Chapter 351: The King Who Kills Others, The God Who Kills Himself - 7
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 351: The King Who Kills Others, The God Who Kills Himself - 7
The one who appeared, called the Golden Lord, was a boy with a youthful face. He exuded no particular dignity, no intense aura. His innocent face showed nothing but curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.
Ringing a bell, the boy burst out of the village hall and began to boast about his work, looking thrilled.
“This is a machine for harvesting corn! As requested, it has been designed to move using only pistons. No one but the Dominarch will be able to move it!”
As if he had been waiting, Hector frantically looked around.
“Is it complete, my lord? Where is it?”
“It’s right there, Primarch. Can you not see it?”
“Where…”
Hector looked where the Golden Lord was pointing. It was a lush cornfield. There was no harvesting machine to be seen, only a thicket of corn.
For now.
“Watch closely.”
As he spoke, the Golden Lord took a step. And in that instant…
In the space he had indicated, the cornstalks swaying in the wind simultaneously deconstructed. The tightly packed kernels, the long silks beneath them, the broad leaves, the fibers forming the stalk—the very components that made corn corn were completely dismantled. As if to assert that even the crops of Mother Earth were nothing more than mechanical devices made of parts, he divided and cut them, revealing each element. The materials hung in the air, sorted by type.
The Golden Lord took another step and said, “There.”
The dismantled components instantly intertwined. The fibers formed pillars, wrapped by the leaves. The kernels assembled like blocks, and the silks stitched them together. This process repeated thousands, millions of times, systematically and precisely.
And when he took his final step.
“It is.”
For the Golden Lord is truth, the god of this land. His words become reality.
Looking again, a massive machine stood there, three times the height of the cornstalks.
Though crafted from corn, it was harder than any steel. The Golden Lord was no longer bound by materials. The properties he desired were realized. The design he imagined was created as is. Even if it did not exist in this land. Even if humanity did not yet know of it.
Seeing the machine that had appeared before him as if by magic, Hector broke into a cold sweat.
“Is… is that it? Where do I move it?”
The Golden Lord spoke, sounding exasperated.
“To think I have to explain that first. Ugh. Just try moving it around.”
The Dominarch’s Unique Magic was the power to apply pressure to steel. Because its efficiency was maximized on flat, uniform surfaces, he often created tools using pistons. In other words, if a shape was not uniform, his power was as good as useless. The pressures would simply cancel each other out.
I don’t see any pistons… but still.
Hector used his Unique Magic. Without knowing the first thing about the machine’s structure, he blindly unleashed his power and applied force.
The machine took a breath.
Air was sucked into the device. It swelled up like a living creature before deflating and beginning to move. Its wheels rumbled heavily as they rolled forward, swallowing cornstalks. It harvested only the fruit from within before returning the rest to its original state.
Even Hector, the Dominarch, had no idea how it worked. Therefore, I didn't know either. Mind reading is useless if the person you’re reading doesn’t know the answer.
“H-How is this…”
Hector, too, was an accomplished alchemist and a Primarch of the Fallen Dominion. Yet even he could not comprehend the machine the Golden Lord had created in a single moment. Considering that understanding a design is tens of times easier than creating one, the gap between him and the Golden Lord was simply unimaginable.
Hector muttered in awe, but the Golden Lord just waved his hand, as if he couldn't be bothered to explain.
“Because that’s how I designed it. Are we done now?”
Having lost interest in Hector, the Golden Lord turned to Elric. Approaching her with a radiant smile, he shot a displeased glance back at Hector and spoke.
“Your Majesty. Forgive my impertinence… but can we truly entrust the Golden Empire’s food supply to him? They say not to put all your eggs in one basket. I worry he might monopolize the food with my machine and only seek to fill his own belly…”
“I assure you. He cannot betray us.”
“…If Your Majesty says so, then I am relieved. But his abilities are hardly trustworthy.”
“It is only that you are too brilliant, Demo. Compared to you, who would not seem lacking?”
As Elric spoke, she reached out and pulled the Golden Lord into an embrace. Her left hand lovingly ruffled his hair, while her right gently caressed his cheek. At her touch, the Golden Lord beamed with an ecstatic smile, as if he owned the entire world.
His attitude was completely different from how he had treated Hector. The absolute Golden Lord who bent the world to his will was gone, replaced by a child overjoyed to be with the one he admired.
I watched the scene, impressed in a different way.
If Elric were a living human caressing him of her own free will, I would have gladly stepped aside and wished them well. But… considering that not only Elric who embraced him, but also the Golden Lord being embraced, were both created dolls…
What a profoundly grim sight.
“You have worked hard, Demo.”
“N-No, not at all! Compared to Your Majesty, it is but a minor talent!”
