She charged right into the enemy encampment. One of them, a man with an artificial eye, started to invoke a conjuring. Menou sent Guiding Force into her dagger to charge it, then aimed above the group of ambushers and threw it in an arc. Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger, Crest—Invoke [Guiding Thread] Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Prosthetic Eye, Inner Seal Conjuration—Activate [Skill: Basilisk Eye] The enemy’s counterattack was a matter conversion conjuring using a Concept of Primary Colors. Before the green Guiding Light struck its target, Menou used her Guiding Thread to transfer power. Guiding Force: Connect (via Guiding Thread)—Dagger, Crest—Remote Invoke [Gust] Her dagger spun in midair directly above the man with the artificial eye, then changed direction and plunged downward with the momentum from the Gust. Sensing it just in time, the man ducked his head aside so that it stabbed into his shoulder instead. While it wasn’t enough to defeat him, it did interrupt the concentration needed for his conjuring. Menou arced through the air after her dagger, landing in the middle of Genom’s forces. Gunshots rang out. The men used the same kind of Guiding guns Genom employed. They were smart enough to avoid any foolish friendly fire, carefully calculating their timing and aiming for the moment when Menou stopped moving. The barrage of bullets was too intense to be completely blocked with her Multi-Barrier. But now Menou had a scripture hidden under her yellow hooded mantle. The book, tucked into a belt on her back, glowed with Guiding Light. Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 2:5—Invoke [Rejoice, for the wall that surrounds a pious flock of sheep shall never crumble.] Not even the large-caliber guns could scratch the barrier wall that formed. Menou sent more Guiding Force into the scripture, using her most familiar conjuring. Scripture, 3:1—Invoke [And the oncoming enemy did hear the tolling of the bell.] The Guiding Light that rose from the scripture took the form of a church bell. But her enemies were experienced, too. They saw through the conjuring construction right away and scattered to evade the attack. Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Primary Red Stone, Pseudo-Primary Color Concept—Invoke [Primary Color Type: Blue Spider] Before they could escape, Abbie called upon a Pseudo-Concept. A large conjured soldier formed to startle the men into stopping. It was a stalling tactic to compensate for the slow construction of the scripture conjuring. Genom’s forces stopped for only an instant, and that proved a deadly mistake. The Guiding Force bell tolled. One ring. The men fell, clutching their heads, unable to resist. Two rings. The resounding shock waves of Guiding Force burst the blood vessels in their limbs. Three rings. Not one of their number was able to stay conscious any longer. A single conjuring had knocked out more than a dozen men. “That ought to do it.” “Whoo-hoo!” Having easily incapacitated the group of enemies, Menou accepted Abbie’s offer for a high five. The battle lasted less than thirty seconds from start to finish. Menou checked the way they’d come and sensed no enemy reinforcements approaching. This had been the last of them. Anyone behind must have been buried by falling buildings or else slowed by climbing over or around the rubble. Menou and Abbie gazed up at the environment control tower. It seemed even larger up close. They were headed for the top, where they would regroup with Sahara, Maya, and Nono, defeat the real Genom, and drive off Pandæmonium. However, Menou and Abbie paused before entering the spire. “What in the world?” Menou breathed. Something was happening up in the ceiling district that was too strange to ignore. A little while earlier, before Abbie rejected Genom and his proposal… …several figures crept around the ceiling district—Sahara, Maya, and Nono. Guided by Nono’s directions, they made their way through the upside down city. While their path was extremely roundabout, it skirted all enemies. “Tell me something, Nono…” Once the tension eased a little, Maya addressed Nono accusingly. “Whenever you come up with a plan, you always keep parts secret. Why? Do you just like deceiving people for fun?” “Do you understand what you’re really asking me, I wonder?” Maya’s eyes narrowed at the evasive response. Nono, who could see the future, regularly kept details to herself and even lied about certain things. She did whatever it took to trick people into