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Volume 7, Chapter 5: That Which is Known as the Root Cause

Part 1

Abyss// I am sorry.

Abyss// I considered making an appeal to emotion or finding an emotional resolution.

Abyss// But I decided we would never have peace unless the root cause was dealt with.

Abyss// The Hero is dead. I led you all there and had you act more hastily than may have been wise.

Abyss// That appears to have paid off, but this is not over yet.

Abyss// Ground’s Nir Reject Sky.

Abyss// That alternate ultimate weapon has dedicated herself to her work task even after forgetting the original objective of said task.

Abyss// Unless she is stopped, the Iberian Orc problem caused by the artificial atmosphere cannot be fully resolved.

Abyss// The final battle will soon begin.

Abyss// Good luck, everyone.

Part 2

A few days had passed since then.

“So.”

In Roppongi’s Detached Magic Palace, the three maid sisters were holding a discussion after leaving their master sleeping like a log face down in her queen-size bed.

They moved out to the garden where Misoka, the second sister, looked like she did not quite understand.

“This country’s simulator was connected that other unit called Sky instead of, uh, Abyss was it? Because if her plans were sent over as a Piece, an identical unit could maybe be created here on Earth. As long as it worked, I guess the box that wanted arms and legs didn’t care which one it was.”

“She put more sugar in her tea than normal, so I’m worried about her mental exhaustion… M-milady doesn’t tell us much about what happens in that world, but it looks like she’s had a rough time of it there.”

“She won’t tell us directly, no.” Bespectacled Iroka lightly shook a tablet while responding to Haruka who was like a nervous small animal. “But if you check the stock prices in New York or London, you can get a pretty good idea of what’s happening in Ground’s Nir. Success there leads to Pieces…which in turn affect the technological development competition between nations and corporations.”

“Only you’re enough of a weirdo to look at that with a knowing smile. You can convert those numbers and graphs to human language, right? Then hurry up and explain it so we can understand.”

“If you insist. But to be safe, I’ll add in some other exchanges.” Iroka pressed a fingertip against the bridge of her glasses. “America, China, Russia, and the EU. No matter which region you check, the markets are in decline. That suggests the trouble is not human in nature. It’s likely a natural disaster or a dangerous creature.”

“B-but exploring the Labyrinth is their job, isn’t it? Couldn’t they be stuck at some super strong gatekeeper or really tricky puzzle?”

“I doubt it. They tend to start gathering minds and materials to fight back in those cases, but there’s no sign of them recruiting here on Earth and no unusual targets of investment have cropped up either.”

“So they’re just waiting?”

“Although I wonder how many groups there are smart enough to make such a wise decision. I imagine they are either too confused to do anything or are bluffing because they can’t report what happened to their higher ups.”

For their normal work in the Labyrinth, they would have a lengthy list of excuses to use if they ran across unexpected trouble. Adult society did not take “I can’t” as an answer, after all. But this was different. No one knew what had caused the commotion, so they could not even guess how to solve it. This was not a case of encountering the unknown. They had not encountered anything, yet they were being asked to deal with it.

Most of them had been left out.

The three sisters’ master was probably facing some kind of major secret at a point deep within all of this.

“And like always, the lady is trying to carry it all herself.”

“Yes. At least she has friends to fight alongside her in that world.”

Their master was already in an unreasonable situation. In the limitless combinations of the Character Creation, she had just so happened to end up with an appearance identical to the Sage and she had been given the rare Job of Holy Swordswoman. That was all it had taken to gather the attention of the government and an even larger force. And instead of praising her for that innocent result, they had decided to enclose her in a luxurious cage.

She could not even attend school like normal.

Beatrice and the Sage.

Could they be the same person?

The intense fear brought by that question had sent her to a happy prison. After weighing the pros and cons, the powers that be had decided that was for the best.

Without this government protection, she may have found she did not fit in during a normal life and given up on that, but Iroka still could not bring herself to say this was the best answer. The one silver lining was the group of friends she could rely on in that other world.

“I just hope there is something we can do for her.”

“Oh? What if I said there is?”

When bespectacled Iroka gave a sigh of mature mischievousness and said that, her younger sisters stared back at her.

“Eh? Eh? I thought you weren’t the type to joke, Onee-chan!”

“Are you planning to attack that subway station simulator again? Even though we have no clue how we made it back alive last time!?”

“Tsk, tsk.” Iroka wagged her index finger. “I will answer this one step at a time. The simulator and Sky were connected. That is safe to assume, don’t you think?”

“I-I suppose.”

“The simulator assisted Sky because it wants a body to freely move around in. But what about Sky?”

“Huh?” Haruka tilted her head as this new question occurred to her. “If she only needed to move around in that world, she wouldn’t need to respond to any offers from Earth, would she?”

“There must have been some kind of logical reason. If we know why Sky wanted the simulator, don’t you think we could come up with a plan to trip her up while back here on Earth?”

Part 3

“Squeal.”

They had returned to the small island of Ground’s Nir.

Sky had flown from the glass continent, so they had no real reason to stay there. The humans returned to Earth to get some rest and Boo Boo spent the time back on that small island. He was currently watering the field in front of his brick house using a giant watering can made by modifying a wooden bucket.

“Hwah☆ That’s just what I needed.”

Someone was buried up to her hips in the soft soil and she spread her arms to accept the water sprinkling down on her. She was Ileana the Mandragora, one of the Break News and the strongest of the plant types. She looked like a woman with long bluish-silver hair and a curvy brown body, but those traits could easily change depending on the nutrients in the soil. Since she cared a lot about her appearance, her presence here showed she approved of Boo Boo’s field.

“I want to take these vegetables today. The Juicy Tomatoes!”

“Oh, you’ve learned to enjoy veggies, have you? Then take these Water Bottle Cucumbers and All-Purpose Sorghum too. You need to keep a balanced diet.”

“Boo. They aren’t for me to eat. I can stab a stick into them to lure out the big fat Fluffy Chickens.”

“I said you need to keep a balanced diet. That means not just meat, meat, and more meat!”

They were interrupted by an oddly elderly groan for the girl it came from.

Ileana looked back while still half-buried in the field and saw Fairy Queen Strigona staggering toward them while carrying a giant sack in both hands. Someone from Earth might have called it a Santa sack and it was so big it covered up her face.

“Hey, Boo Boo. Is this spot good enough?”

“Squeal. Over here.”

Ileana immediately grew cautious.

“Wait, wait! What is that!? Hey, pest, I don’t like the idea of a toxin expert like you messing with the soil. You aren’t planning to ruin my precious mountain field with herbicide or insecticide, are you!?”

“Ugh, why do I have to do all this for the perverted carrot?”

“For me? …Wait. Wait, wait! Just to be clear, pest, no matter how many nutrients it might have, I do not want raw garbage dumped on me!!”

“Calm down, vegetable.”

Ileana immediately quieted down in the middle of the field. She seemed to have a policy of doing what her flower caretaker said.

“Squeal. These are the leaves from the forest floor. Spread these damp ones around and the vegetables will grow even better.”

“Phew, so it’s just normal mulch. For that you get a passing grade. Needless to say, I assume you will be smoking out the-…”

“Hm? What are you talking about? Pour, pour.”

“Gwaaaahh!? All the leaf and root eating larvae are still in there!!”

Ileana grew pale and screamed as her small ecosystem was suddenly destroyed.

Meanwhile, Strigona spoke up after literally having a load taken off her shoulders.

“Isn’t it sad, Boo Boo? Food is the foundation of everything, yet here you are having to bow down to a perverted carrot to set up traps.”

“Ew, peh, peh. Curse these Root Biter larvae! Now, setting aside how every single kind of foolish pest seems to be picking a fight with me, what do you mean?”

“Squeal. I gave my Shining Weapon to Beatrice, so I don’t have a hunting weapon.” Boo Boo sounded troubled and placed a hand on his chin. “The rocks and logs I find are okay, but they break so quickly. Boo, I might need to prepare a proper tool.”

