Chapter 236: Division Part 5

Immun and I decided to proceed cautiously for now.

I wasn’t worried about the others.

The problem was us who were relatively incompetent in comparison.

Immun’s fighting power was abysmal.

It had gotten even worse since I took the Geneva Gear from him.

As for Mephistopheles… that’s on hold.

The only real fighting power we had was me.

“If you could just return the Geneva Gear for a bit, I could…”

“I already absorbed it.”

Even though I tried to be flexible, it was already too late.

It had a sleek design when it was still in brooch form, but unfortunately, the Babel Gear’s appetite knows no bounds.

The moment I touched it with my right hand without thinking, I absorbed and fused the Geneva Gear.

Even if I wanted to return it, it was no longer possible.

“For now, let’s head to the destination carefully. Wandering around this massive mountain range randomly would probably be more dangerous.”

If my guess was right, staying on the move like this would only increase the danger.

Given what happened with Rack Gear and the already-dead Pinion Gear, there was a chance the other gears had gathered too.

At this point, I was beginning to wonder why only Emily and I were excluded.

The only plausible guess was that we’d had direct contact with the Scriptwriter.

Not sure what that has to do with being left out of this mess, but still…

“There might be other gears around. So we need to proceed carefully. If we do encounter one, I’ll handle it, so don’t get involved and just do as I say. Got it?”

“No, I’ll take care of it. I am the adult here, so I should—”

“Ah, fuck…..just stay still.”

“…Alright.”

The best way Immun can help is by staying still.

His sense of justice is an issue, but his naivety is the bigger problem.

“Just follow behind me.”

It’s hot enough already. Don’t make it worse.

***

We spotted someone.

“Immun, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?”

“The bad news.”

“We’ve found someone… but they’ve spotted us too.”

“Why is that bad news?”

“Because ambushing them is hard now, and if we try to run, it’ll be a pain.”

“…I see.”

The real problem was having to escape while dragging around two burdens.

“What’s the good news?”

“At the very least, I know who the opponent is. Let’s stick to the plan. You keep your mouth shut, and I’ll handle things.”

“Understood.”

As expected, the one we encountered was a Gear from Ex Machina.

Planetary Gear, Agnes Epicycle. Like Ryute, she’s a mid-boss in the Ex Machina route.

She’s from a noble family like Emily, and unlike Ryute, she appears if you haven’t cleared any of the prerequisite quests, making her a troublesome enemy.

In terms of firepower alone, she easily overwhelms Ryute.

She could be called the mass murderer who contributed most to Ex Machina’s image as terrorists.

So escaping is meaningless.

Once Agnes starts attacking, she’ll blow this whole area to pieces.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Planetary Gear….Lady Agnes.”

“Oh my, and who might you be?”

A calm-looking middle-aged woman.

But if you peel back the surface, there’s no one more insane than her.

“I am the messenger and hands of the great Scriptwriter, Sir Deus.”

“Oh my? Is that so?”

Agnes gently covered her mouth in feigned surprise.

I can guarantee that just moments ago, she was planning to kill me.

Planetary Gear, Agnes.

Unlike the other gears, she’s fundamentally different in her orientation.

The gears are researchers at the pinnacle of their respective fields.

Their combat abilities are secondary, not their main trait.

Just look at Immun….strip him of his gear, and he’s merely a competent researcher.

But this woman was different.

Her field of study was weapons development.

Rather than relying on gear, she used her own inventions. She was a monster of firepower.

There’s nothing to gain by antagonizing her.

Regardless of victory or defeat, fighting her in this environment was a terrible idea.

“You must have come here following the Scriptwriter’s coordinates, yes? Allow me to guide you.”

“Oh my, then I’d be grateful.”

Just as I expected… she came here on the Scriptwriter’s coordinates too.

Pretending to be a messenger of the Scriptwriter was the right move.

That narrowly averted the crisis.

Of course, the problem still remained.

Putting everything else aside, the real issue is that I now have to travel with her.

Well, I’m confident in my acting and deception skills, at least.

Unlike with Rack Gear Farel or Geneva Gear Immun, this time I knew exactly who I was dealing with.

“And who might that be…?”

“Ah, I haven’t introduced him yet. This is Geneva Gear, Immun. Like you, he’s one of the chosen, guided by the coordinates from the Scriptwriter.”

“Hee… ‘One of the chosen’, huh?”

I saw the corners of Agnes’s lips curl up.

Being of noble birth, that authoritative attitude never really goes away.

Just by adding a single keyword, her attention which had been fixed on Immun noticeably waned.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Immun. I’m Agnes, Countess of Epicycle.”

“A pleasure, Countess of Epicycle.”

At a glance, the atmosphere almost felt friendly.

Thankfully, Immun kept his mouth shut and calm, so the crisis was more or less averted.

“Then who’s that child?”

“Ah…”

But there was something I had completely forgotten about—

Mephistopheles who had been loitering around my waist.

I didn’t notice her in my line of sight, so I’d assumed she wasn’t there.

Back when she was a puppy, she often hid herself, so I’d naturally gotten used to forgetting about her…

“Show some respect, human.”

“Huh?”

And just like that, Mephistopheles went full throttle.

I resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of my nose and started thinking fast.

What should I say?

What kind of excuse would calm down the terrorist standing before me?

Anyway, this Mephistopheles bastard is completely useless.

“My name is Mephistopheles. I am Deus’s masterpiece.”

But Mephistopheles was a demon. Deceiving people with her silver tongue was her job.

Contrary to my worries, she cornered Agnes with a well-crafted lie.

Honestly, I was impressed. This idiot actually has a quick mind.

How the hell did she come up with that?

“Oh my? Is that so?”

Boom!

