Chapter 216: A Frog in a Well Part 5

What I created using the Babel Gear was a single cable.

Given the properties of fiber, the best I could do was to emphasize its elasticity and flexibility.

And most importantly, whatever I created like this was connected to my arm.

“I’m really starting to feel like a villain.”

I grimaced as I looked at the whip writhing from my right arm.

I made it myself, but it was grotesque.

Anyone with a weak stomach would probably faint on the spot just from seeing it.

The only unfortunate part was that none of the barbarians had weak stomachs.

They were the kind who chewed on raw flesh. This wouldn’t faze them in the slightest.

Well, not that it mattered.

“All right, then…”

I wrapped the whip around my right arm.

It was an external enhancement added to the arm already reinforced by Babel Gear.

And on top of that, one more thing—

“Gah!”

Screeeeeeeeech!!

I activated the Spur Gear mixed into the Babel Gear.

This one wasn’t limited to just my arm.

The current that began from my right arm coursed through my entire body.

It felt like my arm was being torn apart. But if I couldn’t endure this pain, I’d never make it through what came next.

“…Haa. I swear, I never want to do this again.”

It wasn’t until the veins bulged up to my neck that I finally managed to suppress the pain.

Did Ryute endure this kind of pain without flinching?

No, maybe not? He was wearing armor, after all. Maybe I was just an idiot for taking the full brunt of the Spur Gear’s burden with my bare body.

“All right then.”

Having overcome the pain, I quickly readied my stance. The gears came with significant drawbacks, despite their immense power.

The biggest problem? The noise.

Emily had apparently modified her gears to eliminate the noise issue, but I didn’t know how to do that. I hadn’t even properly created my gear in the first place…

“Hup!”

Craaaash!!

I smashed through the wall.

The door was made of iron, so breaking through the wall was much easier.

It also made for a better surprise attack.

“Hup!”

Honestly, just breaking through the wall and escaping would’ve been the simplest route, but in my current condition, that would be a suicide mission.

There was a reason I broke through the wall specifically.

“Just as I thought.”

It was for one thing. Mr. Georg’s cursed sword, which had been confiscated when I was captured.

I didn’t expect they’d keep it so close. Then again, I suppose they figured I was locked in my room and wouldn’t know anyway.

They say the darkest place is right beneath the lamp, and honestly, even if I tried to escape, they probably wouldn’t have thought to check the room right next door.

I only figured this out thanks to the unique properties of the Babel Gear.

“Good thing I marked it.”

The Babel Gear manipulates fibers, including biological tissue.

And Mr. Georg’s cursed sword incorporates biotechnology.

The eye embedded in the sword isn’t just for show. It’s a type of homunculus, a masterpiece created by Senior Jabir.

Thanks to that, I was able to synchronize it with the Babel Gear early on, which meant I could detect its location even when we were apart.

“Come.”

I reached out my hand.

That was all it took. The cursed sword flew straight into my grasp.

Seeing it like this, it really does feel like a cursed blade.

“All right, then.”

With the sword in hand, I slowly turned around.

“Honored guest.”

“Ah, save it. I know what you’re going to say. Let’s not waste energy with pointless talk and just settle this the way you people do.”

Whether it was a warning or an attempt to persuade me, it didn’t matter at this point.

My opponent probably knew that too but was trying to say it out of courtesy.

Still, was there any point in courtesy between us?

“You seem confident.”

“Yeah.”

Sure, my opponent was going easy on me, but still… I’m the one who took down a top executive of Ex Machina.

And I even looted the Spur Gear from his corpse.

Even if my personal combat ability isn’t that great, with gear like this, I’ve earned the right to be confident.

“Yeah, I’m feeling pretty confident.”

Naturally.

Craaash!

That’s because I never intended to fight in the first place.

I smashed through the wall again. This time, it was the one near the window.

Who in their right mind insists on a head-on battle while trying to escape?

Even if I had to fight, all I needed to focus on was breaking through the encirclement while running.

“Hup!”

And the escape itself? Simple enough.

After all, what was it I made with the Babel Gear?

“For this one moment, I really feel like a hero.”

I swung the whip made from woven fibers and launched myself into the air.