The standard Iberian Orc tactic was to use disposable weapons, but Boo Boo had been forced to learn on his own for so long that he had not inherited that technique. This was why Beatrice had taken the lead role on the glass continent while he played a supporting role. Without that log or steel beam of Shining Weapon, he had nothing to fight with. It had only been a few days since then, so he had not had enough time to adapt.

And all the techniques he already knew only made it harder to learn a brand new set of techniques.

Ileana tilted her head while driving the larvae out of the mulch by scattering a mystery pollen from her long hair.

“But that could be tricky. What could you even use to make a weapon for it to survive your strength? Plants are a little too fragile for that.”

“I would have suggested the Diamond Salt used to make blades and homes in the southern forest where a certain Vampire lives, but that already failed to work.”

“What about bone?”

“Too weak.”

“Yes, but if he has Skull Wave work on it, couldn’t he get a weapon that repairs itself immediately after breaking?”

“That’s a fair point, but once we’ve reached that point, wouldn’t it be better to just ask Mr. Bones to fight for him?”

“How about we stop aiming for the most solid weapon possible? He could use a whip or a blackjack. In that case, there would be some plants he could use. I might be willing to locate a sturdy vine or hard nut for him.”

“That’s not a bad idea, but let’s keep thinking. There has to be something we aren’t thinking of.”

The two Break News kept talking without Boo Boo. They could probably work at a clothing store with this dynamic.

“But, Boo Boo, are you only now starting on your traps? The sun is already high in the sky. If you don’t catch anything, you’ll be in for a sad and hungry night.”

For those who lived in the wild, it was too late to start struggling once your strength began to fall. With water, food, and a place to sleep, you had to work at it before you actually needed it. Once things were off track, you could easily tumble all the way into the pit of death.

But Boo Boo did not seem that worried.

“Squeal. Beatrice and the others left this here before going home.”

“Geh.”

Strigona’s face stiffened when she saw a device like a metal barrel. And this was not because of the old idea that Fairies could not handle metal.

“Tah dah! It’s a smoker! This is a miraculous tool. If you put meat in the top tray and burn firewood in the bottom tray, it can turn anything into bacon. And that keeps for a while!!”

“So if the trap fails, we have to eat your stockpile of thick bacon again tonight!? Boo Boo, I know you’re excited about this new smoker of yours, but three days in a row is a bit much!!”

“By the way, why are you complaining under the assumption that Boo Boo will be making your dinner? The former Soviet soldiers shared everything, but even they looked after their own stew pots.”

Also, Boo Boo mistakenly thought you could only put meat in the smoker, but you did not get bacon if it was cheese you smoked in there.

Either way, the ability to store food was revolutionary for that brick house without a refrigerator or vacuum packing. …But to preserve her rich culinary habits, Strigona decided he could never find out about pickling, drying, or canning.

Boo Boo rubbed the surface of the metal barrel with his too-large hand.

“Squeal. But this is still a problem. …I can crush something like this if I squeeze it too hard. Where am I supposed to find a new tool I can call my partner?”

Part 4

The palm-sized Fairy named Meridiana snorted from her small nose as she lay on the brick house’s roof to hide.

“Oh, no! Boo Boo is in trouble! But this sounds interesting!”

Next to her, her younger sister Alice sounded annoyed already.

“Ehh? You’re going to make that for him just because that sister stealer has gotten used to the brick house???”

“Quiet, Alice. Now is the time to give Boo Boo a power up. I will offer him a weapon! And doesn’t a fairy weapon sound like it would be super strong!?”

“But I don’t want to touch anything as dirty as steel.”

“Uh…”

“Same for copper and silver. Gold might just barely be tolerable, but that is too soft for a weapon. I could stand making a pot because we only have to dig a mold in the dirt and pour the molten metal in there, but a proper weapon requires beating it, stretching it, heating it, cooling it, and all sorts of other things.”

Elder Morgan flew in to join them.

“What are you two up to?”

“Oh, Elder Morgan.”

“I have a feeling Meridiana is about to get carried away and cause us some more trouble. I mean, should a girl really start obsessing over a long, thick, and extra-large tool just because the guy she likes won’t pay any attention to her?”

“Aliiiice!!” screamed Meridiana, but this was not enough to faze the elder.

“Oh, you were talking about making a new weapon for Sir Boo Boo? I am here to move into his home so I can do daily work to repay him for everything he has done for us.”

“Huh!? E-Elder Morgan, you’re trying to outdo me by becoming his maid?”

“The cold high-status girl suddenly becoming a maid is a high level moe technique,” proclaimed Alice.

“I am not sure what you are talking about, but Sir Boo Boo’s strength is too powerful for normal crafting techniques to work. Simply put, this job is too much for us. So instead of wasting your time, I recommend introducing him to something he can use.”

“Such as?”

“Isn’t there someone who can use plenty of ridiculously powerful weapons of unknown construction? I am referring to Abyss sleeping inside this very house. He can borrow one of her high-tech weapons.”

Part 5

Night had fallen.

Skull Wave - a skeleton in a cowboy hat - sounded surprised when he stopped by the brick house in the middle of a stroll.

“Oh, what are you doing up this late, Boo Boo?”

“Squeal, I learned how to drink coffee! If I drink this, I can keep my eyes open.”

“(That’s just a replacement made using a plant root, isn’t it? My wife liked rooibos tea, but I doubt this even has caffeine in it.)”

At any rate.

After eating the super thick bacon that was sitting heavy in her stomach, Strigona had said she was going to look at the stars. She pulled out a weird (for a super strong-toothed wild animal like Boo Boo) hair-covered brush and moved it around in her mouth. Since she was doing that now, she likely intended to climb onto the brick house’s roof and go to sleep.

Boo Boo was inside that house.

He climbed the ladder to the attic and found Abyss still lying silently on her back.

Or was she so silent?

Abyss// You aren’t mad?

He was not just imagining it.

Different parts of Abyss’s body faintly glowed red in the darkness. And she spoke words that only Boo Boo could hear. He did not really understand it, but after incorporating the traits of other plants and animals into their evolution, the Iberian Orcs apparently had the ability to perceive trace electrical signals. …Boo Boo’s only image of electricity was the lightning during a storm or the static during the winter, so he was not quite sure what that sparking stuff had to do with sending messages.

Regardless…

Abyss// I honestly thought you would throw me out once it all came to light.

“Squeal. Without you, I couldn’t have saved Beatrice when her Shining Weapon broke. The fight against the Hero was tough and I still don’t get the more confusing parts, but if you thought it was necessary, then it was probably necessary. Even if I am still confused because I don’t understand why.”

Abyss// …

“I trust you, so it’s okay. Plus, this is your house too. There’s nothing to worry about. Squeal, you can relax here.”

Abyss// ……………………………………………………I am unsure how to respond to that.

There was a much more complex emotional tinge to her voice, but could Boo Boo really pick up on and comprehend that much?

Abyss had indeed deceived Boo Boo and the others to lure them out to the glass continent so the Hero would be revived. But that was because she concluded the people she cared for would never find peace if the root cause of the disaster was not removed. She had been willing to be branded a traitor and abandoned because for it.

But Boo Boo only heard it like she was a small child pouting her lips.

So Abyss changed gears in order to dodge that issue.

Abyss// Unlike me, Sky appears to lack the power to dismantle this island even while functioning normally.

Abyss// I imagine that is because the Hero inputted an irregular design to have her constructed.

Abyss// The armory does not appear to have authorized her.

“Squeal? What does that mean?”

Abyss// You can focus on defeating Sky alone.

Abyss// I heard from the Fairies that you require a weapon.

“Boo. I’m a little scared of having too much power to fight, though. Still, I can’t even hunt for food with my bare hands. And Strigona said I can’t just eat bacon forever.”

