Chapter 209: Clever Tricks Part 4

I shifted my grip on the sword to my left hand. It was a clear sign that I was about to start playing dirty.

I wasn’t left-handed… but right now, technique wasn’t the priority.

“Hehehe…”

I activated the Babel Gear embedded in my right arm.

I couldn’t use it properly yet, but at the very least, I could change the shape of my arm.

“Let’s go with something solid.”

I morphed my right arm into the shape of a shield.

Its durability was probably about the same as its appearance suggested. It was likely not enough to withstand a full-force blow.

As far as using the Babel Gear went, this was wildly inefficient.

But that’s exactly why it was worth using.

With this, my right side was secured.

The cursed sword in my left hand would make up for the lack of skill.

Right now, I had established a more solid defense than ever before.

“……”

Ryute’s response to my reinforced defense was simple.

– Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeei!!

He turned up his Gear.

More currents raced across his armor, and blood-red steam began seeping from the gaps in his suit.

Thud!

I was staring directly at him, and still, I missed his movement—

A speed unthinkable for such a heavy body.

And the destructive power that followed… needless to say, it was immense.

“Ghk!”

Clang!

But I responded in time.

To be precise, I was able to respond because I knew exactly where he would aim.

Since his target was the Babel Gear in my right arm, he had no choice but to go for my left side.

On top of that, he’s a Holy Knight. He doesn’t actually want to kill me.

So his point of attack was obvious.

Going for the head? Even a weak blow could be fatal, so that’s off the table.

Aiming low at the legs? I could shift the shield to block that, so that’s unlikely.

That left just two options: my left upper body or my back.

But going for the rear would be awkward given the limited mobility of his armor.

Of course, the most important factor is…

“You’re still not strong enough, are you?”

He needed enough firepower to completely break through my defenses.

Ryute must’ve thought that, with his Gear powered up to this level, he could shatter my sword along with it.

But this was no ordinary sword. It was a masterpiece forged by Professor Georg and Senior Jabir, and now it was cloaked in sword energy.

A mediocre attack isn’t going to break through that.

Which left him with two options.

Thud!

Keep going for the gaps, or power up his Gear even further.

He chose the first option.

Naturally, the second comes with serious risks.

That blood-red steam pouring out from the seams of his armor? It’s real blood.

By using the Spur Gear to seize control of his nervous system and unlock the brain’s natural limits, he was drawing out power beyond his body’s capacity.

Of course it was taking a toll.

Ryute’s armor, from the beginning, wasn’t so much for defense as it was for stabilizing his body and supplying blood.

Even if divine power could heal the strain on his body, it couldn’t replenish the blood he lost.

“…Haa.”

Ryute was simple.

Even more so than I had imagined.

At this point, he had no choice but to think in terms of a prolonged battle.

And in that kind of situation, the one who benefits… is me.

Thud!

My sword and his hammer clashed again.

But the situation was different from earlier.

I’d already blocked his hammer several times now.

I knew where he was aiming; I’d gotten used to his timing and speed.

Yeah, I could see it now.

“Got you.”

As I blocked the hammer, I slid my sword between the handle and the head of the weapon.

Crunch!

The mouth on the cursed sword began to chew through the hammer’s handle.

With a weapon that huge, the handle was bound to take stress.

Sure, he probably accounted for that and made the handle out of metal…

But still, wielding something that heavy would’ve created hidden strain.

So with just a bit of extra force…

Crack!

…I could break it like this.

“Hmm…”

Ryute let out a low groan as he stared at his hammer, now missing its head.

I’d just eliminated his most threatening weapon.

I’d had to expend a considerable amount myself in the process, but…

“Will you continue?”

The situation had changed now.

I let the aura on my sword fade, which I had been sustaining by pushing my mana to the limit.

Now that his hammer was broken, there was no need to keep forcing it.

“So that’s how it is. Seems I’ve been dragged into this. How foolish of me.”

Ryute threw aside the hammer, now reduced to just its handle.

Screeeeeeeeeech!!!

Then, he shifted gears.

“You intend to die.”

I didn’t ask why.

Maybe it was because I’d seen too many people who staked their lives on things like this.

Strangely enough, I could stay calm.

Instead, I coated my sword with aura once again. Even that made me feel faint, but I had no choice.

He was prepared to die.

He had surely abandoned any thoughts of letting me live.

