Chapter 246: Seriously an Angel
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 246: Seriously an Angel
Screeeech.
The speeding automaton carriage ground to a halt as it hit a person. Maximilien, who had been dragged nearly fifty meters while being ground by the rotating saw blades, was now clapping joyfully. Visible through his torn clothes wasn't soft skin, but gears covering his entire body.
All in all, it was a situation that defied common sense.
“So! It's you. Yes, now that I think about it, you had the potential. No qualifications, but pure potential!”
Maximilien was unbelievably composed for someone who had been in a fierce battle just moments ago.
“The children born the year the kingdom fell. The two who remained after the culling. But, it wasn't either of them? Could it be... you, who were known to be dead?”
‘Damn! My judgment was flawed. We thought he was dead. Even if he were alive, he showed no particular traits, so we ignored him. But he was merely unseen. What if he was the one who gathered them all? From the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka and the boy who wields the power of the Divine, to the Beast King and the last of the royal line. What if he was the one leading them!’
Maximilien's eyes flashed with anticipation.
In his view, most humans were imperfect.
All humans have the same components. Blood, flesh, bone, muscle. And the Qi and mana that fill them. As an alchemist, Maximilien knew this all too well.
But how they were combined and how they functioned determined their form and abilities. The lowly cripple begging for food and the absolute ruler standing tall over the world—both were the same kind of human, molded from flesh and blood, filled with mana and Qi. Though they didn't look it at all.
Therefore, in Maximilien's eyes, most humans were nothing more than defective products that ruined their own potential.
It was understandable that an object made of high-quality materials would perform better. It was only natural for them to have different capabilities since they were different from birth.
However, if performance varied wildly depending on how those materials were arranged and combined, on their structural precision...
...then couldn't a great man like Maximilien 'correct' them, eliminate their defects, and allow them to display their original performance?
Thus, he sought the King of Humans. To understand the essence of humanity, and the qualities of humanity that transcended it.
“Are you the King of Humans? Are you truly the stern judge, descended upon this land to pass judgment on the newly emerged Military State!”
Reading Maximilien's thoughts alone, he seemed like a bold revolutionary agonizing over human limitations and trying to overcome them. But well, his true goal was...
To find the King of Humans...
‘A perfect Gear of Thought. To achieve a universality applicable to all, the King of Humans is necessary. Because the King of Humans represents all of humanity!’
...and stick a gear in their head.
He's a total lunatic.
The King of Humans is still human. A human! They're not compatible with gears.
“Perfect. Absolutely perfect! How could such a perfect combination exist? They have the qualifications and the potential! It would be stranger if the King of Humans wasn't among them! Hahaha. For the chance to fulfill my lifelong wish to present itself like this. I am a lucky man!”
Maximilien was spouting his self-indulgent tirade, but I had no power to shut him up. I turned my head to look at the only one capable of silencing him.
“Shei.”
The Regressor, who had been standing still and silently listening to Maximilien's rant, responded to my words.
“Huh? What is it?”
“What are you doing? We have a long way to go. Are you just going to stand there and listen to this cultist's ramblings?”
The Regressor nodded and looked back and forth between me and Maximilien. An absurdly confident reply came from her lips.
“I'm curious what he has to say.”
“Just because you're curious, you're going to let a dangerous person we were just fighting—one who's preaching some weird religious doctrine, no less—just stand there? Is information that important? More important than our safety?”
“Ah, no. Of course not. It's just...”
‘Tch. Should've let him talk a little more. It's not often the Warforger gets excited and spills information from his own mouth.’
So that's why she was just standing there after fighting him to the death moments ago. Was she trying to get information again?
I've already read his thoughts, so there's nothing more to see! Let's get rid of him and go!
Startled by my murderous glare, the Regressor added something she didn't mean.
“You have to listen to a man's last words before you kill him.”
“How about you listen to us for a change! Why do you listen to the enemy more than your allies!”
“Alright, alright.”
‘Still, I've heard enough. A child born the year the kingdom fell? Seriously, for a leader of the Human Regime, he sure believes in some baseless rumors. No wonder he kept repeating such foolishness every timeline. Anyway, I've dealt with these Military State guys cleanly this time.’
At my urging, the Regressor stepped between us and Maximilien again.
“Is that all for your last words? If you have anything else to say, say it quick before I kill you. We're not very patient.”
Maximilien replied with a faint smile.
“Ah. I won't kill you. There's something I need to confirm.”
“Sorry, but it's not that you won't, it's that you can't. You can never beat me alone.”