Abyss// My weapons are made from materials stolen from the Gimmicks in the deepest floors of the Labyrinth.

Abyss// If you wish for a weapon made from equivalent materials, descending into the depths would be the quickest way.

Abyss// You should be able to take a shortcut from the Iberian Orc village.

“Squeal?”

Abyss// There was one Gimmick I could not steal from back then.

Abyss// The Execution Warrior.

Abyss// That is a malfunctioning product that easily exceeds the set upper limits for strength.

Abyss// Perhaps you could view it as a guardian deity that naturally appeared within the Labyrinth.

“The Labyrinth, huh? But Beatrice and the others aren’t back yet and I’d get lost on my own.”

Abyss// As an alternative, you could work with the Sage.

“Ah!”

Abyss// And if it would not be too much trouble, I have a request of my own.

Part 6

Birdsong rang through the cool morning air as the sunlight filtered through the forest’s leaves.

But the song was too loud to be wild birds.

The singers perched on the branches were a girl with brown skin and white wings and a woman with white skin and black wings. They were Archangel Marinka. Together, they represented every aspect of the sun, including the solar eclipse.

Hurried footsteps thudded along directly below them.

“Squeeeal! I’m back, elder. I brought some thick bacon as a gift!!”

When the nearly-4m pig-faced giant entered the village deep in the forest, more of his species appeared.

However…

“S-snort… Meat…finally.”

“No, elder! I am not letting you get spoiled! You are eating your vegetables today!!”

The most conspicuous person was not any of the Iberian Orcs. The human woman wearing red armor and a white miniskirt was known as the Sage and she was jumping up onto the strongest Iberian Orc’s head.

As the little ones gathered around, Boo Boo handed out hunks of meat larger than the inn town’s bricks, and…

“Oh, right. I have business with you, Sage.”

“Wait just a moment, Boo Boo. Give me some time. You can ask me anything once I’ve fed this disobedient boy his ham salad. C’mon, elder, quit running away and clean your plate!! It’s all vegetables? You’re the one who ate all the ham first, so you only have yourself to blame!!”

Some intense screaming continued for a while.

Boo Boo had nothing to do in the meantime, so he began chatting with Royal Elf Sibyl who was walking around nearby.

“Squeal.”

“A being beyond the planet, hm? That explains why I couldn’t see her using the three royal treasures I manage.”

“So it turns out putting Sucking Bee honey on a Water Bottle Cucumber doesn’t make it taste like a Jewel Melon!”

“Wait, young life of the forest. Listen carefully. You may have tried that as a simple experiment in your spare time, but you have just shattered a legend that dates back to antiquity.”

After hearing a voice saying “sorry about the wait”, he turned around to find the incredibly cheerful Sage approaching with a hand raised in greeting. There was not a peep from the elder who had ultimately been dragged into his large leaf house by a single arm.

“Vegetables are scary.”

“Right? Everyone agrees with that, right?”

“Squeal, and they’re everywhere. They can be chopped up and hidden inside meat or even made into a drink, so you need to be careful.”

A stir was running through the little ones and Sibyl let out an exasperated sigh before speaking.

“He explained the situation to me while you were busy with Operation Eat Your Veggies. Basically, he wants a hunting tool to replace his Shining Weapon, so he needs a guide into the Labyrinth.”

“Squeal, I can apparently get the weapon materials if I defeat some extraordinary guardian deity called the Execution Warrior!”

“Really? Couldn’t you just grab something Demon Lord Tselika had stashed away in that cave? That museum is full of sturdy junk you can grab and hit people with, like dragon fossils and eternal icicles. Not to mention the sturdy rod supporting the door into the place. Pull that out and it’d make for a decent weapon.”

The Sage casually gave a shocking response (that contained enough detailed knowledge of the contents and the structure of the door to suggest she had snuck in there at some point), but Boo Boo’s plan was little different. Everyone acted like the Labyrinth was communal property that anyone could use, but that only applied to the people going there. The clockwork Gimmicks that already existed there were not Boo Boo or the Sage’s property, yet they would go there, destroy the Gimmicks, and steal from them. You could even view this a sign that humanity’s sinful nature had not changed since the Age of Exploration and that mentality was gradually corrupting the residents of Ground’s Nir as well. …Humanity had been so afraid of the Red Iberian Orcs invading Earth, but it was their own actions that had planted that spirit of exploration inside the Iberian Orcs. The Sage only ever said that humanity would destroy themselves one day, so she may not have cared about all this even though she understood it.

The red and silver haired woman placed a hand on her hip.

“Well, I’m fine with anything as long as it isn’t a filthy human asking it of me. Will the Party just be me, you, and Sibyl?”

“They don’t look like they have anything to do, so why not take them with us?”

Sibyl pointed her index finger up toward a sound of rustling feathers. Archangel Marinka - both the brown girl and the white woman - actually flew down and landed on Sibyl’s fingertip like they weighed nothing at all.

“We **** ***n watching f**m ab***. **ur b***le be*a* **** *** He** ************ **, so we a** *****ally t* ***me. T*** ***** ** * chance to *ep** *ou f** **** we hav* *one.”

“** have bee* ******** *ro* **ove. Yo** *att* **g*n with the **ro manipulating us, ** ** *re parti**** *o bla**. *his gives us a ****** ** r**ay y** *or what ** ***e d***.”

Their voices were hard to make out through all the noise, but when they spoke in unison, their voices formed a beautiful chord that entranced all who heard it.

“We have been watching from above. Your battle began with the Hero manipulating us, so we are partially to blame. This gives us a chance to repay you for what we have done.”

“You two are such a pain to deal with.” The Sage kept her hand on her hip and spoke with exasperation in her voice. “And does everyone from those three royal families feel the need to be overly polite all the time?”

“Elder Mermaid Vivian was a much sportier person.”

Boo Boo and the others made their way to the elder’s house while listening to that. But rather than visiting the transformed hunk of flesh within, they were interested in the crucial entrance hidden in his house.

“The Central Shaft. Boo, does that thing still work?”

“Not to worry, Boo Boo. It will at least last longer than the foolish human race.”

It had been buried, but Boo Boo remembered Beatrice and the others speculating that this was the real entrance to the Labyrinth. Using it let them skip all the intermediary floors and take a giant work elevator along a complexly-curving route directly to the deepest part.

“Boo. …We’re coming in, elder.”

“You don’t have to be so polite,” said the Sage. “This is basically my house now.”

“You won’t rest until you’re the dominant one in a relationship, will you?” asked Sibyl.

“If I don’t sleep here, a thief will try to sneak in and steal him in the night. …Curse that negligee Vampire.”

The Iberian Orcs must have felt some respectful fear of the elder’s home because the little ones made no attempt to follow them there. …Or were they simply afraid of the Sage while she was in eat your veggies mode?

“Snort, squeal…”

A giant lump was curled up in one corner. Everyone was too afraid to ask how exactly the strongest of the Iberian Orcs had ended up like that.

They had business with the small tent-like space in a corner of what was otherwise a single large space. When they looked inside that “room” made of leaves, they saw a square outline on the ground. Last time, Beatrice’s Party had fought the Sage here, so they knew the entire square would move to take them to the bottom of the Labyrinth.

And…

“Boo, young one.”

The elder asked a question while still curled up in a corner.

“How is Lady Abyss? Is she doing well?”

“Squeal. Abyss is Abyss. She’s the same as always! I have her looking after the vegetables in the field while I’m gone, so she’ll be fine.”

“I see.”

Only someone as close to him as the Sage may have known what emotions were carried by those words.

The Iberian Orcs had originally wanted such powerful bodies so they could defeat the ultimate weapon that would bring disaster to all of Ground’s Nir. If the Hero’s designs for a body of her own were ignored, the Red disease could have been seen as their pursuit of strength going too far and their evolution going berserk.

