Chapter 128

“Hah…!” Such unbelievable power. There was no doubt about it. This was on a completely different level from the conjurings Flarette half-heartedly used with her dagger gun functioning as an intermediary. It wasn’t even a Pure Concept being invoked by way of a person’s soul. This was a Pure Concept in the truest sense. The idea itself given human form. The worst kind of disaster in this world—proof that Otherworlders were only fledglings meant to achieve this ultimate form. A Human Error. “You’re the Human Error of Time, aren’t ya?!” With that, all the Genoms fired their machine guns. Over a hundred bullets shot out in a single second, only to freeze in front of the girl. All of the Guiding bullets the multiple Genoms had sprayed at the girl simultaneously halted before the Human Error of Time’s eyes and froze in midair, utterly defying the laws of physics. The men kept firing, and the fingertip-sized bullets piled up on top of each other, forming a wall in the blink of an eye. Instead of attacking her, it was almost as if they were building a dense barrier to help protect her. So this was the Human Error of Time. No, it was a little different from the Human Errors Genom knew. Perhaps this was the terrible result of humans in this world using Human Errors. The firing continued for nearly a minute before it stopped. All the Genoms had run out of Guiding Force. Reinforcements had joined the four, making a total of ten shooting at the girl continuously, at ten rounds per second for a full minute. A total of roughly sixty thousand Guiding bullets, their immense number forming a sphere around their unharmed target. “Well, that’s a problem.” Not one of the bullets had reached her. Genom snickered despite himself, but the smile faded when he saw the shots reverse direction. “Oh, shit…” Genom flinched. It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen next. The Time conjuring Suspension didn’t erase kinetic energy. Objects that were suspended in time still retained their original momentum. When Suspension was released, they would regain all that energy. The Genoms tossed their weapons aside and dived for cover, hiding behind anything they could. If they were lucky, it would be enough. However, the snap judgments and evasive actions of an ordinary person were useless in the face of a Human Error. Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Acceleration] The amassed ball of bullets exploded outward. Sixty thousand Guiding bullets imbued with Acceleration sped out in all directions. With their speed and rotation multiplied to an excessive degree, each one was more than powerful enough to kill. Their movements created no sound, even as they pierced through all the Genoms without exception. The men could do nothing, for they were obliterated without a trace. Their blood vanished into the cloud of dust. And the destruction didn’t stop at the Genoms. The building around them met the same fate. It couldn’t even be called a collapse. The structure was blown apart so completely that no rubble survived. Everything around the girl disintegrated. Afterward, there was nothing left. With the floor beneath her gone, the girl fell slowly. She descended gradually and gracefully from the ceiling district to the city below, landing lightly on her feet and looking up. There was a spherical hole carved out of a portion of the city on the ceiling. It was like the hypocenter after an explosion. The girl peered up, her expression devoid of emotion. She looked inhumanly beautiful. Footsteps echoed, coming toward her. She turned her head and saw two people approaching. “Wow, you really went for it. I guess you’re a Human Error, just like my amazing parents. I certainly wouldn’t want to fight you, li’l sis.” The first was Abbie. The girl knew her. She was a Primary Triad soldier. Seeing her as a threat, the girl started to point her finger at her…but paused, confused. She knew the person with Abbie, too. “Momo…?” “Akari.” Momo spoke the girl’s name. She laid the white suitcase she carried on the ground and dropped herself down on top of it. “Go back in for now. You’re not needed yet.” “Not…yet?” “That’s right. It isn’t your time yet.” “But…I…” Momo beat her heel against the white case. The girl she called Akari winced a little. “Just do it.” It wasn’t a command or an attempt at persuasion. It was a plea. “…” The two stared at each other for a while. Ultimately, the girl in Menou’s form closed her eyes. The strength left her body, and she stood motionless. The black in her hair drained away. “Phew…” Momo let out a long sigh. Abbie applauded her. “Way to calm her down, li’l Momo. So, is this what you wanted to show me?” “Yes. And I wanted to see it, too. We’ll be working separately from here on out.” Momo spoke brusquely and turned on her heels to leave. “Really? Are you sure? Wasn’t the deal we made half a year ago for li’l Menou and Akari?” “I told you. I’ve seen what I needed to.” Momo’s tone was clear and cruel. “That person…is my enemy.” Dull pain radiated through her. “Nngh…” She pressed a hand to her forehead to ease the headache. It was with that movement that Menou realized she’d returned to consciousness. “Hmm…?” Menou looked around. She had no idea where she was. She’d been fighting in the ceiling district moments ago, but now she was in a sunken, empty crater, with nothing around her. “What…did I…?” She didn’t remember anything after that fatal wound. Menou touched her chest, only to find no sign of injury. In fact, there wasn’t even a hole in her clothes. Had someone told her it was a bad dream, she might have believed them. Looking up, she saw the city on the ceiling. “Did I…fall?” Had she dropped normally, there was no way she could have