The Puzzling Horn Concerto Part 2

"Wh-What the hell?"

"It's huge... I-Is that the giant warrior of Brunhild I'd heard so much about?!"

Ganossa, along with Prime Minister Schwein, the two marquis, and all the

Horn soldiers all looked up in stiffened shock. It was their first time seeing a

Frame Gear, after all.

They probably imagined something similar in size to the Steel Soldiers. Given

their isolation, it made sense they wouldn't know too much about Brunhild's

capabilities. Hell, it was only because of their isolation that Qulau managed to

get this plan rolling to begin with.

If they had heard of the incident with Gordian, then they definitely wouldn't

have considered buying any Steel Battalions at all. It was possible they could've

heard about it from Felsen, but given that the matter involved the death of

their former king, it was probably a sensitive subject they didn't feel the need to

raise.

Yae hopped into the open cockpit, using various footholds to scale her way up

there. She didn't even bother waiting for the wire to climb. Yae was a nimble

sort, so I wasn't worried about it. It was probably faster.

The cockpit hatch closed with a hissing sound, and a low hum started ringing

out as the engine fired up. Various crystal segments on the Frame Gear started

to light up.

"I'll go after her. Sakura, I doubt there'll be any direct attacks on the castle...

But just in case, use Rossweisse to defend the people here."

"Got it..."

Sakura nodded. She had her own unique form of magic with her songs, as well

as her own Frame Gear inside her engagement ring. I wasn't worried at all.

I used [Fly] to soar into the air, but Prime Minister Schwein called out after

me.

"G-Grand Duke, the capital!"

"It's okay. I'll have them out of the capital in a moment. You guys focus on

getting the citizens to safety."

I nodded to Prime Minister Schwein before blasting off high into the sky.

"Target lock. All Steel Soldiers within the capital city. Activate [Gate]."

"Understood. Activating [Gate]."

The capital lit up in various places as several portals opened up. I then used

my magic to link those portals to a barren field some distance away from the

city.

"Yae, it's time."

"Okey dokey."

Yae's Schwertleite leaped into a portal I summoned, and I immediately used

[Teleport] to warp myself to the same destination.

[Teleport] was my spell of choice for short-distance personal travel. [Gate]

was the best when I needed to move lots of things quickly, though.

The Steel Soldiers were getting their bearings when I arrived on the field.

We'd be able to fight without holding back in this area. ...Wait. I'm an idiot. I

could've just used Reginleif to fight here and not worry about collateral at all. Ah

well, Yae seems excited, and if I went too hard with Reginleif I'd probably end up

creating craters or mountains.

I landed on Schwertleite's shoulder and watched our enemies. They were a

bit larger than the old Steel Soldiers. Roughly seven meters tall, I'd have

wagered. They also had slightly bulkier armor. They were similar to the old

models in design, except there were a few minor differences. The cockpit hatch

on the back, for example, was now completely missing.

These were completely unmanned drones. It made sense, since they'd clearly

been modified with Gollem characteristics based on the Soldats. There were

probably a few manned commanders in amongst them, giving out orders... Or

so I'd thought.

I didn't know for sure, but it was possible that they'd transplanted the GCubes and Q-Crystals from the Soldats into these larger shells. While I had

initially thought some of them were manned, it didn't look like any of them

actually were. Still, that meant they'd all be easy to deal with. Simple machines

with simple reactions.

We had carefully attempted to fuse Frame Gear and Gollem technology to

create the Over Gear, but it felt like these guys just mashed the two concepts

together a lot more sloppily.

Still, some things were bugging me about the whole situation. Even if the

Steel Battalion was made up of Frame Gear knockoffs, how did they manage to

reconstruct them?

The man who was originally responsible for them, Bowman, was executed in

Roadmare forever ago. Everyone else involved in the Steel Battalion creation

was arrested, too. I was also certain we'd taken out all the facilities producing

them, so something didn't feel right.

I also didn't think people in this world would be able to handle Gollem

technology as adeptly as those in the Reverse World. It was possible that other

Gollem technicians had come with the guy who'd left the storage card behind,

but there was nothing suggesting that in the spy's memories. Still, if the man

had been on a delivery trip for those Soldats, it wouldn't have been strange for

him to be with an entourage of capable Gollem technicians.

I decided to focus on taking out the army in front of me before worrying

about that kind of stuff. I also had the army in the north to face off against

afterward.

"Try to immobilize them by taking out the limbs. I think Doctor Babylon and

Elluka would appreciate checking these things out."

"That is understood, it is."

I leaped from Schwertleite's shoulder as the Steel Soldiers finally started

charging toward us, lances in hand.

They moved in coordinated motions, five machines charging forward in a Vshaped formation. They were definitely using Soldat Gollem technology.

Soldats typically performed poorly compared to other Gollems, but they

made up for that in sheer numbers. Because of that, their ability to fight in a

coordinated group was vital, and they definitely had higher-than-average

maneuverability in formations. However...

"Kokonoe Secret Style: Flying Swallow Rend!"

Schwertleite's boosters kicked in, increasing the speed of the machine as it

charged head-on into the V formation.

The result was almost instant, with four of the machines blasting off

backward.

The fifth, the leading unit in the charge, was skewered through by

Schwertleite's massive katana. Just as I'd suspected, they were unmanned. They

were definitely working through something similar to my [Program] spell. Their

orders were probably to destroy Horn's capital and try to kill anything that

resisted. The one Yae pierced was probably that sub-unit's commander because

the other four immediately fell into disarray and started swinging their weapons

at random. Each was skillfully taken down by Schwertleite's blade.

They were nothing when compared to the power of a Frame Gear, after all.

The other Steel Soldiers grouped up and began charging Schwertleite, but each

group fell, one after another.

"They're definitely stronger than the older models. Their sturdiness is higher,

too... I remember the older models lost parts if you'd rattle them a bit."

Maybe I should call them the Steel Battalion Mk. II... No real point, though.

They're still just Frame Gear knockoffs.

After a few minutes, they were all reduced to scrap. Their remains lay strewn

around the field. All of them were unmanned, in the end. I noticed a G-Cube

visible in the cracked remains of one of them, the final confirmation I needed

that they'd been created with modified Gollem tech.