The leader of the Iberian Orcs was showing concern for their nemesis Ultimate Weapon Abyss.

He had not said much, but those words carried great meaning.

The truth of how this world’s humans had died out and the Underworld Lord’s existence had proven Abyss to be more than just an avatar of destruction. She may have been too late to do so, but she had been created to save many lives. Once they knew that, there was no reason to continue a meaningless conflict with her.

The Central Shaft was meant to be the starting point of a deadly journey in which they delved into the depths of the Labyrinth to attack each new ultimate weapon before it could make a proper appearance, so it was enclosed within the elder’s house and the other Iberian Orcs were not to mess with it. That fear had even gained a religious connotation similar to a curse or a miasma.

But things had changed.

It was no longer a symbol of loathsome impurity.

“Squeal. Okay, elder, we’re going.”

“Sure. Keep safe, okay?”

Part 7

In Shinjuku, Tokyo, explosive sounds rang through a rundown gym. But they sounded more like light shockwaves than dull booms. A glasses woman with her long black hair worn up was wearing the martial arts sportswear of a tank top and hot pants. She had just finished pummeling the nearly-2m trainer in the ring.

But she had not been taking out her anger on him or challenging the entire gym.

“You’re worthless. This doesn’t even qualify as practice! Old man, are you trying to get me to bring those showy acrobatics into an actual battle with lives on the line? You’re my sparring partner, so come at me like you’re trying to kill me! Don’t forget to put yourself into the mindset of a cornered criminal!!”

It was unclear who was teaching who and the tough-looking trainer (who secretly liked chocolate parfaits) ended up leaving the ring and running off while wiping the tears from his eyes. And he was a former champ who had made a living with no more than his fists and had won belts in several different classifications in the modern age. The young glasses woman scratched her head in the middle of the ring as she realized maybe she had taken that too far.

(Damn, I did it again. He’s got the build for it, but his heart is basically tofu. I bet he’s headed to that usual ramen place, but I don’t feel like buying a sobbing man a drink and a chocolate parfait from the secret menu.)

“Okay, Inoue, you’re up next. Get in the ring so we can have a fight between pros.”

“Not a chance!! That champ didn’t retire because he was getting too old and started to lose! He got carried away with one of his rushes and accidentally killed his opponent! I am never climbing into the ring from hell where the woman who defeated the Heavyweight Killer is waiting for me!!”

“Oh, so you prefer fighting outside the ring, Inoue? There are tons of makeshift weapons out there and you never know what you’ll hit when you fall…but yeah. That would be more realistic. That’s the kind of resolve I like to see in a subordinate. I’m so glad you’re passionate about your training.”

The baby-faced PI(?) with a mole under his eye screamed and began to flee while searching for anything he could use as a shield. The glasses woman who was searching for a trainer who would “come at her with the intent to kill” showed no mercy.

“The worst part is how you’re just a workaholic and aren’t even trying to harass your workers!!”

“Ha ha ha. You complain, but you’re blocking pretty well. I’m impressed. Now, I think it’s about time we shifted up a gear.”

The young man’s scream shifted up a gear as well. What would become of that poor counterintelligence agent?

“One, two. Yes, very good. Keep it up. One, two. One, two.”

“Is this some weird new form of bullying where she compliments him while murdering him?”

In a corner of the same gym, a girl from a prestigious school was wearing a baggy T-shirt and skintight bike shorts. She stood behind an eyepatch Japanese doll girl in a hoodie and track suit pants to give a hands-on lesson in how to hit the sandbag in front of them. Her upper class background made her seem more like a fitness instructor than a martial arts one. And the bob cut girl could not let anyone know she had only gone to the sandbag because she had been goofing off hitting the punching ball with kitty punches until the leather bag came back and smacked her in the face.

“Okay, keep that up for another minute. Just one more minute and you can take a break, so don’t let up now. One, two. Go at it like you are trying to wring all the oxygen out of your body.”

“I’ve heard enough of your lies about ‘just one more minute’!! Are you trying to get me to run a full marathon at a sprinting pace!?”

…She currently held the position of the elegant and absentminded Student Council President, but in the other world, she had once worked as a strict instructor for the Guild known as the Religious Society. That said, not many people could reproduce those extreme martial arts while here on Earth where their stats were not enhanced in any way. The glasses woman who could defeat a tiger, a bear, or a muscular baldy who had lost all the kindness in his heart was an exception to the norm.

“So after all this, Ground’s Nir Reject Sky shows up, huh?” The glasses woman licked her alluring lips while swinging her fists with enough force to crush a small car. “Even with Abyss, we didn’t exactly defeat her in a straight battle in an open space. In the Labyrinth, we were a secondary concern and she was only trying to reach the surface. Largescale chaos aside, her simple firepower was greater than Demon Lord Tselika’s. Sky was created in the same armory, so she’s probably the same. How are we supposed to defeat her?”

“Gwah, agh, eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!! She can do this when only half focused like she’s texting and walking!? Her destructive power keeps rising as she imagines I’m the enemy, so someone help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

The baby-faced young man pulled off the metal exit door and tried using it as a shield, but that was no defense at this point. It instead dented in and absorbed the impacts like polyurethane.

The Student Council President girl casually led the eyepatch Japanese doll girl behind the sandbag so they would not be caught in the fray.

“But Sky no longer has an objective, right?”

“No, it’s the opposite. She only has an objective. The results don’t matter to her. She killed and threw out the Hero in order to create the artificial atmosphere meant to protect the Hero.”

But in a way, they should have expected this.

“U-um! I read in the reports that Abyss kept following the Ground’s Nir humans’ commands and only focused on the objective of defeating the Underworld Lord. Whoa, that was way too close!! Eek, eek, even after the humans she was supposed to protect had gone extinct, eek!!”

“So those artificial beings will strictly follow their initial command until they receive a new command negating the first??” The Japanese doll girl had a calm look on her face as she pounded on the sandbag. “In that case, she never will stop. As similar as they are, Sky was created differently from Abyss, so there might not be a stop command to be found in the machinery at the bottom of the Labyrinth.”

After being reborn, the Hero had been killed by Sky because she had screwed up the initial settings. In her desperation after learning there was no saving herself hundreds of years before, she may have neglected to include any safety standards.

Regardless…

“Ground’s Nir is only safe and peaceful now because Beatrice used her Magic to blast eight holes in the artificial atmospheric barrier. Just like stabbing an ice pick into a TV screen. Listen, that’s just eight holes. …All our work goes out the window if Sky fixes the broken barrier and it covers that world again. The Iberian Orcs will be afflicted by the Red again and their threat will reach Earth.”

Sky was focused solely on executing her initial settings, so there would be no persuading her to stop. She did not think in terms of good and evil or in terms of like and dislike. As her creator, the Hero should have been their best hope of negotiating with her, but that woman had been immediately eliminated. What hope did some outsider’s words have of reaching her?

She would create and maintain the artificial atmospheric barrier.

She was not concerned with any negative effects that brought. It did not matter to her that the intended effect was no longer possible.

If someone would reduce her efficiency even slightly, she would use her full power to eliminate them. Yes, the full power that had been designed to singlehandedly defeat the Underworld Lord who had only just barely been defeated using the combined forces of all the living things from both Earth and Ground’s Nir.

Plus…

“She has the high ground.”

It was the same reason an aircraft carrier could defeat a battleship and a bomber could defeat a railway gun. It was the same reason so many castles and fortresses used tall stone walls to face the enemy. A height difference was a simple thing, but it had vital tactical importance.

“Not only does she have such massive firepower, but she can watch us from beyond the very atmosphere she has created. Everything’s set up to give Sky the advantage. We need to figure out some way of pulling this off. This battle is going to be tougher than conquering your average castle.”

Part 8

With a dull thud, the floating feeling in the stomach vanished.

“Squeal…”

Boo Boo had arrived in the deepest part of the Labyrinth.

