Episode 892 Sixth (5)
The Provider said.
Seeing that he has woken up at this point, has Verden reached the pinnacle of the Exodium? I expected the current leader of the Ark to appoint him as the sixth captain, but as expected, the timing is fast.
[I don’t know what that means, but I can tell that the ‘salvation’ plan went awry.]
Gamma stood crookedly with her arms crossed. Her gray metallic body lacked only biological functions, but her silhouette was that of a tall, beautiful woman.Her voice was naturally eloquent, unlike that of a golem at all.
[So who is Verden?]
───You will be able to recognize him right away, as his features are distinct: ash hair, blue eyes, a young man in his late twenties, a transcendent being of the magic world, and an extraordinary appearance.
[A transcendent being of the magical world at that age? Fate must be playing a trick again. Still, seeing that you are here in the Ark, aren’t you an apostle of ‘yours’?]
Pow!
Gamma manipulated his magical power to display dozens of screens illuminating every corner of the Ark. The light of the magical power reflected off a smooth face devoid of features.
[Found it, Ash Hair.]
Gamma spotted a strange man descending below the Exodium with Lugard. Gamma, who was analyzing his magical power, paused for a moment.
[… … What is that magical power? Just looking at the scan, you can’t distinguish him from the Creator. Unmeasurable? It’s not like he swallowed a power source or anything. Wait a minute. Could he be the Creator’s successor?]
It is a singularity. Something no one expected.
The Provider summarized and explained the events related to Verden as if teaching history.The Magic Tower’s power source.The destruction of fate.The moment Gamma, who had been nodding while observing Verden with interest, turned his gaze to another screen, he revealed intense emotion.
[uh?!]
Gamma grabbed the screen.
[Alpha and Beta… …? Why are the artificial golems here? No, why are they activated? Weren’t all the ‘prototypes’ supposed to be ‘discarded’?]
I don’t think you ever said you discarded it.
[You said the artificial golems before Gamma had finished their job. It’s just the same thing! Ha, I knew it. Even the Creator is so sentimental that he gets soft-hearted at critical moments. We need to compensate for that. Not like you, Deus Widen, waiting for the Creator to reveal his will. Anyway. If that’s the case, the Omega in the First Magic Tower might be active too, right?]
The two blue eyes that appeared from Gamma opened long and narrow like slits.
[Just give me permission to sortie. I’ll scrap everything and come back.]
Your assigned role is to protect the Ark. You must know very well that your existence must not be revealed. And they are like your brothers.
[What? Brothers?]
Gamma laughed heartily.
[Why are you lumping apes and humans together? Have you forgotten? I am the ‘Complete Being’ designed by the Creator. Not a weak, incomplete being like them who can’t even speak properly. Besides, you say you follow Verden, who doesn’t even know the Creator’s will? It is only right to intervene to minimize any potential variables as much as possible. Am I wrong?]
Gamma’s point was sound.
If they had hoped the plan would proceed smoothly, they should not have allowed the variables to gain power. Even if it was already too late to take action, neglecting the situation was a wrong judgment.
Although Alpha and Beta were inferior to her, they were also supreme creatures who had gained life through the Creator’s magical power.
You shouldn’t underestimate the potential.
[Even if the Creator is asleep, couldn’t He intervene to that extent? If you didn’t like that, you should have incorporated the variables and controlled them long ago. Do you think the Creator will be satisfied just by acting passively?]
───Verden is unpredictable. I judged that rashly interfering with him would be a bad move. After all, he is the type of person who resists even more the more you press on him.
No matter what Gamma grumbled about, the Provider’s expression did not budge.
And the Last Resistor has already awakened and is traversing the world. Although the body is still asleep, it will soon fully awaken.
[The Creator? You should have said that first! I just wasted time making useless guesses.]
Gamma supported his chin with the back of his hand in an elegant, statue-like posture.
[The Creator watching this means acknowledging Verden’s existence… … Then again, if I relied solely on the scanning function like Alpha and Beta, I possess enough magical power to mistake myself for the Creator, so I am incredibly valuable. And if Verden dies, we don’t know what will happen to the power source residing within him. So, what are we going to do for the time being?]
Gamma asked.
[Bystander? Or Assistance?]
Fate has been destroyed, and even the threads of destiny have been brutally severed. Soon, ‘your’ followers will move on a massive scale. The Last Resistor has not spoken directly yet, but ultimately, on that stage, they will decide how to define Verden.
The Provider asserted.
So, for now, I will take the latter direction.
[Deal with the Apostles first? Good. If done well, we could preserve the power of the seeds we sowed as much as possible. But if you’re going to help, do it properly, okay?]
───I am listening.
[Look at this.]
Gamma pointed at Alpha and Beta, who were walking around together amicably.A sigh escaped me involuntarily.
[The technology is way too outdated. What on earth can you do with something like this? No. As the perfected form of an artificial golem, this is unacceptable. Tsk! Even for a prototype, there are limits.]
Gamma snapped his finger.
[Still, since it is a golem from my previous stage, it should evolve on its own if given the right skills. It looks like the new captain is heading to the storage to look for an item to inherit, so let’s sneak it in there. If it has a discerning eye similar to the Creator’s, it will recognize its value and take it.]
Didn’t you say you would weaken the variables? If you get caught by any chance, that is also a variable.
[Do you think I’ll be discovered? Besides, the weakening of the variable was a judgment made before realizing that the Creator’s mind had awakened.]
Gamma asserted.
[To the Creator who has awakened from the power source, every variable except ‘you’ is meaningless. At that time, He will discard even the faintest remaining affection. So, handing over this one technology is no problem.]
Gamma’s faith and trust in the first Demon King were no less than that of any artificial golem. The Provider gazed intently at her.
