EP.300 A World Made of Gears - Conclusion
I shook my arm. From the pre-drawn Clover deck, 8 cards remained in my hand excluding the 1 used to escape Amitengrad and the 5 just thrown. I traced the edges with my fingers and carefully selected the cards.
It hurts my pride, but let me admit it. No matter what card I use, I cannot deal a meaningful blow to Maximilian. Would I only be able to kill him if I shoved the entire deck into his stomach and detonated it? Actually, if it came to that, it would already count as winning.
Right. Let me change the objective. I want a momentary opening from him. Even if it's as thin as a silk thread, a definite opening.
Fire? No way. Wind? If he makes a fan out of gears and shoots it at me, I'd probably lose. Alchemy magic and decomposition magic? The opponent is an alchemist several times better than me. Even if I detonate the mana stored in the cards, it wouldn't work. You don't challenge a specialist in their own field.
Then only one thing remains. Decision.
With a swift push of my fingers, I drew one card, then another. At the same time, I untied the cloak draped over my shoulders and wrapped it around my hands to hide the cards. So he would be even slightly less wary....
'Cards? They definitely contained magic. The magic isn't particularly dangerous, but I need to prevent approach anyway.'
Humans are creatures that learn. Maximilian didn't let his guard down even a little.
Maximilian no longer insisted on using gears. He chose a somewhat crude but certain method.
He pressed down a handful of gears and flattened them thin. Makeshift alchemy performed with his palm. The small gears were sharply polished and transformed into throwing stars.
With his opposite prosthetic hand, he spread his fingers and scraped the back of the steel beetle. The five fingers split the steel covering vertically like bamboo. Maximilian processed the resulting long steel strands into spears.
'Until now I deliberately avoided blades for fear you might die... but now I won't hold back on any means or method.'
The director of the Military Nation's Weapon Development Bureau created every weapon within his capability. Throwing stars, blades, spears, remaining gears, and so on. And with all his might, he fired them at me.
Using a javelin thrower made of gears to hurl spears, and flicking his fingers to shoot throwing stars. Each and every one carried his full power.
'If you're the King of Humans, you won't die here. Or rather, even if you die, it can't be helped. Otherwise I'll be the one to die!'
Blades flying at me. Sharp gleams cover my vision. This isn't at a level I can block or dodge.
Historia came running to help me. She intended to snatch the cloak and throw it away entirely. That was at least a rational method.
But it's not enough. Right before Historia's fingers reached me, I issued a command toward her.
"Number 2."
The same movement as before—passing by each other and swapping positions.
Historia acted reflexively. Setting aside thoughts, she ran toward my back as predetermined. I also twisted my body to clear a path for her to pass through. As if flipping a palm, my and Historia's positions were reversed.
For a moment, a path opened between Historia and Maximilian. At the same time, the steel weapons rained down on Historia.
Belatedly, Historia's thoughts continued.
'If we swap positions like this, to save Hui I'll have to receive all of those with my body. If I use Hantan Gigong I could somehow block them all, but then...'
Not only would she lose the momentum from her charge, but the qi power to use Chonggeomchongui would be consumed. The faint remaining odds of victory would reach zero.
To win, there's only one method.
Historia gathered power in the hand holding her gun. Qi power concentrated into the gun. Behind the improvised bullet, Bloomsarin swirled and gathered.
Disregarding defense, she gathered all the qi power spread throughout her body and loaded it into the gun. The maximally condensed qi power swelled bizarrely... and reached beyond principle. The impossible mental image of a bullet's slash was pulled into reality.
Since he had just converted his gears into weapons and poured them out, Maximilian's defense was thinner than ever. Historia, a born warrior, discovered that opening.
And she also understood the reason I ordered the Number 2 movement.
'You were aiming for this, Hui? You really went too far.'
Without gigong, Historia's body is merely that of a somewhat sturdy woman. The red-hot shuriken, the iron spears that looked even more threatening for being improvised, the blades made by splitting iron plates—if she's hit, she couldn't come out unscathed. No, she would definitely die.
But I had proposed using Chonggeomchongui. Saying you'd use me as bait.
Historia doesn't think deeply, but she's no fool. Historia smiled faintly and whispered.
"I'll still do it, Hui. But this is the last time, right?"
'...Probably, because there won't be a next time.'
No. There is a next time.
What do you take me for? I don't discriminate in means and methods, but I have humanity. There's no reason to let you die here.
I need to keep you alive so you can help me again and again.
One of the drawn cards was Clover 6. A simple compass magic. In the Military Nation, during the season when military training was conducted, they would gather children and make them learn compass magic. Because to read a map, you at least need to know where north, south, east, and west are.
And it's a fairly well-known fact that a compass is actually a magnet.
Thanks to that, it was complete. A heretical magic modified by pouring in as much mana as possible, far diverging from its original purpose.
"Compass Gausus!"
I released the contained mana.
The mana that surged from Clover 6 resembled a vortex yet was different from one. It's hard to metaphorize, but the form where beginning and end interlocked was somehow similar to a vortex. The mana that swirled and spread reached the Queen of a Thousand and amplified, spreading even more fiercely and reaching the steel.
'Do you truly think a magic that merely increased in scale would work on me? No matter what kind?'
Maximilian thought.