It was not that exciting this time around. When he had come here with Beatrice and the others, the fate of the world and future of the island had given it more meaning, but without all that, it was just an empty space.

There was a stone floor and a slick light source different from fire. The double doors led to the armory’s core where Abyss had slept.

“Hm? I thought the Execution Warrior you were after was on the floor above this?”

“Abyss asked me to do something first!”

Sibyl and Marinka tilted their heads as Boo Boo thudded on through the doors.

“Why is he willing to help her when she tricked him and he was badly injured?”

“That is how Iberian Orcs should be,” said the Sage. “We can keep those clever doubts to ourselves.”

“I’m back,” said Boo Boo before long. It was unclear what he had done, but it could not have been much since he had not been gone long. Sibyl guessed he had been asked to pick something up for Abyss, so she decided it was not worth spying on with the three royal treasures.

The Sage did not bother asking. She walked toward the large stairway leading up and raised her arms to stretch her back.

“Okay, how about we get going?”

They had skipped straight to the goal and were now going in reverse. That meant they would run into the final gatekeepers first. Sibyl readied her Shining Weapon that resembled a staff and a bow and Marinka stuck the white woman’s hands into the brown girl’s body through the shoulder blades, but then the Royal Elf realized something.

Boo Boo was all about physical strength.

The Sage could use all Magic freely.

Marinka would crush the enemy with long-range attacks using the Elements of fire, water, wind, and earth.

And Sibyl reproduced residual thoughts and converted them into attacks.

“Um, is it just me or does our Party not have a healer?”

“Oookay, let’s search for this rumored guardian deity, shall we? That said, the thing is so strong that normal humans and the other Gimmicks can’t even perceive it. The best way to lure it out is destruction. If we defeat every Gimmick we come across and spread the chaos, the Execution Warrior will detect it and come to us. We’re gonna be sitting in one place hunting all the Gimmicks on this floor, so it’s sure to be a test of endurance!”

“No, it isn’t just me!! And we have to test our endurance without a healer!? So is the best way to survive with this Party makeup getting super aggressive and defeating the enemy before they can defeat us!? Then, Sage, you need to use your Magic to attack, not to support us!!”

Part 9

So.

The three maid sisters were still in the courtyard of Roppongi’s Detached Magic Palace.

“We cannot target the simulator hidden in the subway station closest to the National Diet Building. We would fare no better than last time,” said the oldest sister, Iroka. “But can a simulator really function all on its own? Where does it store the massive amount of data it uses? Where is the server system used to support its communications with the outside world? Where is its power source, temperature control, vibration reduction, dust removal, etc., etc. Most of all, a simulator requires a lot of data input. If it greedily gathers all the big data out there to assist its calculations, then there must be a ton of subsystems in addition to the main simulator.”

“So we have to start at the outer edges of the overall system? Do we really have time for all that?”

“This is meaningless if we do not produce definite results.” Iroka was not green enough to let impatience color her thoughts. “When it has to do with the miss, anyway. That is a lesson you taught me.”

“Um, um.” Haruka, the youngest sister who was like a small animal, had been looking back and forth like a tennis referee, but now she hesitantly raised a hand and spoke. “So, uh, who exactly will we be fighting and what will we be destroying?”

“…”

“Haruka, I have wondered for a while if you are growing an otherworldly lifeform in your heart.”

“Eh? Eh?”

Haruka looked confused and Iroka and Misoka responded with exasperated looks, but she was right in this case. When things grew too complex, it could be useful to rephrase things in a simpler fashion. If they had to fight, they could do it elsewhere. And if it was for their beloved master, that was all the better. What could be simpler?

“Now, a question. What do you need to do to create a system that will never go down even if there is a blackout, a fire, or a largescale EMP attack?”

“Prepare a perfectly identical machine and circuit board.”

“Correct. That is the idea behind nonstop computers. Basically, it’s the rather violent idea that if you have two brains and hearts, you can survive if one or the other is destroyed. Although actually implementing it costs a lot of money. You have to pay double for everything going into maintaining the system.”

The idea of increasing processing speed by using multiple chips for parallel processing was well known, but the advantages of parallel systems did not stop there. Paying for extra equipment was the norm in fields like refrigerated warehouses, germ labs, life support systems, military systems, and anything where you couldn’t just say “sorry, but the power went out”.

Nonstop computers would attach two CPUs to a single circuit board and insert two identical motherboards into a single computer. But if the components were connected with fiber optic cables, they could be anywhere on the planet with no noticeable lag. That was similar to a mirror server or hot standby, but this was different in that the redundant parts still acted as a single large device. Instead of switching entirely over to a new system when a malfunction was detected, the routing of power would switch between the different components on the circuit board. Each of the thousands or tens of thousands of components could be switched between.

“However, nonstop computers do have a flaw. Since A and B are both equally important, they must regularly exchange data to sync up. And if you want the backup to work even after a bombing or an EMP attack, you cannot have them in the same facility.”

“Ohh, I get it.”

“Eh? That was supposed to be an explanation? I thought Onee-chan was just trying to sound smart.”

“Don’t worry, Haruka. That muscular brute Misoka is only pretending to understand.”

“I do to understand!!” snapped back the second sister while blushing red. “You’re saying the backup facility has to be somewhere other than that subway station. And since it never sees the light of day, the security will be a lot lighter. In fact, it may have been forgotten about altogether. The secrecy of the whole system may have come back to bite it in the ass here. And it has to regularly connect with the mainframe to sync up. Now, if we injected a virus into that backup facility, what might find its way into the main system when the next sync comes around?”

“Oh.”

“It’s worth trying, that’s for sure.”

Part 10

The space echoed with the sounds of hard and heavy things bending. Over and over again. Armor broke, gears of various sizes scattered, and all sorts of remains littered the floor.

This destruction was meant to lure out the Execution Warrior. That guardian deity was wandering somewhere in the Labyrinth, but it was so powerful it would not react to normal humans and Gimmicks. It could only be Encountered after producing extraordinary results worthy of its level.

On the unnamed floor at the very bottom of the Labyrinth, the walls were formed out of giant cranks and pistons. Steam roared out as those devices rose and fell in what looked like the underside of a society built from stone and steel.

The Sage spoke cheerfully while lightly swinging a Shining Weapon given a rapier shape by patching together various broken blades.

A magic circle much like Beatrice’s floated behind her back, but it wavered irregularly and was filled with static and sparks.

“What’s with you, Sibyl? You’re awfully motivated today. You normally keep up a composed look of disinterest in worldly matters.”

“Pant, pant, gasp!! D-does it really look like I want to be doing this? We have to defeat them with a preemptive surprise attack before they can move a single step because our stupid Party doesn’t have a healer and a single mistake could mean a serious wound and we have to plan everything out so that we take no damage whatsoever and it’s really all your fault!!”

“Well, since one round wasn’t enough for our greedy elf here, we’ll just have to go for another. I gathered a whole lot of Hate to bring a bunch of insta-kill Gimmicks over here. Look, look. We’re completely surrounded by all these big hard things. We aren’t getting any sleep tonight☆”

“You need to abandon the title of Sage right this instant, you complete and utter morooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!!!!!”

This was a disaster for Sibyl, not because her normal physical abilities were unimpressive, but because this unexplored area had very few residual thoughts for her to draw on. It was humiliating, but she had to us the residual thoughts likely left by Beatrice’s Party when they had pursued Abyss down here.

(Argh, I just wish I could fully draw out the healer’s effects, but it’s only giving me the Mixing knowledge! Can I not make the potions without the ingredients? Dammit!!)

Incidentally, there did not seem to be any residual thoughts for Abyss herself. No matter how much she looked and acted like a living being, she was still artificial.

This destruction was needed to lure out the Execution Warrior, but they were risking their lives more than enough with this.

