EP.241 The God Who Descended on Gears
Water flowing beneath the severed road could be seen. An aqueduct providing the water needed to various parts of the Inner Circle.
The width wasn't very broad, but regardless of that fact, an automatic carriage could not jump. In the rapidly changing situation, the regressor shouted.
"The road split! What? I didn't see any strange signs...!"
"Leader! Orders!"
"You only call me leader at times like this...! Tch, wait a minute!"
The regressor spun Jizan around in her grip and stomped the floor of the automatic carriage. The vehicle shook violently, and Jizan pierced through the undercarriage of the carriage and struck the ground. A grating sound of the ground and Jizan rubbing together was heard.
With an unintended brake added, the automatic carriage lost its mind. I gripped the wildly shaking steering wheel and shouted.
"Kyaaah! The carriage is going to be wrecked!"
"It's urgent! Don't talk to me!"
With Jizan planted in the ground, the regressor stirred it in a small circle. A small, round circle bloomed from the tip of the sword. The undulating ground—the heaviest sword in the world swayed softly, and the earth heaved along with it.
I stepped on the pedal and shouted even louder.
"Everyone hold on! We're falling!!"
"It's not falling! It's ascending!"
The regressor shouted back, releasing all at once the ground she had been dragging.
Jigon Style, Earth Wave.
Glancing back, the road we had passed was crumpled in a bizarre shape. To use a metaphor, it looked like the shape of a soft quilt being pulled by a long pole. Anyway, the crumpled earth, with the regressor's Jizan at its apex, was scooped up all at once by her gesture.
At that moment, the front seats of the automatic carriage. The passenger seat and the driver's seat, which seemed like they would always be together, experienced a permanent parting. It was because the regressor's Jizan had precisely torn right through the middle of them.
But I couldn't complain about that. It was because, thanks to the regressor swinging it like that, a temporary bridge rose up over the broken bridge.
"Step on it...! Huh? You're already stepping on it?"
You should have told me to step on it earlier! If I couldn't read your thoughts, I would be struggling to emergency brake right now! How about you feel some fear too!
"Oops! Was this the acceleration pedal?"
"What were you doing besides driving until now?!"
"Accelerating! Never mind that! Ajiyaaaaaaa!"
"Meeeorgh!"
Rumble. The automatic carriage, having reached its limit, screamed. Like that, the automatic carriage gradually headed toward the makeshift slope, preparing to leap while testing its limits.
The fortunate thing was that the regressor split the front part, so the wheels lifted slightly.
The unfortunate thing was that because the regressor split it, the carriage's speed slowed down.
Thump. The automatic carriage experienced a fleeting moment of weightlessness. A sensation as if gravity had momentarily vanished came over me. I had the illusion that the world was flowing excruciatingly slowly.
The automatic carriage, built on the premise of a systematic and robust road network, collapsed miserably when that premise crumbled, just like other logics.
Clearly, before jumping over, it had a fearsome momentum, but at the highest point, it was miserably slow. It was obvious it would tumble into the drain before reaching the other side.
Before the regressor took the loss and used another power, I also called out at the top of my lungs for another driving force.
"Ajiya!! Push! It's a dog sled!!"
"Woof woof woof!"
Aji, who had been following my call, kicked off the ground and leaped up. And then, with a pop, he fiercely kicked the carriage's cargo box.
The automatic carriage achieved a dramatic acceleration using the running dog as its power. With a crack, the truck moved horizontally by about 1 meter. My neck and lower back rattled like a poorly made doll.
But... clearly, this automatic carriage leaped over the drain! I turned my head back to look at Aji who had accomplished this great feat.
"Woof?"
Having used all his strength to push the automatic carriage, Aji floundered in the air, abandoned in mid-air with nowhere to step. I met eyes with Aji as he began his descent. The sight of him flailing his limbs without reaching anything was quite pitiful.
"Farewell, stepping stone..."
"Meeeorgh!"
Aji fell straight into the drain. Well, he'll pop back out before long.
Right now, we are the problem.
"Landing!"
I shouted that and hid my body in the shadow beneath the driver's seat.
Dodging into a narrow space right before a collision is a foolish action. That is, unless there is a vampire nearby who can manipulate darkness.
As I pushed my body into the shaded spot out of the sunlight, a soft darkness enveloped me.
This is not an expression. This darkness was literally 'soft'.
Crack.
With the feeling of landing, my body rattled. However, there was only a slight dizziness. The shock that should have followed was completely absent.
The darkness that warmly wrapped around me whispered in my ear.