There was also a similar substance to Ether Liquid leaking out of them. It

barely transmitted any magic at all, though... And it was a dirty brown. If Ether

Liquid was carbonated water, then this was carbonated water that had been

left out until it had virtually no carbonation left. It was honestly so inferior that I

could hardly call it a copy of Ether Liquid, it was so much worse that it was its

own original thing. They were probably using them to channel the magical

pulses from the G-Cubes to the rest of the machine, but it was so diluted it

barely functioned.

I put a few of the busted Steel Soldiers into [Storage], and opened up a map

of the capital.

"What is it you are looking for, what is it?"

Yae had returned her Frame Gear to her ring and now looked up at the map

with curious eyes.

"They're using Gollem tech in these machines, so they have to have a master

controller nearby. Given how many there were, there were probably six or

seven of them. And if they're members of Qulau, they'll be easy to recognize,

so... Got it."

Since they had to remotely channel orders to the machines, I doubted they'd

be holding anti-magic talismans. I also had a feeling they'd all have those

stupid-looking masks. In the end, they brought their own trouble on top of

them.

Looks like they're riding a carriage out of the capital's north gate... Trying to

make a break for it. Like I'm gonna let that happen.

"Let's roll, Yae."

"Understood."

I took Yae by the hand, and used [Teleport]. It was time to catch those

bastards in the act.

◇ ◇ ◇

The tarp-covered wagon sped away from the capital as the early morning sun

rose above. Everyone within was confused as to how things could have gone so

wrong. Their plan was perfect. All they had to do was gradually guide Horn into

all-out civil war... But suddenly they were forced to make an attack, and their

amazing machines ended up vanishing out of nowhere.

It was all that man's fault. That cursed man... That damnable grand duke from

Brunhild. Why did he have to appear and ruin everything?

"I told you guys, didn't I?! I said we needed to kill that guy before we even

began the Horn plan, but nooo! Nobody ever listens!"

"That's enough, man! You know we tried! Think about how many assassins we

sent out there! Think about how many came back! Zero! None of them! That

guy's a beast!"

Every time they sent an assassin to Brunhild, they vanished before even

making it there. It was so scary, that rumors of Brunhild having an elite

intelligence unit spread quickly amongst the members of Qulau. The stories

went that a team of shinobi from Eashen were allied with the Brunhild knight

order.

Brunhild was an enemy that they could never allow to survive... But it was

also the enemy that they could never truly oppose.

Their plan was simple at first. Slowly infiltrate Horn. Replace people, some

important, some less so... Gradual control of the population. A slow invasion.

That way they'd allow a New Yulong Dynasty to rise. After all, there were many

loyalists to Yulong in the world. All they needed to do was secure the territory,

and then the people would come.

But then came the day that Qulau acquired the Gollems.

They were strange machines that appeared quite by chance, almost as if the

divine had left them to restore Yulong's glory.

The members of Qulau thought that, perhaps with the power of Gollems, they

might finally stop fearing Brunhild's wrath. In retrospect, the members of Qulau

would realize they were led too far astray by the remnants of Gordian.

They had joined with Qulau, but their focus was on improving the machines.

Going along with them was the wrong decision. They should have stuck to the

plan, create a glorious new empire of heaven from the ashes of Horn. They did

not need to fight Brunhild yet. It was too soon.

"We should never have dabbled with those machines! They're what brought

the devil duke to us!"

"There's no point crying about it now. It's happened! All we need to do is

regroup, and..."

"Gwuh?!"

Ahead of the wagon stood a lone girl in the middle of the road. Upon seeing

the girl, the driver did not stop. He whipped his horses and picked up the speed.

I know her... The samurai from the east... The devil duke's family. I mustn't run

away. I must kill her here and now. Any true son of Yulong would feel the same!

The four horses neighed loudly as they charged toward the girl.

She vanished into thin air, promptly reappearing behind the wagon with her

sword drawn. The horse reins were cut. The wagon fell on its side.

◇ ◇ ◇

Yae jumped through the air and cut the reins on the horses, freeing them. The

horses were innocent in this, after all.

I fired a bullet from Brunhild into one of the covered wagon's front wheels.

This caused the wagon to lose control and slam into the ground on its side.

Thanks to my magic, I'd already confirmed that everyone aboard was a member

of Qulau. Didn't want to hurt any innocents, after all.

A group of men wearing those goofy-ass black masks emerged from the fallen

wagon.

"Do you guys really think there's any getting out of this?"

"I-It's him!"

One of the men suddenly launched a dart my way. At first I thought it was a

kunai, like the kind Tsubaki used, but it was much simpler.

"[Shield]."

The projectile was instantly deflected. As it fell to the ground, I noticed it was

tipped with poison.

"SHYAAAAAAH! Taste the wrath of Yulong, you miserable little wooorm!"

"How. Many. Times. Do. I. Have. To. Say. It? I did not have anything to do with

Yulong getting wrecked. Are you guys idiots? You know what, don't even

answer that. I know you are."

These assholes clearly have selective hearing. All they do is spread fake

propaganda, twist the truth until it fits their narrative, and use it to justify

whatever the hell they want. Even more disgustingly, they call it patriotism. It

isn't. It's self-serving arrogance designed as a moral justification for bigotry.

I fired a few paralyzing rounds at a couple of the men. Yae handled the rest of

them, knocking them unconscious with the blunt side of her blade.

I took all the masks away from the men and used magic to dispose of them. I

was not in the mood for any more suicide bombing crap, they'd be taken back

to Horn and judged for their crimes.

"You guys'll never forgive me, huh? Well, Horn's never gonna forgive you for

this. Good job slandering the name of the precious Yulong you love so much,

idiot. Once news of your plan gets out, I wouldn't be surprised if even your

fellow Yulongese countrymen denounce you."

"Gruh..."

I grabbed one of the paralyzed men by the head, and used a combination of

[Hypnosis] and [Recall] to forcibly extract memories containing the information

I needed. Obviously I didn't give a damn about his personal memories, but he

was a valuable information source.

Goddamnit. So Gordian's leader left behind one final production facility,

huh...? I guess it was hasty of me to torture him to the point of insanity with

that foul-smelling box... Ah well, he's dead now anyway. But still, the rest of the

information is worrying too...

"Did you learn something bad, did you?"

"Yeah. There was a Gollem technician from the Reverse World, Qulau has him

set up with a submission collar. The poor bastard's been put to work this whole

time."