The Gimmicks this deep were so brutal that it was usually hard to tell what plants or animals they were based off of. One was a cube of stone with swords, spears, and other weapons sticking out, one was a face made out of a spider web that was distorted in agony, and one was a girl with her back split open to grow wings. An entire human Guild might be wiped out by any one of these, but Sibyl did not want to check their actual strength. Whatever the case, they would be annihilated if they did not finish the Gimmicks off with a preemptive surprise attack. Anything that would make them hesitate would be suicidal at this point.

Then she heard a high-pitched sound.

A new light source appeared within the dimly lit Labyrinth. It was a group of Salamander Fire Spirits, the red will-o’-the-wisps summoned by the large and small Marinkas.

“Go forth.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want anyone saying I’m all talk. Here, I’ll help out.”

“Ahhh! Why are you people filling this enclosed space with fire!? Are you legitimately stupid!?”

“Squeal?”

“Life of the forest, if you have time to tilt your head in confusion, then dive to the floor immediately!! Those idiots aren’t Beatrice!! They do not know how to pay attention to their surroundings when spreading destruction around!!”

Sibyl could have shortened that down a bit by omitting things like the “life of the forest” part, but Boo Boo was an obedient soul.

“Okay!”

The nearly-4m pig-faced giant threw himself to the floor as instructed. And this placed him right on top of Sibyl.

“Hold on, that weight might kill me! I didn’t need another idiot in this- gwaaaaaaaghhh!!!???”

She made an odd noise, but the mass of flames passed by overhead and reached the extraordinary Gimmicks.

“That may have been overkill. If they are turned to ashes, you cannot retrieve a weapon from them.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re only trying to lure out the Execution Warrior. And they’re the ones that are overkill. Hey, Boo Boo. Quit getting it on with the Royal Elf in the dark there. She’s probably foaming at the mouth with hearts in her eyes below you.”

As Sibyl trembled while lying face up with her legs spread, she had been pushed so close to the line it no longer qualified as comedy. The Sage had no choice but to use her Magic to summon several acupuncture needles. They could not have their elf traveling to the land beyond comedy, so she stabbed the needles into various parts of Sibyl’s skinny body to fill her with life.

“Ah ha ha. Hee hee hee. So this is the sailor uniform those inn town humans wasted their ingenuity to develop…ah!? Th-that was a dream? What am I doing here???”

“It’s okay, wannabe cosplayer elf, but wipe that drool from your mouth. At least we’re back to something comedic now.”

The ever-capable Sage was the same as always. She was very casual in how she treated anything or anyone.

And the cause of this series of events tilted his head in ignorance.

“Squeal, why did you pass out, Sibyl? You’re surprisingly sensitive. Are you sick? Then you need to eat liver. That’ll fix you up.”

“Heh heh heh. Remember this, Boo Boo. This horny flirt of an elf is no exception. All girls are fragile creatures, so treat us with care, okay?”

“Leave it to me! I’ll tackle anything that comes our way to protect you girls!!”

“I do not need your help!!” shouted Sibyl from the gut while suddenly standing very straight, but Boo Boo snorted like a steam engine thanks to the motivation the Sage had given him. At this point, Sibyl could no longer hold anything back. Not only was she faced with all the powerful Gimmicks ahead of her, but she was surrounded by high-firepower idiots who gave no thought to friendly fire, and the giant pig-nosed rock wall behind her would probably deliver the finishing blow.

At any rate…

“Okayyyy, bring it on Gimmicks! Hurry up and lure out the Execution Warrior! Please hurry!! I don’t think I can survive this friendly fire much longer!!”

“Ha ha ha. You sure are motivated today, Sibyl. You usually try to act all noble and above it all, but are you secretly the masochistic type?”

“The fact that your comment pisses me off instead of exciting me is objective proof that I am normal!!”

“Sibyl, a normal girl’s voice wouldn’t grow so sugary sweet when forced into such an extreme situation. …This is funny. I said it as a joke, but now I’m starting to believe it.”

Sibyl had tears in her eyes, her legs turned inward, a flush on her face, heat in her breaths, an upturned look to her eyes, and sweat soaking her skin, but she was extraordinarily destructive thanks to the residual thoughts she gave physical form. With the sounds of shattering stone and metal, swords and axes fell to the ground along with the remains of their wielders.

“C’mon! Is this good enough for you, Execution Warrior! Is this enough to lure you out!? Answer me yes or no, dammit!!”

“Boo… Now that it’s finally happening, I’m kind of nervous.”

“No one asked for that adorable response right now!!”

“No one asked for your sudden belligerence either.”

“Hm, so she can embody both the S and the M at the same time? Fascinating.”

Boo Boo panicked when Sibyl slapped his butt with her small hand to keep him moving, but he looked up when he noticed something. Sibyl and Marinka looked in the same direction while listening to what he had to say.

“It looks like there’s something even stronger over there.”

It had an imposing form.

What sounded like a heavy millstone spinning was the large head scraping against the ceiling. And the ceiling here was tall enough for Boo Boo to move around without difficulty. Overall, it appeared to be a bipedal giant. Rather than the scraps of cloth and belts wrapped around its sinister body, the most notable part was the rusted steel panels bolted to the rotting flesh to forcibly prevent it from falling apart. The face was hidden by a rusted metal helmet, but that may have been for the best. Its overall balance was tilted because of its extremely enlarged right arm. The large, twisted right hand held a thick knife that was really just a guillotine blade given a handle. And instead of holding the handle in its grip, the handle and the entire hand were tied together with rusted barbed wire.

This enemy did not have a preset title like Gatekeeper or Punishment.

Not even the giant armory itself could keep track of this monster.

The metal shoulder armor and torn shorts were just hanging in place. Any production line had some defective products created in something like a margin of error, but this fearsome threat had far surpassed the expected upper limits of the line.

This guardian deity of the Labyrinth had occurred spontaneously rather than as a part of the plan.

It was the Execution Warrior.

It was the one weapon source that Abyss had failed to hunt down.

They could take their time and observe it because it was bound by the Turn Based system unique to the Labyrinth, but was there any hope of victory? Once their fingertips so much as twitched, an extraordinary attack would descend upon them. No, did this monster even need a specific intent to attack? If the giant simply walked by nearby, it would probably crush all living things in the vicinity.

However.

It happened a moment later.

The Sage did not even glance over at it.

The unsteady magic circle on her back flashed and she made an almost lazy horizontal swing of her patchwork rapier. An explosive roar swept out horizontally.

Sibyl responded to the explosion in this enclosed space by using her thumb and forefinger to pinch her small nose rather than covering her long ears. And she tried to breath out through the supposedly blocked nose. This method of clearing the ears was used when diving as well. But even with that, she could only count herself lucky that the rapid pressure change from the noise and shockwave had not ruptured her eardrums.

However.

Even so.

“Boo…”

That noise interrupted the odd ringing that refused to leave her ears. Unarmed Boo Boo stepped out in front of the Royal Elf who was doubled over to endure the blast and he moved as if to distance her from the threat.

“Be careful, Sibyl. That thing is still moving.”

“You’re kidding…right?”

The Execution Warrior was a defective product that had gathered extraordinary power that not even the giant armory had predicted.

It had been pushed back to the side wall by the Sage’s explosion, but that was all.

The Labyrinth used a Turn-Based combat system, but their unnecessary movements during the chaos had worked against them. Beatrice or Philinnion were used to it, so they would not have forgotten to restrict their number of movements even when in a crisis and feeling woozy.

When Boo Boo and the others moved, their enemy would too.

It loosely clenched its empty left hand into a fist and lightly punched the wall to push itself out.

That was all.

That was all, yet the fearsome tremor it caused shook the entire Labyrinth vertically. Sibyl’s feet were truly knocked about 10cm up from the floor and the large and small Archangels flapped their four wings.

It moved.

The extraordinary guardian deity finally took a step forward using a leg with shin armor barely attached.

The Sage spun her patchwork rapier around and laughed fiercely.

