Genom Cthulha Half a year earlier… The World Suspension opened a hole in the White Night barrier. Previously, only a one-color or the occasional two-color conjured soldier was able to exit, but the new aperture meant that soldiers made with all three Primary Colors could leave. Abbie had her reasons for leaving the Mechanical Society as soon as she was given the chance. First, if she got out, the other three-color conjured soldiers wouldn’t be able to follow. The hole in the barrier could only be used by a certain number of people; there was a limit on the volume it would allow through. Second, her younger brothers and sisters tended to be very exclusionary. If any of them had gone to investigate first, they would probably declare that humanity was unnecessary within three days. They’d even declared that they felt no one else should be allowed on the ark but themselves. Abbie was glad her younger siblings had grown up so protective of their kind, but not that they wanted to exclude humanity. Abbie dumped all her work on her younger brother, the eldest boy Ginoum, to get ahead of all the other conjured soldiers and escaped through the new hole in the Mechanical Society to the outside world. Her first goal was to find her new little sister, who’d just been created in the outside world. Abbie wanted to take the girl into her care, since the helpless thing was wandering around with no idea how her real body worked, leaving all of her consciousness in her terminal. However, the first person Abbie encountered in that city that covered the ground above and below was a girl sitting on a white box. When she’d stopped, the girl addressed her. “This is the underground City of Ruins. It’s usually sealed, but a certain someone decided to invite me in on a whim. According to that person, the entrance will be left open from now on.” The girl kindly told Abbie where she was. “My name is Momo. Hey, Ability Control… Let’s make a trade.” How did the girl know her name? While Abbie pondered this, the girl who called herself Momo opened the white suitcase she’d been sitting on. Inside was a girl frozen in a curled-up position. Although she was adorable, with black hair and a youthful face, her chest demanded Abbie’s attention. A white shard had been thrust into it. The power hidden in that piece of a blade was more than enough to catch Abbie’s interest. “I need to keep her hidden and safe, no matter what it takes. I want you to put her inside your zone through that entrance and protect her.” Abbie didn’t know how to answer. Allowing foreign matter into one’s zone was far from pleasant. To put Momo’s proposal in human terms, it would be as uncomfortable as swallowing something whole to hide it in one’s stomach. Whether she knew this or not, Momo held up two fingers and went on matter-of-factly. “There are two ways this can benefit you. One. The information you’d gain from her. She’s an Otherworlder, and comes with the Sword of Salt. That’s gotta be worth researching, whether it’s for your ark or not. Maybe you’ll get something from analyzing her on a micromachine level.” She knew about the ark. That made Abbie even more cautious. “Two. I’ll tell you the location of the person you’re looking for. It’s funny, really. She’s a sham of a human who’s been possessed by Concepts of Primary Colors. If you work with her and her companions, you should get the info you’re after.” Abbie relayed her consent with gestures. Nothing was more important to her than her family. Those younger than she was were to be protected, and those who’d lived longer needed to be destroyed. She wouldn’t hesitate to swallow a little discomfort if it meant obtaining information about her little sister. “Also, this is just a piece of sincere advice…” Momo’s expression turned perplexed while Abbie rested her wings and listened. “As much as I do think that form is pretty…I believe you’d be better off taking a human form while you’re on this side.” With that, Momo handed over the black-haired girl, and Abbie took on a camouflaged form resembling an older version of the girl. A tremor shook Sahara from behind. It felt as if the entire City of Ruins was being rattled around. Looking over her shoulder, Sahara spied several of the buildings from the ceiling district collapsing. She judged it to be where Menou and Genom were fighting. Nothing remained in the center of the destruction. Even the especially large station building had been blasted away by the shock waves. Sahara shuddered and quickened her pace. Did that mean Menou’s battle was over? And if so, who won? Sahara couldn’t be sure that Menou emerged victorious. She knew very well that Genom wasn’t so easily beaten. But Sahara didn’t have time to worry about anyone else right now. “Over there.” She was being pursued. The men must have come