Her Familia kept showing her message after message of it blocking attacks through the aethernet. Aetherhack warfare was already underway, and she wasn’t skilled in such combat. She could only defend herself, unable to put any resources into countering. Machina cut connection to the aethernet, switching to standalone mode. She wasn’t backed up to the aethernet in the first place, so she didn’t have any need to stay connected. Machina unleashed a swift attack. Marcus could take advantage of even the slightest bloodshed, so she couldn’t let this turn into a battle of attrition. She had to defeat him before he had a chance to react. “Dragon Slasher!” Machina activated her magic while accelerating. A magic circle expanded at Marcus’s feet, followed by pillars of fire that billowed sky-high. Marcus retreated before he could be engulfed by the flames. “Bloodsword.” Bloodied aether took the shape of thirteen swords. “Moonlit Blade of Fire!” Another thirteen swords emerged, this time from flaming aether. The blades appeared simultaneously and clashed. A burst of fire erupted throughout the parking lot. “Well done, Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze! It seems we are equally matched in magical warfare!” Machina paid no mind to his frivolous chitchat. She slipped through the flames and reached her arm out to touch him. “Burst, Safflower!” An explosion erupted from Machina’s palm. It was supposed to blow up his entire upper body, Familia and all, yet it barely managed to incinerate his arm. “That was close. Bloodrain.” Marcus leaped backward with his remaining arm lifted up high, and he activated his magic. It rained blood across a wide area, although the attack itself was basically harmless. No…! However, Machina knew this was preparation for a larger attack. “Flame Shield Blossom!” “Blood Bomb.” They activated their respective magics almost simultaneously. A fire barrier surrounded Machina, while Marcus made the blood rain around them explode. “Ngh…! My house…!” The flames engulfed the vicinity, destroying not only Machina’s house but the entire complex. All sorts of questions flashed through her mind—the safety of her neighbors, that she’d have to move earlier than planned, what had happened to her furniture, how she would even begin to explain this to the landlord and Veltol—but she shook them all off. She couldn’t see through the smoke. The high density of mana had the aether in chaos, and she couldn’t scan the surroundings with her VRD. While she was thinking what to do next… “Dragon Blade: Chidori.” …she heard that from above. She looked up and found a woman in a suit—Kinohara—jumping down from a rooftop. She held her sheathed katana tight, aiming right at Machina’s neck. However… “Flying Haze!” …just as the blade was leaving its sheath, Machina disappeared. “…?!” Kinohara opened her eyes wide in shock. Machina had instantaneously moved above her head. “I didn’t think for a second that the Duke of the Bloody Arts had come alone. I knew he’d have someone ready to ambush me, and it seems I was right.” She managed to counter the surprise attack. “Turn to ash!” Machina reached out to roast Kinohara with her magic, but before it activated… “Code Breaker.” …Marcus’s brief proclamation shut down her Familia. “What?!” Everything on her VRD had been disabled; nothing was responding. Kinohara saw an opening from Machina’s confusion and stabbed her heart. “Argh…!” Machina fell backward, pinned to the ground. “Urgh!” She grabbed the blade to try and get it off, but that did nothing but cut her hands. Her Familia was still shut down. “Director, please stop playing around…,” Kinohara grumbled as Marcus leisurely approached from within the smoke. “Had you allowed me to attack from the very beginning, then we would have wrapped this up much more quickly and tidily… I almost died back there.” “Ha-ha-ha! Oh, so sorry. I couldn’t help myself from toying with her.” “Mar…cus…” His face broke into a nasty smirk as he heard Machina’s voice. “Aaah… Aaaaaah!! Machinaaa, I never found you alluring, yet…seeing you down prostrated so pathetically on the ground is so, sooo…delightful…” Marcus put a hand to his cheek as he let out a sigh of disgusting ecstasy. “What…did you just…do?” “Why, I simply shut down your Familia,” he answered as though it was obvious. “You shut it down? But my Familia was on standalone mode… How could you even hack it when it was offline…?” “My Familia’s not quite like others. It’s a prototype currently in development at our company. We call it the Familia Advance. I used it to bypass your backdoor.” “Backdoor…?” “The Familia’s base technic has a built-in backdoor. As director of IHMI, I can forcibly shut down any device made by my company. No one using a modern Familia can defeat me, nor can anyone without a Familia. You see what I’m getting at? I am the strongest person in the whole modern world.” “That’s… Why would you…?” “Because I will become the true Demon Lord.” “What—?” “Taking over the world through military force is so old-fashioned. Now you can conquer it by simply controlling information and technology…but that would be too boring. I need to become the absolute ruler—I must become the Demon Lord. Not Veltol. Me.” Marcus was looking at Machina like she was an insect. It was a cold, derisive stare. He approached her. “Now then, Duchess of the Dazzling Blaze. I’ll have you become nourishment for this city.” Machina lost consciousness after that. Veltol had a bad feeling about the situation. He and Takahashi ran off. Machina’s house wasn’t too far away from Ejyu’s apartment. Veltol could see the smoke blowing from the tofu houses’ direction, but he tried not to think about it. He might stop running if he did. What is this feeling? The