helping her. “Well… You knew all this would happen, right?” “Oh-ho-ho? My dear Maya, are you suggesting that I predicted a strange person would attack us in the movie theater, that we’d be separated from Menou, and that something interesting would happen to Sahara? Hmm?” Sahara perked up slightly at the mention of her name. “Huh? What do you mean, ‘something interesting’?” “Well, you did know, didn’t you? That’s how you’ve always been, Nono,” Maya said. “Hellooo? Is something weird gonna happen to me?” Despite Sahara’s insistence, she was thoroughly ignored. “Well, yes, I did. You’re quite right, Maya!” Nono was quick to admit that Maya was correct. “You knew that weirdo was going to attack us, and that we would get split up from Menou?” “Yep.” “Then why didn’t you warn us right away?” “Ah-ha-ha, you’ve always been such a child, Maya.” Nono cheerfully laughed off Maya’s complaints. No guilt over deceiving people with her future sight tainted her smile. The star-shaped Guiding Light in her eyes glittered. “Why, if I solved all those issues before they went wrong, then there’d be no chance for this magical girl genius to steal the spotlight and save the day. Kidding, kidding! Come on, can’t you tell I was joking?!” When Maya silently adopted a conjuring posture, her eyes shining with red Guiding Light, Nono hurriedly took her statement back. “I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll end up having to say it again. But the truth is, I had no other choice. I can’t see anything more.” “…I don’t get it. You never explain anything clearly, Nono.” “That’s because I don’t expect you to understand. This is just to make myself feel better, really, and it might end up being a groundless worry anyway.” “What do you…?” Maya was about to press for more information. What did Nono mean by that? Was she going to try to sacrifice them or something? Any questions dissolved when the three arrived at a strange section of the ceiling city. The flat surface had been smoothed over artificially, and there were no surrounding buildings in the immediate vicinity. Ahead stood the largest structure in the entire City of Ruins, the environment control tower. It was the most important structure as well, serving the vital function of keeping the underground space inhabitable by humans. Menou had made it their destination in the hope of gaining access to the Starhusk. After so much trouble, Sahara’s group had finally reached it. The grounds surrounding the tower were clear, no obstructions. Anyone approaching the great spire was bound to stand out immediately. “The regulations at the time forbade any construction near the environment control tower. There were plenty of measures to prevent terrorist attacks, too. But don’t worry, none of those security systems work anymore. All of them stopped a long time ago,” Nono said. Sahara cocked her head to one side. “The buildings are still the same, but they didn’t preserve the related systems?” “It’s a resource problem. There aren’t enough micromachines. Plus, they don’t work as well when you give them complex orders. They’ve got their drawbacks, like anything else.” “Oh?” Maya tilted her head, not really following. Meanwhile, Sahara grew increasingly nervous. “Okay, so the old security isn’t around anymore, sure…” No protection systems from the ancient civilization era were likely to have survived a thousand years. Honestly, that much was a relief. The security devices designed to safeguard a highly important structure must have been loaded with cutting-edge technology. Sahara wasn’t battle-crazed or overconfident enough to test herself against such things. However, the environment control tower had recently become a terrorist stronghold. The area leading to the entrance was perfectly flat in all directions. Any lookouts inside undoubtedly had an excellent view. Not even a mouse would escape their notice. It would make sniping very easy indeed. Sahara smiled brightly and placed a hand on Nono’s back. “Say, Nono. How would you like to lead the way?” “What’s this, now? Of course the honor of taking the lead should belong to me… Actually, on second thought, no thank you.” She turned back abruptly, presumably after seeing something unfortunate in the immediate future if she continued any farther. Sahara’s suspicions were correct. “Great. So where did you see the sniper shot coming from in the future? Give me all the details.” “Ah, wait a minute! You were trying to use me as bait?! What a horrible thing to do!” “She’s right, Nono, you should walk