Agnes snapped her fingers at Mephistopheles’s smug remark and instantly sent her flying.

She’d casually tossed a small bomb just big enough to fit in her palm.

The shockwave didn’t just send Mephistopheles flying. It even affected me who was standing nearby.

Still, there was no need to panic.

“Whoops.”

I’d already expected Agnes to react like that.

I immediately used the power of the Geneva Gear, absorbed into the Babel Gear, to divert the blast’s impact.

She’s the authoritarian type, so I figured she’d want to verify things for herself the moment she saw Mephistopheles acting all arrogant.

“Are you done checking?”

“Oh my, so it was true? My apologies.”

And something like that wouldn’t be enough to kill Mephistopheles anyway.

Her true body existed outside of this world. There’s no way she’d be done in by something as simple as a physical attack.

Even after getting her head completely blown off, Mephistopheles acted like nothing had happened. Agnes had no choice but to accept it as fact.

“Then, may I ask you to lead the way?”

“Of course.”

I stepped forward politely, with Mephistopheles naturally falling in beside me.

“Well done. I’ll actually praise you this time.”

“Just words?”

“…Fine.”

“Ah~”

I tossed a candy into Mephistopheles’s mouth.

Maybe things would’ve been fine even if she’d done nothing, but still….she really handled it well.

“Hmph, hmph.”

A classic authoritarian noble who bullies the weak and grovels to the strong.

The best way to keep someone like that in check is to present them with someone ranked higher than themselves.

Thanks to Mephistopheles pretending to be a lifeform created by the Scriptwriter, the other party won’t be able to treat us carelessly.

“Johan.”

“What is it, Immun?”

“I think you might need to reconsider how you’re educating children.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I didn’t know why he was suddenly saying that, but I’m a noble. It’s not like I have to handle the educating myself.

***

Contrary to expectations, the awkward journey with Agnes turned out to be rather pleasant.

The person may be difficult, but her technology was a different story.

Using all sorts of inventions, Agnes carved out a surprisingly smooth path.

“Some people really are on a whole different level.”

“I-I could do it too, you know? I was simply holding back because I didn’t want to harm the environment.”

“I’m sure you were. Anyway, let’s cut the chatter. If we keep talking just among ourselves, it might raise suspicion. And we’re almost there.”

The coordinates Immun had received—

What greeted us as soon as we arrived was a natural cave. Thankfully, it looked like the coordinates weren’t randomly chosen.

What might be inside? And what to do about Agnes from this point on?

I needed to make a decision soon.

“Well then, shall we head in?”

Agnes naturally took the lead once we reached the destination.

For now, it was best to follow her.

Actually, this worked in our favor.

Inside a cave, even someone like Agnes, equipped with heavy firepower, would find it difficult to go all out.

Unless she had a death wish and wanted us all buried alive, she wouldn’t be able to use her precious weapons carelessly.

“……”

I quietly exchanged glances with Immun, then followed behind Agnes.

Now, what could be waiting for us in there?

The moment we stepped into the cave—

– You got here faster than I expected.

We spotted a humanoid mechanical device, sitting casually on a nearby rock as if it were nothing.

A construct of the Scriptwriter Deus.

However…

– Farel already came and went? Pity. The timing’s a bit off… Lucky guy. No helping it. I’ll just have to make time separately.

The voice, the tone, the gestures….everything about it was identical to Deus.

And yet, strangely enough, there was an utter lack of humanity.

It’s not like there was static coming from the speaker attached to the machine either.

– Well then.

Click.

Deus stood up.

Something about that mechanical movement made me instinctively step back.

– Time to collect the gears.

It didn’t take long to understand what that meant.

The vague sense of unease and wrongness I’d been feeling suddenly took shape.

“Damn it.”

Ever since I first heard about the existence of the Worm Gear, something had felt off.

It felt like a perfectly designed trap meant to kill Immun.

If I hadn’t been there with him, Immun would’ve faced the Worm Gear head-on and died.

The moment I understood the situation—

Crack!

Deus’s mechanical device pierced straight through Agnes’s heart.

It happened so fast.

Agnes hadn’t even had the chance to react before the attack landed. Realizing it only after the fact, she began scattering the weapons she had on her.

Boooooooom!!

Explosives detonated throughout the narrow cave. I worried the entire place might collapse, but thankfully, that didn’t happen.

“Guh!”

Once the shockwave subsided,

I realized the cave’s ceiling had been blown wide open.

Collapse the cave?

That wasn’t all. Not even close.

She was one of Ex Machina’s top executives, after all.

Rather than just collapsing the cave, she’d practically blown away the entire mountain it was part of.

“What is this… what the hell is this?!”

But she still hadn’t recovered from the shock of being struck by the Scriptwriter.

I slowly lifted my head and looked toward where the Scriptwriter’s mechanical device had been.

– Johan Damus. I’d planned to approach you gradually, but since things turned out this way, I’ll just ask you directly.

That unease, that wrongness, that creeping dread—

The moment it all took form—

– What did I tell you before I died?

That’s when I realized the Deus I had known was already dead.

Deus was dead. And yet, the machine in front of me was clearly acting on his will.

The Gears were Deus’s invention—

Materials meant to drive human evolution.

On the brink of death, Deus achieved evolution. And in that process…

– How much did I tell you?

He erased his own memory.

Deus had likely known all along.

This was the very reason he had hesitated to evolve until now.

“I see.”

Through evolution, Deus had changed.

And he left the judgment of whether that evolution was right… to me.

If all the gears were gathered, he could activate his self-evolution program.

And that meant…

“You fear death more now than you did in life.”

It also meant the program could be stopped.

In the past, Deus had said:

He would give me the right to choose.

That right was…

“Are you afraid I might kill you?”

– …..

The power to decide Deus’s life or death.