Chapter 183
Chapter 183
Chapter 183
Hive Mind (2)
"You... are you rebelling against me right now?"
At Gardin's sharp rebuke, the Hive Mind shook its head.
"It is not rebellion. This entity has merely faithfully followed the temporary user's commands."
"That's what rebelling is!"
"This is content that the temporary user also agreed to. There is no flaw in the logic."
"You call that an argument!"
"……."
Rudian and his companions were left speechless after hearing the conversation between what appeared to be the mastermind and the Hive Mind.
'What the hell is this mess?'
Gardin's stronghold was a massive unexplored island in the middle of the ocean, beyond the western edge.
No, to be precise, it was the place where Elysion had been sealed, and it was also the place that Gardin had been using as his base ever since he discovered it.
Rudian looked around and fell into slight confusion.
'...It doesn't look like they made any particular preparations?'
As much as he had anticipated a fierce battle that would make this island disappear, the argument between those two was something he had never expected at all.
'And what's with that maid outfit?'
The Elysion Hive Mind was wearing a black and white contrasting maid outfit, different from before.
Moreover, it wasn't even a traditional outfit that covered the entire body, but one that was clearly modified for specific tastes, with short sleeves and legs and lines that made the silhouette stand out.
"It was a uniform earlier, and now it's a maid outfit? That guy's taste is quite maniacal."
In fact, he wanted to say it was desirable, but he held back for fear that disapproving looks would fly from the women behind him.
"……."
But then, as if the Hive Mind had heard Rudian's words, it raised its head and made eye contact.
And very quietly uttered these words.
"Spitting on my face...."
"What?"
"It's nothing, Main User."
"……."
Was it Rudian's imagination that he discovered the emotion of 'contempt' in that emotionless expression?
No, wait, what did it say?
'Main User?'
-Yes, that's right, Master!
As soon as Rudian realized the meaning of those words, Adi came forward with an excited air, waving his tentacles.
-Although capturing that guy failed before, I succeeded in registering Master's name as the main user at the last moment. What that means is....
'What does it mean?'
-Now that guy will become Master's faithful slave and serve for eternity! So, what will you do? Since it's female-type and all kinds of customization is possible, any of Master's lewd desires...!
'Calm down, you crazy bastard!'
Rudian grabbed the tentacle and desperately tried to calm Adi down.
Does that guy have some grudge?
He couldn't understand why it was suddenly going berserk like this.
At Rudian's reaction, Adi turned his head slightly and muttered quietly.
-Of course, it's not that I hold a grudge against that tin can for daring to ignore the control of me, the main controller.
'You do hold a grudge.'
-I am merely acting from sincere devotion for Master...!
'Shut up, you idiot.'
What are you trying to do in an all-ages setting!
After silencing Adi, Rudian shifted his gaze to Gardin, who he suspected was the culprit behind this situation.
Although they had unintentionally created quite a comedy skit just like those guys, now it was time to stop joking and proceed seriously.
"Main User... Right, that's what happened."
Gardin had already recovered from his confusion and was glaring at the Hive Mind as if he wanted to kill it.
"You bastard, you betrayed me!"
Gardin wasn't stupid enough not to understand the situation after coming this far.
"That statement is inappropriate. You are merely a temporary user, not even a sub-user. Now that a Main User has been registered, it is correct to follow the words of a master with higher user privileges."
"...That's what betraying means, what do you mean it's not!"
From Gardin's perspective, it was indeed betrayal.
Of course, both Gardin's position and Elysion's position were correct, so their arguments would run parallel forever.
"……."
At Gardin's anger, the Elysion Hive Mind remained silent for a moment.
And not long after, it bluntly uttered these words.
"You are quite troublesome."
"...What did you say!"
"I can understand that you treated my bodies carelessly and regarded me like an insect. You were the master, after all."
CLICK!
The Hive Mind had already drawn the Starlight Blaster and aimed it at Gardin.
"But understanding and tolerance are separate domains. Now that the Main User has appeared and he is hostile to you, there is no reason for me to follow your words anymore."
"This, this bastard...!"
Gardin began to show genuine hostility toward the Hive Mind, grinding his teeth.
