Chapter 51

CHAPTER TWO Terminal Resistance Month of the Gryphon, Day 2, 2099 FE, 16:00 What should we do…? Machina was in the Yakuza Guild office on Kabukicho Street. The office of the Silver Flame group, under the direct administration of Dragon Flame, was on the top floor of a fifteen-story building. Comprised mainly of orcs, Silver Flame was one of the many yakuza groups that had emerged from the decline of Logo Brig and Fulmination Gold, who had ruled over Shinjuku. Currently, there was a power struggle surrounding the decline of the Shinjuku Big Two. “C’mout ’ere, punks! Imma kill all o’ ya!” “You’re gonna pay for messin’ with Pops!” “I’m gonna sink ya in the bath!” The yakuza members’ yells were accompanied by the firing of real and magic guns. “Eeeeep! We shouldn’t have come in here just for funsies!” “Just hack us out of this place or something, Takahashi!” Takahashi’s and Hizuki’s screams bounced around the small room. A daruma gargoyle was destroyed, a scroll with duty brush-written on it was torn apart, and a short sword enchanted with flame magic behind the boss’s desk had crashed to the floor. Machina, Sihlwald, Takahashi, and Hizuki had been gathering intel on the Guild—the Salvation Church—when they found themselves in this dilemma. “Hizuki,” said Machina. “Wh-what?! Unlike you, bullets can kill us, y’know, so please do something about this already!” “How did we end up here, again?” “What do you mean, how? Because Takahashi’s broker said Silver Flame had the info we want, that bastard!” “Then when we came to the group’s office, they made fun of us, and Sihlsy beat up their boss! It’s not my fault! I’d never seen a yakuza office outside Velly’s Dragon-like streams!” “You left out a crucial detail there, Takahashi! You provoked the yakuza first!” “You were egging them on, Hizuki!” “W-well, they were sexually harassing me! That’s on them!” In one corner of the room was the orc boss, splayed out on the floor after getting poked by Sihlwald. The four girls endured the gunfire behind the sofa. “Get out ’ere, punks!” “Fuckin’ ’ell, we needed Pops to talk to that girl!” Outside the room were the yakuza raining bullets on them, enraged by having their honor crushed by what seemed to be little girls taking their boss down. What should we do…? Machina wondered. It would all be over if she used her full power, but it’d be tough to rein in her strength so as not to maim the attackers. And Sihlwald was quietly staying put next to her, which was concerning. Machina looked at her. “I’m fed up,” Sihlwald said, getting to her feet. “These pip-squeaks are boring me.” Magic and lead bullets hit her forehead but left not a scratch on her skin. She was too powerful even to need her immortal regeneration. “W-w-wait, Lady Sihlwald!” Machina cried. “We only have Machina to back us up if you leave, Sihlsy!” “What do you mean you’re bored, Sihlwald?!” “I’m gonna go play with Veltol. You guys have fun here.” “Huh?! Lady Sihlwald?!” “Sihlsy?!” “Sihlwald?!” “You’ve got this, girls. Bye.” She leaned out the window, spread her wings, and jumped off the fifteenth floor. The yakuza were just as baffled by this. They stopped shooting. “Gaaah! Fine!” Machina howled. She activated her mana, and her hair and eyes turned a vivid, fiery red. “We’re sorryyy!” the yakuza members wailed. And then the building’s top floor burst into flames. Month of the Gryphon, Day 2, 2099 FE, 16:00 Immortal factor undefined. No match with Eschaton Demon Lord Veltol. Causality interference in constant fluctuation between 0 and 50. Foreseen magical output in constant fluctuation between B+ and A+. Threat level in constant fluctuation between 18 and 22. The scan told Matoi about the man before her eyes. The data differed from the values and appearance of the fantastical Eschaton Demon Lord, but there was a possibility he could turn out like that in the future. And most importantly, he was an immortal. I’m concerned about how low the Eschaton Demon Lord Veltol’s causality interference is, as well as the fluctuation in all analyses. However, there is no doubt the True Six Dark Peers are immortal, and the chance he is the real Eschaton Demon Lord is very high if he’s going by the name Veltol. He wasn’t remotely as cute as Matoi, but the features and balance of this man’s face, taken from statistical and mechanical judgment, marked him as a beautiful specimen. He wore a similar detective getup to what the half-therian woman behind him had on, and that was odd, but people were free to dress as they pleased. The woman had a causality interference value of 100. She was key in changing the future. I would understand if the future changed depending on Veltol…but I don’t get how that woman’s existence affects it. The value is too high. “Emi, stand back.” Veltol