along when Genom stormed the theater room. Had they split off from a contingent surrounding the movie theater, then their comrades must have been caught in the blast a moment ago, yet they didn’t seem particularly concerned. “Go, go! Right there, Sahara! No, not like that…! If you used your Guiding Shot, you could’ve taken them all out at once…! Come on, now! Aah, you missed your chance…” If it wasn’t for Deadweight #2 here, Sahara could’ve been long gone by now. Nono, who Sahara carried under one arm, kept issuing instructions, even though she clearly wasn’t going to participate in the battle. The confidence in her commands probably came from her Star eyes that saw the near future. Quite frankly, it was very annoying. “Honestly, Nono…” Maya poked her head out of Sahara’s shadow, which had become her go-to emergency shelter by now. “Do you need to keep heckling even though you can’t fight?” “Oh, come onnn. Don’t take away my only source of amusement. Where’s the fun if you can’t keep yelling and yammering?” “What a pain in the neck.” Maya stared at Nono coldly. “…So she really can’t fight?” Sahara had started to suspect as much, considering that Nono never made moves on her own, despite all her directions. But surely a conjured soldier should be able to fight. She looked at Nono skeptically. “At the very least, I’ve certainly never seen her do it, not once,” Maya said. “Well? Am I wrong?” “Don’t be absurd. I’m a genius, remember? Not once in my seventeen years of life have I done something as boorish as fighting.” For some reason, even though she was declaring that she would be of absolutely no help in this situation, she puffed up her chest with pride. Since Sahara was carrying her under one arm, however, it just made her look like a curled-back shrimp. “In fact, this body is only for calculations, so it’s less powerful than the average human’s! I’m a delicate magical girl genius, just as my appearance suggests, so I’ll thank you to handle me with the utmost care!” “So you really are just a deadweight who’s good for nothing but slowing us down…!” “Agreed. Why do you seem so proud to admit something like that?” “Like you’re any better, Maya.” “Excuse me?! I’m allowed to do this, because Sahara is my servant! Right, Sahara?” Deadweight #1 protested at being lumped in with Deadweight #2, but as far as being useless in a fight, they were peas in a pod. Were these two really half of the Four Major Human Errors who destroyed the ancient civilization? It was enough to make Sahara want to cry. “Ngh. Seriously, why am I stuck doing this…?” Evil and Star. Sahara lugged two of history’s most famous Pure Concept holders as she fled. She longed for the days when she got to lie around doing nothing in Grisarika. How was the kingdom handling her sudden disappearance anyway? I hope Ashuna is looking for me… I hope the Director isn’t, though. Sahara’s mind wandered back to those peaceful times. While small tears welled up in her eyes, she continued charging through the city streets, never stopping. She turned a corner to the right and cursed under her breath. A group of men with Guiding prosthetics blocked the way—Genom’s subordinates. Sahara had fled from the adventurers only to run into a worse group. If she stopped to fight here, the adventurers would catch her in a pincer attack. “See? This is what happens when you don’t listen to me. Now we’ve got even more enemies on our hands,” Nono chided. A vein throbbed in Sahara’s temple, betraying her irritation. Technically, Nono was correct, but it was just too aggravating to have someone who couldn’t even fight boss her around while looking so smug. Besides, if things truly became hopeless, Maya’s Pure Concept could make quick work of enemies with Guiding prosthetics. Sahara considered tossing Nono and making a break for it. However, something happened before she came to a decision. The men abruptly went still. All at once, they went from shouting and dashing at Sahara to silently trembling. It was such peculiar behavior that Sahara slowed to a stop despite herself. She watched as the men’s prosthetic limbs began to take over their bodies. It was a similar phenomenon to when Sahara was sucked into her own arm in the Balar Desert. When the process reached their heads, a hole appeared in each of their faces. Their flesh bubbled and transformed under their clothes, reshaping their figures and facial features to match a single mold. While Sahara was shocked into silence, the sight of a group of different people all transforming into the same person made Maya’s eyes sparkle, for some strange reason. “Wow, I’ve seen a sci-fi movie like this before! I never thought I’d get to see it happen in real life.” “Huh. I’ve never seen it. What was the movie?” Nono asked. “It was a big blockbuster hit, unlike your ridiculous shark movies.” Faced with this anomaly, the pair of inexplicably calm Otherworlders began a film discussion that Sahara couldn’t follow in the slightest. Once the men finished their transformations, they silently pulled Guiding guns from the holes in their faces. Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Prosthetic Arm, Inner Seal Conjuration—Activate [Skill: Medium-Range Sweeping Form] Acting out of sheer instinctual terror, Sahara transformed her arm into a Gatling gun and mowed them all down before they could finish taking the guns out. Strangely, they made no effort to dodge or defend themselves, simply going down as they were hit. “Huff… Huff! Wh-what just happened?!” The men made no attempt to evade or to use defensive conjurings. Sahara wished it was a nightmare. She cautiously checked the faces of the corpses. Sure enough, they were all the same. She’d never forget that face, not since first seeing it in the Wild Frontier. It belonged to Genom Cthulha. Why had other people suddenly turned into Genom? He’d never displayed this power when they clashed in the Mechanical Society. While Sahara stared in confusion, someone poked her on the cheek from behind. “Sahara, oh, Sahara…” “What now?!” Just as Sahara whirled in aggravation, a bullet grazed her cheek. Blood dripped from the light wound. When Sahara froze, Nono grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. “I was trying to tell you that standing around is dangerous. Nicely dodged!” The tightly drawn string of tension in her snapped. Color drained from her face, and any emotions in her expression dropped away. The situation had surpassed Sahara’s comprehension. She peered in the direction of the shot. The sniper was within visible range. He watched her through a scope, from the window of a building that wasn’t connected to theirs. Normally, this would’ve been a safe range to fire from without fear of a counterattack. But Sahara had a means of retaliating from this distance. “…Well, damn. That ain’t a good match for me.” Genom looked annoyed when he saw his target’s abilities. He’d attacked with five of himself at once, only for them to be mowed down in less than ten seconds. The same formation that had cornered Flarette was nothing to this new opponent. That metal arm was the problem. The gun it transformed into wasn’t especially powerful, weaker than Genom’s mass-produced machine guns. A normal priestess or knight could probably dodge or block it easily enough. It might even be survivable with some especially good Guiding Enhancement. Genom couldn’t block it, though. He couldn’t use crest conjurings or move quickly with Guiding Enhancement. It was all he could do to stand around like a target practice dummy. Ironically, Genom’s greatest weakness was the Guiding guns that he himself distributed. “Taking control of the fight with random fire is supposed to be my specialty…” Most of his opponents, be they priestesses or knights, tended to focus on close combat. Their typical move was to block Guiding guns with barrier conjurings and move in close for the finish. However, that nun’s strategies were essentially the same as Genom’s. She used the high-power Pile Driver in close quarters. Her Guiding gun form was flexible and lethal. Her command of Guiding Shot seemed extremely polished. All in all, it was as though her techniques deliberately specialized in taking down a large number of weaklings. Plus, there was that blasted future sight. As long as she had that, sniper attacks were pointless. Even if he’d fired with multiple shooters from different angles, she’d know where each would land and move accordingly. The only remaining option was to overwhelm her with numbers, but Genom didn’t have enough subordinates around to feel confident that it would work. “Hey, wait a minute. Why doesn’t my Possession work on her?” That was the biggest question of all. Genom was the one who put the Guiding prosthetic on that girl. “Mine is from the Guardian, dammit. It oughtta be better than hers, unless there’s something weird mixed in there, or… Ah, shit. This chick can snipe, too?” In fact, it seemed like she was even better at it than he was. Genom grimaced irritably right before a Guiding bullet blew his head off. “See? That’s enough to kill most people, aside from a certain pink gorilla,” Sahara grumbled to herself once she confirmed that her shot had eliminated the target. People who were exceptionally good at Guiding Enhancement could repel Guiding bullets with their body alone, but that was an exception, not the rule. People who sometimes sensed a sniper attack and dodged it on some animal instinct were freaks of nature, arguably not even human. Sahara could only conclude that the pink-haired girl had to be some variant of a gorilla. Generally speaking, Guiding guns