in front. That’s all you’re good for anyway.” “That’s so cold, Maya! I’m in shock! Ah, hey, don’t… Ngaaah?! I just saw my head go kablooey… No, that way’s no good! Please stop pushing meeee!” Sahara and Maya moved forward with Nono as their shield, calmly disregarding her screams. By putting Nono in front, the three made it to the entrance of the environment control tower after about a hundred steps. “Never in my life have I been treated so horribly. I’m amazing, you know…” After witnessing countless futures that all ended with her shot in the head, Nono was understandably exhausted. That her sniffling and defeated posture didn’t seem to be an act made her pain all the more obvious. However, her companions showed no sympathy. “Oh yeah? I guess people were much nicer a thousand years ago,” Sahara quipped. “I wish I could tell my past self from the old days to push you around more,” Maya added. “Oh, come onnn…” While Nono bemoaned their cruelty, she pulled herself to her feet nonetheless. “Oh, whatever. At least we made it!” “Are we really going in? Just us three? We’re going to challenge Genom and Pandæmonium?” “Yup.” Maya nodded firmly. Sahara’s pessimism expanded by the moment. “Pandæmonium is a part of me, after all. I have to do something about it so Menou can get the Starhusk.” “And what’s in it for me?” Sahara asked, her eyes half-lidded. “You’re my servant, remember?” Maya said simply. Once she was certain that Sahara was sufficiently resigned to her fate, Nono knocked on a nearby wall. “Sahara, destroy this wall for me, would you?” she requested. “Yeah, yeah.” Sahara readied her Guiding prosthetic arm with resignation. Evidently, she’d quit any hope of arguing. Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Prosthetic Arm, Inner Seal Conjuration—Activate [Skill: Guiding Shot] The Guiding Light from her arm broke through the wall. When the dust cleared, it revealed a mass of flesh. The inorganic structure was becoming living matter. Tissue throbbed and pulsed, exhibiting signs of life. Tendrils grew out of the fleshy wall and tried to coil around Maya. Sahara stepped in immediately to cover her, and the pseudopods twined around her right arm—the Guiding prosthetic. “Tch!” Sahara cursed and yanked her limb back, forcing it free. Luckily, there was no sign of any damage or adverse effects. She’d expected the tendrils to erode her body or soul, but they were merely the instruments of a basic physical attack. “S-Sahara… Are you all right?” Maya asked, her voice trembling. “I’m fine. It wasn’t that strong.” Sahara looked around more carefully. It was like they were inside the body of a giant living thing. In fact, that might have truly been the case. The entrance to the environment control tower must have been turned into a giant monster as a trap to ensnare and devour intruders. As further proof of this, the slug-like surface of flesh had already halfway pulled a flailing Nono inside. This was a dangerous place. Sahara and Maya looked at each other and nodded. “Couldn’t you at least save me before you go exchanging meaningful looks?!” Nono struggled, squirmed, and managed to pull herself free. Given that Sahara was also able to pull her arm out easily enough, the wall of flesh didn’t seem to be particularly strong. Maya clicked her tongue, looking annoyed. While she was always precocious, it was rare to see her so overtly upset. Nono’s words and actions must still have been seriously bothering her. “You’re so useless… How can you be even weaker than me?” “I told you, didn’t I?! This body isn’t meant for battle. It’s for calculation!” Nono dusted herself off briskly, seeming to be unaffected by Maya’s sharp remarks. “Anyway, we’re inside now. So what do you want to do? Isn’t it about time you told us already?” There was only one reason Maya asked Nono for advice despite resenting her manipulation. Nono Hoshizaki was never wrong. “Indeed. Excellent question, Maya. I’m so proud to see how strong you’ve become.” Nono stuck out her chest. Her emotional fortitude was truly something to behold. “Well, we’re going to invade from the inside until we reach Mister Genom! Then we’ll overthrow his unjust occupation of the tower and defeat him once and for all!” “Uh-huuuh…” Sahara couldn’t help but give a slow, dubious response to Nono’s all-too-simple strategy. “Just the three of us, you mean?” Their party consisted solely of Sahara, who boasted fairly average strength, and Deadweight #1 and #2, two Major Human Errors who managed to be almost totally powerless. “Yep, we can