While leisurely waiting for the outcome inside the barrier Deus had set up, one complaint started to creep in.
“Couldn’t you do something about the heat coming up from the ground?”
– It’s not like it’s going to kill you. Just endure it. You arrogant brat.
“Ah, sure.”
It’s not like I asked for an air conditioner or anything, but still…this is overly harsh.
Maybe it’s fine for Deus since he has a mechanical body, but on my end, it feels like I’ve stepped into a sauna.
This is just… disappointing.
– Hmm, Johan Damus.
“Yes?”
– You’ve won. Immun used the Rack and Pinion Gear to solidify all the lava and create a barrier.
“Is that so?”
– Flipping the ground to block the lava’s flow was good in itself, but using the circulation function of the Rack Gear to spread the Philosopher’s Stones widely… that was particularly effective.
“I don’t really get what that means, but anyway, I won, right?”
– Yes. You were right. Immun turned out to be different from what I thought. I apologize for trying to cast him aside so hastily. Of course, I should be apologizing to him directly, but I doubt there’s enough time left for that. I hope you’ll pass that along for me.
“That’s refreshingly direct.”
– As it should be. If you can’t even admit your own mistakes, you’ll never reach success.
He’s firm in his beliefs, but quick to acknowledge faults.
You could call him cold, or perhaps detached.
– Now then. Before I take my leave, I have one proposal.
“A proposal?”
It’d be nice if he just left quietly… but something about Deus right now feels off.
Nothing’s different on the surface, but somehow there’s a lack of humanity.
Maybe that’s why the word “proposal” immediately makes me uneasy.
– Would you return the gear?
“……”
– Like you said, resolving things through conversation might not be such a bad approach.
“I see.”
Normally, I’d have welcomed the idea with open arms. After all, just having this thing makes me anxious.
Sure, I’ve been making good use of it lately, but there’s still the sense that something parasitic is clinging to my arm.
And yet…
“What happens if I refuse?”
– Who knows? What do you think will happen?
I’m not sure if it’s really okay to hand the gear over to Deus right now.
Is it really safe to give up the only means of keeping him in check so easily?
It’s not like I have any grand ambitions—
I don’t dream of achieving world peace or punishing evil.
Honestly, I just want to stay on the sidelines and quietly observe.
But if things spiral out of control because of me, I’d hate that too.
It’d probably haunt me for the rest of my life. I’d never be able to sleep peacefully again.
“I refuse.”
– And what exactly do you think I’ll do?
“You really are a scary person. You know exactly what kind of answer will make me afraid.”
Not a clear threat. Just a reply that stirs unease.
And for someone like me who scares easily, that’s the most effective tactic.
“Still, I’m going to say no.”
– I see.
Sweat trickled down my face.
I’m not even sure if it’s from the heat or if it’s cold sweat.
I gave a bold refusal, but honestly, I didn’t have a backup plan.
There was something I could rely on… but it was all up to luck.
– Haha, why so wary? I keep my promises. So today, I plan to back off without any fuss.
“…Are you serious?”
– Of course. Though…
Whoooooooooosh!
At that moment, a streak of red light came crashing down from the sky, landing squarely between the two of us as if to divide us.
It blasted away the lava-covered earth in an instant and what appeared was the strongest among our companions, the Hero of Creta.
– Depends on the situation, I suppose.
Theseus Vicious von Miltonia.
“What on earth are you thinking?”
– I should be the one asking that, Theseus. Why are you here when you’re supposed to be guarding Creta?
“That’s…!”
– Well, never mind. Wherever you are, that’s for you to decide.
“Explain yourself. Tell me something…anything that will help me understand the mess you’ve made!”
– There’s no need for you to understand. And even if I tried explaining, do you really think you’d get it?
“I know you summoned the executives. What kind of scheme were you plotting that made you gather them all?”
– Who knows?
Deus replied lightly.
Theseus frowned, his eyebrows twitching as if angered by the casual tone.
– What if I said I called them so I could clean them up myself?
“What…?”
Theseus turned back and looked at me, silently asking a question with his eyes.
I could only nod calmly in confirmation.
“Well, it’s more or less that. According to him, he ‘just called them’ but he must’ve known things would turn out like this.”
“Why… why would you do something like that?”
– There’s nothing more bothersome than explaining something that’s already over. Ask that guy later.
“Elder Deus!”
Deus turned his back on him, completely ignoring Theseus in the end.
The excessively indifferent, dismissive attitude was so blatant that it was obvious he was doing it on purpose.
I’m fairly certain of that… but I still don’t know why.
Why provoke Theseus here of all places?
Is this part of his script as well?
“Wait! Stop!”
At last, Theseus drew his sword and charged at Deus.
I was stunned by the sight.
An imbalance of information—
What I knew and what Theseus didn’t,
Deus’s cold indifference and Theseus’s emotional reaction.
Everything meshed together too perfectly.
Because of that, I could be sure this too was playing out exactly as he intended.
– You’re emotional, Theseus.
“Give me a straight answer!”
– A straight one? Then I’ll just give you the conclusion. Why did I try to kill them? There wasn’t any particular reason. They simply annoyed me.
Deus was deliberately provoking Theseus into a fight. That much I understood. But it made no sense. There was nothing to gain.
But when I considered Theseus’s beliefs and his nature…
– You’re being a nuisance. Get lost, Theseus. I don’t have time to deal with you.
“I won’t let you go!”