[What a barbaric method. Sigh, did you really have to fall like this?]
"A long fight is expected, so it's better than using darkness in broad daylight. Is the cargo box fine?"
[Do not worry. The inside of the darkness is my space. They did not suffer a single scratch.]
It seemed Nabi and Siati in the cargo box were fine. I nodded and stood up again.
[But, what is going on? Did the road suddenly snap?]
"Rather than snapping, it was cut."
[By whom?]
I didn't need to answer. Because the regressor answered instead.
"Gwabyeong!!"
About 2.4 km away from here. In a space where even telepathy felt faint, someone wearing a monocle was watching us. I couldn't see it well with my eyes. However, it was clearly visible in the regressor's Seven-Colored Eyes.
The creator of all weapons, the designer of all armaments. A monster of understanding. The Creator.
The alchemist closest to the Philosopher's Stone. The King of Gears.
Gwabyeong, Maximilian.
Looking like an innocent child, he smiled with a twisted lip, and spoke wordlessly toward the regressor who was looking at him.
'Level 1, passed.'
The regressor was infuriated by that testing smile. She stepped onto the automatic carriage and shouted.
"That bastard...! A trap!"
"A trap? You mean he cut the bridge in advance?"
"It's different! That guy...! From that distance, he cut it while watching us!"
How he could cut the bridge here from such a far distance, the answer came immediately.
"With the gears installed on this side's ground!"
Clack. Clack.
Was it because perception influenced the senses? As the regressor said so, the sound of metal interlocking seemed to ring in my ears. No, it was ringing.
It was just that the surroundings were so full of such noise... like tens of millions of ants rustling, that I couldn't hear it clearly.
We had unknowingly arrived on ground made of gears.
The Military Nation was a frail country founded through civil war. To save this country, which was no different from a newborn baby, the hero of the Military Nation who led the coup, the supreme commander Gunwoong, gathered talents from all over the world.
Jeolchang and Majang were key figures since the Kingdom era, and the Commander was a pureborn of the Military Nation. Those three of the Six Star Generals were, anyway, natives born in the land of the Military Nation.
In contrast, the latter three of the Six Star Generals were external figures who came from other countries.
Gwabyeong, Maximilian.
Yeonggwi, Sieghrund.
Cheontong, Eimeder.
Six Star Generals shrouded in a veil, about whom it was barely known who they were, why they came, or even what kind of power they possessed.
However, having stayed in the Military Nation for 25 years, there was no way not a single rumor would spread. Inferring from their deeds in the Military Nation, one could roughly learn of their abilities.
Gwabyeong Maximilian, he is the director of the Military Nation's Weapon Development Bureau.
A master of standardized magic, a Qi Engineer who had comprehended the principles. And an alchemist who had reached the realm.
Because the weapons and equipment he made circulated in the market, citizens of the Military Nation would see his name at least once on the tools they used. They would let out exclamations of admiration at their complexity.
The one who creates all things. His ability is...
"Gears! As long as the gear doesn't break, he can turn it! Unconditionally!!"
"What do you mean unconditionally?!"
"Literally! No matter how huge a thing is on the other side of that gear, it interlocks and turns unconditionally! As long as the teeth don't break!"
There is a small gear the size of a palm. If you interlock a few of them, if you gradually stack larger and larger gears, just turning a small gear can bring about a massive change akin to moving a giant's arm....
A story that is only valid under the childish assumption that friction does not exist and the gears are light and sturdy.
However, there exists a being who brings about such a childish assumption, albeit only about halfway.
Gwabyeong Maximilian can turn a gear right up until the moment it breaks. Therefore, the sturdier the gear with a high alchemy level, the greater the force it generates.
And Gwabyeong is the greatest alchemist of the Military Nation. If limited to the field of gears, he might be the best in the world.
A simple and one-dimensional power. An ambiguous ability that one might wonder if it's truly a principle, merely being able to turn a round, toothed steel wheel.
However, when his talent as an alchemist and his comprehension as a grand designer back it up.
'Unless it's a combat-related ability...! Since he solves everything with gears, even I don't know what form it will take this iteration!'
One can make anything with gears.
Screech. From the metallic sound of the precisely designed gears, a dissonance like a tug-of-war with force was heard.
The regressor noticed the sign. At the same time, I also sensed the ominousness and moved the steering wheel.
"Careful!"
But it was already too late. The moment I tried to understand, the change that started from his gears passed through dozens of gears and steel bars, resulting in something rising from the road beneath our feet. I hastily turned the steering wheel, but because the regressor broke it earlier, its movement wasn't fully functional.