“This looks like it’s gonna be fun.”

Their enemy was big enough to scrape its head against the tall ceiling.

It was a mass of power with its rotting ribs contained by rusted armor plating.

The scraps of cloth that had once been shorts cried out in protest.

The giant knife was really just a guillotine blade attached to a handle and it was directly tied to the monster’s hand with rusty barbed wire.

A close-range battle with the Execution Warrior would clearly be a bad idea, so the first to act were the Sage and Marinka. It would be best to keep their distance while destroying it with their projectile Magic and Elements, but…

“Watch out, Sibyl!” shouted Marinka.

Before the Royal Elf could react, Boo Boo grabbed her slender waist in his large hand and jumped to the side.

If he had been an instant slower.

No, if he had been half an instant slower, Sibyl might have been bisected top to bottom by that thick knife. The Execution Warrior could not raise the weapon in preparation since its own rusted helmet was scraping against the ceiling, so the attack took a somewhat diagonal path before smashing the floor.

When had it gotten so close?

This was not some clever trick. The Execution Warrior’s greatest weapon was its giant body. It had incredible reach. Obscuring their vision with flames and dust would only work against them.

A high-pitched sound filled the area.

It came from Sibyl’s circlet which shined with three blue lights. The three royal treasures there could see everything, and yet…

“I can’t see anything?”

Sibyl had shut her eyes while Boo Boo carried her, but when she frowned, it was out of confusion rather than displeasure.

“I can’t see a weakness or a prediction of its next move? But the three royal treasures are supposed to reveal any and all secrets.”

“They can’t see what’s going on in Earth’s Tokyo, right? This defective product is too much for them. It’s so wrong in so many ways that the treasures might be treating it like a resident of another world!”

Even this distance was not out of its range.

The Sage changed how she held her patchwork rapier. She clearly intended to directly block an attack with the blade.

“And don’t grow too reliant on the one trump card you have! Your own equipment will trip you up, Sibyl!!”

The Execution Warrior’s giant twisted right arm moved in a circular motion.

It seemed to be checking on how its shoulder was doing. But it did not stop there. The motion unnaturally continued from the shoulder to the hips, to the legs, and to the rest of that body wearing scraps of cloth and belts.

It was similar to the hammer throw.

Or a spin attack with a sword.

The all-destroying steel cyclone gradually approached Boo Boo and the others. Sibyl’s eyes widened with her slender waist still held, but…

“Everyone, stop!!”

On the Sage’s shouted instruction, they all froze.

At the same time, the mass of muscle contained by rusted armor also stopped in a very unnatural pose. Its belts and tattered shorts strained.

This was Turn Based battle.

As long as they did not move, neither would their enemy.

They could eliminate the momentum of any attack that picked up speed with a running start or rotation.

That said…

“What do we do now?”

Marinka made a conscious effort to not tilt her heads as she spoke.

The beheading blade was frozen in place while held horizontally. The belts and rusted armor covering the Execution Warrior’s body were audibly straining. The momentum of its spin had stopped, but once it could move again, the strength of that one arm would be enough to slice through all of their torsos in one go. They were already in the path of the handheld guillotine.

They could not remain motionless forever.

The Sage gave Boo Boo a sidelong glance to avoid turning her head.

“Boo Boo, once we start moving, make sure you protect Sibyl. When it comes to pure durability, the Royal Elf is the most fragile one here.”

“Squeal.”

A moment later, the Sage and Marinka’s projectiles slammed into Boo Boo instead of the Execution Warrior.

He could not have fallen back by foot in time, so they used the explosive blast to send their ally back to relative safety.

That action meant the extraordinary guardian deity had resumed moving as well.

With a disconcerting creak from all its armor, it made a horizontal slash with its blade. Almost like it was slicing through the dust created by the explosion. Its goal was clearly to prevent any of them from escaping out of range. It wanted to slice through as many hips as possible.

However.

There was no one there.

The explosion was a bluff.

The Sage had made it look like they were falling back when they actually leaped forward with all their might. The pursuing attack naturally used a wide swing. When they knew the motionless Execution Warrior was going to swing its weapon horizontally like that, they could duck down or fly up to avoid it.

“Did you really think we were going to openly discuss our tactics right in front of the enemy!?”

Instead of running right up to the tattered shorts, the Sage circled around to the enemy’s back. She swung her patchwork rapier, increased its cutting power with Magic, and pierced the rotting flesh through a gap between armor panels.

“Melt Cutting.”

It sounded like meat pressed against a hot griddle.

“And you didn’t think I was going to stop there, did you!?”

Dozens and even hundreds of Fire Magic attacks were unleashed from the Shining Weapon rapier stabbed deep inside. It was less like a shotgun than it was detonating a bomb embedded in the enemy’s body. The belts, the shorts, and the rotting flesh within splattered everywhere.

But.

Even then.

“This isn’t over yet, Sage! Get away from there!!”

“?”

Even the Sage seemed surprised by this. The magic circle on her back shined bright as she frantically tried to pull out her skinny sword, but the rotting muscles must have forcibly held it in place. She could not get it out.

It moved.

The Execution Warrior in its rusted helmet tried to use the rotation of turning to slam the insta-kill guillotine attack into the Sage.

But.

But.

But.

Boo Boo gently lowered Sibyl to the floor, and…

“Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!”

With a great cry, he grabbed not the Execution Warrior’s weapon but its giant twisted upper arm. More specifically, he grabbed the rusted armor forcibly preventing the rotting muscles from falling apart.

The swing of the arm using the guardian deity’s own strength helped him here.

Boo Boo used both hands to peel away the steel panels and a raw sound echoed around them. The loss of its support somehow caused the enlarged right arm to break apart, tear off, and fly spinning away with the thick knife still barbwired to the hand.

“The inside was not your true form.”

There was a throbbing mass in front of them.

It was the rusted armor Boo Boo had forcibly peeled away. It was squirming on its own like a spring.

“The rotting flesh was just rotting flesh. Gimmicks are generally clockwork devices, aren’t they? Squeal, this armor is your true form, so it doesn’t matter how much we sliced up the inside!”

Now that they knew the answer, Boo Boo began tearing away the armor with both hands and the Sage’s patchwork rapier moved as if prying univalves from a rock. The remaining left arm was diverted out of the way by an explosive projectile from Marinka.

Luggage Girl Sibyl spoke in a daze.

“Is it…over?”

All of the rusted armor had been pulled off, but the bloody flesh continued to squirm.

The Sage snapped her fingers and spoke.

“There’s something inside. Let’s pull it out.”

With a horrible tearing sound, Boo Boo shoved his hand into the back of the Execution Warrior’s neck and pulled something from the rotting flesh.

This one thing was not rotting or rusted.

It was not the same as pure silver or iron. It had the heavy glow of well-forged steel. It had pierced down the core of the Execution Warrior’s body like a spine, but it was actually a large sword. It was more than two meters long, so the length and weight of that thick single-edged blade would be too much for the average person.

Forget Good and Evil.

That was carved into the side of the blade.

“Squeal…”

The back of the blade was shaped somewhat like a spine and Boo Boo held it aloft in one hand.

No words were necessary here.

This was the last weapon Abyss had failed to take.

This was the moment in which it became Boo Boo’s new partner.

Part 11

There was a thick transparent foothold there.

At that altitude, it was in outer space rather than the sky.

Someone clung to it with all fours like an insect while observing something. She had no oxygen tank or airtight suit. That smooth exposed silhouette looked like a lovely girl in a swimsuit.

She was Ground’s Nir Reject Sky.

That runaway ultimate weapon continued obeying her initial command even after killing the Hero who had created her and given her said command.

“…”

The command was to crate an artificial atmospheric barrier and forever preserve it.

But a weapon was only a weapon, so she had a strong tendency to use certain solutions to any problem or obstacle she ran across.