Theseus doesn’t know that Deus abandoned his human body.
Deus’s current form is made up of machinery, but… can it really be described as merely a machine?
– Hmph!
Deus deployed countless weapons and unleashed a barrage toward Theseus.
Theseus pressed forward, cutting down everything in his path with a single sword.
Unlike his usual self, there wasn’t a hint of hesitation in his actions.
And of course, that made perfect sense.
“Wait…! Sir Theseus!”
He likely believed that what he was facing wasn’t a person, but a weapon.
There was a high chance he thought it was just a remotely controlled machine.
No, that would be the reasonable assumption.
In the first place, it was hard to say whether calling Deus a person was even accurate anymore, and who would believe that Deus had appeared in a mechanical body?
– So even this level of firepower can’t leave a scratch? In that case, I should concentrate the energy a bit more.
Deus, who had been unleashing enough firepower to reduce the area to dust, shifted the form of his weapons.
The armaments, which had centered on missiles and bombs, transformed into anti-personnel weapons, blazing with heat and ferocity.
Chzzzzzzzk!!
Their power was enough to clash evenly with the sword Theseus wielded.
In fact, the rotating beams seemed as if they were trying to destroy the blade itself, forcing Theseus back. In response, his movements changed as well.
And at that very moment—
For the first time, I witnessed the true extent of Theseus’s power.
Rumbleeeeeeeeee!!
The roar was so deafening that it drowned out even my own screams.
Theseus who was scattering light infused with the crimson aura unique to the imperial bloodline looked less like a hero and more like a god of destruction.
That intense strike simultaneously neutralized all of Deus’s deployed weapons and shattered his body which was surely harder than steel into pieces.
It all happened in a flash, leaving me no time to intervene.
In fact, just withstanding the aftershock of that force was a struggle.
“Guh!”
And the moment the storm passed—
I witnessed the end of what could barely even be called a fight.
“……”
Deus’s body lay in pieces.
Only part of the head and torso remained, crackling with electricity, and the sight of it made my heart sink.
“Where are you now?”
Theseus spoke as if he didn’t even realize what he had just done.
And then, I finally understood.
Deus had been trying to retrieve the gears that could become variables in his plan.
He even went so far as to gather all the executives who knew the manufacturing method and purge them.
Someone capable of making such cold, calculated decisions would never leave the greatest variable alone.
Come to think of it, the biggest variable for Deus wasn’t someone like me.
It was someone like family. Someone who had lived alongside him and likely shared countless secrets. A powerful, difficult opponent to deal with.
– Theseus. Imagine a large ship. But for that ship to travel into space, it can’t stay in its current state. It has parts that need replacing.
“What nonsense are you spouting now…?”
– So what if you keep replacing those parts one by one, and in the end, none of the original ship remains…
Deus spoke in a flat expressionless voice. Like someone who’d lost strength, static noise cut through the audio.
Whether even that was part of the performance or not, it was impossible to tell.
But one thing was certain…
– Would you still say that ship is the same as before?
At this very moment—
Deus had succeeded in breaking Theseus.
The deed was already done.
– Theseus. I’ve been replacing my body with mechanical parts. What you destroyed just now wasn’t some remote-controlled machine. It was me.
“…What?”
– So, Theseus. Just how far does your vow of non-killing apply?
Realizing the meaning of Deus’s words, Theseus began to stagger backward.
And the moment he understood what he had done, his face turned pale.
– Would you still call what I am now… human?
The truth is unclear.
There’s a high chance it was a bluff.
But no one could say for sure.
And just that uncertainty alone…
“Ah…”
…was enough to utterly shatter Theseus’s convictions.
To the Scriptwriter Deus, the greatest variable wasn’t me or the gears.
It was the powerful hero who had stayed by his side and watched over him… he was the real variable.
– Theseus.
“Wh-What in the world are you thinking…?”
– Still don’t understand? Well, fine. Let me put it simply so even you can grasp it.
Deus played it off with a mocking tone.
His voice grew increasingly distorted with static, and his mechanical body continued to crumble bit by bit.
– So, how does your first kill feel?
***
Theseus who had been backing away in fear collapsed to the ground.
He didn’t scream or cry out. He simply crumbled, slowly consumed by guilt.
The truth didn’t matter. As long as there was even the possibility, Theseus’s mind would begin to rot from the inside.
If Deus could just stay hidden until then, he’d have neutralized the greatest variable….Theseus.
“W-We’re not too late! He’s not dead yet. If we fix him now…”
Theseus muttered like a child who knew he had done something wrong.
His obsessive non-killing vow—
From beneath it, a deep-rooted fear began to show. The stronger a conviction, the more brittle it becomes. And when it breaks, the damage is devastating.
– Maybe so. There might be someone who can repair me.
Deus spoke calmly,
Quietly preparing the finishing blow.
– But… it seems there’s no time left.
Fzzzzzzt—Boooom!
A red lightning bolt struck down, heralding the arrival of a new character.
Even from afar, Deus had been able to observe what Imune was doing.
He’d narrated it all to me, enjoying it like a game.
There was no way someone like him didn’t know who was in the Veldani Mountains.
In this situation—
It was the perfect move, a flawless plan to break Theseus completely.
A spontaneous script, meticulously crafted.
“What the hell is this? What happened here? And what is this toy supposed to be?”
“Lobe… Lia…?”
The final wedge.
Lobelia Vicious von Miltonia.
With her entrance, the play surged toward its climax.
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