pierced and destroyed human bodies just fine. With this brief tangent helping to keep her sanity intact in the face of the chaos, Sahara changed her Guiding arm from a sniper rifle back to normal. Her actions these past few days had been deeply out of character. Sahara turned around, wearing a serious expression. “I wanna leave the City of Ruins now. What do you think?” “Now, now, Madam Sahara.” Nono nervously raised her hand. “Like I said before, the fate of the world is at stake here, remember? Things will get really bad if we don’t do something.” “Shut up, useless.” Sahara’s face remained deadpan as she insulted Nono. She had no intention of relying on the girl’s future sight. Depending on Nono meant being used by her. “I trust that Menou will fix it somehow. So I’m out of here.” Sahara’s question had really been a declaration of intent. She turned to go, but as she broke into a run to leave Nono behind, something grabbed her ankle, sending her crashing face-first into the ground. “……!! —!!” “Sahara.” Maya had prevented Sahara’s escape. The girl emerged from Sahara’s shadow and crouched next to her while she rolled on the ground in silent agony. “I want to stop Pandæmonium.” “…That really hurt, you know.” “She’s a twisted version of me. If a part of myself is causing problems, then I think I need to be the one to stop it.” Maya ignored Sahara, who clutched her painfully injured nose. “That’s what I want to do. That’s the reason I’m needed in this world. You can’t take that away from me.” “Maya…! You’ve really grown up! I’m so happy!” “Quiet, Nono. Your compliments mean nothing to me.” “Oof. Now I’m sad because you’ve grown up too much.” Nono withered under Maya’s cool gaze. Sahara interrupted as the two bickered, casting an accusing look at Maya. “First of all, I want you to apologize. That was seriously painful.” “Okay. I’m sorry, Sahara.” Maya patted her gently. “But you said you’d work hard for me, didn’t you?” Sahara didn’t want to do this. Who would? But at this point, she had a hard time refusing, when this little girl needed her. Sahara heaved a long sigh and stood up. The three of them resumed their journey toward the environment control tower looming in the distance. “From what I’ve heard, I’m guessing he can take over humans who he’s equipped with a Guiding prosthetic,” Abbie replied after hearing Menou explain her encounter with Genom. Having regrouped in the lower half of the city, the pair moved for the environment control tower while exchanging information. “The kids who attacked us when we first got here all had artificial limbs, too, didn’t they? He can probably possess people with them.” Genom was famous for dealing in three main products. Humans, Guiding guns, and Guiding prosthetics. The prosthetic limbs, which operated as naturally as organic body parts, were highly advanced technology that couldn’t be replicated by modern means. In the Mechanical Society, when a piece of a humanoid body was lost, it was formed into a prosthetic. Just as this city had self-repairing functions, the Mechanical Society presumably employed micromachines to aid in the function of humanoid bodies. But of course, not everyone could enter the Mechanical Society. Grisarika Kingdom had forged a peace treaty with the Mechanical Society, but that border had been the site of battle between many humans and conjured soldiers. There was no guaranteeing someone would come back safely if they ventured into that place. And yet Genom had acquired prosthetic arms for sale that could attach to anyone. “He equips other people with prosthetics that contain a part of his own soul. Then he gradually uses the connection to the body to corrode their spirit and turn their soul into his own, turning them into faithful pawns he can order at will. Ultimately, they seem to become terminals that he can possess and use as his own whenever he wants,” Abbie continued. The people who worked for Genom directly all had Guiding prosthetic parts. Besides arms and legs, there were some whose eyes, parts of their torsos, or occasionally even their hearts had been replaced. Since the Guiding prosthetics compensated for what was lost, many joined Genom, thinking him to be a benevolent benefactor. Perhaps it was true for some, but certainly not for the majority. When something was directly linked to one’s body, it was difficult to resist soul contamination. Genom had won his subordinates’ loyalty using something resembling brainwashing. “So he uses the prosthetics he provides to turn other people into parts of himself that he can control. That explains why there are multiple Genoms,” Menou said. “Mm-hmm.” Abbie nodded. “The hole that appears in their faces when they’ve been completely taken over is a Guiding Force channel he uses to control them remotely. I’m guessing that