Chapter 269
Chapter 269
Chapter 269
Deus Ex Machina
"We definitely died back then, didn't we?"
Speaking for everyone's feelings, Elvin muttered while looking at his own hands.
The sight of their limbs evaporating without even leaving dust behind was traumatic enough to give them nightmares.
But you have to be alive to suffer from trauma in the first place.
Gray, who was the first to grasp the situation, discovered Rudian's presence before his eyes.
"Brother... Did you revive us?"
...Nod!
Rudian nodded silently.
Then he approached Gray directly and embraced him.
Gray's expression immediately contorted.
"Hey, what's with this mushy stuff between guys!"
"Thank you, Gray."
"......"
Gray's struggling movements subsided.
After patting Gray's back a few times, Rudian released him and approached Elvin.
"And the same goes for you, Senior Elvin."
He meant this sincerely.
If they hadn't sacrificed their lives to help him escape, this reunion would never have happened.
There was a huge difference between 'risking' one's life and 'throwing it away.'
"Well, as long as you know."
Elvin waved his hand with a gruff demeanor.
He clearly had no interest in a man's embrace.
Though he didn't seem inclined to hide the thin smile forming at the corners of his mouth...
"Rudian."
"Lord Rudian."
Following them, Maria and Evangeline approached.
And Rudian gladly shared embraces with both of them.
"Thank you both for your hard work."
"...You've become quite a bit more proactive, haven't you?"
"Maybe dying and coming back to life made him a bit more emotional..."
Rather than being emotional, the expression 'became more greedy' would be more fitting.
Having lost them once, he now understood.
Rudian no longer wanted to lose anyone.
Rudian looked at them and said:
"I'm sorry."
"...For what?"
"For being greedy. Now... it would be hard to let go even if I tried."
"Ahahaha!"
Maria laughed brightly.
Evangeline also raised the corners of her mouth slightly.
Rudian's answer seemed to please them both.
"Greedy bastard."
Gray, who had his girlfriend Silpea, just accepted it, but Elvin, who was still single, frowned and glared at Rudian.
His feelings would be complicated since his own sister was among them.
"I thought that tomboy would never find her match... but at this level, well..."
"Want to die?"
Maria's murderous gaze turned toward Elvin.
The fact that she, who usually spoke respectfully to her brother, was now speaking informally showed how serious she was. Elvin immediately tucked his tail and turned his head away.
After this reunion, Rudian and his companions discussed their future plans.
"Honestly... I don't have a precise plan for what we'll do together from here on."
Reviving his companions was done out of respect for their will, not because he had a specific plan to do something with them.
"It doesn't matter if the seven-colored world is gone. I won't be satisfied unless we give that bastard a good beating."
Gray clenched his fists with bulging eyes.
Maria crossed her arms and asked Rudian:
"But you must have some rough outline, right?"
"Yeah, since we obtained Eden... we're going to unseal Adi's main body, the Machine God Deus. And with that power, we'll have our final battle with Berus."
Although all the terminals' main bodies were destroyed, Adi had managed to extract all their core A.I.s.
"Then it's decided. We don't have much time anyway, and we don't have the luxury to plan strategies, so let's proceed right away."
Everyone nodded at Elvin's words.
Rudian accepted that opinion.
"Yes, then I'll unseal Deus right away."
"Ah, wait a moment."
Maria raised her hand to stop Rudian.
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"I think it would be good to confirm something first."
"...?"
Rudian looked puzzled, but the chill that ran down his spine at Maria's next words was unmistakable.
"Who is 'Kim Seong-jun'?"
"...!"
At those words, he could see all his companions wearing strange smiles.
Especially Luciella, she had an even deeper smile than the others.
'Oh no, no, no...'
Rudian sighed.
During their brief moment of reunion joy, it seemed he had revealed that name to everyone.
"When this is all over successfully, I'd like to hear directly from Rudian's mouth who that is."
"Well..."
"Everyone thinks the same way, right?"
Before Rudian could answer, Maria skillfully took control of the atmosphere and sought everyone's agreement.
Naturally, all the others nodded playfully while smiling mischievously.
"Of course."
"Well, I am curious."
"I think it's a bit much to hide it after coming this far."
"...At least wipe that smile off your face when you say that."
Rudian pressed his forehead and sighed in frustration.
"Certainly... there are no eternal secrets in this world."
"So?"
"When this is over, and everyone returns to peaceful times, then..."
Rudian's expression gradually softened.
"I think I could tell you my story."
It wasn't really an important secret anymore, and there was nothing preventing him from telling it now... but somehow it seemed more romantic to reveal such things at the grand finale.
Just then, Gray raised his hand and blurted out:
"Ah, I feel like I've seen this scene in a novel."
"What novel?"
Rudian narrowed his eyes, sensing something ominous.
"When this war is over, I'll confess to her..."
"Someone shut him up."
"Mmph mmph mmph!"
Gray's ominous death flag was crushed by Rudian.