do it!” “Okay, I’m leaving now. Bye.” “Wait just a moment!” As Sahara politely turned to leave, Nono grabbed her shoulder. Sahara shook her off immediately. It went without saying that the enemies’ inner sanctum would be heavily guarded. “It’ll be fine! Really! There’s hardly anyone in there right now! Menou and my dear Abbie have drawn them away for us!” “But isn’t Genom himself still inside?!” “You can beat him, Madam Sahara! No, seriously!” After arguing in the entrance for a while, Sahara reluctantly followed Nono’s directions and entered the tower. They went down flights of stairs, walked through doors, and occasionally broke through walls to move forward. They didn’t run into a single enemy on their way. There didn’t seem to be anyone around at all. “I don’t know… It’s almost creepy.” Sahara privately agreed with Maya’s quiet assessment. Objectively speaking, the absence of any guards inside felt strange. “It’s because Menou and Abbie are down below, keeping everyone busy. Did you hear that explosion just now? Genom’s guys are knocking down ceiling district buildings to attack them.” “Is that really what they’re doing? Yikes…” Sahara shuddered at the thought of the epic battle occurring outside. She pressed onward until she and her party reached the control room of the environment control tower. “We actually made it.” Maya seemed a little disappointed at how easily they’d accomplished the mission. Sahara tried the door handle. It wasn’t locked. They entered the room and found a massive number of Guiding guns…and artificial human parts. Among the many terrible tales of Genom’s deeds, there was just one positive thing people said about him. He was the only human in the world with the ability to acquire Guiding prosthetics. For those who couldn’t venture into the Mechanical Society, the Guiding prosthetics Genom sold were alluring products that could make up for what they lacked physically. His methods of producing those prosthetics were shrouded in mystery. Guiding guns and Guiding prosthetics were piled high in the chamber. And in the center of this stockpile of Genom’s most famous commodities sat a lone man in a wheelchair. “Yo.” The man was alarmingly thin. All kinds of tubes were connected to his body, possibly serving to keep him alive. He was covered in scars and was missing his right arm and both legs. Most painful-looking of all was the enormous scar carved into his face. So deep was the old injury on the right side of his face that it was clear at a glance it had damaged his brain. It was a wonder he’d survived the injury at all. If even one of the tubes attached to his body was removed, he’d surely be dead within a few minutes. “Genom…Cthulha?” Sahara asked with disbelief. “Yep… That’s me…” Somehow, his confirmation shocked Sahara. This was the real Genom. The mere act of snickering shook his body so badly that it looked like it might kill him. Continually speaking threatened to break him to pieces. “Hilarious, ain’t it? This…is all…Flare’s work, you know.” Genom had gone up against Master Flare more than a few times. With each encounter, he’d managed to evade her killing blow, escaping by the skin of his teeth with near-fatal wounds that left deep scars. Yet he’d survived. “That’s how…I…wound up…like this…” He used his left hand to point at the place where his right arm should have been. Close inspection revealed micromachines gathered there, trying to repair Genom’s flesh. They were attempting to create a prosthetic arm. However, the prosthetic only fell to the ground with a heavy clunk, seemingly incompatible. Thus, another prosthetic was added to the pile. “See…I’m the only one…these…prosthetics won’t attach to. Even though…if…you adjust ’em…they’ll attach to…other humans…” Sahara instinctively clutched her Guiding prosthetic. She looked away, unable to bear the painful sight any longer. Countless monitors formed of Guiding light were arranged before Genom. Each displayed the viewpoint of one of the Genom terminals. They were the perspectives of the people he’d been parasitically attaching himself to via Guiding prosthetics for the past ten years. “Is that the secret to your multiple selves?” “Yep…but it only works…in spaces…that’re full of micromachines…” His words were halting; perhaps even speaking was painful for him. Now Sahara realized the true reason why Genom didn’t leave the Mechanical Society. Just like they did with his ability, the devices that kept him alive were run by micromachines. The prosthetics that were meant to become a part