───I’m worried about you after all. The brothers.
[What? You’ve been saying ‘brother, brother’ since earlier. Your nonsense has increased in just a few hundred years, hasn’t it? I’m telling you, I don’t consider the Prototype a brother at all!]
Gamma turned his head sharply.
[It’s because if I were simply destroyed, it would damage my reputation as an artificial golem. Hmph.]
* * *
Whoooosh.
I boarded the elevator heading from the top floor of Exodium to the basement.It was quiet and quite fast.Exodium’s elevator, which must have been completed at least three centuries ago, was superior to the continent’s most advanced horsepower elevators.
To think this is the original form untouched by the Ark. Just how far does the First Demon King’s technological prowess extend?
Each and every minor technique easily surpasses the Age of Magic.This is not because they are impossible to reproduce like Golem technology, but rather because while the types of techniques are the same, they are a few steps ahead.
It is to the point where even calling them transcendental masters of magical architecture wouldn’t make me laugh.If the Ark and Exodium were constructed solely of pure magic, just like the Centrum of the Magic Kingdom… I wanted to see, at least once, what the principles and structure of that magic were like.
Gulp, gulp.
Lugart gulped down the wine straight from the bottle. It was a stark contrast to how he had been just moments ago, elegantly enjoying the taste and aroma using a wine glass.
Swoosh.
Verden did not refuse the wine Lugard readily offered. He, too, downed the wine, whose value was hard to gauge, as if it were a cheap beverage.A flavor even deeper than the one he had just drunk stimulated his senses.
“How is it?”“It’s my first time trying a wine like this, but it’s also my first time drinking straight from the bottle.”“There is no reason to act all high and mighty just because it is an expensive wine. That’s exactly how I used to drink when I first encountered wine… It was wine my childhood friend brought secretly from my parents. I remember how much my friend beat me up for asking if I had only tasted it.”
Lugart smiled with amusement as he recalled childhood memories.How should I put it?Stripping away the titles of Leader of the Ark and First Adventurer, he felt like a man you might see in the corner of a quiet country tavern.
“As the years and experiences I’ve lived have accumulated, I found that dignity has gradually taken hold in my words and actions. However, I was originally quite a cheerful person. I know how to crack jokes, play pranks, and even love. Very freely. Just like an ideal adventurer.”“…….”“It has been a long time since my life as a transcendent being far surpassed my life as a human being. I thought those emotions had faded by now. Still, drinking straight from the bottle with others brings those feelings back a little. There probably couldn’t be a better accompaniment to the drink.”
Lugard’s tragedy is recorded intact in the history of the continent. While the process varied somewhat across historical records, the outcome was the same.
Lugard’s companion went to the dwarves.Lugard’s brother went to the beastkin.Lugard’s lover went to the elves.
Lugart lost everything precious to him in the war against the races.
“Many candidates for the Ark challenged the trials. And many who could not overcome them died. In my time, and in this time as well.”“…….”“My sorrow cannot be the only special one.”
The elevator stopped.
You’ve arrived.
As soon as the door opened, Lugard stepped outside.I watched his back for a moment.Holding a wine bottle in one hand, he looked at first glance not like the leader of the Ark, but merely like a pathetic drunkard on the streets.
“…….”
Berden walked on, thinking about what Lugard’s ideal might be.
* * *
The Ark’s storage room.
Befitting an organization boasting a long history, countless weapons and treasures filled the space. Although the quantity was overwhelming, they were neatly arranged, making it completely comfortable to look around.
“It’s thanks to the current coordinator’s efforts. I didn’t really notice it, but it seems to have looked just like a junkyard to him. He even came to see me a while ago saying he wanted to organize the storage facility himself.”
The Regulator of Balance—the Keeper, Acetro Oldin, was fully deserving of it. After all, the territory he inhabited was impeccably clean.
Verden nodded, yet could not take his eyes off the stored items.
Lugart chuckled.
“I intended to continue our conversation at a leisurely pace, but seeing the sparkle in your eyes, I suppose we must choose a relic first.”“May I pick just any one?”“Very well. It is the privilege of the First Captain. You wouldn’t choose something strange, would you? I’ll be waiting over there, so choose carefully.”
Lugard headed to a corner of the storage room, sat down casually nearby, and blew straight from the bottle.He looked so natural.
anyway.
Verden used his insight to gauge the history of the stored items.Going further inside, he found an artifact, and among them lay a total of two items presumed to be ancient artifacts.
Hmm, it doesn’t seem like it’s very good for the owner.
There must be a reason why it hasn’t been taken out of the Ark until now. Verden’s job is to find the best one here.
Dozens of minutes passed in the blink of an eye.
“……?”
Just as Verden was nearly circling the storage room, a cube caught his eye.It didn’t seem dangerous.As he stroked it here and there to see what function it had, the cube soon opened, and a strange magical organization chart manifested in the air.
‘Is this… a blueprint?’
It was impossible to tell at the moment what kind of blueprint it was.
As he touched the cube again, the magical power vanished, and the cube returned to its original form. Verden stood in place and closely observed the cube.
I have something to ask you.
A sound was heard from afar.
“What is this?”“Is there a separate surveillance system at the storage facility?”
Verden turned his head toward a specific point.
* * *
Verden, who was over there on the other side of the screen, stared straight at Gamma. It wasn’t that he had noticed Gamma’s presence… but the problem was that he had been caught monitoring.
Gamma muttered blankly.
[You got caught?]
Regardless, Verden began to move on the screen. He and the leader of the Ark escaped the storage room in an instant.
It is coming this way.
I don’t know why I got caught, but anyway, it was a big problem.
I have to hide.
