Chapter 182
Chapter 182
Chapter 182
Hive Mind (1)
Gardin was a peculiar existence who was both a member of the pantheon and also an apostle of Garganta.
Usually, when it came to apostles, it was common for creations who had inherited a portion of that god's power to be appointed, but Gardin had willingly become his apostle despite being in the position of a god, out of loyalty to Garganta.
After that, he was ridiculed by all the gods of the pantheon and was even stripped of his epithet that every god possessed, but Gardin didn't care about that fact at all.
However, by becoming Garganta's apostle, Gardin was able to gain tremendous advantages.
That was the fact that unlike other gods, he could descend to earth while maintaining considerable power.
Gardin glared at the Hive Mind that had suddenly appeared in a maid outfit and said,
"I used my power and Garganta's power to awaken you, and I invested countless hours to handle you. So until you pay back all that cost, I'll have to work you hard."
"......"
"What you wear has nothing to do with me. But if you do even the slightest foolish thing, I'll immediately destroy that body of yours, so you'd better behave yourself."
"Foolish thing...."
Even at Gardin's murder threat, the Hive Mind's expression remained unchanged.
But for some reason, the Hive Mind showed a 'human-like' reaction of pausing slightly, which was unusual for an A.I.
And soon after, she calmly answered Gardin's words.
"Understood, temporary user. This entity, Elysion Hive Mind, will faithfully carry out commands within the reach of the 'temporary user's' authority, and will absolutely not engage in any 'foolish things' such as advice or counsel that exceeds those authorities."
"Good. You understand your place very well."
Gardin nodded with a satisfied expression.
If he had been just a little more perceptive, or if his opponent had been Rudian, he would have asked like this:
'Are you perhaps sulking?'
But Gardin, who had only maintained almost vertical relationships as a god, was quite insensitive to changes in others' emotions from the beginning.
Besides, humanoids themselves didn't show facial expressions in the first place.
And that became the worst mistake that would completely collapse the thousand years Gardin had spent working on earth.
***
"Commence mobile shooting."
"Commence mobile shooting."
BOOM! KUGUGUGUGUNG!
The continent's sky had long since become a complete mess due to countless blaster beams.
"Sylphid, Kesillus, Neira, everyone come out and block them without giving any openings."
-Yes, contractor!
However, the battle in the sky didn't affect the ground, and the main contributor to this was naturally the countless spirits that Evangeline controlled.
WHOOOOO!
ZZZZZT!
Hundreds of high-level spirits of wind, fire, and lightning constructed a massive defensive line in the sky according to Evangeline's commands, perfectly blocking even the Starlight Blasters that occasionally leaked through.
"...She fights well."
Because Evangeline's performance was so brilliant, Rebecca, who was jointly responsible for the ground defense line, ended up in a position where she could only watch with her hands idle.
"This makes me feel so useless...."
"You don't need to step in. I can hold out for about 5 minutes by myself, it's nothing."
At Evangeline's blunt words, Rebecca's eyes blazed with determination.
"Look at how you talk? I'm not incompetent either, you know?"
"...I know. I saw clearly how strong your power is."
The almost cheat-like power that devoured all forces based on the Seven-Colored World.
That power was certainly almost opposite to Evangeline's natural magic.
'I'd probably lose if we fought.'
With the Death King’s Magic obtained by becoming the contractor of the Death King, she could reverse the compatibility difference, but it wasn't enough to surpass the infinity of the Seven-Colored World.
"But I'm more helpful to him. My ability can easily respond to any situation."
"...Ugh!"
Rebecca made an expression as if she'd been hit and shrank her shoulders.
Certainly, unlike her own ability that specialized in combat, Evangeline's ability was useful in many ways even outside of battle.
"So, so what! I can be plenty helpful too, you know? I just haven't fully mastered how to handle this power yet!"
"Hmph, enough with the excuses."
Actually, Rebecca's words weren't wrong either.
If judged purely by her power as a Demon Eater, that might be true, but the current Rebecca had the capacity to freely use the authorities of gluttony as Baal's blood descendant.
Moreover, since Baal generously provided the usage methods of that power through the Red World, if there was enough time, it was possible for Rebecca to sufficiently overcome her weakness of diversity.
'Ugh, I could help in the current situation too... but if I use 'that', Rudian would probably dislike it....'
The identity of what Rebecca mentioned was none other than demon summoning.
One of the authorities that Rebecca, who was practically equivalent to a high-ranking Demon King, had naturally awakened.
With Rebecca's current power, she could easily summon thousands of demons, but no matter how she thought about it, Rudian, who had fought countless battles with the demon race, wouldn't like that.
Moreover, Rudian seemed to considerably dislike the very source of the power she had obtained.
'Leaving me here was probably actually to prevent me from using my power much....'
While Rebecca was showing a slightly dissatisfied expression.
"Um...."
"......?"
For some reason, Evangeline hesitated with a somewhat stammering manner.
"What is it?"
Even though Rebecca was looking at her with a blunt expression, Evangeline showed no particular aversion and carefully continued speaking.
"Um, there's something small, something very trivial I'd like to ask...."
"For something you call trivial, you're taking too long to get to the point?"
"Of, of course I'll pay for the information. Nothing too excessive though...."
"...Since you're saying it like that, I'm getting anxious, so why don't you just ask quickly?"
"If, if you insist...."
At Rebecca's urging, Evangeline reluctantly opened her mouth to mention someone's name.
