Chapter 180
Chapter 180
Chapter 180
The Awakened Adi (1)
'…Elysion?'
It was definitely a name I remembered.
One of Adi's terminals—a search-type artificial intelligence.
Having seen Eldorado and Dilmun directly, I never would have thought it would be this ultra-compact and humanoid.
"It looks human, but it doesn't seem to be human."
Rowen groaned after confirming Elysion's appearance.
A female-type humanoid that appeared to be in her late teens, wearing an academy uniform—though I had no idea who had dressed her.
Just from her appearance... she bore a faint resemblance to 'Sitri Belstad,' whom Asmodeus had disguised herself as before.
No, regardless of the opponent's appearance, what mattered was that Elysion, Adi's terminal, had suddenly appeared as an enemy.
'Damn, has the security been breached?'
In the case of Eldorado, it was used for the massive gate in Chapter 1 of the original work, and Dilmun, which appeared as a MacGuffin, was also used as the dragons' ark.
The difficulty of breaching a terminal's security was incredibly high, but that didn't make it absolute.
This too was probably someone who had breached the security and gained control.
"Be careful. Don't let your guard down at all."
"...Yeah."
Even without saying it, the ominous aura that Elysion carried couldn't be taken lightly.
'And it's troublesome that I can't read any information....'
The decisive factor was that the Eye of State wasn't working.
As soon as I activated the Eye of State toward Elysion, just like when I was blocked by Archduke Quihiller's ability before, sparks flew before my eyes and a status window saying 'Access Denied' popped up.
Of course, even without checking her combat power, considering Eldorado's might in the past, that Elysion fellow was definitely not someone to take lightly.
But before that, I needed to know why Adi's terminal was hostile toward us.
"Hey."
Rudian drew Diablo and approached Elysion.
Elysion, who was about to charge, flinched and stopped in place when she saw Rudian like that.
"...Main control system, 'Arcadia' confirmed."
"That's fortunate. At least minimal conversation should be possible?"
But Rudian's thinking was nothing more than a mistake.
"Temporary sleep state, higher command unavailable judgment. Continuing temporary user's command resumption."
"...Huh?"
"Opponent estimated threat level 13. Stage 1 anti-star weapon unlock."
CLANK CLANK CLANK!
From who knows where, as if optical camouflage was being released, numerous weapons that looked like laser rifles revealed themselves near Elysion.
The number was at least several hundred or more.
"Hey, wait a minute?"
Rudian's eyes widened as he reached out his hand, but that damn piece of scrap ignored any words and pointed its muzzles at Rudian.
"Mobile bombardment initiation. Star Light Blaster."
"...Shit."
THUUUNG!
The laser rifles floating around Elysion all simultaneously emitted blue light and fired toward Rudian.
"Rudian!"
Along with Maria's warning cry, Rudian attempted to evade by soaring not to the ground but even higher up.
'If that hits the ground, it'll be a disaster!'
The power of the attack just fired was definitely not something to take lightly.
Each one was at least 8th class level or higher, and there were hundreds of them!
Then Maria's urgent words reached Rudian's ears.
"Behind!"
"......!"
Just when I thought I had quickly dodged the surprise beam attack, the light from the Star Light Blaster that had flown away began performing an inertial drift and flying toward me again!
"...Guided missiles?"
Rudian looked at the destructive light filling his vision and let out an angry roar.
"Hey! Even for sci-fi, there's a limit!"
KUUUUKUUUNG!
Right after that, the barrier that Rudian hastily deployed collided with the blaster.
'...Ugh, this is much heavier than I thought?'
And this wasn't the end.
As soon as Rudian was hit, Elysion immediately began pouring out a second bombardment in succession.
"Second bombardment initiation."
"This thing can't even recognize its master!"
Rudian was furious. And he thought this:
"Once I retrieve you, I'm definitely going to dress you up in a maid outfit and make you do all sorts of things."
Rudian spat out a statement mixed with anger and desire as he swung Diablo.
SWISH!
It was a simple strike without even giving it a name, but since it contained Diablo's power, even Elysion couldn't ignore it.
"......!"
That strike broke through the firewall Elysion had deployed and headed straight for the main body.
"Slash with spatial interference properties. Estimated energy level 11."
Elysion's expression remained the same, but her movements felt slightly sluggish.
"Anti-plasma shie...."
Elysion's words couldn't continue to the end.
CRACK!
Because Rudian's slash had flown much faster than expected and split Elysion's arm.
"......!"
While the creature was staring blankly at its right arm that had been blown away in one hit.
"Tin can, tin can, give me your head."
Rudian approached Elysion with a chilling smile.
"I don't know how you're operating... let's start by removing the remaining limbs first."
In a way, it couldn't help but be cruel words, but the opponent was a machine anyway.
But Elysion's response was quick.
"Anti-plasma shield generation. Anti-star weapon stage 2 unlock."
Instantly, bombardment with incomparably more energy than before was being detected from beyond the sky above.
"Charged particle cannon, fire."
"...Damn it."
Rudian gave up trying to finish off Elysion and shouted loudly toward below.
"Maria! Help!"
"Got it!"
As expected, the quick-witted Maria soared into the sky to block Elysion's charged particle cannon that was striking down toward them, even before Rudian finished speaking.
KURRRRRUNG!
And not long after, along with a roar like a giant firecracker exploding, light of various colors spread across the sky.
"......!"
Moreover, there wasn't just one bombardment, as Maria was moving urgently to block the additional shots pouring down.
"This damn tin can...!"
An attack that would have been impossible to handle without Maria or Evangeline.