I quickly explained to Yae about what I'd seen in the memories. He was

probably quite the skilled technician, especially if he was the one who managed

to fuse Gollem tech with the Steel Soldiers.

Apparently he could roughly communicate with his captors, even though he

didn't really have a grasp on the language spoken in this world.

"That is terrible, it is... If he had not landed in Yulong, then he would have

been taken home, he would." It would've been bad if he landed in Sandora,

too... I heard that place had basically turned into a free-for-all area.

Still, it was largely populated by liberated slaves, so at least there wasn't a lot

of oppression going on.

I'd already asked the world leaders in contact with me to report in if they

found any people who'd drifted in... But they didn't emit wavelengths like the

Phrase, so it was hard to pick up on them as soon as they appeared. When the

two worlds merged together, it'd stop happening... But it remained to be seen

whether or not the long-lasting repercussions of the union would be worse or

better than the current situation.

I tied up the Qulau perpetrators, and used [Gate] to return us all to the castle

courtyard.

"Oh, Grand Duke!"

"Ah, hey. These guys were controlling the attack on the capital. They're

Yulongese, and members of Qulau."

Prime minister Schwein glared down furiously at the bound men. The soldiers

by his side looked equally as angry.

"To the dungeons with them! Be sure they have healers on standby. We

won't let them kill themselves before their executions."

The Horn guardsmen dragged away the unconscious and paralyzed men. Now

all I had to do was take care of the invaders from the north.

I wondered how well they'd be moving together if they didn't have

smartphones to communicate amongst themselves, but when I thought about it

more, I realized that they'd definitely have wireless communicators thanks to

the Reverse World tech. Even Nia and the other members of the Red Cats had

those. I'd know how organized they were if I used a search spell.

"Run search. How many Steel Soldiers and Wood Golems toward the northern

region of Yulong."

"Search complete. Displaying results."

Red pins started falling down on the map here and there. They'd clearly

begun their move.

It was hard to tell the Wood Golems from the rest, since all the markers were

red.

"Change the Wood Golems' pins to yellow."

"Acknowledged. Performing change."

...That didn't really help at all. Now the screen's just red and yellow mushed

together... Kinda hurts my eyes, yeesh.

"How many in total?"

"Three-thousand-and-twenty-one Steel Soldiers, three-thousand-onehundred-and-twenty-two Wood Golems. Six-thousand-one-hundred-and-fortythree in total."

That was around what I expected. Seems like there's no Qulau members mixed

in there, though.

"My turn now...?"

Sakura looked up at the map and asked if she could fight. She'd once nearly

died at the hands of Qulau assassins, which took her a while to recover from.

That was also how I came to meet her, come to think of it.

Sakura was strong enough at this point to kill a whole group of assassins, even

if they all attacked her at once. But still, it was impossible for her Rossweisse to

kill six-thousand enemies by itself. Even if we factored in Yae's Schwertleite,

that'd be three-thousand each. If we factored in my Reginleif that'd be twothousand each, too... I doubted we'd be able to take care of all of them with

enough time to spare.

Guess there's one thing for it, I'll call in the knight order for this one. Since it's

up on the Yulong border, it shouldn't cause any real issues if we engage.

Oh, right... I took out my smartphone and started to make a call. Hopefully

the person on the other side would be awake. It was early, but she usually

stayed up pretty late anyway.

"Hewwo...?"

"Doc, you awake?"

"I'm schweepy... I just finished my project, so I was about to go nap..."

"Wait, you finished it? Sorry to bug you, but can we deploy it immediately?"

"Huh? Immediately? I mean, sure... but what's the situation?"

Doctor Babylon snapped out of her sleepy stupor, so I explained the situation

to her.

"Ohoho. That's quite the conspiracy, hm? They'll definitely make good

enemies for our test, you were right to call me. Plus, they're unmanned, so we

won't have to hold back. Roger that. I'll have both black and red units ready to

go in a flash. You get their pilots ready."

And that was that.

The two people I needed now were kind of cranky, though... I imagined they

hated being woken up early, and could possibly even ignore my call.

That was why I opted for another path. I simply called a reliable individual

with connections to both of them. After all, they were all staying in the same

inn.

I went down my contact list and dialed the number.

"Oh, hey, Est? Sorry to bother you at this time, but I need you to do

something for me. And, well..."

I was certain she'd be able to wake up both pilots without too much hassle.

She wasn't the second in command of the Red Cats for no reason.

Now all I had to handle was getting the knight order together. They were

probably already in the middle of their morning training.

I did feel a little bad about calling them out to clean up so early, so I made a

mental note to put a bonus in their pay packets.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Can't say I expected to ride this thing so early..."

A grumbling voice rang out from the enormous black lion that stood along the

Yulong border.

Leo Noir. It was a mechanical beast built from the same base as Frame Gears,

only it had Gollem technology at its core. We called those types of machines the

Over Gears.

Since this Over Gear was exclusive to the black crown, Noir, it was only

natural that its pilot would be that Gollem's master, Norn.

Though she didn't sound all that thrilled to be piloting it so early in the

morning.

"Really? But I'm totally ready for this!"

Opposite to the black lion came the voice of Nia, leader of the Red Cats and

master of Rouge, the red crown.

She was seated inside a massive, deep-red tiger. It was our newest Over Gear,

Tiger Rouge.

It was about the same size as Leo Noir. A few silver metal lines ran across its

body, reflecting the sun. Its phrasium parts also glimmered in a similar fashion.

"The problems from earlier were fixed, right?" Norn switched the broadcast

channel, allowing her voice to come out of the doctor's smartphone.

"Sure were. Shock absorption and general resistance is much higher. You can

also freely adjust the power controls from within. There should be a gear lever

on your right for that."

In our earlier test, the amount of power was so intense that she could barely

control it, and got really sick afterward. Thankfully, that had been fixed.

It was Nia's first time in an actual Over Gear, but she'd been training a ton in

simulations, so I had no doubts that she'd be okay. Well, so long as she didn't

get full of herself...

I opened up comms to speak with the Black Knight Frame Gear nearby.

"Est, be sure to keep an eye on Nia."

"Roger. If she doesn't behave, then I'll force her to wear half-dried underwear

for a week."

"Hey! Quit talking about me like that!"

Est spoke over the common channel, so Nia responded with some irritation.