it’s connected to the real Genom so he can operate his terminals.” “In that case…” Sahara’s situation immediately came to mind. She’d mentioned that her Guiding prosthetic right arm had somehow formed in the Mechanical Society after she fought Genom and lost. “Will Sahara be all right?” Menou asked. “She’ll be fine. I hate to say it, but she has Concepts of Original Sin mixed with her soul. Which means Concepts of Primary Colors won’t be able to meddle with her, not a chance.” That was a relief, at least. Although Menou and Abbie were separated from Sahara, they could take comfort in knowing she likely wouldn’t get into a life-threatening situation. Genom presumably chose his controllable subordinates carefully. Menou’s impression from their fight was that Genom’s specs as an individual weren’t especially exceptional. What made him such a threat was the ability to cooperate between multiple selves that shared a hive mind. These selves all shared information with no apparent time lag. That instant transmission of information was the most frightening part. By that logic, he would probably want to leave any subordinates that were stronger than he was on an individual level to fight on their own, instead of taking them over as terminals. And he would definitely send those personnel after Menou and Abbie. After all, if he sent his carefully preserved elite to fight Sahara and company in the ceiling district, Maya’s Concepts of Original Sin could nullify them in a single hit. Surely Genom was also aware that the elites he first sent to attack the group were easily neutralized. As Menou was thinking about this, Abbie suddenly stopped. “That’s right, I almost forgot.” Abbie reached into the gear design on her stomach and pulled out a book. “Here, Menou, I have a present for you.” “Is this…a scripture?” Menou’s eyes widened at the unexpected offering. At first, she thought Abbie had reproduced a scripture with her abilities, but as soon as she took it into her hands, she knew it was no fake. This was the genuine article. “Where’d this come from? We haven’t seen a single priestess since we came underground, have we?” “It’s a gift from a very cute girl.” “A very cute girl? Come on, now…” Was she really calling herself cute? Menou glowered at Abbie. However, the conjured soldier seemed completely unbothered by her judgmental gaze. Menou had admittedly wished she’d had more tricks up her sleeve during the fight with Genom. So she slipped the scripture onto a belt that fixed around her stomach beneath her hooded mantle that was meant to hold up her high socks. This way, she could employ scripture conjurings without occupying her hands. A scripture was a convenient conjuring book that could invoke multiple conjurings. Since entering the City of Ruins, Menou had found herself missing her old one several times. She accepted it, figuring there was no reason not to use it. Yet she still felt a twinge of hesitation. There was no reason not to, right? However, she felt there was one when she recalled how she’d given hers up—a very important reason indeed. Unfortunately, Menou was getting used to not being able to remember things. “Well, I guess it’s always good to have more weapons at my disposal…” “Don’t worry, it’s only got the conjuring invocation functions activated. Carrying it won’t leak our information to Hakua or anything… Oh, hey, there’s my li’l sis. She’s really doing her best up there!” Abbie stared up at the city on the ceiling, as if she had no interest in the scripture she’d handed over. Squinting, Menou just barely made out black dots in the distance. It was amazing that Abbie had spotted them so far below. “Do you really think this is the time to be playing around?” Menou asked. “You’re right, I’m sorry. It really isn’t the time. I need to come up with a conclusion soon.” Abbie’s agreement was so unexpectedly serious that Menou was actually confused. Come to think of it, Menou hadn’t seen any enemies for a while. It was almost unnaturally quiet. And yet Sahara and company were being chased around overhead. “Hey, li’l Menou. Do you remember why I left the Mechanical Society?” “You came to find Sahara, right?” “Well, yes, of course.” Evidently, Menou wasn’t wrong, and Abbie nodded enthusiastically. Such mysterious positivity from the conjured soldier probably would’ve disturbed Sahara. “The truth is, I really just wanted to bring my new li’l sis back to the Mechanical Society right away. But since you were there, too, and it was convenient for me to pretend to be human and travel around, I decided to do some observation.” “Observation?” Menou echoed. “Mm-hmm. I am the eldest sister, you know. So when a hole opened in the barrier that allowed three-colors to leave, I took it.” Just as a hole in the Pandemonium fog barrier only permitted