Chapter 244: Noise Canceling Technology
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 244: Noise Canceling Technology
The Warforger’s order to kill the princess was so monotonous it sounded as if he were asking her to fetch something he’d left behind. Historia was troubled.
For one, Historia was bound, and she had no intention of attacking the princess. The princess was part of the resistance, but she was reasonable and kind. Historia didn't want to lose anyone so easily, especially not someone she could reason with.
Death was final, but as long as someone was alive, there was always a chance to meet again.
In that sense, Historia was quite content with her current situation as a prisoner. A prisoner, suppressed by force, cannot exert force on others. Thus, being bound freed her from the obligation to attack anyone.
But Maximilien’s command was yanking her from that comfortable dream.
Fortunately, before Historia could answer, fierce reactions erupted from all sides. Shiati, who had been holding her breath and waiting for a chance to ambush, changed her mind and opened the side door of the cargo hold to protect the princess.
While Shiati was luring Selphy over, the Regressor unleashed a wave of killing intent, drawing both Chun-aeng and Jizan at once.
“I’ll take that as a challenge, shall I?”
But the Warforger, despite facing a formidable enemy, replied with a placid demeanor.
“You do love to interfere. But if you have even an ounce of decency, you’ll stay quiet. I am currently conversing with Major General Historia.”
“An order to kill someone is a conversation?”
“And why not?”
The Regressor looked dumbfounded, but no one else reacted. Not Azzy, not me. Even the princess, who had just been told to die, remained unfazed.
It was because Maximilien’s words contained almost no killing intent. He spoke so matter-of-factly that even the princess felt no sense of crisis, merely tilting her head in confusion.
Historia glanced around before answering reluctantly.
“…Director. I’m tied up. And I’m closer to their swords than I am to you. How could I possibly.”
“Don’t say any more, Major General, or I may start to be disappointed in you. Why must we beat around the bush instead of trusting in each other’s intelligence and abilities?”
Maximilien replied as if he had anticipated Historia’s response.
“As if mere ropes could ever bind you. It is your own heart that restrains you. Well, I have no intention of commenting on that… I suppose taking an interest in such trivial, petty matters is a luxury afforded to the qualified. In any case, do not deny that you have refused my request.”
“I apologize.”
“For what? You are free to refuse a request. It is your choice. Very well, now I will hear your request. What is it?”
Maximilien answered calmly, without a hint of regret. It was a remarkably considerate and rational-seeming response. Historia gave her prepared answer.
“Their goal is to stop the war the Military State is about to wage. That’s why they’re charging toward the command center, which is trying to start the war.”
“Hoh. And?”
“Their total military strength is on par with a nation. With our main forces in the Far East, we cannot guarantee victory if we clash with them now. Therefore, I believe the most rational way to minimize casualties is to postpone the war plans for a moment, recall our troops, and negotiate with them.”
“I do not think so.”
Maximilien’s reply was swift, as if the answer had been decided in advance. It was such a clean refusal that it was difficult to even ask why.
“Major General Historia, that is not for the sake of the Military State. The only thing you care about is the Hamelin incident.”
“But this is for the good of the Military State as well!”
“Then you go to the command center and make your case. Leave me out of it. I have found no reason to avoid a battle.”
“Many will die! The command center could be destroyed!”
“Whose death are you worried about? Ah, that’s right. You said you found the Pied Piper of Hamelin.”
His lens flickered toward me. But a moment later, his focus returned to Historia. From his perspective, I wasn’t even worth his attention.
If he had any reason to pay attention to me, it was only because I was the driving force behind Historia’s actions. To Maximilien, I was nothing more than a means to an end.
He doesn't grant even a sliver of his reason to those he deems unqualified. Because he is special.
And he certainly wasn't ordinary.
“That’s enough of your hobbies, Major General,” Maximilien said, as if lamenting.
“Tsk. I should have known when you raised such a fuss over two hundred useless brats dying. Good grief. It was an incident that would have vanished if left alone, a trivial matter no one would remember, yet you had to go stirring things up and blowing it out of proportion.”
“…No one would remember? Even though two hundred people died?”