of his body were incompatible with him because of some Guiding Force bug, so he reused them as materials to keep himself alive. Genom had never been trapped inside the barrier. He’d hidden within the Mechanical Society for the past decade because he couldn’t survive outside an environment formed of Concepts of Primary Colors. In his last battle with Flare, while she was traveling with the Pure Concept of Light, Genom was sure he’d been fatally wounded. He’d tumbled into the Mechanical Society fully expecting to die. Instead, he’d gained a sort of simulated Possession that let him create more selves. There must have been some glitch when the micromachines were trying to mend his brain after Flare damaged it. Perhaps the experiments done to him in the past were partly responsible. At any rate, Genom gained the ability to use Possession to split his soul. “You…people…got some…nerve. I’m…talkin’ to you…you with the arm…there.” “What did I do, again?” Sahara asked cautiously. “Don’t…play dumb. You…got in my way…in the Balar Desert…too…” Finally, Sahara remembered. It had happened when she still thought of Menou as an enemy. Iron Chain, one of Genom’s criminal groups, had been laboring to open a hole to link to the Mechanical Society. The theory behind it was the same as the theory behind the connection that formed in the City of Ruins space. Iron Chain aimed to use a ceremonial conjuring to form a Primary Color space, thereby increasing the number of places where Genom could survive. “Don’t blame me. That was all Menou’s fault.” “Shut…up… It all…shakes out…the same.” Sahara had betrayed Iron Chain partway through, and Menou and Ashuna had invaded the base and ruined the plan to create a connection to the Mechanical Society in the central desert region. However, it all would’ve fallen apart whether Sahara was there or not, so she truly believed that she wasn’t responsible in the least. “But fine… It…don’t matter now… Not really…” Genom waved his remaining hand, and the screens showing his clones’ viewpoints vanished. “A hole…opened up…here. So it’s…fine. I…let you guys…come this far…so I could…kill you all…myself.” For some reason, a chill ran down Sahara’s spine. This was a man who couldn’t even stand unassisted. Still, something about Genom’s fearlessness despite his lack of strength set Sahara on edge. <Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Prosthetic Arm, Inner Seal Conjuration—Activate [Skill: Pile Driver] It was pure, visceral fear that made Sahara play her strongest card. Using her most powerful attack right away to catch her opponent off guard was the right move, but a meaningless one. “Don’t get…so excited… I bet when you…saw…this…you thought…you could beat me…” Sahara’s attack was blocked by the prosthetics scattered on the floor. They linked together and moved as one, forming a giant hand that caught Sahara’s attack before it reached its target. “Die…you bitches.” Genom’s prosthetic limbs swelled and came crashing down like an avalanche. There was nowhere to run. The room was full to bursting with prosthetics that had been built to supplement Genom’s body. Even though they weren’t attached to his flesh, each of them still moved as he willed, surrounding Sahara, Nono, and Maya. Among the plethora of prosthetics, the artificial eyes clustered, swiveling to follow the girls’ movements. Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Prosthetic Eye, Inner Seal Conjuration—Activate [Skill: Burning Evil Eye] A blazing ball of fire formed above and dropped. Did Nono see this future, too…? The question flashed through the back of Sahara’s mind as she frantically avoided the flames. Before she could reach an answer, a shove from behind sent her flying. It was Nono. She’d pushed her out of the way. Nono landed where Sahara had been moments earlier, and the upper and lower halves of her body were torn apart. The fire from the artificial eyes had formed a smoke screen for the prosthetic arms to attack from behind. Sahara grabbed Nono’s upper half and held it to her chest, throwing herself toward the exit with all her might. The abandoned bottom half was blown to pieces as though tossed in a blender. A blast sounded behind Sahara. A backhand chop whistled through the air and struck the side of Sahara’s head, sending her flying and crashing into a wall. Their only hope now was Maya. Her Concept of Original Sin boasted an overwhelming advantage because it could corrode something with a single touch. It’s why most of the prosthetics were avoiding