Ten members of the Red Cats were also participating in this fight. They were

all using Chevaliers that had been painted a deep red, aside from Est who was

piloting a Knight Baron. Naturally, her Frame Gear was also red.

Hmm... I guess I can't really refer to it as a black knight if it's painted red...

Maybe Red Baron? Nah... I like Red Lynx. Sounds cooler.

Forty members of our knight order would also be joining the fray. The

commander and her second-in-commands were also participating, but we

didn't have many troops fighting this time. Counting Yumina and the others,

that brought us all up to about sixty combatants.

Given that the enemy was six-thousand strong, it would mean a hundred

enemies to a single unit. That was certainly doable.

"Sue, you focus on the Wood Golems."

"I gotcha! It'll be fun!"

Sue merrily spoke from her Ortlinde, which had already transformed into

Overlord form.

Wood Golems were much bigger than Frame Gears. If an average Frame Gear

was ten meters, then a Wood Golem would usually be fifteen or sixteen meters.

In some rare cases, they could even get as tall as twenty meters. But Sue's

Ortlinde was over twenty-five meters tall in Overlord mode.

It wasn't known as the gold giant for no reason. It was so big that friendly fire

was hard to avoid, so it had a special alert installed in the cockpit for when

friendly units were too close by. But this wasn't a protection mission like the

kind we might have during a Phrase attack. Instead, it was just a simple

extermination. I was sure she could freely go all-out.

"Touya. They're coming in hot."

Yumina spoke through comms from her silver Frame Gear, Brunnhilde. It was

perched on a nearby rocky outcrop. Given she was our sniper, Yumina's job was

to look at range for enemy sightings.

I used [Long Sense] and projected my vision northward. Yumina was right as

ever. A whole trash heap of shitty stuff was headed our way.

They shouldn't be able to see us yet.

"Wait, actually..."

I looked up at the massive golden giant standing next to me, and let out a

little sigh. There's no way they'd be able to miss a landmark like that.

That meant they were charging toward us with the intention of fighting. That

made things simpler.

"Grand Duke, what shall we do?"

Commander Lain spoke through the comms from her Shining Count. The

answer was obvious.

"It's time for combat, everyone. We'll have the two Over Gears lead the

charge. Knights, you pair with the Red Cats and take out the Steel Soldiers.

Yumina, Sakura, offer support to whoever needs it. Elze, Linze, Yae, Hilde, Lu,

Leen, Sue... focus on the Wood Golems."

Yumina and Sakura could fight at a distance, so they were better suited to

support roles. Leen's Grimgerde had plenty of distance attacks, too... But they

were area-of-effect, and would hit our targets if she went that route. It was

better for her to target the Wood Golems.

Rossweisse began broadcasting Sakura's singing voice across the battlefield...

I recognized the song immediately.

It was a song performed by a Jamaican singer, and a cover of it had been used

in a movie's end credits before. That movie was pretty funny. It was about a

panda who did kung fu.

The song was... sort of appropriate for a battle, I supposed.

"Alright Rouge, let's roll!"

"Understood."

"Shall we, Noir?"

"Confirmed. Booting."

The black beast and the red beast dashed forward at the same time. They

were fast. But the Red Cats charged after them, doing their best to keep up.

Leo Noir and Tiger Rouge sped up toward the enemies in a flash, taking out a

whole group of Steel Soldiers with a speedy charge.

"Wow... They went flying that easily?"

I was surveying the battlefield from a distance through my smartphone, and

found myself quite surprised at how easily the Steel Soldiers went down.

"Over Gears can project magical barriers around themselves while they're

running. They can also be used offensively to knock enemies away."

Elluka, Norn's older sister, quickly explained. Her hair was messy as ever, but

she also had big bags under her eyes. She clearly hadn't slept a wink last night.

But I could see a smile of satisfaction on her face as she watched the Over

Gears effortlessly pulverize their foes. Her Gollem, Fenrir, didn't quite seem so

enthused. He simply looked up at his master with an expression that seemed to

signify exasperation.

Magic barrier, huh...? Kind of like how I put a shield up around myself when I

go flying, I guess.

Tiger Rouge's fangs sank into a Steel Soldier, crushing it to bits. Meanwhile,

Leo Noir's claws tore a nearby Wood Golem to ribbons.

Neither the Wood Golems nor the Steel Soldiers could compete with the Over

Gears in terms of speed. It was clear as day just who was predator and who was

prey over there.

"They're real idiots. They're completely wasting the utility of soldat

technology. But what do you expect? They're all unmanned drones."

"Hm?"

I was curious about what Elluka meant, but doctor Babylon stepped in to

explain.

"There isn't a human commander out there with them, so they're a mob of

useless mooks. Soldats typically work in units of five. Those fives can then group

up with other fives for maximum results, but they can't do that here because

each one is unmanned. All they can do is listen to the commands they were

given, and not evolve beyond that. Soldats are supposed to be able to coordinate to gang up on their enemies in groups of up to a hundred, so this

seems like a needless waste to me."

If there were three human commanders called A, B, and C... Then the three

would control five soldats each, creating a unified team that could work well

together.

But in this case, A, B, and C just gave out a basic order to kill the enemy, and

then sat back and waited for things to happen. Without any active commands

on the fields, they couldn't efficiently co-ordinate at all.

"There's no way in hell victory would shine upon cowards and losers like

them."

The doctor grinned a bit before taking out a small cigarette. She puffed on it a

few times and continued watching the carnage. Aren't you a little girl? Is that

okay?

"Hm? What's with that face? Oh, this isn't tobacco. It's an Ether Cigarette, I

had Flora make it. It's nice, calming, and not really addictive. Wanna try?"

Even if there's no nicotine in that thing, I can't shake the feeling that there's

probably something equally as nefarious. I won't be puffing the devil's pipe

today, thank you very much.

"Oh, right... That person over there, cutting the Steel Soldiers one after the

other. Isn't that your sister?"

"What?!"

I looked at the little display that Doc Babylon pointed to... and saw Moroha

swinging a big crystal blade around. Karina was there too, swinging a crystal ax.

...Well, that cements it. Our win is a hundred percent guaranteed.

I was convinced we had no chance of losing now.

"Hm... I expected to see one more eager fighter out there, though."

"Right here!"

"What?!"

Uncle Takeru appeared behind me with a broad grin and folded arms.

