Chapter 140: A Perfect Calculation
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 140: A Perfect Calculation
Screams echoed as the enemy forces dwindled. Despite the roar of gunfire and flashes of light, the dark knights' losses were negligible.
In fact, it was Tyrkanzyaka who found it odd that they were taking so little damage from such an intense assault.
“…Hm? What’s going on?”
Instead of having them rashly swing their swords, she'd ordered them to throw their bodies at the enemy, just to tie them down.
But the enemy couldn't even shake them off, tumbling to the ground instead. The very soldiers who had been firing a relentless, threatening barrage just moments before were now rolling on the floor the instant a knight got close.
“They can't even handle a single dirt pawn—no, a dark knight…?”
How could Tyrkanzyaka know? Even in the Military State, an ordinary soldier was no different from any other. They were offered opportunities for training, but only officer-level personnel could wield Qi to any meaningful degree.
In any case, Tyrkanzyaka clenched and unclenched her fists several times before giving the order.
“…Overwhelm them.”
Now, the dark knights charged without hesitation, pouncing on the soldiers. A few were torn apart by the hail of bullets, but the dark knights were a basic power of the Progenitor, endlessly summonable.
Sheer numbers pressed the front line. The soldiers' space began to shrink.
At this rate, they would be pushed back. The commander, assessing the situation, stepped forward clad in his combat armor, a massive battle axe in hand.
“Cover me! I'll take care of the main body!”
The commander charged fearlessly toward Tyrkanzyaka. A dark knight rushed to intercept him, but it fell before the soldiers' concentrated fire and the commander's axe.
A few stray bullets flew into the commander's back, but his Qi and combat armor were meant to withstand such things. He paid them no mind and charged on.
The steel-clad man with his massive frame approached. His presence, at least, was magnificent.
Tyrkanzyaka started to raise a fist to meet him... but a sudden thought stopped her, and she simply held it up without swinging.
“Take this! My axe!”
The commander's giant axe fell upon it. Tyrkanzyaka caught it with her fist.
Thunk.
It stopped, having only torn her skin slightly.
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence fell.
The axe was wedged perfectly between her fingers. The commander's greatest achievement was digging about half a chi [a traditional unit of length, roughly an inch] between her index and middle fingers. He desperately tried to channel his Qi to pull it free, but…
“Hmph. I wondered what gave you the confidence to challenge me. Was it merely a fool’s bravado?”
Snap. Tyrkanzyaka twisted her fist, crumpling the axe blade, then reached for his neck. The massive, armored man was lifted effortlessly into the air by the girl's hand.
“…You're somewhat useful. But an elite… no. Let's just say you weren't.”
Tyrkanzyaka flung him, and the commander's huge, steel-armored body flew through the air. He landed on an automaton carriage, causing its roof to collapse with a thud.
“Gack…!”
“Major! Aaargh!”
The legion of shadows swept in after him. Countless dark knights folded up the soldiers one by one and tossed them aside.
Before long, a small mountain of soldiers had formed. It was like a miniature version of the mountain in the Abyss—a mountain of soldiers from which groans could be heard.
Her work finished, Tyrkanzyaka dusted off her hands.
“…Nothing too special, I see.”
“Ooh! You've taken care of everything!”
Just then, Rasch, who had emerged from the pit with Callis, exclaimed as he looked around. Behind him, Ralion appeared, carrying Shei on his back and snorting wearily.
Everyone who had been inside, except for Earth Sage, was now present. Tyrkanzyaka scanned the area again.
As she did, her expression grew darker.
“Hughes? Have you not seen him?”
“Haven't seen him! You mean he wasn't here?”
“He's nowhere to be seen…. Where on earth could he have gone? Don't tell me.”
At this point, she couldn't help but realize. A very, very ominous thought crossed Tyrkanzyaka's mind.
What if he left this place of his own free will?
While everyone else was strangely excited, he alone had been his usual self.
When she had suggested they travel together, he had given an evasive answer instead of nodding.
When he'd asked if she could protect him then, wasn't that a subtle way of agreeing?
Seeing her crestfallen expression, Rasch glanced at Callis. Callis gave a firm nod, and Rasch's mouth fell open as he waved his hands and shouted.
“Hey, no way! He's probably being chased somewhere!”
“…You think so? Then, where to?”
“Let's start by making a sweep of the area! If that doesn't work, we can light a fire to signal him! It'll be much easier to find him once day breaks!”
