Chapter 175: ■■■-Rank—『■■■』(1)
Chapter 175: ■■■-Rank—『■■■』(1)
Click.
At the same time that suspicious sound rang out.
Everything before my eyes froze.
Along with a sense of restraint I had never felt before.
'Librarian! What on earth—!'
I wanted to scream, but I couldn't even open my mouth.
No, it wasn't just my mouth; I couldn't move anything at all.
It was as if I had been taxidermied into the world.
Time stop? Paralysis? Spatial fixation?
Such guesses flashed through my mind.
But no, that wasn't it.
Those thoughts were quickly cut short.
If it were that kind of ability, my senses should have stopped as well.
And the things currently unfolding in my fixed field of vision would never have happened.
My vision began to sparkle.
Countless metal fragments floated in the air, reflecting the light.
The scattered shards began to recombine in mid-air.
The gathered metal pieces became mechanical tentacles once more.
As if rewinding everything.
The Librarian began to move backward, propelled by his boosters, and I returned to the spot where I had first watched everything. I followed the Librarian with my eyes in silence.
Time reversal.
A situation where everything was returning to the state before the battle began.
But there was one, and only one, exception.
"There is no future where I perish here. It has been decided so."
The Curator spoke as he walked toward us, tearing down the walls himself.
He stood before us, frozen as we were, and opened his mouth.
"Now, everything is going according to prediction. Librarian. Did you truly think I wouldn't expect you to bypass the chip's security?"
His voice was calm, as if he were giving a lecture. It settled slowly.
As if he had no intention of harming us, his movements were incredibly leisurely.
He continued speaking slowly.
"Ah, of course, there was a branch where you failed to notice the chip until the very end. My predictions and designs are not singular. Just like the map you found. They branch out endlessly, like a tree."
With a smirk.
He began to reveal everything.
As if doing so posed no problem at all.
"Do you want to ask what this power is? Librarian. Librarian. Librarian. My child. Where do you think the price for the Reality Manipulation you possess came from?"
Speaking spitefully, he began to tap his forehead with his index finger.
As if he were taunting the Librarian.
"Naturally, it is a power I gave you. It was a power hidden deep within, mixed into your awakening. Now, I expect you know what principles were followed to create this power as well."
For the first time, he wore a sinister expression. A crumpled smile—like a monster that didn't know how to smile trying its best to lift its lips.
"Yes, what you're thinking is correct. All that was needed for the power you awakened yourself was intense emotion, energy, and calculation. Experiencing that time infinitely... was simply a restriction I placed upon you."
As he spoke, he pointed his index finger toward the Librarian’s armor.
As if to tap his forehead.
Slowly. Ever so slowly.
"Did you struggle to change the past? Did you put in the effort? Did you search?"
He spoke so long that his finger still hadn't reached despite the time passing.
"You must have given up on everything. You would have perceived this power as absolute. You would have stopped trying to escape the past. You resigned yourself."
His finger moved out of my line of sight.
I wanted to keep watching his actions, but moving was impossible.
"Yes, this is the 'human' you are so proud of. Nothing more than a helpless existence that cannot even withstand a mechanical device made of oil, gears, and electricity."
Ting.
A clear sound resonated.
Thud.
The massive armor slumped to the ground.
Against that sound, his low yet clear voice continued.
"Now then. The final stage. Please, stand up again. Show me human will. Even in my Tree Diagram, there exists a possibility of you rising. If you possess the will... and if you have not given up on the past, that is."
What on earth was happening?
What kind of treatment was the Librarian being subjected to?
I had to know, I had to see.
Because this was my friend's battle.
However, my body would not move.
And the sound I was hoping for did not come.
The clanking sound of the Librarian’s armor.
I waited for it.
But what reached my ears was...
The clicking of gears.
The humming of coolers.
The crackling of sparks.
And the gurgling of hydraulics.
How much time had passed?
Finally, the Curator spoke again.
"This is as far as you go. This is your final stop. Now, it is time to end everything."
Click. Click. Click.
A small sound.
Whirrrrr.
The sound of a small drill.
"I shall input the commands into the chip once more. So powerful that you will never escape again—tens of thousands of times stronger than before. Your childhood is over now."
I heard those words.
Skritch. Skritch.
The sound of metal being carved away reached me.
Precisely, so precisely.
Bit by bit, little by little.
However, I could not see the scene.
Held by an unknown force, I couldn't even turn my head.
What are you doing, Lee Ha-ram?
Did you waste time coming all the way here just to kill your friend with your own hands?
If your friend loses to The Enemy’s story and becomes an enemy himself... if a Public Enemy Designation is issued, are you going to pick up The Hammer?
The Crimson★Hammer.
The Hammer stained with the blood and flesh of both friend and foe.
Are you going to swing it at your friend again?
Move. Move, you damn body.
If you have a philosophy, then move.
You've done it before.
I am an existence that lives by will and thought.
I am thinking right now.
Please. Move.
I gritted my teeth in my mind, but...
My body didn't budge.
Like a spectator who had missed the movie.
Whir. Whir. Whir.
In that motionless space, how long had the sound of the drill echoed?