Pandæmonium to release a single pinky finger, there must have been a limit on what class of conjured soldiers could cross the opening in the White Night. Only one- or two-color soldiers were permitted before. The Mechanical Society remained the entire accessible world for three-colors, those intelligent conjured life-forms made of the Primary Triad. “Are there humans who can coexist with us? Is there anything that we have to preserve? Any valuable materials? Cultures? Ideas and societies? There were so many choices to be made.” Abbie folded her fingers down one by one as she counted. Menou frowned. “Why are you telling me all this now?” “Do you know why it’d be really bad if the space containing the City of Ruins shatters?” Menou furrowed her brow. No one had told her, but she caught on immediately. If the environment control tower and the nucleus of the Starhusk fused, the disturbance would cause the white liquid to fly off and fall like rain. And if the tower pierced the core and destroyed it, the other “stars” would crash down, causing unprecedented destruction in the north. “Then we have to stop th—” “Okay, then.” Abbie interrupted Menou midsentence. “So what do you think will occur if the White Night barrier enclosing the Mechanical Society is destroyed?” “Ah…” Menou breathed a small gasp. The Mechanical Society in the Wild Frontier was undoubtedly the largest subspace in the world. The pocket constructed of Primary Colors was continuously expanding, fed by the micromachines constantly coughed up by the Human Error of Vessel. Its expansion was only possible because it was sealed off like the City of Ruins. So if the White Night barrier that kept the Mechanical Society in an enclosed space broke…what would happen? The answer came to Menou right away. The phenomenon itself wasn’t far off from what was occurring in the City of Ruins, so the logical conclusion was simple. “The spaces would…intersect…?” “Mm-hmm.” Abbie bobbed her head, then added the part Menou was too terrified to voice aloud. “On a continental scale.” There was a trace of a smile on Abbie’s lips as she spoke. A disquieting chill settled into Menou’s chest. If a subspace that had been expanded using Concepts of Primary Colors was removed for some reason, the matter that existed within would overlap with that outside, causing them to collide. When the two spaces combined, a certain phenomenon would occur. “An intersection means overlapping matter will fuse. Did you know that it also produces a shock wave relative to the total mass involved?” “Yes…I know.” Menou felt the chill spread. The scale of the Mechanical Society, which existed within the White Night barrier, far eclipsed the City of Ruins. It had grown to cover all available land after expanding for a thousand years. By now it surely rivaled the continent. “If the White Night barrier shattered, the enclosed environment where we conjured soldiers live will be released. The Mechanical Society will cover with the entire surface of this continent… I bet the resulting shock wave could destroy the continent itself.” Menou failed to find words. She wanted to laugh it off as ridiculous, but she couldn’t. This threat, utterly different from the ones she’d been focused on since they came underground, came as such a shock that she couldn’t wrap her head around it. “Wait. That’s only if the barrier of the Mechanical Society was broken, right?” “Mm-hmm. That’s right.” “But it won’t break, will it?” As Menou sought salvation, Abbie’s only response was a smile. The barrier that enclosed the Mechanical Society had been intact for a thousand years. But in the last year, just like Pandemonium, it had begun to creak and strain. And while the future Abbie described was the worst imaginable outcome for humanity, to the conjured soldiers that lived in the Mechanical Society, it was far from a terrible prospect. “This is probably the only way. If we conjured soldiers want to completely wipe out all the monsters that started with Pandæmonium, that is.” The fusion of the two would annihilate the continent. Abbie and her people would destroy their sworn enemies at the cost of the world itself. That’s why Abbie had come out first when the hole appeared in the barrier. When it first began to bend, Abbie and the others foresaw the future disaster and rushed to construct an ark to carry them to the sky, where the spatial intersection would be minimal. The impact at the moment of fusion was born when solid matter overlapped. The air lacked large solids and was relatively safe. Fortunately, the conjured soldiers were able to complete their ark while time looped over and over in the outside world. All that remained was deciding what to put on it. “By the way, li’l Menou…” Abbie twined her hands behind her back. “Which Pure Concept was it that