took off his Inverness coat and handed it to the woman he called Emi. The Paladin, Matoi’s colleague in the Hero Corps, had told her the first move in a battle against an immortal was the most crucial. To strike as soon as they met. So she struck. Matoi snapped her fingers, and the pieces of the water tank at her feet rose up and morphed into a spear. “Gulagalad, switch from drive to full drive.” Gulagalad’s light changed from green to yellow. Matoi made a fist with her gauntlet-clad hand and struck the iron spear. There was the sound of metal clashing against metal, and the rusty spear took on a golden color. The color of… “Orichalcum…! To think I would witness completed alchemy! Perhaps it is no delusion that you came from the future!” Veltol exclaimed with as much elation as surprise. Gulagalad’s second power, unlocked in full-drive mode, was Golden Metallurgy; Matoi could transform metals under the effects of Metal Rule into other metals. She could transform the base metal of iron into precious or magic metals, or the other way around—it was the ultimate form of alchemy. “Gulagalad, switch from full drive to overload.” Gulagalad’s yellow light turned red. It unleashed its third, true power. “Sacred Forge.” Matoi gripped the orichalcum spear tightly, and the shrill ring of striking metal echoed. “Azorede.” The orichalcum spear transformed. This mere pointy-ended pole warped, wavered, sprouted a sword-like tip, and became lusciously adorned. “Oh…?! You still have surprises up your—” Veltol was not able to finish talking. A red flash ran across Shinjuku from the end of the spear Matoi pointed at the Demon Lord. Behind the light, only heat, wind, and an impact were left. Veltol’s upper body was blown clean off. His lower half fell limply backward. “…Assistant…?” Emi stood anxiously right next to where the flash’s path had been. Meanwhile, Matoi remained en garde. “Azorede doesn’t have the power to kill an immortal,” she said. “You can get up, Veltol.” A system message popped up in her visual field: Resurrection reaction detected. Veltol’s lower half rose as though pulled by strings, and shadowy mist billowed from his wounds as bones, flesh, and skin took human form to restore the upper half of his body. “Eep! My assistant died a gruesome death and had an equally gruesome resurrection!” An immortal’s wound regeneration process was mostly standardized, but resurrections varied based on the individual’s immortal factor. Veltol’s immortal factor was unknown—his resurrection process did not match any in Matoi’s memory. Veltol checked his hand by closing and opening his fingers before grabbing the Inverness coat and covering his bare skin. “Azorede…the giant-slaying earthbound meteor said to have been brandished by the Hero Rozel during the age of giants and heroes…,” he said. “I had heard its name, but this is the first time I’ve received a blow from it.” Veltol watched Azorede crumble into dust and vanish in Matoi’s hands. “Having my head blown off has reminded me. Gulagalad… That is the name of the hammer that belonged to Holk Grayn, the gods’ eldest son and the smithy god himself. Only a divine instrument can manipulate metal, achieve ultimate alchemy, and create mythic weapons.” “Affirmative. This is the mythic performance armament Gulagalad. The smithy god’s hammer was reforged into a gauntlet. And metal manipulation and transformation are only part of its power.” The bronze-colored gauntlet glowed with the mana it exuded. “The data of the armaments created by Holk was saved within the memory of Gulagalad after its production,” Matoi added. “By loading the data in Gulagalad’s memory and using the same material, I can temporarily recreate and use the armament. This is Gulagalad’s third and real power: Sacred Forge.” “So it’s like loading the save file right after character creation. Which means it does not include the data of the story after, the weapon’s wielders, or its experience.” “…I don’t understand what you’re talking about, but process it however you would like. I can use the armaments created with Sacred Forge without limits. That means I don’t have to worry about being worthy of a Holy Sword or the cons of a Dark Sword.” Matoi spoke very casually about it, but this huge power was not something just anyone could use. All three powers of Gulagalad—Metal Rule, Golden Metallurgy, and Sacred Forge—required atomic levels of precision, and even Metal Rule in drive mode demanded more processing power than a human brain could muster. It was a divine power—a godly force. Gulagalad’s true power was put into action thanks to the processing capability of the cutting-edge artificial spirit installed within Matoi: the OrAcle. “My analysis says you now understand that you have no chance of defeating me. Your best