“Two hundred people with no power, no talent, not even a promised future. How could anyone remember them? If Major General Historia and Lankart hadn't thrown a fit, it would have ended as just another incident… But wait, who just spoke?”
Maximilien, observing that Historia’s lips hadn’t moved, looked around. He couldn’t immediately see the speaker.
Because the one who had spoken was Shiati, from the cargo hold.
“Take that back!”
Shiati had been standing with the cargo door open, ready to rescue the princess at a moment’s notice. But when Maximilien mentioned Hamelin, she couldn’t hold back and rushed out, clinging to the door.
Leaning out, Shiati glared at Maximilien, the hatred burning within her blazing in her eyes.
“How can you call that trivial?! Hamelin is not something a bastard like you can just dismiss—!”
But Shiati. It’s useless.
To someone who truly doesn’t see you as a fellow human being, even those words are meaningless.
“You insolent little shiiit!”
Click.
A gear in Maximilien’s head shifted slightly. The rational, tolerant part of him was not for Shiati’s use. To warrant his reason… Shiati was not qualified.
“Now even worthless gnats dare to interrupt meeee! Noise, noise! It’s so louuuud!”
His killing intent surged violently. The gears that aided… or hindered his thoughts. A switch connecting his reason and empathy flipped off, connecting instead to the murky depths of his emotions. An immense hostility poured out from it.
And that hostility immediately became reality.
Maximilien raised six gears in one hand. It didn't look like it at all, but it was a winch-powered bow.
No power source was needed. The force that turned the gears was the power source itself.
Screeeech. The lump of iron twisted. A sharp arrow nocked on the string glinted.
Twang! The bowstring, taut with mechanical force, launched the arrow. It became a streak of light, flying straight for the center of Shiati’s chest.
From decision to action, there was not a single moment of hesitation or delay. In his mind, he was simply eliminating existing noise. As a result, most people didn’t even register his intent to attack until the arrow was already in flight.
The only one who reacted was Historia, who had been on high alert from the start.
Though still bound, she kicked out her leg. With a bang, something exploded, and Historia lost her balance. The impact was so great that her body, which had been perched on the horse, was thrown into the air.
“Aah?! Gunmaster!”
The princess reached out, but the shock was too strong. Unwilling to endanger the princess and Selphy, Historia didn't resist and let her body fly. She had fallen from her horse.
I shouted immediately.
“Azzy! Catch her!”
“Woof!”
Just as Azzy leaped down at my shout…
CRASH! The glass pane at the front of the automaton carriage shattered and flew apart. The Regressor, having instantly cleared away the annoying windshield, gripped Chun-aeng and charged out.
“You crazy bastard! I’ll take that as a challenge!”
Maximilien, the one who had attacked without provocation, was also furious and shouted back.
“I’m just trying to get rid of some noise, and every last one of you picks a fight with meeee!!!”
“She’s not noise, and even if she were, she’s our noise!” the Regressor retorted fiercely, brandishing Chun-aeng.
Skyblade Art, Dragon Slayer.
A massive blade of wind, as if Chun-aeng had been magnified a hundred times, bore down on Maximilien. Even before the swing, a fierce gale pressed down on the world. Facing the giant’s sword wielded by a Sky God, Maximilien drew his gear sword.
Screeeeech. The sharp gears whirred with a metallic shriek. It was a sword whose blade spun on its own, capable of easily crushing steel without even being swung. One of his masterpieces. Maximilien was about to meet Chun-aeng’s blade with his own.
Maximilien’s arm bent backward.
“…Dieee!”
Shiati had gotten Maximilien’s arm in her sights and bent her own finger. In her rage, she paid no mind to her own body, and her ring finger was now twisted into a gruesome shape. Without proper treatment, she would never be able to bend it again.
In any case, black magic is fair. It forces the same phenomenon upon her finger and the target of her curse. Thanks to her sacrifice, Maximilien’s arm bent sharply backward, just like Shiati’s finger, against the joint….
“Noiiise!”
But the same phenomenon does not always have the same value. A cool stream a person can dip their feet in can be a raging flood to an ant. Maximilien was perfectly fine even with his arm bent backward.