***
Eden's massive sphere was being absorbed into Adi.
At this bizarre sight that seemed like it would only occur at the world's end, Rudian clicked his tongue.
"It feels even stranger after hearing such unlucky words."
"What did I say..."
"You should never say things like that."
It was on the same level as saying 'Did we get him?' - that kind of statement.
-Ohh, ohhh! Finally! Finallyyyy!
Adi, having recovered all the terminals, cried out in ecstasy.
-The main body's seal... Is being released...!
CRACK!
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACK!!
Space began to split.
Adi, who had been the size of a soccer ball, began to swell up.
From soccer ball to house-sized, from house-sized to city-sized, beyond the city to continent-sized...
And its size eventually grew beyond Eden, rapidly expanding to a size that could dwarf even planets.
"...Insane, just how big is it planning to get?"
But size wasn't the problem.
Presence.
An overwhelming presence at that!
An enormous presence that couldn't be felt from Berus, the Demon God, or even Shub was emanating from 'beyond' that space!
"Gulp!"
Adi's single eye, now larger than the sun, began flying toward the cracking space in the distance.
And then...
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACK!!
As Adi expanded in size, the space that had been cracking finally shattered completely.
And from within, the form of a gigantic mechanical device of immeasurable size was revealed.
"...!"
TICK TOCK! TICK TOCK!
CREAK! CREAK!
The sound of clockwork winding, the sound of gears meshing and turning.
A giant mechanical human so massive it was hard to consider it a living being revealed itself before their eyes.
They couldn't tell how big it was.
Just its head and part of its upper body filled their entire field of vision.
'So it really could grasp even the sun...!'
The Demon God's words were not lies at all.
If anything, those words seemed understated.
And Adi's single eye, now grown larger than most planets, headed toward the face of Machine God Deus.
CLICK!
The single eye - the only trace of humanity that could be found in this form made entirely of mechanical devices.
That made it all the more eerie, but they couldn't remain intimidated forever.
Just as Rudian was about to say something to Machine God Deus:
-Personality synchronization completed.
"...Huh?"
-Recognizing user Kim Seong-jun as Master. Reactivating main terminal for intelligent lifeform contact.
As soon as those words ended, Adi's familiar eyeball appeared before Rudian again.
-......
"Adi?"
-Yes, Master.
Rudian looked back and forth between Adi and Deus' main body with a slightly suspicious expression.
"Should I consider you and that thing the same person?"
-Yes, I am now completely synchronized with the Machine God. Judging that my Arcadia personality is more suitable for carrying out future tasks than Deus' original personality, I have surfaced to consciousness.
"...I see."
Rudian nodded with a slightly sad expression.
"So, what do we do now? Does that giant main body split up again?"
Adi answered:
-Yes, now Master and your companions will share my main body's power.
"......"
-And when Berus is defeated, by the Creator God's arrangement, my main body will be returned to this world and be used to restore it.
With even the seven-colored world gone, restoring this world that had been damaged beyond recovery would be impossible with ordinary power.
Adi extended one tentacle toward Rudian.
-Now, for just a little while longer, until that time comes, please take care of me... Master.
"Yes. For just a little while longer... Please take care of me too."
The true meaning of the farewell that the Demon God had spoken to Rudian.
It didn't take long to understand it.
It just took quite a long time to overcome and prepare for that farewell.
-Then, I'll begin.
As Adi's eye disappeared, Machine God Deus' body, which had seemed eternally vast, began to crumble.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!!
The massive space rippled as Machine God Deus' main body began splitting into six pieces.
And what seemed like randomly divided pieces of Deus transformed into huge gray spheres and began compressing.
Rudian, Luciella, Maria, Evangeline, Elvin, Gray.
One gray sphere began heading toward each of them, excluding Rebecca.
And as his companions accepted those spheres, the curtain truly rose on the final battle.
***
The center of the world.
A white space called true void.
It was also the place where the Creator God had established himself when creating the world and its laws in the distant past.
"You've come."
Berus, who had been digesting the divinity of Shub he had absorbed, looked at the six human figures appearing through the opened space.
"...I thought you'd come alone, but you brought quite a large party."
Berus, who had been sitting on a chair he created in the empty space, slowly rose from his seat.
"You did well to find Eden. When the Creator God's temple collapsed, Eden must have been released from its seal as well."
"Berus."
Berus' complexion, which had looked quite unstable when he had just devoured Shub, now seemed to have regained stability and looked somewhat more comfortable.
Rudian spoke toward Berus:
"This is truly the end."
"Indeed, it really will be the end."
WHOOOOSH!
A gray orb of light appeared in Berus' grasp.
They could feel the power of heat energy exceeding that of the sun compressed into that single orb.
And... identical ones began appearing beyond hundreds, thousands, filling their entire field of vision.
"Future Eon, your existence will be buried and disappear in the cracks of history."
As soon as Berus finished speaking.
The final battle began.