Ack, that scared me! When'd you start appearing out of nowhere like Karen

does? His honed body, worn-out uniform, and red hairband stood tall. Thus, the

god of combat descended.

Karen wasn't here, and I had a feeling she was napping elsewhere. This battle

had nothing to do with romance, after all.

I wondered how Takeru found out about this, but I was even more concerned

about the dead-eyed guy standing next to him.

"What brings you here, Ende?"

"Don't bother asking, Touya... I'm not allowed to refuse..."

Ende stared at the ground with resignation in his eyes. The situation was

pretty clear. Takeru somehow found out about this and dragged the poor guy

over to fight.

"Well, what brings you guys here?"

"Hoho. Ain't it obvious? We don't need to fight these machines, we should

mete justice out to the ones who sent them. You were thinking of going, right?"

Uncle Takeru let out a big laugh. Ah, now I see.

He was right, I was planning to leave the Steel Soldiers and Wood Golems to

everyone else while I went to crush the guys behind Qulau on my own. I'd

already figured out their base thanks to the memories I'd stolen, and I also

sensed the presence of people watching the battle from afar. They were

probably extremely worried due to how hard their side was getting bodied,

though.

There weren't many, though... so it was obvious all of the Qulau members

weren't right there. It was likely that they were either back at their base, or out

on a separate mission.

Either way, they were done for.

"Don't kill them, alright?"

"Perish the thought, my boy! Today's lesson is all about non-lethal

takedowns! Ain't that right, Ende?"

"Wh-What?! Me?! What about you?!"

"I'll watch from afar, of course! And I'll decide on what to do with you next

based on how well you perform!"

Ende stared ahead. I looked into his soulless, hollow eyes. I turned to Takeru,

partly out of concern.

"If he fails, what'll you do?"

"Hm... Something basic, I guess? Oh, how about a one-hundred-and-sixty

hour running marathon?"

Ende started to shiver violently. What?! That's a full week! Ende can't run

non-stop for a week!

Ende seemed to be having a pretty bad time, so I threw out an olive branch to

the poor bastard.

"W-Well, how about giving him a rest day as a reward if he does well? All

fighters need their rest, don't you think?"

"Hmm... You raise a fair point there. Alright! That sounds good!"

Ende quietly walked over to me, tears streaming down his face as he pulled

me in for a hug. Hey, hey, knock it off... I don't like that kinda stuff.

Now all we had to do was take care of the enemy. I left Elluka, Fenrir, and Doc

Babylon behind as I headed out.

There was a group of roughly three-hundred hiding nearby. We'd deal with

them first. Uncle Takeru said to leave them all to Ende, and I said that seemed

fair enough. Anything that meant I had to deal with less crap was fine in my

book.

We all used [Teleport] to reach the area, surprising the horse-mounted

masked men.

"Wha... Who?! Bastards!"

"[Prison]."

I shrugged slightly and cast a barrier around us. Didn't want anyone getting

out, after all.

It was cast over a broad area so it was weaker than my usual ones, but it was

still about as dense as steel armor.

"Rest's up to you. Go get 'em, tiger."

"Tch... You can't even help a little bit?"

Ende grumbled a bit. Now, now... It's your training session, not mine.

"Three minutes, Ende. You have three minutes to take them all down. If you

go even one second over that, then you'll fail the lesson!"

"What?! Master, that's wild!"

Uncle Takeru simply shook his head and folded his arms. He was no god at all.

This man was a true demon.

Man, that's an average of ten people every six seconds. Good luck.

"Ghuh!"

"Gwuh?!"

As I started running numbers mentally, Ende leaped right into action.

"Wh-What's with him?!"

"It's just one man, stop him!"

"Sorry, guys! But you gotta stop running. This is a timed mission!"

He leaped from horse to horse, effortlessly smashing the masks each man

wore. I could sense his desperation. Honestly, I understood it, given that he had

a potential day of rest on the line. If he lost, it'd be a living hell.

Ende continued to leap from horse to horse, never once touching the ground.

Who the hell are you, Minamoto no Yoshitsune?

They thrust spears up at him as he leaped, but he just balanced on top of

them to gain even more mobility.

"Damn... That's pretty cool."

Ende kept spinning around and around, blasting away each enemy he

approached. His long scarf trailed behind him, almost acting as an echo of his

motions.

I'd only set the barrier to prevent humans from escaping, so the horses

scattered and eventually left the area.

Some dumbasses tried to escape, but they promptly ran into the walls of the

barrier and fell from their horses.

Before long there were only half the men left. He was keeping a surprising

pace.

"One minute left!"

Uncle Takeru yelled out all of a sudden. Oh damn, already? Guess it's harder

to fight while holding back than you'd expect.

"He still hasn't perfected the art of holding himself back against human

enemies. But I'm not surprised. He might be untrained, but he's still a

formidable fighter. He's certainly a genius in the classical sense."

"A genius, huh...? I dunno... Maybe you should make him run for a week

straight even if he passes."

"Hey, I heard that!"

The alleged genius known as Ende yelled out to us with fear in his voice. Hey,

don't waste time listening in, you have enemies to beat!

"Here's... The last one!"

Ende delivered a fearsome roundhouse kick to the final enemy standing,

shattering his mask to bits.

There were corpses all over the place. Actually, none of them were dead. So it

was just unconscious men all over the place. I briefly wondered if we even

needed to fight if we weren't going to kill them... But some beating would

probably do them a world of good anyway.

"What's my time?"

"Two minutes, forty-seven seconds."

Uncle Takeru looked up from the timer app on his smartphone. Luckily for

Ende, he seemed to have avoided a grim fate. He brought a hand to his chest

and let out a relieved sigh.

"But..."

Ende and I glanced at Takeru, concerned. Huh? But what?

"The man you just kicked. He's dying, rapidly."

"Huh?! Wait! Hold on! Don't die, man! At least not now! Die later instead!"

Ende shook the man's shoulders. He was bleeding profusely from his face.

That dumbass was probably just making things worse, so I promptly cast [Mega

Heal] on the wounded guy. I didn't want to let Ende lose all hope whatsoever,

after all. I wasn't cruel.

"Gwuh...? I..."

"Oh thank goodness! You're not dead, thank goodness! Now I'll just bash you

a little softer in the face."

"Gwuh?!"

Ende quickly punched the man in the nose, a bit weaker than his kick form

before.