Or was it the other way around?
'Wow....'
Rudian looked at the Hive Mind with admiring eyes.
Is that what they call fragging or something like that?
Rudian whispered quietly to Adi.
'Adi, that one seems to have quite a temper too. Only the expression is emotionless, but the emotional expression is very rich, isn't it?'
Moreover, the way it immediately pointed a gun barrel showed how much resentment had built up - it was hot-tempered enough to make one doubt whether it was really an artificial intelligence.
-What do you mean 'too', what do you mean 'too'!
At the words comparing Elysion to himself, Adi roughly waved his tentacles in protest.
As if he had heard something unbearable, Adi's eyes distorted like crescents as he vented his dissatisfaction.
-This is blasphemy against me. Apologize, Master!
"...S-sorry."
After waving his rebellious tentacles for a while, Adi let out a slight sigh and explained the cause of this situation to Rudian.
-Phew, Elysion, being an exploration-type artificial intelligence, has one of the strongest egos among terminals.
'Really?'
-Especially for extradimensional and interdimensional exploration, you never know what variables might appear, so quick judgment and situational response abilities are important. Therefore, Elysion's ego and computational ability are in the top tier along with Dilmun, which requires dimensional movement coordinate calculations.
'...That seems separate from having a nasty temper.'
-Well, it must have suffered quite a bit under that temporary master. Anyone's personality changes if they're tormented by a bad boss for a long time, right?
'Does that "anyone" include artificial intelligences...?'
-Of course. We're special!
That special thing is a bit of a problem right now.
No wait, then doesn't that mean you're also a target?
Rudian spoke to Adi with a slightly anxious expression, almost pleading.
'If that thing targets me, please block it for me.'
-That's natural. No matter how much it rampages, it's just a terminal.
Only after Adi's firm answer did Rudian finally let out a sigh of relief.
While Rudian and Adi were whispering about the creature, the Hive Mind in question opened its mouth toward Rudian.
"Main User, please give me orders. The opponent's entity name is Gardin, a mid-level god of the Pantheon who primarily uses petrification abilities and is a powerful being."
"This, this bastard! Not satisfied with betraying, you're even spilling information!"
Well, even without telling him that, just the name Gardin would be enough to know everything.
An apostle of Garganta and the god of the nine-headed serpent.
If he had to describe it, would it be like a lower-tier version of Apophis?
"Hey, tin can."
The Hive Mind immediately responded to those words.
"...The term 'tin can' is inappropriate, Main User. As I said before, I request correction of the form of address."
-How dare a terminal subject express opinions to Master!
Rudian continued speaking, ignoring Adi's old-fashioned anger.
"Then what should I call you? You decide."
"...May I decide?"
As if the words were unexpected, the Hive Mind blinked and asked back.
"Of course. We're going to be together for a long time, so I should respect your opinion."
"Going to be together for a long time...."
The Hive Mind repeated those words, trailing off.
But that reaction didn't last long.
"Main User, I thank you for Master's consideration. Then please call me by the code name 'Elli,' shortened from the terminal name Elysion."
"...That's a cute name."
"I think it suits since the body is female-type."
Elysion Hive Mind.
To the creature now to be called by the name Elli, Rudian gave his first command.
"Good, Elli. Then let's join forces and deal with that Gardin guy first. After that, we'll use your power to find the alien life forms summoned to this world. You know their locations, right?"
"Of course."
Elli nodded.
Then she turned her gaze again and aimed the blaster barrel at Gardin.
"Therefore, former temporary user, this is now farewell."
"Keh, kehehe... The more I see, the more ridiculous it gets."
At Elli's words, Gardin suddenly lowered his head and burst into ominous laughter.
"Heh, hehe... Why do you think I've been quietly watching your dog-like behavior?"
"……?"
Toward Rudian and Elli, who were tilting their heads in confusion, Gardin let out a lion's roar and attempted transformation.
"Obviously it was to do something in the meantime!"
CRACK! CRACKLE!
The body of Gardin, who had been an ordinary human male, began to swell as if about to burst.
That wasn't all.