'It won't work. All the alchemy steel I possess is Level 4 or higher High-Cost alchemy material. It inherently possesses resistance against enchantment magic. Magic won't work. Unless you're a more powerful alchemist than me, or reach beyond principle!'
I know. Magic isn't omnipotent. It's merely the power to accelerate changes that already exist in the world, and even that often faces desperate resistance. This alone cannot defeat Maximilian.
That's why I drew one more card.
Spade 10.
I overlapped the two cards.
***
The iron that was once one with the earth in the beginning recalled an old longing. It was a nostalgia that could only be remembered when it suddenly visited like a dream from childhood, and also an emptiness that, if forgotten, would have no promise of returning.
The iron struggled to grasp its faint longing. A struggle craving to become a complete whole, as if it had left its other half somewhere in the world.
Then, 'it' appeared in the world like a gift.
Finally found it. Finally found it. Finally found it.
All the iron that discovered 'it' changed their target. Instead of flying to tear apart a fragile beast's skin, they twisted their direction to quench an unresolvable thirst.
To become one complete whole with 'it.'
***
The blades heading toward Historia all began changing direction at once. Their speed increased even more, but as long as they're flying off-target, they're not dangerous. Thanks to that, Historia's vision was cleared.
'...So this isn't the last time after all. Really, playing with people's feelings.'
Historia didn't see what method I used. Even if she saw it, she wouldn't have understood.
However, 'how' isn't important. What's important is that I solved the problem. And that now it's Historia's turn.
'Hui also gave it his all, so I need to give it my all too. But it's a bit... lacking.'
Historia was troubled. I had said it would somehow work out, but her qi power was more insufficient than expected.
It can't be helped. In an extreme situation, and even intoxicated by magic incense, accurate judgment is impossible. Even if I read her mind with telepathy, if Historia's judgment ability is impaired, it's useless.
'How, if I gather... if I gather everything and somehow concentrate it...'
However, the Li that Historia newly comprehended, Chonggeomchongui, cannot be established with ordinary qi power.
The first Li, Zero-Point Aiming. The fourth bullet unfailingly hits the target. It's a principle reached through endless dedication by Historia, who uses guns as her primary weapon, to hit her targets.
The second Li derived from that, Chonggeomchongui. The target of 'unfailing hit' changes from a point to a line. It's a mental image Historia conceived while delving into the difference between Cheongeum and guns during her battle with the Regressor. However, to draw out that result, Historia had to swing the gun like a sword, and had to use several times more qi power.
Historia drew inspiration here.
'Does it have to be a line? Rather, what if I concentrate it to a single point?'
Wait. Then there's no difference from a bullet. How is that different from Zero-Point Aiming—no, how is that different from just shooting a gun!
A person went to the trouble of becoming bait and cleared all the obstacles, and you're thinking something so stupid!
'As expected, humans awaken in the face of death? What a great idea... Let me test it right away.'
Awakening my foot, that's the effect of the stimulant! This is why I shouldn't trust people on drugs!
But I can't move right now. Numerous blades were changing direction toward the Spade 10 I was holding. If I let go of the Spade before the direction is completely altered, Gaia Ego will be released and Historia will be attacked.
Unable to do anything but watch, I spotted Maximilian shielding himself with his cloak.
What was that again. Was it called the Infinite Interlocking Cloak? The cloak that blocked the Regressor's slash.
It's a cloak that actively defends against attacks with countless gears interlocking without gaps and spinning. Thanks to the interlocking disrupting space, it's specialized for blocking spatial or wind attacks. Of course, it's specialized for that, but it would probably block other things well too.
Can Historia, weakened from the drug effects, pierce through that? This is also information difficult to know through telepathy. Even if I read her mind, I wouldn't know until it happens.
However.
'Chonggeomchongui. Thrust.'
I think I can tell after all.
Historia pulled the gun back dramatically, then pulled the trigger while thrusting it forward. A posture like driving in a knife, or thrusting with a spear.
At the same time, the elongated gunshot characteristic of Chonggeomchongui rang out. A faint afterimage connected the muzzle and the cloak.
It hit.
And it was blocked.
Maximilian's cloak caved in, and several broken and shattered gears bounced in all directions. Perhaps because a live round existed, it seemed to have inflicted greater damage than when fighting the Regressor.
Even so, it couldn't pierce through the cloak. Historia's Li was also a type that interfered with space. Although a live round existed, it was at a disadvantage compatibility-wise against a cloak that disrupted space with countless interlockings.
I thought as much. Just as I was getting discouraged, I noticed a strange fact.
The gunshot didn't end.
Rapid fire, no, continuous. A single shot continued consecutively.
The bullet hadn't grown longer, nor had dozens of rounds been fired in succession. The cloak kept being pressed down and the gears shattered until there was nothing left to shatter. The crack that started from a point gradually grew. The force that followed continuously added power to the first shot that had landed.
Having come to this, it was neither gun nor sword. It ultimately reached the level of a spear.
Gun and spear. Which of the two is superior. The answer to the long-standing question of the Absolute Spear was revealed here.
With the somewhat cliché answer—all streams return to one source.
Eventually, the cloak was pierced.
*Crash!*
Maximilian's body was pierced by the invisible gunshot and flew through the air. The gears that were his power and life scattered like blood.