredible!"
The witch-king's voice rang out through the entire area, but I couldn't
pinpoint where it was coming from.
"T-Touya-dono! Over there!"
Yae pointed toward the gigantic Gollem head. The large eye-like window in
the middle of Hecatoncheir's forehead had opened, and I looked in utter
disgusted shock as I realized what was inside.
Floating inside the emerald-green liquid, much like the Q-Crystals I'd seen
through the other hemispherical windows... was a human brain