"Close combat engagement. Plasma blade generation."
DIIIIING!
Elysion generated sharp beam-shaped blades on her remaining arm and the other severed parts.
"User close combat level, confirmed as upper Battle Master class. Close combat victory rate 93%. Commencing elimination."
BANG!
Rudian, who blocked Elysion's cross-shaped attack, broke out in cold sweat and forced a laugh.
"This is really one troublesome tin can."
At that moment, as if she had listened to Rudian's words, Elysion said this:
"This entity is an artificial intelligence specialized in high-dimensional search capabilities, a terminal with Adora civilization's most advanced technology applied. Therefore, the term 'tin can' is inappropriate. I request correction."
"...You understand insults like a ghost? Then why don't you listen to your master's words properly!"
"Without commands from the main control system, your existence is not recognized as master."
KAGAGAGANG!
Certainly, Elysion had accurately grasped Rudian's swordsmanship level.
I didn't know exactly what level Battle Master was, but substituting it with Sword Master gave a rough estimate.
'Strong and fast. Plus, there are no angle restrictions, so it's tricky!'
The creature used both hands freely and continuously penetrated Rudian's blind spots.
'Each strike, each strike is critical hit level!'
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Every time I blocked the creature's blade, my grip tingled.
Moreover, in close combat, there was no room for other companions except Rowen to intervene.
Fighting purely with aura and swordsmanship, it was certain I'd be defeated in less than 5 minutes.
But...!
"Don't you know yet that I'm not someone who only focuses on swordsmanship!"
Rudian activated the Black World and responded by overlaying the Death King techniques.
CRACK!
In an instant, the plasma blade that Elysion had deployed began to be eroded by the phenomenon called 'death' and started to oxidize.
"...! Material alteration phenomenon confirmed. Reviewing countermeasures for highest-level authority."
When her confident close combat was rendered futile, Elysion began muttering again, searching for countermeasures.
"Threat level measurement impossible. Demigod class or higher. Requesting stage 5 anti-god weapon unlock from temporary user."
"I don't know what you're muttering about, but first take some hits!"
ZZZZT! ZZZZZZT!
"Request denied. User authority insufficient. Current capabilities cannot respond."
After emotionlessly stating everything she had to say, Elysion suddenly began desperately creating distance from Rudian.
"Manual confirmation according to unresponsive capabilities."
"Come here, you bastard!"
"Retreating."
"...What?"
SWOOSH!
Not simply hiding with optical camouflage, but retreat through spatial leap.
Rudian was slightly flustered by such swift judgment and action...
"I told you! Take some hits first!"
THWACK!
"...Ugh!"
"Where are you running!"
Rudian, who precisely caught the short delay of spatial movement, delivered a drop kick to Elysion's side just as she was about to disappear.
"Retrea...ting...."
"Did you think I'd let you go obediently?"
Just from the dialogue, it looked like an obsessive man clinging to an ex-lover, but if I carelessly let Elysion go here, I might lose the enemy's tail I had finally caught.
"Forced movement initiation."
Even with her arm blown off and body dented, Elysion attempted to escape again by casting spatial movement.
'Damn, at this rate I'll lose her!'
The spatial movement itself didn't seem to require much power, as she was running around like a mouse, only looking for a chance to escape.
"Ah, really! If only that Adi bastard were here at times like this! When it's important, he's sprawled out sleeping, this damn original tin can!"
At that moment, Rudian had a flash of inspiration.
'What if I directly embed that Adi guy into that thing's chest?'
Adi's black 'eyeball' was also a kind of terminal connected to the main body.
Even if the eyeball somehow broke, there would be no problem with Adi itself.
'If I lose him anyway, it's over. In that case, it's do or die!'
Rudian took out the last remaining divinity of Shub that he had been saving.
And he converted all that divinity into 'magic' and activated the 9th class freezing magic that Adi had used in the past.
"Dimension Blockade!"
I had no knowledge of 9th class magic, but this was a temporary trick of reverse-rotating divinity to bring out past experiences!
FLINCH!
Moreover, not just ordinary magic, but Rudian poured out all the karma he possessed to completely block Elysion's spatial movement itself.
"Ultra-high-level space-time freeze confirmed... movement... impos...sible...."
"This is my monster ball, you bastard!"
CRACK!
Rudian embedded the pitch-black sphere, namely the eyeball terminal of sleeping Adi, directly into Elysion's chest.
"Guh... guhh!"
"Stop sleeping and wake up! You damn eyeball monster bastard!"
ZZZZT! ZZZZZZT!
When Adi's terminal was forcibly brought into contact with Elysion's power source....
Some kind of mechanical notification began ringing through Rudian's mind.
-Code Arcadia, release.
-Terminal number ESON00142, mass-production terminal Elysion Unit 142 confirmed.
-Master Kim Seong-jun's existence confirmed. User emergency protection program successfully activated confirmation.
-External power supply confirmed.
-Canceling ultra-power-saving standby mode.
At that moment, Adi's eyeball began to be absorbed into Elysion's interior.
SQUISH! SQUISH!
Some unpleasant and sticky sounds could be heard from Elysion's torso area....
"...Master."
Before I knew it, a feminine voice with human warmth began to be heard from Elysion's mouth.
"...Huh?"
GRIN!
An android with a fresh smile completely different from Elysion's previous expressionless face appeared before Rudian's eyes.
"It's been... a long time since I've seen you."
I couldn't forget that distinctive emotional line and way of speaking.
Rudian asked Elysion with a trembling voice.
"Are you... Adi?"