damaged the barrier, again?” Despite her asking, they both knew the answer. “…” Almost involuntarily, Menou took a step back. Sahara’s warning replayed in her mind a moment too late. Time had damaged the barriers enclosing the Human Errors, the same concept that Menou used through Akari. If Abbie wanted to destroy the White Night barrier, what would she do? While Menou considered an escape, she sensed someone behind her. “Get it? Ability’s got her answer now. You humans ain’t worth saving.” Genom stepped into view. Wait a minute… Menou’s mind whirred frantically. Genom had been in the Mechanical Society for a long time, and he hadn’t attacked Menou since she reunited with Abbie. Had the two been communicating in secret somehow? “The era of conjured soldiers is upon us. Nah, they won’t even be called that anymore! They’ll be the only intelligent life in the world, with an iron grip on the hegemony! Won’t that be great? Bet they’ll make a better world than any stupid human civilization ever did.” The man who’d lost all faith in humanity declared his intent to Abbie, who held the future of the world in her hands. “Let’s hurry up and get rid of this stupid world already. The World Regression and World Suspension have already messed up the White Night barrier plenty. So much so that it’ll only take one last push to break it.” Genom pointed at Menou. “If we beat you down until the Human Error of Time comes back, it’ll all be over. The world will be ruled by Primary Color space, which works just fine by me. Michele? Hakua Shirakami? Who cares about them? We’re gonna blow ’em all to smithereens! Right, Ability Control?!” It was anyone’s guess if the two barriers that trapped the Major Human Errors could hold up to another World Suspension. “C’mon, make a pact with me, right here. If we corner Flare’s successor, she’ll turn into a Human Error. That’ll be it for this whole stupid world.” “You’re right, Genom.” What he said was true. If Abbie thought only of her little brothers and sisters, then destroying the White Night barrier was clearly best. Human civilization would be wiped away, along with its entire burdensome legacy. All that remained would be Concepts of Primary Colors in the form of conjured life-forms. It would change the entire structure of the world. There would be no more Human Errors, and no more Concepts of Original Sin. While Abbie pictured that ideal world, she punched Genom with all her might. “…Huh?” Menou stood frozen by the unexpected act. An astonished Genom went flying at an unbelievable speed, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye. Abbie twirled around to meet Menou’s gaze. “You know, I realized something when I traveled with all of you…” The conjured soldier who’d never killed a single person during their entire journey smiled helplessly. “It turns out I really love this world. So much that I don’t want to destroy a single thing in it.” This was so unexpected that Menou just stood there blinking for a moment. “Abbie… I guess you really were our ally all along, then.” “Whaaat?! You still doubted me?! I demand an apology and compensation!” Menou slumped, relieved that Abbie had returned to her usual behavior. She’d never been able to discern Abbie’s real thoughts, the ones lurking behind her light attitude. That unfounded degree of friendliness didn’t make sense to her. However, there was nothing behind it at all. Abbie simply cared for humanity, and she aided Menou and the others purely out of good intentions. “Okay… How should I make it up to you, exactly?” “Ohhh! How about a passionate hu— Wha?!” For some reason, when Menou embraced her as requested, Abbie reacted with shock. Menou grinned, then released the other girl. “All right, then, let’s get to the environment control tower.” “Mm-hmm! That hug gave me all the energy I need!” Menou and Abbie set off running, trailing light from Guiding Enhancement. After being knocked some distance away, Genom stood up. Apparently, Abbie’s policy of not killing people even applied to someone using a subordinate as a puppet. He took a deep, long breath. “Got it.” He sighed with heavy disappointment. He felt no despair, though. Although a tremendous setback, this wasn’t enough to deny him his chance to destroy the world. “It’s a damn shame. After the Mechanical Society saved me, who woulda thought I’d have to destroy one of its admins?” Genom pulled out a shotgun from his face. Then he pointed it at the sky and fired. It was a signal. This marked the beginning of the end. Playtime was over. It meant they were now permitted to use the attack methods that Genom kept to himself instead of selling them to others. “Destroying this stupid world will be child’s play. Once I get rid of you, all I gotta do is send a message to the other zone admins.” He didn’t need a next