"By any chance, do you know who... Luciella is?"
"...That's."
Rebecca's expression immediately darkened upon hearing those words.
The Delphione Princess, the next-generation power holder of the Morian Empire, the idol that Rebecca herself admired and wanted to resemble.
But this probably wasn't the answer Evangeline wanted.
Honestly, Rebecca didn't want to mention Luciella either, but for whatever reason, she was someone she had to face head-on and overcome.
"Perhaps...."
Rebecca told Evangeline her speculation that contained cruel truth.
"Should I answer that she might be someone Rudian keeps in his heart?"
"......!"
WOOOOONG!
As if representing Evangeline's emotional turmoil, the movements of the high-level spirits that had been guarding the surroundings like an iron wall immediately began to waver.
"What's happening!"
That abnormal phenomenon resulted in distracting Rudian and Maria who were fighting above.
"It, it's nothing! Don't worry!"
When a hole was immediately punched in the defensive line, Rebecca shouted urgently to calm the situation.
At that voice, Evangeline also came to her senses, but Rebecca's single comment was still confusingly shaking her heart.
"Someone, someone he keeps in his heart...."
"It's still just speculation... but Maria seems to think so too."
"...I'd like to meet her once. To see what kind of person she is."
"Just in case I'm telling you, you can't do something like harassment even if you think she's easy to handle, okay?"
The last level Rebecca had seen Luciella at was Sword Master.
Since she was also training inside the hall, she would certainly show remarkable growth, but since she didn't possess the Seven-Colored World, Rebecca thought there were limits to the extent of that growth.
"I'm not like you. I don't lack that much sense."
At Evangeline's words, Rebecca snorted.
"Hehehe, really? I wonder if that's true...."
Acting rationally, but a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
That was the essence of Evangeline that Rebecca had deduced.
Of course, the biggest reason for her deduction was that she had the same scent (...) as herself, but Rebecca deliberately denied that fact.
While the two were engaged in a subtle war of nerves.
"Entering under main user's control."
"Entering under main user's control."
.......
The Elysion terminals that had been fighting as if they would kill each other suddenly stood upright and began uttering the same words.
The second battle that had been taking place in the sky had somehow ended.
"Phew, finally it's over. These damn bastards... or are they bitches? Anyway...."
And leading close to 500 Elysion units, Rudian and Maria descended to the ground.
"Good work, Adi. I really need you after all."
-Hehehe, I'm a useful tin can in many ways.
At the single word 'tin can', Rudian's expression immediately contorted.
"I... I said I was sorry, didn't I? Are you still holding onto those words?"
-Well, I have quite a vindictive personality. Well, since it's Master, I'll stop here.
Adi's vindictive personality didn't only apply to insults directed at himself.
He also considerably held onto grudges that Rudian, his master and the being he must serve, had formed.
-I reverse-tracked the commands of the Elysion bodies and accurately identified the location of that damn tin can Hive Mind. Shall we attack right now?
"Will it be okay...? They say the total number of all Elysion bodies reaches ten thousand?"
Rudian looked at the Elysion bodies lined up left and right with a disgusted expression.
If it was this much trouble just blocking 500 units, how fierce would the battle be if they encountered the remaining 9,500 units?
"No matter how much you can hack them, as long as it takes some time...."
-Ah, you don't need to worry about that.
Adi, who cut off Rudian's words, immediately dismissed his concerns.
"Why?"
-Because the opponent can't use all the remaining 9,500 bodies.
"...Huh?"
Adi's supplementary explanation followed.
-Elysion is one of the terminals of Arcadia, the comprehensive artificial intelligence of that Adora civilization. Naturally, unless I directly control them, they can't use all the terminal's functions. That's not just true for Elysion, but for all other terminals as well.
At most, the dragons had broken through Dilmun's security and used some of the ark's functions to some degree, but they couldn't use, let alone know of the existence of Dilmun's true function, 'ignoring causality constraints.'
-The number that Garganta, registered as a sub-master, can control is only about a thousand entities, which is 1/10th. So Master can confidently attack their main base.
"...Really?"
At Adi's confident boast, Rudian finally felt relieved.
"Still, we're attacking the enemy's main base. They've definitely prepared thoroughly, so let's go with thorough tension as well."
At Rudian's words, the group nodded heavily.
Even though they had captured close to 500 Elysion bodies, there would be more bodies of this scale at the enemy's main base.
Thinking that it would definitely be a formidable battle, the group's expressions naturally hardened.
-...You don't really need to be that tense.
Adi's comment didn't seem to resonate much with the group who were firmly building their fighting spirit.
***
So a few minutes later.
"What, what? Why are those guys here, how did they...?"
Looking at Rudian's group that had suddenly barged in, Gardin bulged his eyes in shock.
"What's going on here? How could those things know where I am? Answer me, tin can!"
At Gardin's scolding, the Hive Mind calmly gave her answer.
"Due to the activation of the main control system, Arcadia, this Hive Mind's location has been identified. It is presumed that they reverse-tracked this entity's location and attacked this place."
At the Hive Mind's attitude of calmly spouting that she was the culprit, Gardin felt rage rising to his chin and ground his teeth.
"Why... didn't you tell me that beforehand?"
Thinking there might be some reason, he asked just in case, but the answer that came back was even more ridiculous.
"Because you didn't ask. This entity merely faithfully carried out the temporary user's commands."
"......"
At that moment, Gardin's cheeks began to tremble with anger.