...Wow.

"What's my time, Master?!"

"Two minutes, fifty-nine seconds. You passed. Good job."

If the master was so nonchalant about beating people up so savagely, then his

student was truly not far behind... I worried about the effect they could have on

Elze.

I looked over at the battlefield. It had only been three minutes, so obviously it

was far from over. The knights and Over Gears focused on the Steel Soldiers,

while Elze and the others focused on the Wood Golems.

I saw Elze's Frame Gear, Gerhilde, waltzing across the battlefield with similar

motions to the ones I'd just seen from Ende. Its left pile bunker smashed a hole

through a Wood Golem, knocking it down. She followed that up with an

uppercut, piercing the core through with the pile bunker on the right. She was

merciless.

"Hah... Smash!"

I wondered if they'd had an influence on her already, or if she'd always been

like this.

Either way, it was time to get all these unconscious people back to Horn's

castle. I imagine they'd all be tried and either executed or sent to the mines for

life.

I wouldn't let the ones at the hideout escape, either. I also had an innocent

Gollem technician to save.

"I'll be fighting at the hideout, alright?"

"Fine by us. We're the ones tagging along, anyway."

I looked behind uncle Takeru and saw Ende breathing a huge sigh of relief. It

was a little pitiful.

"So, where is it?"

"Northward... Right there."

I pointed to it on the map I'd projected into the air. It was pretty close to the

city where I'd taken out the fake emperor of Yulong a while back. There were

about three-hundred people there, in a small fortified area.

It was definitely a hard-to-find place, surrounded by hills and boulders. If the

memories I'd stolen from that guy were right, there was also an underground

production facility there too.

We didn't have any time to waste, I didn't want a single guy escaping. We had

to go in, and we had to go in hard.

After confirming the location, we all teleported to our destination.

◇ ◇ ◇

The base was surrounded by steep, jagged rocks, much like the ones from the

famous Hollow Needle novel. It was a masterwork of engineering. The building

fitting snugly inside a fissure in the earth.

I saw a man on a guard tower in the distance. He stared at us as we appeared

out of nothing, his eyes wide. Before us was a massive, sturdy door. It was the

only thing keeping us from getting inside.

"Kablam!"

The sturdy door was rendered useless by just one of uncle Takeru's mighty

punches.

"Don't you think we could've gone about this a bit sneakier?"

"Fool! A man must always charge ahead! Anything else is a waste of time!"

...You're a pretty simple guy. But I can't really say anything, I was about to

destroy it too.

"E-Enemies! Enemies at the gate!" The lookout started to bash a hammer

against a loud bell. A large group of mask-wearing, black-clothed men poured

out of the base in response.

Hm? These guys have gold tints on their masks. Are they the elites of Qulau?

"Well, trash is trash at the end of the day."

I took out my gunsword and began peppering the men in front of me with

paralyzing bullets.

Takeru and Ende leaped into the fray, knocking down man after man.

I could've handled them all at once using my smartphone's target lock, but I

didn't want to run the risk of letting any non-mask-wearing guys escape. Plus,

Ende needed more practice.

"Bring out the Steel Soldiers!" I raised an eyebrow as large summoning circles

appeared near us. Two gold-tinged Steel Soldiers rose out of them. Yep, this is

Gordian's doing alright.

One of the unnecessarily shiny Steel Soldiers took a step forward... before

immediately being smashed into a cliff face and torn to pieces. I was taken

aback for a moment. I turned to look at the other Steel Soldier, and witnessed

the figure of uncle Takeru rising upward, his fist held high as it uppercut the

machine.

I looked upward as the Steel Soldier was catapulted far off into the sky.

Eventually, it landed on the ground, clattering to pieces.

F.

"...Seeing that really is frightening..."

Ende muttered quietly. I could understand why. It was how I felt whenever I

fought against Moroha. The very idea of comparing ourselves to full gods was a

mistake, though.

"A-A monster!"

"Run! Run away, everyone!"

Those idiots didn't know that I'd already cast a wide-scale barrier around the

area to prevent their escape. A Steel Soldier could probably muster up enough

power, though. Still, even if I felt it break, I could instantly repair it.

"Whoopsie."

I turned my body, narrowly avoiding the dagger that had just been hurled my

way. I hadn't even noticed it until it was about to hit me.

I turned and saw a man wearing the blackest mask I'd seen yet. I'd sensed the

smell of death on the other men, but this guy reeked of it the most. He was

clearly a man who survived on the suffering of others.

"Are you Qulau's leader, then?"

"You would be correct... I am the shadow lurking within Yulong's memory, I

am the... Gaugh?!"

"Oh."

As the leader began to monologue, Ende suddenly came in from the side and

punched him. He flew off a short distance with his body bent in a sideways Vshape.

"...Hey."

"Oh, sorry. Did you want to listen to his whole speech?"

"Nah, I was actually gonna shoot him halfway through."

"Oh, then it's all good then."

I mean, sure it's good, but... I kinda wanted to beat him!

I grumbled a bit, spitefully shooting the fallen, squirming leader with a

paralysis bullet. I restrained him and then pulled off his mask. He just looked

like an ordinary guy in his forties.

I figured the whole point of being an assassin was to blend in, though... so it

seemed reasonable.

"Sorry, pal. Your plans all come to an end right here. If you really wanted to

rebuild Yulong, you should've put those daggers down and picked up a farming

tool."

I left the leader behind to wallow in anguish, regret, pain, or whatever it

was... and headed deeper into the fortress.

I beat back numerous small-fry enemies before finding the teleport sigil that

would take me underground. This hideout was originally built by Gordian, who

intended to create a magical imperium and rule over the world. As such, the

fort had several magical items littered around it.

I poured my magic into the sigil and teleported underground, leaving Takeru

and Ende to mop up the stragglers outside.

The place I ended up in looked like a massive underground cave. There were

building materials scattered around here and there. It kind of reminded me of a

hangar. I looked around and clearly saw a few items that had their origins in the

Reverse World.

There were a few Steel Soldiers here as well, though none were completely

assembled. There were no doubts now. This place was where they were making

them. Given that there were only incomplete ones down there, it seemed like

they'd deployed all their usable ones.

After a few moments, ten men wearing Qulau masks surrounded me.

"Back off, idiots."

"Guh?!"

"Gyuh!"