Demon Lord didn’t realize he was feeling more and more anxious the closer he got. Machina’s home was destroyed. And not only hers. All surrounding houses and buildings were devastated. There was a crowd of onlookers around the City Guard caution tape prohibiting entry. Veltol pushed his way through. “Machina.” She still wasn’t answering. “Machina!” His heart was beating faster the closer he got. “Machina…” Finally, Veltol realized his feelings. He realized as soon as he stopped. Machina had become such an enormous part of his life. He already knew she was an irreplaceable and important vassal, but this was no matter between king and retainer. In just three months, his feelings toward her had evolved into something more. This might have been the first time in his life he had felt this way about someone. And it was what made him stop then. “Velly, you okay?” “Haaahhh…” He heaved a sigh. “No, it’s nothing. I’m fine.” Veltol rid his mind of any unnecessary thoughts. What he needed in this moment wasn’t anxiety or grief—he had to be calm in order to decide what to do next. He approached one of the onlookers, a dwarf. “Excuse me, could you tell me what happened here?” he asked. “Hmm? No idea, man. I just heard an explosion, and the next thing I knew, this is what the place looked like.” “I see. Thank you.” Then Takahashi spoke up. “Velly, it’s all over the news: explosion in Shinjuku residential district. Seems they don’t know if it was an accident… There’s a lot of conflicting reports.” “If only we could locate Machina…” Machina wasn’t answering any Familia calls. They had no idea if she’d cut the aethernet connection or if she wasn’t able to answer for other reasons. “Don’t worry,” said Takahashi. “I got this.” “What are you going to do?” “I’ve got eyes all over the city,” Takahashi answered as she pointed at the sky. Veltol understood what she meant as soon as he saw what was flying overhead. “The drones?!” She nodded. There were countless delivery drones in Shinjuku, and they all had security cameras. Locating Machina wouldn’t be hard if Takahashi could get their video data. “But how are you going to access them?” “Hee-hee-hee… Velly, don’t tell me you’ve learned nothing after all our time together.” “…Of course—hacking!” “Yep. There aren’t many security drones in Outer Shinjuku, but there’s plenty of delivery ones. And they, too, have cameras. We’ll use those.” They left the area and headed to an empty alleyway. It was narrow and covered, so security drones couldn’t spot them. Takahashi took a tablet with a bunny skull sticker out from her jacket’s inner pocket, put it on an old wooden crate, and booted up its holojector. She then took a U-shaped dongle and plugged it into her Familia’s socket. Finally, she connected the other end of the dongle to the tablet. “All right, time to get serious!” She put on her visual enhancement device—her trusty pair of sunglasses. A 3D keyboard was projected in the air, and a telepathic keyboard also appeared in her Familia. She then proceeded to hijack a delivery drone via the aethernet. “Boot up Laughing Man.” She initialized the visual hacking program on her Familia through voice recognition. Takahashi began operating, updating, and overwriting the technic fluctuation algorithm in the drone’s logic barrier in real time. Windows of all sizes hurriedly opened and closed one after the other. Once she broke through the barrier, Takahashi infiltrated the system and installed a virus, which gave the infected drone access to its company’s server before finally displaying video data on the holojector. As the virus went to work, Takahashi simultaneously hijacked other companies’ drones and displayed more and more video feeds. Her Familia’s artificial spirit automatically closed any feeds that showed footage outside the immediate proximity of Machina’s house. “There it is!” Takahashi found the moment of the explosion from the pile of visual data. “So the house was the epicenter, as I thought…,” said Veltol. “Yeah… Let’s check out the before and after.” She calculated the exact time of the explosion and further refined the data. Then a man appeared on-screen. “Marcus?!” Veltol shouted. The video showed Marcus and Kinohara going up the stairs to Machina’s house. “The immortal behind the Immortal Hunt… I’d guessed he was involved in the Immortal Furnace’s construction, and it looks like I was right,” said Takahashi. “We’ve got our villain. But to think the CEO himself would come for Machina… Talk about thorough.” “He must have concluded he needed to come here himself to fight one of the Six Dark Peers. The woman with him must be that secretary. Marcus, that son of a bitch… How did he even find Machina…? She wasn’t on the list.” “Hang on, lemme connect the feeds.” Takahashi edited the videos to form a timeline of events from different angles. They saw the moment Machina’s door exploded and the battle that took place afterward, although not in detail—the drones were likely destroyed in the aftermath. They did, however, see Machina being captured. “Looks like they drove her to a restricted area inside the aether reactor,” said Takahashi. “They’re planning on feeding her to the Furnace.” “Got it. I’ll go—” “Wait. I get that you want to head there right now, but it’s too reckless for you to go alone.” “…” “The reactor’s in the most crucial section of Shinjuku, so it’s obviously heavily guarded by MGs. You can’t even get a drone in there. And I’ll bet security’s even tighter right now.” Veltol understood what she was trying to say, but his desire to go help Machina was stronger. “I can get you there, but I can’t help in battle. And there’s no one else I know who could measure up to you… Plus, you just got to this world a little while ago…” “True, I