A person who has mastered Gam Qi Art can infuse their body with Qi. While strengthening bones and muscles is the typical use of Gam Qi Art, a master of the art has also perfected the opposite.
The moment the black magic hit him, Maximilien reacted mechanically. His bones and muscles momentarily softened. His arm, despite being bent backward, returned to normal without any issue.
The price of sacrificing Shiati’s ring finger was nothing more than a momentary opening. Infuriated beyond measure, Maximilien’s entire body trembled.
“This noise doesn’t know its place!!!”
“That’s more than enough!”
However, that noise had interfered with the clash between Chun-aeng and the gear sword. Chun-aeng fell upon Maximilien.
Broken gears flew in all directions.
At almost the same instant, a palm-sized steel gear shot up as if sucked toward Shiati’s chest. It was a steel gear trap that the enraged Maximilien had rolled onto the road.
Not noticing the attack until it was halfway there, she was struck by the gear and nearly tumbled from the automaton carriage. If it hadn't been for Azzy, who was following close behind carrying Historia, she would have fallen headfirst.
“Woof! Woof woof!”
Azzy barked as if demanding thanks, but Shiati, her face contorted, only watched Maximilien, fiddling with one of her three remaining fingers.
Just before Dragon Slayer tore Maximilien apart, his wheels sparked and began to spin furiously. The uneven treads dug into the road, and Maximilien’s body shot forward.
His power to control gears allowed for rapid acceleration without any preparatory movements like bending his knees or lowering his center of gravity. Against any ordinary attack, that alone would have been enough to escape its range.
“Dragon Slayer, Dragon’s Reverse Scale!”
But the Regressor’s attack had already accounted for the Warforger’s abilities. An attack of a much larger and grander scale than expected descended upon Maximilien.
Creek, creak. The gears on his shoulders moved. Maximilien’s cloak whipped around, enveloping him like a shield. An explosion followed.
Maximilien’s cloak was torn to shreds, and the microscopic gears that had filled every single fold scattered like dust in a dry wind.
“Tch! The gear cloak…!”
‘A countermeasure to Chun-aeng that disrupts space with continuously interlocking gears. He actually managed to create it in such a short time. This is getting complicated.’
The Regressor clicked her tongue, disappointed.
She was merely disappointed, but Maximilien was feeling a rage so intense it felt like his head would explode. The scattering gears had served their purpose, but they had lost their calm order and returned to chaos. With bloodshot eyes, he screamed.
“To destroy my masterpiece, the Infinite Meshing…! You truly, truly mean to create friction with me, don’t you!!”
The Regressor replied with a look of disbelief.
“You’re the one who attacked first!”
“And now you resort to false accusations! Fine, it was my mistake to think I could achieve my goals through intellect and order! There is a more fitting method of conversation for noisy rabble!”
The Warforger lowered his stance and slammed both hands into the ground. A halo of light flashed along the thin metal lines engraved on his skin, starting from his elbows. As his fingertips slid across it at high speed, the surface of the road was shaved away like tofu.
“Combat Alchemy. Titan Forge.”
And the shaved road, instead of scattering as dust, took on a new form at the Warforger’s fingertips. The road’s debris was instantly transformed into steel.
If you gently scrape the surface of a soft pudding with a spoon and then move it horizontally like a plow, it curls up along the curved surface. A similar phenomenon was occurring at Maximilien’s fingertips.
The only differences were that the material was the bedrock of the road, and the thing scraping it was Maximilien’s fingers.
Two long lines were drawn on the road. The excavated earth was instantly forged into massive wheels of steel. The complex gears, with their separate inner and outer parts, scraped violently against the ground, letting out a fierce roar.
Steel gears as large as the automaton carriage were forged in an instant. Maximilien spun the inner gears to their maximum speed. The inner wheels, accumulating power, glowed red from the friction.
“Newborn of Steel! Gooo! Crush those unsightly things!”
Thump. The moment Maximilien let go, the steel gears came scraping across the ground toward us. The gouged-out road turned into a crimson halo of light. Creating a massive scar on the flat road, the steel gears charged, threatening to crush us all.