Chapter 443
Chapter 443
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 443
Chapter Title: The Day of the Full Moon (7)
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The 1st Command Center went on high alert.
The headlights of the Gurois, lined up in the warehouse, flashed on one after another as they began to mobilize.
Infantry equipped with Pipers and carrying Arcs left the warehouse, providing cover for the Gurois.
Amidst the chaos of the battlefield, only Babel and Sein stood motionless, glaring at each other.
By any physical measure, Sein was no match for Babel.
That was the conclusion Sein had reached after witnessing Babel's first attack.
'An algorithm.'
But its movements weren't human.
If the enemy operated on a probabilistic algorithm, it wasn't entirely impossible.
'There are openings. They're just hard to find from a human perspective.'
-Babel Program: Activating anti-personnel combat system.
The panel protecting Babel's lens emitted a red glow as all its functions were dedicated to analyzing Sein.
Target: Programmer.
Combat Pattern: Unidentifiable.
Kill-solution Protocols: Infinite.
With its joints moving independently, Babel kept its gaze locked on Sein while twisting its body below the neck to move sideways.
That simple movement caused the number of kill-solution protocols to plummet from infinite to roughly 320 quadrillion.
In truth, for a human, 320 quadrillion predicted methods of certain death was as good as infinite.
The battle would proceed with certain actions closing off future probabilities, and Sein had prepared countermeasures for that.
'It will likely attempt the optimal move.'
So, what is the optimal move?
The outcome of this fight would be decided by the difference in their judgment of that value.
Babel moved first, and Sein reacted.
As flashes of teleportation zipped through the air three-dimensionally, the metallic clang of Babel spread, chilling as moonlight.
-Kill-solution Protocols: 2,780,003,643.
The number had dropped to a more human scale, but Babel still had more than enough ways to kill Sein.
Blocking its movements with his Cheolryunan amidst the unexpectedly fast physical exchange, Sein's expression twisted.
Its calculations were far faster than he had anticipated.
When Babel made a certain judgment, Sein had to make a new one to nullify it.
Time and space, environment and state—every variable gave meaning to each coordinate on the battlefield, and Babel calculated it all.
Sein, on the other hand, had abandoned the method of calculation.
Trying to match a machine that performed calculations in the quadrillions was insane.
It was an insight that could find the most aesthetically perfect weak point within a tangled skein of coordinates.
The judgment born of experience and intuition—a sense of 'it should be roughly like this'—was meticulously filling the gaps in Babel's algorithm.
"Damn it! What are we supposed to do?"
Two hundred Gurois had surrounded the battlefield in a circle.
All the squad members could see were flashes of light and the metallic afterimages they revealed.
But even to the untrained eye, the trajectories were terrifyingly sharp, and an engineer could guess what was happening.
"Hold your positions. If we interfere, that man will die."
Indeed, Sein was desperate.
A single mistake would mean his head would be separated from his body.
Every time Babel's movements cut off his path like a net, he felt his vision swim.
A kill-solution protocol was an algorithm that moved in a way guaranteed to eliminate the enemy with 100 percent certainty.
If Babel had been a program that took even the slightest risks, the fight might have already ended with Sein's defeat.
But looking at it another way, it meant Sein was also delaying a situation where his death at Babel's hands was 100 percent certain.
'It only attacks in perfect situations. Does that mean it still has a way to eliminate me with 100 percent certainty?'
A chilling sensation ran down his spine.
Is this what an ant feels like in an antlion pit?
Amidst the excitement, Sein's lips curled into a smile.
He had defeated many powerful foes, and failed against others, but this was the first time an enemy had overwhelmed him with this exact style.
'Interesting.'
His Cheolryunan spun, tracing two halos of light.
Intuition, the realm of emotion, and calculation, the realm of reason.
As the two halos perfectly overlapped, Babel and the world that composed it began to shimmer.
Cheolryunan—Sun Moon Halo.
***
Mind Transcendence, Ilcheyushimjo.
Shirone manifested the Armand connected through the Ultima System into the realm of avatars and equipped it to his own.
Just as the real Armand enhanced Shirone's body, the ideal Armand enhanced his mind.
As the limit of his Mind Transcendence soared, his avatar emitted a powerful light, and Satan's avatar was extinguished.
Simultaneously, in reality, Rayciss let go of Shirone's neck and was thrown back like a cannonball.
"Gasp! Gasp!"
Shirone gasped for breath.
The Armand extracted oxygen from the air, rapidly restoring his oxygen saturation.
Regaining his senses, Shirone rubbed his sore neck and glared at Rayciss.
Fire and electricity flickered alternately between her teeth.
"Krrruuuuugh!"
Rayciss writhed in pain.
Her avatar, a fusion of countless organisms, was collapsing from the impact of Shirone's avatar's strike.
"Graaack! Graaack!"
Her red skin melted like blood, and soon, even her grotesque form began to crumble.
The pool of blood that had completely melted onto the floor rose as if defying gravity, transforming into a robust two-meter-tall body.
It had a blood-red body, sharp fingertips, and thick horns on its temples that curved forward.
But what caught Shirone's eye was the red triangle floating above the monster's head.
It was the same as the one seen on Māra, but the difference was that there were four of them.
'A four-angled Māra?'
The Law of Evil, Satan.
If an angel's halo signifies endless perfection, then Māra's triangle signifies perfection within imperfection.
That is why the highest rank of Māra is the three-angled Māra, which has three triangles.
But Satan had erected a fourth triangle, becoming the only Māra to have broken free from the Akashic Records.