I took them all out with my gun. I didn't care about those guys. Instead, I

cared more about the group of ragged-looking men near the Steel Soldiers.

They weren't wearing masks, but tattered clothes. They clearly weren't Qulau

members. Not only that, but they had submission collars around their necks.

An elderly man walked toward me. He was clearly well into his sixties. He had

a scraggly white beard that flowed freely down his chin, and he wore a little pair

of glasses. I could sense the determination behind his eyes, even if he seemed

unsteady on his feet.

"We. Go. With. You Not Kill. Please."

He spoke in broken sentences, almost pleading with me. I thought they only

had one guy from the Reverse World, not this whole group.

Not kill, huh? Guess they're scared I'll use my gun.

I quickly cast translation magic on all the men before me. I decided talking

would be best here.

"Are you guys Gollem technicians?"

"Y-You understand us? Yes! We're all Gollem technicians. We were on our

way to Isengard, bringing a delivery to the witch-king, when we found ourselves

in this strange place... We were forced into servitude by those masked men!"

The witch-king? Holy shit. If they don't know that he's been defeated then

they must have been here a long time.

"I'll hear the rest later. How many of you are there?"

"E-Eighteen to begin with, but fifteen now. Three of us were tortured to

death when we were captured... Could you tell me where we are, exactly? The

technology and language here... It's almost like we're in another world." He was

exactly right, but I wanted to save the explanations for later.

I took off their submission collars and freed them of their confines. Some of

them even wept with happiness when I did that. They must have suffered quite

a lot.

"We're leaving this place. Anything you need to bring?"

"Ah, excuse me a moment."

The old man dug a little hole nearby, and eventually produced a tiny card.

"What's this?"

"It's my own personal storage card. I didn't want them to take it away, so I

buried it there when I first got here."

Pretty smart, old man. I guess it's true what they say. Wisdom comes with

age.

I decided to bring them to Elluka, since she was a fellow denizen of the

Reverse World. And so, I used [Gate] to connect us all to the location she and

Doc Babylon were sitting at.

The two of them turned their attention from the battlefield to us as we came

through, but Elluka's eyes went wide as she ran over to the old man.

"Professor, is that you?!"

"Wh-What?! Restore Queen, is that actually you?!"

The two of them just started pointing at each other and making vague noises.

"You guys know each other?"

"Ah, yeah... This man's an incredibly famous Gollem technician in my world.

Does that mean that his whole team got caught?"

"Uh, yeah. It's his whole team."

"Lass, what's going on here? Where even are we? This is a bit hard to follow."

"Um... How should I put this..."

I decided to leave the explaining to Elluka, and promptly returned to the

fortress.

Takeru and Ende had almost completely taken out everyone there by the time

I got back. I teleported all those guys to Castle Horn, as the officials there would

take care of the rest.

I definitely had to be sure I didn't miss anyone. If I didn't completely pull them

out at the roots, then these weeds would just keep coming back.

I used [Search] to confirm nobody was left, and we walked out of the front

gate again.

Takeru said he was going to finish the job, whatever that meant.

"Now listen up. Wherever there's life, there's chi. Chi is found in the air, the

earth, and in the sun's light. If you want to master chi, you must master nature

itself. Properly controlling it will allow you to do things like this..."

Takeru thrust his arms forward, wiggling his hands like he was grasping for

something. After a short while, a ball of energy I could tell was distinct from

magic gathered in his hands.

Slowly, the mass grew until it was the size of an exercise balance ball, and the

very air around it began to oscillate and shimmer.

"Haaah!"

Takeru yelled, thrusting his arms forward and firing out the mass.

The orb sailed forward before it suddenly detonated, creating a catastrophic

explosion akin to a nearby bomb blast.

When the dust settled, the fort we'd just cleared out was completely gone. All

that remained was a smoldering crater... Even the nearby cliff faces were

eradicated.

The power was on the level of an Upper Construct-tier Phrase firing off its

railgun attack. I couldn't believe what I'd seen.

I was amazed that such a power was possible, even without the use of magic

or divinity.

Thus, the Qulau hideout, along with the underground facility, were

completely wiped out.

"I-I suppose I have a long way to go in my training..."

"...Honestly I don't know if I want more people doing attacks like that..."

I replied to Ende's blank-faced mutterings with a dumbfounded comment of

my own.

◇ ◇ ◇

The Qulau members were all handed over to the Horn government. The army

of Steel Soldiers and Wood Golems were taken out without a hitch, too. With

that, the plot to take over Horn had failed.

Qulau's leader and all of its elite members were publicly executed. The rest of

Qulau were given the lifelong sentence of hard labor in the mines. They would

never see the sun again.

A few days later, a new king of Horn was crowned. Kuoh Da Horn, the oneyear-old boy.

As that happened, Prime minister Schwein Adante announced his resignation,

and recommended Ganossa Da Horn, the late king's former brother, as his

successor.

Thus, the uncle became regent for his nephew, ruling as king until the boy

came of age. This was the best outcome from the start, really.

The Kingdom of Horn decided to join the rest of the world, and end its longimposed isolation. They started an exchange program for their young

academics, sending them out to learn about the world.

Thus, Horn would enter a golden age of cultural growth, learning more about

other nations and how to improve their own as a result. They would work hard

to be a shining example, the opposite of the Yulongese who had clung to the

past so desperately and shamelessly.

It was fine to be proud of one's past, but you could not hinge your entire

existence around it. Otherwise, you'd be someone trapped looking backward all

your life.

I had to hope that the new generation in the remnants of Yulong would grow

up to understand that.

As for the rescued Gollem technicians...

All of them except one worked at a factory in Isengard. The one in charge of

the factories in Isengard was the witch-king.

Unfortunately, as far as the public knew, the witch-king was missing, and

none knew if he was alive or dead. Isengard ended up devolving into chaos as a

result, and currently stood fragmented without a leader.

Even after I told them that, the majority of the men still wanted to return

home, so I took them back.

I could understand why. They had families and stuff back there. But it had

been so long since they went missing that they were considered dead in

Isengard, and their jobs had been filled up. I was also worried that they might

be treated poorly by authorities because they lost the three-thousand Gollems

they had with them. Frankly, it would be dangerous to have them live in

Isengard.

That was why I went to speak with the former prince of Gardio, Lucrecion. He

was now in charge of Lowe, after all, so I asked if he would take the men and

their families in. Thankfully, he accepted. Though I knew he would. They were

all exceptionally talented men.