In other words…

(Setting top priority target. Detecting Magic of the humans who are attempting to obstruct my initial task. Registering the human inn town as a target to eliminate their physical workspace. Selecting weapon. Searching options 1 through 28,000. Simulating effective destruction range. Method of maximum effect determined. Locking on.)

Instead of keeping her warm, her two-piece outfit was meant to increase the surface area for heat to escape and the many arms attached to the back of her hips like a nine-tailed fox began to squirm. The Hero’s Spear, the Hero’s Shield, the Hero’s Axe, the Hero’s Crossbow, etc. Sky was equipped with these weapons after borrowing them from her creator for safekeeping, but she only cared about her initial objective. She would use whatever was available to her, so she did not hesitate in the slightest.

Those were no more than devices meant to manage Magic, but the Abyss incident had already proven that an ultimate weapon could use Magic. And since they were not bound by the limits of humanity, artificial beings like Abyss and Sky could produce much greater and wider damage.

(Removing hardware and software safety restrictions. Omitting countdown.)

If she fired down on the surface from the upper atmosphere, the masses in their puny flesh bodies would never stand a chance. The entire inn town would be annihilated as if crushed by a giant meteor.

She selected a long lance to aim down from the heavens. High-voltage electricity crackled around its unique, cannon-like silhouette.

Thanks to the cracks spreading from the eight holes, there was a missing part about the size of a small lake. She resented the damage, but she was willing to use that hole to attack the surface before closing it up.

Her mechanical eyes glowed a yellow of warning. The yellow light on the side of her hips spread out like a skirt and a twisted, constellation-like magic circle glowed brighter above her head.

Her lips moved just once.

“Shoot.”

A fearsome beam of light surged out to pierce the center of the inn town and blow it away.

But that was not what happened.

In a form of resistance, an identical beam of light shot up from a point on the surface and collided with Sky’s attack at the midpoint. The explosion erupted quite high in the sky. No human could have done this. Sky quickly arrived at the only other possibility.

(The other model?)

That should have been impossible.

She was aware of Abyss’s existence, but Abyss had taken critical damage to the head and would have difficulty moving her limbs properly.

But Sky’s assumptions were shattered by the direct contact that reached her.

“ID Code Abyss to Sky. Transmitting on in f-ch mode to cover all channels. Can you hear me?”

“?”

“Contact confirmed. Using response conditions to estimate coordinate data. I have located you, Sky.”

This was no time to be outputting an error report on the unexpected situation. A yellow warning triangle glowed below her chest. She immediately activated her ECM and scattered more than 50,000 kinds of deceptive readings in the outer atmosphere, but she knew Abyss would use her ECCM in response. The deceptive readings would be quickly neutralized and she would be located once more. That game of cat and mouse was not enough to shake Abyss. Abyss would connect the points of data to pursue her location.

“How?”

Sky still did not understand what was happening.

“How is this possible!?”

Had Abyss restarted Ground’s Nir to repair herself? No, that giant armory was not running and it would normally replace all the hardware if there was a problem. So to repair components as delicate as the brain or spinal cord, it would end up creating an entirely new Abyss. Sky doubted a new Abyss would try to protect the lifeforms on the island surface like this.

Then what was this?

Had the technology of that idyllic island really repaired an ultra-precise combat machine like Abyss!? Who had done it and how!?

Part 12

The answer was quite simple.

We can rewind time a bit to see it.

“Meridiana, is this it?”

“Yes, it seems to be basically the same as with Beatrice’s Shining Weapon.”

The palm-sized Fairies fluttered around the brick house while its owner was out. Meridiana, Alice, and the others were at the bottom of the food chain, but no predators would attack them if they shared an Iberian Orc’s home. They could feel safer here than in their own village.

The Fairy sisters were using their tiny hands to roll up pure gold threads which were thinner than hair. They had used the same thing to repair the broken Shining Weapon and extract data from it. That work had ended in failure, but they still had the technique itself.

In other words, they knew how to reconnect broken semiconductors to bring precise machinery back into working order.

At their size, the work was like propping up the human-sized head with a jack and looking up at the back of the girl’s neck from below, but…

“W-wow!! Her nape opened up!”

“Don’t act so surprised, Alice. It’s rude. We came here because she needs our help.”

When working on Beatrice’s Shining Weapon, White Witch Philinnion had disinfected everything with her potions and Fighter Priest Hermelina had used her blunt weapon to alter the wind, so the Cave of Tears had been clean.

But this brick house was impressive in its own way thanks to the materials used. The Fairies had brought dirt and sap as a stopgap measure, but they actually expected it to be quite clean already. Because given Boo Boo’s normal level of hygiene, they had needed to build him a very clean house so he could stay healthy.

Abyss had not expected this at all.

With skill like this, the Fairies might be able to leave their position as observers.

“Gather, gather, gather…”

“#2 and #3 need to cross over to #74 and #91.”

The plans had been left by Boo Boo since he was the only one who could speak with Abyss. His relayed message was full of illustrations and difficult to decipher in places, but as long as the wiring diagram was accurate, nothing else mattered.

Once the environment was set up, they only had to keep working at it. Meridiana and Alice had done this once before, so they were not nervous and they worked even more smoothly than last time.

“Um, all the wires are hooked up now.”

“If we get the broken neck part back into place, we’re done. Let’s fill in the cracks with Sticky Glue.”

“Hold on, Alice. Let’s do this.”

“Understood, Meridiana. We can give her a brand new set of those high-tech clothes. Providing more than asked for is how Fairies help out!”

And.

The silver-haired girl sat up and cracked her neck to see how it was doing.

“Did it work?”

“Alice, she got up fine, so I’d say it did.”

The answer to the Fairies’ question was yes, but Abyss viewed it in a much deeper way.

First of all, this island was technically a giant armory. Once the ultimate weapon was completed, it was supposed to cease functioning and give all its energy and materials to Abyss - which meant the island self-destructed. Abyss had “committed suicide” to prevent that.

But Abyss was functioning properly once more and yet the island had not begun to fall apart. The silver-haired girl finally breathed a sigh of relief.

(Boo Boo must have done what I asked.)

When Boo Boo was headed to the bottom of the Labyrinth, she had asked him to partially destroy the processor in the core of the armory. Destroying it too much would cause the island to fall apart, but leaving too much functionality would allow it to offer the island up to Abyss. Getting it just right was something only Boo Boo could do with his ability to directly detect the flow of electricity to the point of rewriting a Shining Weapon’s profile data. Abyss doubted she herself could have done it. And because he had done that, she did not need to commit suicide again.

The Iberian Orcs were supposed to be her nemesis.

But without his power, she never could have been saved.

Her neck was fixed.

She was missing one arm and she had no weapons.

She would have to use the Central Shaft like Boo Boo’s group had, visit the Labyrinth, and gather some parts with adequate specs.

“After deceiving everyone, I was afraid I would have to watch and wait from a position of safety. But now that I can, I have determined I must stand on the front line as the ultimate weapon.”

She spoke carefully as if seeing how her vocal cords were doing.

This too was a blessing the Fairies had given her.

She was no longer conversing via data. She was using the voice of her own physical body.

She listed up her immediate work tasks while walking out of the brick house, but then she looked up into the sky and whispered.

A magic circle very different from the ones the humans used appeared over her head.

Its twisted glow was somehow similar to Sky’s.

“Not so fast, Sky. You can no longer use the difference in technological level to have your way.”

Part 13

It all came to fruition.

She wore a high-tech black outfit made from a racing swimsuit cut down to size and belt-style supporters. Her one arm was made from a sturdy piece stolen from a clockwork Gimmick. And the three-fingered arms coming from her back all held weapons. Ultimate Weapon Abyss was back in the fight.

Boo Boo was not the only one who had acquired new equipment in the Labyrinth.

A fearsome beam of light was launched from the surface and it protected the inn town from the deadly attack descending down from the heavens.