[How…?]
It’s been such a long time.
Right after I cut off his limbs, I immediately had the Ultimate Technique sever the antenna communication line.
Now, the only output device left for Linda is a single microphone.
“How did you know I was coming?”
[……]
Roar!
As my party rushed in behind me, Linda tightly closed her eyes in silence.
Belphegor and the Nameless One.
Just by seeing these two, it seems she figured out why this hideout was discovered.
There was absolutely no way to find Linda through normal means.
Linda’s main body had already completely severed connections with the communication network and had gone into hiding.
Finding her would be akin to searching for a needle in a desert.
“I used your arch-nemeses.”
[Ah.]
But what if there’s a magnet?
A ridiculously powerful magnet, at that.
The Nameless One had long since acquired the ability to see souls.
No, perhaps they were born with it.
Jill also had some proficiency in that area, but not to the extent of distinguishing individual souls.
But the Nameless One was different.
‘Did you see Linda’s artificial soul? Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a soul. But I could see something else that wasn’t a soul.’
The Nameless One could see the “something” that dwelled within Linda.
Although it’s called an artificial soul, it was impossible for the clockwork machine Linda to actually have a soul.
What the Nameless One saw was undoubtedly a trace of Draken that lingered within Linda.
Using the Nameless One’s sight, we pursued Linda.
However, despite having that sight, we ultimately had to comb through the vastness of the continent.
What supplemented that was, of course, Belphegor.
“Belphegor. You serve as an amplifier. Use the eyes of your contractors to ensure the Nameless One can connect to everyone.”
|W-What?! Contractor? All those unequal treaties I had with humans have been nullified ages ago!|
“Stop sweating and just talk. We’ll deal with your punishment for lying later; right now, we need to hurry.”
|It’s useless to assume something that doesn’t exist. No matter how much you press me, I can’t conjure up discarded contractors like some sort of magic-|
“If caught lying, there’ll be harsher penalties, you know? If you tell the truth here and now, you might get some leniency. So what will it be? Will you keep fighting a losing battle?|
|……|
I was relieved that Belphegor was such a sly one.
He had completely severed his ties with the contractors before me.
The light from the Ultimate Technique was showing thin threads spreading from Belphegor to countless people across the continent.
The contract with the contractors was still in effect.
It was infuriating, but it was also helpful now, so I thought to give him some leeway.
After Belphegor seized all the contractors’ bodies, the Nameless One connected with them, surveying various locations across the continent through his sight.
This was the basic outline of the plan.
And it succeeded spectacularly.
Of course, immediately after, the demon contractors all cut ties and were captured.
[This is… this is beyond my expectations. Your return, finding me…]
“Who the hell are you? Speak clearly, Linda.”
[You already know. I am Linda, your faithful clockwork machine.]
“……”
In an instant, disgust rose in me.
There wasn’t a single lie to be found in Linda’s shameless response.
It was a complete truth.
…Or, she firmly believed that this was the truth.
“Linda.”
[Did you call for me, Master?]
“What on earth happened?”
[……]
“Answer. Yoo Jin is asking.”
Silence.
But it wasn’t complete silence.
She seemed to be trying to say something, her mouth moving but the microphone didn’t work.
Mi Jeong poked at Blin’s wooden club (+1) without any effect.
This was the first moment that Linda had malfunctioned.
“She’s Linda, but not Linda.”
Only then did I understand.
Why did all of Linda’s actions and thoughts feel exactly like the old Linda?
There was only a slight sense of incongruity, but Linda was still Linda.
Something alien had squeezed into Linda, distorting her perceptions.
For instance, “unconditional loyalty to my Master” had shifted to “if necessary, I must eliminate my Master.”
Or “for the sake of the world’s happiness and peace” had morphed into “for His advent.”
Thus, Linda now had no doubts, perceiving that she was doing the right thing.
That is quite malicious.
‘No wonder swapping out memories and backing them up doesn’t help.’
What was contaminated was not Linda’s storage device or motherboard.
It was more like nothing had been contaminated at all.
It was natural that Cern hadn’t discovered any abnormalities.
The opponent could interfere not with the data itself, but with the processing of that data.
The world Linda saw was entirely differently perceived.
And the words Linda tried to utter came out distorted.
This was akin to…
When my existence had been erased, wasn’t it similar?
[Ahaha. I’m sorry? It seems I couldn’t meet Master’s expectations. I always try to devote myself to Master… ]
“Looks like something’s stuck. Can it be removed?”
[That’s impossible, Master. You might as well dispose of me. Of course, that wouldn’t solve the fundamental issue, but at least you could eliminate me, a dangerous strategic weapon capable of accessing the global communication network. It’s not as simple as it sounds… ]
“Oh? I removed it.”
[……?]
While Linda muttered something with a distant expression, I managed to pull it off.
I extended the light of the Ultimate Technique into Linda, focusing to detect the alien thing and delineate its boundaries.
And then I swiftly cut out that unknown foreign entity.
It wriggled violently, emerging from Linda.
[Oh? A? Ugh?!]
Linda looked around in panic.
That expression no longer held any sense of incongruity.
But I had no time to worry about the now tiny limbs of Linda.
Ugh?!
|Damn it! Now that you’ve pulled it out, I realize! This is His power… No, a part of Him!|
Fwosh!
The black mass gripped in my hand writhes, stretching and convulsing.
What the hell is this?
It’s neither substance nor mana energy.
It wasn’t even bound by space and seemed to attempt to transcend the walls of dimension.
Typically, grasping something like this would be impossible.
Normally, one couldn’t even interact with it using physical force.
Yet, the will entwined with my hand was preventing this black form from escaping to anywhere.
Ugh, “This is a part of Draken…?”
“It’s dangerous! Let go of me, uncle!”
“I can’t. If I release it, it’s clear it’ll cling onto someone else and become a parasite.”
To think to release something that couldn’t even be observed by normal means.
To release this dangerous thing that cleverly rewires human perceptions and brainwashes?
That’s nonsense.
“I’m killing it here.”
The black form began to gradually envelop my hand.
I immediately concentrated my will and began to sharpen it.
Piercing through the black mass, my fortified, sharpened will glowed a red light.
[Master! If you make contact with the wills there…!]
“What?”
And then that was a mistake.
The moment my will touched the black form, I felt as if I was being forcibly sucked into somewhere.
“What the hell…?!”
When wills collide.
I was invited into the opponent’s inner world.
I could do nothing to stop it!
The flow of attraction had reached its peak, and in an instant, I arrived at a completely unfamiliar place.
And just then.
I felt something red wriggling inside me.
Something that had been asleep for a long time.
What had been blocked by the ones within me burst forth and began to consume the world.
—
I opened my eyes.
It was a much softer landing than I had anticipated.
Rising from the fluffy sensations enveloping my body, I quickly surveyed my surroundings.
“Where is this…?”
And I couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.
The entire world was red.
The ground was red, the sky was red, it was just red all around.
However, there was no sense of the chilling feeling I had when faced with fresh blood.
It wasn’t particularly uncomfortable or frightening.
If I had to describe it, it felt refreshing.
Considering I had been forcibly dragged into someone else’s inner world, my impression was quite peaceful.
“It wasn’t just red…?”
I soon realized that the red color was mixed with foreign substances.
It wasn’t a pure red.
As I started digging into the ground beneath my feet, I quickly understood the reason why.
“What in the…?”
This wasn’t red paint or light.
All this red that filled the sky, earth, and space was entirely…
“Camellia flowers…?”
A familiar blossom.
So familiar that I no longer harbored even a hint of suspicion.