Thus, the men decided to live a new life within Lowe's territory.

Only one man stayed behind...

"So, that old man... or, uh, professor? What's he gonna do?"

"He said he wanted to travel this world and see all the countries."

Elluka grumbled a bit as she chewed a straw in her mouth. The ice cubes

inside her glass of orange juice clinked around as the straw moved.

"Isn't it a little risky for him to be roaming around alone? He's pretty old."

"He made a few basic Gollems using dwarven tech before he left. Apparently

he had some G-Cubes and Q-Crystals on him. At a glance, they'd look like five

armored knights walking with him, so I imagine he'll be fine."

Damn, he really made that many Gollems in such a short time? He really must

be pretty famous.

"I wanted him to help me out a bit, but he said he wanted to see the sights

first and foremost. I guess he probably wants to forget the harrowing

experience he had building those crude machines."

That was fair. At the very least, the fact that he willingly built some on his own

meant the trauma wasn't too deep. He probably just didn't want to do any

intensive Gollem building for a while.

"Hey, dumbasses! Your break's like, totally over and stuff! You should help

out already."

"Geez... You're so mean, Monie..."

We were sitting and having a drink during our chat, which prompted Monica

to come out and yell at us.

The two Over Gears were behind her, awaiting a diagnostics report.

Elluka grumbled quietly before getting up and walking toward them with

Fenrir.

Just as I was about to leave, my smartphone began ringing.

Hm? Oh, God Almighty, huh? How rare.

"Heyo!"

"Ah, young Touya. There is something I wish to speak of. Could you come to

my realm for a spell?"

I had no plans, so I said that wouldn't be a problem before ending the call. I

wondered what he wanted from me. Ah, I think I should swing by the kitchen

and get him something before going, though... I don't wanna show up without a

treat.

Crea had made some tasty yokan desserts, so assuming Karen hadn't eaten

them all, they'd be good to bring along.

I was in luck. Karen's greedy gaze had not yet fallen upon the tasty treats, so I

managed to bring some to the divine realm with me.

I found myself in that familiar room that floated amidst a cloudy backdrop.

There were no walls nor ceiling, it was simply us.

"Hey there. I brought you a gift. Here you go."

"Ah, lovely. I shall make some tea to go with it."

God took out some plates and a knife, then placed them down on the table

with some tea. Tea along with yokan was a very nice combo indeed.

"So, what'd you wanna discuss?"

"Ah, yes. It is happening in three days."

"Huh?"

God spoke quietly as he sliced up the yokan into smaller pieces.

What's happening in three days?

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"The two worlds are going to complete their overlap. They will fuse into one

new world in exactly three days. That is when they will leave my jurisdiction,

and be guarded only by you."

"WHAAAT?!"

I blurted out my confusion. I knew you'd tell me in advance, but isn't this a

little short notice?! I didn't even hold the multidimensional summit yet! Agh... I

mean, I guess this could be a positive. Somehow. If it actually happens, then

nobody'll be able to deny it, so they'll have to listen to me. That way the leaders

of the Reverse World might be more inclined to listen to me, too.

"I do apologize. It was rather hard to predict, you see. This world was

supposed to be destroyed due to its unpredictability, after all. It grows yet more

unpredictable by the day."

"Hm... I see... Three days, huh?"

Wonder what I can do in such a short time.

"What about cataclysmic events and stuff?"

"That is likely to happen in most cases, but you recently attained dominion

over spirits, did you not? I am sure if you speak with the relevant spirits, you

can mitigate the potential damage. There may be some small earthquakes here

and there, but I am sure that the worlds will join simply enough. At the very

most, the maps of both worlds may be slightly altered."

Landmasses being altered is kinda scary, but as long as I can avoid disastermovie type scenarios, I'll be fine. The people would definitely freak out way too

hard if really bad stuff happens.

"Once the merge begins, the world will be out of my hands. Since I do

technically owe you for the short notice, I will use my power to make both

worlds speak the same language. Or rather, I will simply make them believe

they are all speaking the same language."

Holy cow, that's something else... You're basically casting translation magic

over the whole world. I don't think I could do something like that.

Well, maybe I could... but it'd definitely take my smartphone well over a week

to lock on to that many people.

"Is that okay? I thought it was against the rules to interfere with lesser

realms."

"Well, that is true... But in this case, I think the advent of a wicked god is

cause for this one little cheat. Plus, this world is about to be out of my hands

anyway, so it matters little."

I guess it's like tossing away a troublesome book that was once in a library.

Once it's tossed, it isn't owned by the library anymore so they have no obligation

to keep it checked on. After that it's just a matter of whoever gets their hands

on the book next.

"This is your job now, young Touya. You must exorcise that wicked god from

the newborn world. Once you do that, the world will earn its right among other

worlds, and the god of destruction will be satisfied as well."

"Man, this sure is a problem..."

"Now, now... You are a beneficiary of my own power. The enemy is spawned

from a failure of a god. By all rights, you have no reason to worry about losing.

However, that wicked god is a tricky one. There is no telling what they might do.

Keep your wits about you."

"Sure thing."

I guess it's like me taking over a project or something. I'm the newbie

entrusted with the workload by the veteran, or something like that...

"You have seven gods supporting you right now. I am quite sure you will

prevail."

"...I feel like they treat it more like a vacation than anything else, though..."

I had the god of love, the god of swords, the god of agriculture, the god of

hunting, the god of music, the god of alcohol, and the god of combat on my

side. They weren't exactly like the seven lucky gods of Japanese folklore,

though... They were mostly just pains in the ass.

"Well, even if they enjoy themselves, they help in their own way. Sometimes,

it is simply the way of things. Though, if I am quite honest, I would not be

surprised if that world became some kind of resort for the gods after you take

full management."

I'm not sure how to feel about that... Surely there are better vacation worlds

out there in the vast cosmos... Well, whatever. I don't need to worry about that

stuff yet. This'll all come after the wicked god's dealt with.

I need to go speak with the spirits, then meet with the other world leaders. No

idea what'll happen from here-on, so we'll need to stay as alert as we can...

I quietly ate my yokan and sipped my tea, resolving to make things go as

smoothly as possible.

But, three days later... An entire country was wiped off the map of the newlyjoined world.