His next strike would aim for my neck.

“Well, then there’s no helping it.”

The Unmoving Knight Ryute would now truly try to kill me.

***

The Scriptwriter Deus was watching the battle between Johan and Ryute.

He was the one who had sparked the conflict in the first place.

He had anticipated how Ryute would act and had already prepared to secretly observe their fight.

“Ryute is a foolish man.”

Surprisingly, Ryute was one of the few who had encountered Deus’s true form.

More precisely, their contact point had been at the hospital Deus had set up as a front.

“He wasn’t a clever man. Clumsy, even ignorant.”

The Scriptwriter commented as he watched the battle between the two unfold on the screen.

Ryute had fallen for every trap Johan set. He blindly tried to deal with only what was right in front of him.

While he’d planned up to the point of Johan Damus’s attack, the moment a situation arose outside that plan, his shortcomings began to show.

“In the past, Creta wasn’t a trade city but one of Elysium’s churches.”

Nowadays, the emperor had crushed the Elysium Church, but still.

Deus chuckled and added,

“Ryute was a fine priest but a terrible leader. The title of Holy Knight Commander of the Creta Church never suited him. He probably knew that himself.”

“…He’s a lot like me, then.”

“Better not say that in front of Ryute. He’d see it as deception.”

The Scriptwriter scoffed at Theseus’s somber tone.

Theseus was someone who could have been a great leader. He just threw everything away.

“Because he knew his own shortcomings, he tried to make up for them in every way he could. He was the kind of fool who’d barge into my hospital asking about the effects of some herbs he picked from the mountains.”

He knew his weaknesses and did everything he could to overcome them.

“Back then, I had no real interest in that ignorant holy knight. I never once considered recruiting him as an ex machina.”

“Then why did you…?”

“Because I saw his resolve with my own eyes. I knew that burning flame of his would never go out.”

Ryute’s wife had been doomed to die.

It was a certainty. Even Deus, the leader of Ex Machina, hadn’t seen any hope.

In the end, Ryute lost his wife, and before long, he lost his child as well.

Deus, who had been observing the whole process as a doctor, tossed Ryute the emblem of Ex Machina without much thought. It was a flicker of sympathy toward a man consumed by guilt and grief.

“As a result, he ended up rising to the rank of executive. Of course, the process wasn’t smooth. He was an idiot, after all.”

After leaving the Elysium Diocese and becoming a member of Ex Machina,

It took Ryute sixty years to reach the position of executive.

In other words, he burned with resolve for sixty years straight.

“I know what he’s after. I know he’s been biding his time, waiting for an opportunity. But I also know that even while watching for a chance, he’s remained silent, shaking with frustration over his own incompetence.”

Ryute had long set his sights on the other executives’ gears, but unfortunately, he never had the chance to act.

Even that much had become predictable.

Even if he gained the upper hand in strength, in the end, he stood to lose more.

That’s why the existence of the Babel Gear must’ve looked like a golden opportunity to him.

If he could just get his hands on a second gear easily, he could use that power to hunt down the others.

“But look at him now. He’s already as good as failed. He invested too much into this plan.”

A body exuding blood-red steam.

No matter how much he had once trained to the extreme, he couldn’t withstand the passage of time.

His once-powerful body had aged, and even moving now cost him blood.

“But Ryute is a man who’s lived on sheer willpower. Johan Damus doesn’t know how to deal with people like that.”

Johan doesn’t understand.

He’s always dealt with those stronger than himself, so he couldn’t possibly know—

The kind of determination possessed by someone like him, or even stronger. Someone who, in a way, is just like Johan.

“The flame of resolve burning within the weaker side can sometimes surpass even wisdom and strategy.”

The relationship between the two had reversed.

Ryute, caught in Johan Damus’s scheme, now stood in the position of the weak, not the strong.

And he accepted that.

In contrast, Johan Damus doesn’t understand.

What it means when someone weaker lays everything on the line in a life-or-death struggle.

“…Why did you provoke the fight? If you foresaw this outcome, doesn’t that mean the boy will just be a one-sided victim?”

Theseus couldn’t help but fidget with the sword at his waist, torn between staying or jumping into the fray.

That boy was never supposed to be the target of such burning will and desperation.

“It had to be done. Theseus, do you really think that kid could’ve lived a normal life? It’s unfortunate, but it’s impossible. He’s already come much farther than he ever imagined.”