Maya. “Nono, Sahara! I’m— Mpgh?!” “Damn brat,” Genom rasped, cutting off Maya’s cry “Did you think…I wouldn’t…be prepared…for you?” The monster that had infested the environment control tower lurked in the floor of this room. It had reached out its tendrils and swallowed Maya whole. When Maya used a conjuring, she tended to watch her target to take aim. Genom had deduced this from information his subordinates had passed on. If he blocked Maya’s view, she wouldn’t be able to aim. Should he kill her, however, there was no telling where she might revive. That’s why he used a monster disguised as the floor to capture her instead. Conjurings that turned things into monsters would have no effect on something that was a monster already. Given Maya’s limited judgment, she wouldn’t be able to decide what conjuring to employ when she couldn’t see or hear anything. It was over. Sahara’s mind was fading, barely able to register the pain of the impact. Genom had a counter for everything, even Maya’s Concept of Original Sin. There was no way they could win. The absolute certainty that she was really done for this time filled Sahara’s chest with despair. I should’ve known. I was never good for anything. She felt herself giving up. Except. “…” She couldn’t lose. Sahara didn’t care if she lost or died, but she couldn’t give up on Maya. As long as she still drew breath, she absolutely refused to abandon Maya—the young, freewheeling, selfish girl who gave her a reason to change for the better. Was there any way out of this? As she considered the question desperately, her eyes fell on Nono’s severed upper half, her hand specifically. She was clearly pointing at something. Sahara followed the finger and spied a single doll. It was a model for a humanoid conjured soldier. Somehow, Sahara recognized it right away. The inconspicuous thing was the same Primary Triad conjured soldier that was sent back to the Mechanical Society in the Balar Desert. Its face was flat, its body devoid of distinguishing features, yet there was no mistaking it. Because Sahara’s soul had been removed after entering that body, it became an empty shell and was sent back to the Mechanical Society, where Genom must have secured it. As a three-color conjured soldier that once contained the Human Error of Vessel, however briefly, it was valuable enough that Genom kept it close. And it was sitting right next to where Sahara had landed, as though in wait. “Hey, bug.” A familiar voice echoed in her soul. “What happened to that self-hatred that made you who you are? Did you cast aside yourself only to pick it up again?” Sahara had to be hearing things, but she answered, regardless. Her old habits had vanished somewhere along the way. She couldn’t waste time on self-hatred anymore. Menou, who she’d envied so much, carried a surprising number of unattractive qualities. Master Flare, whom Sahara had so admired, was dead, yet she didn’t feel very sad about it. And then there were girls like Manon, who’d known far more tragic lives yet showed no indication of giving in to despair. And most of all… …there was Maya. “Damned bug. Damned bug. You wanted to become something else, didn’t you? You wanted to be someone strong, someone beautiful—anyone but yourself. You cast off your bugs. You can still do it. You can become whoever you want to be.” In this moment, if Sahara thought hard about someone else, she was confident she would turn into them, just like she’d once transformed into Menou. She still envied the strength of people like Ashuna Grisarika. Should she will it, Sahara might become Master Flare, or perhaps…even Hakua Shirakami. All she had to do was discard herself. “If you wish it, you can become someone else,” the desire whispered to her. However, Sahara couldn’t give up on herself any longer. Her feelings were stronger now than they’d ever been, even though they embarrassed her. A question surfaced so naturally that it surprised her. “What…do you want to be?” The voice in her head stopped. Now it all made sense. Sahara understood what the disembodied speaker really meant. It knew as well as she did that it wasn’t a vessel that existed to grant its own wish. So it clung to another’s desire, trying to grant theirs instead. That left only one thing to say. “If you don’t know…then you should become my Vessel instead.” The voice’s answer came a beat later. “Request approved. Successfully processed. Initiating connection.” Sahara’s right arm absorbed the material in front of her. That was the only way to describe what happened. The