I wrapped it around the flagpole of the building across the way and began my escape, tracing a swift arc through the air.

No skill required.

That whip was practically a part of my arm. And with the Babel Gear assisting, failure wasn’t even likely. It was harder to mess it up.

Of course, there were drawbacks.

“Did you really think you could escape with just that?”

“I figured it wouldn’t be easy.”

For one, my right hand was essentially sealed. I wasn’t moving with my legs. I was relying on gravity and momentum.

Meanwhile, the barbarians were on a whole other level when it came to physical ability.

With a single leap, the butler who had pursued me closed the distance and slashed at me with a dagger.

Let’s take stock of the situation.

A barbarian attacking from above with a dagger.

My right hand immobilized by the fiber whip.

And the cursed sword I was holding in my right hand couldn’t be swung either.

At a glance, the situation looked precarious.

“But can you change direction midair?”

Still, I didn’t choose this method of movement just because it was easy.

“Hup!”

Clang!

I swung the sword.

Naturally, doing so released the whip that had been wrapped around me. There was no helping that.

It may have looked like I sacrificed one thing to block the opponent’s blade.

But my opponent still didn’t understand.

“I can change direction midair.”

“What the—?!”

I am an Ex Machina member.

Someone who doesn’t fit into the mold of conventional thinking.

I shot off in a new direction, my body twisting in the air at a sharp right angle as if something had yanked me.

At the same moment I swung my sword, I redirected the loosened whip toward another building.

That impossible maneuver was only possible because the thing I was swinging wasn’t just a weapon.

The enemy still didn’t realize—

That what I was swinging wasn’t an ordinary whip but an extension of my own body, sprouting from my arm.

“I see…”

But the butler who had been chasing me, the one who had just been flung away, smiled.

It was the smile of a barbarian who had cast aside the mask of civilization.

“Haha!”

I had put some distance between us.

And without any means of moving midair, that distance would only grow wider.

But I could still see him.

That beast, now on the ground, sprinting toward me with everything he had.

A monster who closed that vast distance in an instant, overturning the situation with sheer physical strength alone.

“…Unbelievable. Seriously.”

Some unheard-of extra has that kind of physical ability?

Or not? Maybe it’s because he had that kind of physique from the start that the Great Warrior was willing to trust him.

I don’t know if I should take it as a sign he rated me that highly… or if he just wasted a valuable asset.

Either way, the situation had shifted drastically.

“Yeah, this is the kind of work I do.”

I retracted the whip once more and wrapped it around my arm.

He’s not an opponent I can shake off easily. If I don’t neutralize him here, I can’t move forward.

“Hup!”

Clang!

Thankfully, there wasn’t much of a difference in strength. No…if anything, I’ve got the upper hand.

With my body enhanced by the Babel Gear and Spur Gear, even a barbarian couldn’t take me lightly.

Of course, power never comes without a price.

Through the Spur Gear, I had forcibly pushed past my limits, and sooner or later I’d have to pay for it.

If it ends with just muscle pain, I’ll consider myself lucky.

“Haha! Holding up pretty well with that flimsy body of yours!”

The butler had thrown off not just civilization, but even basic decency.

The fall from grace was staggering.

How could anyone see the same person in the refined man who used to call me “Honored Guest” with such courtesy and the beast now crawling through the dirt, spitting insults?

“I’m more of a hidden-muscle type!”

But unlike me who had pushed my physical ability past its limits for just a moment, this was his everyday.

I was being dragged along by the strength. I couldn’t fully control the enhanced abilities myself.

That meant I was bound to fall behind.

“Ugh!”

Once.

I failed to block the dagger he swung and took a hit.

Thankfully, the spot it struck was where the Babel Gear was.

The crude dagger couldn’t cut through my arm and got stuck.

A chance… or so I thought, but I was just a bit too slow to react.

Since I held my sword in my right hand, I couldn’t properly exploit the opening.

“Phew…”

Realizing his attack didn’t work on my right arm, the beast backed off.

I was lucky this time.

There won’t be a next.

That meant I had to take him down in the shortest time possible.

First, I shifted to defense.

Using my right arm as the central axis, I kept adjusting my position relative to his movements.

“Haha!”