don’t have many acquaintances in this modern age…even counting those who wouldn’t be of much help in battle…” “Wh-what should we do? Machina’s gonna…” Takahashi anxiously scratched her head. They had no way to get in contact with the other immortals, and the only ones Veltol knew in this age were Marcus and Machina, both already involved. It was anyone’s guess whether any others were safe. “None of my old acquaintances can…” Then, he realized. “No—there is one person.” His face came to mind. He knew just one of them. He had no idea if this person would be willing to help; in fact, it was more likely they wouldn’t. But he still had hope. Veltol finally reached him with bated breath. Takahashi stayed put, looking for a way inside the reactor. He hadn’t even called him, but he knew he would be there. In a back alley where vagabonds slept, away from the eyes of society. Veltol called the man’s name: “Gram…” The Hero Gram. The Demon Lord Veltol’s fated enemy and the only person he could rely on for battle in the current world. Gram was sitting on the filthy ground, wearing a grubby hood and holding his rusty sword. “Why are you here? I won’t answer any more of your questions,” he said coldly. Veltol put his knees on the ground and lowered his head. “Gram, I’m swallowing my pride to ask you this…” He pleaded with his head bowed all the way to the ground. “Could you please…help me?” Veltol implored as earnestly as he could. Like a sinner repenting. He told him all of it: about Marcus, the Immortal Furnace, Machina’s kidnapping, that he had no way to save her. He hid nothing. “I beg you, Gram. I don’t have the power to save her alone. You’re the only one I can turn to. Please, help me…” He showed the utmost sincerity he could muster. “…Right.” Gram glared at him from beneath the hood. His eyes were full of contempt. “So that’s why you’re asking me for help, Veltol.” Gram slowly stood up and looked down on the Demon Lord. “…” “Darklings killed my family, my friends, and countless other innocent people, but you, their king, want me to help save an immortal.” “…” “You spread war wherever you went, trampled over so many lives—so many nations. And now that the shoe’s on the other foot, you’re so quick to bow your head and beg for help? You’re pathetic.” “…” Veltol didn’t answer. He just kept his head low. “Your vanity knows no bounds.” Gram sounded disgusted. “Look, I certainly can’t tolerate a society built upon the corpses of the innocent, even if those innocents are immortals. But the aether reactor is literally this city’s core. Even if what you said about the Immortal Furnace is true, you shouldn’t go barging into a fight just to serve your personal agenda. This isn’t a problem that needs solving because of your own ego. Shinjuku might perish if the Furnace stops.” There was anger in his words. Five hundred years’ worth of ire. “You mean to destroy this city so egoistically of your own accord? Strip its inhabitants of their happiness? Kill everyone else just to save one person?! Answer me… Answer me, Veltol!” “Kill everyone else just to save one person? I didn’t expect you to say something so foolish, Hero.” Veltol lifted his head and glared back at Gram. “Don’t take me for some dullard. Isn’t it obvious? I will not only save Machina, but I will solve this city’s problems, too. That’s right. I won’t choose one over the other. I’ll take care of both.” After all… “…I am the Demon Lord Veltol, the one who rules over all of creation.” He wasn’t weighing one person’s life against numerous others. He would take the entire scale. That’s the kind of demon lord Veltol was. That was the worst possible answer he could give the Hero, and he knew it. But he nonetheless said it, for it was the truth. “And yet…I…have nothing now. No kingdom, no vassals, no power. I can only bow my head before my former enemy like this. I am weak.” “Veltol…” “So I beseech you, Hero Gram… Join me!” He was no longer begging—that was an order. The Demon Lord gave the Hero an order. Gram’s eyes lit up at the Demon Lord’s words. “You’ll…still call me the Hero?” he whispered so low it was more like he simply moved his lips. He then heaved a deep, deep sigh. “I guess I still want to stay a hero for as long as I can… All right, I accept.” “…Thank you.” “But don’t misunderstand, Veltol. I’m not helping you. And this doesn’t mean I forgive you, either. I’m only lending a hand to rescue a kidnapped woman. I have to answer the pleas of the weak and reach out when asked for salvation. And that’s because I…” Gram extended his hand. “…am the Hero.” “…I never would’ve thought Hero and Demon Lord would join forces like this.” “Me neither.” And so, Veltol took his hand. “I found a way into the reactor’s depths without going through the restricted area.” After they formed their alliance, Veltol told Gram how to let his Familia receive Takahashi’s transmissions. It wasn’t long before they received a call from her. Takahashi was waiting on the ground far away from the reactor, as Veltol had instructed. The way into the lower depths that she had told them about was through the dungeon of the underground cathedral of Nelldor, at the former Shinjuku Station. The Demon Lord and the Hero were standing before the station’s iron doors—the same ones Veltol crossed with Machina when he first came to the city. The sky was already dark, only the bright aether neon illuminating the nightscape. “Will we really get there through here?” Veltol asked Takahashi. “According to the old IHMI data Ejyu had, they used this passage to transport machine parts deep underground.” “But even so, the problem now is how we will reach our destination from here… I doubt we’ve got enough time to complete a full dungeon…”
Chapter 12
15 min read