“You have eased my worries. You are so reliable. Perhaps your very existence is the greatest blessing to this nation.”
“Not at all!”
The Golden Lord grasped Elric’s hands, shaking his head desperately as he pleaded.
“If Your Majesty were not here, if you had not found me, then I would not exist either! The greatest blessing for the Golden Empire is having the great and beautiful Your Majesty as our king!”
“Demo…”
“To repay your grace… I will do anything you command of me!”
I don't even have the heart to say anything mean anymore. He's pathetic enough as it is; it would be too cruel for me to pile on.
Regardless of my feelings, the boy and the woman shared a deep bond that they could not shake, even in death.
It was all clear now.
The Golden Empire no longer existed in this world. But the Golden Lord was the Divine of Alchemy. He was also a Monster of Logic, capable of creating all things in creation.
What if he were to ‘alchemize’ the Golden Empire within the range of his Unique Magic? The lands of the Empire, its buildings, its castles and cities, its landscapes. Even its people. What if he alchemized every single one of those things to decorate his surroundings?
Creating even the king he loved to keep by his side. And letting himself play upon that stage.
At the very least, the world surrounding him would be the most ideal Golden Empire in history.
The castle walls we saw, the city, the cornfield, and all the assorted junk. They were all traces of his attempt to recreate the Golden Empire. To him, the Fallen Dominion was merely a country that had sprung up on the old empire’s territory, and a garbage dump for his used things.
Incredible. So this is what becomes possible when alchemy reaches its zenith. If the world were just a little smaller, he might have created everything in it.
The two, gazing at each other affectionately, moved on to the next topic.
“You deserve a vacation, but we have no time for that, Demo. I need something urgently.”
“What is it? Please tell me! I will prepare anything you need!”
Elric glared in my direction and muttered.
“A weapon to eliminate the enemies of the Golden Empire.”
Of course. This space is a miniature garden the Golden Lord created to replicate the Golden Empire. There’s no need for a cost-benefit analysis. If something is lost, he can simply make it again.
From the Golden Lord’s perspective, he probably wouldn’t care if there was a war or not. If another interest came along, he would likely agree to a ceasefire. But… I suppose his pride is also a component of the Golden Empire. And with god-like abilities, there was no reason for him to back down from a fight.
“A… a weapon, you say?”
“Yes, Demo. A war will begin. The stench of blood flowing on steel will soon cover the nation. If you work for me, only the enemy’s blood will flow.”
“…”
I know enough now. So what do I do?
He has the god-like ability to create a Juggernaut from thin air. Honestly, it feels hopeless. The Military State might crush the Fallen Dominion in every other field, but if this Golden Lord decides to get serious, our entire nation could attack and still not stand a chance.
The Regressor said the Military State defeated the Fallen Dominion in seven days in the previous timeline. How in the world did you do it? Is there really a way to beat this? Did you perhaps avoid the Golden Palace and just hunt down the other Primarchs?
That might not be impossible. What the Military State needs are the alchemic resources scattered across the Fallen Dominion, not the Golden Lord’s submission. From what I’ve seen, besides the Dominarch who manages the food supply, none of the other Primarchs seem to have deep ties to the Golden Palace. If Yuel just pinpoints the Primarchs’ locations with Clairvoyance, we could take them out one by one with maneuver warfare. It seemed like that was Hilde’s original plan, too…
Wait, hold on. Could the reason the Military State won the war in the previous timeline be…
Because they struck immediately, without wasting a single moment?
“If I make a weapon… will it be of help to Your Majesty?”
“Greatly.”
“…In that case, I will make it. A weapon.”
Hey, Regressor.
I think we’re in deep trouble because you gave them time by calling for a ceasefire and came to the Golden Palace yourself.
The Golden Lord says he’s going to make weapons. No matter how I look at it, if he makes weapons, the Military State has no chance of winning. What are you going to do about this? Get over here and handle it!
It was at that very moment.
“Skyblade Art, Meteor Shower!”
The world shattered.
A figure fell like a meteor, smashing through the force field that had distorted even our vision. The word meteor was no mere metaphor. Trailing a long tail of fire, the descending Jizan crashed into the solid ground, shattering the very earth and burrowing deep within it.
Before Jizan, the ground itself was no different from soft jelly. The land that fell from the sky twisted the earth and made it heave.
As even the Golden Lord and Elric staggered from the shock, the Regressor rose to her feet and said in a proud voice.
“Found it. So this was the Golden Palace! I can’t believe it was in a cornfield… Huh? Hughes?”
Come to think of it, what’s so great about a god? Not when there’s a human who can shake the heavens and the earth.
I believe in you, Regressor. You are a hero.