Then, as if mocking me, the enemy started darting around the area.

Should I say as expected of a wolf beastkin?

The beast’s movements, racing freely in all directions, were almost too fast for the eye to follow.

With his body kept low to the ground, it was even harder to spot him.

If I let myself get distracted like this, he’ll sink his teeth into the back of my neck.

Drip.

I felt something running from my eyes.

In my attempt to track his movements, I had forcibly enhanced my vision—

Now it was screaming in the form of bloody tears.

“Then—!”

I didn’t have the luxury to sit back and respond to his attacks. I had to take the offensive.

I immediately formed a blade of energy along my cursed sword.

It came at a steep cost, but in terms of power, it was guaranteed to be decisive.

“Hup!”

And I swung the sword.

It was the one moment when I managed to track the enemy’s movement as he dashed wildly around me.

Of course, he’s not an idiot.

The moment he realized his movements had been read, he had the physical ability to dodge the attack.

That was exactly why I had stayed on the defensive until now.

So then, why did I shift from defense to offense?

Was it just because my body couldn’t take it anymore?

No.

Advanced illusion magic—

[Sensory Distortion]

Swish!

It was simply that my preparations were complete.

I had read his movements and he had, in turn, read my intentions.

But if I make it so he can’t respond, that’s all I need. The only reason I’d been cautiously watching until now was to prepare my magic.

“These past ten-odd days… Thanks to you, I’m leaving in one piece.”

I was able to claim a satisfying victory against the barbarians.

***

The recoil from the power was quite intense.

I’d used Spur Gear to block the pain, but the occasional twisting of my foot still sent chills down my spine.

Was it broken?

What’s going to happen to me once the pain suppression wears off?

No…I didn’t have time to think about that now.

Even if I had just taken down a powerful foe, the streets were still swarming with barbarians.

I’d already encountered barbarian terrorists three times.

And then…

“I’ll help you. So if you have any spare medicine…”

“Get away from me! You monster!”

Six groups of innocent citizens had attacked me. Probably due to the effects of the Babel Gear.

Tears clouded my vision.

What scared me most was the thought that these tears might as well be tears of blood.

This is why I never wanted anything like the Babel Gear.

Even I found myself grotesque… how must I look to others?

So, rejected by everyone, I walked a lonely road alone.

“……”

And that’s when I ran into a group of barbarians.

God, just one of them is hard enough and now there are three at once.

This time I’m really dead.

Whether it’s my life or my body, one of them is definitely going to die.

The only silver lining is that I’ve gotten a bit more used to using the gears.

“Let’s do this.”

I steeled myself.

But in that very moment…

Thud!

The group of barbarians standing before me all burst apart at once.

A truly surreal sight. I couldn’t even tell what had hit them.

“So upsetting.”

Someone gently embraced me from behind.

As if descending slowly from the sky, the warmth that settled behind my back instantly eased my tension.

Thump.

I collapsed to the ground. To be honest, my body had already hit its limit long ago.

“Ah—uh… Johan? W-Was I heavy?”

“Not at all.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I looked up at Ariel, who gazed down at me with worry while I remained slumped over.

Even though it had been a while since we last met, she hadn’t changed one bit. The sight made me smile.

“It’s been a while.”

“It really has.”

Ariel smiled bashfully.

“Um, Johan. Excuse me.”

Then she cupped my cheeks and pressed her lips against mine.

Confirming our feelings for each other in the middle of a battlefield…

It was ridiculous…and yet, I didn’t mind.

But just as I started to let my guard down in that tender moment—

“?????”

Her tongue slipped into my mouth.

This had to be Ariel’s first kiss, and yet she was incredibly bold.

After that shocking reunion kiss came to an end, Ariel mumbled with her face flushed bright red.

“While I was gone, I’m sure you and Yuna made lots of progress, right? So please let this slide.”

“No, actually… you just surpassed whatever progress I made with Yuna in one go.”

“…Huh?”

Ariel tilted her head, seemingly not understanding the situation.

It was cute, but now I had to break the cruel truth to her.

“Well… yeah. That’s how it is. I didn’t expect you to be this bold.”

“……”

And then, Ariel’s face turned a shade of red beyond words.