That was why even Ankh Ra could not eliminate the Law of Evil that permeated the universe.
Just as Shirone had temporarily merged with Behemoth's avatar in Kazra Castle, an extreme Law of Evil now resided within Rayciss.
"To think a mere Nephilim summoned me. Has the Law of Evil grown so weak?"
Shirone gritted his teeth, suppressing a groan.
Even the Armand seemed to shrink back, reassessing the opponent's capabilities.
It was a presence he had experienced before.
The aura radiating from Rayciss now was nearly on par with that of the Archangel Kariel.
'I can't lose! If I die, everything is over!'
He compressed photons before him, and a massive sphere of light exploded into existence.
With the Armand and Ilcheyushimjo united, the limits of Shirone's Mind Transcendence far surpassed those of a human.
Despite the gathering power, enough to pierce through any obstacle, Rayciss merely watched with arrogant, upturned red eyes.
Photon Cannon!
As Shirone gritted his teeth and cast the spell, a deafening roar—*Vwoooom!*—tore through the air.
At the same time, Rayciss's form vanished.
***
"Hah, hah."
Plu's body was drenched in sweat.
Leaning against the wall with her head thrown back to face the ceiling, she couldn't move, her knees bent as if she would collapse at any moment.
Blood trickled down her shoulder and calf.
The bleeding was a problem, but her muscle fatigue was so severe they could no longer function properly.
She had already fended off four waves of Garas.
But the forced movements of the Dawkins Algorithm were a double-edged sword, capable of destroying her body if overused.
'Is this... the end?'
"Keek! Keek!"
Ten small, crab-like Garas gathered in a semicircle around Plu.
They were likely an unlucky species that had merged with a weak creature, but their desire to reproduce was no different from any other.
'I want to... stop now.'
The discovery of these relatively weak creatures filled Plu with an intense desire to give up.
She knew this was her last chance to die as humanly as possible.
"Keeeeee!"
The Garas leaped up and flew at Plu.
Ponifar Algorithm.
As the counter algorithm engaged, Plu's body shuddered, and she swung Phoenix in all directions, striking the Garas.
Amidst the scattering fragments that shattered like crab shells, *thud!* Plu's knee hit the floor.
That last attack had left the muscles throughout her body in tatters.
Of course, she knew that killing these Garas wouldn't improve her situation.
But a mage does what they can.
'Heh, now I can't even kill myself.'
Plu mustered all her strength to lean her upper body back.
*Thump!* Her head hit the wall, and as she leaned back, her eyes slowly lost focus.
"Ki, kikiki."
A bizarre laugh grated on her eardrums.
Plu didn't even have the strength to turn her head, only her eyes moved.
A bizarre, one-meter-long creature was slowly approaching, its four legs moving in a repetitive, alternating pattern.
It was entirely black, making its features indistinguishable, but the feeling that it was smiling was unmistakable.
"Human... female..."
Garas were more intelligent than humans. But this was the first time she had encountered a species that could speak.
The Garas approached the panting Plu, observed her for a moment, then split its mouth into a grin.
"Found you."
***
Shirone was grabbed by Satan's hand, dragged across the floor, and thrown into a glass sphere.
His heart was not beating, and his robe had been pushed aside, revealing a face with eyes rolled back.
"Phew."
Satan, Rayciss, finally feeling that it was all over, let out a relieved breath.
Her muscles were torn in places, and smoke was still rising from her temple where she'd been hit by the final blow.
This was the price for underestimating a Nephilim.
"He was certainly impressive."
Rayciss's lips curled into a satisfied smile.
With this, everything was in place.
The Nephilim to integrate the traits, the angel to provide a beautiful body, and the creatures to perfectly combine it all.
"Today, I become a god."
Stepping over the corpses of the attendants she had killed with her own hands, she walked to the Physics Machine and activated it.
The Physics Machine's engine whirred to life, and the central glass tube lit up.
It was time to begin the Art of Ilhwa.
Rayciss entered the last remaining glass sphere, closed the door, and sat in a meditative posture.
A moment later, plasm began to fill the eight glass spheres.
Rayciss slowly closed her eyes.
The great unification. The journey toward completion.
When everything melted into one and was reborn in the central glass tube, she would become the most perfect being in the world.
The level of the black liquid rose quickly. Soon, it passed her chin and covered her face.
The shattered Ikasa and the fallen Shirone were submerged in the liquid and no longer visible.
'It's over. With this...'
*WEEEEEEEEEE!*
Just then, a siren blared from the ceiling.
Hearing the faint sound piercing the surface of the plasm, Rayciss's eyes snapped open.
'What is it?'
She tried to use her legs, but her body's durability had already been rapidly weakened by the plasm, like bait dissolving in water.
Which made this all the more ominous.
"Krrrrrrrgh!"
Rayciss used all her strength to pull herself up.
Only after reaching the top of the glass sphere did she manage to gain a few centimeters of visibility.
'Th-that's...!'
Rayciss's eyes widened in shock.
Plu, wearing the clothes of a Norian, was manipulating the controls of the Physics Machine.
'Why is she here?'
If she had stolen a squad member's clothes, she was likely a clone trapped in the isolation chamber, but the clones there had no intelligence.
'No, I already ordered them to be killed with gas, didn't I?'
She couldn't make sense of any of it.
Was the Plu here now a clone? Or the real Plu?
Just then, the siren on the ceiling blared again.
-Warning! Warning! Main type reset! Main type changed from Sphere 1 to Sphere 8!
*Gurgle!*
Bubbles escaped from Rayciss's mouth.
The being inside Sphere 8 was none other than Shirone.