“Indeed, you who wield the power of two Divines at once are a handful. I don't know what those fools at the Shrine of the Divine are doing. For a mere boy to get his hands on two Divines... and they call themselves a secret society. Tsk, tsk.”
But even in this life-or-death crisis, Maximilien was composed. It wasn't the confidence of someone with an ace up their sleeve, nor the certainty of one expecting reinforcements.
He had no fear of death whatsoever.
Click, clack. The gears implanted in his head turned. They separated reason and emotion, engaging only when their combination was needed. Just as a machine doesn't worry about breaking down, Maximilien did not fear his own end.
…Well, it wasn't that Maximilien had nothing to rely on.
But it was already too late to stop it.
The first to sense something was wrong was Tyr's darkness. The darkness, which had been conserving its power while hiding in the automaton carriage's shadow, flinched violently. As if breaking out in hives, its jet-black form shrank, its color deepening.
[This is...]
Sensing something, Tyr sat up. At the same time, the Regressor intuitively realized something and readjusted her grip on her sword.
Fzzt. A spark flashed in midair.
In an empty space, square patches of light flickered like a mosaic and then vanished.
There was nothing where the light had disappeared. Only the afterimage on my retina gradually formed a single shape.
But something was definitely there. Something whose existence could be sensed but not perceived.
The Regressor muttered under her breath.
“This energy...!”
A crushing pressure weighed down on my entire body. An overwhelming presence, so intense it was hard to even look at, made me feel as if a being of a higher order had appeared and was looking down on us. Under that gaze from an infinitely high place, humans were infinitely insignificant.
Meanwhile, Maximilien, with the gears in his head, was unaffected.
Because his reason was functioning mechanically.
“But now that I've realized your qualifications are more than sufficient, I don't have to worry about one of you dying. In fact, I should be worried about my own life. So, I'll have to cheat a little, too.”
The mass of light took shape. It was a person. With two arms and two legs. A blank, white figure with a head on its neck slowly rose.
But its shape was the only thing human-like about it. I tried to read the thoughts of this suddenly-appeared being with my mind-reading.
I couldn't read its thoughts.
No, in the first place... was this even a person?
Control observation complete. Manifestation rate 14%. Caution, advised. Current location is an area with poor control observation.
Its whole body glowed. A white light, too bright to look at directly, enveloped it. A pressed-on white helmet obscured its eyes, and its face showed no expression.
The calm mouth, formed by a single black line, looked like it had been drawn on later to make it resemble a human.
Unable to read its thoughts, I didn't know what this being was. I only belatedly recognized it from the thoughts of the Regressor and Maximilien.
“...Eimeder!”
Historia looked startled.
“What? The Envoy? That... thing?”
I asked in disbelief.
“You're both part of the Six Generals, and you don't know?”
“I don't. The Envoy has never made an official appearance. But, even if they had...”
‘That form... no matter how you look at it, it's not human. Even its presence is faint!’
Amidst everyone's confusion, the being exuding a bizarre presence swung its arm. A white blade, which I hadn't seen it grab, appeared in its white arm. It wasn't drawn from somewhere; it was as if it had been there all along.
Emergency protocol. Executing.
The mass of light scattered like shattered glass. As the gleaming sword left an afterimage, the white shadow was already lunging toward us.
Humans are slow to react. Because the opponent was beyond the level of an ordinary human, it was difficult to perceive the prelude to an attack, read its killing intent, or sense its will to fight. Since my mind-reading didn't work, even I only realized it was attacking after it had already become an afterimage.
“Dodge!”
The Regressor reacted with Heavenly Counter Domain, but the blade of light wasn't aimed at her in the first place. The white shadow thrust its blade precisely toward the automaton carriage.
But another being was hiding there.
[Insolent! How dare you. You bring out an angel before me!]
The moment Tyr shouted that, darkness erupted from inside.
Originally, Tyr was supposed to hide in the cargo bed. The plan was to conserve her power, as her darkness was consumed the more it was exposed to sunlight.
But Tyr, her eyes red with fury, paid no mind to such plans and swelled her darkness. A localized night descended, centered on the automaton carriage.
The blade of light cut through the darkness. Light seeped through the opening like a dye. The angel's head pushed through the darkness, where one couldn't see an inch ahead.
But the jet-black darkness surged in like a wave to fill the gap. From within it, a jet-black parasol shot out and struck the angel.
It seemed the white body had a physical form after all. Struck squarely by the parasol, the white figure was sent flying. Tyr, who had leaped out by flipping the automaton carriage end over end, glared at the being called an angel with an enraged face.
[This gnat, how dare you...!]
Even after being hit by Tyr's parasol, the angel flew back, then scattered its body like a fish swimming along a riverbed and rose smoothly. It was, by all accounts, an inhuman movement.