course of action would be to resign yourself to your doom. In this age of iron and magic, my abilities are…” Matoi raised her gauntleted hand. “…absolute.” She snapped her fingers. Matoi had already scanned the materials of the abandoned buildings. All the surrounding construction was her weapon. The buildings creaked. The rebar and steel frames snaked and shapeshifted into a sword, a spear, and an ax. “Wh-what is going on…?” Emi uttered in shock and fear. Matoi touched her weapons. She turned the sword into adamant and forged it into a Holy Sword that inhibited regeneration and slayed multi-headed snakes. She turned the spear into mithril and forged it into a Dark Spear that turned its prey into salt. She turned the ax into orichalcum and forged it into a Divine Ax that felled cursed trees. The mythological weapons flew through the skies of Shinjuku and were used and discarded immediately before new ones were created. “Making mythological armaments disposable, are we? How lavish! Or is it that your save files don’t last long?!” Veltol asked. Matoi internally admitted he was right. The duration of Gulagalad’s powers was based on the memory of the metal the gauntlet used—what Matoi called data size. That duration became proportionally shorter between Metal Rule, Golden Metallurgy, and Sacred Forge. Metals with low data size such as these building materials collapsed right away, but a legendary sword could prolong the usage time of even Sacred Forge. “Gradschere!” Veltol produced a black sword of mana and prepared to attack. “You will perish, Eschaton Demon Lord!” “Now this is fascinating! Your powers could be considered cheating! I shall have fun finding a way to bring you down!” Matoi had no way of knowing Veltol had avoided using soul armaments since he first saw Metal Rule. It was the right move. Even the Demon Lord’s soul armament was subject to Matoi’s godly might once it materialized in the physical world. The fight would be over the moment she had control over his armor. At the same time, refraining from using soul armaments meant Veltol had to fight Matoi’s mythic-level weapons with magic alone. Matoi had an overwhelming advantage. “This will end here…!” she shouted. With a snap of Matoi’s fingers, the rebar on the rooftop shot up and transformed into spears. They pierced Veltol’s body and trapped him in place. “You are due praise for foiling me to this extent,” said Veltol. “However…” Matoi’s Gulagalad summoned the silver sickle of Ferrueh Merza, an immortal-slaying weapon given to the Hero Rylan by Holk, the smithy god. It was said to have beheaded and slain an immortal giant. Its blade arced through the air as it approached the Demon Lord’s neck. “…my sister would not want to be let out of the fun.” He grinned. “Ha-ha-ha!” The skies of Shinjuku echoed with a cackle like the dull sound of something hard being struck. The sickle’s blade charged toward the Demon Lord’s neck… “I knew you would be having more fun over here!” …only for it to stop between the elbow and knee of a black-haired girl. Matoi immediately let go of the sickle, and it vanished. Between Matoi and Veltol stood a girl with long black hair in a ponytail and beautiful tanned skin. She wore a black tracksuit with gold trim and a shirt with the word dragon on it. Matoi ran a scan. Immortal factor, mana pattern—everything about this girl indicated she was a certain immortal. “The Black Dragon Duchess…!” One of the True Six Dark Peers. The leader of the flying mechanized dragon troops, a pillar of the New Demon Lord Army’s aerial forces. However, she must’ve been using some sort of shapeshifting magic—this delicate girl did not match the giant dragon in Matoi’s memory. “You look very cute…but my analysis says my cuteness index is higher!” said Matoi. “Cute…?! Veltol! Don’t tell me this sweet girlie is our enemy!” “Why are you returning her compliments?! Can you not see the situation here?!” “All right, all right. My slight apologies.” Sihlwald broke all the spears piercing Veltol’s body. “You always appear at the best time and disappear at the worst, Sister.” “Please, enough compliments.” “But why are you here?” “I got bored with matters over there, so I came to check on you.” “I appreciate the simplicity.” “So what’s going on here?” “Allow me to be brief. This young lady seems to be related to the Guild we are after.” “Uh-huh. Okay, we’ll worry about the fox girl over there later…” Sihlwald narrowed her golden dragon eyes at Matoi. “We just need to get rid of this one, right? As unfortunate as that is. I’ll…” Sihlwald vanished like smoke. “…get on it.” She closed the distance in an instant. Sihlwald was already in position for a right hook when she reached Matoi. Matoi’s sensors detected it, and she received it with Gulagalad’s fist.