Kiiiing.
With the sound of the drill spinning idly, it finally stopped.
"It took longer than predicted. Let us begin immediately."
And instead of the drill, the Curator’s final sentence was handed down.
The final declaration that my friend, the Librarian, would no longer remain.
MOVE, DAMN IT!
I screamed inside my head, but there was no result.
As if to show that my long resistance was meaningless.
Is that so?
Fine. Then let's prepare for battle.
Surely, if it's the Librarian, a Public Enemy Designation will be issued.
At least, before he falls into self-loathing, by my own hand...
Just as I was about to give up everything and return to the past.
Thump.
For the first time, I felt something.
Something different from a heartbeat.
While submerged in this long stretch of time, I felt a peculiar sensation for the first time.
Where is it?
I looked everywhere to find the source of that sensation, but I couldn't find anything special. Just as I was about to calm my senses and focus...
Clank.
A clear sound and a distinct sensation were felt near my right hand.
The Hammer in my right hand, which I had been holding ever since I entered this place.
As if it were unaffected by this phenomenon, it began to vibrate and hum violently.
...
I didn't quite understand what was happening.
But The Hammer was moving.
That was enough.
Therefore, I poured all my mana into The Hammer.
Every single drop, without leaving anything behind.
Vroooooom.
Then, The Hammer began to roar tremendously.
And with that, I began to run a familiar yet dangerous circuit.
'Amplification.'
The single word I whispered in my heart.
Boom.
The mana exploded.
An immense pain surged through me.
My vision began to turn red.
It seemed the blood vessels inside had burst.
Well, Amplification is a technique that squeezes out the last remaining mana, and I had poured everything into it.
But it was fine.
Because now...
I could move.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
A bizarre sound came out because of the blood boiling in my throat, but I threw my body forward anyway.
My body, which could barely move due to the pain.
And was it only then that he noticed my actions?
"...Error."
The Curator, who had been working by extending small wires toward the Librarian, hurriedly cut the wires and jumped backward.
However, my massively amplified mana rendered even that evasive maneuver utterly meaningless.
Click. Clank. Clank. Clank.
With a tremendous metallic roar.
The enlarged hammer slammed down upon the Curator.
"...Singularity..."
The silver-shining hammer fell upon the head of the Curator, who left those final words behind.
KABOOM!
With a massive explosion, everything was buried into the ground.
"Huff. Huff. Cough."
Was it the price for breaking the time manipulation? Even though I had only moved a little, my breath was short and blood sprayed from my mouth.
...I guess he really is a final boss.
I'm not his Adversary, after all...
It would be strange if I fought this well against a final boss of the Librarian’s caliber, unless it was the final boss of some mediocre story.
Leaving The Hammer embedded in the ground, I moved my body toward the Librarian.
I didn't know how often he could use time manipulation, but at least my hammer was unaffected by it.
This was a simple guess and a wish. But it had to be right.
And if my guess was correct, just leaving it like that would serve as a seal.
"Gah.Spit."
I spat out saliva mixed with blood and flesh into a corner and threw myself toward the Librarian.
Toward him, who was still collapsed and unable to do anything.
After a short while.
I managed to arrive in front of him.
"Hey, you bastard. Wake the hell up."
I swung my hand and slapped his cheek.
My blood stained the black armor, but there was no reaction.
So.
One more.
Slap.
One more.
Slap.
One more.
Slap.
How many times did I hit him?
Creak. Creeeeeak.
Strange sounds began to echo from behind my back.
Even though my own flesh was starting to smear onto the Librarian’s helmet, he did not wake up.
"Hey, you son of a bitch. How long are you going to sleep—"
I screamed with my final prayer, but...
I couldn't finish it.
Click.
At the sound of gears, my body froze.
And he grabbed me by the throat.
"...Who are you?"
Perhaps because he hadn't fully recovered, part of his face was peeled off, emitting crackling sparks.
He stared intently at me.
"I'm Lee Ha-ram, why?"
Was it because I had broken his ability once?
Even though my body was much weaker than before, his ability didn't have a great effect on me.
At most, I was frozen for a moment.
"...How can you move in the Big Freeze?"
Big Freeze? What's that?
I didn't have the strength to answer something I didn't know.
"Hock, spit."
Instead, I gave him back a glob of spit filled with my blood and flesh.
"Eat this."
Having received the bloody mess, he didn't even show an unpleasant expression. He slowly wiped the blood away with his other hand and...
"...I will remove the element that interferes with the plan."
He began to strangle me, uttering cold, mechanical words.
"Gah.Gurgle."
My red-tinted vision began to change into various colors.
As if my brain lacked blood.
In eternal pain that came from not being able to die.
How much time had passed?
Click.
The sound of gears.
And...
Vroom. Vroooooom.
The sound of a massive engine.
Accompanied by that, a flash of light streaked through.
"Take your hands off my friend."
With those quite cool words.
"You've finally realized you aren't human. Welcome to the paradoxical world of machines, Librarian."
And the declaration of the Curator, who continued to smile even as his eyeball was torn out by the Librarian’s fist.