Johan was already cornered.

As the one who knew his situation best, it was all too easy to see the future unfolding for the Scriptwriter.

At this rate, Johan would die.

Even with someone else’s help, he was fated to be consumed by the raging flames of the war to come.

Run away? That wouldn’t work either.

He could see the future. That’s why he wrote a script for a future in which Johan Damus survives.

“And Theseus. You don’t know.”

“…What?”

“That kid isn’t as weak as you think.”

This fight was fair.

That’s how he wrote the script.

In other words, it meant that even against Ryute, who was burning with determination, Johan still had a chance at victory.

“He’s got a talent of his own, that guy.”

***

Ryute was barehanded.

Yes, even after losing his hammer, he hadn’t given up the fight.

It was the first time facing this kind of resolve. At this point, most would’ve admitted defeat….but he charged forward like a man with nothing left to lose.

“Hup!”

Crack!

A blade of energy, squeezed out from the last of my mana, slashed across Ryute’s chest.

Normally, that would’ve been the end of it.

But even as his armor shattered and the soft flesh underneath was exposed, Ryute didn’t stop charging.

“No way…”

I thought that last strike would settle it. That was a naïve assumption.

Even after taking what could only be called a fatal wound, he refused to give up.

He wasn’t fighting for tomorrow. He was fighting like someone who only lived for today.

Pushing his gear to its absolute limit, Ryute instantly corrected his stance.

As if he couldn’t even feel pain, he grabbed my right shoulder and left wrist and twisted.

“Guh!”

The sword in my left hand dropped.

My right arm linked to the Babel Gear hung limp. It was paralyzed.

Then Ryute, having pinned me, opened his mouth wide.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Wham!

Seeing him move to sink his teeth into my right arm, I twisted my body with all I had and kicked him in the jaw.

Had he already lost his sanity?

Does he really have to go this far?

Or does he just think there’s no turning back once he’s started?

Either way, it’s terrifying.

“Hand over the Babel Gear.”

At this point, I almost feel like I should just cut off my own arm and give it to him. Just to spare myself the pain.

Maybe that would be the better option?

“……”

…Why should I?

I can’t let it end like this.

I’ve had enough.

Am I just supposed to keep taking losses and hand over what’s mine without a fight?

“Manifest. Mephistopheles.”

“Understood. So, what do I do?”

“Die.”

“Huh?”

I grabbed Mephistopheles now manifested in the form of a puppy and hurled him.

I wasn’t expecting much.

Just enough to block his vision.

“What the—?!”

From Ryute’s perspective, a dog had suddenly appeared out of thin air.

It flew straight at his face. Of course he’d be caught off guard.

It was enough to obscure his sight and disrupt his judgment.

I’d already figured out that Ryute’s split-second decision-making wasn’t his strong suit.

“Hup!”

Right after throwing Mephistopheles, I picked up the sword that had fallen to the ground.

My left arm was broken. I gripped the sword with my still-intact right hand.

Channeling mana was out of the question.

But the enemy’s body was already in shambles.

If I pushed the Babel Gear’s abilities to the limit, I wouldn’t need mana to finish this.

“What—?!”

Ryute, only now recognizing Mephistopheles as a threat that needed to be dealt with, swung at him.

No…he tried to, but couldn’t.

“Gah!”

Crack!

Because I struck first.

I swung the sword and cut through Ryute, Mephistopheles included.

It’s not like Mephistopheles would die from something like this anyway.

If helping out like this meant anything, I’m sure he’d be glad.

“Argh! Johan Damus! How could you do this to me?!”

Or not.

***

Theseus was watching the outcome of the battle unfold, together with Deus.

And now, he finally understood what Deus had meant.

“I see it now.”

Johan Damus had always seemed ordinary. At least, to Theseus he had.

All his schemes had been for escape. He wasn’t one to embrace a fight.

But at some point, he had changed. It was like he’d become a different person altogether.

The boy who had once poured all his strength into running away was now doing everything he could to kill his opponent.

“That boy’s greatest strength is…”

The boy swung his sword again and again.

Ryute’s armor was torn apart by the crude strikes, and in the end, the frail body hidden beneath it was pierced through.

“His decisiveness, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Once he made up his mind to do something,

The boy could throw everything he had into it without hesitation.