The angel, rising as if swimming in midair, scattered white light and spoke.
Director Maximilien. Return at once. You cannot stand against them with your personal strength alone.
“Haha. So you've finally appeared, Envoy! Did you see? I think I've found them!”
I did not ask for your opinion. Regardless of your personal goals, now is the time to join forces. Return at once. Otherwise, we cannot stop them.
“Alright. Alright! I understand. I will follow your will!”
[Where do you think you're going.]
At that moment, the darkness surged like an explosion, trying to envelop them both. The angel swung its sword to shake off the darkness, but the darkness did not give up and came at it again and again.
As if stalling for time, waiting for someone to join.
[A toy of the Sanctum. I never thought I'd see one here... What an amusing little stunt. Or are you trying to provoke me?]
Tyr strode forward.
Vampires have no life. They are beings who control even their own blood, and because they are already dead, their instinct for life is also faint. It is quite difficult to earn the wrath of one who cannot be injured or killed. To them, even a threatening punch or attack from a human is nothing more than slightly rude behavior.
But there is one exception.
Anything related to the Sanctum is different. After the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka lost her father, herself, and her kin at their hands, the Sanctum earned the a priori hatred of all vampires.
All vampires rage against the Sanctum. Tyr stands at the extreme end of that spectrum.
The angel watched the approaching Tyr and spoke calmly.
I will draw the Progenitor's attention. Director Maximilien, I repeat my order. Return at once.
“Haha! Expendable resources are truly wonderful!”
Maximilien laughed heartily and retreated. The gears on his feet spun furiously, and his body sped away down the road. He fled without a moment's hesitation.
Even as their cornered enemy escaped, the Regressor didn't dare to rashly go after him.
Because the being called the Envoy, and whom Tyr called an angel, remained before them.
[Did you think I would let you go so easily?!]
The darkness swelled. Tyr herself was not particularly fast, but her essence lay in her powerful spatial control. The inside of the darkness was no different from the inside of her body, and within it, she exerted absolute influence.
I shouted.
“Tyr! Don't waste too much of your power!”
But it was daytime. The darkness was constantly being consumed to block the light, and even the slightest gap would cause it to crumble.
Spreading darkness during the day was, metaphorically, like trying to protect an air bubble underwater.
The angel aimed for that weakness.
Its sword split into dozens of blades. Each strike was not powerful, but a continuous barrage of sufficiently fast and sharp slashes cut away at the darkness. The sword strikes, scattering like a surface, pushed back the darkness that covered like a surface. The moment a small gap appeared in the darkness, the sun still hanging in the sky would tear the wound open on its own.
A battle of darkness and light. Amidst it, the Regressor moved.
Confirming that Maximilien was far enough away, the Regressor quickly jumped in.
“That's enough! Eimeder!”
The Regressor's eyes momentarily colored with seven hues. Instead of fully opening the Eyes of Fate, she opened the Seven Colored Eyes in sequence to observe the light. At the same time, the Regressor held Chun-aeng at an angle and looked at the angel through it.
Skyblade Art, Seven Colored Eyes Combination. Rainbow.
Chun-aeng shot out like lightning and slashed the angel diagonally.
The angel, sensing its presence, countered with its sword of white light, but the moment Chun-aeng and the white sword clashed, the pure white light broke down into seven colors. The rainbow created by deconstructing the white light colored Chun-aeng's trajectory. A long rainbow followed the Regressor's sword.
Though it showed no emotion, the angel seemed slightly surprised.
I see. This is the Divine's. The Sky's...
The angel couldn't finish its sentence.
The Regressor pushed that power straight through and beheaded the angel. A flash erupted, leaving a long afterimage of light. Having pierced the angel's body, the Regressor shouted fiercely.
“Tyrkanzyaka! Finish it!”
Glass can break light, but it cannot erase it. The momentarily blurred angel flickered, trying to reform itself.
At that moment, darkness engulfed it. Tyr's darkness, which had been surging like a wave, finally caught the angel. The enraged Tyr swung her fist without a word.
For a moment, a massive texture fell with a thud from within the darkness. The materialized darkness had crushed the white light.
Observation, limit... Danger.
[This is the end.]
Tyr clenched her fist. At that moment, the darkness swarmed in and devoured the light.
Tyr's power is not physical force. Though it has been emphasized recently because her power has grown so strong, her ability is closer to a curse or domination. Once caught, the angel was finished.
The body of light, covered in mystery, looked at the encroaching darkness and muttered calmly.
Self-destruct protocol. Activating.
Immediately after.
A pillar of light shot up.