time. He could still bring down the curtain here and now. “I’ll tell ’em that Ability Control, who preached about peace with humanity, was taken down by the foolish humans who refused to trust her.” Light flashed near the center of the City of Ruins—a signal. Menou hadn’t done it. She and the others were supposed to be moving undetected, plus she could communicate using a scripture now. Still, the obvious beacon was an efficient means of sending information to everyone nearby. Genom must have issued an order to his subordinates still hiding in the city. Based on the current situation, Menou could guess what it meant. Doubtless, it was an order for all hands to charge in and kill her and her allies. Menou launched herself forward. Her body accelerated quickly, thanks to her full-strength Guiding Enhancement. She took three more steps, then abandoned her path. An enormous leap carried her through the air to land hard on the wall of a nearby building. The recoil was enough to crack the structure. Menou bounced from the wall of one building to the next, moving like the wind. Abbie kept pace close beside her. There was a smile on Menou’s lips. She felt strangely liberated. It was almost as if a missing piece had fallen perfectly into place. However, there were many enemies yet lurking in the City of Ruins. She spotted figures on the roof of the building ahead. Two men. Each had Guiding prosthetics for both arms. They would clash in mere seconds. The men waited until the last moment, then closed in with sharp movements. Both aimed for the moment Menou landed and brought down their Guiding prosthetic arms at her. Landing on the roof, Menou twisted her body and dived sideways. Her foes grasped only empty air behind her. When they were each close enough to touch, Menou lashed out with her right hand. Blood sprayed through the air. She hadn’t killed them. But the men wouldn’t be fighting again for a while, let alone catching Menou and Abbie, who were already making their escape. Menou didn’t spare a glance at the aftermath, preferring to continue running. There were few humans who could keep up with her, even among Genom’s direct subordinates. She heard sporadic gunshots as she ran, but the Guiding bullets never came close to hitting her, leaving holes in her wake. “Hey, you! Don’t get distracted by my li’l sis when I’m right here!” Abbie sounded extremely cheerful. Her loud taunt won Genom’s attention, although it was likely because he simply couldn’t deal with both women simultaneously. An explosion rang out in the ceiling district. A second followed shortly after, then a third. Buildings began plummeting down in Menou and Abbie’s path. The Genoms in the ceiling district had destroyed the buildings to drop them like weapons. He probably set explosives to set off this defensive trap when he claimed the City of Ruins. Structures fell like icicles in the winter. The pair dodged the shower of rubble and continued their sprint. Behind them, a whole single-story house crashed into the ground. The vibrations spurred them forward. “…Abbie?” Menou called. “I didn’t think he’d go this far…” Even as the pair wove their way through the chaos that made it seem like the sky was falling, Menou shot a dry, accusing look at Abbie, who answered apologetically. Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared above them. One of the largest structures in the ceiling district, a station building, was dropping toward them. Genom likely had subordinates nearby, yet he clearly didn’t care. Menou pointed her dagger gun up to intercept, but Abbie stopped her gently. As the building plummeted, Abbie reached out with both arms. Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Primary Red Stone, Pseudo-Primary Color Concept—Invoke [Primary Color Type: Mantis Might] Abbie’s arms transformed into sickles, like those of a praying mantis, and she waved them in a broad slash. The single stroke must have exceeded the speed of sound. The building, which was hundreds of meters tall, was cut cleanly in two, and shock waves down the middle scattered pieces, sending them flying to either side, leaving a perfect route forward for Menou and Abbie. Sound caught up not long after. It was so loud that it might have caused hearing loss. The quake struck with such intensity that standing proved challenging. Menou and Abbie didn’t let either slow them down, however, pressing onward. Soon, they would reach the environment control tower. The enemy knew their destination, though, and Genom was wise enough to keep men lying in wait. Roughly a dozen people were gathered near the environment control tower, likely Genom’s elite. At the very least, none of them were weaker than those who’d first attacked Menou and her friends when they arrived. Menou didn’t hesitate.
Chapter 129
33 min read