Tyrkanzyaka looked back. The massive pit and Tantalus, which looked as if it had been pulled right out of it, lay sprawled across the land. The structure was so enormous it felt unreal.
If he's hiding behind or inside that concrete structure, that would be a relief.
But if he left….
Clutching her chest, which ached from the ominous thought, Tyrkanzyaka turned her gaze forward.
*
“…Truly, it was a farce.”
Earth Sage finished speaking and sprinkled liquor around the Grand Master's corpse. The potent Hundred Crimson Blossoms flew directly toward me.
Oops. It went up my nose. Cough, cough.*
“Why did you try to slip away from them?”
Licking the liquor from my lips, I rose from beneath the pile of corpses. I patted down my clothes to dust them off and sat down near the Grand Master.
“Because if I kept going like this, I felt like I'd end up following them.”
“And what's wrong with that?”
“I may not be a cowardly prophet, but I'm still a person who can make simple deductions.”
I can feel their thoughts growing distant.
I murmured, sensing their presence scattering in the distance.
“If I follow them, I will definitely die.”
This was a fight to stop nothing less than the end of the world.
The fight with Earth Sage. To be honest, what if she had come at me with the sole intention of killing me?
I would have died. In a moment when Tyr or the Regressor couldn't protect me, I could have been killed, even holding Jizan.
The ability to read minds is a great help in battle, but it can't erase the absolute gap in power that exists.
I can't parry charging steel. Even if I dodge, they'll just keep coming. If they manage to grab my clothes and throw me, or blast the area with their energy, I won't be able to withstand it.
Mind reading only lets me do what's already within my capabilities. The real superhumans live in a different world from me.
I said, twirling the card in my hand.
“I was born in the back alleys. I'm suited to hiding among people and moving quietly. Confronting powerful enemies head-on like this… it's not my role.”
If Earth Sage hadn't been focused on taking Jizan.
If she had attacked me with true hostility.
I would have died right then and there.
“Hah. And yet such a person blocked my path?”
Gurgle.
Earth Sage, who had sprinkled liquor all around just as I had, refilled her cup in three pours.
“You did not seem so afraid of dying.”
“Who in the world isn't? Humans are animals, too. We fear death.”
“And such a person, even holding Jizan, would stand before me?”
I let out a short laugh.
“It's because it rubbed off on me. From you, Earth Sage, and the others.”
Like Azzy and Nabi, or the Undying and Callis, I should have been hiding in a corner, holding my breath. That was the duty of a living being that wants to survive, and it was what I needed to do for myself.
But how could I just stand by?
Not when all these desires, things they would risk their lives to achieve, were clashing and swirling around me.
It's worse than them trying to kill me.
They make me walk willingly to my own death.
Emotions greater than life, missions they would spend their lives to complete, even beings whose very lives are bound by shackles.
They are too numb to death, and at the same time, they're changing me.
“If this hadn't been the Abyss, if we had only met occasionally, it might have been different. But I've picked up some very bad habits. For a long time now.”
I've finished my calculations.
Tyr is pure-hearted in a good way, and stubborn in a bad way. If I show my intention to leave, she will be sad, but she will respect it.
The Regressor will be curious about me. But she has more important things to do than uncover my identity, so she won't be able to chase me. She'll save her questions for the next timeline and focus on the present.
Azzy? Nabi? The Beast Kings will go their own way, as beasts do.
The Undying isn't the type to get hung up on trivial matters, and Callis will follow him, leaving the Military State behind.
The Regressor will be suspicious of my identity and might press me in the next timeline, but that's all. The me of that timeline will have to deal with it.
Besides, the Regressor has a soft spot for her allies. That much is clear from how she treated Tyr, who was an ally in a previous timeline. Since we've been friendly in this timeline, she might just let it go.
“They'll be fine without me. It's a reasonably beautiful farewell.”
“Hah. Are you a prophet as well, Sir Hughes?”
“Of course not. If I were, I wouldn't have been captured and brought here in the first place.”
I'm not a prophet. I can't resist a fate that suddenly appears before me. Like my arrest back then.
But I am a mind reader. I have an exceptional talent for reading people's minds and deducing their principles of action.
“I just happen to understand the human heart a little better than most.”
It may be regrettable, but it will be a clean break.
Now, it's time to get back on my own path.
“A perfect calculation.”