No, what's the point of me responding? The automatic carriage can't respond.
Crunch.
The front wheels were completely crushed by the makeshift barricade that rose from below. To use a human metaphor, an excellent uppercut. The automatic carriage, having taken a direct hit, rattled heavily.
Is the only relief the fact that the regressor split it in half earlier, reducing the force? If you pull a rag, it only tears; it doesn't drag the whole body along.
Phew, thank goodness...
"It's too early to be relieved, Hui."
I turned to the side where the voice came from. Unlike me, who was on the verge of dying at any moment, Historia and the princess riding a Selphi calmly ran beside us.
Historia and the princess, who were riding the white horse, didn't suffer as much trouble as we did. The drain was too narrow to be called a river. Selphi, arriving at the edge, lightly hopped over the drain and clung to us with a trot.
Horses, unlike automatic carriages, can jump!
"A horse's life is the best life! The automatic carriage I'm driving so hard is literally a thorny path, but the horse is completely relaxed!"
Historia, with both arms tied, looked like she would slip at any moment, but she was riding the horse with an exquisite sense of balance. Was this much nothing to a martial artist who had reached the realm?
Even while on the wildly shaking horse, Historia seemed more worried about my side.
"...I definitely said it. Hui, the dark parts of the Military Nation will be even gloomier and stronger than this."
"I'm feeling it right now!"
"Director Gwabyeong... Maximilian's hobby and specialty is putting things together with gears. Even Uncle Partlaxion has a hard time predicting a match within his domain. Though it's not easy outside his domain either."
"No! Stop telling me things I already know! Just tell me a solution!"
'It's okay. It'll still be okay. The position of the Six Star Generals wasn't gained easily. At this level... there's still room for negotiation.'
What room for negotiation are you talking about alone? Wake up to your own situation first. Coming along with both arms tightly bound. If you want to negotiate, do it with us first, not the Military Nation!
"If, you need mediation..."
"If you don't tell me right now, I'll spread a rumor all over the neighborhood that the mysterious female martial arts master who fights while bound was actually you when we leave this country."
At my stern warning, Historia's mouth shut of its own accord. That alone was a little lacking to provoke Historia, but fortunately, I had an ally nearby.
"Huh? P-pervert? Hey! Take that back! The Commander isn't a pervert! She fought for us!"
"Fighting using only your legs while both arms are tied is enough of a perverted bizarre act."
"Bizarre act? How cool it was! Straight posture, long and flexible legs! Amazing sense of balance! If you knew a little about martial arts too, you would have been amazed!"
"I don't know much about martial arts, but your shamelessness is certainly amazing. To be so confident looking like that. Is the rope a mask?"
"Both of you stop."
The princess gave an excited speech, but words without malicious intent are the ones that seep the deepest. The liquid that seeps the deepest into the body is transparent and clear water. Historia couldn't hold out anymore either and declared surrender.
"...It's simple. The easy way is to get out of the gears' sphere of influence, and the difficult way is to break the gears themselves."
"Oh!... No, isn't that obvious? Run away or break it? Is that kind of thing advice?"
"Even Director Maximilian can't easily transmute Level 5 Alchemy Steel. For Level 4, he needs prepared materials, and the Alchemy Steel he creates from his fingertips is mostly Level 3."
"Level 3 Alchemy Steel is still steel! It's enough to crush a person!!"
While spending time on advice that wasn't much help, the day of doom arrived. The sputtering Thunder Wheel of the automatic carriage let out its final death rattle.
One of the 7 Great Inventions of the Military Nation, the self-rotating Thunder Wheel. A product commercialized desperately in the water-scarce Military Nation, even while going against the Holy Empire.
Gathering the power of lightning and turning on its own, it sat in the middle of the automatic carriage and moved the front and rear wheels simultaneously. One Thunder Wheel was responsible for the power of the automatic carriage.
Anyway, the Thunder Wheel, which had somehow kept turning even when smashed until now, finally fell silent from the shock coming diagonally from below.
The automatic carriage moving forward only by inertia. However, the fact that the automatic carriage was gradually slowing down could be relatively confirmed by seeing Selphi slowly overtaking me.
Historia added words as if she just remembered now.
"Ah, the automatic carriage was also made by the Director. So if he did something, the carriage might have broken down."
"You're giving the most useful piece of advice you've given today at the most useless timing?! You're a spy too!"
Spy or whatever, she's a Six Star General in the first place.