matter her arm took in was broken down into smaller components: particles of red, blue, and green. Sahara intuitively understood what was transpiring now. These were micromachines, the smallest possible units of Concepts of Primary Colors. They swirled around with a sound softer than grains of sand as they were sucked into Sahara’s Guiding prosthetic right arm. “Stop… What…?” For the first time, Genom looked openly alarmed. A mass of prosthetics formed into a fist that barreled for Sahara, an expression of Genom’s anger over this incomprehensible phenomenon. The combination of limbs was as strong as a Primary Triad conjured soldier. It was a simple yet effective attack, with enough strength to kill. Sahara gazed dumbfounded at her Guiding prosthetic. She held out her right hand slowly. The Guiding Force accelerated and kept accelerating endlessly inside her artificial arm. The surplus energy overflowed, crashing against Genom’s attack. The fist shattered to pieces. “What…the hell…did…you…do…?!” Despite Genom’s rage, Sahara herself didn’t understand what was happening to her well enough to explain. As if to intervene on her behalf, Nono’s remaining half grinned with satisfaction. “Ahh… It’s finally complete.” There was a theory that posited the creation of a perpetual motion machine through Guiding Force. Three spaces for circulation were required to use Guiding Force circuits to construct such a device. If three spaces that existed in different phases of reality were linked, and if energy was circulated between them, it would fall eternally, continuing to accelerate in an endless cycle. Quickening energy would be created faster than it could decrease, repeating a Guiding Force loop and forming a total perpetual motion machine. However, researchers had never been able to find materials that could combine Concepts of Primary Colors and Original Sin. They’d researched methods to connect three spaces for many years, but even the advanced technology of the ancient civilization never provided a solution. Ultimately, the theory was declared a fantasy. While that was likely true for humans, if the two concepts themselves wished to link… If the Human Errors of Vessel and Evil, even if only small pieces of them, were willing to coexist through an individual… To that end, the girl who knew the future had remained in this place as the Astrologer. Even then, this eventuality had never been likely. “Take that, Grisarika.” Nono uttered the name of her mortal enemy, inwardly giving the person now known as the Guardian the middle finger. Sahara’s arm glowed. Before long, the light grew to a powerful radiance, an excess of Guiding Light. The power that kept accelerating overflowed, until her limb became pure Guiding Force energy itself. Genom grimaced, gathering all the prosthetics in the room in front of him to form a shield. But Sahara didn’t care. Guiding Force: Merge Materials—Perpetual Guiding Force Machine, Inner Seal Conjuration—Activate [Skill: Guiding Shot] The blinding streak from Sahara’s prosthetic arm destroyed everything in sight. Sahara woke to find a girl slapping her face repeatedly. “Ma…ya?” “Thank goodness! You’re awake…!” How long had she been out? Sahara felt so exhausted that she didn’t want to lift a finger. Her body felt leaden. Undoubtedly, it was the recoil from whatever weird phenomenon had occurred earlier. I can’t even wipe the tears from Maya’s eyes, she thought, noting that the very idea was out of character for her. More importantly, this wasn’t over yet. Genom still remained. Sahara could’ve only passed out for less than a minute. Nearly nothing about the situation had changed. After a moment, she realized there was nothing to fear, though. Genom had blocked Sahara’s attack, but in so doing, he’d spent all the Guiding prosthetics. He had nothing left to use as a weapon. A few Guiding guns were scattered about, but the real Genom lacked the strength to lift one on his own. He was truly weak and defenseless. “Damn it all…,” Genom cursed. Sahara dragged herself along, crawling toward him. She was almost entirely out of Guiding Force. She doubted she could even invoke the crest conjuring on a one-in coin right now. So instead, she picked up a Guiding gun off the floor. “S-Sahara…?” “Close your eyes, Maya.” She had enough to fire one final shot. Sahara didn’t think this was something a little girl ought to see, but Maya helped support Sahara’s weight and keep her standing. Her vision blurring, Sahara managed to sit upright nonetheless.
Chapter 130
27 min read