survived. Given the disaster around her and the fact that Genom was gone, she must have used a Pure Concept to get out of her predicament somehow. The logical conclusion was that she’d lost her memories of the incident as the price. “At any rate, all that matters is the Starhusk.” If she’d driven Genom off, even temporarily, that was good enough. Because if the Starhusk was an otherworld repatriation circle, then Menou would be able to send Akari back to her original world when she finally regained consciousness. Menou wanted to live at Akari’s side, but she also suspected that she wouldn’t be alive for much longer. She needed to secure a safe path for Akari to follow once she was gone. “I have to get to the environment control tower.” Her headache had mostly abated. Thinking she was ready to keep moving, she raised her head and— “Menooooou!” “Urgh?!” The weight of the person who barreled into her with alarming force was a little more than she could take. The impact knocked her down flat. At first she braced herself, assuming it was a new opponent, but no further attacks came. The female assailant pressed her face into Menou. There was only one person who would—actually, no. Menou didn’t know anyone who would do such a thing. Not even Akari would tackle her in an embrace the moment they met. For just a moment, Menou’s chest tightened with the frustration of forgotten memories, like something was caught in her throat. Then she shook off lost feelings and shouted furiously. “Abbie! What are you doing?!” “Aw, come on! I’m happy to see you!” Menou had survived her battle with Genom, if only barely, and reunited with Abbie in the City of Ruins. One of the men running down the main street of the City of Ruins stopped abruptly. He was among the adventurers who’d chased Menou and the others from the underground hub. They had come rushing to the scene after hearing the extremely loud sounds of a battle. Since they worked for Genom, they weren’t allowed to slack off. All knew what came of insubordination. A man with a rare Guiding prosthetic stopped running. For all the trouble Genom’s arrival had brought, it had produced some benefits. Namely, he gave out Guiding prosthetics to the people of the underground hub for free. It was a well-known fact that Genom the Arms Dealer sold Guiding prosthetics as one of his unique products. Since some of the adventurers had lost limbs in the course of their dangerous lives, they were sincerely grateful, and they happily attached the new limbs that moved as naturally as their own. The man who stopped rubbed his metal arm as he looked around nervously. “What’s wrong?” “Didn’t you hear that voice?” “Huh?” His fellow hadn’t heard a thing. He strained his ears, but even the earlier sounds of battle had gone silent. Still, the man looked anxious, casting his gaze around wildly. “No, I definitely heard… Ah…” His voice trailed off unnaturally. His body began to tremble. Something was definitely strange here. The man’s companion took his shoulders, shaking him lightly. “H-hey, c’mon. What’s going on?” “Ah… Aaah… Aaaaah… Ngh.” Blurp. A hole opened in the man’s face with an unsettling noise. The other man’s mind went blank at the incomprehensible sight. Had the man dropped dead from the transformation, that would’ve been acceptable, if nothing else. The cause would’ve remained unknown, but in a world full of conjuring phenomena, there were plenty of incomprehensible things. However, the changes in his partner didn’t stop there. His flesh bubbled and writhed. His body changed form. On top of that, he was still alive. When the strange transfigurations finally stopped, he’d reformed into the shape of the human feared as the worst villain on the continent. The man who bore witness trembled in fear. “B…Boss…” Genom glanced at the man. “Whoops… You’re an adventurer, not one of my guys, eh?” “Y… Y-yes, siiiir!” “Bad luck for you.” “Huh?” While the adventurer stood bewildered, Genom pulled out a large-caliber gun and blew the man’s head off. “Yeah, sorry. Can’t have some random guy from who knows where seeing what I just did.” Genom left behind the man he’d murdered to keep his ability a secret and thought back to the battle. “That must’ve been the Human Error of Time…” It was certainly impressive. He’d been destroyed without even being able to put up a fight. It was a little too much for someone of self-proclaimed incompetence like Genom. “Ain’t half bad, though.” A half-hearted battle had dragged out the Human Error. What would happen if he pulled her into something much more intense? The fragile girl called Flarette would vanish, and the Pure Concept of Time that could freeze the entire world would be brought forth. And if that happened…Genom’s wish, the one he’d held since Flare drove him into the Mechanical Society, would finally come true. Genom gazed at the environment control tower. A swirling sphere of Guiding Light was suspended between the two halves of the spire. It was one of only two entrances to the Mechanical Society on the continent. Not long ago, Genom had ordered his subordinates to try creating one in the Balar Desert, and now one had naturally manifested here. He had to laugh. It was such a wonderful thing, it seemed a terrible shame that there were only two. “Ain’t that right? The Mechanical Society’s the only place I call home.” Even if Menou did reach the environment control tower, she wouldn’t be able to do anything. It was the Astrologer that Genom had to eliminate first and foremost. She had the processing power to control all the functions of the City of Ruins at once. This was one of the few places where Genom was able to live. “We’ll finally destroy this whole stupid world.” Genom grinned fearlessly and raised his gun.