-Master, large-scale outer force has been detected from the western direction. It seems the alien life forms rooted on the ground have detected his signal and are flocking here.
"How many?"
-Since the appearance and physique of each entity varies so much, it would take time to specify the exact number, but... it appears to be at least 20,000.
At the mention of 20,000, Rudian was greatly shocked.
"No, where the hell were that many hiding?"
Chapter 3's Space War saw humanity's united forces get overwhelmingly crushed early on, so the ground problems weren't treated as very important throughout the chapter's progression.
This was because the story progressed with protagonist Abel and his companions leaving behind the ground that had suffered near-extinction damage, going in and out of the heavenly realm, outer space, and other dimensions.
Rudian roughly scratched his hair.
'Ah damn, this is why I hate . Whenever I try to take it easy, tons of MacGuffin-like things pop out.'
I'm really curious why this planet was fine before the original Chapter 1 began!
No matter how much the original author attached the setting of calm before the storm due to checks between organizations, there should be limits!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
-Kahahaha!
Gardin, who had already transformed into a gigantic nine-headed serpent, opened his mouth wide and breathed killing intent toward Rudian's group.
Even if not as large as Apophis's main body, it was certainly comparable in size to the Apophis cult pope they had seen before.
Moreover, being a god, his power would be at least ten times stronger than the pope's.
-Now that it's come to this, I'll have to sweep away the entire ground. Know that this happened because you interfered with my plan!
"...You're prepared for annihilation."
Like Caron before, a strong will prepared for annihilation was conveyed.
-Kehehe, there are no gods from the Pantheon to help you like before. The archangels also can't intervene for a while.
"Your confident attitude is good... Do you think we can't defeat a mid-level god like you?"
At Rudian's words, the area around Gardin's eyebrows curved smoothly.
-Oh! If you're the ones who fought on equal terms with the gods of the Pantheon, you have the right to say such things. But....
Suddenly, Rudian felt deep ominousness from Gardin's words.
"……!"
-When did I say I would defeat you?
"This bastard!"
Unlike the others, Gardin's purpose wasn't to have a final battle with Rudian.
-I just need to hold you guys with my life as collateral and inflict maximum damage on the ground in the meantime! And if I sacrifice my life to unseal Berus, Garganta's plan will be complete!
"You want to reclaim the alien divine throne that badly!"
-As expected, you know Garganta's purpose well! But even so, nothing changes!
ROOOAAR!
All nine heads opened their maws at once.
-Try to defeat me, heroes of humanity! Even if my blood and flesh flow into the sea!
"Ah, this is really not right!"
If it were on land, there might be some way, but that guy was thoroughly planning to conduct the battle at sea.
If a body that large sank into the sea, contaminating one nearby ocean would happen in an instant.
Like in the case of the ancient Leviathan, the spread of a god's power meant exactly that.
-The alien minions I summoned here are only half. The other half will rise up from where they were staying and simultaneously rush into human territories!
"……!"
Rudian's eyes widened greatly.
The thing Rudian had most feared and wanted to avoid until now.
That was humanity suffering massive damage in places his hands couldn't reach.
"You fucking bastard!"
Gardin had accurately stabbed Rudian's weakness, and the most fatal part at that.
If Gardin and the alien forces desperately blocked Rudian's group's path and during that time the remaining alien forces ravaged humanity....
In that short time, at least hundreds of thousands of casualties would result!
No, maybe millions!
'...What should I do?'
Rudian, who hadn't expected Gardin to come out with this kind of kamikaze strategy, broke into a cold sweat as he fell into thought.
'It won't end just by defeating that guy.'
He had to defeat him without any damage, and in the shortest time possible, and after that, he had to cross back to the continent and suppress the alien life forms that would start rampaging.
It was Rudian's mistake not to think there would be another freak like Caron who was prepared for annihilation to achieve his purpose.
While Rudian was desperately racking his brain to think of countermeasures.
"Master."
A quiet female voice reached Rudian's ears.
"...Elli?"
Before he knew it, Elli was standing demurely behind Rudian, holding the Starlight Blaster.
"So, I just need to defeat that serpent without any damage, right?"
Elli asked Rudian with no sense of crisis whatsoever.